Jeff G 78

Try either a motorcycle dealer or see if you have a Grainger in your area. Here in Detroit, we have several fastener houses where we can buy damn near anything. I can usually find what I need at Ace Hardware though. For Datsun fasteners though, I have a stash that stems from nearly 30 years of parting cars out. I have them all sorted by type and size in plastic cases. If all else fails, get them from McMaster-Carr. You can find them on the interwebs.

A stock mechanical pump works just fine with round tops.

The is no spring in a 260 tank, so I have no idea how it got there. Pull it and pitch it. Do you still run the flat top carbs? If not, you don't need the electric pump either.

Steve, I uploaded the photo so I could post it. Here is a pic of how low the seat is compared to the sliders.

It could help on many seats, but the Momo is completely down, so I doubt it would matter. Email me and I'll send you pics of my seat from the back so you can tell how it's designed.

I currently have a Sparco Evo seat in my 260 racecar, but I picked up a used Momo Acropolis seat to try to get it a bit lower. It is the lowest seat I've found, but I won't know for sure how it works until I get it mounted. Both seats are fixed back FIA seats and both are very comfy. I paid $150 for the Momo seat in like-new condition with sliders. The nice thing is that the seat bucket is in between the sliders, so the seat is as low as you can possibly get. When the seat is sitting on the ground with the sliders attached, the center of the seat bottom is only 1/8" off the floor. Here is a pic I found on the web of the same seat. I am 6'-1" and am very tall from the waist up, so if it works for me, you should be OK. My Sparco seat gives me room to the roof with my helmet, but I'm too high compared to the cage. I want to get completely below the halo bars which is not currently the case. Click on my facebook link in my sig and check out the photo section. You will see what I have for a cage. The Autopower bolt-in roll bar is better than nothing, but I'd feel much safer (on the track) with a cage and a 5-point harness. Even though it's only an open track car, bad things can and will happen.

Great info everybody. I might try to move the spring a few teeth and still keep the CTS mod to fine tune. If I don't like it, I will switch it back. I think that like Sarah, I would need a big AFM spring adjustment based on the amount of resistance I have added to the CTS circuit. BRAAP's write-up is great. I started reading it at midnight and was too tired to comprehend everything, but it all makes sense.

Same here FW, but supposedly, it's the "right" way of correcting the mixture. I have the plugs looking perfect right now and I get 25 mpg, so I hate to mess with it.

I added a potentiometer to mine a few years ago and it has run great ever since. I REALLY need to open the AFM and adjust the spring, but for now, tricking the water temp circuit has done the job.

Nice. Thanks for sharing Steve.

I'd like to add a step 37.5 Blue. Once the chain is wedged, stuff a clean rag around the chain so that nothing can drop down into the front cover. It's a big hole that attracts stray parts. If something drops down there, it's a big job to retrieve it. DAMHIK.

Your avatar freaks me out Blue.

That's awesome (as usual) Blue. Koalia, yours will be similar, but slightly different with carbs rather than FI like Blue's Z. The intake and exhaust don't have to come off to pull the head. If you are JUST doing the gasket and do not plan to have a machine shop measure the head, then you can leave the carbs and exhaust on the head as it saves a lot of time. If you know you are going to take it to a shop, go ahead and pull everything as Blue described.

Could something have fallen down in the intake and got wedged either in the cylinder or in a valve? Pull all of the plugs and shine a small flashlight into each cylinder looking for debris. As for the loose head bolts... YOU built the engine, right? YOU torqued them, right? The only way bolts are loose before an engine is ever started is if they were never properly tightened to begin with. It sounds like you need to return to square one and pull it all apart again.

I wasn't aware that Nissan ever made replacement inserts. Interesting.

R&R-ing the head is not a big deal, but you will need a few tools. I'm guessing you have the stock carbs and exhaust manifold which will keep it straight forward. The biggest worry getting the exhaust downpipe-to-manifold nuts off without breaking a stud. Soak the nuts and studs for several days in a good penetrating oil before removing them. Otherwise it really isn't hard. Cut a piece of wood to match the timing chain wedge tool shown in the FSM (download from http://xenons30.com). Drill a hole through the top of the wood block and tie a string to it for easy extraction. You will also need a 1/2" drive torque wrench that goes to 150 newton-meters and a 1/2" drive 10mm allen socket. Otherwise, you will need standard hand tools including a 1/2" drive socket set up to 19mm with extensions and a universal joint for the exhaust connection. With the right tools and some good luck with the exhaust, a novice can do the job in a weekend not counting a trip to an automotive machine shop to measure the head. A skilled Z mechanic can do a head gasket swap on a '72 240Z in 3-4 hours. If you choose to do it yourself, I will be more than happy to do a complete write-up for you.

They should be M6x1.25 bolts if nobody has tried to install the wrong fasteners and cross threaded them.

How much were they? I didn't see a price on the website.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php has them for $11.71 each

I've never seen that failure, though I did have to swap my 260 trans after the case cracked where the rear seal seats. I had a dif break in a race and the vibrations must have cracked the case. The internals are fine, so I'll use it for parts if needed.

Yes, your valve timing is off and you need to re-time it. Pull the front cover and start over with the crank and cam marks pointing straight up. Download the FSM if you haven't already done so.

check over on http://www.hybridz.org. It is a fairly common conversion and you should be able to find what you need there.

Was the price added in your edit? If not, I missed it this morning. That's WAY too much for that car. I have rebuilt my whole '78 from the ground up and it's pretty much rust-free. I'd be lucky to get $5k for it and that's with $1000 worth of Panasports! Based of the condition you described, it's a $500 - $1500 car in Michigan depending on the real rust situation. We'd all love to get top dollar out of our cars, but the truth is that they aren't really worth much unless they are super low VIN series 1 cars in 100% original condition. Tell him that he can leave the car in the barn forever, or sell it to you for a fair price so you can bring the car back to life.

Let me know if you need help deciding. I have looked at a lot of S30s over the last 25+ years and can help you understand the condition better. PM me if you need my cell #.

Where in Michigan are you located? Like Z train said, horse barns have dirt floors, but they also have acidic air from the horse urine. Inspect the underside closely. Be sure to look at the TC mount area and under the battery. The fuel tank is likely full of rust and dried fuel after three years, so at best, the car will need some TLC. I doubt it will start with the old fuel.