2003z

they were motorcraft, I replaced them with Bosch. Wanted to use NGK, but noone local had them either time.

fouled plugs. I guess too much idling with the choke on, and not enough real running of the engine.

I might sound like I know what I'm doing, but I really just muddle along. The plugs look fouled, so i will replace them and try again.

I haven't driven the car much since the engine rebuild, in fact only had it broken in on a dyno then a track day and drove it from one side of atlanta to the other. I recently sold the car but have been working on some title issues, that we finally cleared up, and on friday, I moved the car out of the garage to do some other work and it started fine, on saturday, when I went to take it on a proving run before its long drive to the new home, I couldn't start it. It cranks for a second or two, lights off for about 2 revolutions and dies. Its an L28 with SU carbs, any ideas?

Since I was only in my vette this year, I kind of faded into the background. That viper was crazy, but mostly its the bikes. There were about as many cars this year as last, but the mix is changing. Before it was about 75% 350z's and now only about 50%. Next year the pickle should be running again though!

I'm one of the sponsors (www.thepowdercoater.com) and will be giving away a standard L6 powdercoated valve cover (black wrinkle/bare alum. letters) a Turbo L6 valve cover (probably gunmetal with black letters) and a 350z Plenum (probably gloss black) Unfortunately, I will be Z-less, as my engine is still out of the car. I will be in a black trailblazer ss and a black C6 corvette for the weekend.

this was posted by someone on hybridz a while back. "for what is worth the ford 5.4 exhaust studs work, they are 8mm, that is what i used for my 4 barrel swap, the part # is -w703902-s403 for what appears to be copper or -n811313-s431 for just regular metal studs and if i remember correctly they are a little longer than the stock nissan studs" I bought the regular metal studs, I think they were about $1.50 each at the local ford dealer.

I think that would be an awesome solution. I have an old hooker header on mine that was extremely rusty. I got it ceramic coated in black and it looks great. They first do regular ceramic (jet hot) inside and out, then put a black ceramic topcoat on it. Haven't got the engine running yet though.

you can use that single stage chrome, but I would put a clearcoat on over it. Since its the same price and both really need a clearcoat, I use their regular reflective chrome, because it shoots out smoother from the gun and doesn't get silver veins if applied a little too heavily.

its not as good as it seems. It discolors if you get any type of engine degreaser or other solvents on it, just like the 2 stage chrome. I did a couple of motorcycle foot pegs for a guy and he brought them back a week later after he got degreaser on them, and they had turned gray. Also, on my 240, I did the accelerator linkage, right on the firewall part and left it on when I pressure washed the engine compartment. Zep Industrial Purple turned it gray too.

www.hybridz.org Do some searching over there before asking questions though. There is lots of info and they don't like rehashing the same stuff over and over. Still, a very knowledgeable group.

just looked at it again, and the valve definitely has to be bent. I can see it right next to the spark plug hole, and it should be on the other side of the engine. After assembly, I turned the whole thing a few revolutions via a wrench on the crankshaft, so there shouldn't have been interference.

I don't think so, have to check with them though.

sorry, fod is an aviation term for foreign object damage. Any piece of trash that will kill an engine.

Its a fairly straight forward job. When you take th speedo and tach apart, just use tweezers to lift the needle and slide the faces over them.The other 2 split gauges had to be glued and taped in place, They said use dble sided tape included, but there was none, so I used elmers glue and a little scotch tape in the corners to hold them while the glue set. The clock was easy.

I did pull the plugs to try to turn the engine, found fod in the #6 cylinder. Looks like somehow one of the valve contacted the spark plug and smashed the tip and broke at least a piece of it off. Def, have to pull the engine again and disassemble to see where the problem is.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I finally got my engine all back together and in the car and got to the point of starting it. It cranked for about 5-10 seconds then stopped. I thought it was the battery, but I've had it on a charger for over an hour and still nothing. I can see the engine move a little when the starter teeth engage the flywheel, so the starter is def. moving. Is it possible for the engine to sieze with only turning that long? Is there a way to check if its siezed without pulling it and taking it apart? What should I do next? thanks in advance

daytime pic

It is a little hard to navigate their site, but they have 2 sets, depending on what speedo you have. With the upgraded inverter, its just under $100. You can get them with white illuminated indiglo faces or with designs, and with different fonts on the letters. Mine are reverse indiglo (just the letters/numbers light up) on a black background with a font very close to what came on the car, so during the day, they look 90% like stock. I wasn't into anything fancy, just being able to see the gauges at night. 0-160mph speedo page: http://www.speedhut.com/el_detail.asp?catagory=DATSUN&auto_number=480&bhcp=1 10-160mph speedo page: http://www.speedhut.com/el_detail.asp?catagory=DATSUN&auto_number=479&bhcp=1

I think I got them about a year ago when they did the initial run. I wanted stock looking, but lighted dials. Just got them put in the car and working today. I do need to straighten out the speedo though, and I might need to paint the needles with glow in the dark paint, although you can see them in the actual car. I took all the stock lights out.

how about black rewinds?

I found what it hooked to in my box of parts. Some kind of relay, and I think it was under the dashboard. Thats where it is now, at least. The wiring in this car is a real mess though. Most of the connectors from the dash to the engine and tail harnesses have been redone, there are wires crossing the car that shouldn't be there, and the rear parking lights were powered on 3 pieces of wire shoddily strung together running from the front parking lot to the back! Once I get it running, the next big project will be re-wiring when I can find a complete used harness. THanks for the help! I really could have used the internet 12 years ago when I redid my last one!

3 are black/white, 1 is Green/black. There is a possibility that the wire goes inside the car, and not on the engine side, but I don't think so, as the engine bay was touched up in that area with some kind of thick black paint, which appears on the connector. Its a 73 4spd, btw, and I can't find anything on the diagram that it could be.

yep, the passenger side, about 8inches below the connection for the wipers.

nope, my ww harness is a 6 pin connector, and its connected.