DadAndLadZ

Thanks for that! Much obliged! You too @grannyknot!

Hi folks: It's been a minute since I was on here last, but after much dithering the boys and I *finally* got our rebuilt harmonic balancer installed on our '74 260Z. My question is... How do you know it's seated where it needs to be on the crankshaft? It *looks* about right but is there a surefire way to know? Our latest video: Thanks in advance, MC

Thanks for the tips, everybody. If it wasn’t so deep down in there it wouldn’t be such a quandary

So, after about a month's break, we are back out in the garage working on our 260Z. Put on the new water pump and everything went swimmingly — until this long, skinny bolt snapped ALL THE WAY DOWN INSIDE as I tightened it. How the hell am I gonna get the broken piece out of there, so deep inside the block? UGH!!!!!!!!

Story of my life. lol... Well, the whole point of this was to teach the kids some mechanical stuff, so mission accomplished!

I appreciate you all digging up older related threads, as I am new to these forums and haven't been digging around that long yet. Much obliged for all your help, insight and guidance!

@Captain Obvious and @Racer X I have sourced a used replacement from @Terrapin Z and will be sending it in for refurbishing. I got a strong light in there and bumped the engine around with a remote starter to inspect the end of the crankshaft and don't see anything obviously chewed up, will get in there and do a thorough cleaning/inspection before proceeding any farther. And yeah, someone has done A LOT of updating on this car in the past... The balancer is a later model, the carbs are from a 240Z, there is a five-speed transmission(!)... I wish I knew who had done all this work years ago just so I could pick their brain about what else lies in store. LOL...

Dang, thanks!

Here's a video I just now shot! Also now that I have a used one on the way (thanks to @Terrapin Z!), does anybody know who rebuilds these? The only company I have seen advertise this service is Godzilla Motorworks out of Texas and they charge $350.

The seal itself looks fine, though we plan to replace it while we have all this apart. We probably managed to break it taking it out. 😕

Hey, glad to hear from you… I will take more pics and measurements if it helps.

100%

I would like to know too but this car was sold to me by someone who bought it seven years ago and let it sit in a driveway without touching it and he doesn’t know anything about this particular issue either. May be unknowable. I can tell you it was stubborn AF to pull!!!

Well it *is* more opportunity for the kid to learn, but not great on our budget lol

Dang, dude. 😞

Yeah, we are just feeling around in the dark right now for which avenue to take.

Yeah it sure ain't good news. We were pressed for time when we got it off and didn't have an opportunity to look at it up close and personal. Will do soon and will share video/pix in the group here. Thanks.

Also... Will this fit? https://www.ebay.com/itm/265815538674

Well, we have been slow getting back to work on our '74 260Z because school is back in, etc. After being tipped off in another thread that our harmonic balancer had become deformed with time, we set about taking it off and hoped to either find a replacement (scarce, as you probably know) or have it rebuilt by a company in Texas that advertises this service for these cars. Borrowed a puller from a friend yesterday — the kind that screws into the holes, not the kind with clamps — and just couldn't get the thing to budge with hand tools. (To be clear, we got the big bolt out just fine, but the balancer itself was stuck tight.) I sprayed a bunch of penetrating oil on it and left it overnight. Came back today and tried again and was glad when it finally started moving — until we got it all the way out and found a big chunk broken out of the snout! The other piece came right out too. We were pressed for time so I haven't taken a good close look at the shaft itself, but this is a pretty heavy bummer. Anybody else ever seen this happen? We'd like to replace it with another that has twin pulleys like the original, in case we have the opportunity to put A/C back into this car as it was factory equipped, but again — rare as hen's teeth. Thanks to everybody who has chimed in on my earlier posts. Your insight is very helpful! Best, MC

Hey, good tip, thanks!

Holy cats, will check that out ASAP. Thanks.

So you're gonna love this. Today the boy and I took the old timing indicator plate off and it turns out it wasn't broken — it was just a) so grimy it was invisible, and b) modified by the previous owner in a way I didn't expect. This here is a photo I found in another thread showing what this should look like: On ours, the only visible bit of the plate was the part that bolts to the engine, none of this notched panel with the numbers on it could be seen at all. When we pulled it out, I discovered that due to super tight clearance behind the pulley, somebody had apparently taken a grinder to the thing and removed the raised teeth. The new one absolutely will not fit in that space without doing the same to it. Can someone explain why this part will not fit and what to do about it? This is crazy. lol Thanks, MC & the Boys

Well we put in a new sender today but now it just goes to max and doesn't come back down. lol... We were just starting to goof around with it when we nearly ran the car out of gas in the driveway, so will have to get back to it tomorrow.

Haven’t gotten around to it yet. On the list. Just now got the carbs sorted so it will run steady.

Thanks for all that, points to ponder!