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Just to help anyone thinking of straightening their kinked antenna like I did here's some pointers. The pipe sections of the original antenna are chrome plated brass so you can work it with a small hammer and heat if you're careful. I used a flat anvil and a very small hammer. I placed the pipe kink on the anvil with the corners facing vertically and began "tapping" it with the hammer lightly to flatten the points that formed when the main pipe was bent and creased. I squirted a bunch of WD-40 down the hole where the cable comes out and pushed on the next size pipe to try and get it into the kinked section of the larger pipe. More hammering and more twisting and forcing of the smaller pipe until it finally slipped in. Then with the smaller pipe in place I hammered around the whole kink tring to round it out. Then I pulled the smaller pipe back and placed two strips of blue masking tape on the anvil about 1" apart and built up about 4 layers each. Then I turned the pipe so that the kink was facing down and started hammering on the back of the pipe to try and get it straighter. The tape allows the pipe to bend in the area of the kink .030" and no more. I kept trying to feed the smaller pipe in but it was still a tight fit. I pushed the small pipe in and rotated the kink under the PP torch for a couple of seconds to heat just that area a bit. I worked the small pipe in and out and it loosened up. I heated it again then rolled and hammered the kinked section on the anvil as I tried to bend it back even straighter. Use caution when heating the pipe since you can melt the Nylon cord and damage it with too much heat! I finally put the end of the second pipe right at the kink and gave it some heat then worked it in and out. That really loosened it up, there may be a plastic piece on the small pipe that deformed a bit, not sure. After the heat treatment I just kept hammering and pushing on the smaller pipe untill the pipe was striaght and the second pipe slipped in and out easily. That's about it.

I haven't done much on my 72 for a while and thought I make this the summer for finishing a bunch of little stuff and while I was doing a test drive I ran the antenna up and guess what ? It wouldn't come back down I looked around on the net and was floored that no one sold them anymore. Seems like someone would remake these for the enthusiast market. Long story short, I pulled out the stainless mast I put in several years ago and the Nylon cord was broken. It is so brittle that it has a crack about every 2" that just snaps with the slightest pressure. After looking at the construction of the assembly I came to the conclusion that the tip would need to come off to get the solid rod out if I were to try to crimp on another cable. That didn't go so well, so I dug around in my old bits box and found the original chrome antenna I took off because someone had bent it over circa 1985. Never throw any car bits away no matter what your wife says The largest tube had a bad kink in it and the next size tube wouldn't retract into it. Well, after a lot of micro hammering and heating with the PP torch I was able to get it straight and functional again. It has a small crack like mark you can see if you're looking for it, but it works! Whohoo!

It held up really well in my Jag and it appears to really bond well in the Datsun too. I thin it with a little water so it's not too thick and that allows the grain of the vinyl to show through. Its not tacky and won't rub off on your clothes.

Here a link to some pictures I took... http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563457093ZXhQMY

Hi guys! Thought I'd share a tip I came up with today. When I dyed the magnolia seats in my XJ6, I used an expensive water based acrylic latex colorant that I special ordered fom a place on-line. I went through quite a number of bottles of the stuff at $20.00 each, but it came out looking super nice and very original, so I was OK with the expense. I got to thinking that the stuff was pretty much the same as the stuff they sell at the craft shop in the little $1.00 bottles. So I went down to the Benjamin Franklin store and bought several different shades of maroony red "Americana" paint in the 2oz bottles. I did a color matching test using a never installed red Nissan seat cover I bought many years ago from the dealer but never used. What I discovered was that the "Napa Red" color was a really good match! My 36yo red interior is in good physical shape, but its really faded and the tops of the rear shock towers had turned a yucky dark brown color for some reason. I also had an ugly splotch on my passenger seat from some misadventure. I applied the stuff like I did in the Jag using a 1" foam brush to go around all the edges and the tops of the towers and then following that up by doing the rest of the towers and wheel arches with a 3" round tack sponge. It took about 3-4 coats to completely cover the dark splotches on the towers and seat. Basically, you wipe the vinyl down with alcohol to get any stuff off the surface and then use a small fan to dry it. Then do the edges of the vinyl with the foam brush and fan dry that. Then do the body of the towers and dry them. Repeat 3-4 times. Really scrub it in. On the last go around use a 50/50 mixture of Napa Red paint and Satin Varnish which you buy next to the paint. The varnish gives the last coat a bit of a shine to make it look new. The whole job for the shock towers took a couple of hours and they look like new. The beauty part of this operation is that its real inexpensive (under $3.00) but it yields professional results and its really durable. I've seen the spray on stuff, but didn't want to have to mask everything off and deal with over spray, etc. The Americana craft paint is water based so its water clean up and it can be thinned if necessary. I'm sure that there is a color that will closely match the tan, white, and maybe even the blue interiors as well. Give it a try!

