Ceramic coated vs straight stainless for header and exhaust system

[Jason240z]

that looks lovely.

[AK260]

Such a lovely looking car!!

The z-therapy SUs are one of the best things I ever bought for the Z.

They made a HUGE difference and worth the wait / cost.

[jfa.series1]

8 hours ago, jtay said:

Thanks for the great information.  Since I live in TX and it does get very hot here I think I will go with the ceramic MSA.  I do love the looks of the SS though.  Below are some pics of the car. 75K documented miles and first owner had car until 2012.  Original window sticker and all service documentation throughout history of car.  Next is on to Ztherapy SU carbs.  Called them and they are booked out until June.. Geez they must be busy.  Couple pics of the car below.

 

 

A very big welcome to the group, that is a fantastic looking car!  I'm just up the road from you and would welcome the opportunity to meet.  If you're interested in club activities, we have a very active Z Club of Texas in this area and a lot of folks would be interested in meeting you and your new ride.  I have the Z Therapy carbs and the MSA Premium 2.5" exhaust system and header.  Well pleased with all of it and I do second the comments about needing to add a resonator.

[AK260]

As I sit in bed with insomnia in the Austrian Alps salivating about the dump of snow we’ll be riding tomorrow, I feel there is something very wrong with me. I’m sat here thinking about exhausts! Is this an affliction? Is this a disease? Is it normal!? Do I need to seek medical advice?

 

Anyhoo one thought is that the Race/Sport header is materially larger than the MSA or stock manifold, filling that side of the engine bay up a bit more and putting out a fair bit of heat with it. So for those driving left hookers, the fit must be pretty tight with steering / braking components also being present there. How do you keep the heat away from your vital to safety components e.g. steering coupler and brake booster without hefty heat shielding !?

 

Long though short, I would imagine ceramic coating with whatever header is going to pay huge dividends.

 

Right then, back to salivating ...

 

 

[grannyknot]

10 hours ago, AK260 said:

How do you keep the heat away from your vital to safety components e.g. steering coupler and brake booster without hefty heat shielding !?

Drive faster.  Enjoy the powder!

[jtay]

Nice pic with the snow.  Going to be 50+°F here in Texas.

@jfa.series1 I am up in the Allen area so let me know where the club meets and I will try to make it.  I have a few things to work out on the car before I feel safe driving it far from my house.  I have to figure out the smog/air pump stuff as Ztherapy will remove the holes and since it will be a few months until I get the carbs I have to figure out how to tune the SUs.  The MFA header does not come with the holes for the smog equipment anyway.  Right now I have more airflow to one than the other SU and the car does not run as good as it should.  This car has had 1K miles put on it over the last 10 years so it has been sitting quite a bit.  I have already removed the old fuel as step one.  I checked compression and it seems pretty good as well.

[AK260]

The PO of my car spent 7 years doing a ground up rust restoration but then driver her for only 800 miles on 2 years after just to take her to shows etc! [emoji15]

 

The brakes were pretty seized, the engine was way out of tune and everything needed a good thrash to get back to health.

 

Mix, ignition and timing are everything. It’s great your compression numbers are good. Sorting the other stuff above out is pretty simple.

 

You’d be surprised the difference a new coil, dizzy cap and rotor, HT leads and plugs evenly gapped can make to your car’s running. Points correctly gapped also if that’s what you have in the dizzy.

 

Sort out ignition and timing first (set timing at 32 degrees at 3k rpm. Then it should fall back to 17ish at idle (without the vacuum advance connected.

 

The carbs are relatively simple to sort out so that the car runs better while you wait.

 

This should help ...

 

 

Get some brake disc cleaner or throttle body cleaner. Take off the domes and give the pistons, domes and the body of the carb a decent clean first. Take care to not mix up the front and rear domes and pistons; they wear together.

 

Buy a decent air flow meter such as this ...

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192596389772

 

Disconnect the choke cables form the carbs.

 

Using the nut at the bottom of the carb, Wind the jets all the way up and as a rule of thumb wind them back down 2.5 turns. I use a digital calliper to ensure the jets are at the same height, each full turn is 1mm down ....

 

Put the pistons domes and springs back on.

 

Use SU official oil in the dampers ...

 

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F143244885465

 

Completely undo the balance screws and use the idle adjustment screws to sort out an even airflow at idle. I find the easiest way is to undo them completely so the bitterly is shut and with your finger in the carb mouth feel for any movement as you wind the screw down. Stop 1/4 turn just after you feel the tiniest movement.

 

Then start the engine and keep adjusting the idle screws each, watching the airflow meter until you get an idle without stall.

 

Then wind down the balance screw until moving the throttle linkage makes both carbs move together.

 

Then set the fast idle screw to get say 1200 / 1500 rpm and adjust the balance screw until both carbs are sucking equally.

 

That should sort the air flow and roughly the mix so the car is running better. Ideally you would want to check the float bowls have the same fuel levels before adjusting the mix but that will take a little longer and is quite involved. You will likely need to check that with your Z Therapy carbs too as they can become unbalanced due to vibrations during transport.

 

The above should give you 85- 90% well setup carbs for OK running.

