260zCaliCar

Mark, Let me know what you think, always good to have another source for help! I have a guy out here is T.O. Westlake area that is terrific, he is so cool he stays around late, and we work on the Z after hours together. He really appreciates that fact that the Z is a hobby and I want to do as much of the work as is possible/safe (safe meaning no mistakes). Wednesday in fact, I'm going over there to replace all my fuel tank vent hoses and install my R.T. diff mount (I call it my "diff-ondabrain" ) I'd like to get some good pics of the install process/results to post up here. Mike

Hey Mark, Thought I would pipe in and say hello... I live in Westlake Village now, but still have a place in Silver Strand. I'm up there quite often. Never dealt with Sunwest Motorsport, what's their deal?

Those vent duct hoses are still available. Part number is 27665-N3100. There was also a short hose that I needed, part #27664-3100... I got them from www.nissanparts.cc about a month and a half ago. It's true, you won't get much air out of them even with everything perfect.

The only way I can imagine the coolant dropping this much in such a short distance is if your connecting hose(s), heater core, or valve is like 90% blocked. You would still get some flow, so it would heat up a little bit, but it would take much longer for the coolant to get through giving it enough time to cool down. With a reasonable rate of flow, it should eventually heat up. How are you measuring temperatures at the different points?

Wow, that takes "a bit pricey" to a whole new level. Sorry that happened to you, and I am disappointed about his return issue. Currently he wants $24 for the set of plug clamps... Courtesy Parts (which I assume only sells Nissan parts since they are a dealership) has the same set for $6.14. So, yeah, a source of last resort, but for that he comes through nicely.

Wow, you do some nice work, and that kit from Eastwood looks great. I get "daily deals" from Eastwood, and occasionally they send "20% off on orders over $75 plus free shipping". I think the next time that deal shows up in my email, I'll jump on it. I agree, the results can be addicting.

I actually started with a wire wheel connected to my drill, that did a pretty good job of getting it started, then moved to 180 grit wet sandpaper, and just started working my way up. i used a dremel to get into the difficult places. One trick I found is when using a specific grit, always go in the same direction. Then when switching to the next higher grit, sand at 90 degrees. This way you always know that you have removed the scratches from the previous grit. When you're done (at about 1200 grit), switch to rouge and a buffing wheel on your drill. Then, finally, I followed that up with Mother's aluminum polish. Calling it a PITA is an understatement. I spent a couple of hours per night for about a week on each manifold. I attached a pic of one manifold midstream and the other waiting in line. FYI, this project took a solid couple of months on and off. Wear gloves or you will have permanently grey fingers, and your fingerprints will be gone. One more thing, the polished carbs are a backup set, not the ones in the engine bay picture (those are my daily driver carbs). I bought the polished carbs on ebay with the manifold for about $50, gives you an idea of the condition....

You have a beautiful engine bay, I like to think that if I actually install them, they will have a nice home as well (see attached).

Actually all of the above. but I started with sand paper of higher and higher grits... Up to about 1200... It's not a pleasant process. I agree with the above that I should have used a euro-balance tube. Maybe I will sell this one on ebay and get one of those (I'm not going to start shaving/repolishing this one). Fortunately, that's the easiest item to polish. Here is a slightly different angle. They really are so nice to look at that I'm seriously considering just bolting them to the wall of my office and naming them "Art".

Finally finished my "show carbs", I think I'll throw them up on "pay it forward"? Seriously, they look so nice, I'm thinking about putting studs in the wall of my office and hanging the up like art. I don't recommend that anyone else do this... It took forever.

I bought a couple of items from him about a month ago. I found him to be very prompt and honest. Not the least expensive supplier on the planet, but he had what I needed when nobody else did so I was happy to pay him.

Being in Los Angeles, (where we are going to get a bit of rain today and its all over the news) I can't imagine this kind of cold... But based on what Fastwoman said above, sounds like you would do really well using the insulation she suggested on all of the heater hoses and ventilation tubes as well. I'm not questioning you even for a second, but it's hard to believe that the coolant drops 70 degrees in the short distance to the heater core. Again, I'm not questioning you, I just don't have the experience with that kind of cold.