Yeah, I saw that system. It's nice, but really I just wanted an easy clamp on tip to replace my old stock muffler for now and all of the dual tips like sblake01 posted are side-by-side and not over/under. Here's the final result..... http://good-times.webshots.com/album/563457093ZXhQMY

Agreed. I only use 20wt.

I know it's a "system", but the rear piece is basically two resonators stuffed into a muffler style enclosure, I call that the tip. The forward section of pipe with the small resonator is built the same as the stock pipe only larger in diameter. The whole system really boils down to 3 resonators and a slightly larger diameter pipe.

I removed the booster pipe and plugged the intake port and it ran better, but the brakes were harder to use. I'm guessing it has a small leak in the diaphragm.

Follow up, I discovered several problems and I've got it pruning pretty good now. I found two main problems, a vacuum leak through the brake booster pipe, and the carbon electrode in the center of the ignition cap had a corroded spring. It was rusted and it just fell apart when I pulled on it. I'm still trying to get the floats set correctly, then its just a matter of getting the carbs dialed in and the ignition timing set to the sweet spot. I think I'll have to buy some new wires and plugs, any suggestions ?

I got the Black Dragon 89-300 Monza pipe and stuck the tip on today. It sounds good and throaty. The pipe they send is larger diameter than the stock one, so I had to wrap the stock pipe a bit to get the tip to fit. I'll put the new pipe on later when I can take it to a shop.

I don't have webbers, but I do have these.... http://rides.webshots.com/photo/1192239652059523625rsnBCY

Exactly. I'm trying to find the gremlins that are making my car run poorly.

I took the pipe from the brake booster off of the intake manifold and sucked on it. I couldn't make a vacuum, and I could hear the inline valve fluttering. Is my booster leaking, or is it suppose to work that way for some reason. I guessing the boosters got a rust hole in it and that would really explain a lot of things!

I'm good at tuning them and have a Unisyn, 3 Colortunes, vacuum gauges and everything. I just need to get the floats set right first, or I'll never get it to start and accelerate well. I have a discussion going in the Carb part of this forum currently....Thanks.

I suspect the same, its too lean. I have the 4 screw dome top SU's.

hmmm, looks like the dimension(s) and gauge take the cap lip into account. Thanks.

.5" equals 12.70 mm, which isn't used according to the chart ??? I think I need use 12mm ® and 16mm (F).

I'm assuming that the dimensions shown in the chart works for the spring load type of needle valves I have and is not specific to the solid type (if Datsun ever used those) ????

I'm going to try adjusting the floats and some other bits and see if I still have the problem. If so, I'll temporarily hook up an electronic pump and see if that fixes the problem. Thanks for the ideas, I'll report back when I know something new!

This is just what I needed! I just need to figure out which carbs I have and then make some gauges. It even adjusts for the short and long float legs which I have. Thanks!!!

That may work for one of the carbs, but I have the float lids that have different length legs for holding the floats, so the dimensions would need to be different for the front and rear carbs. I may be able to adjust for that though. Thanks.

Because I'm having starting issues as well as some power/performance problems, so I'm going through several things to make sure they haven't been jacked around at some point in the last 36 years. Thanks for the offer, I may just call you.

OK, I searched the archives and didn't find much that helped me, so I'm asking here in hopes ya'll can. I want to check and/or adjust my float levels on my 72. The three manuals I have are pretty much useless, since two of them skip the issue and the other has a useless measurement from the top of the gas in the bowl to the inside of the cap, with the float in and the cap screwed in place. How in the heck are you suppose to measure that ???? In any case, I don't know if they are currently set correctly, but I do know that when I pulled the floats out of the bowls the level of the gas at the bottom of the bowls was around .95" - .98" deep. How does one go about adjusting the float heights properly ? Note : I have the carbs where the legs that hold the floats are shorter on the front carb than the rear one for some unknown reason.

Did it have the same problems prior to your Pertronix install? Yes, it did. I should check the float level again, but it's almost like the mechanical fuel pump doesn't put out enough at starting RPM's to ensure the bowls stay full, and as a result the thing dies. The pump isn't that old and I would gladly convert it to electronic it that would solve the problem. Is there any conversions kits that blank off the old pump mount adn provide a place to mount a Facet electronic pump ?