Weasel73240Z

FYI After 2 tanks of gas (91 octane), my stock L24 with new ZTherapy SU's is getting an average of 21 MPG. And since I just finally go it on the road after a 7 month restore, my foot is probably a little heavy right now. :devious:

Are there any Z shows in the New England area? I never see any on the calendar on this site, and I couldn't find anything by googling.

Success!!!! It was the reaction disc. I have a new one on the way from one the the other guys on the site, but I couldn't wait any longer. So I decided to make one yesterday. I guess its the engineer in me. Anyway, if anyone ever needs to make one, I just used a flexible plastic body putty squeege. Its almost exactly 3/16" thick, and real easy to cut with a sharp utility knife. I cut it to the correct diameter, threw it in, adjusted the pushrod length, and the brakes work great. I think the PO may have lost the reaction disc before I ever got the car. Somebody had definitely worked on the brakes, and the pushrod was extended all the way out, I think to make up for the missing disc. I never found an old one inside the booster. After I put in the "new" reaction disc, I had to adjust the pushrod in about 1/4" to get it to 4mm from the flange. I also had some luck with exhaust vapors. I used the 1" wide x 1/2" thick adhesive weatherstripping that they sell at home depot. I adhered it to the hatch itself, basically doubled up the weatherstripping, and the fumes are almost totally gone.

I checked out the booster today. I think the reaction disc is missing. After I removed the pushrod, retainer and seal, I could see the end of the bright brass pushrod that connects to the brake pedal when I looked into the booster. It had a small black retainer of some kind that looks like its part of the booster body. No pics, wife had the camera. But based on the cross sections I've seen, the reaction disc is a pretty thick thing thats not a part of the booster. My question is, can the reaction disc be bought separate from the whole rebuild kit? The rebuild kit at BD is $40 more than buying a re-manufactured one!?!?! If I can get the reaction disc alone, I'll put it in and see if that works. But I think this will be my last shot myself. I've got a friend who owns a shop, with all the right equipment. I think brakes are too important to fool around with. Still not working the way I want them to, so I'm gonna bring in a pro. I guess brakes are the one thing I don't mind paying someone else to fix. :beard:

I think that was the thread I read the first time. I'll check out the reaction disc when I get home. Thanks.

I'm having some trouble getting my brakes right. They're working, but not the way they should. At first, they stopped the car fine, the vacuum assist seemed to work fine, but the pedal went down to the floor when I came to a full stop. Now, I'm feeling like theres almost no vacuum assist about half of the time. Sometimes the assist seems to still be working. I replaced the rear brake cylinders, rebuilt the MC, and bled everything (bench bled the MC). Parking brake is adjusted right. I did an "informal" vacuum test on the booster because I only have a MightyVac, and it seems to hold a vacuum fine, and it releases the vacuum when I step on the pedal. I checked the lines going to the manifold for cracks (none), the check valve works fine, and the line from the check valve to the booster for cracks (none). The lines both hold a vacuum with no loss. Still, somethings not quite right. I think I may have displaced something in my booster during tear-down. When I took it apart, I think I may remember hearing something drop when I pulled out the pushrod (which I know now I probably shouldn't have done, but didn't at the time). I think I remember reading about this issue, but I couldn't find the thread again. Did I maybe cause some seal to fall out of place, and could that be my braking issue? If I can just get these brakes right I'll be about done for now, very aggravating.:mad:

So I took a look at the wiper switch solder, everything looks good. All the solder is clean, all of the connections are tight and nothing has run. No exposed wires, none of them are broken. The 2nd pic is the relay on the passenger side thats clicking when the wipers run. I assume thats some relay, but couldn't find it in the BD catalog or at Courtesy. Is that a wiper relay, and could it be the problem? And if so, where can I get one?

Thanks Dave, I'll take it off again when I get home. I took the switch all apart and cleaned it, and checked for loose connections, but I didn't think to look for solder that weeped to another terminal. Good tip!

I did the work today, and it solved the problem of the lights not going off. But I took the wiper side of the switch all apart, cleaned all the contacts, and they are still stuck on. I'd guess the wiper relay may be bad.

Update, the wipers don't want to turn off either, had to pull that fuse also. Same switch, thats gotta be it. I downloaded Mike article, and I'll tackle that tomorrow. Thanks.

When I drove the car yesterday, I noticed that the brake pedal goes all the way to the floorboards when I'm sitting at a stop light. The brakes work fine, stop the car, and they'll lock up if I want them to. But at stop lights, the pedal feels like its all the way to the floor. But again, it stops fine, and at lights, it doesn't feel like its going to move, its just feels strange to me. All new brakes, everything bled properly, no air in the lines. I don't know if this has something to do with the vacuum assist? This is my first Datsun, and maybe its normal, but it does feel a little strange.

I took the Z out for the first real shake down run today. :nervous: Drove for about an hour and everything was good. Everything worked great, I just had one issue. My headlights wouldn't turn off when I got home. All of the lights were replaced with new, and they all worked perfectly, just the headlights won't shut off. I took out the fuses to shut them off for the night. I searched the forum and couldn't find this issue. I assume its probably the headlight switch on the steering column. Any other possibilities?

