Stanley

All this time, when I want MPG, I let the AT shift itself (about 2200 to 2nd and 2500 into 3rd, when easy on the gas pedal), but maybe I had it all wrong. After all, stick usually beats AT for mpg. Because of shifting at a higher rpm? For performance, I shift about 4700 - per dyno run and the operator's advice - for my setup, sorta stock - this worked well at the strip, beating reported best times for AT stocker by a couple secs. So when to shift for economy? To stay in the best torque zone? Guess it would would be similar for a stick, a little different with 1 or 2 more gears. Concerned with around town driving, on the highway wind resistance (increase per square of velocity) would govern and I would be in good torque zone anyway. It's counterintuitive, but maybe I should shift manually and let it rev more for better economy?

On the linkage between the carbs, close to the rear carb, there's an adjustment screw. Turn that to open more throttle on the front carb. There's more to it than that as you know (see the video), but it's a start.

It was a long time ago cause I don't remember which car it was but anyway it wouldn't start. Got a push from somebody and after pushing it a long time it finally started, and somehow that "fixed' it.

Maybe Clifford Performance would be one to contact. Sadly Jack Clifford (6=8) is gone but the company still exists. I checked their site a couple years ago and they didn't have much for sale, checked it yesterday and the web site has improved with a lot of items (still nothing like when Jack was alive) but only US cars. They used to have cams, intakes and headers for Z's and 510's if I remember right. Whoever owns it now must still have the design drawings for that stuff. Their headers are the bomb - got em on my chev truck. They're also showing a bunch of throttle body F.I. stuff.

Nostalgic Hero is by far the most beautiful car mag I've ever seen. It's about classic Japanese (almost exclusively) sports cars and from the few issues I've seen looks like there's something for Z-car people in every issue, interviews, hi-def photos, tech articles, even CD's of classic car shows and nostalgia races. Wish they'd put out a version in English. Wish a subscription was cheaper than buying it issue by issue online or at the bookstore, but no. Import Tuner seems to have a Z or ZX in about every other issue - usually with a wild GT-R engine swapped in.

Don't know if this is helpful but I made a pair of velocity stacks from plastic plumbing parts from the hardware store. The white piece fits and matches carb opening. However, I never installed these - running MSA stacks in the K&N's that seem to add performance, especially at mid and high rpm, no data to back that up though.

Is there any maintenance - oiling etc - that can be done without taking the motor apart? Searched the topic and read about corrosion in the gears but would rather not take it apart since it works now and I don't know beans about it. Don't want to wreck some unreplaceable part if that could happen. If it can't be oiled from outside I'll leave it alone til I know more - it's a hassle reinstalling the plastic panel. It makes less noise with WD-40 on the antenna every few months.

Turn signal switch - not the whole assembly (was $300 at MSA a few years ago, now $500) but the actual switch - in a little plastic cover at the back of the switch. This is the part that burns out from current going through it. See fried one in the photo. Also, rebuild kit for mechanical fuel pump, fuel tank....

Don't forget to disconnect the battery before you hook up the new starter - otherwise you can touch the wrong part with the power wire and blow out the fusible link - like I did once. No corrosion on the terminals, right? That will have the same symtoms. Bad starter sometimes makes a rapid series of clicks without turning the motor over. Put a new battery in the truck last month. Lost the recipt from the old one but autozone still had it on the computer. Got a nice discount on a new one because the old one was top of the line with a super-long warranty.

Got a rebuilt starter for Z at autozone for about $50, maybe 5 years ago. Works perfect.

No expert, but - New battery - best (most expensive) one that fits in the car. Check the alternator later. Running lean if you need to choke it. If it's SU's reach under the carbs and adjust mix screws to move the nozzles all the way up - count how many turns it takes for each one and write it down. Then turn them down where the were plus one more turn - just until you can do a real mix adjustment. If that doesn't work you've ruled out the easiest stuff. If they're flattops then someone else would know. My 73 automatic was a mess to start except on warm days til I dumped the dual point and put a single point distributor.

Don't know.

Dave's headlight relay upgrade harness at MSA. Save the turn signal switch, they're expensive. Could make one cheaper yourself, with the know-how, but these are very nice, plug and play. Black Dragon has some ok stuff, but their cheapie relay harness from China didn't match any of my connectors, finally trashed it.

Within a day or two of buying my car a few years back put in halogens and a new windshield. Noticeable difference in the lights even in the daytime. Unsafe to drive if you can't see. On a lonely desert freeway, the 8, found out the halogens aren't up to a top speed run, though.

