EricB

Hi all, A bit of a random question I know but perhaps somebody's got a clue? With my 1973, when I purchased it, I received just about all receipts since it was bought including the original invoice from Universal City Datsun along with the salesperson's business card... But cooler still is that also included is what I figure to be the original Nissan shipping record of when the Z left Japan and was sent to the USA for sale.... My weird/random question is that even though both of these items are neatly packaged away in an envelope in a hanging folder in a filing cabinet in the garage, and so far away from the sun, the ink is still fading on them. The shipping invoice is the one mostly affected. Of course I could scan it, adjust the levels to make the print "re-appear" and save that digital version for future reference.... But is there anything I can do to help better preserve the original? Anyways, hope to see a lot of you on Saturday. -e

Hi all, I have some random parts that I am looking to sell. If someone's definitely interested I can bring them with me to the Classic Datsun show on Saturday to avoid possibl shipping costs.... The random items are: - An early '70-1 rear window with just about all of its vertical defroster lines in good/very good condition - A set of orange metal tool doors out of a 1972 (one of the 4 hinges is on the fritz but could be fixed...) - A dash (no gauges) out of a 1972 with only a minor hairline (less than 1mm) crack between the two pods for speedo & tacho - A spare temp/oil and fuel/amp pair of gauges from a 1972 - The stock and working distributor from my 1973 with 6mo old condenser/point/cap/rotor - The center console flip up panel that has the rear defroster switch, fasten seat belt reminder light, and choke light in good condition also from my 1973 I realize it is short notice but I can provide pics of all to whomever wants them - please email me. -e

i remember seeing on strictlyz? or shome? or one of those websites a CNC adapter someone had made which sold for $50, was intended for our 240's and allowed the bolt-on use of 280ZX to '84 300ZX rear calipers and discs. I just spent an hour looking for them and now can't find them..... I've found adapters for 240SX rear calipers with maxima rotors, i found kits which required an adjustable proportioning valve, but not what i remember seeing on the 'net like 6 months ago.... does anyone know where i can find what i am looking for? or am i going about it the wrong way and should instead opt for one of the kits i've listed above.... (interestingly none of the kits mention anything about getting the appropriate front to rear proportioning valve off of the car they are getting the calipers from... the last time i did a rear disc conversion (on a Honda mind you) it made a big difference to get the right prop valve as I found there was a difference between cars having rear disc vs rear drum...) -e

I've read in a couple different places that the block to get is the L28ET from the 81-83 280ZX Turbo because it has siamesed (and therefore stronger) cylinder walls. I've also been told that this block has an F53 stamp code on it. My question to you all HERE is A. do you agree with the L28ET being the best suitable block and B. can you tell me where to find the F53 stamp on the block???? I can't seem to find it on a couple different blocks I've come across recently.... Thank you, -e

Thank you for the "Ride of the Month" honor!! The Fairlady was blushing when I told her. Seriously thank you to Mike, Zpoint, Spuds, and everyone else. For what it is worth I sent the Fort Ord pictures of Slidesquad's 72 and my 73 to Nostalgic Hero on CD-R a couple weeks ago - wonder if they will have anything to say about them. -e

Engine: L24 The 5 cam towers that hold our camshaft in place are themselves held in (partly) by 12mm bolts. In all the step by step assembly pics in both the Haynes and Datsun Service Manuals they skip the part where they attach those to the cylinder head and also ommit any kind of torque specs either. Does anyone know the info I require? And no (in case I was unclear above) I am not referring to the head bolts which are torqued down 20, then 40, then 60ft-lbs. thank you. -e

as invariably happens i started over one more time and from scratch, re-read the weber book front cover to back cover, and i made progress. idle is at 1000 and three carbs are more or less drawing in the same amount of air and i was able to lean it out some so it wasn't coming out black and rich out of the tailpipe. phheewwww i have an appt set for early this week with the local pro so i am curious to see how far or how close I've ended up... thanks again to all. -e Vive la France!

