AK260

I was mere millimetres from buying a set of these (and a front + rear spoiler) from BRE a couple of years ago. But after the third time and a month of chasing them for a fully posted quote, I eventually went cold. VTO were very responsive with prompt replies. But by this point I had lost the impetus and found something else to throw money at. If I choose to go down this route again, I’d go with VTO and 15” to open up better tyre choices! I’m sure BRE have been great to many in the past but my faith is shaken. In my business we always say “time kills deals” and in this situation it was so true!!

The clue is in his name! ;) And yes we’ve all done something like that and kicked ourselves hard!!

I used one identical to that, it worked perfectly on brake and fuel lines - did EVERY hard line in the car with it - It only cost £12!! Previously I had bought a more fancy one (below) which I had to send back as it was utterly useless!! But the one tweeds mentioned above, I have heard VERY positive things about.

I’m not sure what technology they would have used in the 70s but what I’ve read about is silk printing as well as acid etching the base material to the glass first to allow it to stick. I would love to get mine rubbed off and new elements put in so watching with interest! And then there is this very “rare” item https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/54396-2000-rear-hatch-glass/ If silk printed then it should be easier to remove but again, I do wonder what ghosting effects are left behind. Having said that, I was working at Deutsche Bank during the Occupy protests in London and the students protesting, took coins / sharp metal to the glass on the building, making big circle scratches. The next week, we had a glass firm come in and polish the glass, with absolutely ZERO evidence of the damage left afterwards!! We were supposed to dress casually and go through the service entrance at the back. So I put on my student jumper of old and scruffy weekend DIY jeans. But the funniest bit was our bosses - have you ever seen a mega rich banker dressed down and casual? It was more a case of banker with a “W” - boy did they stick out a mile! :p

I once nearly bought a screen where it had been all but wiped off while in storage. It must be possible to get them off with some care, but the question you gotta ask is, will it leave behind ghost lines? If not, then this may be a good way to go .... https://frostfighter.com/clear-view-defrosters-16.htm The spacing are ever so slightly different and will result in phantom lines if removing the old lines leaves a mark.

If It helps, I have this same tank in a ‘77 UK 260Z! If you don’t need it and it’s in good condition, it would be of interest to me.

Lung warts!?!?!? You must be German!!! Next thing we know, you will be talking about Brustwarze!

Shame about your youthful days being in the past, a REAL shame! I completely understand. Some even end up with a very painful right arm for some unknown reason! [emoji848]

You know, I relate to what you are saying! Many of us tend to over analyse / over think these things. They seem scary at first until you actually do the job and find it was a lot of fuss over nothing! 😉 Don't know the brand, but given that you are only doing 1 job with that tool and you're not a professional mechanic doing many of these every day, I think it will be just fine for your purposes. Don't go buying bolts etc. If you bring cyl 4 to compression TDC (both ex and intake cam lobes pointing up) and use the rope or compressor method, you won't be losing your valves. If I recall correctly, you literally have mere millimetres of valve to piston clearance, so it's very very unlikely that you will be loosing the entire stem down the valve guide without being able to recover it. I await someone to correct me. The compressor (or rope) just helps keep the valve at the top (shut) so that you can easily put the springs / caps etc back on. If you want to buy any additional items, get a new cam cover gasket - a decent one that doesn't fall apart, so that you can reuse it when you next take the cam cover off. Don't forget to scrape off / clean up the residue from the old gasket first as some of them leave pieces of themselves behind. Also make sure any residue doesn't end up in your oil. https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic12a13/10-2491C This is not a Z car, but a very good video - I like the Vaseline idea!

Good man! You're doing the right thing! 👍 Looking forward to hearing about your successes.

I thought I was clear but clearly not ;)

Wow wow wow!!! How will you EVER have the heart to drive something that perfectly done!? Great work! [emoji106][emoji106][emoji106][emoji2309][emoji2309][emoji2309]

The easy way saves you a lot of time and money. The hard / head off way introduces lots of time consuming work and risks!! Hard way: You need to remove the intake and exhaust manifolds - possibly likely to introduce air leaks when you put them back. You’ll need a new head gasket and a new intake / exhaust gasket. I would say you need new head bolts as they stretch and I wouldn’t like to reuse them. There is a potential for threading head or other bolts when you put them back. What if a head bolt snaps on the way out? You then have to take the rest of the engine out to deal with it. It’s easy to mess up your cam timing and potentially have valves kissing a piston and bending / killing your engine. Many other risks I can list but I won’t. The easy way: is simply a case of stuffing some rope into the spark plug hole, turning the engine to TDC on that piston and dealing with valve springs / seals on that one cylinder. You only then have to worry about getting the seal / springs back on properly and make sure you have correct valve clearances.

