Stanley

Did you already try raising the idle? Your engine was recently rebuilt, right? Race cams have a rough idle or so I've heard. Maybe it just needs higher idle to keep running.

Planning MSD 6A (from amazon)with stock points distributor. Will also get a coil and Tach adapter. Anything else I need to go with it? Do I still need a ballast resistor? One comes with the coil. Anything to watch out for? The box will go near the other electrical stuff by the passenger footwell, I guess. Not very experienced with electrical stuff so hope it's easy. Wanted the shop to install it but not enough money after tax day. Is it worth extra $40 for 6AL? Never redline it anyway.

So I'm not the only one who used a semi-automatic drill to modify an air cleaner.

Finally found my new cap and rotor and installed today. Made in Japan, thanks Courtesy. Now my whole ignition is made in Japan except the coil. Seems to be improvement but maybe I'm imagining it. Made three first gear, (AT) runs WOT from stop, one right after another, first two pulled to 5000-5300 RPM, last one bogged at 4300 but I kept it floored and it picked up to 5000. Before it seemed when it bogged it bogged and wouldn't pick up if I let up on the gas and floored it again. So maybe it's better. Maybe the coil is shot. Thinking about putting an MSD. They said it works with points, hope it won't burn them up. Nice Nissan points.

There's a bunch of other vacuum activated stuff on the balance tube, all emissions-related. The "flying saucer" thing, the anti-backfire thing, and (I think) the "hat" thing, all use vacuum. If you remove all that stuff, the holes need to be plugged (BSPT thread). Those holes are handy if you want to hook up a vacuum gauge.

I took my Chevy truck speedometer to a speedometer shop, had them turn it to zero after I had the motor rebuilt. Not that anyone would ever think the old '63 truck would be low-mileage - I just wanted to keep track of mileage on the new engine for break-in, maintenance, etc. But then I had to provide mileage for insurance. So I had to figure the actual mileage by adding the odometer mileage to about what it is was when I put the rebuilt engine. But then one year I goofed, and added 10000 miles extra. That put me in a higher insurance bracket. So I went to the insurance company and had to explain everything. They believed me, only because the mileage I'd been giving them was higher than on the odometer. I've had to shorten the story to lessen the boredom but that's the gist of it. Now every year they take a photo of the odometer. Would I do it again? Hell no.

Tested it again today, couldn't get it to miss when I accelerated a little slower, not quite WOT. Wonder if that means anything. Zed, found the envelope where I wrote down the timing last time, illegible at 1000 rpm, but 26 deg at 1470 rpm. That's about where it quit advancing. That's advanced from where it was before, and it runs better. What does California have against higher octane gas? Someday I want to get some race gas and see how it runs with 17 deg initial at 700 rpm, like it's supposed to be.

My truck started doing that, about six months after I had the engine rebuilt. Had the driveshaft balanced, finally fixed it by torqueing the bellhousing bolts.

That would be plus the initial (theoretical) 17 degrees, so 37 degrees total (if you could set it to 17 initial at 650 rpm without pinging. D606-52 suppose to be the best points distributor for performance. Can't look up the Y-70 specs now, building department needs more calcs for a shear wall, gotta work. Did take a ride, did a WOT run in first gear up to 5000 rpm, ran perfect. Stopped for a red light, about 30 seconds (plenty of time for the bowls to fill up I'd think). Made another run when the light turned green, felt weak at 4200 rpm. Typical. Beerman, that sounds right. Coil is Crane Fireball PS-40 about 6 years old, other stuff is a few months old except cap and rotor which I just wirebrushed recently, I'll check if there are new ones in the car somewhere.

Would new Nissan points in an almost new dist. float under 5000 rpm? don't know but wouldn't think so. D606-52 distributor has 12 deg mech. advance, all in by 1000 rpm, 11 deg vac advance, book (FSM) says set initial 17 deg at 700 rpm, good luck with that on CA gas. Set dwell 37 deg with dwell meter, book says 35 to 41 deg. Plugs looked good a month ago, can put some new ones, though. Floats set per book with sight glass, any higher gas runs out. Vacuum advance is hooked up.

That bumper looks better than mine.

So ignition not fuel? Because intermittent problem more likely ignition? Stock '73 240Z engine with '81 Skyline C211 head. Nissan Euro/JDM Distributor was brand new about 6 years ago. Checked timing about 3000 or whenever it stopped advancing, wrote it down somewhere. It gets to max advance faster (at lower rpm) than US emissions type. Anyway can't advance it any more without pinging. Even with a little octane booster. Dyno run two years ago, looked like A/F ratio dropped off at top end. Had some other fuel system problems at that time, dirty gas tank, etc., now fixed, so I don't know. Maybe I'll try another dyno run.

