Bruce Palmer

Studying the photos I'm struck by the disparity of top to underneath condition. Top side and interior shots look like a repectable candidate for a long and loving life. The underneath shots, however, looks like the poor thing has been pulling trollies in a salt mine it's entire life. Just for conversation here's what I'd do AFTER GOING OVER THE ENTIRE OUTSIDE WITH A MAGNET, strip it and get it to a media blasted and have everything underneath aggressively blasted with garnet just to see what is left. Garnet should take any of the questionable steel to the happy hunting ground leaving you with a really clear picture of what needs to be done, knowing at that time exactly where the "sound steel" exists. Replacing 3/4 of a floor pan isn't that much more involved than replacing a 1/4 if you follow my drift.

The only thing I can imagine in those situations where guys are hating tuning SU is that they are chasing carbs that are 90% worn out. At that stage of life, yes they can be a pain to tune because they won't hold a tune. It's safe to say that a set of SUs once returned to square one i.e. rebuilt, are the easiest carbs out there to keep up with..... oh, there's that pesky check oil in the dampers a couple of times a year thing but other than that.....

Details are posted at www.datsunsnw.org... Hope to see a bunch of you there. If you know anyone with a ride who may not see this invite 'em along.

Wow, some very nice classic shapes there, except for that danged ol' Datsun... nyuck nyuck Would like to see that corsair footage. If it's on DVD is it still footage or is it dotage or what exactly is it? Feel pretty dumb saying "film at 11" anymore.

Last set of 4 with center caps I had went for $400 and they were polished. A new 510 owner here in town needed them more than I did. Some of that was him paying for mounting and balancing my tires on new ZX wheels which I liked better anyway.

And for the hunnurt and eighty forth time, let's review again why it's important to renew all the pieces to a system when you aquire a new old Z or any vehicle for that matter. i.e. a new master cylinder will only be a good investment 'til it overpowers and blows out an old slave cylinder. Not saying that's what happened here, just using this case as an example. Thus endeth the sermon....

We don't do them. Offered with out further comment.....

While you are putzing around with stuff, check to make sure your insulators aren't cracked around the coolant holes into the carbs. That could be a source of coolant into the engine. It might be getting into all 3 of those cylinders, but only showed up in 3 because those valves were closed. Don't even want to think about a crack in the head in that intake runner but see what you can find and let us know.

We are here to assist you in any way we can. For the flattop[ conversion we actually eat a third of the core charge. AND they are a bolt on. An early style aircleaner will be a bolt on as well as the flattop aircleaner has a different shaped opening to the carbs. Check out part number ZT161 or 162 depending how far into it you want to go......

If you can get under the dash with your head and look up at the back of the Speedo you'll see something that screws to the back of the speedo that definitely looks non electrical..... Or take it loose from the tranny end and pull the cable out if it's broken it'll A. be short and B. be frayed on the broken end. If it's broken and both pieces don't come out the bottom end then take the housing loose from the speedo and pull the remainder out from above. Are cables available from NISSAN? I had a 510 cable made at a speedo shop here in Salem. Not the housing just the cable and then I gave the damn thing to my brother in law..... Last of the nice guys I guess....

The only reason I'd counsel against the Zenith oil is that it's British and by definition will end up leaking on the ground. Oh, look out, run, Here comes Arn carrying his "my british car didn't leak" banner!! nyuck nyuck If you've ever owned British, you probably know what this is about. If you've never owned British, count your blessings and move on folks. Nothing to see here.....

Paul, I've been using out of the same can of ATF for about 23 years now. So long, in fact, the can I'm drawing from is made out of cardboard. Remember those?

Fun Run coming up the ninth of April Salem/Keizer OR start, Donald OR for lunch & finish. Details up soon on www.datsunsnw.org. CLEAR YOUR CALENDAR.......

Whew, that's a buncha stuff. I see now why so many guys want carbs when the FI electrical gremlins start attacking. "buncha" - new word meaning an inordinantely large quantity of elements.

Just a short list of things you need to do BEFORE you do anyrthing else. Pull the plug on the gas tank and see what comes out. Don't put any gas in it until you see what's in there. One of the biggest problems with these old "sitters" is the gas has gone bad and sending or trying to send it on through the rest of the system will only create work elsewhere. Pull the plugs and oil the cylinders and pull the valve cover and get the top end oiled up before even attempting to turn the engine over. Cranking over a dry engine with pressure on the bearings before oil pressure gets through the galleys you will more than likely be going through the engine whe you may not have had to. Get it running before getting all excited about tearing it down. Z car clutches are hydraulic. I highly recommend you bleed all the crappy water soaked brake fluid out of that and the brakes and then test for whether or not either will hold pressure. Unless I missed it what year is this beastie? Carbs, fuel injection, soft coal, what? You have a looooooot to do before even considering what to throw money at and most of it is not at all glamorous......

Harry, Can't say why that shaft doesn't fit now but will tell you that SUs do not run that shaft setup. The SU linkage has a big loosy goosy joint between the balance tube and the pivot on the firewall that will absorb a lot of engine twist without binding and can make that run from the balance tube to where ever the pivot ends up on the firewall. Oh and that's where the pivot needs to be to keep the angularity and distances right from the pivot to the gas pedal.

So if it turns out to be just one carb, it could be nothing more involved than a piece of grit holding one needle and seat open. Figure out which it is and take that lid off remove the needle and seat and flush it out with carb cleaner. Order float bowl lid gaskets ahead of time as your will no doubt turn into potato chips when you remove the lid.

"What did I do wrong here"? Ran the wrong carbs...... Nyuck nyuck Run the right carbs and linkage and that pivot will work fine. Other than that I don't know what to tell you.

So when both carbs are doing their deal, the engine is no doubt running rich..... blubbery with copious quantities of black smoke right? Sounds like to much fuel pressure (3 1/2 # max) but hard to fathom why it would start with too much fuel pressure all of a sudden. But I guess the pressure in the tank could be an additional driving force behind the pressure thing. When all is said and done you might want to throw a new set of plugs in. Fuel fouled plugs don't run well and may never clean up.

I watched two segments of the HBO series The Pacific last night and the "sins of the 20th century" that you posted about kept rolling through my mind.

also clear your fuse box of all fuses, remove the box and soak in vinegar for about 20 minutes, wash it out in warm water and blow it dry. Install new fuses and see what you have. I've seen more aging Datsun problems solved by this simple step than I can count.

Grab a hand full of old license plates and some pop rivets. That bad boy'll go back together just fine...... nyuck nyuck

Why would you want a larger clutch master cylinder?

Why does doing the right thing always have to have this tax break can tied to it? Can't do the right thing to help unless I catch a major financial break.

I think unbolting the driveline from the pinion shaft and wiring it up out of the way would be fine. Release the E brake before making the trip, not at the first stop for gas...... The tow truck driver wasn't getting paid to unbolt drivelines. He was getting paid to generate the maximum revenue ticket in the minimum amount of time.