Ed

Rebuilding an engine can be fun and educational AND it can be a pain in the rear. If everything goes smooth and it goes right you will save 700-1000 bucks. Parts alone: Rings Bearings Gaskets Bolts Tools Etc.. Do you have the facilities? Do you have an Engine stand or an Engine hoist? Torque wrench, feeler guages, sockets, hammers, pliers, etc... You can do some of the work and save some money. Like pulling the engine. Then take it to a shop and just let them rebuild it. Read your books on how to do it and see if your up to the challenge.

Answers: 1. No you must remove the corner pieces under the headlight buckets where the turn signals are bolted to. Thus removing the center valance since the valance has no place to bolt to. 2. No more center valance. 3. Yes it goes behind. 4. That flange is where the spoiler is secured to the car. Looking at your pictures it looks like the spoiler is used. I can see where there are holes that have been drilled and the corner looks like it has been shaved. Park you car on a flat surface. Get some 2x4's & 1x4's. Make 3 even stacks in front of your car, place them so that the bottom edge of the spoiler will sit on the stacks. Move them around and increase/decrease the height to get the spoiler to sit exactly where you want it to. If the front bumper is removed it will make installation a lot easier. Mark the holes at the bottom of the headlight buckets. There will be two on each one. The spoiler should also bolt to your fender, unfortunately it looks like someone shaved this portion off. There are a total of 8 bolts that should hold the spoiler, four on each sided. Two on the bucket and two on the fender. Take a closer picture of the rear top corner so I can see how bad the corners have been shaved. Once your holes are drilled I would recommend using fender washers with your bolts. HTH Ed Edit: I've drawn on one of your pictures, hopefully it will help clear up what area I'm talking about.

You can try http://www.zcarcreations.com/ they don't list any water pump bolts but a phone call might get you a step closer. FYI Home depot has very little to choose from when it comes to S/S. Especially metric. Try looking in your phone book for a place that specializes in bolts. And worse case scenario you replace with new oem from the dealer, use plenty of anti-seize on them threads. http://www.zcarcreations.com/ Edit; use second link, first one doesn't work.

Pretty interesting, I would have never thought. Carl, that picture you have looks identical to what's in the kit. I wonder if there are any cars out there that still run with this set-up.

I saw this on ebay. I was wondering is it really possible? One SU carb with a turbo? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/vintage-datsun-z-car-draw-thru-turbo-setup_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ003QQitemZ130012174778QQrdZ1

If you do a search you will find this very topic discussed several times. But to give you the shinny. Yes, people do put tranny fluid in there engine. The high detergent helps clean out deposits. Good for stuck lifters or valves. Not good for an engine that has a lot of oil gunk built up.

You can get some at NAPA. They have a cheap zinc coating that will appear to rub off as you handle them. I had mine replated so I don't know about the durability of the original coating. Remember that there are two different sizes. I think it's 9 long ones and 3 short. Take some old ones with you to match them up.

I just finished installing a MSD6AL. Everything works great. Just one question. My MSD unit buzzes. Is this normal?

I use this really soft foam rubber that I picked up at a local parts store. It's kind of like the stuff you use to line your toolbox but without the holes. It came in different sizes and is big enough to cover the entire fender. When I'm done I can roll it up and put it in my tool box.

Before you do anything try and loosten up the two butterfly nuts that hold the guage in place. They have a tendancy to seize up and make it a bear to get out. Once those come off you can undo the cable and lights from there it should pop right out. I hope you are skinny because laying on the floor with your head up against the pedals is quite uncomfortable. Lay down a blanket for comfort and take a few small flashlights with you. Prop the flashlights in different areas and hopefully one will illuminate your project. Also be carful not to accidently dislodge any other lights. Sometimes one will come loose and you won't notice until your done and driving down the road at night.

I paid 3 bills to have my head shaved .030 on the bottom, .010 on the top, 6 intake valve seats replaced (I provided the seats), and two stud holes filled and retapped. If they are replacing all your guides I'd say $300 bucks is about right.

Unless you are planning to do several other modifications to your engine the header will just be money spent on something you really didn't need. There is nothing wrong with the stock cast iron exhaust manifold. It seals better than the header. If you are going to stay mostly stock on the engine stay with the stock manifold and get some new piping made up. Then on the other hand if this is the first step to additional modifications then the header is the first step. Spend the extra $150 bucks and get ceramic coated or take them to your local powder coater and have some high temp powder coating put on them. Either one will decrease underhood temps and prolong the life of your header. They will look better too. You could order a pre-bent system but you will probably spend just as much having one custom made and the custom bent one will fit better. I drove my car with only the headers on them to a guy who custom bent 2 1/2 aluminized steel tubing. I went with a resonator along the driveshaft and a Flowmaster exhaust. It is louder than the stock but at idle has been mistaken for a V-8. When you start working you will probably want to remove your intake manifold as well since it shares 1/2 the bolts it will make everything more accessable and you will need to replace the gasket anyway. I used a little bit of high temp copper sealant on the manifolds to insure a proper seal. My first gasket developed a pinhole and so far with my current gasket it's still sealed. After you have access to all your studs soak them with some PB Blaster. Also have a torch ready incase you come across one that is a bit tight. Carefully replace all those studs. Put it all back together and then take it to a shop that can custom bend you a new exhaust. NOT Midas or some other commercial exhaust place. CUSTOM! Here is a picture of mine:http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=18480&cat=500&ppuser=1052

Good luck with your new job.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll do some more shopping.

O.k. I'll bite, it sounds a little confusing. First off changing your plug wires around, put them back. I hope you have a service manual. Let's start with the easy stuff first. Make sure your wires are correct. On the distruibutor cap and at the plugs. Then move your engine to TDC. Which direction is your rotor facing? In your service manual there should be a picture, if not search around here and you will find several pictures. IMO it sounds like the oil pump/distruibutor shaft is off one tooth.

You seem to already have some modifications to make you go faster, how about a modification to help you stop? Like a brake upgrade? Toyota 4 piston calipers, vented rotors, and some S/S brake lines.

I usually start with a nice little temper tantrum. I got caught coming back from a car show, couldn't help it and no place to hide. I usually end up cleaning the car afterwords for hours. But like you if there is a chance for rain she isn't coming out to play.

I'm wanting to put a large 2-4' vinyl letter Z on the side of my trailer. I went to a sign making place today and this is what I got. To make the digital image would cost $30. Each letter which will be 28" x 28" and cost $70. Custom color add another $20. I've never done anything like this so my question is, should I keep shopping for a better deal $70 seems a little high. And if I did do this would anyone else interested in something similar or smaller? Maybe get a volume discount?

In the stock "mode" there is no rear wheel adjustment. There are however some aftermarket products that will allow you to change the rear end geometry. FWIW when I take my car for an allignment I tell them to do all four. And I ask for a print out of the results. This is good information to hold on to incase you ever decide to make suspension modifications.

Please post some pictures of the event. I'm really interested in the size of the Z community in Miami.