Phacade

Just my two cents worth but if you do go to get a wooden Z steering wheel (whcih there was a bit of debate as to if they were really wood or not, but lets save that discussion for a rainy day). I had this ugly chain steering wheel in my old 240Z when I originally bought it. I looked for a few original Z steering wheels, I found two I liked. The first one I made a mistake of letting the guys at the salvage yard pull for me. While wrestling it out they chipped the wood in several places and warped it in other places. Of course they frowned at me when I refused the part. The second steering wheel I was lucky enough to find already pulled and in decent shape. Replace your horn button when you change the wheel, good cheap horn insurance.

I have heard the same deal with new weatherstripping. The trick that worked for me was after I put it on, I took a little chauk and put around the door so I could see where it was connecting. Based on this I was able to adjust the striker on the body for the door. Been a little bit but I think I had to adjust it all the way out. After 30 years or so, there definatly has been someone who adjusted it in to accomidate the old weather stripping. If you replaced this on the doors, now is a good time to replace the rain gaurd rubber thingie on the door just behind the mirror on top.

Any ideas what would cause my '75 steering wheel to vibrate wildly when I go over bumps? The wheel itself has been changed and is a bit smaller than stock and seems to be a bit loose itself. I have not seen alot of wear on the wheels so I am thinking it could be the wheel itself is loose, maybe the gearbox. I dunno. Any thoughts?

I am glad to hear that worked out for you. That happened with my '81 280ZX. I went to the dealership for an emergency brake cable and someone had just returned one. They needed a brake for a '91 300ZX but the guys wife had ordered an '81. He returned the unused cable and bought the correct one. Now certain what to do with (by Nissan standards) a 'used' emergency brak cable, he sold it to me for $5 bucks! Of course I have ince lost that car, but the story still makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

Yeah I ordered one from Motorsports once, for my 240Z (which has been sold to anothr 240Z.org member). It worked fine, although it did not have a lot lot of motion to it. I had Z therapy carbs (1970 model) attached but was advised my Motorsports to go ahead and get '73 choke cable to match the car. The cables worked fine but did not have a great range of motion.

As long as the setup you have now works, who cares, right? The alternative is going with a 4 barrell setup or EFI. Just a thought.

Interesting. The kludge hole, as you put it in photo #1, looks like it was installed by someone with a drill and not much else to do. I noticed in photo#2 that someone vut holes in your aircleaner. Fast forward to pic#4, the top questionmark hole is for wiring, mine has the same hole and sealant, the bottom questionmark hole is for the choke. It looks like someone put another hose here and tried to seal it. The chokes coming out of this hol makes alot more sense than fromthe drivers side. If it comes from the drives side it would be too long and might dangle on the manifold (or headers if you had them) and get burnt. Also they would be in the way of the aircleaner, it would be more difficult to remove the aircleaner and tune the carbs. Now coming from the passenger side would keep the choke cables out of the way of all of this. Also the two clips (each of which are secured in a 'V' fashion about two inches about the valve cover) hold the choke cable in perfect symetry to the carbs themselves. My cables look good.

You bought rims from the guy selling a 280Z like mine in Stillwater? Did you, by any chance, buy some 14' gold rims for $100? Nope. Not me.

My 240Z shop manual says the choke cables are to come out the passenger side. There is no hole at all on the drivers side, but the hole on the passenger side was the EXACT size as the grommit on the choke cables. Some of the earlier 240Z's may have indeed had it on the drivers side but not the '73. There was (and is) a factory clip mounted on the valve cover to hold both the cables as they head for the carbs. If one was to mount them on the drivers side, despite the fact I would need to drill a hole there because there is not one there; I would be left with too much extra choke cable. Mounting the cables on the carbs is really quite similair to mounting brakes on a 10-speed bicycle (oddly enough). I believe two people are needed to adjust them properly, one to actuate it from the cockpit and one to see the motion of the choke pulls it all the way down into the 'choked' position. I have also heard, FYI, from MSA and a few guys in the local Oklahoma Z car club as well as from the Nissan dealership; not to use WD-40 on the cables themselves. Over time WB-40 leaves a residue that can harden and may actually leave the cables stiffer than before. Don't rush this project, I have heard of a few guys rushing this and in the process bent the cable and were unable to unbend it enough to use it.

