Getting the 73 Back on the Road

[siteunseen]

Mines a tail of caution as to how bad they can get with just rotten gas after 10 plus years of sitting in a barn.

It cleaned up after reading and looking at great phots on Blue's Tech Tips.

[SteveJ]

2 hours ago, siteunseen said:

Mines a tail of caution as to how bad they can get with just rotten gas after 10 plus years of sitting in a barn.

It cleaned up after reading and looking at great phots on Blue's Tech Tips.

I was thinking of trying something different on the old tank. I was thinking of buying this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031HQJWW

I'd mix it up in the tank and let it sit for a week or two since it's cold right now. After that I would dump it out and rinse the tank with denatured alcohol. After that dried, I could do some Redkote or similar product. Even if I wait to coat the inside, I could use some fogging oil to keep it from rusting. That would just require a soapy rinse afterward and denatured alcohol to give a good surface for the coating material.

[jonathanrussell]

I had really good results from Redkote. As @siteunseen has mentioned before, it is important to let it cure for a few weeks. I let mine sit for a month. Haven't seen any trace of red in the fuel filters, etc. Here is a summary of what I did. Fyi, my tank was in pretty good shape...not full of rust...more like flash rust where the internal zinc / cad coating had failed.

Plug all holes.

Use rope to suspend it between two trees...allowing you to rotate the tank while it is filled with whatever cleaner you are using. I also came up with a way to hold the tank still in certain positions. In other words...if I flip the tank in one direction I wanted it to sit in that direction for 20 minutes or whatever. 

I used muriatic acid first.

I used a phosphoric acid after that.

At this point, everything looked clean inside.

Used alcohol to final clean and evaporate dry.

Kind of have to work fast with the Redkote...fill...plug...rotate over and over....make sure fully coated....pour out remaining unused redkote from tank.

J

[SteveJ]

I was looking for a garage project this weekend, so I decided to go ahead and install some Hella H4 housings with LED bulbs in the 240Z to replace the old Victoria British/Black Dragon Auto generic H4 housings with halogen bulbs. I have the generic H4 housings with LED bulbs in the 260Z, but I wanted to see if I got a better beam pattern with the Hella housings. I think the Hellas look better/more appropriate for the Z, too.

I even shot some video in case someone needed some more information on how to change headlight bulbs on an S30, not that it's a big challenge.

Anyway, the video should be available now.

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by SteveJ

[w3wilkes]

Is it just me or are there 4 screws that hold the headlight housing to the car body? I think in your video there's a screw hole top left that is missing a screw?

[SteveJ]

1 hour ago, w3wilkes said:

Is it just me or are there 4 screws that hold the headlight housing to the car body? I think in your video there's a screw hole top left that is missing a screw?

That's right. There should be 4 screws, but you only have 3 when you twist the head off one.  That happened when I changed bulbs 22 years ago. Why did I need to change bulbs? I put in a new alternator and didn't know it was internally regulated. I was checking my new relay setup and running the car to test the new alternator. I measured the voltage at the battery and saw 17 volts! Before I could turn off the car, the passenger headlight went *poof*!

A little research on Zhome.com, and I figured out my problem, and bypassed the voltage regulator.

[SteveJ]

So, what do you do when you have some free time in the evening, have access to a cheap Harbor Freight welder, and possess a homemade tool? You attach a nut to the tool.

 

[Captain Obvious]

Just like when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail...

When you have a cheap HF welder, everything looks like a great place for a blob of terrible looking weld slag.

[SteveJ]

11 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Just like when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail...

When you have a cheap HF welder, everything looks like a great place for a blob of terrible looking weld slag.

When I played rugby in college, anytime a kick barely made it through the uprights (or doinked through), we would say, "UBE (Ugly, but effective)." That nut is securely fastened to the angle. It's definitely UBE.

[Captain Obvious]

Haha!! UBE. I like it!   

[SteveJ]

And to be clear, it's pronounce as "Yoob".

[Captain Obvious]

Got it.

Without the guidance, I would have probably said "you be" or just always referred it to by acronym letters "U B E".