Bruce Palmer

Cleaning them out for what?

Question: You're dropping the nozzles by hand to get the choking function to work. Do you have choke cables connected to the linkages on the sides of the carbs to do that? As often as not it's easy stuff that'll get ya..... Another thought: If you have choke cables attached to the carbs and the PO didn't modify the ends of the 260 choke cables at the carb end correctly that could be impeding their ability to function effectively. Shoot some pics and email them to me at Sales@ztherapy.com and I will be glad to assist. No way connected choke cables should not drop nozzles that can be dropped by hand, i.e. not varnished in place..... Other running issues to be adressed later. Most of which are covered in the JUST SUs DVD.

My daily driver is 40 years old this year but was brand new in '03 built from a bare shell sitting on a pallet in my drive way. www.datsunsnw.org member rides for any who might care.... Anyway, this thread has gotten way too devoid of oxygen for me so by-by.....

Well said John, To continue along down reality road, let me add some insight. What I'm gathering is that you have a 36 year old 280Z that in it's life has had 2 brake lines replaced and then from an originality standpoint nothing else? The typical approach of most here who drag an old car home to have as a toy would include freshening up most if not all of the mechanical systems on the vehicle to preclude any one of the 36 year old somethings from going TU leaving you standing beside the road. If I owned a 36 year old "original anything I wouldn't drive it out of my neighborhood. We're talking belts, hoses, hydraulics (brake and clutch), brake and clutch hard parts, wheel bearing clean and pack, cooling system, suspension parts are old hard and sloppy more than likely...... You get my point. Your Z is an old car, original maybe, but still old. Til you get to the point where you personally know the state of every system on the rig is, you are taking a chance driving that 36 year old car farther than you are willing to push it.... Now that is reality. Oh, and the above list is just a small piece of the puzzle and not supposed to be all inclusive......

The few times I've had contact I've come away knowing he subscribes to the "my stuff is platinum, your stuff is junk" therom..... Just saying.....

Or a bad case of crabs...... sorry....

Take the bolts out, clean the mating sufaces, install gasket and bolts and tighten. Anything that gets in the way of giving adequate clearance to get in there and do the work, take that loose too..... Hint: Unless you are proficient at extracting broken bolts and studs, I'd say save a lot of grief and take it to a mechanic. Nothing wrong with good money spent wisely.... Your average mechanic today would probaly cheer at such a simple job based on today's stuff.

Okay, Someone has to jump in here so it may as well be me. So no one has responded and I think I know why. You have a 76 280Z and everyone is thinking exactly how much do you think a 76 280 will ever be worth? It was probably worth more yesterday than it was today. So my recomendation to you is quit worrying about the big payout that, on this car, isn't going to happen ever and build it for your self and go have some fun..... I'm waiting 24 hours to see what if any kind of a fire storm this starts..... Oh, and drink the good stuff first.....

Yes, sorry.... If at your current float settings you are having trouble seeing the fuel down in the nozzles you need to raise the float levels. Setting them like the video shows will give you a low setting, a level way down the nozzle tube and a lean condition...... Hanging the lid vertically while blowing into the tube will give you your current setting without worrying about over powering the tiny spring inside the needle and seat. Steve and I are having talks about how all this should shake out. I want him to determine where the fuel level will fall in "2 1/2 turn" nozzles with the float level set spot on at .55" which he certainly can do. That float level setting is a "given" in the trade and everything should adjust around that. As the only hard and fast number this setting needs to be established correctly. My assumption is this: If the properly set float level yields a fuel level in the "2 1/2 turn" nozzles somewhere near the top of the nozzle then proper adjustment of the nozzles to get the correct mixture setting should be close at hand. Like, I'd say, a turn one way or the other. This should establish a good starting point and from there it's needles, damper oil, perhaps dome spring tensions and the big unknown unseen item.... air flow which would include vacuum leaks, which will determine how your carbs will perform. Again my feeling is this, with a used unknown set of carbs, this float level / nozzle level issue should be the first to be attacked. Get that right and life ought to become much easier. Will report back after we get this level thing established.

For any of you out there who may be feeling uneasy about adjusting valves, our Tune Up DVD does a fair country job of showing how it's done plus other goodies that may help in your Z enjoyment.

Somebody who wants to play hero..... show up with a fresh set of belts and radiator hoses and a length of heater hose for everyone to draw from. That water through the manifold and around the block aberation is liable to leave someone standing by the road.

Shoot me a phone number off list and I'll call and walk you through float level setting without the Grose Jets. I keep telling steve and Pam we need to re-do that part of thew video but it just doesn't seem to get done.

And as they say in the funny papers..... Once it's on the internet, it's fact, if not law..... Nyuck nyuck

I find it hard to follow you guys thinking it's the engine rebuilders responsibility to adjust your valves after install. They do the machine work, and assemble it, YOU roll it out the door, put it in AND get it running. Adjusting the valves HOT is part of that "get it running" deal. YOUR PART..... Your builder did it just to get rid of you. That would be like buying a set of carbs from any rebuilder and expecting the carb builder to fly to your location and set 'em up for you.

John, Since 1988 and about a half a million miles of daily driving with unheated hitachi carbs I had ONE instance where the temps were low enough and the humidity was hiogh enough for the carbs to ice up. Coming down I-5 by Longview. By the time I got the hood up in Kelso and looked, the ice had melted from engine heat and off I went. I would worry more about that shakey plumbing leaving you standing beside the road from leaks.

