Chickenman

You can get all sorts of Y-Pipe merge collectors from Flow-Master, Hooker, Walker, Howe, Dyna Tech, Schoenfeld etc. Any decent Muffler shop should be able to adapt one easily or even custom make them ( Not Midas ) . Just a matter of measuring the Primary pipe sizes and picking your collector size. Flow-Master makes some very affordable 2 - 1 Merge collectors in various sizes. 2 - 1 Merge pipes I've used the Flow-Master 2-1 merge pipes as a Y-Pipe on 3rd Gen F-Bodies. Nice merge pipe and inexpensive.

MSA 3-2 header design would be better for street IMHO. Tri-Y setup emphasizes mid range Torque. 1 1/2" primary size is a good compromise for good Torque and Top end. . 1 3/8" Primaries would be a bit on the small size for either 6 -1 or Tri-Y IMHO. Tri-Y and up to 1 5/8" Primaries are a very good combo from my experiences on an L24 to L28. The MSA 15-6003CH design also fits ST and AT. For " Round " exhaust ports. Get it with the 2.5" exhaust adapter. Neck down to 2 /1/4" for your exhaust. No biggy. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic19d/15-6003CH

Yes, exhaust manifold nuts are crimp nuts. Nylon inserts would melt. Regardless, Crimp nuts are a one time use only and Nyloc's really should be used only once... but you can usually get away with one re-use ( Nyloc's )... in non- critical areas. High Strength Loctite + new Lock nuts = peace of mind Edit: Jet nuts is an Aviation term. They are a high grade alloy crimp nut:

That is what is called a Jet nut or Torque Lock nut. They have " crimped " sections to prevent the nut from vibrating loose. However, they are a one time use only. They are also probably not factory as Nissan usually used Nylocks in critical areas.. Torque or Top lock nut. Note the crimped section. One time use only!! Nylock nuts with Nylon insert: Nissan OEM style Nyloc. Note the " Tall " height compared to picture above of SAE Nyloc:

Nissan uses Nylon locking nuts from the factory on these. What was on yours? Nylocks can only be removed a couple of times before they must be replaced. ( Technically, they are one time use only ). I always use Loctite on any suspension fasteners, even with Nylock nuts. ( Belt and suspenders ) Same with Brake caliper mounting bolts, drive shaft/half nuts and anything else critical. And I liked using the high strength stuff on larger fasteners ( 8mm and up ). The medium strength stuff I didn't trust, except for small fasteners ( less than 8mm ) . On the Race cars, I always looked at a fastener and asked myself: . What would happen if this bolt fell out at 120+ MPH? Usually the answer had visions of great carnage in a big ball of fire!!! I have a somewhat vivid imagination... but It's served me well over the years. Edit: Same thing on street cars, although the MPH was usually less... and the carnage " slightly " less violent.....

OK, I understand now.... I think. You are running the Toyota Pickup 4 Piston Iron calipers. And you have a spare set of Toyota 4 Runner calipers. I knew that the 4 Runner had 4 piston calipers, but I didn't know that the Toyota PU also had 4 piston calipers.

I'm still not sure what 1979 Pickup calipers on on there. Are you saying they are 1979 Datsun Pickup calipers? Because that should make them a single piston sliding caliper design. Is that's what's on there Tom? If so I would defiantly change back to the stock Z caliper. The sliding type calipers tend to flex. The factory two piston Z calipers are a fixed mount and are actually pretty darned stiff if my memory serves me correct. Stiff is good in brake calipers and other things..... Either way you definitely want the dust/water shields on there. Can you take a picture of your setup? Just curious....

^ Yeah, I'm rather confused.... First Tom says he has stock discs. Then he says he's thinking of adding a shield over the disc. Then he's not sure if the stock shields are in place. Then he says he's thinking about adding 4 Pot calipers. Then he says he has 79 Pickup calipers already on it ( I'm thinking the popular 4 piston Toyota Pickup calipers ) ... At this point I have know idea what he has????

That's the Toyota 4 runner calipers? Well if they already on it it's a done deal. No big worries. The big deal is when you start changing rotor diameters and pistin volumes. Clamping pressure is controlled by piston volume. Doesn't matter if you have two large pistons or 4 smaller pistons. As long as the piston " Volume " is the same ( or reasonably close ) then the Clamping force is not altered too much. WilWood has a chart for calculating piston volumes for various Piston sizes. Comes in very handy when doing caliper swaps.