A couple of thoughts. You have the headers already. Are they square or round port exhaust? This will pretty much determine the head that will mount to them. If for example you went with a P79 head, you would probably need a new set of headers since both heads you mentioned are square port exhaust heads. There is really no bad choice, just a few better choices. Personally I liked my P79 head, much better than my N42 head I have now. After the head work and mated to my F54 block, Z therapy SU carbs and MSA 6-1 headers, I have an unbeatable combination. A couple of things you have to ask yourself. What do you intend to use your Z for. Racing? Autocross? Daily driver -w- attitude? While most of us would like to build out engines to race, few of use actually will. N42 heads tend to make good racers but poor drivers. Again this is my opinion form personally experience, please feel free to flame me if you like. Another idea on the Datsun garage web site was to use a P90 head. It has the square exhaust ports the will match your headers but is very free flowing. Should make a nice compromise between racing and everyday driving. Again, just a thought.

My '73 has retractable lap belts, however the shoulder belt it one length, bolted at the top. No give and I imagine would hurt if ever used in a panic stop. The do click in on the lap belt but can come out rather easily. Most states have a lap belt only law so I just wore the lap belt. I have heard it is possible to retro-fit a complete system out of a '75-78 280Z, both the lap and shoulder belt assembly. The belt looks similiar but cannot unsnap. The should also has its own seperate retraction mechanism, so it takes a little getting use to. You will get the belt out where you want it but the shoulder is too short when you click it. Everytime I click my belt in my '75 I think of that cheesy movie 'Beverly Hills Ninja' where Chris Farley puts on a seatbelt and it starts to strangle him. He screams and pulls out a knife and cuts it. Funny stuff. But the comparison is similair.

I have noticed the same thing with my 240Z. I am even running a '81 L28 and it does the same thing. When I asked around (at length) I found that this was a 240Z thingie. According to some old Z nuts I talked to in Illinois, the 240Z alternator is acutally not a alternator at all but rather a generator. Why the difference is slim, the faster it turns the more power it cranks out. I changed out my voltage regulator and same thing happens. [puzzled look] I suppose that it really is not a big deal since it is usually over 1000 RPM when driving anyway.

I realize it is an expensive option, but I highly recommend Z therapy round top SU carbs. There is just no subsitute. I paid about $900 for everything but it was well worth it. I have never had another problem with them. Scott at Z therapy walked me through just about everything with them, mounted them on a polished intake manifold and included alot of hardware to get it installed. If you have the flat tops, you really have no idea what you are missing!

If you did not replace the pump do so now. Worst case scenario: You have a new pump. When I rebuilt my L28, I used the red sealant and used it sparingly. I have has 100% no leaks and a cool engine. You might want to consider having the front cover bead clasted for an extra clean cover, it pretty much guarantees no leaks. Don't buy the pump from Pep Boys, a friend of mine did and it was no good. I spent the extra buck and got it from MSA.

When I got rid of the makeshift choke from my '73 (which I think might have been a lawnmower cable??), I read the Haynes. I talked to Sam at MSA, and spent a long time forming a strategy. Now this could be completely different on other year cars, however it seems correct given the hardware and all. My choke cable(s) were factory, 1 lever going to two actuators. I install them in the center consol, then souted them underneath the consol, arounf the under the dash through the passenger side, up through an existing hole and out. The factory choke has a rubber grommit that was about 3 inches long and has a notch to mount it in this hole. Fits like a glove. No leaks, OEM look. Now from under the hood (looking from front of car) the hole was on the left, still passenger side, about 5 inches below the hood latch. There was a bracket on the valve cover the looked like a "V" the held each of the cables seperatly. From here the went over and stright to my SU's. It took two people to adjust them properly; one in the car and one under the hood. Hope this helps.

Heat shield went in fine, actually I modified a '73 head shield and attached the springs directly to it. I took the twice pipes to a locl muffler shop to install, a little cutting was necessary where the twin chrome pipes poke out, but it was worth it. As far as the noise, it was noisy as hell at first but then got quieter. Now it is just a dull roar unless I really get on it.

My '75 280Z has a gas tank that has been hit on something, almost looks like you rolled up under it feet facing the engine and punched straight up. As a result the float goes to the 1/8 tank spot and stops. Not too bad except I am ertain that I am missing a gallon capacity, and I can easily run out of gas once it gets to 1/8 tank. Any suggestions? Can I remove the tank and repair or would I be best to shop for another?