Is there a way to tell? I test it every time there's a clear road ahead and no cops, but so far it's clear as mud. About half the time it will pull hard with no miss up to 5000 rpm (no use going higher as it quits pulling - from my reading it seems to be inherent with the stock Y-70 head and cam, great mid-range though), but frequently there will be a miss (just feels like it's not pulling) at about 4700. Once in a while it happens about 4300. Only seems to happen in first and second (it's an AT) but it's hard to test it in high since 4500 gets me to about 95mph (on the speedometer, running slightly smaller than stock tires). Fuel pressure is OK, about 3.9 psi, only drops slightly on WOT. Car seem to be running great otherwise, gets from 60 to 90 very quick on the freeway, don't notice it then. 240 z, SU's with new needles and nozzles, floats set OK, Euro distributor with new Nissan points, plugs look good, new NGK wires, advance set to about 10 degrees at 1000 rpm (as high as it will go with barely perceptible ping when it's lugging - supposed to be 17 deg at 900 IIRC, but no go with higher compression Y-70 and 91 octane CA gas). I can have a pro race mechanic mod the needles (cheap) or put in MSD (expensive), but I don't have a clue about diagnosing this.

First you talk about a swap, then keeping an L6, now back to a swap. That's OK though, sounds like you want figure all the options. An L6 can go plenty fast, Pierre Perrot had one up to 160 mph at El Mirage in the 70's, and there's a member on this site that runs the quarter mile in the mid-twelves with SU's. If that's not fast enough you can turbo it or run a side draft belt-driven blower. For engine swaps, I like to see something different. There are a lot of RB twin cam swaps in my area but I bet they'd get some attention in Louisiana. Plus it's keeping it in the Nissan - Datsun family and it's a high-revver. How about a twin-turbo V6 from a 300zx? Probably some around in early Z's, haven't seen one yet, though. Or even one from a late-model Z-series. Or be a real iconoclast, find the biggest rotary engine available, and swap that in. Of course the best swap would be an S-20, with the 2400cc kit (available in Japan). That one would be pure Z-ness. Maybe expensive though. Nothing like that for me, just working the best possible tune and a few minor mods, and experimenting with shift points to get the best out of what I have. Also, especially for a sports car, sometimes going fastest is mostly about the driver and suspension. Not wrecking or getting tickets is important too. I think my car is fast enough. Well almost. Maybe MSD next, hear a miss occasionally at top end. Would hate for that to happen when I get a perfect light.

You'll need the float bowl gaskets, a can of carb cleaner, a can of lithium spray grease (for the linkage and nozzles, after using the carb cleaner). Don't drop the pistons/needles or use muscle on anything. After cleaning per Tlorber's advice, set the mix per FSM. Make sure plugs, points, cap & rotor, dwell and timing are more or less OK before setting the mix. Especially wirebrush and gap the plugs unless they're shiny. Figure about 5 hours if you've never done it before. Can be done anywhere, except in pouring rain. No use taking the carbs off unless you're sending them for a rebuild.

Also, there were a lot more cars when the MSA show was in the park, so many that it was almost impossible to check each one out. Maybe the local authorities that have jurisdiction over the park won't give them permission.

Do you need to smog the car in WA, and if so are they cool with modifications? I read that in CA if you modify anything and put a CAT and get the emissions even lower than required for stock, that's still a violation. F.I. is big mystery to me. Looks so complicated, but I've seen some F.I. setups on Datsun at car shows that look simple and beautiful. SU's also work good and are very simple. Not much in there to get confused about. Only problem is some parts are hard to locate, and some parts (nozzles and floats) cost five times as much as they did in 2007.

Rave on about Studebakers all you want; I'd gone too long without sleep when I posted that, anyway. Like to see a photo of that Paxton hookup ,though.

With the engine running and still cool you can take the radiator cap off and check if the coolant is swirling around in there. With no thermostat it should be some real rapids. Otherwise, maybe water pump problem or partially plugged radiator. Also test the fan clutch, if you didn't do that already. If you drive in a lower gear in slow traffic it will keep the fan speed up.

Haven't messed with the oil pressure sender, but I some other stuff on the motor I've tried is BSPT. SU's all metric. Originally plugged the balance tube holes with NPT and Teflon tape, but when I replaced the NPT plugs with BSPT they screwed in way nicer. Also the thermostat hose barb for the hose to the intake manifold heater tube is 1/4" BSPT. The hose barb for the heater hose connection of the back of the head is also BSPT. On the mechanical fuel pump (Kodansha), I tried a 1/8" NPT tee for the F.P. gauge, it wouldn't screw in at all. A 1/8" BSPT adapter (from M-C) worked perfect.

Maybe the smoggy pump could be rigged to boost pressurized air through the carbs or throttle body. If the hoped-for performance improvement doesn't materialize, or worse, the car won't start, it could be used to send fresh air into the cabin. In any case, it could be chromed, to add some extra bling to the engine. Plus it adds considerable weight to keep the front of the car down. It's got to be good for something.

Also, I expect The pitch of the WP impeller would have been designed to work most efficiently with the thermostat in the system. Real Nissan thermostats look like they're made better than the chain store type.

A fan shroud helps too, when you're stuck in traffic on a hot day. Without the restrictor, coolant might go through the radiator too fast, not giving it time to get cooled off.

New computers have way more power than one from ten years ago. And they're cheaper. Maybe check Win7 requirements before trying it on the old machine (unless you have a ultra-fast gamer setup). Heard some problems with Win8, haven't tried it though.

Using octane booster? I love the way my car's running with a little more advance, but there was a slight ping, almost unnoticeable. Put in some "Turbo Boost", can't hear ping anymore but it made the exhaust stink. Guess I'll try another brand.