2ManyZs

If you look here and download the L engine calculator you can play around with different combinations for a close estimate of the compression ratio. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1292&highlight=L+engine+calculator Looks like the E-31 with the flat tops L-28 bottom end should come out to about 10.25:1 or so. Not too bad, but you can lower it easily enough in a couple different ways. Beware though, the HKS head gaskets are pricey, like about 150 or so each....:cross-eye I'd shoot for about 9.25-10:1 for a good street engine, but you'll need to upgrade the ignition for that to work reliably. You could always use an N-42 head or an E-88 and save the E-31 as they are one of the rarer heads. N-42's are very easy to find as they were on the 280's and there are plenty of them so they are failry cheap. It's a good head, has larger valves already, and only needs a light shave to put up some good compression numbers.

I've been here since 78....I've been going to SP since the mid 80's and raced in ITS there from the fall 89- Fall 94 and still go up now and then. I remember the Z club being there a couple times over the years, but I was too busy at the time to spend much time looking around....:devious:

The E-31 is the more desirable, with the early E-88 a close second. The E-31 has a slightly smaller combustion chamber and a little better chamber shape. With that on an F-54 block with flat tops, with larger 280 valves, would make an excellent street motor. Especially if you upgraded the cam a bit with headers and the other usual mods. Your car sounds like my 71, I didn't know the original owner or his son he passed it on to, but the next two owners were also brothers....

Factory spec torque is 57-65ft/lbs..... FWIW, any type of oil is fine on mag wheels nuts, since it's a closed nut design. Stock type lugs should use some type of anti-seize as the stud has threads exposed beyond the nut. If it is not exposed to the outside elements, oil should work just fine. The extended shank nuts like are used on the Libre's should have anti-sieze on the outside as well, I've seen them corrode at the point of contact with the wheels to the point they begin to pit the lug nuts and darn near impossible to break loose. They have two points of possible problem areas for corrosion.

Hehe, I used the search box... and I remembered a post or two on the same "mystery box" on the firewall. If you've de-smogged the car totally, it isn't needed, and you could have an open circuit that has somehow become a ground.:paranoid:

This might help, but your wiring colors don't seem to match the one I'm thinking of, the relay has something to do with the throttle valve for emissions....or seatblet interlock, or........ http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2984&highlight=seatbelt+warning+relay

You ought to do a compression and a leakdown test both, just the compression test won't tell you the whole story on the engine. If it tests out in fair shape, go find an F54 block out of a 280ZX non turbo, and rebuild it while still being able to drive and enjoy the car. Look for one with a P79 head, as you'll get the flat top pistons in the F54. You either have the early, more desirable E-88 head on your 71, or perhaps you are lucky and have an E-31 (depends on what a PO might have done with it). Either way it will work well with the F54 especially if you change to the larger 280 valves, and the result will be 25+hp if you don't do any other mods. Then you will have a much better base to build up the engine than by using the stock L-24. Building it a piece at a time will save you money in the long run, and you'll be able to enjoy the car instead of look at it sitting in the driveway without an engine until you get the new engine put together.

Me go to San Antonio? No thanks.....been there, done that.... Besides, with the price of fuel and gas now, it would be cheaper to have it shipped by truck.

Throttle body injection is what you see on older GM cars, where the throttle body looks almost like a carburator sitting on the intake, yet, it is not a carburator. Instead of having jets, etc.. they usually have 2-4 large injectors that dump the fuel into the intake runners. The air and fuel both are metered in the throttle body on a TBI system. The aftermarket Holley Pro-Jection systems are a TBI system, like this. Z's have a port injection system, where the injector shoots the fuel directly into the intake port on the head, with a separate injector controlling each cylinder, while the air mix is metered before the intake.

Actually the biggest hazard with using an impact gun on lug nuts is putting them on, not taking them off. Most 1/2 inch impacts have too much tightening torque and will either stretch or break studs, if it doesn't strip out the threads in the lug nuts first.

You won't know how much you'll need to spend until you take the head off and have it pulled apart to find out if any significant damage has been done or not. It's too difficult to tell by just veiwing pics to be able to accurately diagnose the extent of any possible damage, if any. You'd need to pull the cam, rockers, valves etc to check the valve guides, seats, cam bearings and all. I don't know if Motorsport Auto still offers the rebuilt heads like they used to or not, but they used to offer fully rebuilt heads for about 450 plus a 150 core charge. I believe these were rebuilt by ATK, which, according to what we've heard isn't supplying the rebuilt engines like they used to. So, the best thing to do would be to call MSA and see, it might save you time and money in the long run.

