FastWoman

I agree -- the flasher. You should replace your old thermal flasher with an electonic one. It will use less power and be easier on your switches and wiring. Then you can make the conversion to LED turn signal lamps, which will make an even bigger difference. (LED lamps are incompatible with thermal flashers.)

If I were you, I'd replace the lamp with an LED lamp anyway. Same with the dome light. The map light switch can wear very badly and heat, causing the plastic to deform.

Tomo, are you referring to a leak or an on-purpose, designed-by-Datsun drain? I have no drain on mine, and we both have '78 models. I also have rust problems there. Mike, one approach I've seen is to fill that area rather extensively, so that there are no flat or depressed areas to catch water. It looks quite good, but I don't know whether that courts other rust problems. (I suppose it can't be worse than what's already there -- unless there's actually supposed to be a drain tube, per Tomo.)

I just did my tank. It's pretty easy to remove and replace: (1) Pull the right rear interior trim panel. I think to get to it you have to pull the rear panel over the tail lights, the ceiling panel where the dome lights are, and the right quarter window panel. You'll also have to temporarily unfasten the right gas strut. (2) remove the shielding over the fuel/air separator. (3) Unfasten the filler hose and vent hoses. Shove the vent hoses through their holes. (4) Drain the tank via the plug on the bottom right of the tank. (5) Remove the fuel lines from the bottom right of the tank. (6) Remove the round inspection plate (2 screws) over the righthand side of the fuel tank in the hatch area. Unplug the sender unit. (7) With the rear of the car on jack stands, loosen the nuts at the forward ends of the tank straps. Pull tank downwards slightly to dislodge it. Loosen nuts more, and remove the straps. Drop the tank onto your tummy, and have a friend pull it off of you and remove it from under the car. Your friend will also need to guide the filler tube safely through the hole and ensure that your vent hoses aren't hung up on anything. (8) Remove the sender by tapping the retainer ring tabs with a hammer and screwdriver to turn it in the obvious direction. Carefully extract the sender unit and put in a safe place. (9) Lean the tank somewhere outside, preferably in the sun, with the filler tube downwards. You want any remaining gas to evaporate. The fumes are heavier than air and will sink through the filler neck. When you can no longer smell gas in the tank, it's safe to work on it. Peer inside with a flashlight to see what's going on. In my Z (a '78), there's a fuel sump in the middle of the tank about the size of a tall coffee can (but a bit skinnier). That's where your filter screen is. The bad news is that you can't service it. You'd have to take it to a radiator repair place, where they can cut the tank apart, remove the screen, clean it, remove rust from the tank, coat it, etc. I think I was quoted about $500, but my tank was pretty clean and didn't need it. I simply powerwashed it, rinsed it several times with acetone and B-12, dried it, cleaned the old paint and rust from the outside, and repainted. If your screen is clogged, you might be able to blow it out using compressed air through the fuel outlet tube. That might also destroy the screen. Many people will tell you that you can use an acid wash to clean out the tank. That's true, but it's also going to eat up the fine screen. Then if you use POR-15 to coat the tank, be aware that it will clog the screen. That's not a problem if you've already eaten it up with acid, but you may need to install an inline pre-filter before the fuel pump. You should replace all of your rubber lines when you reinstall. Be sure to use only fuel line, including on the big vent hoses. You can get large dia fuel line from a tractor supply or via mail order from Hampton Rubber in Hampton, VA. (You'll have to call Hampton Rubber for this. They don't usually send out mail-order supplies. They can also supply the rubber strips for your tank straps, cut to the size you specify, as well as all the hose clamps you need.) As far as I could tell, my filler hose was made of some rubber like neoprene and was in fine shape, even after 33 years. That was the only rubber I re-used. Good luck with this job!

Solved??? Hmmmm.... I'm skeptical. Don't count on it just yet. It sounds very much like it could be a corroded wire somewhere. The most likely culprits would be a fusible link wire or a battery cable, and the most likely and most sneaky location for the corrosion would be underneath the insulation, near the connector. Look for a tell-tale bulge in the wire/cable.

