Pop's Z

Hey Mel, Since this is my original thread I would appreciate it if you would take a hike. You have added nothing except to make it an exercise in mental masturbation. Bye, Mike

It looks as if I will be doing this in the near future. I have a question...Why do only one side? Would it not be stronger doing both sides? I realize that you would have to remove the vinyl, but...Just asking? Cheers, Mike

Thanks all for the advice and commiseration. I asked my wife to take a picture of me laying on top of the engine with much padding underneath, but she was laughing too hard. I replaced the core plug and in preparation used my Dremel tool with a sanding flapper attachment to really clean out the hole. I also used a thin film of Permatex#2 around the sealing edge. My big fear is that when I painted the block I didn't remove the paint from the hole surfaces before installing the plugs, and that could be the cause of the problem. Fingers crossed that I don't have to re-do every bloody one of the plugs. It's much more difficult too do with the engine in the car. Cheers, Mike

Dave, If you are going to be into serious mods this is not the site for you. Try hybridz.com and read, read, read before asking questions or they will roast you. Cheers, Mike

Boys, boys, calm down. This has gotten a bit out of hand. Deep breaths everyone. I didn't envision a shitefest with my simple question. We're all friends here, right? FWIW I went ahead and removed the system which had been cobbled together by the previous owner. I don't normally run the car here in Colorado in the winter, and I let it warm up until I see the needle move in the temp guage. Problem solved. Thanks for all the info, though, it adds to the store of knowledge here on the site. Cheers, Mike

Mark, glad it all worked out for you. I was wrong about the 14mm...it was a 12mm wrench. As a matter of fact I did this just Sunday putting in a "new" F54/N42 combo. What a pita the driveshaft bolts can be. Fan to waterpump, too. My fingers are just not that small. Cheers, Mike

Hi All, I read this thread last week and thought "that's interesting", but....Then this weekend I was testing my "new" F54/N42 cammed, shaved head combo at high rpms and POP then great clouds of steam erupted from under the car. Long story short I, too, had blown out a brand new core (freeze) plug, the first one back from the alternator on the rt. side of the block. The temp guage did not register the changed situation, either. Fortunately, I had a rubber temporary plug in the car. So I filled it back up with water and went on my way. I thought I had put the core plugs in correctly, but now I'm totally paranoid that another one will blow when I'm off in some remote area. To install them I used a socket that just fit and bapped them in with a BFH. Is there something I missed? I did not use any kind of sealer/adhesive as the NAPA guys said they weren't necessary. Any advice will be appreciated. Dave, did you put yours in yet? Cheers, Mike

Thank you all. I was thinking along the same lines, but wanted my hand held. This car has a mish-mash of '72/'73 stuff as the P.O. had done the dump the flat tops thing, and I just transferred everything to the F 54/N 42. Those extraneous parts will be sent to the storage unit where I have put all the original parts I have taken off. Cheers, Mike

Hi all, I've been considering removing the coolant hoses and fittings from the intake manifold, and just running the heater line direct to the water pump.. I have a '73 with a F54/N42( shaved w/ a Delta Cams Stage 2 cam, and header) combo with Z Therapy 4 screw carbs(no coolant through them), and a ZX dizzy. I would love to hear a discussion as to pros and cons. Bruce, Arne, Dave? Has anyone done this? What was the result as far as driveability, etc.? Any problems? I have to admit that I would be doing it for cosmetic reasons to clean up the appearance of the engine compartment. I do live at 5,000' and most of my driving takes place at even higher altitudes if that is a factor. Thanks in advance. Cheers, Mike

At this time I have no speakers in front. I am considering adding a pair of tweeters mounted somewhere in the front to add some fullness to the sound experience. FWIW the sound from the rear 6x9s is very good. I didn't want to cut holes in the door panels, and the kick panels seem pretty far away from my ears, plus I didn't want my size 12 clodhoppers to kick any speakers down there. I have seen others mount their tweeters in the "eyeball" vents in the dash. Cheers, Mike

I have one of those speaker panels on my '73. Two screws on top and it's out. Actually easier than the old finisher panel with all it's rivets. 2 thunbs up for the panel and the sound from the 6x9s. Cheers, Mike

Dave, How were you able to get the strips tight enough not to wobble on the door panel? Cheers, Mike

Nope, no special tool or rivets. 1/8" pop rivets 1/4" depth. Cheers, Mike

Mine were re-installed with small pop rivets after the PO had the car redone in tan velour. They were filed smooth. They lie beneath the fuzz and don't scratch the window. I am currently doing a re-upholstery of the door panels and will use the same method to re-install the fuzz strips. Hope this helps Cheers, Mike

Hey Bon, What is the brand and # of the rear muffler, and is it an oval or is it round? Turbo muffler? Is the front muffler a glasspac? Cheers, Mike

No, no mods. Stick the traveling coffee cup or water bottle in, slide the lid closed until it touches, and you're good to go. Never had one leave the ash tray due to exciting cornering or braking, either. Cheers, Mike

Mine became a drink holder...perfect. Cheers, Mike

Sorry, no help with the problem. Bruce will chime in I'm sure. BUT what a cutie-pie!! Your life has now changed forever. Speaking as a Dad of 3: 44, 41, 30, and the Grampa of 3: 12, 5, 3, you will never stop being a dad. Welcome to the world baby boy. Cheers, Mike and congratulations.

Also the handle can be worn down where the rod attaches. If you switch them side to side you can solve your problem. Cheers, Mike

Dave IS da' man! Everything he's done for me (headlight harness, parking light upgrade, alternator plug, and rebuild of combo and turn signal switches) was excellent, reasonably priced, and quick to get here. Oh, and everything works as advertised. Long may he wave. We are very fortunate to have him. So buy stuff from him and help support his Z habit...he's got it bad. Cheers, Mike

Here's what I did. Take that 14 mm wrench you ground down. Put it on the nut. Rotate the driveshaft (tranny in neutral) until the wrench contacts the body, or whatever (righty tighty, lefty loosey). Now take a long screwdriver or lever of some kind. Put the end into the u-joint area and use that to turn the drive shaft. The longer the lever the better the mechanical advantage. You will find that the nuts turn very hard the first time you do this if they've never been off. You can only turn the nuts a little bit at a time. Because I'm right-handed I found that I could do this operation from the left side of the car head towards the front. Tighten the nuts the same way only opposite of course. The washers will drop on top of the diffy mount. Wear safety glasses as much crap will fall down into your eyes. Have fun. Cheers, Mike

Lucky you. There is a place in Washington that rebuilds them. Oliver at Z Specialties 1-800-518-5480 or www.datsunstore.com. Oliver has a shop that specializes in Z cars and what he doesn't know probably doesn't matter. Great guy to deal with. Good luck. Cheers, Mike

IMHO. Save yourself time, money and grief, and send them to Bruce at ZTherapy. One of the best things I did for my Z. Cheers, Mike

The Eibach factory says #s ending in 001 front, 002 rear. Letters and #s right side up. Cheers, Mike

Also, if you can move the rocker arms around by hand they are probably in serious need of a valve adjustment. Cars with badly out of spec valve/rocker clearances don't run right. It is not a difficult job, just tedious if you haven't done it before. After you have done it a few times it gets easier and goes a bit quicker. You can get a video of the proceedure from ZTherapy. Try doing a complete tune-up before thinking about a valve job. Fix the simple things first. Cheers, Mike