OK some thoughts for you to consider: On mine I used to get this a lot. The PO bless him, had forgotten to do up the jubilee clips from the breather pipes at the rear of the car, behind the trim. When the windows are opened, we create negative pressure inside the car and it sucks though any orifice at the rear of the car. This was pulling in escaping fuel smells. Secondly, as already suggested, your passenger side has all the fuel coming into the engine bay, so if you are smelling it there, then that’s a good place to start to look for potentially damaged hoses. One Z club UK member found that his engine bay had a “mist” hovering over it. He then was horrified to discover his one year old braided fuel lines had perforated due to ethanol damage. Thirdly, sometimes the carbs can have a sticking valve in the float chambers and be leaking fuel through the overflow pipes or through the jet area or both. Make sure you carry a small fire extinguisher / blanket in the car. You’d be amazed how quickly fuel vapour can catch !!!!

So true chap! To echo your point, after having our first child, we moved out of London to live in the sleepy countryside village I grew up in. In the 80s, we used to leave our cars parked in the town centre without locking anything. Nowadays, cars are brazenly being stolen off the driveways. Having put up cctv over the driveway, I have to say, it felt odd! I guess society as a whole has changed. Also they closed our local police station and turned it into luxury flats overlooking the cricket pitch!!

Now that’s intelligent! Great suggestion [emoji106] I would also say that since that photo I’ve been putting the lock in with the key hole towards the ground (capped in the photo by the black rubber plug) such that it can’t be easily drilled out.

Yep! I see it as an insurance policy / a deterrent to make it that much harder. At the end of the day, if they want your car they will take it, but this makes it more difficult / time consuming. It gives me piece of mind when we go on holidays and leave the car at home etc. It comes in two pieces, so it fits perfectly into the spare wheel well - I don’t carry a spare, just a can of puff and an inflator oh and a spare dizzy, leads /plugs, oil, water, fuel pump, bulbs, fan belt, small socket set, screw drives and spanners etc etc [emoji1787]. I figure those items are more likely to fail than the likelihood of having a full on blowout. It cost me £250 about 10 years ago but they seem to have halved in price (and out of stock - I assume because of covid) ... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Purpleline-Fullstop-Nemesis-STD-Caravan-Security-Wheel-Clamp-/191892498400?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286 This I think is a US supplier .... https://purplelineusa.com/product/nemesis-wheel-lock/

I do indeed have that. Although this solution would come it handy for the times I forget to immobilise via the app and also, if someone steals the car by dragging it out of the garage or putting it on the back of a tow truck, I can see where it is. Often when we go to car events (say at Silverstone), they are far away and we spend an evening in a low cost hotel near the motorway. If someone puts your car on a tow truck in a place like that, it really will not look out of place and would be the easiest way to steal a car! I have been known to clamp my own car :D . One time I had a young lad come up to me in the morning saying “Oh mate!!! Can’t believe it! Those bastards! Why did they clamp you!?” I said “Watch this!” and pulled the key out! We both laughed a lot!

Now this is something I WILL install!! For the price of a cheap SIM (£5/ month) you have a tracker / Geo fenced car that cuts off the fuel or ignition supply with what is totally stealth!!! You can also install a loud 120db+ siren inside the car to go off when it disables / goes out of the geo fence. ￡11.50 40％ Off | GPS Tracker Motorcycle Mini Car GPS Relay MV740 9-90V Vehicle Tracker Vibrate Cut Line Alert Geo fence Alarm Free APP PK CJ740 https://a.aliexpress.com/_msdJfl3

Here’s a great write from my buddy in the UK who recently did this job - it would be very beneficial for you to read it .... https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/valve-stem-oil-seal-replacement-without-the-faf.28265/

You will not mess it up. In fact your risk of having issues will be much higher with the head removed. I totally get the logic but for now, if I was in your shoes and knowing that only cyl 4 is fouling, I would just focus on that one. You know the others are good as there is no fouling on the other plugs. Follow the procedure given further up in the thread on doing it with the head on.

This seller also has lots of goodies, worth approaching them to see if they have what you need ... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SILVOLITE-Pistons-Set-6-for-Nissan-Datsun-240Z-2-4-L24-260Z-2-6-L26-030-75MM-/152918821696?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Not oversized but could you make up the difference with oversized rings? Not ideal but may work for you? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Datsun-240z-L28-ITM-Flat-Top-STD-Pistons-Rings-Nissan-260z-280z-280zx-/174758430407?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

Now do yourself a favour - cover them up again with protective film during the install! I managed to put a scratch on mine, that while not very visible to most people’s eyes, I see it every time ;)

You’re most welcome. I would do exactly what Mark said above and leave the distributor alone for now.