I've already invested in a lot of stainless hardware (which I realize is mechanically more problematic). I'll be sticking with that for all the non-critical items like brackets, covers, etc. However, I think I would have bought your hardware set if I hadn't already made that investment and if I lived in an inland climate. I'd be interested in your hardware sets in the future for the more critical applications where strength is required. re: Reddat: When I dealt with him, I simply negotiated shipping up front. I didn't have any problem. However, he's not the easiest person to deal with, and his hoarding practices are troubling. There's a local guy who works on Z's who does the same thing. I asked him where I might find wrecking yards with the occasional Z, and he told me there aren't any -- that if I need a used part, I should come to him (translation: I have to come to him). He's stripped down lots of them. That's nice from a convenience standpoint, but I never trust monopolies and oligopolies, and I try not to do business with them as a matter of principle. I hope to see more and more aftermarket sources like yours pop up to support our Z cars, as I think that is our only protection from the predators. I'll support your enterprise wherever possible.

Jan, Alex, the fuel pump check valve unscrews from the body of the fuel pump. The check valve is actually inside the fuel outlet nipple. If you can't find a replacement, just leave the leaky valve where it is, and install something like this in the fuel line: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/5-16-Check-Valve-Diesel-Gas-8mm-One-Way-Fuel-Flow-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3cb0e0fc82QQitemZ260665572482QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories I suppose you could also pull the nipple/check valve and remove all of the valve stuff from the inside. That should be easy enough. It might reduce the back pressure on the pump a bit.

I haven't done the fuzzies, but I've done the rubber stripping on the outside of the window, which is attached with staples. I used the old strip as a template, drilled tiny, slightly oversized holes in the new strip, inserted staples, and bent them closed by hand. It worked fine. I don't know if that approach would work for your fuzzies.

You'll have to unbolt the ignition lock from the steering column, take it in to a locksmith, and have the cylinder replaced with a new one. I believe I removed the bolts by drilling holes and removing with a bolt extractor. As Zeros said, a badly worn lock can be started with just about anything, including a house key, a screwdriver, or even a popsicle stick!

I'd almost be willing to bet money that your fuel is leaking out of your fuel rail. It might be draining back into the tank because your fuel pump check valve is bad. Or it might be dribbling out into the intake manifold through leaky/dribbly injectors. (Don't forget the cold start injector!) Anyway, the end result is approximately the same. You end up with a lot of air that has to be purged from the fuel rail when you start the engine. If your engine is like mine was, it runs very roughly when you finally start it, and then it evens out after 10 sec or so (at least if you don't rev the engine). Right? Possible cures: Check/replace your check valve. Those are becoming NLA; however, you can get an aftermarket check valve to insert inline in your fuel line. Also check/replace your injectors. If all else fails, you can install a priming switch somewhere that will run your fuel pump for several seconds before you start the engine.

Yoshi, just to be clear, you should buy a Nissan factory service manual specifically for the 1973 240Z. The L28 isn't really much different from the L24, particularly when fitted with carbs, so you'll want the manual specific to the rest of the car. You can pick up a Datsun factory service manual used on either Ebay or Amazon. It will cost you as much as $80, but I bought mine somewhat tattered and scribbled in for about $25. It's definitely worth every penny, and the scribbled-in manuals might have notes about common problems, discrepancies in the manual, clarifications, etc. (The scribblings in mine have been enormously helpful.) If you're short on money, you can also download a manual for free, but it's FAR more useful, IMO, to have an old-fashioned paper manual you can lay out in front of you -- something you can lay out on top of the engine or in the passenger seat of your car.

Well, I can suggest the obvious: (1) Start the car, and measure the voltage across the battery. It should be in the neighborhood of 13.5 - 14.5 V. If it's not, then your alternator and/or voltage regulator is bad, and you're not properly charging your battery. (2) With the ignition off, measure your current draw while pulling fuses one by one. At least identify where the current draw is coming from. A 50 mA draw isn't going to deplete a healthy and charged battery overnight. Maybe you have an intermittent short somewhere that crops up when you slam the door. You can test that with your multimeter, of course, while doing a bit of door slamming.

The IM? Weird! Anyway, congrats! I'm glad you found the problem. Your efforts weren't wasted checking the other stuff. You freshened a lot of connections and learned more about your car in the process. Just curious... Did you replace the IM with an OEM unit, or did you do a retrofit? I ended up replacing mine with a GM HEI module.

