Zedyone_kenobi

I have finished my initial brackets for my custom fuel rail. I took my inspiration from the OEM brackets that hold the OEM fuel rail. I need to round the corners and sand and paint them. Also, I am not happy with the supplied fittings that came with the DCOE's. I ordered some straight banjo fittings from CArbs Direct to clean up my installation. As you can see with piece of scrap fuel line shown, the bend that extreme is not desirable. I have been shortening the hose from the front of the fuel rail to the regulator on the front fender, and I almost have it to where I like it. I still need to swap which sides the carbs actuate from and install my heat shield, but that should not be an issue. I still need to fabricate a bracket for the front of the engine to hold the fuel near the valve cover, and wire up my pump. But here it is so far. Things are shaping up! I ordered a new arm to actuate my rod. That linkage rod came from McMasters, and it is was a 5/16" mini drive shaft. It is CRAZY straight. However, I warn you guys. I selected next day air on a 22 dollars drive shaft. Thinking well I want this fast, as I have a car show I really want to enter on the 21st so I want to get this quickly! 43 DAMN DOLLARS to next day air it.. OUCH! You see they let you select next day air, but they tell you it will be added to your price and billed. Your total will be mailed to you in a few days! Well live and learn on that one. HAHAHA :stupid::stupid:

I was faced with the exact same issue as you. I pride myself on my cars originality, but take some advice. Build the car you want to drive. Do not let the car own you. Make it what you want and drive it and enjoy

Got my fuel rail done today. I love it will take some pics soon

You could take it further if you wanted to. Buy a simple piece of sheet metal at hardware store and attach it to the heat shield with another bolt in between creating an air barrier between the headers and the carbs. Caine that with the adhesive wrap and you will be seriously protecting your carbs from heat

Can you elaborate more on the location of the wire in the dash. I am about to pull the console looking for it!!

I know, it is just awesome to start something and you only have a notion of how you will finish it. Back in college getting my engineering undergraduate, we called this an open ended design problem. THE BEST KIND! Have fun madkaw! Keep us in the loop, I am builidng up my triples now too as you know. We should compare notes!

My black wire has nothing going to it at all, But when I connect a multimeter to the green one, the voltage fluctuates in a set frequency, much like the fuel sending unit. If I were a betting man, I should be tapping into the black/white one. That color combo carries 12V all over the darn car!!!

I See, time to dig through the wiring diagram. I think the wire was either black, or green/yellow, which could mean it was green and white but dirty. The blackwire had a male bullet style connector on it.

Well normally I would say it was way to expensive for me as well Frank. But I figure I have 7 months to save up for it. And my brother and I are splitting it. Of course that means I have to let him drive my Z, which I have reservations about, but still I only have to come up with half that amount. Now back to carbs. My order form McMaster CAR came in and the 5/16" mini drive shaft was polished perfection. It turns smoothly in my rod ends on my Cannon manifold. I am expecting my LOKAR cable to come in today or tomorrow. I Still need to find a power wire for my Carter Electric Fuel pump. I mounted it on the vertical plane that holds the rear lower control arm bushing. Seems like a perfect place. Having to fit a fuel filter in that location is going to be a bear though. But that is part of the fun. Both extra wires I have dangling from my fuel sending unit wiring harness do not provide 12 volts when I turn the key, I may need to find another keyed 12 V source. I also made good head way on my custom fuel rail. I managed to get the extruded aluminum cut to a good length and both ends tapped to accept the 3/8" NPT fittings. Also got a whole bunch of Russell -6 AN fittings into play with. Still have no idea how I am going to mount the LOKAR cable to the carbs, and I am not sure where return springs are going to mount. I sense more custom metal cutting in my near future. Blue I ordered that synchronizer you have listed there. I figured it was a step up from my old Unisyn. I will snap some pics soon.

How are you NOT rubbing in the front Madkaw?

Ditto.. I also like how the 14" rims look!

Agreed! I had the unfortunate experience of driving my 2001 Subaru 2.5RS off a cliff on Latigo Canyon road on the Southern california coast. Fel 73 feet and went end over end 3 times and landed on the roof. I was not even bruised. My seatbelt saved my life. Well that and the awesome tank like construction of my Impreza

My weekends are hosed Mike, as my wife is in school on Saturdays, for her masters. So I am babysitting every saturday with my amazingly active 4 year old! I would love to go, and one day I am going. I agree, it would be a whole lot of fun to meet you! I have not given up on the Great Texas Z rally. I promised everybody a spring run, but time constraints, and this engine build have taxed me. I have also pulled the trigger on the TEXAS 1000 November 11-16, 2012, put on by www.vintagerallies.com It is expensive, but I have been saving money every month for a while. And it will be an early 40th birthday present. If you can swing it, look into that rally. It is NOT cheap, but it looks amazing!!!!!!

Oh where did you get those sweet air cleaners for your stacks. Been looking for those

Mike it is scary how similar we think! I ordered 5/16th rod stock from mcmaster car today as well as a Lokar throttle cable! I am fabricating my own fuel rail as we speak but need to track down a drill press to finish. I am still on the fence right now about the linkage kit. I like how it looks on your car One question. It looks like you made some brackets for return springs on the first and second carb, why not the third? We have very similar setuos Mike. I will be chiming in here in this thread to keep you up to date on my install. I also have coated headers from MSA and have yet to install my heat shield. Very close setups indeed!