Alan, Absolutely good points. For the first time in a long time I think I am going to have to swallow my pride and turn it over to the local expert, two towns away because I have never done this before and am definitely fishing around.... To answer your question, yes the Cannon manifold linkage I have was indeed relying on the springs of the webers as well as those of the accel pedal to shut the throttles - there is no external return spring - a situation I could remedy to relatively easily. And yes the Weber throttle stops are still present and being used by the Cannon linkage. FYI I set the throttles with the car off and some one in the car pressing down on the accel pedal all the way to set WOT. I then checked to make sure that with the given range of motion they did shut completely (apparently not totally completely...) I say I am going to hand it over to a pro for the following reason. With the idle at 1800 and with the aide of a Unisyn gauge I saw that of course the amount of air drawn in by all three carbs was vastly different. Removing the sparkplugs only confirmed this. Adjusting the idle mixture screws 1/4 turn at a time inwards from 2 turns 1/14 out from seated did do a bit of an improvement on the AirFuel ratio gauge but did not bring the idle down to less than 1300. It also did very little to change the amount of air drawn in by each carb. Just to give you an idea of the specs as they stand now before I take it to the local pro. The front carburetor has spark plugs that look a-ok, the unisyn gauge having but three major gradations drawn on its plastic cylinder shows for the front carburetor something roundabout half of the first gradation. The middle carburetor has full rich sparkplugs and the unisyn gauge reads the maximum 3+ gradations. The rear carburetor shows sparkplugs that are about halfway between normal and rich, and has a unisyn reading of roughly 1 1/2 gradations. Thanks for the help everybody. Hopefully the weber pro won't mind showing me what he does so I can learn from him... -e

Very interesting ben9090's latest post as I believe I am having similar issues.... So first let me tell you that I did finally get my FPR (It's a Holley brand) from Fedex. Put that on and within a half hour took a reading of my fuel pressure from the electric pump only (yes I removed the mech pump alotgether and blocked it off) - we are looking at 3.5-4psi of fuel. I started the car with a dash of ether - it still resists to starting on its own on a cold motor. Let it run for a while, shut it off and turn it back on and it will fire up with only the slightest turn of the ign key. i had my throttle mixture screws turned out to 2 1/4 turn from seated as recommended. My carbs' throttle plates are hooked up via the Cannon linkage levers' outer most hole - this results in a very short pedal travel and yes I did check that I am getting a full range at the carbs (closed to WOT). Now I had to drive 50miles to get to my fav muffler shop on only the 6-2 open header and I really couldn't believe that a stock I6 could be SO LOOOUDDD... it was getting painful to the (muffled) ears by the 40mile marker.... Amazingly I did not get pulled over... Maybe the "Historical Vehicle" license plates and the hazard flashers had something to do with that... I HIGHLY recommend Eastside Muffler in Palmdale on Palmdale BLvd to any one in the SoCal area. The prices are fantastic and the workmanship is always spot on. Brothers Joe and Gabriel are the two guys that run the shop. Joe did my work. With that said. Being at high altitude when I arrived in Palmdale I did not think it wise to spend time adjusting the carbs, but suffice it to say that my idle was around 1800 and no I don't think they are synched at all. What made me curious though is that if I pressed on the accel pedal with anything else but the slightest progression then I would first get a big cough and only then would the revs rise progressively. On the straights in the desert on the way to Angels Crest I tried some WOT in 3rd, 4th and 5th gear and the car dit not seem like it was HUGELY more powerful over my stock '73 flattop SUs... Yes I know I still need to tune the triples but still..... It maybe only felt 20-30% better... does that seem right? Also in addition to the big cough I just told you about above the car seems to now have a bit of a sticky throttle which it never had before. Around town after having pressed on the gas from a light or so the throttle will want to stay around 2500 to 3000rpm. I'll have to go in, place my foot under the gas pedal and nudge it back up to gt back to 1800rpm idle.... I've lubricated all the throttle linkage joints, off the car the webers open smoothly and close firmly... ideas??? Also at idle with the hood open, if i place my hand under each carb (where the four screws that hold the bottom cover on, or where the velocity stacks meet the carb body) i can feel a slight perspiration" of gas.... it is moist with gas there as if it was still dripping out of the velocity stacks but only in the slightest amount.... "perspiration" really is the only thing I can liken it too - what do yall think.... oh and yeah with the FPR I am not getting the dribbling I had last week with only the IGN set to Accessory (ie fuel pump on but engine is not running) so that problem's been solved. I also had the muffle shop weld on an O2 bung so I can take O2 sensor readings now and I am guessing will get full rich right about now in its state of non-tune.... -e

