Zetsaz

New Kameari adjustable cam sprocket arrived! Got everything set up. Confirmed timing at TDC and engine rotates freely. Checked the wipe was as close to center as possible after adjusting lash. Set the timing adjustment at zero on the kameari gear for now just to make sure I didn't completely screw up Aaaaand.... no engine start I don't think it's an issue with the parts I replaced or setting them up. It may just be that I didn't get the coil packs on correctly and it's not getting spark. Ended work too late yesterday to really mess with it but hopefully this afternoon I can check things to confirm.

New parts arrived. Valve stem seals replaced. Several weren't even fully seated anymore and one was torn! Glad I suspected them for the oil burning when I realized just how much oil I was going through but the compression tested good. Aside from replacing the rear main seal, I think this is officially the most involved work I've done on an engine. Got the old cam out this morning and new cam in. Managed to get it out without removing the hood fortunately. Tested wipe pattern on the first two valves. Will try swapping the lash pads to see if it's better or worse. But if it's about the same I'm gonna just send it.

New turbo cam from Steve Bonk arrived this weekend! Excited to see how it changes the responsiveness on the turbo and hopefully I'll get much earlier spool and more pleasant street driving. I've started disassembling for the installation and checked everything. It looks like previous builder used different lash pad sizes for intake and exhaust, which wouldn't seem that odd on a "proprietary" grind, except every one of the shorter pad sizes had the wipe pattern pretty far to the pivot side of the rocker arms and the taller ones were nearly perfectly centered. I know the one time I did a valve adjustment a while back wasn't perfect with my limited experience, but I find it hard to believe I'd be that far off with how paranoid I was about using the right feeler gauge for intake and exhaust. One of the intake rockers and the lobe it was on were fairly damaged but everything else looks good. Got some advice from Steve on the lash pad sizing based on my current specs. I'll be ordering new pads tomorrow and hopefully two new rockers to replaced the damaged ones I found. Also ordered some new valve stem seals. Figured now was the best time.

For a street Z I think most people have found exactly this to be a great solution, but I'll add that the full length frame rails from Cap Metal Works are probably plenty thick to do the job. T3 and others sell them, but T3 asked for their own lighter version that's a thinner gauge. I'm thinking of them and some KF Vintage floor pans. I wish that stuff had been available before I painted. When I was putting my car together I was dumping money at so many things that I just accepted the flat sheet metal pans and so-so rails the past owner had welded in as "good enough" but it definitely contributes to the flimsy feeling on turns.

Haven't done a whole lot to the Datsun, but it's partially due to lightened sense of urgency. I've officially moved back to the use so I feel less rushed to get things done. Mexico was great for four years and time will tell if I regret leaving. I loved living there and will probably be making constant comparisons but mostly moved back for a better job and being closer to family. I bought a boring daily for commute duties. Still debating if I should have just committed to something much much cheaper with a bit more character, but I've enjoyed it so far and it already got me about 3k miles on my summer road trip. Didn't do the summer road trip in the Datsun due to a coolant leak. Was already doing some summer practices and parades with my new students so I didn't have a chance to track it down and didn't want to risk such a long drive in the well above average July heat. Finally had more time and still couldn't track down the coolant leak. It was only happening when hot, so figured I'd retorque the head bolts and see if it helped. Head gasket seemed like an unlikely failure right now, but I installed the block completely untouched so I figured it might help. Most of the nuts on the arp studs moved about 45-90 degrees to get them to spec! I power washed some of the greasy parts of the engine bay afterwards in case I still had the coolant leak to make it easier to track down. Seems bone dry after about a half hour drive. Don't know if they weren't retorqued after initial heat cycles and have just slowly gotten worse or maybe the head gasket is actually failing but I think it'll at least hold me over until I finally rebuild properly with more adequate compression and a better cam for earlier boost.