 

Now for some “apres ski” and sauna. Apparently swimwear is not allowed in mixed saunas in Austria!!!!! [emoji33][emoji33][emoji33][emoji33][emoji33][emoji15][emoji15][emoji15]

 

I will have to be that frowned upon prudish Brit with a towel on! [emoji4]

 

 

 

[jfa.series1]

13 hours ago, AK260 said:

As I sit in bed with insomnia in the Austrian Alps salivating about the dump of snow we’ll be riding tomorrow, I feel there is something very wrong with me. I’m sat here thinking about exhausts! Is this an affliction? Is this a disease? Is it normal!? Do I need to seek medical advice?

How do you keep the heat away from your vital to safety components e.g. steering coupler and brake booster without hefty heat shielding !?

Please spare us your Austrian Alps miasma, you're getting no pity from this end.  Lucy is always available to help!

As to the header heat question, I have the factory heat shield fitted between my header and the SU's.  No heat issues with the carbs or hydraulics.

 

[jfa.series1]

1 hour ago, jtay said:

 

@jfa.series1 I am up in the Allen area so let me know where the club meets and I will try to make it.  I have a few things to work out on the car before I feel safe driving it far from my house.  I have to figure out the smog/air pump stuff as Ztherapy will remove the holes and since it will be a few months until I get the carbs I have to figure out how to tune the SUs.  The MFA header does not come with the holes for the smog equipment anyway.  Right now I have more airflow to one than the other SU and the car does not run as good as it should.  This car has had 1K miles put on it over the last 10 years so it has been sitting quite a bit.  I have already removed the old fuel as step one.  I checked compression and it seems pretty good as well.

Ah-ha, so you are actually just up the road from me.  Unless they have changed over the years, Z Therapy will leave the smog fittings in place if requested to do so.  That said, if going with a header you'll loose the air injection manifold as you stated and the air pump becomes just so much dead weight.  I had Z Therapy remove all the balance tube fittings for a cleaner look, no regrets.  I'll PM my contact info to you, I might be able to help a bit with getting the SU's tweaked.

Jim

[jtay]

Thanks AK for the laundry list of things.  I received the MSA header and exhaust today.  I also received the resonator I ordered.  I will post pics when I get into it.  Most likely late next week.  I should be able to get the header on but will have to go to a local shop to cut and weld the resonator on.  One thing I do not have is welding tools or the skill to do that.  Thanks for all the help.

[crshowers]

I am in the market for ceramic coating headers for my 73Z. I have the Ztherapy SU's with no internal engine performance changes. I have been looking for a 2.25 inch exhaust because I think the 2.5 inch is overkill. I am not finding any ceramic coated headers w/2.25 inch outlet. Like to hear from jtay or others who have the MSA 6to1 header. How is the noise level and did you install a resonator & what muffler do you have. 

Below is some research on different header sources & options.

 

Topend

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Datsun-Z-Header-6cyl-L24-L26-L28-L-series-6-Cylinder-1-5-Primary-1-2-Flange-/312428478366?vxp=mtr&hash=item48be303f9e

$289 - Ceramic coat + $250

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Pacesetter ZCar Depot

 

Pacesetter exhaust header with ceramic coating (silver) for Datsun 240Z 260Z 280Z 1970-76 square port.  3/8" steel flange with 1 5/8" steel tubing.  Comes with a 2" slip fit connector & gaskets.  Bright silver ceramic coating.

*This header has an oxygen sensor provision in one of the pipes.  If you are not using an O2 sensor then you might need the plug PT# 800-863. 

https://zcardepot.com/collections/exhaust/products/header-exhaust-ceramic-coated-240z-260z-280z-70-76

 

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MSA

 

https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic19d/15-6001CH

$320 coated

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WorldWide performance - ebay

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Exhaust-Header-Manifold-System-Kit-For-70-76-Nissan-240Z-260Z-280Z-L24-L26-L28E/182809123333?fits=Model%3A240Z&hash=item2a9045da05:g:Y~EAAOSw4P1Z1nAf:sc:FedExHomeDelivery!03226!US!-1

 

$220 Black coated?

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CARiD

https://www.carid.com/1973-nissan-240z-exhaust-systems/pacesetter-exhaust-header-136722738.html 

 

$375 coated 2" outlet

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Pace Setter Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/Setter-70-1037-Black-Exhaust-Header/dp/B00133NZ46/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1587254531&s=automotive&sr=1-1&vehicle=1973-67-2284-20-----14492----1871--1&vehicleName=1973+Nissan+240Z

 

$223

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California Datsun

https://www.californiadatsun.com/exhaust-system/headers/

 

Multiple choices

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Datsun garage

https://www.datsun-garage.com/pages/search-results-page?q=exhaust+header+240z

 

Multiple choices

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240 exhaust guide

https://zcarguide.com/datsun-240z-exhaust-guide-best-exaust-systems-sound/

 

[siteunseen]

I have the 6to1 ceramic header and 2.5" performance exhaust from MSA on my 240 and 280.  I really like the sound and the ceramic header does a fantastic job lowering the under hood temp.

240 sounds great with no resonator at all speeds.  280 had to have a 20" resonator installed at local exhaust shop, generic one they had on hand.  Charged about $50 IIRC.  It had a horrible drone sound on the interstate and was god awful loud pulling hills around town.  I can only guess the bigger 2.8 was the cause of the drone sound, everything else was the exact same as the 2.4.

I was thinkinging MSA had reducing adapters for smaller diameter exhaust?