SBK86

Thanks Diseazd, I didn't even know DatsunSpirit was nearby. I'm trying to figure out which parts in the engine bay were originally plated so I can do all at once. I found this picture at zeddsaver: Engine Bay Would you all say that's accurate?

Thanks guys. I tried to look up plating shops around here but apparently they changed the EPA laws a couple years ago and most of them were shut down in Maryland. I did email someone at zeddsaver to see about shipping everything out to get plated. If it's too expensive I'll try out that eastwood spray paint. Dennis, yeah I normally wouldn't care so much but since I already put in all the effort to get the carbs nice and clean I just want to make sure it's perfect before putting it back together again.

I'm an idiot. Apparently it's cad plating or yellow zinc chromate? I see that caswell offers a kit but I don't want to spend over $100 just to get the original look to the parts. Anyone have any other ideas?

I'm rebuilding my SU carbs and I'm trying to do a thorough job of cleaning them and getting them all nice and shiny. Some of the linkage bits were rusty so I dunked them in a jar of rust remover. Now they're all nice and clean but the paint is completely gone so they're metallic silver. The original color looks kind of like brass but I bought a can of metallic brass spray paint and it didn't match up. Has anyone tried to repaint their linkage back to the original color and have any tips? I'm not great with paint work. I've attached a pic of some restored ones so you can see what I mean.

I got a replacement cam gear from madkaw and everything looks much better! I made a hardwood tool using the instructions from my manual, here's a pic in case anyone on here ever needs that info: I had trouble getting the sprocket back on there and I was really worried I didn't jam that tensioner well enough. I had to really pry the gear up with a screwdriver while pushing it onto the peg. The '-' mark is on top of the V a bit. I may just move it to hole 2 later but I'll keep it as is for now. Next project is rebuilding the carbs with the kit I got from ztherapy. Thanks everyone for the help

That would be cool for my garage if I could get the tools as well.

Wow that's awful.. he probably spent more hiring the girl than he could get for that scrap.

Sure, if you'd be willing to sell your old one I'd be interested. I was also looking at this one on eBay: Datsun 69 83 510 240Z 280z 280ZX Camshaft Gear 13024 U8000 | eBay

I looked at the car again today to see if I could figure it out. I am curious what the 1, 2 and 3 marks on the outer edge are on the image in my original post. They don't line up with the 1, 2, 3 holes on the inner part of the sprocket. I couldn't find any other marks on the sprocket that might help me out. I did verify I'm at TDC. I'll post some images below to show the dizzy lining up at 1 spark plug, pointer is at the correct timing mark and the cam lobes are at about 10 and 2 pointing up just in case maybe someone sees something wrong that I did. So next I'm going to order a new sprocket, wedge the chain and install it like Diseazd suggested. Anything else I should be aware of when installing the new one? If everything is correct and it's at TDC it should look better once I install the new one... I'll update once the new gear comes in.

Thanks, yeah I agree. From all the pics I've seen online and all the manuals I've read, mine looks a bit off :/

Sorry forgot to mention I removed the sprocket bolt, I haven't done this before so I thought that might help me figure out what I'm missing. First two cam lobes are up, not straight up but they make a v shape when looked at from the front. Pretty sure its at tdc.. I'll probably just redo everything tomorrow and see if lines hp right.

Over the winter I'm working on giving the car a thorough tune up. Today's project was checking the timing chain to see if it has stretched at all. I got the car to TDC by using a ziptie in the #1 cylinder to feel when the piston came up then checked that against the mark on the crankshaft pulley. I then tried looking through the camshaft sprocket to look for those V and _ marks the haynes manual mentions. If I look behind the camshaft sprocket and down at the camshaft locate plate I can see the _ groove but I don't see a V indentation anywhere. I noticed my sprocket has three holes which differed from the 4 holes the one in the manual had.. so I checked ebay and found that my sprocket is actually a Cloyes part and not the original sprocket. Surprise to me.. is it possible that my sprocket doesn't have the V indentation to check for chain stretch? Is there something I'm missing? I attached a pic of my sprocket. Thanks again for the help

I believe so. I got through some of the coating with the wire hanger and then I hooked everything back up again. I gave the fuel pump a few more pumps with the valve cover off to make sure the lines were all primed. The car didn't start on the first try and I had killed my battery from all the attempts over the last few days so I had to jump start it. It then ran fine. I did just notice a small drip coming from one of the lines around the gas tank. I'm going to take a break for now and I'll jack it up later and check the lines again. I'm just glad I got it to the new house and I don't have to get it towed at the end of the month .

I got it running! It survived the short trip to my new house. Thanks for the help everyone

I think I might have found the problem. I removed the valve cover to get a better look at the fuel pump. It looks like its on the eccentric fine and when I manually pump it, it works. I disconnected the hose by the carb and gas shot out with one pump. I then reconnected the lines and gave it a couple pumps to fill the line. I heard a pop and gas leaking by the gas can. From all the pressure the return line to the tank came loose and was leaking. I then took a wire coat hanger and fed it through the return pipe on the gas can and it hit a wall and wouldn't go into the tank. The one thing I hadn't checked... I let a radiator shop that does gas tanks chemically clean and recoat the inside of the tank, maybe they accidentally sealed the return pipe. So I'm guessing air is getting sucked in from the tank and has no way to escape since the return is blocked which then builds up and won't let gas into the rest of the line. I'm gonna try shoving the coat hanger in a bit more to see if I can break through whatever is blocking it. I really don't want to drop the tank again.