Well I will certainly try it. It was kinda weird though, was driving just fine then it was like it was underwater.

My Z as of late sounds like it is running under water. I rebuilt a '81 L28 for my '73 in 2000, SU carbs, headers. Seemed to run fine. I knew it was running rich due to the black crap that seems to collect on the tailpipe (and about every month or so I need to clean my left taillight of that black frost). The engine has about 7000 on her. While driving home last night, was running fine. Al of a sudden the engine tone went down an octive, as if it was running under water. My guess is something fuel related. Maybe timing. Is it possible it just worked its way that far out of timing. My gas milage has been sucking lately anyway, Last carb adjust on the SUs was mid 2000. Any other thoughts?

I'd say somewhere around 250hp. I assume if your going all out you will opt for a little head work while your at it? When I rebuilt my '81F54 block I used a '81 P79 head and it seems to work well, however I have '70 SU carbs from Z therapy. Another thing to ask yourself is the trans, 5-speed. I used a '78 shift handle to clear the tunnel on my '73 240Z and as a result didn't have to cut anything. R200 rear end works well in the 240Z.

A little background: '73 240Z, '81 L28 with dual SU carbs, headers, 4-core radiator. Has run the same temp for over a year, needle dead center between the 'E' and 'M' on the temp gauge. My Z recently started running a little warmer than normal. Just a millimeter or two right on the temp gauge but enough to notice. Now I do have a bit of an oil leak but this should not affect the temp should it? I have been dealing with this oil leak for over a year now and never has the temp came off dead center before. Radiator is new, well last year anyway. Water pump is new, topped off the coolant. Its like just enough to but you, alot! Any ideas here? What would make a Z start running a few degrees hotter?

I got a email saying someone responded to my post the other day and I'm like "When did I post?". Of course this was over a years ago and my Z did run like poop then. Come to find out the cam timing was way off (try 15 degrees). Once she was lined up my Z came to life. I am having a bit of a new problem now though, howbeit a minor one. My Z recently started running a little warmer than normal. Just a a millimeter or two right on the temp gauge but enough to notice. Now I do have a bit of an oil leak but this should not affect the temp should it? I have been dealing with this oil leak for over a year now and never has the temp came off dead center before. Radiator is new, well last year anyway. Water pump is new, topped off the coolant. Its like just enough to but you, alot! Any ideas here? What would make a Z start running a few degrees hotter?

Got some new exhaust on my Z. I'm sure most of you now know what I'm packing from all my posts while building her last year. But for those who dont... 1973 240Z, rebuilt '81 L28 F54 block, P79 head, headers, electronic ignition, 6-1 headers, '70 SU carbs from Z therapy -w- original air box (K&N), '81 5-speed, '81 R200, strut bars front and back, polyurethane soon to be installed. Anycase I got some new exhaust, called twice pipes, from Motorsports this weekend and had a local shop (for those of you in Tulsa, Leons in Sapulpa does GREAT work!) install it. Basically from the collector on the headers it splits into two 1 3/4" piper all the way back to two glass packs. While definatly louder than the stock system, it has a great sound. The engine is also breathing alot easier.

I'll post this in the body/paint forum as well as I am sick and tired of my doors. My '73 240Z has doors that just don't want to click. I have to slam the poop out of them to get them to stay shut all the way. If I simply close them gently or my wife does, it closes but one could jiggle the door maybe 1/2" or so. The solution up until now is to slam it hard, sometimes three or four times, to get it to shut. There has got to be some way to adjust them so you can shut it regularly and it stay shut and not jiggle. Of couse when it jiggles, it will not lock. Please help!! timberwolf@geotec.net

I'll post this in the emergency forum as well as I am sick and tired of my doors. My '73 240Z has doors that just don't want to click. I have to slam the poop out of them to get them to stay shut all the way. If I simply close them gently or my wife does, it closes but one could jiggle the door maybe 1/2" or so. The solution up until now is to slam it hard, sometimes three or four times, to get it to shut. There has got to be some way to adjust them so you can shut it regularly and it stay shut and not jiggle. Of couse when it jiggles, it will not lock. Please help!! timberwolf@geotec.net