bobc

Elliott, Be careful with that plan. The factory torque settings for those bolts/nuts is around 11 ft. lbs. You really, really, really, don't want to break off a stud or bolt in your cylinder head. No fun :tapemouth If you take off the air cleaner completely (including the backing plate, you should be able to get to all the bolts/nuts using an extension w/o a universal joint. Just my thought, since you said the ticking sound was there before you put the header on, I'd go with setting the valve clearances first and see what that does. 2nd step (if step one doesn't do it) - Having a helper keep the motor running, squirt some automatic transmission fluid into each carb. Big clouds will come out the back, but if it's a stuck valve, this is an old mechanics trick that might burn off whatever is causing it to stick 3rd step (if neither one or two works - Loosen up the header/manifold bolts/nuts and re-torque them to no more than 12 ft lbs. From what I heard, it sounded more like an exhaust leak than a valve, but it's difficult to do if you don't hear it in person. Take a mirror and look all around the mating services of the header to the cylinder head. If the leak is there, you'll usually see a black streak where the exhaust gases are escaping. Hope this helps! Bob

Thanks Guys. The picture showed in Explorer. Probably some setting in Safari I had set incorrectly. If I go see the car, I'll post some pics. Bob

I didn't see any pictures, but maybe it's because I was looking in Safari. I'll try Explorer and see if they are still there. The owner says it is white with a tan interior. I don't think I've ever seen that combination before. Usually if the factory ran out of something it was tan and they put in black. I've never heard it the other way around. Can anybody verify that this was a combination that came from the factory? Carl? I may go look at the car on Saturday. Just what I need another car! Bob

Glenn, yes. Keep them as horizontal as possible (like they are mounted on the car). Don't worry if you tilt them some, you'll be fine. I stored mine in a vertical position the first time I took them off, but as noted, the fuel and oil will leak out. No big deal, but it's better to keep them horizontal. Bob

Glenn, Good advice from Mike. I used Kroil (bought it online) on several bolts, but they were beyond hope. Soak em overnight or longer, and go slow with the wrench. Snapping a stud is absolutely no fun. If you do, STOP! My advice is let a pro handle it if possible. You can try an easy out, but be careful not to snap it off in the stud. Then, you're in a world of hurt. I know, I've been there! Bob

Glenn, No, it's not that hard. In fact, I've done it twice in the last week. . You'll need the following tools: 1. Torque wrench - needs to go down to as low as 5 pounds (or 10) 2. Rachet wrench plus long extension and short extensions 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, and 14mm sockets. 3. Universal joint for rachet - not required but nice to have 4. 10mm and 12mm closed/open ended wrench Start by removing the air cleaner and cover (bolts on outside are 13mm, studs that hold the outside cover to the aircleaner to the base are 14mm, (you could use an adjustable wrench for these, but if you want to torque them later you'll need the sockets) then the heat shield. Remove all the hoses, gas, power brakes, air cleaner to float bowls, etc. Undo the throttle linkage by removing the cotter pin. I think (I'm doing this from memory) there are 16 or 17 bolts/nuts you'll need to take out. My intake manifold at the top was held in by bolts and then by nuts/washers at the bottom where it is held on with the exhaust manifold too, but I've been told that they came with washers/nuts (don't know if that is correct). If you start at the bottom, it's a bit easier because then the top of the intake manifold is still being held on You can actually get to all of the exhaust manifold nuts by going under or through the carbs/linkage assembly (that's why you have the extensions!)These are 12mm. Leave the exhaust manifold hanging on the studs. It won't fall off. Loosen all the intake manifold bolts or nuts just to make sure you can get them out. Remove the two bolts in the front of the head that hold the fuel rail in place. Taking the fuel rail off will just make the job easier. Two of the bolts in the intake manifold were a little tricky to get out because they come so close to the manifold when fully backed out, you can't get the socket in between. You can either use the open end wrench for these or take out the other bolts you can get out easily and then loosen these two last, while supporting the manifold with a hand. As the intake/carbs pitch forward from the top (resting on studs on bottom) you will have room to loosen these two bolts. After that, it's all downhill. Intake manifold/carbs should lift right out (not heavy). I'd store them close to flat if possible. Just put something under the water tube that runs between them for support. I wouldn't recommend supporting them by the linkage. You can set them at 90 degrees on the intake manifold flanges, but make sure you are setting them on something that will not score or damage the flange. Setting them straight up like this will dump out the gas from the bowls and also probably spill your damper oil, so I wouldn't recommend it. I'd go with as close to flat as possible. Exhaust manifold - You can try to loosen the three bolts that hold the pipe to the manifold, but they'll probably snap off (still ok since you're not going to use it) or just cut the pipe and lift the manifold and pipe assembly out together. Tuning - after the first time I did this, the carbs were dead on. No balancing necessary. After the second, I had to make a very minor adjustment to the balance. If your mixture screws were set correctly before and you didn't hit them taking the carbs off of or set the carbs resting on them, then you should be ok. Hints - Make sure you use a header gasket, not an OEM type intake/manifold gasket. Make sure you get all the old gasket off the head and intake manifold. Ask the seller if they recommend using Copper Hi - Temp RTV on the exhaust flanges of the header. Just an extra measure off caution to make sure you don't get a leak. I had to take mine back off because I had a small exhaust leak. I had the exhaust manifold shaved and the shop recommended the RTV even though it was now perfectly smooth. I figured two times in a week was enough and a tube of RTV was cheap insurance! Assembly is pretty much the opposite of the take down. Bolt/Nuts are torqued between 8-11.6 pounds each. I torqued the bolts that hold the fuel rail to the front of the head to 5.5 pounds. Air cleaner assembly bolts to carbs at 5lbs. Good luck. Any questions, write back or PM me. Bob