Alan, Thanks for the latest info. Yes I did read what ben9090 said about 73s having both mech and elec pumps but in my receipts for the car (I have them dating all the way back to the original purchaser's invoice in '73) there is indeed a pamphlet on how to install an aftermarket electric pump - only problem is that the pamphlet is devoid of any branding or specs on the pump itself.... I don't discount it is possible that the '73 came with both, it just looks like that my elec is aftermarket (maybe the OEM one crapped out and this was a replacement??) In any case before i pull the mech off I do plan on taking a fuel press reading just to get an idea what it is right now.... ie if it was indeed an excessively high FP that was making the first two dribble - that way I'll have a clear conscience on that side of things.... more news later, -e

just to be absolutely positively sure that my floats are set correctly now I have one more question to ask: in the needle valve closed position, ie the top of the cylindrical floats is 7.5mm from the bottom of the carb cover, we are measuring that 7.5mm distance with the floats' tab just barely seating the needle valve in its body, right? we are not measuring the 7.5mm position with the floats' tab fully pressing in the (check?) ball at the end of the needle valve, right? I dissassembled them again and other than finding the starter jets (those associated with the choke or "starter devices) not being 100% clean, I did not find anything out of whack... I am expecting the FPR and FP guage in tomorrow's delivery so I can then make sure I am getting 3psi of fuel to the triple fuel rail and no dribbling (from excess fuel pressure in the rail??) in the first two carbs.... we'll see. -e

...here I am.... with the 4th of July and all and most local shops closed it was difficult to progress with my setup. I've ended up mail ordering both a fuel press guage and fuel press regulator just in case. Just to be sure, NO ONE is using an electric pump in line with the tank somewhere at the back of the car AND AT THE SAME TIME the cam driven stock mechanical pump, right??? That would result in an overtly high fuel pressure which could "theoretically" lead to problems at the first two carbs of a three carb setup, right? I've got the triples removed and am fitting the rubber O-rings spacers things, am putting in my header wrap and an appropriate heat shield too. I'll crawl under the back of the car today at some point and tell you just exactly which kind of electric pump is installed on the car. -e

Ok here's what is new: first i pulled off the top covers and re-checked the range of motion of the floats. I am SURE I have the droop set to 15mm on all three. I will admit to having trouble setting the closed value to 7.5mm (in point of fact I think they hover more around 5mm)... which leads me to the first set of questions: _ to set the floats at the right droop you bend the tab which hits the needle right, and to set the right closed value you bend the brass arms the floats are at the end of, right? or vice-versa? do you guys have a good trick for bending the requisite pieces? second I forgot to mention that my car came with an aftermarket external electric fuel pump located outside of the tank (it actually hangs underneath the car betweent the tank and the spare tire well) so there ought to be no fuel pressure problem third with the covers still off i made a little experiment with the accessory power on (and fuel pump on of course) to see if movement of the floats did correctly allow fuel to flow into the bowls - no problems there whatsoever. while i was at it i also checked over what Alan called the "starter devices". They were indeed stuck in the off position. The front two carburettors were stuck much more than the last one. Well I got them loose and moving relatively smoothly. After doing so I pushed them back to their off position (towards the firewall, not towards the radiator) then i refitted the covers and turned the accessory power back on and with mirror and flashlight watched down the the bores of each carburetor what happened when i turned the throttle open by hand. Here's the first WEIRD thing which to me indicates that I do not understand the functioning of my Webers very well... If I waited long enough with the fuel pump working then I would eventually get quite a bit of fuel dribbling out of the "jet" (correct name?) inside the chokes of each barrel of the front two carburettors. The back one did not have this problem provided I didn't pump the throttle arm. So let me make this crystal clear: with the electric fuel pump doing its thing, and if you wait long enough, and you do not touch the throttle, fuel will drible out of the jets inside the chokes of both barrel of each of the front two carburettors. I think that because of the amount of fuel dribbling in these two the car would not start because it would automatically flood itself the minute I pressed on the gas. So i got a can of starting fluid as was recommended by both Mike's. I sprayed that into all three carbs and tried to start the car again. It almost INSTANTLY came to life and boy was it LOUD... BUT: I had to almost immediately shut off the engine because the revs came up very very fast and almost instantaneously.... I tried a couple more times and the same thing happened. I don't think it was because of the ether (starting fluid) alone... What I think is happening is that the ether helps it kick over but then with all the fuel dribbling out of carburettor 1 and 2 the engine wants to go to wide open throttle right away... I shut it off almost immediately on all three occasions because the revs in those couple seconds showed NO sign of slowing down or petering off... If I left it on I was afraid it would rev to god knows where and drop a valve.... So..... (sorry for the ultra-long msg) I understand the needle valve along with the floats regulates how much fuel is in the bowls at any given time. I understand the main jets get their fuel from the bottom of the well, below the bowls. But how does opening the throttle make the main jets squirt fuel into the barrels then and only then? Vacuum? And is the fact that I am getting this dribbling problem a result of the fuel level in the bowls of carb 1 and 2 (my floats' closed position not being set correctly) being too high??? Thanks a mil friends, -e