Squeegee's aren't necessary when everything is 100%. ZCarDepot has some Hawk HPS pads for sale at $59.95. The Hawk HPS are a known good pad in the rain. 4 pot calipers are nice, but not really necessary on the street IMHO. The stock Z braking system on the front is actually pretty good. More than adequate for the street and Autocross. If you consistently run track days, then you may want to run bigger rotors ( to dissipate heat ) and 4 piston aluminium calipers ( to dissipate haet from fluid ) . We ran in ICSCC D-Production back in the late 70's and early 80's and could out brake C-Production Porsche 911S's with just a few modifications to the stock braking system ( Ferodo DS11 front pads, cooling ducts and " Green Stuff " rear shoes ). We never ran out of brakes and this was on a Track that was VERY hard on brakes ( Westwood ). Rules did not permit us to upgrade brakes, so we had to run what the car came with. The rear brakes need upgrading to discs if you do upgrade the front. So it can start running into a lot of $$$ Be careful about running larger brakes up front without doing something to increase rear braking force. You can end up with too much front brake and actually increase stopping distance, because the front's lock up too soon. It's a common mistake with people upgrading to Big Brake Kits. It's all about balance.

^ Ditto

I'd look at E-bay or our regular vendors for used brake shields. Edit. There's a couple of sets on E-Bay right now: 280Z Brake shields I absolutely would not try and slot or drill any standard rotors at a machine shop. Good way to have a rotor crack. Those aftermarket slotted rotors are usually made out of cheap alloys and infamous for cracking and exploding on track days. They are NOT the same as drilled Porsche rotors that cost $700 + Each. Buyer beware. The aftermarket slotted rotors are much less prone to cracking, but they are not needed if your braking system is in tip top shape and you have correct pad materials.

It would be wise to give the brakes a complete service if they haven't been serviced in a while. All pistons must be free, sliding caliper carriers must be cleaned and lubricated, guide pins as well. Pad contact areas must be lubricated where they contact the caliper. This is often over looked when changing pads, but is an part of a proper service. Rotors should not be glazed or polished or have any unusual wear patterns or run-out. Dust/Splash shields should be in place. Wheel bearings should must be properly adjusted and have no play. Pads must not be glazed. Once all the above criteria is met, then a Pad compound may be required if you still have problems stopping in the wet after a long run on the Freeway. BTW, I always brush my brakes occasionally in wet Freeway driving as well. Especially if you start getting into traffic after a long run. Nice to know the darned things will work when you REALLY need them.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with you on Pad material Mark. It can and does make big difference in braking, IF you are unfortunate enough to get a set of Pads that exhibit this problem. I've had it happen a few times on different cars... and these cars all had very well maintained calipers and rotors. Most of them were Autocrossed in the wet as well, and cold stopping power really shows up in that scenario. Note that my very first sentence I stated that the braking system had to be in 100% condition, before considering a Pad compound change: Naturally if you have sticking pistons ( or binding calipers in a sliding design ) or any other issues as mentioned, then those issues have to be fixed first. Not disagreeing there. But some brands of pads truly suck in the rain. I have learned to avoid those brands over the years. Edit: The lack of brake rotor shields on Tomohawks car can also be a contributing factor. In fact a very large factor.

You don't have any shields on the front brakes? That's not good. Someone has removed them at some point. All Z cars came with brake shields. Illustration #20 & 21

