Jeff G 78

Thanks Cap! Just thinking out loud here... If the check valve is at the pump outlet, then when it works, the supply line stays full of fuel. With a check valve at the filter in the engine bay, the rail would stay pressurized as it should, but would the pump still lose prime and cause the same issue, or would there be enough fuel pressure to fire the engine and then keep it running while the line fills? Adding a universal in line check valve is super simple and cheap. They are about $10. I'll try that first and see if it works.

Thanks Chas. I appreciate the offer, but I agree that we don't have time. Do you have a part number by any chance and a picture of yours? Maybe I can find one locally or on Amazon. I know there used to be a Volvo one, but those seem to be NLA as of 10+ years ago just like the Nissan OE one. EDIT: I found something on Amazon that is interesting. It's a Bosch fuel pump check valve https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1587010539-Fuel-Check-Valve/dp/B001CO2MYK and one of the reviews said that it was a direct fit for his 1975 Datsun 280Z. The picture shows a threaded inlet though. Isn't the OE check valve only threaded on the pump side and barbed on the inlet side? I don't think it would arrive in time anyways even if it's the right one. Amazon shows it arriving around the time the car ships.

Okay, I found an old thread showing that the check valves that screw into the pump are NLA. I then found inline check valves. Where can I install one of these? Does it have to go between the tank and the pump, or can it go between the filter and the fuel rail? It seems like it would have to go before the pump. I'm guessing the pump loses prime which is why it takes so long to start. Has anybody installed an inline check valve and if so, where did you put it? https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-leader-Return-Petrol-Aluminium-Accessories/dp/B07GYMDN4F/ref=sr_1_8?dchild=1&keywords=5%2F16"+fuel+check+valve&qid=1614656494&sr=8-8

I resurrected my '78 280Z after a 10-1/2 year nap in preparation of my move from Michigan to Arizona. Back when I was driving it 10+ years ago, it had an issue that I never fixed. The car fires right up minutes to hours after shutting it off, but after an overnight park, it takes 20 - 30 seconds of cranking before it chugs to life. It usually coughs a few times and stalls after doing nothing for the first 20 or so seconds of cranking. The next crank does the trick and once it starts, it runs perfectly. I'm pretty sure it's due to a bad fuel pump check valve and normally, it would be a simple inconvenience, but in exactly two weeks, my Z gets picked up by a flatbed and transported to a depot where they will load it onto a car hauler along with my Porsche and my wife's FJ Cruiser for the trip to Arizona. Knowing how car haulers work, it could need to be loaded and unloaded a few times to get other cars on or off along the way across the country. I'm worried that the battery or starter might take a dump if they can't get it started or have to do it numerous times. This move all happened very quickly and I was completely unprepared to deal with my Z cars and all my parts this quickly. Is there a simple fix I can do to fix the pressure bleed-off? I have almost no time to diagnose or experiment. Is there an in-line check valve I could add somewhere? Is it always at the pump, or are there other places the pressure could bleed off? Thanks all and keep an eye out for a car hauler with my 517 Lt Gold Datsun, my silver 911 and my wife's tan FJ Cruiser aboard. They should be heading West in mid to late March. The hauler company says it will take 1-2 weeks to get there.

It only has one mirror right now and it's pretty small. 🙂

I put an offer on a house with only a video walk through and I was in AZ over the weekend for the home inspection. I'm buying a house that has a big (for there) garage with a standard double garage door plus a golf cart door that's only a 6 foot door. I knew it would be tight to fit a real car through, but I measured it and found that the actual opening is 68" wide. The 280Z *should* be 64.2" wide according to the interwebs, so if I'm super careful, I should be able to just back it through the door with 1.5" on each side to spare. The golf cart bay is just long enough for the Z as well, but once I swap to 240Z bumpers, it will have plenty of garage length in that spot. I guess adding flares is out of the question.

Sure!

I had a Fusion lease car, but once we started working from home, I never drove it, so I didn't lease another one. I bought a Saab 900 Turbo for $800 as my winter DD. I sold that today. 🙂

