Hardway's Red Rocket 1972 240z Build Thread

[Captain Obvious]

Nice work! I've traced most of my carb problems to one of two things... Ham fisted previous owners screwing stuff up or sitting with gas in them for long periods of times. Or both!

I've found that surgically clean and actually assembled correctly goes a long way to fixing a lot of issues! Go figure!!  

About that flat head screw... What are the chances that someone tried to create a ported vacuum source? Is that screw hole close to the butterfly?

[Hardway]

15 hours ago, 240260280 said:

Here is a work in progress reference for Weber DCOE's: http://240260280.com/Tech/Carbs/Weber/DCOE Theory Operation and Tuning.html

 

A document link at the bottom has Dellorto information.

WOW!  That is a ton of info!  I see where the Weber and Dellortos have a lot in common due to their history.  Unfortunately, none of the links at the bottom work, I get an error 404 when I click on them.  I also did not see one for Dellortos.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Hardway

[240260280]

5 hours ago, Hardway said:

WOW!  That is a ton of info!  I see where the Weber and Dellortos have a lot in common due to their history.  Unfortunately, none of the links at the bottom work, I get an error 404 when I click on them.  I also did not see one for Dellortos.

Oops!  I forgot to push to the web site.  They are uploading now.

[Hardway]

Got a few updates worth mentioning.  I picked up a carb parts cleaner and the body and aluminum components soak overnight.  The one gallon pale is just big enough to work the main body of the carb in to.

A quick clean up with warm water and compressed air yielded really good results. I am going to try and clean off some of the other mild staining with some fine steel wool.

All of the jets, fasteners, and other hardware went in for a few hours in the basket that was included with the carb cleaner.  Again, after a warm water rinse and blow out things look pretty nice.

I received the rebuild kits from Italy earlier this week but unfortunately the new screws and spring washers did not make it in to the box.  The seller has already shipped them to me but now its just a waiting game.  I could use the old screws but the new ones will make it pretty and I actually need one new screw to replace one where a bolt had been used in its place.  I will cover more of the actual assembly later on.  I am leaving the other two carbs assembled so I have them to reference when I put everything back together.

[Hardway]

Instead of just waiting around for the carb parts I started addressing the worn out driver side door hinges.  When I bought the car I knew this was a big item on my to-do list so no time like the present.  The pictures below give an idea just how bad it is.

I had removed the door panel and outside mirror as I wanted both sides free of obstructions.  Using a silver sharpie I made some marks on the hinges where they met the body.  I know these won't survive the rebuild process so I go back over them with a scratch awl or possible make some slight marks with my Dremel tool.

I placed some old t-shirts in between the glass and the door just to protect it.  Using my engine hoist, a pair of straps, and a chain I supported the weight of the door while I unbolted it from the car.  The bolts came out and the door gently swung away from the car once it was free.

Before I unbolted the hinges from the door I made the same type of alignment marks.  Once they are made in a slightly more permanent fashion they should provide an excellent reference point when I re-mount the door.  With any luck it might be spot on.

I found this write up on rebuilding the hinges http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/body/doorhinge/index.htm  I am not a fan of the large nail head sticking up by using the Nissan pin so I have ordered some rebuild kits that use a new original style pin along with new brass bushings.  They should be here in a few weeks.

[Hardway]

With the door completely out of the way, now was the best time to attack the weatherstripping.  Some patience and persistence is getting off.  The outer strip is petrified like it was subjected to a lot of heat and just hardened.  The thin rubber covering the pinch weld is still soft and easily pulls away in some sections.  Luckily everything appears to be in good order so far.  I have some universal weatherstrip that I will be installing.  Once I finish the removal and clean up I will provide more details on it.

[Hardway]

As I waited for a carb part that I broke I decided to finish up the driver's side weatherstripping.  I got all of the old stuff off along with the adhesive residue.  I had to be careful around the top as the car's interior was originally red and the headliner wraps around the pinch weld.  With everything off it was nice to see that everything was in good shape.

