Ed

When the Z engine overheats the head ends up warping. Usually causing the head gasket to fail and allowing water into the #3 or #4 cylinder. If you had a cracked block wouldn't the water be leaking on the outside?

I'm in beautiful Artesia. I'll leave Friday after work and get there sometime Saturday.

So, who's going and are you staying at the Anaheim Desert Palms Hotel? C-ya there .

Here's a picture for reference on a few bends to have the pre muffler or resinator in my case tucked away nice and tight.

Has this head already been run on this engine? If the cam is still new then you should be able to fix the lashpad/rocker to obtain a proper wipe pattern. But if the engine has been run for a while already then the cam lobe has already seated on the rocker. And changing anything might cause premature wear on your camlobe, rocker or both.

When I did mine I also painted them with POR-15 before assembly. Another trick to put the boot on and avoid damaging it on the sharp grooves was to put some duct tape over the channels. Then apply some grease over the tape and the boot slides on real easy.

Can't think of anyone in the NY area but if Maryland isn't too far for you try:http://www.zzxdatsun.com

Look at the backrest of the passenger seat. Where the hinge mechanism bolts to it. Is it my imagination or is there something wrong?

On a scale of 1 -10 maybe a 3. Remove belt Remove fan Drain radiator Remove bolts Break bolt, difficulty level jumped up to 7 Clean gasket surface Install new pump Use anti-seize on bolts Drink a beer Tighten bolts Install fan Install belt Refill with fresh antifreeze

If you ever decide to enter your car in a competition in the stock class you might want to hold on to the metal fan.

Me being one that doesn't like to get my car wet. I will use a damp rag and gently wipe down a section. Then I will buff dry. Then wax and buff again.

Nice, N I C E ! ! ! I want,,,,Drool.... :love: BTW how wide is the wheel? Do they come in different widths? Oh yea, did I mention that they are Nice. I like. MMMmmm. I hope to see several at the MSA show this April. I currently have 14"'s. But 15"'s would be ssaawweeeettt!!!!

I bet the owner feels about an inch tall. Don't these cars have the engine in the rear? So wouldn't most of the dammage be cosmetic?

Hey David, Glad to hear that your "first" trip went well. I'm still nervous about taking my car out for a long drive. As a matter of fact I'm quite paranoid. She's only got 60 miles on her since her restoration and I already broke down once. I will have to take her on a 70 mile round trip this week, wish me luck. Ed

If it's true you will feel like you won the lottery:). You will also have a bunch of "new" best friends.

I think that after you get her on the lift and get a good inspection of her you will be able to determine if the price is right. If that car was driven just one winter through the snow and salt she could be rusting from the inside out. As we all know the North Eastern cars are in very poor condition. I bought a 72 in Buffalo a couple of years ago the interior was in excellent shape but you couldn't find a body pannel without rust. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

I bought some of these last year and I'm very pleased with them. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DATSUN-240Z-260Z-280Z-Battery-Cable-Set_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33574QQitemZ7988778925

Best way is to accomplish this is to cc the chambers on the head. If memory serves the 73 L24 had flat top pistons. Check to see if you have positive deck height or negative, this also needs to be measured. Once you have all the numbers (piston deck height + head gasket + head chamber volume + bore + stroke) you can follow the formula to figure out compression ratio's. Then you will know exactly how much material needs to be removed. But be careful like Beandip previously mentioned if you remove more than 30 thousands you will need to shim the cam tower. I don't have my notes so I can't help you any more on figuring out your compression ratio, sorry. Maybe Phred still has his ears on .

Just a thought, but if there was damage done to the bearings would there be metal shavings in the oil? And if so, would attaching a strong magnet to the drain plug and running the engine attract those metal shavings to the drain plug? Thus telling you if the bearings were damaged?

Say what? How?

Maybe find a place that does rust treatments and see if they have some plugs that you could use. I wouldn't weld them either unless the car was going to get repainted. You might also be able to find rubber plugs at your local auto parts store.

Happy Birthday Gary, enjoy your cake! Hopefully it was a sunny warm day.

Dude, after thinking about it, don't start the engine without the valve cover. I imagine oil would be slinging everywhere. Not pretty.

I agree with Glen on getting that head to a machine shop to have it repaired. But my question is "What is the condition of the rest of the head?" Are the water passages at the bottom of the head corroded also? Inspect the rest of the head and make sure the rest looks better than the thermostat housing area.