Autozone sold me pre-flared lines and loaned me the bender for free. Only worked on brake lines once before ( a tiny job on the Datsun) so wasn't very confident but it was easy. But .... this was on the chevy truck which is way up there, plenty of room to work without ramps. I don't trust the big chain outfits. The locally-owned independents rely more on repeat business and word of mouth recommendations. They might have a higher quote, but more apt to stick to it and do the job right. Some exceptions of course.

Datsun's been running lean for a while, to busy (yes! finally work!) to fix it, lost a race against my neighbor's hot rod crx couple weeks ago. At least the mileage was good. Set mix today, don't know where everything's set, was just tweaking the idle screws and mix nuts etc til the flowmeter and push pins were right, so I'll have to go back and see where it's set. Took a ride, a huge difference, felt the G's pushing me back in the seat. Hope it's not too rich, don't want to foul the plugs, but didn't see any smoke.

Like the leather better, but the stitching looks better on the suede one. Saw a Mazarati 4 porte parked on the street - beautiful light brown leather dash, looked all hand stitched, no machine. If you had it done by a pro the cost of leather would be nothing compared to the labor.

Off topic since it doesn't eliminate points, but if you're going electronic because the stock distributor is worn and new ones are NLA (MSA had them up til a couple years ago) you can get new ones from Japan (see Nostalgic Hero ads and elsewhere). They probably have the sportier JDM or euro advance compared to detuned USDM.

Tried the sight glass from ZT. It's pretty simple, looks like a bleeder screw with a clear tube attached. Guess you could make one pretty easy. They have handy clips to hang over the vent on the lid. Just take out the drain plugs (3 screw SU's) and screw them in. Marked the front bowl 22mm down from the top of the bowl, 22mm + 3mm from rim of lid to bottom of lid = 25mm like they say). The bottom of the lid as shown on FSM is not a good reference point since you can't see in with the lid on. My front carb was about 9mm low, figured it was low but worse than I thought. Finally got it right last night. Went back today and set the rear fuel level 23mm from bottom of lid or 20mm from the top ot the bowl. Nevermind the gasket thickness - close enough. Took a ride, Datsun seems to like it, but maybe set the mix again tomorrow. The sight glass is also handy to drain out the bowl - makes it easier to rotate out and remove the lid/float assembly, something I had to do about 10 times.

SUCARB looks about the same. Don't know. $24 plus shipping from GB (which they don't mention on the site) is kind of pricy. The ZT video has a section about British SU's that I skipped the first few times that's worth watching. Noticed that the new float valves (MSA) have a thinner pin that contacts the tang on the float. If it contacts the tang at an angle it wobbles instead of shutting off the gas. It would be nice to source the old style valves too.

Sorry Bruce, figured you'd know if anyone did, but just didn't want to believe you were right. No floats. Considering it's technological complexity (slightly more than a popsickle stick) and a going price of $17, I'd think think someone would want to manufacture these things.

Source for new nissan SU floats? Called Bruce, ZT has some used ones, then called the local shop and will drive over there to get one, also used I guess. But nowhere to order a new nissan float? MSA (catalog shows it for $17) is out and doesn't know if they'll have them again. Zcar AZ lists it for $120 (what !). NAPA online shows a kit for the 240Z (yeah right) with a trainload of gaskets but no float. Autozone gave me the cross streets for a possible. Come on Nissan, cough up some damn floats. My front carb is way lean due to float setting which I might have messed up previously. The float on there is a type that's hard to adjust. Can't get it to sit level without putting muscle on it - don't want to try that until I've got a new one here in case. BTW thanks ZT for the sightglass.

No biggie for me, just trying to get from a 15.7 et to the high 14's without spending any money. Guess I take those tenths of a second pretty seriously. I'm a civil/structural PE so I know a lot about boards, no help with this stuff. Glad to be learning something. Hope it helped the original poster. He said his car was far from stock, so every little bit helps, maybe.

Just trying to find a convenient way to record performance changes after little tuning tweeks and mods.

Sorry if this is off topic but it seems like my best chance with engineers on the thread. With the dragstrip a long trip away, and the dyno a once a year thing due to recession, been doing 0 to 60's and mapping steady state revs at various mph to check the tune. Is there some way to turn this information into torque numbers to predict next dyno run? How to account for wind resistance? Does (tire) size matter?