Captain Obvious

And even if the lack of fuel pumping was caused by the eccentric, there should still never be fuel leaking out the back of the fuel pump. So make sure you double check that pump before you consider it good.

Love it!!! That's awesome! Many more to come!!

Here's a couple pics of Nissan's newer design spray bar. The distribution blocks are made completely differently and are made out of steel. The whole thing is brazed together instead of trying to solder to aluminum. So I don't know when the new design went into effect, but I think it was 75 or 76. And as for finding one, I see them on ebay frequently, although I didn't check today.... From that old spray bar thread, a couple pics of the new design:

I was wondering what the shiny stuff was. I'm less worried about the adhesion to the tubes. I'm more worried about the adhesion to the aluminum blocks. You can solder to aluminum, but it's really finicky. (and I've never tried) Thanks for the vote of confidence! I'll wear it with pride! Those old bars are just not worth the risk.

Yeah, it's going to take a little while for that to burn off. Unless you can hear a leak, it's probably fine. Stinky, but fine. After everything has heated up once or twice, maybe re-torque everything to make sure it's still tight.

When you know for sure about the fitment, let me know. If the international shipping isn't a killer, I'll help you recoup your losses.

Out of curiosity, how did the tie rod threads feel? There's another recent thread that talks about potentially loose threads on the tie rods: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/59717-tie-rod-wiggle/ Did you notice anything attention getting when you replaced yours?

Not sure what your last sentence means, but it sounds like you may have missed my measurements at the top of this page? In case that's what happened... I measured the OEM inner tie rod ends I have here and both sides came in at .545 (13.84mm) major diameter on the threads. So using that as a data set of three, it sounds like your left side is original and your right side has been replaced.

I wouldn't put that spray bar back in. I'd spring for one of the newer designs. Even if it looks good today, it's just a matter of time before that first design bar falls into the valve train.

That looks nice. Unlike the dash lights, the map light and dome lights are locations where "more is better". IMHO. I replaced my dome light with a multi-emitter LED festoon. I'm sure I posted pics some time ago, but since photobucket SUCKS, I'm assuming all those links are dead. Anyway, it's not like the sun, but way brighter than stock. Good enough for now.

I haven't looked into the details of when the change occurred, but the early cars used two independent more "traditional" looking grommets on the hoses. One per hose. That dual grommet with the hole in the middle looks like the one used on my 77. Mine is still intact, but it's crunchy. Same for the A/C hose grommet on the other side. The 260 HVAC system is very similar to the 280 design, and very different compared to the 240 design. Would make sense for a late 73 change to that dual style grommet.

Well that's an even better story! Hope it has a happy ending, and I'm sure we're all happy help more where we can!

Yeah, my test was just proof of concept to evaluate the evenness of the lighting. My conclusion was that if you could control the brightness down to a reasonable level, the light dispersion was very good. That's about as far as I went with it. I'm running a PWM dimmer as well, but it drops out at about 5-10% and even at that low percentage brightness, many LEDs are brighter than I want to run my dash lights. I have considered changing the map light over to a strip inside however. I think that would work really well. I'm currently running something from SBL in there and I'm pleased with it, but if I ever go back in, I may change it over to a portion of that light strip.

Cool. Let us know how that grommet fits. I like the looks of that. Looks like silicone instead of rubber? Don't remember... What year are you working on?

I measured the OEM inner tie rod ends I have here and both sides came in at .545 (13.84mm) major diameter on the threads. So using that as a data set of three, it sounds like your left side is original and your right side has been replaced. The hard part is doing this with just words. A "little bit" of wiggle to one person can be a whole lot to another. Depends on how much wiggle you can tolerate.

My pleasure and hope you get it figured out soon. Here's to hoping it's as simple as a defective fuel pump. Neat story, but out of curiosity, is the rust bucket "beyond restoration" the car you're working on getting running, or was that a second car included with your car as a parts donor?

Well that's not good. Regardless if the diaphragm looks OK or not, something is leaking there and it either needs to be addressed or replaced. Sucks that something like that would happen with a new pump. Is it a new-new pump, or a new-old stock pump? In any event, a ruptured or leaking diaphragm there could account for both issues. The leak and the lack of function. I guess it's conceivable that a stuck closed output side check valve could allow the pump to suck in a charge from the inlet side, but then force that charge out of a hard to see, small hole in the diaphragm. And, yes, change the oil. You don't know how much went down there.

What's the plan for the grommet? Does that fit the heater or A/C lines on the firewall? If so, where did you get it?

Cool. Looks like you might have turned one up! Snorkel.

Yikes! Those are twice as bright as what I already tried!! Steve... You know you want the headlights facing FORWARD, not towards the driver, right?

Probably reminds you of sunset on your distant home planet.

Haha! Sorry for the diversion and I hope you find what you're looking for.

I've got a pair of old floppy OEM inner tie rods here. When I get a chance, I'll measure the threads when I get a chance and let you know what I find.

I don't have a spare (or a lead on one), but I just wanted to say "snorkel". It's a fun word. Sorry.

narth327, I'm not sure I ever posted these, but I messed with those light strips a couple years ago as well. I'm not sure my retinas will ever recover!