The Wingnut

Definitely not the diff, it's a fresh R200 swapped in back in December. The scraping noise is coming from the trans area.

Hey folks, Got some disturbing sounds coming from my trans tunnel, sounds like a bad U-joint, but evidently, it's not. Only present with the clutch out and accelerating / decelerating or at cruise with a light load, an oscillating / 'revolving' scrape / clank that sounds like something's broken or in the process of breaking. Mechanic says the clutch is good, trans is good, motor is good. I assume he means operationally. Clutch doesn't seem to have a problem, got a little 'grunchiness' going into 2nd and 3rd when cold(worn synchros, no big deal), no vibration at speed. I'm not sure what the heck this is and I've got a 130 mile road trip coming next week, which I can't avoid. Rental car is not an option.

I picked up a Victor Reinz. Couldn't find anything else locally. Picked up some Loctite Hard-Setting Gasket Sealant #1, supposedly equivalent to Permatex Form-A-Gasket. I'll post as to the results.

Okay, proper sealant noted. I unfortunately don't have a factory manual, just a couple of Chilton / Haynes(terrible, I know) manuals, and nowhere do they list the torque specs for the valve cover. Anyone have these? I have a wire mesh cannon filter on the breather / bleed line fitting. I assume this is sufficient. I swapped out my flattops for round tops and didn't have a stock replacement for the airbox, so the hoses were pulled and the filter put on. I think I've just got a bad gasket.

What sort of sealant should I be using, regular blue RTV? And should the sealant go on the head sufaces, the valve cover surfaces, or both?

...something other than the $10 typical cork replacements that seem to leak like a sieve after a month or two. Ideas?

Of note is that if you have been using a specific oil for any length of time, stick to it. Changing oils has more of an effect on wear than one would think(other threads have discussed the sometimes disasterous results of switching to synthetic after running organic). There's a lot more in oils than just lubricant, the key to long engine life is keeping it clean and consistent, and initially choosing a weight / grade that suits the engine's use. For the record, I've been using Castrol GTX 10-40.

Over Christmas while I was visiting my parents, my mom backed her Exploder into my 260. Dad offered to repaint the whole car as long as it didn't go over $2k. So...I figure, get a good place to do the body & prep, go to Maaco for the paint. I want to bo back to the stock color, whch was light blue, but I'd like a touch of panache. At this point I'm thinking a silver stripe starting on the hood bulge, going over the back of the car...I'm thinking it needs something just a bit more than that, possibly matching silver rockers. I'd like it unique, but not tacky or flashy, more subtle. Also, I'd like to get the stock valence back on there and go with a BRE airdam. The center panel is pretty banged up, though. A matching spoiler would eventually be in order. Bear in mind, I'm on a tight budget.

Hey, folks. My 260's choke lever is loose...the loop on the end of the cable will occasionally 'click' out of the keepers(which look like small blocks of aluminum) on the lever, and I can't open the choke back up as a result. I know there's a way to tighten this, but I can't seem to get at the underside of the console to do it. Any ideas?

Hrm. Well, now I know. I do have two batteries, one of which I just recharged with a charger. Should I yank the one in the Z and give it a charging session?

Just an update to my situation, after a careful check of the regulator (which looked brand new inside, with almost no wear to the points at all) and all connections, I replaced the alternator and immediately showed about 20 amps positive, which has tapered off to neutral over the past day or and a half. Switching on the lights causes a very brief momentary drop, after which the needle returns to the neutral position. Am I right in thinking it showed so much positive charge because the battery had been drained from driving and using the lights? I seem to have full charge, and all of the electrical systems function as they should. It would makes sense (at least to me) that the indicated charge would read less as the battery was recharged.

Just noticed this last night. I think that my alternator is going out, but I'm not sure. My lights are very dim, both the headlights and the instruments. The wipers almost don't move at all. The ammeter is reading a negative charge with the engine running. Anything other than a bad alternator that could be the cause? I'll probably buy a new alternator tomorrow, but I want to be sure I'm fixing the right problem before spending a load of dough.

I did get the impression in the past with Fog-X that it doesn't do its job all that well...haven't used it in ages, thankfully.

Carl, Again, thanks for the help! I was able to put everything back together properly, something I couldn't have done without your photos. The spring, shield plate and all of the washers were bent and distorted. I'm not sure why. I was able to flatten everything out and reshape the spring. I put the wipers back together, and they function flawlessly now. Incidentally, Rain-X is a STELLAR product. I put it on my windshield yesterday, just in case I couldn't get the wipers fixed...water just beads up and FLIES off. I don't need my wipers most of the time, visibility is excellent without them. I've heard that it does require frequent application, however.

Perfect! That's very helpful. The shield and spring are badly bent on mine, and the C clip is bent to the point of not being usable. I found another C clip, however. I'm going to try to bend everything back into shape and get it working again.

