Jeff G 78

I tried to clean pistons and no matter what I used, they wouldn't come clean, so I gave them to my machine shop and they came back looking great. Same with the front cover.

Been there, done that. I just used a bolt and nut rather than buying another 40 year old plastic plug.

Might be 10.9, but it looks like a Chinese hardware store bolt to me.

Yeah, I immediately thought 50 was way too high, but I don't have the FSM handy, so I didn't comment on that. I knew someone would correct him if it was indeed wrong.

Is that broken bolt OE? It doesn't look like a Nissan bolt from the pic.

Nope, the brakes and struts are different too. The ZX parts are actually similar to 510 parts.

Huh?

Add enough oil that the cavity is mostly full - it doesn't take much! You can leave an inch or so of air at the top, but I have never had a problem with the oil expanding and puking out. I have Illuminas in my 280 and they didn't have a washer, but it all depends on the amount of room you have. When you insert the cartridge and screw on the gland nut, it should tighten down on the cartridge before it runs out of threads on the housing. The washer was likely added because the gland nut didn't clamp the cartridge, but rather just tightened onto the housing or ran out of threads. Make sure the cartridge cannot move up and down prior to it bottoming out and then finish tightening it.

It's for cooling. Dampers get very hot and the oil conducts the heat out to the tubes much better than air. The oil will not leak out, so don't worry about that.

Hey Zed, no, I did not strip the head. It simply won't budge. Now that I look at the pic you posted, I'm not positive I even need to remove it. I *think* I was trying to remove the unmarked screw just above the "Field Coil" designation on the left side of the diagram. I will look at the starter again later today and just take it all apart. I do have the FSM, but I hadn't looked at it yet. I figured the brush would be smoked and I would then proceed with a rebuild. It looks like RockAuto has the brushes and bushings, so it the armature looks okay, I might get it working for a few bucks.

Is there a trick to getting the phillips head screws out of the starter body that retain the brushes? I have two gear reduction starters that no longer work properly, so I was going to at least take a look at the brushes, but I cannot get the screws out. I tried an impact screwdriver with no luck.

Perfect! Thanks Greg.

I'm sure it's in this thread somewhere, but I didn't see it. What's the total number of dash light bulbs needed for the speedo, tach, and three center gauges? I am going to place an Amazon order for the BA9s bulbs. I'm less worried about the ash tray, glove box, and other misc bulbs right now. Thanks!

Hopefully everything works with the pickup screen. When I did my street car tank, I had no issues, but when I did my race car tank, I had pickup issues. I blew compressed air through the inlet and outlet lines on the tank after coating and all went fine until I tried to race the car. Apparently, the inlet screen was just clogged enough with POR-15 that it would run fine for a while and then starve. I'm guessing that blowing the air backwards through the screen opened it via a bunch of "flaps". When fuel flow was high in race conditions, the "flaps" would suck closed and fuel would stop flowing. As a short-term fix, I swapped the inlet and outlet hoses and sucked from the open return pipe that sits about an inch off the bottom of the tank. It worked fine, but I could only get about 12 usable gallons of fuel before I had to pit. After installing a fresh tank with the proper hose routing, I could get about 14 gallons before it sucked air in the corners. I then added a 1/2 gallon surge tank and I can now suck all 16 gallons out of the tank. The surge tank is great, but when it finally coughs, I have about 20 seconds before the bowls are dry and the engine quits.

Can't disagree. Triples have a sound and appearance that is just right on a Z. In the end, it will be amazing either way.

Good to know Tom, thanks for the tip. My 260 race car needs a reliable wiper motor. I cleaned the linkage, rewired the motor with heavy gauge wire and added a simple toggle switch. It worked very well until we had an extremely rainy race where the original 40 year old motor got hot and blew the fuse mid-race. Rather than risk another failure, I'd rather upgrade it to something newer and more reliable. I'll check out the ZX2 motor.

25 years or so ago, my buddy and I each had Z cars. I had (and still have) a UniSyn and my friend used the one you linked. For whatever reason, I never liked his and have stuck with my trusty UniSyn ever since. At times, it feels like a crappy device, but it has always done the job.

Beat you Steve.

Welcome and congrats on the purchase! What kind of tools do you and your son have? Nissan did a great job keeping the number of fastener head sizes to a minimum, so a good set of 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, and 19mm double box end wrenches and 6 point sockets will be a great start. A good multimeter is another must have. If you already have a good tool set, get a UniSyn carb synchronizer tool. A good floor jack and jack stands are also must haves. Other than tools, you can get him things where the car is weak - carpet, suspension bushings, etc. Most of all, have fun!!!

Guy, did you decide whether to go triple carbs or ITB FI? I would guess that ITB FI would be easier to get max power, but both are equally awesome.

I can't wait to hear it. It sure is purdy!

I love FB for catching up with out of state friends and I have racing friends all over the country that I have never met in person. Several of my Datsun racing buddies have helped my out with emergency parts and I have done the same for them. One guy who I have never met in person FedExed me his rebuilt SU carbs the day before a race because I was having carb issues. I used his carbs and FedExed them back a week after the race. 9 times out of 10 though, I end up PM'ing with my FB friends rather than going public. For almost everything technical, I use the forums. Other than the bad information on FB, the biggest problem is the transient nature of it. After a few hours, it's all but impossible to find an old post. I do, however, use FB for my other car information. Besides my Datsuns, I also own a Porsche 996. The Porsche forums are okay, but I can actually get great advice from the FB members. Many of them are from the UK. Because of the high cost of entry, the Porsche crowd seems to be very mature and helpful and most are true gear heads. I guess in the end, I use every possible method to be better edjucated. Taking anything from forums or FB at face value is foolish. The wise people keep researching after finding what they are looking for to make sure they aren't going down the wrong path. Knowing who you are taking advice from is always important too. After being around for a while, we all learn who to trust and who to ignore, no matter what the online source.

Sounds like a good candidate for a replacement title. Most states will do a title search and issue a new title for a minimal fee. I'm sure it takes a bit of time, but scrapping a clean shell is a shame.

Some people love them, but I have never been a fan of Hawk pads. Installing a 15/16" MC will decrease pedal travel, but increase force required to stop. The brakes will feel stiffer, but less powerful with only that upgrade.

Better tires will do more for stopping distance on the street than any brake upgrade. Upgrades give better fade resistance and better pedal feel if done correctly. Using quality pads is always a good idea. Porterfield R4-S are a good street pad front and rear.