Dobber

Nice job. I think you could sell those.

Hi Jenny. I would not use an inexpensive ft.pound torque wrench on the plugs, They really are not that accurate at the low settings. Don't sweat it. Just finger tight and and approx. 1/4 turn max.. It's not a lug nut, so just snug it up with the plug wrench. If you really want to be anal about it, get an inch pound torque wrench and convert the numbers. There's 160.00 that will lay in a drawer a long time between use.

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Glad to see that you are on the path to recovery. Yeah, that dielectric grease is to be used as a light coating only. Dielectric grease is not a conductor of electricity and allot of guys are using WD40. It cleans, protects against moisture and lubricates connectors.

I am at that exact same place with my sills. I am going the with a thorough wire wheel cleanup, ppg dtx579 metal prep, fresh water rinse, air blast and heat gun dry. Then I masked off weld areas and POR15ed the remaining areas. Pulled the tape and used a weld through primer on those areas. When it is all welded up, I will apply a rust inhibitor through the holes in the inner sill. That, along with its new pampered life, ought to hold the rust at bay for at least 20yrs. I'll be far to old to be worrying about it, thats for sure.

hilarious

Cool model, great bro. ChrisZ, I think it is hillariouse that someone would go to the trouble of laying protective blankets over the fenders.

Thanks for the moral support EScanlon. I was feeling somewhat unwashed. He,He.

Sorry, I stand corrected. You are right. It has been over 30yrs since I had my last Z and the one I have now is in the early stages of rebuild. Forgot how the system works.

Hey guys, go to XENONS30.com.. Go to references and select 1971 supplement chassis man.. Scoll down to a great pic of heater sys. Bavarian06, you definetly should be getting heat through your fresh air vents. the big flap is what cotrols this function.

0.018 - 0.022 in. You can just pull the coil wire, put the car in first, then push or pull car ( doesn't take much ) until the heal of the cam follower is on the highest point of the dist. cam, set the gap with a feeler gauge and thats as good as it gets. Still think you might have a mixture prob. but it will all come together with some tuning.

Thats great. ( not that you have a prob. with your dis. but that you have found the prob. ) Hope that puts things back on trck for you. good luck and pls. keep us updated.

T-stone, just went back over your post and you mention that you are waiting for a resister for your coil. If you have been running a coil that is ment to have a resister, without one, the chances are, that the coil is fried.

Are you sure that the timing chain did not slip a tooth on the crank when you took it off the cam? If engine was running ok before you did the swap chances are your carbs are at least in the ball park. If this cam is just one step up from stock, ( mild ) your timing should not be so far out that you can't ball park it with a light. I would be willing to bet that the chain has slipped.

I would go ahead and put the timing light on it. ( have not heard that one before ) At least its far better than a guess. There are many links for tuning S.U. carbs. Sounds like yours are out of wack alright. I trust you don't have any choke issues?

Aside from the obvious risk of snapping the fastener off and or striping the threads, no. I know what you mean, it is not always possible to get at a fastener with a torque wrench. At that point we all just fall back on common sense and a " feel " for something approaching proper torque for that size of fastener. Proper torque is a measurable stretch that is imparted to the fastener by applying a force to it. That said, there is no way in hell I would ever attempt an engine rebuild or brake and suspension repairs without a proper torque wrench.

Thanks for the input guys. ( thanks for the link Patcon ) Thats pretty much what I expected to hear. This is my 4th Z and I have owned countless British cars, all with S.U.s. I agree, you cannot beat a good set of S.U.s ( that are not wore out and sucking air ) and I am used to tuning them. Will sell this setup and find a good pair.

You need to look at the whole picture in a realistic light. If your expectations exceed the ability of the car to deliver, you will never be happy with the performance. Changing the cam will not force untold h.p. from the engine. That will only come with making the best out of what you have, with proper tuning and attention to detail or a complete rebuild. Remember that even when the car was brand new, there was probably only about 135 rear wheel h.p.. The fact that the car was so light, made it a fun car, of its time, to drive. Out of the box the Z was never and will never, be a super car. Thats why you see so many components being offered by aftermarket manufacturers. Rebuilding any car, let alone a 40year old car, is, expensive, time consuming, skill set reliant and will take up a fairly large area of the shop, yard, house. Not trying to lay a bummer on you, just saying that when it comes to owning these older cars ( unless your rolling in the dough and can just have someone else build your dream car ) is a commitment that can't be taken lightly.

There are many, many variables that can affect the power output of a particular engine. You state that it seems to pull smoothly throughout the rev. range. I guess this is without stumbling, missing, bogging etc.. Does this car still have smog setup? Does it have a cat. conv.? If so is it plugged? Is your air intake clear? Have you checked the timing with a light? Your valve lash prob. does need to be set, but I would check some of the easier stuff first. How old is the fuel? Are your brakes dragging? Its hard to compare older tech. with new. I.e. Honda 4 banger. Even in poor tune it could give the Z a run for the money. Take it a step at a time and systematically check through the systems. You may also want to do a compression and leak down test to get a good base line. Good luck. Anything can be fixed.

This is the first time I have posted, so hope I'm not screwing things up here. Just wondering if anybody is running an aftermarket intake on there 280z. I bought a 71 240z with an L28 engine that has a Clifford manifold and a 500cfm Carter. there is also a 390 Holly that came with the car. From what I can determine, the 500 is prob. to much carb and I would be better off installing the 390. Is anybody using this setup?