Kurbycar32

I cant speak for your vehicle specifically but i also elected to replace my catalytic converter in my mustang of the same era. the one that shipped with the car in 1982 weighed like 50 pounds and was as big as a 2 large pizza boxes stacked on top of each other. When i did the exhaust on that car I replaced the cat with a modern one that weighed like 3 pounds and took 1/4 of the space. If your cat is larger than an actual cat consider replacing it when you do your exhaust. again this was on a mustang, i have no idea what the datsun cat looks like

Ethanol eats old rubber fuel lines but typical gas contains only about 6% ethanol so i wouldn't imagine immediate effects . If you have changed your fuel lines in the last 10 years your probably fine. Ethanol fuel also goes bad faster but stabil makes a ethanol specific version of their fuel preservative now.

You dont have what model car your working on but since its AC the vent system is mostly the same. I have a 260z with a Factory service manual and the AC section of that book actually has extremely detailed information on troubleshooting air flow. To confirm i downloaded the 260z manual from here: http://xenons30.com/reference.html and opened the AC section. Figures AC 7-9 show how the valves should be opened for vent, AC, and heat operation. From your description i would assume that your mode door is either stuck open; because of the vacuum mode door actuator valve not working or the seals around the mode door are gone and leaking a bunch of airflow. Page AC-47 has a flowchart on diagnosing this type of problem but is mostly what i just listed.

The BBC (i wish only) version is actually a full 60 minutes. When its rebroadcasted on BBC America they cut out roughly 20 minutes of awesomeness to make room for commercials

I just dropped off my early 260 firewall insulator at a place called quiet ride solutions in stockton CA, they said they supply LMC which is the parent company of black dragon. They took a detailed CAD outline of my firewall and made a template that fit my car exactly. They definitely have a 280z firewall insulator and as of today they have a 260 as well. http://www.quietride.com/ i have no ties to the company, just awesome service

LeonV has a good point here about the horsepower ratings. This was also the era of correcting inflated horsepower numbers which is why i made sure to say the 280z advertised less horsepower. Datsun (and everyone else) was combating increased weight from crash safety requirements, tough new smog laws, a horsepower rating reduction (on paper) and lower octane fuel (lead free) all at the same time. If anything due to the rapidly evolving laws of the era I speculate that automotive development in general was moving as fast as it could.

Was the 280z rushed? Thats really the question isnt it? Much of this is speculation collected from various things i have read online unless someone with more information can lay out Datsun's official plans. The displacement was increased partially due to reduction in performance because of the extra smog equipment, the 280z advertised less power than the 260z even with the added displacement and new fuel injection system.

Its cool, im not taking anything personally. My main complaint against the WBO2 is that it basically requires installation on every vehicle. Yea the bungs are cheap but you need to cut a hole and weld it into any exhaust system you plan on testing which is not practical for tuning your buddy's carbs. They dont work on v-twin bikes and on 4 cyl street bikes unless you have one bung per exhaust port its a guess and check game to see which carb actually needs adjusting. I actually can tune a carb by ear but that skill comes with experience which the OP admittedly has none because carbs haven't been commonplace for decades. I dont dispute that colortune is obsolete and no its not a serious tuning tool. Colortune's main advantages are that its totally portable for use on basically anything that uses a spark plug, its inexpensive and will give you a decent starting point all while being totally usable by novice mechanics. I appreciate the 14Point7 lead though, I haven't seen that setup yet http://14point7.com and have been looking for something i could use for serious tuning \threadjack

Excuse my french but those orange engine bays are both effin clean

I think most of the 260z's short life is due to the bumper laws. From what i can tell as late as early 1972 the bumper laws still hadn't been finalized to go into effect for the 1974 model year which i suspect was later moved to 1975. There was also a separate law in California that required 5mph bumpers beginning in 1973. Since the cars are designed and even built years ahead of time i think Datsun was caught a bit off guard and scrambled to make the already deigned 260z compliant, and then rushed the 280z into the market. I found an NTSB status report from Dec 1971 speculating about if the national bumper laws would be passed as well as the California bumper law http://www.iihs.org/externaldata/srdata/docs/sr0624.pdf

I did the same thing to my car though my rust was trivial. https://sites.google.com/a/thecomputerrehab.com/260z/body/cowl

Flame on! Seriously though I would appreciate a link to an affordable, portable WBO2 tool. All of the ones I have seen are over $300. I don't dispute its value but remember us younger guys haven't had to tune a carb by ear, carbs were basically non-existant on cars a decade before i started driving. The colortune wont give you a complete tune but for 60 bucks you can throw it in your toolbox and use it on your motorcycles without welding o2 bungs into every vehicle you use

Here is the current state of the motor. Its functional but i would like to clean things up a bit more. Those are Weber DVG carbs, the origional square mouth carbs were rusted out and beyond rebuilding. The Valve cover was sandblasted in the front yard, painted with BBQ paint and then i polished out the upper areas

it wont break in half or anything functional but yea if you stretch the rubber too much it will break and you will have a slit or burr around your trim. A glass shop would have more practice but they wont guarantee no rips in the seal.

assuming your new moldings have the channel for the metal trim you can put it back. I did it myself with a plastic trim removal tool i bought at harbor freight and a ton of soapy water. take your time and try really hard not to break the rubber. Wear some latex gloves to keep your hands from getting soggy and cut up

Some of you guys will probably flame about this but the colortune tool helps out quite a bit when your a novice at carb tuning. At the very least tuning at idle will give you a decent starting point which at the moment azkyinc is nowhere near, then follow the guidelines ozconnection suggests for actual tuning. Here's a video demonstrating colortune: Its also my opinion that carbs almost never need to be replaced. A full rebuild will replace basically everything that isnt metal so unless the carb is rusted out it can be saved. Carb tuning is a lost art i was only able to pick up because of motorcycles and even local old timers haven't dealt with it in so long they have lost their touch.

Im a mediocre welder and was comfortable welding exhaust and new floors. the suspension though.. Id hire a pro for that one. Cost of failure is way too high

Yup. I'm pretty sure the cutoff is 9/74

As an early 260z owner i can tell you this is going to be an important distinction and you need to double check compatibility of pretty much everything you buy. Some catalogs list parts as fitting 260 but what they really mean is it fits a late 260 and 280 model. This forum has been awesome in helping with those questions but definitely check twice before you buy anything.

Window rollers for the drivers side

If you suspect a relay (i do) they are pretty simple to test with 12 volts and a multimeter. Find the relay in question and follow this video:

My own experience is: 1. It was easy to drop the tank and clean the whole thing up inside and out. 2. There's no shortage of tanks lying around in junk yards here 3. Several other tanks are available, i think someone said RX7 and Miata tanks fit but dont take my word for it 4. Fuel cells are available for the hard core But thats me, maybe its hard for you to find a replacement junk yard tank in Texas

I get parts from them all the time. The guy orders stuff from Nissan Japan and claims he can get just about anything. Super nice people

Yup i see it now, major bummer. BGM has the best plan i think. My car was painted in the 90's with the rubber in place (ive since repainted) and while i wouldnt choose to do that the paint job didnt look terrible around the seals, its not a bad option

The dryer is full of sylca beads that absorb moisture and after being exposed to the elements (or being 40 years old) it looses its effectiveness anyway. I would suggest not re-using the dryer even if you had it. I have a 260z that came with the dealer air, i just removed it and am installing a 280z system in its place.