[Hardway]

My direction for the weatherstripping was to simply replace it with something that could get me by for awhile as anything was better than the rock hard crumbling stuff that I pulled off.  Used KIA Sportege seals are no more due to age and new ones after shipping from Korea run about $50/each.  I started researching some universal options that was not too big as the pinch weld is right at 13mm tall.  I found some universal bulb type weatherstripping on eBay from a seller that sold it by the foot.  I wanted something that including the U-channel and I didn't want to glue it on so I ordered 35ft from the seller.  At $1.50/ft + $3.00 S&H I was in it for $55.50.  To my surprise when the box arrived it was from Amazon and had an entire 50ft roll in it.  For anyone that is interested the seller is m.m-rubber and the item number is 141008758040.

The rubber bulb is very soft and easily collapses.  I won't know if its too big until I get the door back on but for now it looks miles better than before.  Below are some pictures from the eBay auction that give a close up and tech specs of the weatherstripping.

I really had to work the weatherstripping to make it turn at 90 degrees at the top.  It seems tight but only time will tell if it will stay.

While I had the door sill plate off I took some fine steel wool to remove the red over spray and give it some shine.  I also located the missing screw later in the day.  I had to work the sill back on as it kept getting caught on the weather stripping.  Once the door is back on and closed everything should even back out along the bottom.

 

[Hardway]

Happy with the end result of the weatherstripping project I turned my attention to something that has been bothering me since I bought the car, the missing steering column cover.  Turns out it was in a box of parts that I received with the car and un-damaged.  I believe I also discovered why it was off, the previous owner was trouble shooting an inoperable horn.  A quick visual inspection revealed there was no copper wiper arm touching the back of the steering wheel hub.  I pulled the turn signal assembly off and the remains of a broken arm were present.  I quick dig in my stash uncovered a nice copper wiper arm that was easily installed.  With a little careful manipulation of the copper I now had functioning horns, or should I say a horn (more on that later)  A quick check revealed that everything else working properly so the installation of the cover began.  It took a few tries to have the correct length screws but it is now installed and helps bring up the appearance of the interior one more notch.  A some point I will probably paint the hub satin black but for now, I have bigger fish to fry!

[Hardway]

As previously mentioned, I am waiting for the replacement for a part I broke on one of the Dellorto carbs, the accelerator pump rod assembly.  I wanted to remove it so I could spin the butterfly spindle around over and over to clean the bearings.  Unfortunately I did not know my own strength and managed to break it.  It is just pot metal but was definitely a "face palm" moment.  Thankfully a supplier in the UK makes new ones and it is on its way.

Seeing that it could be weeks before I receive the replacement part I carefully removed an assembly from one of the other carbs and pressed on with the reassembly.  I just wanted to get one carb back together as have the same one apart for so long was bothering me.  Using several references along with the other carbs everything went back together with ease.  I also cleaned up the threads from the damaged pump jet on the left side of the carb.  They are M9X1.0 if anyone needs to know.  Setting the float took some trial and error but I got it to spec.  Using some fine steel wool I cleaned up the brass screws and caps.  This along with the new top cover screws that came with the rebuild kit really make it look new again.  If it runs as good as it looks I will be thrilled.  One down, two to go!

 

[sweatybetty]

how well do the doors close with the new w-strip? i bought some from ebay as well, it fit fine but has a extremely horrible smell to it. so bad, i had to take it off.

[Hardway]

3 hours ago, sweatybetty said:

how well do the doors close with the new w-strip? i bought some from ebay as well, it fit fine but has a extremely horrible smell to it. so bad, i had to take it off.

I don't have the door back on the car yet due to rebuilding the hinges.  The paint is drying on them as I type this.  The piece I put on the driver side has been on there for 2 weeks and does not have any type of smell to it.  I will post my results once I get everything back together.