I removed the gas tank to have it cleaned.  Will a radiator shop clean this for me?  Possibly steam clean it?  Now I have a bunch of questions. 

In preparation for starting the engine, I want to do the following before starting.

1. Compression test -  is Turing the engine over by hand a valid compression test? I need to get a good gauge, any recommendation 

2.  I need to drain the oil, what is the best oil to use? Which filter 

3. Which spark plugs? Old ones are champion RNllYC

4. Should I change the points, or just go for it?

5. Where can I get a couple straps that secure the fuel tank? 

Did I forget anything? The car has been setting with ATF in the cylindears for a few days. It turned over easily by hand

I would wait until the engine is running before doing the compression numbers,  compression test with a cold engine isn't going to tell you much.

Any 10w30 oil will do, it will get dirty pretty quick cleaning the engine, also a standard filter. Might be a good idea to take off the valve cover and pour a quart over the length of the cam, it can take an L24 engine 20-30 sec. to get oil up to the top on start up.

Champion works but most would agree that NGK is better.

If you are going to use the old points you could at least clean up the contact surfaces.

Not sure where you can find gas tank straps but you can make a couple of temp ones out of plumbers strap until you find a pair.

Quote

I got 10 quarts of oil and 2 free oil filters at O'reillys.  This car is saving me money. 

 

 

Fuel tank straps are from Skillard

11 minutes ago, wheee! said:

Fuel tank straps are from Skillard

ordered. Thank you. 

 

Make sure you specify the year clearly several time’s... I got three sets before I got the right ones! But they were beautiful.

If it's been sitting awhile I'd make sure all the carb parts are moving freely, nozzles dropping and raising back all the way.  The oil levels are right in the domes etc.

17 hours ago, z8987 said:

1. Compression test -  is Turing the engine over by hand a valid compression test? I need to get a good gauge, any recommendation 

2.  I need to drain the oil, what is the best oil to use? Which filter 

3. Which spark plugs? Old ones are champion RNllYC

4. Should I change the points, or just go for it?

5. Where can I get a couple straps that secure the fuel tank? 

Did I forget anything?

I'm no expert, but...

1. No. You need the engine turning faster than can be accomplished by hand in order to get good compression test results.

2. I've dissected several brands of oil filters in the past and have been dissatisfied with the internals. As a result, I've now switched all my vehicles over to Denso filters that I get from Rock-Auto. It's a pain because you have to plan ahead and can't just run down to the local parts store, but IMHO they're really better.

3, Not Champion. Use Japanese plugs in a Japanese engine. Denso or NGK.

4. If the points aren't all burned up, cratered or have a lump of material migrated from one side to the other, then you can probably save the replacement for later. You should replace them once you get out of the "just trying to get the engine running" stage though.

5. Ask Wheee!

6. "Did I forget anything?"  Yes. Of course you did.

A charged battery with all the plugs out of the head will let you get a reasonable number on the compression gauge.  Enough to know if you have a bad cylinder.

A gas can in front of the radiator for the suction fuel hose to the pump worked for me while my tank was out.  Run a smaller return line off the fuel rail in it too.  After I got it running, a couple of bungee cords to hold the gas can let me drive it around the neighborhood. 

18 hours ago, z8987 said:

Did I forget anything? 

I would check/set the valve lash, since you already have the cover off.  The early engines had weak valve seats, designed for leaded fuel.  Then you won't have to wonder about it if odd things happen.  It's the very first item in the Nissan tuneup sequence also.

It's also a good idea to replace all the rubber fuel lines from the tank to the carbs.

I bought a fuel sending unit and the o-ring from local Nissan dealership, $45 IIRC.

The heater core valve and hoses are still available too.

Plastic rivets all over the interior panels and the rear finisher around the tag and rear lights still available too.

Rubber grommets for evap hoses coming in from the rear plus they're used on the heater hoses on the firewall still available. 

I have a good bit of OE Nissan part numbers in my file. You'd be amazed at what the dealers can still get for almost 50 year old cars. Zcardepot.com has all the stuff too. If you need something just ask.

The best way I've found to search our forum is Google whatever and put classiczcars.com at the end. You'll get tons of info.