2ManyZs

If you are trying to separate the bellhousing or the rear tail section it should come apart if you use a hard rubber mallet to "persuade them". If that still does not work you could try using a stiff ( the stiffer the better) putty knife and tap it into the crease between the cases, they may have gotten corroded over time and that will make it more difficult than one with a newer gasket or silicone. Try not to use a chisel if possible as this will probably gouge the cases, that's why I have a very stiff 1 1/2 inch wide putty knife, besides the blade is thin enough to cut into whatever is holding them together without trying to separate it all at once, just keep using it every couple of inches around the whole case and it should come loose.

I agree with John, even though I never heard the myth of the "secret high horse intakes" when I was racing in ITS. Maybe because it was just a lot of BS. I doubt you could find much difference in the manifolds without doing a sectional cutaway and measuring them with a micrometer to begin with. They are all basically the same design, with very minor modifications during the course of the L series engines. I also believe that a good port matching does more for an L series motor than anything else you can do in an afternoon in the garage. Although I will say this, I have read that Extrude Honing may not be the best thing on a Z motor as the intakes need some of the roughness to create a disturbance to properly mix the fuel and air mixture. I'm not sure but I think this may have been discussed on the Datsun Garage web-site. I believe it has something to do with the short intake runner length. A slight smoothing of the roughness instead of a polishing is better. (?)

According to my 71 shop manual, it is 14-19 ft-lbs. Which isn't much, if you don't have a torque wrench that goes that low, just use a 3/8 wratchet until it's snug. For such a thin book, I'm surprised it was even listed.

You probably should also check the starter relay, as well as the fusible link at the starter. It is even possible it burned out the relay and the ignition switch I suppose. Depending on how long the starter ran it could have gotten the wiring hot enough to fry a couple things. I would start at the starter and work back the fuse panel and then to the switch. Sorry, can't tell you much more without seeing the car, in which case if you think something is questionable, replace it. Only then can you start ruling out possibilities.

I believe they are all the same. There should be a number and Japan cast into the manifold on number one and number six intake runner as mounted on the engine. Mounted on the engine it should be on top where it is easy to see. At least that's the way I think they all are here on US models.

Sounds like you have bent a roll pin on the shift fork, usually they snap off and you will either be locked in one gear only or have a choice of two gears. That would be the first place I would look. You should upgrade them to a larger pin or it is possible I think to double pin them. If you haven't got a roll pin problem you may have bent the shift fork (usually the pins go first). It is a very common problem, happens all the time at the track. They don't like too much abuse, and they let you know when it is time to be a little easier grabbing gears. It is a shame to have to pull a trans. for the proverbial 50 cent part but I think that is quite possibly what has happened.

I would do the springs/struts and the bushing upgrade first. No sense in tearing the suspension apart twice, you may as well do the bushings when you do the rest. Personally I prefer the poly bushings over the rubber. The next thing would be your tire and wheel size and choice of tire brand. I would do the sway bars after that, reason being you will be changing the handling characteristics of the car over stock, but how will be up to your spring/strut combo and the tire and wheel width and brand of tire. Until you know if the car is going to understeer, oversteer (not too likely) there is no sense in putting bars on that will make the condition more pronounced. Z's usually understeer, so depending on your spring/strut combo, choosing the right size bar will depend on how much closer to neutral you want the car to handle. In fact in some case it might be better to leave the bars alone, it all depends on what you have already done and how you want your car to handle. If I can make a suggestion, you might consider using the progrssive rate springs if you want an all around car that can be taken to an autocross once in a while. It doesn't take much in terms of spring rate change to make your Z turn into a kidney buster as a daily driver. If your preference is more toward racing the car then go with the heavier, single rate springs.

Or how about, "Can I have your flashlight for a minute? I'd like to show you a great place to put that!"

Just one small thing, when you get done modifying the suspension to improve your performance remember you are riding around with 30 year old brake technology. The brakes are good, don't get me wrong, but they are not up to the standards of even a mid-priced family sedan nowadays. I have raced on those brakes, believe me, when they reach their threshold be ready for some scary moments, there is no sicker feeling than going into a turn and having the pedal go all the way to the floor!! 50 mph or 100mph, it isn't fun. At the very least you should upgrade to some really good aftermarket pads and shoes, or possibly do a four piston caliper swap in the front. With what you can do to improve the already good suspension, and the tires that are on the market now, you need to pay attention to the brakes too. Just thought I would add that...

Phred, I only see one thing wrong with your stand. Not everyone has THAT much room in their garage!! Let's see, if I add a second story, knock out the back wall.........hmmm.......

I will add a couple more ideas to the ones you have gotten so far. 1. Decide exactly what you want to do with the car. 2. Decide where you can locate the parts necessary to do the job. 3. Decide how much of the work you will do yourself, or who will do it for you. 4. Get more than one estimate for any work you aren't doing yourself. 5. Are you willing to sacrifice the time and money it will take to FINISH the job? Not just start it and lose interest in when it gets to be more than you bargained for. (Been there, done that) 6. Are you taking the chassis somewhere to be painted? If so, remember, the more you take off the car, and the more you can do to make the job easier(fixing the little things) will save you a pile of money! 7. Anything you take off the car, TAG IT, AND BAG IT!! You will save yourself a lot of aggravation if you do this, you won't know how hard it is to find that one missing screw or clip, until you spend hours trying to find the right one. 8. Don't get frustrated! This is the one thing that has kept a lot of cars from being finished, and being sold in pieces to someone looking for a good deal. 9. Once you decide on what you want to do stick to it, changing your mind about something in the middle of the job is wasting time and money, most of us don't mind wasting time, but who likes wasting money? 10. Enjoy yourself, it's not a j-o-b! P.S. I have been working on the same car for over a year and it still isn't ready to paint. So think about how it will look when it is finished, not what it looks like now.