A corroded fusible link wire is another potential gremlin.

They might. I don't know. I haven't had a chance to talk to the guy again. I'll know more on Monday.

I already have it on order -- $66 delivered, off of Ebay. The photo shows a Nissan label with the correct part number, per E-FAST. I'm just disappointed that it's $66 I shouldn't have had to spend.

Yeah, the tube that runs from the backside of the exhaust manifold to the rear underside of the intake manifold beneath the EGR valve. I should have just said, "leave it." I thought it was adequate simply to say not to risk breaking it, but to break it loose if it could be done. Those tubes don't rust on the inside do they? As far as I could tell, the tube was in great shape.

Drat! I had taken both manifolds to the radiator guy to remove broken bolts/studs, helicoil, etc. He asked, "So do you want me to break loose this EGR tube for you?" Remember how I had managed to break it loose from the intake safely, thus saving the part for re-use? I said, "Sure, if you can do it safely. Just don't get heroic about it, because I don't know if I can find a replacement." Well, one of his employees got heroic about it and busted the tube. (I don't know how he would have busted it. They shouldn't have put any tools on the tube itself. I think they only should have broken loose the nut, right? Anyway, $75 from MSA. Grrrrr... (Update: Found one on Ebay -- genuine Nissan w/correct part number for $66 shipped -- a bit better.) There wasn't any rust on the outside of it. It honestly looked pretty good. Would it have been weakened on the inside? Shouldn't I have been able to re-use the tube? I'm asking only because I want to know the situation when talking with the guy next time.

Ztrain, I did get the PBlaster! Yes, it's very good stuff. And I did have a look at that one threaded hole. Sort of a "got'cha" waiting to happen!

Thanks, guys! You all have me smiling proudly. On a "girl" sort of note, I may have broken some bolts and studs, but I only got one tiny cut and one tiny burn on my hand and didn't break a single nail. I'm sort of amazed about that. @Ztrain, I wish I could have helped you, but our hay was "city hay" -- somewhat overgrown grass, helped along by the relentless rain. My mowing deck had been in the shop for a while. Antique parts and such. (You know the drill.) @Bart, yes it is! @Gary: Thanks! However I'm not being a purist about my car. I'd be more of a purist if it were an early 240 or something. I was mostly interested in whether my engine might have been rebuilt. The shade of blue does seem to be the one you linked to (as far as I can determine), so I guess I really do have an un-rebuilt engine. Other aspects of the engine certainly suggest so -- lots of corrosion/rust, lots of sludge and varnish internally, lots of apparently original hardware. (I'm slowly getting it cleaned up.) @olzed: Thanks! Yeah, I really felt as though I was getting in over my head. I was scared to death of that last stud. I thought this engine couldn't be much harder than the 1977 salt-water cooled 315 in our powerboat, but I was clearly wrong. The combination of steel and aluminum is lethal! @Dave: You're being superstitious! My old '75 was a very reliable car, once I worked through all the PO's left-over problems. There's no reason an antique car can't be reliable. My neighbor across the street is always tooling around town in his '68 Camaro with 500k original miles on it. He just keeps on top of the repairs. BTW, while at the radiator shop, I saw a front-wheel-drive Honda in the service bay. They had pulled the head. Looking at the thing, with the intake manifold still in place (sitting atop the engine near the firewall), I couldn't imagine how they even got to the manifold bolts. Yikes! Even though I was dealing with horrible corrosion on my Z, I realized the job could have been much worse. I could have been dealing with one of those crammed together Honda things. Even my RWD inline-6 BMW was rather crammed together. All things considered, I think I prefer the crust and rust to lack of access. @Andrew: Are you talking about the complete screw/bolt set? As far as I can tell, you can't buy that anymore. I thought about making some SS exhaust/intake studs from threaded rod stock but decided against it. I just got MSA's regular bolt/nut/stud kit, as SS tends to be a bit softer. I use SS studs on our boat, but only because the exhaust temp is much lower, and corrosion is so huge a problem. I did find the nickel anti-sieze, BTW, at my local bolt shop. Anyway, thanks again, everyone, for helping me to get to this point. I know I'll have more questions after I get back my intake manifold and am ready for reassembly. But at least the miserable part is behind me. Woohoo!