If you have carbs on a 2.8 are they round tops? What is the number cast into the manifold? I guess knowing the numbers on both manifolds would help. In the age of degrading FI systems it's not uncommon for owners to switch to carbs on these engines whether in their 280s or when putting 2.8 motors in earlier cars. In any event I'm guessing what you have is a 240 setup on a 280 engine. The configuration of the manifolds inside is a little different with the flat top manifold appearing to be a little more open than the round top manifolds. What this relates to in the way of performance gains to my knowledge has not been documented. Just looking at the two would suggest, to me at least, that the flat top manifold might flow a little better. Other than that I know of no differences runner wise.

280's were fuel injected 260's had flat top smogger Hitachi carbs. What's the question again?

Why so many float level adjustments? Floats should be set to the correct level and left alone and everything else adjusted around them at that setting. Are these our carbs? Anyway, let the car idle, shut it off and pull the domes and pistons and look down into the nozzle orifice and see where the static fuel level is with the nozzles set where you have them set. Report back on this.

I would venture a guess that a lot of our carbs would run fine at 2 1/2 turns down for ever..... All tweaks should be followed by a road test..... Hard to omprove on the "seat of the pants dyno"...

Before I forget, there are 510s and 510 plaers in Texas. Email me if you'd like contact info.

In the realm of 510 fans, Stock 510s aren't much of a draw. A 1600 4 speed stock suspension bias ply tires car with worn out suspension hardly instills chills up ones spine. Most 2 doors have been run hard and put away wet hence good candidates to start on are rare. I'd say $2k for a good solid box with all four corners intact, glass intact and here's the kicker, not needing much in the way of weatherstrip would be in order. This is with the understanding a LOT of upgrade work will need to happen to make it the car the average fan really wants to have. Most of what's on the car when purchased will go away and there is no market for stock 510 bits as everyone is playing the upgrade game. We have a shop full of 1600 blocks and heads and four speeds go to the scrap guys..... Oh, and ya want 1600 front struts? There's a pile over there in the corner. SSS 510 never came here. This was an adaptation JDM item with 38mm Hitachis and different head and cam. Those engines were brought over on that low miler deal years ago. I did buy a complete SSS1800 setup from the fan clutch to the 5 speed tail shaft for $500 back in the 90's that was the precurser to what's in my wagon now, so even the the upgrade got upgraded. Finally they are a cute box to hang ungrade parts on. Make 'em go like stink, handle like a slot car and stop when you mash on the brakes. The independent rear suspension is a little iffy however.

I hope Dan's wife ends up owning the IRL. Bet lunch their attorneys were hunkered down behind closed doors yesterday in damage control mode..... That $5 million Dan was driving for had been turned down by 5 drivers from outside the IRL. Why you might ask? For the obvious reason silly..... Too damned dangerous. Dan was given the opportunity because he was without a regular ride. Let the depositions commence. Randy Bernard, need help packing up your desk? Rating my butt, slick, you killed a guy!!

The grand poobah of IRL had previously stated he would resign if he could not triple IRL's ratings. Having heard nothing today about quitting, I'm guessing being responsable for killing someone isn't on the same scale as improving ratings. Wonder how he slept last night..... I hope some lawyers come along and burn the IRL to the ground for being criminally stupid. Oh, and the $5 million Dan Wheldon was driving for yesterday was to have been and was offered to 5 drivers from outside IRL. Can you start from the back of the pack and win..... we'll give you $5 million. All five of those drivers had sense enough to decline just for the very reason you might suspect so they said Dan could do it because he had no regular team affiliation this year.....

And they had to scramble to field 33 for INDY. The lack of talent is evident in recent years at INDY at the start of the race. Back in the OLDEN days looking up the front straight from turn one, you'd see 11 rows three wide all the way to the back of the pack, nice and tidy just like it's supposed to be. This year you saw maybe three rows three wide and the rest of 'em were strung out clear out of sight back around turn 4. I'll bet these drivers driving less than full schedules were told by the IRL to get spread out and as far away from each other as possible to avoid the early lap mayhem. Even at that they didn't get in a lap under green.

This race, my friends, in another flaming example of the greed that fills the professional world of race promotions and this race today will be my last IRL race ever. The fact is, I doubt the IRL has fielded more than two dozen cars for any race this year until today when Shazam! there are all of a sudden 34 cars qualified for Vega at 220+ qualifying times. The explanation is this. This was the last race for this old chassis so IRL allowed or promoted the hiring of part timers and hanging vinyl on every T car chassis they could find to make this a real spectacle...... 12 laps into this frenzy and you know what happens..... 15 cars taken out, the track looks like a battle field, the catch fence in torn up, more than one car is airborn, one going into the catch fence cockpit first (Wheldon) and burning race cars parts are scattered everywhere. All this in the name of puffing up the IRL brand. Airial shots showed maybe 10% of the seats filled...... The talent base in that series can't get 5laps into a typical race before they start knocking the wheels off of each other, but for promotional value they allow 34 cars at speeds way too fast for that venue, for that car count and look what happens. Ironically, Dan Wheldon was doing the testing of next year's SAFER car which will carry rear bumpers. HA, they ought to hang spring steel bang strips around the entire cars so those dipzoids can just bounce off each other like the beginner go-carts...... Thus endeth the rant!