I think everyone's giving you good advice. This is definitely a case of "pay me now or pay me a lot more later!" If resources are scarce, you could alway go on the back side and put some POR 15 on it and do your best to keep any future moisture from getting to it. But, if you're going to wash it, or it gets out in the rain, even POR 15 would probably not stop the rust unless you did both sides and that might not do it and wouldn't look good. So, go with the repair now. Bob

Well, after much worry and much great advice from the members of this site, I turned the key on Saturday to my top end/timing chain rebuild, and after turning over and over to get everything primed, she started right up! With the exception of one small exhaust leak, there were no oil or gas leaks and I couldn't believe after checking the timing, dwell, and carb balance, everything was dead on! It's running better than ever! So, to all those that took some of your valuable time to answer my questions about engine rebuilding, thank you very much. Your help and support was very much appreciated. Things like getting the cam/crank/oil pump/distributor timed may be easy to some of the pros on this site, but to someone that hasn't seen it before, it's sounds pretty hairy. It was probably luck that I got it all put together right, but the advice I got on the boards certainly helped! I may not know the bottom end of the L24 yet, but I think I've seen just about every part of it from the fan to the back of the cylinder head! Once again, I really appreciated your help.

Thanks Gary, that's a good idea to use their header gasket. I think I'll have the flanges planed while I have the manifold off. Cheap insurance! On the other hand, it's sure nice to have my Z running again! Bob

Ok, I'll ask. Exhaust Gasket Sealant? Who makes it and where do I get it. I have Copper Gasket Sealant, but I didn't put it on the gasket. I wouldn't think it would be thick enough to do any good. The flanges were pretty pitted when I pulled it off. I think it can be shaved and not take off enough to create a problem with the places where the nut holds both the exhaust and intake manifold. Just an FYI, I'm being a perfectionist. You can't hear the leak and most people wouldn't even see it. If I can't get the manifold shaved, I'll probably go to headers, although I'd like to keep the car bone stock. Bob

Can the exhaust flanges on the stock cast iron exhaust manifold be shaved to remove imperfections in the surface? Best, Bob

Thank Graeme, I'm not taking the distributor apart. This grease was actually in the timing chain cover casting where the distributor fits. I agree, it was old, but it was pretty resilent. It didn't come out when I degreased the cover. I wiped it out with a rag. Thanks again, Bob

When I took my distributor out, the housing was packed with a thick grease. It was grey/silver in color. I haven't found any reference to putting grease in the housing during a rebuild in any of my manuals. Anybody know what this is and is it recommended? Bob

Brian, If it makes you feel any better, I just went through pretty much the same process with a stud broken off in my cylinder head. Once, you get an easy out broken off in the nut, you're pretty much done trying to drill it out. The easy out is just too hard for the bit to catch and you'll just wallow all over the place (my experience and confirmed by others) I had the stud removed using a metal disentegrator process. It basically melts the nut without damaging the threads. It worked, but it wasn't cheap. $200! See info below: "Electro Arc's metal disintegrators are primarily used for removing broken taps, drill bits, screws, broken bolt removal, stud remover, dowel pins, and many other types of fasteners. There is no distortion to the part, hole or thread. Core sampling is accomplished quickly without distorting existing material properties. This process is also known as electrical discharge machining and spark erosion for tap removal, stud removers, broken off bolt extractor, and the removal of other tools. Electro Arc electrode metal disintegrators are also used for roll marking and branding metal for permanent identification." You can also try to weld a rod onto the broken off piece (again, the easy off is going to complicate the weld) and use the welded on piece to try to back it out. Good luck! Bob

