Chickenman

Any one have any tips on how to flatten out a warped Spare Tire cover? Mine was in good shape, but I had a Tail Gate water leak and particle board cover got wet. As luck would have it, my Tool Box was sitting on top and warped the cover. Cover is in really good shape, and I'd just like to flatten it out. I was thinking one of those Steam heaters and then some weight on top, or maybe wetting it down again and putting a sheet of Plywood and heavy weights on top? Your thoughts folks? TIA

A standard lock washer should work fine if it's not too thick. I also use Red Loctite on all critical bolts.

Well.. I finally got things set right. The extra advance when cold does help the car idle better. Ended up going with the factory recommended 6 degrees of extra advance when cold, as I had already bumped the timing to 12 BTDC ( 7 BTDC stock ) . Car is still too rich when cold. New ECU CTS. But it's an aftermarket part, so I'm going to check the resistance values when cold. Might be out of spec??? The CTS is definitely working though, as the engine runs fine after about 5 minutes. Unplugged CTS as a quick check and car would barely run and belched out black smoke. AAR valve is new and works fine. 78 style AAR hose routing.

Where does one get a pre-drilled aluminium fuel rail for our cars? TIA

That's awesome news Scott. So glad you got your car back. I'm going to be making some " Disable " modifications to my Z ASAP.

Or maybe I'll just pop the hood if I'm stopping at a Rest Stop for a Coffee or something. Might be the easiest " temporary " solution. It may not even happen again once I replace the alternator. Going to be a Hot summer in the PNW...so I guess I'll find out soon.

Re-visiting the Primer button. My idea was to use it for a bit different purpose than what Fastwoman may had noted. My idea was to use the Primer button to get Fuel running through the Fuel Rail and back to the Fuel tank via the return line. This to purge any vapors in Fuel Rail. Not overly concerned about the small amount of Vapors in the Injectors, Those will readily clear in fairly short order. It's when you get Vapor Lock in the Fuel Lines that really causes the big problem. That takes a lot of cranking to clear. With the Primer button, you can purge the fuel lines without running down the battery cranking the engine. Then when you do use the starter, the big vapor lock in the lines should be gone. The Injectors will clear relatively fast. The rough running issue is secondary to the " No Start " issue for me.

OK..thanks for that. One less thing I have to do. I think part of my problem was that the Battery was low due to a weak Alternator. I couldn't crank the engine long enough to clear the Vapor Lock. Never mind evening out... I couldn't even get the danged car started before the Battery gave up. New alternator soon to be installed.

Pouring some cold water over the fuel lines and Injectors worked for me. It's a pretty standard fix for Vapor Lock. Edit: Autocrossers often carry a small pressurized Garden sprayer. They spray the Intake manifold and Carb down between rounds, particularly if they have Multiple drivers and are making back to back runs or " Re-runs ". I used one when I Hillclimbed. Sometimes a car would crash when you were next in line and the event would be put on hold for a while. Everything would heat soak in the engine bay. Crew would pop the hood and then spray the Carb and Intake Manifold down with the water sprayer. If this wasn't done car would bog off the line and you would lose time. Also worked for cooling off the driver who was slowly baking, sitting in a 100+ degree car and covered in a triple layer Firesuit

It's basically what the market will bear. And NOS will demand a higher price than Repro's to the right person. What I would recommend is doing a Google search for those Part numbers. I searched for " Datsun 85005-N3400 " and immediately came up with some searches that said between $85 and $95 USD for that Part number. However, the searches did not show if those numbers were still available. What I would suggest is go down to your local Nissan Dealership and talk nice to the Parts guys there. They can do a search to see if the Part is still available at any locations in the USA/Canada or ordered from Japan. I'm fortunate in that I have some Parts Managers in my area who are old timer enthusiasts and really like to dig into the old stuff. Now. if they come up with an " OOP's " ( Out OF Production code ).... it's basically whatever you feel comfortable with and what the Market will bear. Edit: Regarding bumpers. The metal parts can be re-chromed of course. Where the real money seems to be in Bumpers is in the rubber parts such as bumper fillers and Bumper ends. I just about fell over when I started looking up replacement filler panels and bumper ends for a 1976 280Z. While hideous, these things are not cheap...even for used ones.

