Matthew Abate

Madkaw, what's your power and look like? Where does your car really start to pull? Diseazd, I think we'll end up sending him a cam to regrind based on that conversation, so it'll be internally oiled. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

UPDATE: We talked to Ron Iskendarian this afternoon and had a really good talk. - Told him we wanted to stay under .460-inch lift at the valve so that we could use the stock springs, but that we were willing to do the extra work needed if a cam wasn't available. - Let him know we were after a really strong low-end and mid range, and that I didn't want to worry about bogging down off the line in traffic; that I wouldn't be tracking the car but would be in hilly terain on two-lane highways and wanted "spirited" performance; that durring long distance traveling I would be on the freeway. - Told him we were looking for a mild performance hydraulic cam if we could get one but had not found one yet, and that if need be we would use a mechanical but still wanted to stay under .460-inch lift. - Asked for a suggested camshaft to fit our build. Also talked about the build in general, letting him know we were increasing compression and freshening up the top end; that we would use the SU carbs. If we needed more carburetion because of the cam, then I would look at tripple Mikunies on the Harada manifold, suplemented with a good header and free flowing exhaust. He asked about the condition of the cams we have and suggested that, even though I thought they were trashed, he might be able to clean them up. The Hydraulics will be harder to re-grind (he didn't say why) but I might be able to have hydraulic lifters after all. In fact, he suggested using one of the stock cams unless they were all wasted. He thinks that with the increased compression and displacement in the L28, the car will act wonderfully for my purposes with either the mechanical or hydraulic cam. But once he looks at them, he might also be able to regrind the cams to give me a more agressive profile. Depends on the condition of the cams. Cost wise, he told me that it would be more important to make certain the cam towers were in the best condition possible, to prevent variations in the cam timing. That is something I have Our machinist looking into. Ron mentioned, also, that its important to use the stock rockers with any cam because its the rocker that's harder than the cam - even the original Datsun camshaft - and the stock Datsun rockers give the best performance with the least wear to the cam/rocker surfaces, regardless of the cam I buy. He was glad to hear that I bought new rockers from Nissan. So... Soon, probably before week's end, I'll send all three cams to Isky, addressed to Ron, himself. He told us to address the package to him personally so he could handle the evaluation, then get back to me. I imagine turnaround will be about three weeks.

I must have misunderstood some else's post about getting the matteness right.

Once I have a running motor I will let you know. I'm waiting for the numbers to come back from the machinist and for this conversation with Isky to happen before we move forward with one. In other news, I just got off the phone with Courtesy and they confirmed that the rocker pivot they have is just the skinny pivot itself and not the entire assembly. When I mentioned that I'll try to get some from a junk yard they suggested finding a machine shops that might replicate them. Not sure if it's worth the effort, but I know of one so I might ask.

Just found this: "The 240Z / JDM S30 etc., 1969 - 1973, fender mirror option has part numbers 96301-E4100 (RH) and 96302-E4100 (LH) - these are the black, round face mirrors. I have had stock of these and can confirm that appearance. These mirrors continued into the 260Z / S30 models (late 1973 and onwards), but another option was added - part numbers 96301-N3400 and 96302-N3400." http://zclub.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19548 I also found this thread about some fender mirrors that look like the OEM wing mirror. They look a hell of a lot like the optional Nissan 1200 Sunny / 510 fender mirrors that pop up on eBay once in a while. http://www.viczcar.com/forum/topic/11863-early-style-fender-mirrors-as-found-on-early-chassis-id-ie-up-to-hs30-1000/page-3 In that thread you'll find a link to a PDF with the short stalk ones I mentioned earlier (46 & 47): http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=145648 It also links to this thread that had a ton of part numbers: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/17034-a-theory-rhd-hs30-model-standard-exterior-rear-view-mirror-fitment/#comment-135797

No, I have two p90as that came with hydraulics and one p90 that came with solid/mechanicals. Four of my mechanical rocker pivots (lifters/tappets) are rounded from being seized to the cylinder head and I want to replace the rocker pivot bushing on those before I reinstall them so they are torqued correctly. When it comes to the ZX heads, I have read and watched all of this stuff. I know what goes in what and what's compatible and not compatible with what and how to swap the hydraulics for mechanical/solids. I was trying to find the part number to make sure that the parts Courtesy Nissan has listed as "lifters" are in fact what I need, and it seems they aren't, but I'm going to call them anyway. In the mean time I need to find another source. I found a couple of n47 heads for under $30 so I might grab those. Looking locally first.