So, where do you hit it with the hammer? Side to side, front to back? All of the above? Bob

Following up on my prior posts, the machine shop removed my cam towers when they worked on my head. Unfortunately, I didn't get the opportunity to spin the cam prior to this, so I don't have a baseline to determine if my cam is spinning easily enough. I have all the rockers out and can turn (I wouldn't say spin) the cam with one hand. I can't turn it with just my fingers. I don't feel any binding, but wonder if the cam should turn easier. Is turning by one hand about right? Bob

We'll let's just call it 8:00 but definitely not 9:00. I think I'm in the right place. I'm replacing the chain, so I don't care about moving the crank now. Bob

Carl and all, After reading this I'm confused again. Here's my current situation: Oil pump and distributor still in car. The head is off. If I move cylinders 1 and 6 to their highest point. The rotor points to around 7 o'clock, which lines up with the number one spark plug wire. Also, the timing pointer is a 0 degrees. Is this where I want to set up for TDC? Bob

Just looking at my oil pump to see about taking it out to get to the timing chain. Looks like it may hit the sway bar and not have enough room to come out. Anybody have experience with this? Bob

Thanks Walter and Carl. I'm feeling much better now. I was really p.o.'d earlier. This guy was a week late, charged double what he estimated and then I ran into this. I think my objectivity was out the window by then. Bob

Ok, after an extra week from the date promised, I drove over to the machine shop to pick up my head today. As the machinist was going over the work he did, he mentioned that I needed to torque the camshaft bracket bolts. I didn't have my manuals with me, but I told him I didn't think he was supposed to take the brackets off. He assured me that it was ok, but he didn't know what to torque the bolts to. Well, when I got home I checked the original Datsun manual and my Clymer book because I was pretty sure I was right and it states: " Never remove camshaft brackets from the cylinder head, even though removal looks easy. If the brackets are removed, it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible to realign the bearing centers." So, I think my head is now royally toast. Is there a way to realign the brackets properly or am I just going to wear out the cam or cam bearings if I go with their work. I put a stop payment on the check until I can speak to the owner, but I think my head is ruined. Thanks for your advice, Bob

I checked with MSA today and they said I need to modify the gasket for the water channels that are blocked. Might have been easier if they told me that in the first place. I'm sure glad I didn't find that out after my newly assembled motor overheated! Anybody have any experience with this? Bob

I've searched the archives and didn't find the answer to this one, although it was referenced several times. MSA says the 70 e31 head gasket is NLA. However, also they say the newer gasket is the replacement part and will work fine. I just compared holes in the new gasket with the old one and there appears to be some significant differences in the water passages. Anybody know if what MSA is saying is true? I'd like to make sure I've got the right gasket before I start bolting everything back together. Thanks. Bob

Juries out on this one guys. Les sent me Sherwin William Paint for my engine block. The number is 35-41103-G. For my "D" hubcaps, that come close to the back panels color, but I believe is a little darker, he sent me Krylon which may or may have not been a custom mix. (I think so) Anyway the numbers are En-16 or 25116. HO747-1 is on the bottom of the can. My advice is to call Les. I haven't had a bit of problem with his paint and it should match dead on. According to Wick Humble's book the hub cap color "is similiar if not identical, to that used on the back-panel finisher." He used Ditzler Duracryl DDL 2862 Argent with "quite a bit of suede additive. "The formula is 1 pint DDL 200 units of DX265 300 units of DX264 Thin 100-150% and spray on fairly dry with air regulated to the high side. FYI, I don't think any 240's came with black back panels, simply different shades of gray due to sun fading, waxing, age, etc. BTW, Ditzler is now PPG Industries. Bob

Thanks for the help so far. Couple of items. I'm sure the chain has not slipped and everything was all together (sprocket bolted to the camshaft) right up until the time I took it off, so the sprocket didn't move either. I'm also sure that the engine didn't move because the timing mark was pointing directly to the TDC groove on the pullley at the start and the finish of removing the sprocket. It was weird because everything was exactly as I thought (key word thought!) it was when I did the original set up to see how it should look. The only thing that wasn't right was the mark on the chain. That's how I missed it, the pulley was aligned with the timing marker, the rotor was on #1 and the white marks I made on the sprocket were at the top of the sprocket and the sprocket groove lined up the mark on the cover. Just didn't notice that the chain link wasn't in the right spot. Nothing could have moved prior to me pulling the sprocket off. I guess if I can't duplicate the setting, I'll have to pull the timing gear cover. Thanks again.