I was going to video an example of just that. What I did was turn out the lights and shined a bright flashlight into the manifold side of the carb opening. I wanted to see when I would uncover the progression holes just for the reason you mentioned. So far so good. when I applied the slighted amount of pressure to the throttle I got a sliver of light through the first progression hole. I think they may have modified the 151's. Are all butterfies on webers chamfered? This knife edge was a trick to help throttle tip in. (according to the Weber book I am currently reading )

Thanks Blue. I will let you know how it goes if you are interested.

I am trying to install a set of 40mm DCOE webers I got from MSA for my 240Z. The purpose is to get the fuel system up and running before my new L28 gets here. I have to say the carbs are beautiful. They came set up as follows: 30mm venturi 130 main Fuel Jet 170 Air corrector F11 Emulsion tube 55F9 idle/slow running mixture jet (I may have to double check this one, it was hard to read at night) Naturally it came with a Cannon manifold as standard fare. Here is where I noticed my first initial quality lapse. The cannon manifold had very noticeable casting/machining edges that protruded into the bore of each runner that I had to knock down with a file then sandpaper. I got all that smooth as butter after about an hour. When I tried to mount it to the car, it hit my old MSA headers on cylinder number 6 and would not seat onto the head. I had to pull it off and slowly remove material with the Dremel so that it would clear the header. Also, the header was 0.600" thick, and the Cannon is 0.495" thick so I had a hard time getting an equal preload on both parts, but finally after much shaving down of weld material, and washers, I got a nice load on all the bolts. My initial impressions of the linkage kit were okay, right up until I noticed my linkage rod that all the arms that actuate each carb bolt to was slightly bent. Which meant that when it was place through all three rod ends it is VERY hard to turn. I may have to find another one. Or at least some 0.312" bar stock and make my own. The kit came with no return springs at all, just a note. I am currently deciding on how I want to run my fuel lines and if I am going return line or not. I have read all the posts on that so I am still making a decision. also, very important lesson here so listen up. If you plan to go all fancy smancy and use -AN fitting everywhere like I did prepare to get your wallet gorilla raped! Ouch, Russell is proud of that shiny stuff. another note, do not think that a -8 AN fitting (read as 8/16" or a half inch) can fit into a half inch hole, even if it is a 1/2" NPT to -8 AN adapter. I made the mistake of getting too ambitious with my ordering and did not take the time to look at how big -8 hoses are. NPT sizes are called out referring the INNER DIAMETER (as an engineer I should not have forgotten that) Keep everything -6 (3/8") and you will be far happier. So now I am left to ponder two things. What am I going to do about my bent linkage rod? Am I going to cut my stock SU linkage rod from the firewall to mate with supplied linkage rod, or run the LOKAR cable kit Am I going to run a return line or not. So my impressions of the MSA redline kit are mixed. The weber product line is fantastic. But the Cannon and linkage stuff supplied was quickly thrown together.

Getting a car like this would be a dream. And I echo all my colleges advice. But promise me you will sit down and be realistic with your time and your money. Set aside a realistic budget for this car that matches your expectation of how you want to use it. Deciding to work on a Z (or any classic car really) is like deciding to own a new puppy. It is a big commitment. IT will take time and money. If you are willing to give it that, then the rewards are spectacular. You got the car for free, so already you are about 6000 dollars ahead of the game. If you are willing to spend about that much now, you will have on your hands a very reliable driver. But lets be realistic. This car is approaching 40 years old. It will need all the important rubber replaced. vacuum lines, fuel lines, most weather stripping, etc. Most bushings will be tired. But one thing at a time! Do not get overwhelmed. You will find most parts for the Z are relatively inexpensive compared to anything modern. Start a Z journal. Write down everything you do. Write down fluid changes, dates, times, brands. Write down numbers, websites. Draw diagrams, take pictures and tape them in. I have almost 100 pages of such a journal documenting everytime a wrench touched my Z. I can go back and find out when and what I did, who I got parts from. This will serve you well. I also recommend making a list starting with the fluid changes previously recommended. Try not to get overwhelmed and at any time ask any of us for help. Also, prepare to get told to drop those flat top SU carbs you have and get some Ztherapy carbs. You will hear this more than once, and it is very good advice. Best of luck buddy.

It's been bypassed since day one. I have had a 3 ohm coil in there for a year. I just was curious if the Petronixs could get too much voltage. I Installed a 1.5 ohm coil today and put the resister back in line but I may try it bypassed tomorrow with the 1.5 ohm coil anyway. What is the worst that could happen By the way car popped with 1.5 ohm coil in line and with 3 ohm coil with resister bypassed. Have not tried 1.5 ohm coil with resister bypassed. I am sure coil can handle it

I received a huge order from MSA today with some lovely new triple webers to play with! Oh the joy!

Zcurves I am about to install triples and I will have to redo my fuel system again. I will check out the fuel filter to see if any yellow stuff came off.

yeah, he gets to come out and play every once in a while... ha ha I give my wife too hard a time. She really gives my datsun activities pretty much free reign. I am rather lucky.

That is a great idea!! Give us guys with kids some heads up so we can get permission from the wives.

HUZZAH! Good for you FRANK!! I cannot wait to see this beauty. If I can help you out with anything let me know. Now you just have to get it put back together before the bluebonnet run this sunday!