OK, can we all be sick now???:sick: :sick: :sick: :tapemouth His problem is pretty obvious by looking at his site... college kid with a BS (bulls--t?) degree in boomboxes..... :stupid: Bet he's off his "meds" too.........:devious:

That's one of the main reasons I want to chop the top off the 240... LEGROOM! Besides, I've got to use two cars to make one anyways, so as long as I'm cutting......:devious: Second reason is I already have plenty of spare Z parts.....:cheeky:

You've got some major oiling problems, also notice the lobes of the cam on the #2 exhaust and both lobes on #3 cylinder. They look like they've gone without oil for a while compared to #6. I hate to say it, but I'd pull the head and have it checked out throughly. It's possible the valve guides have sustained some damage as well as the rockers, not too mention the possibility of the cam needing to be replaced or reground. If you look under #2-3 and #6, notice how there is no oil puddle in the valley in the head, only burned on oil residue, which shows it may have been getting very hot on those 3 areas due to the cam oiler not oiling those lobes.:disappoin

When you can drive the car with the top down with a "full head" of hair and it doesn't get messed up, that's towards the end of the "mid-life" crisis......:tapemouth From the little I know about the Roadsters, they have many of the same rust problems the Z's do, floor, front fenders etc.... but, since they have a full frame, the repairs can be done soo much easier. Just pull the body off the frame, and go to work. I'd like to have a 67, but I think instead I'll just hack off the roof of one of the 240's in the backyard, and listen to a 6 instead of a 4....:cheeky:

Look pretty good to me..... If you didn't get it, you might want to try the 13103 kit to smooth the wheels before you use the polishing kit, lot less "elbow grease" required if it works as well as it should. Is it worth another 40 bucks not to have to do all that sanding?

Probably.....:disappoin By checking it this way, you'll know how to best save time. If it checks out better with the oil in the cylinders, you'll know you have a lot of wear in the bottom end (rings and/or cylinder walls) and the best thing to do is pull the entire engine and rebuild it. Probably be best to just go ahead and rebuild the engine from the bottom up, or replace it with a reman engine if you can find one for a reasonable price. If it tests out nearly the same, you know the majority of the problem is above the block, so you'd only have to pull the head, and only need to rebuild the head by checking it for straightness, doing a valve job, replacing the valve seats and then putting it back together along with a good top end gasket kit.

Isn't buying a convertible one of the signs of a "mid-life" crisis????:devious: Maybe that's why I've been wanting one for the last couple years too.....:stupid: :disappoin

Nah, 3/8 air wrench...... :devious:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11144&highlight=9mm+rod+bolts

If your valves aren't adjusted right, they either won't seat properly or open far enough to allow the proper amount of air into the combustion chamber, depending on whether they are too tight or too loose. Next thing you should do is put a spoonfull of oil in the 2 cylinders that were low, and re-test them. If they show higher compression than before, the rings or cylinder walls are the cause as the oil will work to seal the rings to the cylinder walls. If they still show a low compression like before, then you know the problem is either the headgasket, or in the head itself such as the valve seats or valves. Of course, it could end up it is a combination of worn rings and headgasket/valves, but until you check it, you won't know what to be looking for when you remove the head. How much you have to do will be a result of what you find when you do this test, you may only have to rebuild the head and/or replace the headgasket.

Those Eibach progressives are a PITA aren't they?? I ended up using 6 large 3 inch hose clamps on mine to compress them enough to mount them. FWIW, if you had unhooked the brake line(yeah, I know, gotta bleed them again) and unbolted the half shaft from the hub, you could have unbolted the top of the strut and swung it down and layed it on the floor and used your compressors on the old springs. Reminds me of the time a buddy of mine and I were putting lowering springs on my old Monte Carlo SS, way back when I didn't have nearly enough tools to work with. Took us 2 hours to do one front spring, and only took 30 minutes on the second one... talk about stiff springs....:cross-eye

Actually, the repair panel is becoming available, Banzai Motorworks has them and more and more of the parts suppliers are picking them up as well. Bout time eh? http://www.zzxdatsun.com/ Click on Catalog, then Bits and Pieces and it's half way down the page for 110 bucks.

The gasket should be simple to make out of some rubber gasket material from the parts store. The bushings will be a little tougher though...maybe cut a couple old sway bar end link bushings to the right thickness and diameter? Or, if you can find it in the hardware store, just cut them out of a piece of thick rubber.... I wouldn't worry about it being perfect as it's not going to be seen to easily. It's either that or find a decent set off a parts car somewhere.

Look here for the Import show at Carlisle...it's on the NJ Z Club's site. But then, this thread was started asking about any Z clubs in Jersey wasn't it?? http://www.njzclub.com/event_calendar.html