As some of you know, I am in the process of moving from Michigan to Arizona. I have sold my house and am going through the mortgage process on a house in AZ. The move is from a transfer within Ford where I work. I am tired of the cold and the terrible roads, so I got a new job within the company at our Arizona proving grounds outside of Phoenix. The company will move me as well as two cars. I currently have five cars, so I sold one today. That leaves my wife's FJ Cruiser, my Porsche 911, my '78 280Z street car and my late 260Z endurance race car. The Porsche will by my DD along with the 280Z. That leaves the race car. I planned to take it out there, but the more I try to justify it, I just cannot do it. I will have no space in the garage for the car or any spare race car parts, so that puts the car in a permanent storage facility. Not being street legal and me with no trailer means, I can't even move the car around to work on it or race it. My only choice is to sell it. I leave in just over a month and the car is currently on a hoist with the rear suspension off. I plan to work my butt off in the next few weeks to get it back together and off the hoist. I know I will take a beating on the car, but it MUST go. Here's what it is. It was originally built for LeMons and then upgraded for ChampCar and WRL endurance racing. The good: 74.5 260Z with a full race cage. Body is pretty clean with only a bit of rust in the bottom of the rear quarters behind the wheels and a few small holes on the passenger side rear floorpan plus battery tray. No door glass and Lexan hatch glass and quarter window glass. Homemade front airdam and rear spoiler. L28 F54 block with shaved P79 head, Web Racing camshaft, header, MSA premium exhaust, and 3 screw SU carbs. Brand new BHJ Rebello harmonic damper, ZX matchbox distributor 82 ZX 5 speed transmission, lightened factory flywheel, 3.90 R200 diff with RT mount Suspension is fairly stock with KYB strut cartridges, poly bushings, front cross member redrilled for bump steer, large stabilizer bars front and rear Brakes are going on now which are typical Toyota 4x4 calipers w/vented Z31 rotors and T3 spacers up front and Mustang GT vented rotors and calipers with Silvermine caliper bracket in rear. Brand new rear wheel bearings going in now. I have two sets of brand new 15" Rewind wheels that have never been mounted Momo race seat and Crow belts Stock fuel tank with 1/2 gallon swirl tank. Facet fuel pump to pump fuel into the swirl tand and Carter pump to move fuel to the engine The Bad: It's a race car built for LeMons, so it's not pretty Wiring is a mess, but it works. I planned to rewire the entire car before racing it again Interior is dreadful in that it has sheet metal gauge housings and switch plates Currently has no tires since I am doing the brake upgrade which require 15" wheels. I will likely put very old junk tires on a set of the Rewinds to make it mobile Brakes will need a Wilwood 1" Master cylinder and a prop valve which I have no time to do before I leave No title. I bought it out of a barn where it sat for 20 years and I never worked to get a title. Instrument panel (dash) is gone, so there is no rveted VIN plate. Stamped VIN is present on firewall Overall, it runs great and handles extremely well. It will need a bit of work to finish since I am in the middle of upgrading the brakes. It needs to be gone in about 4-5 weeks. Make me a reasonable offer. I have a ton of money in it, but it must go. I'm thinking $5,000 for the car, two sets of brand new wheels, and a bunch of various spares including a few hoods, lots of fenders, headlight buckets and other various stuff I've collected. I'll post a bunch of pics later. They are on my other laptop. The facebook link in my signature has more pics as well.

I got the call today and I'm officially moving from the iceball that is Michigan to the surface of the sun they call Phoenix. I will be taking my 78 280Z and the 996 for sure and I'm 96% sure the 260Z race car will go, but my stash of parts that I've been collecting for 40 years will have to get pared down to the bare minimum. I simply don't have the money to move everything or the space to store it out there. It will be tough to part with stuff, but it's worth it. Thanks all for the emissions help and within a few months, I will be posting from my new home and looking to meet up with you guys that live in the Phoenix area.

Yes, I am. This is all VERY tentative and at this point, I know nothing.

Hopefully. Nothing is finalized, but that's the plan.

Thanks for the info. My '78 looks stock underhood except for the header and lack of EGR. The EGR was cracked and so I put a block-off plate over the port. The only other visible mod is the rheostat on the temp sender for fuel enrichment to get the AFR right. This is all very tentative, but I should have a better idea in a week or two what my plans are. Fingers crossed....

My mom and sister currently live in SCW and I turned 55, so I can live there now. Yes, the Auto Restoration, metal shop and wood shop are high on my list. Besides my cars, I am always doing woodworking projects. With no basements, there won't be any room for my woodworking equipment. I'd love to find a house with a 3 car garage, but in the size and price I'm wanting, that might be tough. With no 3rd garage, the Z will likely live in a storage garage.

My speedo is optimistic too, but surprisingly, my odometer is remarkably accurate. After mounting my 225/50R16 tires, I went on a road trip. I was bored on the Ohio Turnpike, so I decided to see how accurate my odo was compared to the mile markers. It was pretty much dead on mile after mile and I was shocked to see that even after 100 miles, it was only a few tenths of a mile off even though the speedometer was reading somewhere around 10% high. That was all pre-GPS. Now with Waze that shows actual speed, I'm not too worried about the speedo error.