My 95 year old uncle and I shared a birthday last week, and this was my present. He bought the car new (1959 Jaguar) and it has an interesting history. My Uncle was an airline pilot, and bought the car in England when by chance he met a guy that worked at Jaguar building cars. That day, he bought a car that his new friend built. That same guy has been supplying the parts for this car ever since (and my uncle flew him out to install them until about 1995). When the time came to redo the seats, the guy who sewed the original seats sewed the new ones with leather that was still sitting on the back shelf at Jaguar. The result is every single part on this car is totally OEM and completely documented via correspondence over the last 50 years. This past year, the mechanic in England passed away and that's why it was time for the car to be passed down to me. Jay Leno actually showed up at my Uncles house and asked him personally if he could buy it. What he got was my phone number. The Jag will stay in my uncles garage, he likes to drive it around the block once a week. (remember he's 95!). Now the question is, how am I supposed to keep this thing that perfect. I have calls into Ford to discuss the situation to see if we can collaborate. So far they are very open so we'll see what happens. Other cars in my garage are: 1952 MGTD (originally my dad's car, he bought it new) 1974 260z (I bought it in the late 70's when I was in High School) 2004 BMW 530i

That's sort of why I posted this... With all the normal wear parts that are NLA, who would have ever thought something like this could be purchased. Makes me want to grab part numbers for all kinds of things that tend not to break and try ordering them. BTW, this part was only $51. The brand new faceplate alone could probably fetch that much on ebay, since I've never seen one of those for sale before... Hey, maybe I should order 10 more of these things before I post this! LOL

That's amazing! That only took "weeks"??? I didn't know the '76 had a 4 wire drivers side door switch, my 74 has 3. In all my searching for a replacement, I never saw a 4 wire version.

So I started this project about a month ago to replace my heater core (which broke about 20 years ago). In the process I realized that the fresh air vent wasn't working, so i pulled out the controls to see what was up. Sure enough, one of the pins had come out (see pic #1). the hole that it goes in looks okay in the picture, but was actually broken, so I did the best I could to JB Weld it all back together and it actually worked perfectly. Then put it all back together. Done... Just out of curiosity, I went to nisssanparts.cc and looked up the part number for the controls. They had the part with a price, so I figured "why not" and bought it. I got a call from them last week telling me they couldn't believe what showed up, so I told them to go ahead and open it up... they were actually excited. I took some pictures to show you all what arrived today. Even the newspaper they used for packing was from 1974. The true definition of "NOS"

Assuming it will fit my early 260, I'll take one also!

I was going to say... I use a vibratory tumbler from Eastwood. Works great, I attached a sample before/after (about 24 hours)

I don't see the page your describing at zcca.org, can you post a link to the page you're using to send them a message.

There is a guy up in Canada with a Z junk yard. He calls himself "Smokin-geez". He's a real character, but has come through for me on ALL parts that I can't find, his prices are fair, and on top of that, negotiable. His website (which is about what you would expect from a junk yard) is: http://www.smokin-geez.com and his email address is smokin.geez@juno.com I am 100% sure he will have the headlight adjusters, and probably anything else you need. But when you get parts from him, they ALWAYS need to be seriously cleaned.

Here is a cheap new one until you're ready to pay a fortune for a real NOS one. For $18 you can use it and keep the original when you get it tucked safely away http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Datsun-fairlady-240z-260z-280Z-emblem-Badge-Metal-Nice_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem45eef512a2QQitemZ300361781922QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories The auction shows both a 240 and a 280 emblem, but it's just for the 280

Thanks Cam Guy, Your explanation was very clear. Even though (honestly) I already knew that aspect of electricity. We both get stuck at the same spot in our understanding based on your comments which I have quoted below. I suppose we got the answer based on your experience... You didn't blow many fuses, but did blow a bunch of components (bulbs and fuel pumps) all of which theoretically were protected by fuses.

I suppose this question will put my knowledge of electricity out there for everyone to see, but why is a faulty VR blowing things like bulbs and fuel pumps out? I would have guessed that it might blow every fuse first. Is it that it takes more voltage/current to blow a fuse then it does to blow these components? Or does a fuse protect from to much of a "draw" as opposed to a "push" (for lack of the appropriate description). Just curious.

I don't want to get into the middle of anything, but are PARKING lights and TAIL lights the same thing? Austex said "no tail lights"... FYI, I didn't realize you had a PLH for the 260. I've never really had a problem in this area, but I'm interested in learning what you created, which lights it manages, and how it installs. I'll do the search per your suggestion.

You need to send a P.M.to Zs-ondabrain, he is the electrical expert and can probably rebuild your switch for you or exchange yours for a rebuild one.