Hey folks, Had a 'pucker moment' last night when the wipers on my '74 260 decided to stop working in a heavy rain. Yanked off the cowl cover today and found that the arm had fallen off of the motor pivot. Seems Nissan over-engineered this piece, there are a number of washers, a spring, a couple of keyed bushings and other miscellaneous pieces. I need a diagram of some sort so I can figure out what broke, or how to get it all back together. Anyone have the coresponding page out of the manual? I have a Chilton manual, but it doesn't show much other than the basic workings of the linkage.

Shiny paint job? I've owned ONE car in 4 with a shiny paint job, and that didn't last. This car isn't the one.

Front bumper's gone. Safety-wired the plate to the grille, took her out for a spin, nothing flew off. Looks much better without that huge fat lip on there. Probably be a while before the back one comes off, though. Anyone have an unbent front valence? Mine is trashed.

Looking at my Z, the front bumper looks pretty straightforward, just a few bolts here and there. Back bumper is a different matter, to get the bumper shocks off, it looks as if I'll have to drop the gas tank...unless I'm mistaken. Ideas, anyone?

If I were to remove the bumper shocks, would I need mounts of some sort to re-mount them, or do they bolt directly to the body? V12horse is right in that I have an early 260.

Anyone experienced a hassle from law enforcement about not having bumpers? I'm thinking about pulling mine off. I saw a 240 running around today without them, and it really cleaned up the overall appearance, despite the car being an obvious work in progress.

Just noticed an leak from the head at the block while I ran up the Z in the dark just now. It's on the passenger side, right under a small bump on the head and block, where they join...wondering if this is serious. The mechanic that I took it to today said it's a sign of my head gasket going out, so I cleaned the area in order to make a leak obvious. There's a slight weep after a minute or two of running, no large drops, just a faint trickle. No oil in the water or water in the oil, though.

I have an early production 260 - #1024 - that, as I found out today, has been given an L28 with the stock L26 smogger carb(flattop) setup. Someone was evidently cheating...it appears to be a complete drivetrain swap, it has a 5-speed as well. Setup is as follows: L28 block, N42 head, N36 manifolds and flattops with all of the plumbing and hoses, right down to the smog pump. No points - ignition is electronic, with a '70s Chrysler ECU(what we of the Mopar kind call an 'orange box') and matching quad-terminal ballast resistor. Ran decently until recently, when it began to sputter at freeway speeds. The problem: Great around town. Idles well, starts easily, no oil in the water, no water in the oil. Even revs pretty decently. Get it on the road, putter around the city, behaves itself most of the time. Driving agressively, taking it up long grades, or putting it under heavy G loads seems to make the back cylinders cut out. It's not completely immediate, and it's intermittent. You can distincly hear the cylinders cut out. The car will continue on until it's starved from running on one carb...it will continue with the throttle held to the floor. I can get about 55-60 mph out of it before it cuts out. Accelerating in any manner other than that of a grandmother will cause it to cut out. Backing off for a bit and coasting will solve the problem temporarily. I was even able to get scratch out of it the other day and tear off to wind it up through 3rd halfway before it decided not to cooperate. I have a set of round-top 3-screw SUs from a '73, complete with linkage, heat sheild and E66 manifolds. If it's not an ignition problem, which my mechanic thinks it might be, I'd like to rip off the smog equipment and put these on, using the linkage that came with them and the N36 manifolds that are already on the car. I know there will be plenty of roadblocks, and this will not be a one-day or even a weekend job. Also, I'd like to put feelers out for help in the Santa Rosa, CA area. I'm in Guerneville myself. Thanks in advance! - A.J.

Since we're already on this subject, I think I'll add my woes to the pile. I've got a '74 260, stock, including the flattop SUs. It's always had a bit of a cutout at high speed, usually somewhere around 80-100 mph. I've never given it much thought, as I really don't need to be going that fast anyway. New carbs have been on the to-do list for a while. This past Sunday, I tried driving home from my parents' place (125 miles) and had to go 100 of those miles at about 40 mph. One of the carbs, I think the rear one, kept cutting out if I were to give the car too much throttle for any length of time. If I was really careful and babied it, it would run somewhat decently, but through turns and up hills, the carb would cut out. After one went, the other would struggle to keep the car going until it would empty out and cut out, as well. I don't her the electric pump prime itself when I turn the key, so that should probably be fixed. Do I need a Z specific pump, or can I use a universal one that the parts drones at Napa suggested? I've removed the filter completely for now. I'm thinking one of the pumps has gone out, I'll start with the electric one and work my way from there. My best guess is that I don't have enough fuel pressure, and pushing the car causes starvation. (This may make sense...the carbs are fed in series off of the same line, the front may get a bit more pressure than the rear) I'm really hoping that it's not the carbs, as money is pretty tight. I did top off the carb damper oil recently, and I'm wondering if that might have thrown anything off. I used straight 20-weight as the manual said, and filled the bores so that the damper rod was coated up to the line. I know I should ditch the flattops, but it's a bit more money than I can spare right now...

Title says it all, I've got a stock '74 260 with flattops that just took a dump on me, so it's time for them to take a hike. Any have a set of carbs or carbs and manifold that will fit?