Jeff Berk

I'm confused about where a hose goes or if I got the wrong hose for my tank. The attached 3 pictures showing the hose, an illustration of the hoses (I think this is hose #5), and a photo of my tank with the connector circled. I think this is the right hose for this connector but the hose diameter is <1/2 inch and the tank port is maybe 5/8th inch. Where should this hose actually go? My car is a Jan' 74 260z.

I guess I wasn't clear. I'm not replacing the unit but I'm unsure which way to put the old one back in after dropping the fuel tank to coat it inside. I'll look for that set screw assuming that limits travel up. Worse comes to worse, if I put it in upside down, I should be able to flip it without having to remove the tank a second time.

Looking at this picture: https://zcardepot.com/collections/fuel-sending-units/products/fuel-tank-sending-unit-oem-240z-260z-70-74 Is this sending unit right side up? I took mine out when I removed the tank for cleaning/coating and cannot remember which way the unit goes. I need to learn to take more pictures when I take things apart. Jeff

I purchased my Z in NJ but live in OH. I was planning on driving the Z back to Ohio but was convinced to tow it. It turned out that the clutch was on it's last leg and it never would of made it. You cannot assume the seller knows of hidden issues. There are so many things that could be a problem. Get a truck/trailer or be prepared to have it towed 300 miles. Don't forget to call Hagerty to get it insured.

If you want to keep the same look as an original radio, you can look at Retrosound brand radios. I had holes already in my doors for speakers and a second set of speakers a PO installed in custom made wood enclosures in front of the shock towers in the rear. I removed them to modify them and was able to access the time capsule in one of the two tool compartments that was blocked from them. An old package of camel cigarettes.

This just popped up on my news feed from Jalopnik https://jalopnik.com/what-a-lifelong-z-mechanic-thinks-of-nissan-today-1830083808 It's nice to see that places are still out there that specializes in Z's. No bad there's no place like that in NE Ohio. Great discussion of the history of sports cars at Nissan.

I'll have to try some of that down-hill engine braking. With that low-restriction exhaust it'll sound great! From some paperwork I have dated 1986 (1 year after "restoration") the 260Z has a '78 280Z block with a 280Z fuel injected head that was installed at that time. From some other paperwork, the 280 engine was new. The paperwork says It was ported, milled (?) , "trick" valve job (?), the block was bored 20 over. There was something about the pistons in the paperwork but I cannot find that now. As you can tell by the question marks, I don't know what some of these upgrades are but I suspect they could impact compression. The car had 61,000 miles at that time and now has 75,000 so there shouldn't be much wear on the engine since then. I need to check the calibration of the gauge but that was a loaner gauge. I ordered one and will look into a way of checking it's calibration. Jeff

We had nice weather so I warmed up the Z and retested the compression. 1) 125 2) 125 3) 125 4)130 5)123 6) 128 I had warmed up the engine but by the time I got to doing the test it cooled down a bit.

Grannyknot: I did not have the SU's held open. Is that needed to minimize restriction to the intake valves? I'll keep that in mind for when I get a new compression tester. The engine likely has good compression because it is relatively low milage.

I double checked the "mouse trap" springs and all were good. I replaced the valve cover and tried to run a compression test using a gauge I borrowed from a parts store. Cyl 1 read 145 pounds. The gauge then stopped working at that point and would not hold a pressure on any subsequent tests including on cylinder 1 so I returned it and got another gauge from a different store. It read 90 psi on all cylinders including cylinder 1. I'm assuming it was a bad gauge so I'm holding off on a wet test until I can find another gauge and work out a way of testing a gauge against a tire pressure gauge.

I think I got this now. I watched a video that was very helpful: I found that using a socket wrench to rotate the engine (thanks to the video) seemed to work great after I realized I needed to take the car out of gear ; ) Thanks for the help guys.