Thanks for the feedback. Are you in Maricopa county? I'm likely going to end up in Sun City West or maybe Surprise. A quick search before I posted last night confirmed Pima county does not require E Check, but I didn't see anything about collector car/historic car exemptions in Maricopa. It's good to hear that's the case. A lot still has to happen to get out there quickly, but if all goes perfectly, it could be in the next two months. I just sold my house and will know in a few weeks if I have a job out there. The roads here in Michigan are horrid. Not only are they in terrible shape and destroy cars, they are dead straight and boring. On top of that, I have to store my Z six months out of the year and even when not stored, I don't drive it in the rain. That leaves very few days when I can even drive it on the crappy roads. This is pretty much why I quit driving my Z. I drove it one summer and when fall came, I put it on dollies, covered it and pushed it into the corner of the garage. It hasn't moved since and that was 10 years ago. My 260Z race car got all the attention and filled the garage spot where the 280Z used to sit in the summers. I can't wait to get my Z into an area with smooth roads and mountains mearby. It will split daily driver duties with my 996 out there. I will reinstall the A/C and get that working for sure. I hate the cold and do just fine in the heat so I can't wait to get away from single digit temps. Is there still a big Datsun presence in Phoenix? I know there used to be years ago. I'll IM you when it's time to move so I can learn more about getting all my vehicles inspected and checked. We'll have to get together. Are you there year round or just in the winter?

Hey Z gang, I am planning on moving from Michigan to Phoenix this year and I just checked what model years require E Check in Maricopa county. I was really surprised to see that anything 1967 and newer must pass emissions. What are the Phoenix Z owners doing and do your cars pass? My Z has a 9.8:1 CR with stock EFI, an AZC 6:1 header and MSA premium exhaust. The car was sold as a Federal model for leaded gas and no catalyst when new.

First of all, I really like the 225/45R16 size. I bought 225/50R16 last time to get the stock OD, but I think they look too big. They also rubbed before I rolled and trimmed. The 45 series should be perfect, though the speedometer and odometer will be off. As for the tires, all three choices are good. The Yokohamas are quite a bit more expensive and I don't think you are getting much for the price difference. The Dunlops are great track tires, though a friend had them on a street car and they were really loud. I'd probably lean towards the Toyos even though I don't really think the tread pattern looks good on a street car. I just wish Hankook would start making the RS-4 in a 225/45R16. That is a great tire for street and track. I will run 225/45R15 RS-4's on my 260 race car. Let us know what you get and how you like them. If all goes to plan, my street Z will be back on the road in a few months and I will need new rubber. My Hankook RS-2's look like new, but they are close to 15 years old now. I parked my Z for the winter in 2010 and it hasn't moved since. It's on old steelies and crap tires for storage. My Panasports and Hankooks have been stored in my cool, dry basement ever since. My efforts have been on the 260Z race car.

I reused and lost one once when I hit a bump on the highway. Luckily I heard it come off and I was able to get home and replace it with no damage. I did lose the poly bushing and the cup washer.

Not really. They have 98 RON which is the same as 93 pump octane in the US. The US uses (RON + MON) / 2 method.

I cut 0.050" off a P79 head on my race car engine. I slotted the chain guides to take up the slack and then I used the eccentric bushing method from the "How to Modify Your Datsun..." book to dial in the cam timing. It works great and pulls strong. I like the P79 for this because the chamber shape is better for knock resistance compared to the E88, and N47.

Don't get me wrong. I am a tool snob and HATE 99% of the HF tools. I buy latex gloves and tarps there, but little else. As for jacks, they really aren't much of a safety concern because no jack, no matter the brand or condition should be trusted even for a moment. I treat floor jacks like I treat guns and assume it's up to me to be safe. The jack stands are the exact opposite. I have never bought HF jack stands as I'd rather not be crushed to death under my car. I like the Pittburgh 2.5 ton jack.

I just rebuild a 30 year old jack a few months ago. Did you replace every seal? I can't imagine a full rebuild wouldn't make it last another 20 years. If you do give up on it, I too vote for the Harbor Freight aluminum jack. We use them at work and we abuse the crap out of them. They work better and last longer than much more expensive jacks we've tried. I think we use the 2.5 ton model. Don't get the super cheapo one.

Thanks Cliff! I've R&R'd dozens of Z powertrains and I almost always keep them together. I hate trying to line up the trans under the car. I'd much rather do it while the engine is hanging from a hoist. As for hoists, if you have a folding hoist, you might have to pull the front bumper to get enough reach to be centered on the engine. I had to buy a fixed leg hoist to do mine with the bumper in place. You can get the engine out, but lining it up during install is almost impossible if the reach is too short. The first dozen or so engine pulls were done with a Farmall Cub tractor with a custom boom hoist. It was 100 times easier than any engine hoist I've ever used. I could pull an engine in a gravel driveway as easy as in a shop. I'll have to see if I can find an old picture of that setup. I miss that tractor!

I guess I was lucky or did a good job with the Dremel. My original nuts once cut with the Dremel spin right back on with no dragging. I was going to do the same as you, but didn't need to touch them after the initial cutting. I cut one perpendicular slot at the base of the peen and then two parallel slots on either side of the peen. There was just enough room to get a flat blade screwdriver in the perpendicular slot and break off the peened section. I did all four peened areas without touching the stub axle threads with the Dremel. I did get a new Milwaukee M12 cordless "Dremel" that I really like. It is much easier without fighting the power cord.