Well I did some poking around the hood and discovered a few things. I have an non webbed Intake manifold, but my heat shield is full coverage with no holes between # 3 and # 4... so that was a nice find. Might be a ZX heat shield as it's an F54 block with N47 head. PO had chromed the Heat shield so it should be nice and heat reflective. Injector holders are Phenolic or " Plastic ". Not sure if those are a factory revision or not, but nice to find. From their " as new " condition, it looks like they've been replaced at some point. BTW, my car is a 1976 Arizona car ( 48 State, non-Catalyst, non EGR ) Also, I did find that the " old " alternator ( LT150 ) was weak. I've suspected that for a while. I did a load test on it with a known good V/regulator ( new ). At cruise rpm with AC and headlights on, blower fan at #4, alternator was barely able to maintain 12.2 volts. So that's an actual discharge rate. With slow cranking rate and low fuel pump pressure/volume due to partially discharged battery, I think that was enough to prevent the Fuel Rail from being purged of Vapors. I have a new 60 amp alternator ready to be installed. With that and a Fuel Pump " Prime " button, I'm hoping that this Vapor Lock issue will be solved.

If indeed the backfires do coincide with the fuel squirting out of the Banjo bolt fitting, here is what I " Think " could be happening. The backfire introduces a sudden release of gas bubbles in the fuel inside the float bowl. This does two things. 1: Causes an immediate geyser like fountain of fuel that sprays upwards from the bottom of the fuel bowl. Via the fuel hose connected to the Jet holder. 2: The gas bubbles cause an immediate and dramatic decrease in the density of the fuel because of aeration. Thus the float drops to the bottom of it's travel. This of course leaves the Needle valve open, and that is how the fuel spray can get past the needle valve. The Fuel Bowl vent tube would not hamper the event from happening...although I would expect to see fuel being spayed out of the vent tube as well. However, if drain hoes are connected as per the stock setup, you may not notice the fuel dripping out of the vent hoses as they drain underneath the heat shield. It's the same phenomena as Oceanographers have discovered in Volcanic regions of the Ocean floor. Sudden massive release of Volcanic gases or Methane pockets can sink a large ship in seconds. I don't know if this is what is really happening... but this could be one possible explanation for this weird problem. More of a " Brain Teaser " than anything else. Just throwing some ideas out...

Replace the crush washers with new, Make sure that you get soft aluminium crush washers or soft copper. Some " brake banjo " crush washers are made of a harder alloy to seal high pressures, but they may not seal properly because the Carb Banjo bolts are going into an aluminium boss and you can't tighten them enough. The harder brake washers are for Iron calipers. The reason you are getting fuel blown out of the Banjo fittings is a result of the " Backfire " creating back pressure in the fuel bowl. It will send a positive pressure pulse back through the Jet holder and tubing, directly into the Float Bowl and cause a " Fuel Geyser " like Old Faithful.... Edit: As others have pointed out, a backfire can pressurise the float bowl... but it shouldn't cause fuel to squirt out of the Banjo fittings.

Deleted post due to " Foggy " memory....

AirTex E8312 from Rock Auto = $60.79. That's what I've been using on my 76 280Z and they work just fine. It is however, very important to install a Fram G3 between the fuel tank and fuel pump as others have mentioned. These newer style pumps use a Ceramic Turbine to push the fuel. They are a lot more sensitive to small dirt particles than the old Vane type OEM pumps. Tolerances in a Turbine style pump are a lot closer than Vane style pumps.

^x2 Add a Fram G3 filter as Siteunseen has suggested, and immediately replace the main Fuel Filter if you haven't already done so. If this is clogged it can cause the symptoms you describe. The factory filters are still available from Nissan After 10 years storage it wouldn't surprise me if it was clogged full of gunk.

Yep... that name sounds familiar. Did he used to work at Surrey Nissan?

Yeah..I'm going to be looking at all the fixes. Seems like Plastic injector holders, sealing hole in Heat shield under #3 and #4 and a Fuel Pump priming switch may be the things I try first. Later on, if I go Mega squirt, I may go with an aluminum fuel rail. Right now I'd like to keep the factory fuel rail system due to restoration value. Edit: Ceramic coated headers will be on the cards as well. When I get those, I'll probably add some a reflective Thermal insulation to the back of the factory heat shield.

Just had a really bad case of Hot Start syndrome. Only 2nd time I've had it with this car. Both times temps were in the 90's and AC was running. Long cruise up to Whistler area this morning. Stopped in Pemberton at around 11:00 AM. Fairly cool on the way up and no Traffic. No stops on way. No AC required. Edit: After lunch, the Sun had cleared the Mountain tops and the ambient temps soared. 95 degrees F. Ran the AC all the way back and had fairly heavy traffic. We stopped after about 90 minutes driving, in Britannia Beach for a Rest Break. Really hot outside. Stopped almost exactly 20 minutes and there was no way the Z would start again. Engine bay was like an oven. Popped the hood, poured some water over the fuel lines and waited another 15 minutes or so. Finally got the SOB started and it ran rough for about a minute or two before she cleared up. 1: Chevron 94 fuel. No ethanol. Bought in Coquitlam BC ( Metro Vancouver ). 2: Headers, but no thermal wrap nor are they Ceramic coated. Soon to be changed!! 3: Factory heat shield in place. 4: 1976 model so has no hood vents. 5: N47 head with exhaust liners. 6: AirTex Fuel pump. 1 year old. Edit #2: I think I may have a leaky Cold start valve. Something I will have to check further. I have it electrically disconnected ( for testing ). I wonder if having that disconnected made the Hot Start situation worse?