I just picked up a feeler gauge and I could stuff the 0.008 under perhaps 3 of the cams. The rest were too tight to squeeze any of feelers in. I suspect that I'm either doing something really wrong or the engine was far out of adjustment. I'm going to do a criss cross directory search on Chambers Cams on Monday when I can reach a library with a set of Hays chris cross directories. thanks Jeff

I haven’t checked my clearance yet; however, I pulled the valve cover and went through the stack of receipts, letters, and post-it notes that were given to me with the car and here’s what I have: 1) receipt from Z Center of Clifton N.J. to PO RS (I'm using the PO's initials) for swapping a cam, valves, etc. dated 5/1986. 2) list of vehicle modifications that indicates the installation within the past year of a High Midrange CAM with anti-float HIPO springs RPM Range 4200-7200 dated 7/1986. 3) receipt from Z Center for installing a customer supplied cam and set geometry dated 5/1988. 4) letter from Motorsport Industries of Orange, CA recommending in response to PO TV (yes, a new owner) inquire to install either a 10-2002 or at the far extreme a 10-2003 camshaft dated 2/1993. 5) Undated specification card and receipt (no purchaser listed) for a Chambers Cam arse 339i with cold clearances of 0.010 and 0.012 for the intake and exhaust. I've attached an annotated photograph showing the camshaft a a closeup of the Chambers Cams card. Can anyone identify this camshaft? Also, why would the "Chambers Cams" carb only list old clearances? I tried looking up Chambers Cam arse 339I but the first and only interesting hit was about Tiffany Chambers's arse. Apparently a porn star.

I was going to check/adjust my valves for the first time but I was wondering, a previous owner installed a racing cam. Does that mean that I need to use a different setting for the intake and exhaust valves? 280 engine with lots of PO modifications installed in the 1980's Round-top SU's Mallory electronic ignition

Bob, Before you take my advice, please be aware that when I activate my windshield washer, my radio turns off. Looking at both ends of the wiring harness, one end terminates at the junction box and it's impossible to plug the wrong plugs together. The other end has lots of connectors but I'm wondering if the six contact plug behind the ignition switch might be flipped. Jeff

If you disconnect the fuel line in the engine compartment and run the pump, is there any fuel spraying out? If so, borrow a pressure meter from Autozone and check it. One issue I'm having is the fuel pickup periodically clogs. I eventually will have to drop and clean up the fuel tank.

Yup, unilite. Sorry about the pictures not being available on the garage site. This thing is a lot of fun.

I'm playing around with a new (for me) diagnostic oscilloscope and I think I'm pulling too many kV's on the secondary wires. One potential cause appears to be related to too much resistance somewhere. The plug and coil wires test out OK (they are NGK's). The plugs were just cleaned and gap checked. I started wondering if I need to set the gaps smaller than the 0.8 - 0.9 to decrease the kV before arcing. The oscilloscope traces are here if you are interested: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404459

It says: PRICE: CALL FOR PRICE OK, who's going to call and let us in on the price? I like the use of Dymo embossed labels

https://jalopnik.com/whoever-buys-paul-newmans-championship-winning-datsun-2-1829584760

My wheel well is large enough for a 25.5" diameter tire but my spare is a space saver. Someone must of did a switcherooo. Too old to use but I know if there is any reason to save it. I'll look for a used spare '07 to '12 Nissan Sentra, thanks for the info.

I have a 260Z with an intact spare tire well, wheel, and a very old tire. Are these tires (collapsable spare) still avalable? If not, what should I be using as a spare? Tirerack dosen't have anything.

I installed the new unit. The old one tested fine the next day but I figured it cut out on me twice, it will do it again. I noticed that there are manufacturing date on stickers on the new and old units. The old unit was manufactured in December 2013. These things don't last very long do they? BTW: I gave up on the tow after they contacted me and was unable to give a revised ETA. I ended up with another towing service the following morning that arrived within 30 minutes with a flatbed. BTW 2: The Dunkin' people sent me home with a dozen donuts ; ) Must be my good looks.

Actually I’m still waiting on the tow truck here. It’s been 2 1/2 hours. The Dunkin’ Donuts people have felt so sorry for me that they keep feeding me.

Well I am now in a Dunkin donut parking lot and my Z is once again not starting. As luck would have it though I am across the street from an O’Reilly auto parts. They lent me a multi meter which I used to test the ignition module again. This time it failed. When I inserted a card to block the light from the LED, I had no voltage drop. I checked with Summit racing and they have the module there so I might be able to drive down there tonight and get this thing working again. In the meantime I’m having it towed back home again. Thank you Hagerty.