Just a heads-up, and I don't know if I'm alone, but I had no luck using a MightyVac to bleed my brakes. I found that I was just pulling air through the bleeder threads, and nothing through the cylinders. The teflon tape doesn't really work, because once you back them off a few times, they lose the thread seal, and you start pulling air through the threads again. Maybe if I had speedbleeders it would've worked alright, but not with the stock bleeders. Anyway, after about 2 - 3 hours of trying unsuccessfully with the MightyVac, I had a buddy come over and bleed them the traditional way, and I was done in 15 minutes. So in my experience, if your frustrated with trying to vaccuum bleed, just go the old fashioned way.

The wheels are 14 x 7 Cragars. Not original equip. but they look right, and I couldn't pass up the price ($100 w/ 4 new tires!!). The "warehouse cars" are a bit of a mystery right now. I snooped around the warehouse, but all the windows are blacked out, which really got me thinking the story is true. I've been told that the cars are actually registered for some auction this Summer. I'm still hoping to see them before that happens, but no luck yet. May be just another urban legend, but my old man confirmed that their are definitely cars in there, he knew the owner before he died. My dad didn't know if there were any Z cars in there, but there are cars.... Thanks for the compliments on the car, it was to actually get behind the wheel after 6 months of staring at it in my garage.

Well, I finally got all my stuff straightened out and, drove the Z today. Only on my small cul-de-sac because I'm not registered yet. But at least I can feel why I've done all this work. Thanks to everyone here for their help.

The installer was a friend of mine, so he left me a windshield installer tool (the long plastic "stick"). It sounds like I need a different tool for this job.

Anybody have any hints to getting that chrome windshield trim back in? When my new windshield got put in (J. N. Phillips installed - $218 total) I hadn't finished polishing the trim. So I told the installer, "don't worry about it, I'll install it when its polished". Mistake. I worked on it for about an hour yesterday, and didn't get a single piece in. :mad:

I will, as soon as I get my new brake cylinders in, and the brakes working. A car that won't start is a small problem, but one that won't stop, is a bigger one. Hoping to drive next weekend!

Finally!!! She's running like a Z!!!!! Once I finally got everything straight with the timing, the car fired right up. After a few tweaks to the new SU's, it idles very well at around 1,000 RPM's and revs right up through the powerband. I can't believe the throttle response on this motor, it sounds almost like my old GPZ750 did. The ZTherapy carbs work great, they were never my problem. All I did was richen the mix about a half turn once it was running, and now it fires up without even giving it any gas once its warm. Just flick the key and it fires right up. Speaking of ZTherapy, they were great to deal with. Bruce called me at home when he saw on here that I was having a problem, and put me in touch directly with Steve.

Thanks, taking the pump back out this morning.

I thought so, thanks.

So I finally have the car running OK. When its running, the timing light shows it to be at about 40 - 50 degrees(??) BTDC (about 2" past the notches on the crank pulley). I think I may still be off by one notch, but its much better. I have to turn the service screw up to keep it idling at around 1,500, or it misfires alot. My question is, how much of that can be made up by moving the wires back one position on the dizzy? Is it 60 degrees (6 wires, 360 total degrees). I must've put that oil pump in and out about 15 times before I got it this close, and I really don't want to do it again. I'm at 50 BTDC with the adjustment on the dizzy right in the middle. I'm thinking (if it is 60 degrees per spot on the coil) that moving back one, with plenty of adjustment in the dizzy still, should get me there. Or, am I kidding myself, and I need to take the oil pump out again?

I'm running!!!!!! I was off on the dizzy by a tooth, and maybe I still am. With the timing light, it runs best with the indicator pointing about 1 -1/2" beyond the last mark (about 40 - 50 BTDC??). But I'm running. Some backfiring, and a loud pop when I start it about 3 out of 4 times, but then it runs pretty good. Two things, the 8MM bolt on the underside of the dizzy, is that just for additional adjustment of timing, or does it do something else? And, is there a way to get closer to the timing marks without removing the oil pump again? I figure no, but I'm just hoping. Off to watch my ZTherapy DVD and get the carbs tuned.

Thanks xray. Sorry if I was a little pissy yesterday, I think it was a long afternoon of frustration that got to me. And yes, I did replace the oil pump with a higher volume pump, so the dizzy was out. Heres exactly where I'm at timing wise as of last night, when I finally quit and hit the Stolichnaya & tonic. First is crank indicator, dizzy tab location, cam lobes fully opened, and indicator notch on the timing chain gear (if its tough to see, it very close to 12 o'clock on the cam tower), which I believe is right. I can't really see the engraved line thats supposed to be on the cam tower though. The timing chain has never been removed, I wood blocked it when the head came off, and it never moved. I didn't even let anyone touch the motor when it was apart. I run a local mens softball league, and we have a tourney this weekend. Have to go get things started but I'll be back home this afternoon, and I'll get back at it. Thanks.

I meant no disrespect to anyone, just seems that sblake has been working on L series since before I was born. I may not know him, but after snooping around this board for 6 months, I value his opinion. xray, sorry if I violated some rule by not giving you complete enough info. As I tried to make clear, this is my first go-round with the z (as a matter of fact, its my first time with an overhead cam engine - always been an American muscle guy), I don't necessarily know what info is needed.:stupid: And, i did read that whole thread about the trouble you were having, which is what lead me to question again whether my timing was right in the first place. I may have jumped around drawing conclusions, buts its only because I want so badly to finally drive this car, after just looking at it in my garage for 6 months.