The Federal Sate distributors on 75 and 76 Z's, have two sets on pickup coils inside. Just like the early 510's with dual points. One pickup coil is mounted on a slotted plate, so that it's orientation to the reluctor can be " Phased " or " Off set" from the Primary pickup coil. This " Secondary " coil PU is adjusted so that it Advanced approx 6 degrees from the Primary set. The advanced PU is only used during the Cold Run period and is controlled by its' own separate Water Temp switch, with bimetallic contacts. After certain coolant Temperature, the WTS switches over to the Primary or " Retarded " PU coil, for emissions purposes. The extra ignition advance when the engine is cold stabilizes the idle and aids Drive-ability. It has an added benefit for us " Hot Rodders ", in that big cams like more advance at idle than a normal cam, and tend to be " snarky " when cold. So you can play with adding more Cold Running advance by adding a bit more " Phase split " when the engine is cold. Ignition timing will vary depending when you set it. Hot or Cold. Something you must be aware of. Still experimenting with mine as I didn't get it right last night, and I have a different issue going on with excessive richness at Cold startup. Slowly getting there though.....

Siteunseen: Yes I have AAR valve rerouted as per 1978. Doesn't really seem to make make any difference to start up other than keep the AAR Valve cleaner. . Capt Obvious: Cold start valve leaking? Now there's something I haven't thought of. I'll plug off the line and see if that helps. It's definitely not something " normal ". Wonder if it could be an injector sticking when cold? I'll have to get them serviced. Took the car on a long cruise today up to Whistler. Car ran beautiful. Tons of power and Torque. Had a bad " Hot Start " problem today at a 20 minute " Rest Stop ", Rare for this car, but it was stinking Hot out ( 95+ ) and I was running the AC all the way back, till we stopped. Had to open hood, poor water over Injector lines and wait about 15 minutes till I could get it to start. Gonna have a good hard look at that Cold Start Injector ". Keep the ideas coming gang.TIA.

I've had this problem for some time now. 1976 280Z. Car has always been pig rich on cold start. Once it warms up it's fine. This happened with the old engine with the Stock Camshaft and the new engine with the 280 degree cam. Things I've checked and changed. 1: New ECU CTS and new harness connector to sensor. Have used DeOxit on all connections. 2: Cold start valve has been completely disconnected. Doesn't seem to make much of a difference if any. 3: Plugs, cap, rotor and wires all new. 4: New thermostat. 5: Just re-adjusted dizzy phasing. PO had it set up so that ignition timing was " Retarded " 6 degrees on cold start-up instead of being advanced 6 degrees. Setting it right has helped warm - up... but the excessive cold richness still remains. And it seems to be intermittent now... 6: New AAR Valve. When it behaves, cold RPM goes to 1,500 then slowly settles to a nice steady1,000 RPM AFM seems to be fine. We set it up on a 4 gas analyzer and it's spot on. It had not been previously dicked with. After about 3 - 5 minutes of running, engine smooths right out and excessive richness goes away. Any suggestions as to what I might have missed? Car pulls HARD to 6,500+ and I've recorded 28 MPG on highway. Just this rich start-up issue.

Wow!! What a difference changing the phasing made. Car was super snarky when cold and you had to play a " tap Dance " on the accelerator pedal just to keep it running. I just did a rough adjustment on the phasing , but now car runs at 1,500 rpm when cold and then slowly settles down to a nice " rumpety " 1,000 rpm idle as it warms up. ( 280 duration cam in car ) . Will check timing figures tomorrow. Was up til 2:00 AM trying to figure out why AC is intermittent.

Glen Goodwin at West Coast Nissan in MapleRidge, Bruce Yeo at Morrey Coquitlam Infinity and Marty MicKinney at SouthSide Nissan in Vancouverare all guys I know and have worked with. All are Parts Managers, old farts ( the best kind ) and all either Raced or are Racing enthusiasts. Don't really know any of the guys on the South side of the river or out in Chilliwack. Worked with Bob Simms for many years as well, but he's long retired. The name " Len " is familiar, but I just can't quite put a face to it. What' his last name? Gord Hemmerling also works at Morrey Coquitlam Infinity. Gord was for many, many years the " Go To " guy for Nissan Canada's Regional Warehouse. He was the guy we called on when we were stumped or needed an Emergency order ( " Ship Today " ) ... this guy is an Encyclopedia of Datsun/Nissan knowledge. Mention my name to anyone of these guys.... and I'm sure they'll charge you " Retail +20% ) ...

So many interesting things in this picture....