thanks for all your replies guys.... i'll answer all as best and concisely as i can. i'll first check the condition of the set of isolators I got before i order more - incidentally it is from pierce that all my rebuild parts came from.... ben9090 sure i can check timing on it again to be sure... alan the fuel rail that came with the triples was steel as per stock but of course with three outlets, i don't think it was the nismo unit you mention because it does have a fuel return end as the stock SU fuel rail does. also alan: yes the spark plugs are in the correct order - i did not remove them during the install and yes i did take them apart myself, clean every item i could get my hands on with fuel/carb cleaner before re-assembling... i tried to make some progress with the choke cover/starter devices but didn't get very far...AND since I found nothing specific about them in my literature I didn't bother with them all that much... guess I'll go right back to them then.... PS: If all else fails, does any one recommend a Weber go-to person/shop in the LosAngeles area I could take them to for a more qualified opinion then my own? -e

this is the last post for a while (i promise) as i have to go to a wedding this afternoon.... Mike to answer your other question, the starter spins the engine freely but the engine gives no sign of wanting to start - it doesn't stumble and die at all.... it just doesn't start period. PS: out of the blue question: do triples need stronger than stock spark to work? do i need to invest in an aftermarket ignition??? I know it is RECOMMENDED but do I NEED it to run ?? -e

Another thing.... look at the 4th picture down... go straight back (towards the valve cover) from where the jets are on any of the three carburettors... see that lever that is poking up and to the right (ie towards firewall) it looks like it should have a wire?? or something going through it which would then pull it forward (towards the radiator)... lemme see my weber exxploded view.... brb.... oh yeah it's called the choke cover.... :stupid: is that supposed to be hooked up? how? they are REALLY hard to move.... should they move freely? should they be moved towards the radiator (ie forward) for the car to start? why did I think webers did not need chokes????? How do you hook them up?? i know, I know.... lots of questions..... -e

Phred... By "isolator o=ring" do you mean a plastic spacer with a rubber ring washer on either side? yeah they came in the box of used parts but I do not have them on... i just have a paper weber gasket between each carb and the cannon manifold.... The carbs are held to the manifold by 12mm nuts with funky spring looking washers - not the usual split locking ones - I thought that would be enough? Does the fuel level look correct? Mike - like I said the only two wires I have unplugged are the backfire valve and the other valve pictured above (emissions?) All jets are brand new and if I pump the accel pedal too much i get a little dribble out of the velocity stack on carb #2 and carb #3 so gas is making its way out of the accel pump/jets... I have checked out that the butterflies open all the way with the gas pedal pressed all the way down and that it closes all the way with the pedal depressed.... should i be feathering the throttle at all when trying to start the car with triples?? I'll pull each sparkplug and look at it - last time I did - 2 weeks ago - they were all in perfect shape (they're NGKs not that it matters).... New fuel filter too I've installed. Oh and the only Weber book I have is the Speedpro Weber DCOE/Dell'Orto DHLA one - and the only thing they tell me about starting is to back out the idle mixture screws 1 and 1/4 turns from fully seated which I have also done... And yes this is my first ever set of Webers... -e