I'm not sure but it seems to me I've seen cars with the original tachs hooked up to the ZX electronic ignition. I may be wrong, and I haven't tried it yet, so do some research. I know that MSD's and a lot of the other aftermarket ignition systems aren't compatible or you need to buy an adapter (MSD anyway) so do some checking. As a side note, I have a car with the MSD and an aftermarket tach ( race car) that the tach works just fine. This was after everyone told the guy that owned it he had to have the MSD trigger to hook up the tach. So a little experimentation might pay off!

Boy, am I an idiot!! I passed up a chance to buy a one owner silver 72 with a red interior, it needed so much work I said no way. Now I see your car and I am kicking myself. I know the red interior is kinda rare in the early cars, and seeing one as nice as yours really hurts. Great car! Breaks my heart though.

It may still crack even if you use Armor-All. Before you got the car who's to say how often it was done, unless you are lucky enough to be the original owner that is! I'd keep using the Armor-All or some type of treatment and try to keep it out of the sun as much as possible, use a sunshade in the windshield or maybe one of the dash "rugs" or mats to keep the sun from beating directly on it. Unfortunately that's about all you can do, the sun beating through the windshield is the biggest enemy. I can't remember if I've ever seen one of the cloth type mats for a Z dash, but I'm sure there has to be one out there somewhere that wouldn't look too bad, still better than a cracked and trashed dash!

I'm only the little one in years, not in size! Still plays with toy planes at his age!!!!

You will probably have to tell what type of electronic ignition is in the car, there are so many different ones and they usually feed the tach differently. Perhaps if you post that, someone with the same set-up may be able to help.

Since you won't be seeing it again anytime soon, go ahead and shave them off, I've tried gluing them down but it just doesn't want to stay down. I believe somewhere on this site I saw where Mike and a couple others were discussing a good price on recovering dashes, I just will have to look for the thread, in case you want the info for when you may want to replace your dash.

You're welcome, pulling out a dash is not my favorite job either. I'd rather pull a leaking transmission anyday. The half cover is most noticeable around the 3 center gauge pods since it only comes down to the top of the pod. The rest of it wraps down far enough to where the dash turns under that you won't see that line as much. I'd have to go out and dig out the full cover I have to see how it covers around the center gauges.

People on the "left coast" always get the really nice cars to choose from!! It's not fair!!

You could try taking it out and soaking it in WD-40, or try it on the car. Are you sure it isn't the hood release cable not letting it close? You might want to check that also to see if it is working OK. It could also be the striker on the hood is out of adjustment or the hood bumpers are set too high. They are the little round pads at each corner of the hood on the firewall. The hood striker has a nut on the end(through the spring) and a slot on the end so you can adjust it up and down. If all this fails, try Motorsport Auto, they may have new ones,(I know they sell hood cables) or try to find one in a junkyard. It could also be that your hood is not aligned just right so there are a lot of things you can check before you spend any money.

Have you replaced the rack bushings?? The stock rubber ones will deteriorate and the rack will move in the mounts, causing a shimmy in the wheel, and a feeling of very sloppy steering. If you haven't get a set of the hard bushings such as MSA has. They are a pain to replace unless you unhook the tie rod ends so you can move the rack around. If that isn't it a rack from a 260 or 280 should fit OK, I'm not sure about the 280zx rack. But I'm inclined to say that it may work also.

You really need to do a leakdown test to find out exactly what it is, it could be rings, valve seals, guides, actually it could be a lot of things or a combination of more than one. It could be the chokes are stuck too. It would be really hard to say without getting under the hood. If you could get your hands on the car for a couple hours and take it to a shop to do a compression check, a leakdown test and just a good looking over I believe the answer will be obvious, but it's kinda hard to say with only second hand info from the owner.

If your budget doesn't allow you to buy a new one or recover the old one then the dash covers are a great way to spruce up the interior for very little money. I have not used the full dash cover ( I have one, the car isn't ready for interior work yet) but have used the half covers. When you put it on put it on right the first time and it should look good for years, or until you are ready to re-do the dash. Take the metal panel off up next to the windshield ( you will need a stubby screwdriver) and make sure you have a couple heavy books, some decent masking tape (or some other kind of tape that won't leave any residue behind and I used just regular clear silicone. Get a big tube, clean the dash good, preferably with alcohol to get off any Armor-all etc. Put the silicone on in long thin beads, don't get too close to the edges or it will ooze out. Use plenty of silicone, lay it on, get it right( the silicone will let you move it around) and when you have it where you want it, put plenty of books or whatever is handy, and then tape the edges down good. Let it dry for a day at least, longer if you can, and it should stay put for a long time. I have one on my old race car that has been on there for almost 15 years and has never come loose. If you did everything right it will be hard to tell at first glance that there is a cover on there. Good luck.

Sorry, only got one. Now all I have to do is finish a car that I can put it in, hmmm... I guess it'll have to be the 71. I won't tell you about some of the other parts I have stashed away. ! Ya know, I was looking in the links and see that you have a place you can get radiator core supports. You are one up on us it seems.

Hate to tell you this 240z, but I found my luggage cover. The original box isn't in very good shape but the cover has never been used. Even found the little bag with the snaps to mount it. Now, if I could just remember where and when I got it!!