Arne

West of the Rockies. Places without road salt. Or anywhere where you can find a car that has been garaged its entire life and not driven in Winter.

I edited your post to load smaller size images. In the future, please don't post or link to such huge files. Try to keep to 800x600 or smaller.

Actually, both myself and Jim (a7dz) have commented about the crappy pedal feel we both have with currently available clutch hydraulic parts. We're not sure what part causes this, but Jim has owned his '70 for more than 30 years, and never had this limp pedal until he put on new cylinders last year. My car came to me with recently replaced cylinders, so the crappy pedal is all I've ever had since I got it.Did you replace both cylinders, Randy? Or just the slave? What did the pedal feel like before the change? (Or before it failed, if that's what prompted the change?)

Agreed. In your part of the country, any older Z will rust badly if it has been driven in the winter.

The nuts (use two 12mm wrenches, not 10mm) need to be closer to the slave body, effectively making the pushrod shorter. The manual says to back them way off, then tighten just to the point that all play is gone, then back off 1.5 turns. That will give the "proper" amount of free play at the clutch fork. I've found that I prefer a bit more play at the fork than that, generally backing off 2-2.5 turns. But that is just my personal preference.

Did you get the correct slave with the adjustable pushrod? If so, you need to adjust the clutch at both the pedal pushrod and the slave. (Applies to '70-72 only.) I've found that getting it just right is a bit fussy.

Yup, that's an almost certain sign of a failed master cylinder.

My car has been wet before, and will be again in the future. No biggie.

This topic has been discussed to death here, many times. Do a search for electric fuel pump, not all the hits will answer your question, but many will.

Weather forecasts for Sunday are very encouraging at this point, partly sunny and lower 70's.

Best part about that book is that even if you decide after reading it that you aren't up to the job, you'll know what to look for if/when you search for someone to do it for you.

The engine rebuild process is the same, doesn't matter what induction you bolt on when you're done. The book I linked covers L-series engines through '84, including all 280Z and ZX.

Don't try to find something online, go with the real thing. Buy this book: http://www.amazon.com/Rebuild-Your-Nissan-Datsun-Engine/dp/1931128030/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244604165&sr=8-1

I don't drive mine daily, but regularly. Several times per week, generally. And I can echo the comments above. A solid, well-maintained Z will not need a lot of maintenance to keep it going, and what it will need is generally within the skill level of most backyard mechanics. That said, condition is everything. I used a '67 MGB as a daily driver for the better part of 6 years. Never any problems, and the maintenance it required was quite reasonable—a far cry from the MG horror stories we've all heard. The difference? I restored that car from the ground up myself. So I had no qualms about driving it anywhere, anytime. I knew every part on the car. My current Z is a somewhat different story. It was/is a fairly low mileage car that I have refreshed, but not totally restored. I bought it supposedly "ready-to-drive" with 59,500 miles on it. It still needed a fair bit of refreshing to get it to the point where I trusted it to be right. And that's something to consider—no matter how good the car you buy may be, it will likely still need a few things done to make it ready for daily service. You don't mention what part of the country you are in, but rust will be an issue in most cases. Watch especially for rust in the critical front frame rails and suspension mounts.

A resistor is recommended with the Pertronix for 1.5Ω coils, not needed with 3.0Ω coils. That said, I'm betting there are plenty of cars out there running Pertronix with 1.5Ω coils and the resistor bypassed.

Yup. As mentioned earlier, getting to the rest area from the South is much the same. Go past the first Canby exit, get off at the first exit after the Northbound rest area and flip around and back onto I-5 South to the Southbound rest area. My wife and I and another couple in a '77 280Z will be coming up from the Eugene area. May be meeting up with Mike in Albany as well. (At least that's the plan right now.)

I'd still be curious to know about the plugs, as I had a similar issue and the plugs were part of the answer.

As I recall the latest Pertronix instructions say to use a BR (or not) depending on the resistance of your coil. I can't remember which way is which now, and don't have my instructions here at work. I know that I am running my Pertronix sans BR, but I have a Pertronix coil of the proper resistance for that.

Just a WAG here, what plugs are you using, and how wide are they gapped?

That's what I thought. That is the later, double-sided key that fits all the locks on the car. It was used from 1/71 on. I have not been able to find a source for these.

I took a look at your profile to guess what you mean by "early" 240Z. Looks like you have a '72, which is not an "early" 240Z. I note this because I have seen repro key blanks from Singapore on eBay for the true "early" 240Zs - i.e. the '70 and early '71 cars, a.k.a. "Series 1". But I have not seen or heard of a source for correct original blanks for later '71 and up.

No, I'm betting the master cylinder has failed. This is actually fairly common - a master cylinder that works fine suddenly failing immediately after a bunch of brake service, especially a big fluid change. Blame it on corrosion and gunk inside the master cylinder bore. During normal use, the normal stroke of the piston doesn't reach the gunk, but when bleeding the system the master cylinder piston is pushed beyond its normal travel (pedal goes to the floor when the bleeder is opened), and the seals are damaged by the stuff in the bore. I suspect you'll need to replace the master.

I didn't do it that way exactly. What I did was a bit simpler, and required no cuts, splices or changes to the car's wiring or switches. I did have to sacrifice a pair of spare tail light harnesses, but not my originals. I can revert to stock easily, and with no after-effects. My way even allows you to do a semi-divorced brake and turn signal circuit that works with US all-red lights, but increases the rear visibility (IMO).

I merged the two threads into one. Don't need two on the same problem.

I'll see about writing it up and posting it in the Tech Articles section.