Assuming that everything else is 100% in proper working condition ( No stuck pistons, glazed or polished rotors ): What brand of brake pad are you using? Pad compound greatly affects wet weather stopping performance, particularly on that first application after a run on the Freeway for example. Living in the Pacific Northwest this problem raises it's ugly head with cars more than you would think. Especially with aftermarket Pads. I've found some pads to be down right scary, second others grip right away. There are a few brands that I have found work quite well. Most Premium quality semi-metallic pad seem to work quite well. Bendix Titanium II or their Premium Semi Metallic Import line works well. Pagid Semi Metallic works well. Hawk HPS seem to work well. Tex-tar semi-metallic's work well, as do Mintex and Ferodo. Generally, semi-metallic's seem to be pretty good in the rain. Exception being some Raybesto's compounds. I've found some of the so called " Ceramic " brands and " carbon " pads to be quite terrible in the rain. The worst pads I ever had were Stop Tech and WilWood " Polymatrix " Tans " ( Old compound... absolute isht ). " House " brand and " cheaper " brands are a gamble. Another thing that definitely helps, is to run the factory brake shields. A lot of guys remove those when running bigger brakes and that will cause issues in the rain. Always try and run the brake shields... they are actually designed as Rain shields to keep water off the rotors. It's relatively simple to make some larger shields out of aluminium sheet or SS sheet if you have to. Audi did a recall on early A4's ( 1996 to 1999 )when they had an issue with wet weather stopping. They were originally running a " half size " brake shield . They had to install a full size brake shield as they had severe wet weather braking " Delay " when running in the rain on the Autobahn. I had a set of these full brake shields installed on my used 1998 Audi A4 as soon as fall the fall rains arrived ( Vancouver BC ). The full shields made a big difference. Currently I have 12" WilWood rotors on my Z but no brake shields thanks to the PO. I don't drive the Z much in the rain, but full size brake shields are definitely on my fabrication list.

1973 240Z . Rock Auto appears to have two solid state voltage regulators available. AirTex Wells 1V1250 at $36.89 and AC Delco E661 at $49.79

If you are still using an external VR, you can get these in Solid Sate models now, instead of Mechanical relay styles. The SS style are much more accurate and reliable. The SS models have an outside cover that is about half the height of the Mechanical relay types. I believe that Rock Auto has some Solid Sate models available.

This quote is from a local wholesaler of Import parts who has been a Weber dealer for about 40 years. May prove helpful in making a choice: http://www.the510realm.com/viewtopic.php?t=7708

And Mikuni's Solex's have removable emulsion tubes as well, mind you there is not a great assortment of them. " A ", " B " and " O " if I recall correctly. You do not have the assortment of emulsion tubes to mess around with like Webers. I don't know if you would call that an advantage or disadvantage??? Mikuni Solex take purpose built Mikuni jets and E tubes, which are not interchangeable with Weber's. SK/OER are a Mikuni/Weber hybrid. Body of a Mikuni Solex but they take Weber jets and E-Tubes.

L6' s with big cams sound so sweet!!! Now ya got me all excited about getting my Z out of winter hibernation and taking her out on the road!! We had a cold snap the last couple of days... and they salted the roads. After about a month of rain had cleared everything clean. Rat Bastardo's!!

Can you post a picture of your coil mounting? I'm mulling over various ideas for coil setups.

1977 and Datsun 620 PU's ( L20B engine ) came with an optional FS5W71B, as did early 720 PU's ( 1979.5 to 1980 ) which came with an L20B and a 5 speed option. 1981 Model year was the introduction of the Z20S NAPZ engine. The Truck FS5W71B's had stump puller gearing. Really short first gear ratio and 4.375 rear end gears. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun_Truck

Thanks for sharing.. Hmmm maybe I'll sell the Haltech and get some Triple Mikuni's.. decisions decisions...

Speaking of starting in 2nd gear... I used to race Datsun 1200's back in the mid to late 70's. Had some pretty trick stuff Nissan Comp stuff in that car. A-12 FIA head ( Uber rare now ) , Twin 44 Mikuni's ( Yes 44's .. that's no Typo ) , Electromotive valve train, 7 qt Nissan Comp aluminium sump, 8 lb Tilton flywheel, fully adjustable Nissan Comp suspension and an Ultra- Close Nissan Comp 4 speed. Dynod at 142 HP ( crank ) at 8,800 RPM. I shifted at 9,200. 4.36 gears with spool. Car weighed a minuscule 1,405 lbs...with fuel cell filled 50%. No minimum weight in ICSCC. Had to make the car weigh 1,600 lbs for SCCA... and that just killed the performance. The UC 4 speed was pretty rare. 1200's weren't homolgated for 5 speeds back then. Nissan basically threw out 1st gear, and used a stock 2nd gear ratio ( 2.169 ) as the new first. . We had a super tight hairpin at my home track ( Westwood ) and it would be first gear in my car. The UC gearbox was perfect in that car, as it had zero torque or power below about 6,000 rpm. I'd exit the hairpin with 7,000 on the clock, then it was row through the gears as fast as you could at 9,200 rpm. Thank heavens we always had rolling starts though. I was a real SOB to get rolling from a stop. Engines were bullet proof. I'd get a season out of them easy.