Update: it's not the rocker pivot nut lock. That's just the jam nut that keeps the pivot in place. I need the cylindrical base that the pivot threads into and the jam nut pressed against, which is the pivot bushing (13215-A8600) and NLA. The one on the left is the assembly in talking about: Gonna call Courtessy in the AM anyway to see what they can pull off.

YES! I did fall into that trap, because everyone and their brother on these forums calls them hydraulic or mechanical lifters. BUT! I have dug into this site I found in a thread when I was looking for the club CD so I could get the part numbers: http://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/Z-1969-1978/engine-280z/camshaft-valve-mechanism You can see they have the full spread of numbers for the entire valve mechanism, so I think I'm good on that front. It's the Rocker Pivot Nut-lock (13235-U0100) that I need to replace. Bonus: autocorrect keeps changing nut-lock to nut-lick. Not sure what that says about me. Edit: looks like this fixed my immediate problem. Courtesy and Zcardepot both seem to have the screw, the nut, and the spring in stock. Let me know if you guys have any pro tips I should consider, but I'll probably buy a full set of all three plus lash pads once I talk to them.

Suspension looks great! Did you go with flat finish or is it satin. Hard to tell in the photos. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The long and short of it is that we rounded the hex on three of our mechanical lifters when we stripped our p90 head, so I'm looking for replacements. I and trying to figure out WTF is going on with the parts on courtesy Nissan's site because they've been closed. I'll call them tomorrow to see if this is in fact the complete lifter or if it's just the skinny threaded part that pushes the rocker arm. This is the only solution I can find for buying lifters of any kind (mechanical OR hydraulic) short of grabbing up heads to strip parts from, or crossing my fingers that I can get a good set on one of these forums. The other option is use a p90a and one of the two sets of good hydraulic lifters I've got. This will be dependent of my dad's conversation with Ron Iskanderian whenever that happens.

Yeah, that's where I pulled it from, but if you google "13234-21000 Nissan" you only get two sites that say "lifter" but a whole ton that call them other things, and the illustration looks like it's a 510 rocker pivot like this: http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/BfoAAOSw7XZXgNp1/s-l225.jpg I saw there's also a part with the number "13234a" but I can't tell what it really is. Do these two parts together comprise the entire lifter?

Can anyone confirm that the part number for tappets is 13234-21000 or provide me with the correct one? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've seen chrome short ones around but over $500.

Let me know if you figure this out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No offense taken. You might be right that I'm getting distracted. But I think you missed that this is an F54 block, so it's already at 86mm. The question is going to 87mm for a tiny increase in power or saving the $150. As far as the head is concerned, we are fully taking care of the head. This is a situation where every component of the engine is getting examined and upgraded where it will have an effect. I was going to just run my E88 engine, but when my dad picked up this turbo for $80 we thought we would go nuts. So far we have about $650 in the thing. The Pistons will be about a grand, but he would have done it whether I put it into my car or not because that's what he does.

The compression will be 9.9 either way. The $150 is the cost to bore six cylinders only. The cost of the Pistons is exactly the same whether they are 86mm or 87mm. Everything is literally the same except for the bore in this scenario, and I think the gain in PS/HP/kW is cancelled by the increased mass, at least partially. If I could find out what the factory specs on an L28 set up like an L26 (same or similar head, fuel system, etc.) I would at least have a place to start, but I can't find specs on an L28 anywhere. L28e and L28et? Sure, all over. But nothing from 1975 with factory carbs. I suppose the flip side of this would be if it's only $150 and nothing else is changing why not do it.

I brought it up at the very beginning of my Z lifespan, mostly because the seller told me this had been done and I was sort of incredulous. I'll be stripping the car, so his effort will have been a waste, but one of the body shops I spoke to said they would probably do it anyway. I think it sounds like a great way to cause a rust problem. One thing I WILL be doing, though, is spraying the inside of the roof with Lizard Skin or something similar to cut noise. Switching gears, right now I am looking into the gains that come (or don't) from boring. It turns out that my block and crank are pretty much immaculate. The machinist said I will probably be able to just go with a quick hone on the cylinders and polishing the crank, so we are trying to decide whether or not to spend the $150 on boring it out. This will have zero impact on the budget beyond the machining costs, but I am suspicious that the performance gains would be canceled out the increased weight of the pistons. From what I can tell from the internet, there's no one out there who has figure out what boring to 87mm will do when no other changes are made. Going from the gains from the non-US 240z to the non-US 260z was about 10-12 PS, but that was accomplished by increasing the stroke. Going from 83mm (L26) to 86mm (L28) is inconclusive because I can't find data on the L28 that came with carburetors other than that the Nissan 280C only made 127 PS, probably because of the head or other junk. I need to figure this out so I can move forward. If going to 87mm won't change the budget other than the $150 machine cost and won't change compression because the pistons are being designed after this decision is made to hi 9.9 no matter what the bore is, the only real considerations are how much mass will this add to reciprocation and how much PS will I get?