HOORAY!!!! I'VE WON!!!! I went shopping for more tools. If in doubt, buy tools. I knew I needed a new, much sharper pair of vice grips. Examining my various choices, it appeared my best bet was a pair about 6" long that was radiused just right to chomp into the stud in the back of its jaws. I figured I'd close the thing with a pair of channel locks and then turn the short handle with another tool (which turned out to be the same channel locks. I lubed up again, chomped the stud, applied moderate torque, tapped, tapped, tapped, tapped. (The tapping seemed to do absolutely no good.) Then I nervously turned a bit harder and a bit harder, and it budged. I gave it another good soaking, waited a while, and then worked it the rest of the way out. Anyone know where I can get a chewed up stud bronzed and framed? Also on my trip out, I traded my intake and exhaust manifolds for the newly rebuilt mowing deck on my beloved 1972 Deere 212 tractor. (This is the radiator guy who does all this work for me.) He'll extract the remaining frozen studs/bolts/screws for me (helicoiling that one injector screw hole). I got home, mounted up the mowing deck, and cut down all my "hay." And the stock market is up 2% today. WOOHOO! It's been a good day. Thanks for all your help and moral support, guys! BTW, did Datsun paint the engine blocks in their new cars? As I was doing some cleaning on the engine, underneath the manifolds, I could see traces of blue paint through the rust. The PO said it's the original (never rebuilt) engine, but could it have been rebuilt at one time?

Geeesh! Seriously, I like your idea of the SS studs. Very nice. I should also get a powder coater. The LH drill bits sound like a promising approach if all else fails. Does anybody make a tool like vice grips except with less destructive jaws that screw/bolt/clamp closed? I'm thinking of a toothed clamp with a hex head.

I tried the vice grips, Jonathan, but I can't get a good enough grip. Maybe if I use a newer pair with sharper jaws. Wow, thanks for the tip about the thermo housing threads! Fortunately I haven't chased out any of my threads yet! Whew!

Thanks, Andrew. It's actually the forward-most #1 cyl exhaust stud, right underneath the thermo housing. I had already read your chisel technique and tried it. I did quite a bit of tapping, but unfortunately I ended up chiseling out a nick on the side of the stud. I even made a special chisel for the job with a very blunt edge, so as to avoid gouging the metal more than necessary. It's possible the metal is annealed, as I did use a torch to heat it. (That worked beautifully with the other studs.) Anyway, I'm afraid to apply that technique any longer. I don't want to lose too much metal. Maybe 5/8" of the stud is sticking out (from memory). The threads are all but rusted away, but the unthreaded portion of the base is still intact. The stud has gotten lots of WD-40 and PBlaster over the past couple of weeks. One approach I'm considering is to use the jaws of a pipe flaring tool to clamp the stud. The jaws should bite nicely. I suppose that's tomorrow's project. Today's weather has been miserable, but the sun will come out tomorrow.

Well, the rain gave me a bit of a break, so I was able to do a bit more work. I removed the thermostat housing. The righthand bolt was a glob of rust. The shank jammed in the thermo housing hole, and the head very easily snapped off. The long bolt came out just fine, and I was able to pull the thermo housing. Then I could unscrew what remained of the thermo housing bolt with only my fingers! I think I must have had a slow leak there that had soaked the various manifold bolts below it over many years. (However coolant water shouldn't be corrosive, should it? Maybe it's just that those bolts get more water exposure on the front of the engine.) Anyway I finally had better access to the frozen studs in the cyl head. With quite a bit of cycling between blow torch and freeze fracturing spray, I was able to remove all but the one that had rung off -- the very front exhaust manifold bolt. The threads were rusted away on that bolt, so there's nothing for a nut to grip. So I thought maybe this is the time to blow a bit of money on a cheap welder, so that I could weld a nut to the stud and (hopefully) crank it out. Maybe you get what you pay for, but I spent $100 on a light-weight 50/70A stick welder and gave it a go. I find it very difficult to strike an arc with the thing. I presume it's for lack of technique, as I'm a rank beginner. Anyway I did manage to weld the nut on a few times, but my weld was not strong enough to hold up to any torque. Very frustrating! Any tips on welding nuts?