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Zed Head

By Zed Head
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zspert RiZing Star

zspert

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Posted

Did someone say V-3 kit, almost done

My last installment had me and my Datsun mechanic buddies trying to decide where we were going for lunch while checking out all the chic professional ladies in our downtown neighborhood. But - after lunch and a visit to the stereo store we eventually had to get back to those 73-74.5 Z car induction systems.

Between the time the Nissan engineers left our dealership and the kits became available wasn't too long but until that happened the first blush of 73 Zs had to sit on the dealer lots and at the ports. They took up space and more importantly they took up floor plan $s.  When all was said and done the the best the V-3 kit could do was make most of the affected cars drivable when the air temp was below about 80 or so and the humidity wasn't too high.

Over the following 2.5 years Nissan issued service bulletin after bulletin trying to get a grip in what was becoming a real problem. In the end they issued more service bulletins on this induction problem than any other system on any other model I was involved with in my almost 10 years of dealership employment. Sometime in 74 the  engineering dept. put all of the bulletins in one volume. I had never seen the compilation book until several years ago when I was able to snag one from e-bay.  Among the many modifications listed is the one I find to be the most radical, and the most amusing. It was authorized for use only in those parts of the country that had very hot humid climates. It was the installation of a massive hood scoop! Now, before you, a dealer, could cut up your customer's hood you had to have permission from just about everyone from Mr. K on down!  I have that book somewhere but I just can't find it. I've included a couple of pictures of the the interim attempts to organize the bulletins. I've never seen one of the hood scoop cars.

There was one factory modification I was able to use with modest success but to this day I can't understand how it was legal. You simply attached a length of vacuum lose to the end of the float bowl vent. You secured the end of the hose using rather fine stainless wire. You then ran the end of the hose to a space away from the venturi. No more partially vaporized fuel being directly ingested by the carbs. 

Next time - the final cure, my observations and opinion.

 

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Carl Beck GrandMaster Z

Carl Beck

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Posted
18 hours ago, zspert said:

Did someone say V-3 kit, almost done

.........{snipped...cjb..}......

My last installment . I had never seen the compilation book until several years ago when I was able to snag one from e-bay.  Among the many modifications listed is the one I find to be the most radical, and the most amusing. It was authorized for use only in those parts of the country that had very hot humid climates. It was the installation of a massive hood scoop! Now, before you, a dealer, could cut up your customer's hood you had to have permission from just about everyone from Mr. K on down!  I have that book somewhere but I just can't find it. I've included a couple of pictures of the the interim attempts to organize the bulletins. I've never seen one of the hood scoop cars.

.....{snipped..cjb..}........

Next time - the final cure, my observations and opinion.

Sounds like we had similar experiences during the 73 Model Year. I was the New Car Sales Manager at Jaremko Motors in Spokane, Washington. Far too many very unhappy Z Car Customers ! 

I moved from Washington State to Florida in 1974 and worked at Clearwater Datsun / BMW. Bobby Clark the Dealership Manager was also a Racer.  Clearwater Datsun installed the Hood Scoop on two 240Z’s that I knew of.

Related to the problems with the 73/74 Flat Top Carbs, Mr Uemura writes in his book; "DATSUN 240Z Engineering Development"

https://www.lulu.com/search?adult_audience_rating=00&page=1&pageSize=10&q=Datsun+240Z

"Executive Director Ryoichi Nakagawa, the chief of the engine departments, gave us a pep talk, saying, “In a car, the worst case that can happen with this defect is the engine stalling, but if this happens on a plane, it crashes.” Although the engine design departments also tackled countermeasures, satisfactory results were not obtained, and the manager Harada of the Third Design Department asked us to cooperate in coming up with countermeasures for the vehicle itself.

As a temporary measure, a heat shield plate was placed between the exhaust system and the carburetor, glass fiber was wrapped around the fuel system pipe, and louvers were cut in the engine hood to vent heat. But this was not enough.

Then, as the last resort, a powerful sirocco fan, which began to turn when the temperature in the engine room rose above a given temperature, was installed in the engine room to pump out the heat. This almost solved the problem, but it was never perfect, because the fan would turn for a while or sometimes started turning suddenly even after the engine was turned off, surprising drivers. Assistant Department Manager Shidei, who was the chief engineer at this time, visited America to persuade Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A., to deal with the problem using this tentative measure for a while until a proper countermeasure could be taken. I can’t imagine that would have been an easy task for him.

One year later, we solved the problem properly by abolishing the carburetor and adopting the L28 engine with electronic fuel injection."

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