When I was a kid I used to use paper towel and superglue to make a cast to reinforce the inside of the joints on my models. I'm wondering if carbon fiber adhered to the inside of the roof with some kind of thin adhesive might do it.

That would be my dad's 5.0. He's going nuts with that thing. Last we talked he just finished fabricating a K-member and front fenders to move his engine back multiple inches, rebuilt his carb to sit sideways to eliminate fuel starvation in corners, and fabricated a baffled oil pan with wings to bring his capacity way up. He's in Arizona, so his oil situation has to be just so. In other news, I bought an Exedy clutch kit that can with an FX flywheel off eBay. Hoping this is as good as I have read and won't regret getting a separate flywheel that's a little nicer. I decided not to get a lightened one in order to keep rotating mass near stock to keep inertia up at idle and reduce the tendency to lug down the engine from stop, even though I expect higher-than-stock torque numbers. I also just bought a set of brand new OEM rocker arms. Let me tell you about my little rocker-arm-research saga… first I was about to go insane and buy a set of Kameari rocker arms off RHD for over $600. Then I looked into it and found a couple of places where people recommend that the rocker arm be softer than the cam in order to reduce cam wear. This sounds logical at first, but then I realized there is a reason Nissan brazed on different metal. The three pieces in question (lifter, cam, and arm) are all different hardnesses and there is some intention in having different metallurgy for each contact point. So the ZCC CNCed ones are a no go from the start and the Kameari don't provide enough information to verify that they are or are not going to match with this design intention. I had been reading that the OEM arms are super hard to find, so I looked into sending the 36 arms I have from my three heads in to have them done at Rocker Arms Unlimited, which Madkaw had recommended as superior on another forum. This would cost me $350 or so including USPS Priority Mail in two directions. Just having 12 done would be $217. After a little research I found new OEM arms at Z Car Depot for 36.99. This came to $460 after shipping and seemed like a pretty good price until I realized that if they can get them brand new on a regular basis, they are probably available from Nissan. I really like the guys over there, but every time I go to buy something from them I either find it for less somewhere else, or the shipping expense pushes me toward something else. I dug around a little more and finally found a few part numbers (13257-W0300,13258-21002, and 13257-21000) on the Nissan parts site. A quick google search and, lo and behold!, Courtesy Nissan has them for $29.13. The little secret is that they came on 1984 Maximas and have not been discontinued yet. All told $363.53 shipped. I chose to go the route of 12 brand new OEM rocker arms from Courtesy Nissan for about 50% more than the junk on eBay or having the ones I have reground, and $100 less than Z Car Depot. I still have my pile of 36 arms that I can send to Rocker Arms Unlimited if I want to have spares or sell them, and I don't have to worry about whether or not I got a good grind for my initial application.

It's actually at the machinist now, so all clear, but thanks for looking out. Normally I keep all this under a staircase in the basement with ratchet straps holding everything in place and 4x4s wedged in as bracing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

More tear down pics:

Not an issue. My dad lives there and would manage the project, as he has several others. However, I have not made a decision yet. I am still talking to other local shops and looking at how I can get portions done in other ways for less. Might have solved the metalwork part.

So some more thoughts on paint while I keep pulling crap of this car. I really like the idea of a black hood, but I am not a fan of just the hood. It's defeats the purpose (cutting glare). This looks rad: So I messed around with an orange one I found on speed hunters in photoshop and ended up with this: And then I thought about this color on this BMW M1, also from Speedhunters: And came up with this: Anyway, back to work.

Some progress on the brake and clutch lines.

Update: getting quotes from two places in Tucson and talking to a third. Looks like we can definitely knock off a significant portion by sending it out of state. One guy said he can do the work for 1/3 to 1/2 the price with the exact same list of tasks. We'll see what happens and what the quality levels are like, but right now it looks like I need to figure out how to get the car to Arizona. Regarding reassembly and parts labeling: with the things I've pulled off the car myself I have been following all of the advice above, but when I got the car about 3/4 of the parts were in cardboard boxes, so reassembly is going to be... a project.