Jeff G 78

I know this has been discussed and the general consensus is that the quality isn't great, but will these replacement locks last for a while? Mine have the typical shaft wear and they no longer move the arm far enough to push the rod an unlock the door. Datsun 510 240Z 260z 280z 1600 Door Locks with Keys | eBay My locks are both shot and my options are to find better old ones, do the wire fix on mine, or replace them with new ebay ones. I have a few old ones that might be less worn that my current ones, but they don't work smoothly. Some oil might help, but I haven't tried yet. The wire fix doesn't look too hard, but how long does the fix last before something bends or breaks? And finally, how bad are the ebay locks? My car doesn't get driven much, but I do need to have working locks. Right now, the only way I can unlock the car is to open the hatch and reach in lift the rod on the door. It's hard to reach and I look like an idiot trying to get into my car. :tapemouth

Ugggghhhh! I'm sorry to hear you still have a leak Steve. Depending on how the prep on my 260Z race car goes, I might be able to make the 16th. I'm building a new motor and I have a bunch of other mods to do as well. The plan is to have it ready for a track day at Grattan at the end of May. If we get it ready in time and that testing goes well, June will be pretty quiet, but if it needs additional work, I'll be thrashing to get it ready for our 12 hour July race at Nelson Ledges. I hope to get my street Z out of the garage pretty soon too. Last year, it stayed in the corner of the garage with the cover on it all summer.

When is it Steve?

Exactly. I learned the hard way what happens when you put them in the wrong way. When you tap them in the wrong way, they can grab the seal and slice the rubber.

Steve, the steel strips have a blunt end and a sharp end. The sharp end goes inwards, but if you look close, it is beveled like a wood chisel. Like a wood chisel, if you put the sharp edge towards the seal, it can slice into it. Instead, you face the sharp edge towards the iron block to protect the rubber seal. Does that make sense? I'll see if I can find a picture of one.

You didn't cut the excess off? That might have caused your leak. I've always stuffed them down and then trimmed the rest off. I've never had a leak. One thing your pics don't show is the right way to insert the steel strips. The bevel needs to be such that the longest part is against the block and not against the rubber. If the sharp edge is towards the rubber, it can slice it. Good luck Steve!

Since it's the easiest, I'd start by checking for spark first.

Looks like 305 Light Blue to me. 70-78 Datsun Z Paint Code Gallery

Check out the color that Greg Ira painted Woody's BRE themed racer. It's a really nice gray. For wheels and tires, I'd stay away from 14". The tire selection is really getting slim. You need to decide what type of tires you need. Are you looking for a summer-only performance tire, or a comfy all-season tire? If you just will want want a black and round tire and aren't looking for performance, you can go with a 15" rim, but for performance rubber, a 16 is safer for future tire choices. There is a really nice looking XXR 16x8" rim on ebay. XXR isn't the best quality rim, but they cost less than 1/2 as much as Pansports. 16 16x8 XXR 531 Black Wheels Rims 0 Deep Dish Lip 4x4 5 Datsun 240Z 260z 280z | eBay

Good point Steve. They are right in the front corner of the door where the window frame lands.

I saw your Vitaloni thread. Those look pretty nice. Do they vibrate at all?

There aren't many good mirrors for our cars. Anybody try the BRE mirrors yet? If so, what do you think of them for vibration, looks and function? BRE: *NEW* BRE Datsun 240Z-280Z Mirror Kit

Their new flanged exhaust sure is purdy. I might have to buy one for my street 280 and then add a flex coupling and resonator up front.

Zombie thread claims another victim. hee hee. It happens to all of us.

Hey George, you answered a question that was asked almost six years ago. Arne doesn't even own a Z any more.

I'm always on the lookout for a cheap used Xenon urethane airdam for a '74.5 - '78. It doesn't have to be perfect.

As far as I can tell, all '77 MY cars had N47 heads and probably 99% of those N47's were internally oiled. I have one of the few externally oiled N47 heads, but I am fairly certain that it was a pre-production head which is why it had the earlier spray bar oiling system. I got it in 2001 from an original factory race team. I was told that it was taken off an engine when new and had been on the shelf ever since. The head was clearly brand new and not refurbished, so I had no reason to doubt his story.

Nice work, but at first glance I see a few issues. The cam lubrication line isn't correct. The N42 head used a spray bar and even a few of the N47 heads had spray bars, though the vast majority were internally oiled. Also, flat top pistons didn't come into play in the ZX until the '81 MY with the intodction of the P79 head. You have them coming in early with the N47 head which would have produced 9.83:1 CR. EDIT: The late E88 heads have 44.6 cc chambers just like the N42 and N47 heads. EDIT 2: Flat top carbs came in later than listed. The '73 MY had the flat top Hitachi carbs, but you have them coming in in Sept. '71.

Koalia, the problem is that there really aren't any wider tires available in a 14" size. They still make racing slicks wider, but otherwise, the selection is dwindling.

RoCa, look closely behind each front wheel where the Tension/Compression rod attaches to the body. There is a doubler plate on the outside of the rail and it is the first place most Z cars rust. If that looks like new, the rest of the car will likely be clean too. More often than not, the undercoating will be cracked and some form of rust will have crept in. In the case of most Eastern cars, there is a large hole through the sheetmetal.

It looks like you got a great platform to start from. If the underbody is really 100% rust free, nothing else matters.

They can be popped back on in about 5 seconds with a large screwdriver. Make sure the lash pad is still in place and turned in line with the rocker and then slide the screwdriver under the cam and place the tip of the screwdriver on top of the spring cap. Now, simply pry up on the handle and put the rocker back in position. One more thing... Be sure to rotate the engine if the cam lobe is pointing down. If it's horizontal or facing up, you'll be fine and can install the rocker as-is. Clearly, there is an underlying problem. Rockers come off when they are way out of adjustment or when the springs are shot and the valves float. Be sure to solve the problem before running the car again.

Thanks for the update Sean. It sounds like they would work well for street seats.

For comparison's sake, is that more, or less than your stock seat? Almost every non-stock seat is taller than the original and I'd like to know how the S2000 seat compares. I too have a tall seated height and most seats don't work with a helmet. I had to make body mods to get my race seat low enough in my 260. My 280 has the stock seats because I've never found anything that sits low enough.

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