Front end got tidied up quite nicely and I made new brackets for my intercooler. The drier clears, but I'll have to place the trinary switch on the #6 line instead of the drier. No big deal, but I wasn't able to make the rest of the hoses while I was here. Used on the threaded holes for the original airbox for one of the top brackets, and an existing hole made by the previous owner. The brackets on top aren't supporting weight, just preventing it from tipping forward or back so it doesn't torque on the lower brackets and bend them. Only downside is the brackets look slightly lopsided but the intercooler is centered! Took the car to get aligned and they told me there was play in the steering shaft from a cross threaded bolt. Looks like the end wasn't all the way in and the bolt had never crossed to the threaded side. I loosened everything, chased the threads, and got everything tightened up. Also added one of the missing trim pieces. Looks much nicer. The car as a hole is feeling pretty good, and nearly everything is great. I'm just at a loss with the rear end. I know it'll probably help slightly when I go to the 3.54 rear and everything is rebuilt but there's just this persistent vibration. Flipping the driveshaft 180 somehow solved most of it, but I still get the occasional buzzing and it's driving me crazy. I'm about ready to go back to the stock control arms, oem spindle pin, stock mustache bar, and a kameari mount on the original front diff crossmember. Everything on the car just feels so great except for the rear end buzzing or squeaking. So much of the car is damn near perfect that the small issues like that are a distraction from enjoying it as much as I could. Alignment rescheduled for today, so we'll see what they find or if it solves my problems.

Looking good! You're motivating me to swap over in the future. But I think when that time comes I want to rewrite the whole care and tidy things up. Decades of splices here and there into the main harness has gotten messy despite being functional

Committed to new tires. Far less weight to balance them as expected. The inside was more worn than I realized on the old ones. Went with Yokohamas in 205/55/15. Skinnier than I wanted but they were half of what the 200tw options were, weren't so aggressive, and they'll give me a couple more years of use before I spend bigger money to go up a size. Currently working on getting the AC condenser and drier mounted with the new hardware from vintage air. I'm hoping the drier JUST clears the intercooler, but I'm anticipating it being tight. Will be making new lower brackets for the intercooler as well. You can see in the pic they're extremely bent because they were so flimsy. As they say... Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution.

Always an inspiration Mark! A lot of what you do is well out of my abilities, but seeing your project still being refined after so many years keeps me motivated on mine.

Part of the move is definitely to keep the rolling diameter closer to oem. Separate from that it's really just about tire selection. I have lots of adjustability with all my parts, so other things are less of an issue.

I've been following Star Road for a long time and was really excited when they first showed their aluminum panels. Maybe in the next decade when I'm repainting I'll consider the aluminum doors and fenders since their fitment is likely much better than other aftermarket options. These would definitely be great options for your build, though likely not the fenders if you're going wide. There are a handful of carbon hood options so I think most people probably aren't as interested in the hood unless they're getting most of the rest.

This might be the first Christmas break I haven't had parts waiting for me... It was a great feeling up until I took advantage of the warm weather Utah has had to take the car out for a soda and my window didn't roll back up. Something broke and things were jammed bad. Found multiple problems that probably eventually contributed to the failure. -The body guy who did assembly after paint put the front sash on the wrong doors when it was reassembled. It was even marked to out things back correctly! -One of the aftermarket roller guides broke. No big deal. The normally only came with one, so I'm gonna leave it as is for now. -The plastic guide on the front of the window that goes into the front sash broke There was a solution to all of these - I still have spare doors from the 76 body i started with. Swapped parts over... Still couldn't get the rear gap correct on the window despite adjusting everything as far as it went to correct. Gave myself a day to think about it and realized the regulator might have bent. Pulled the spare, then removed the glass for the third time and pulled the regulator on the car... Definitely bent. Adjusted and also swapped the passenger side front sash to the correct one and now the windows move better than they ever have! Not the most fun way to get a small "quality of life" fix on the car but I'm glad I got it done.

Impressive work! I have most of the T3 stuff and their brakes but I bought bit by bit over many years so I'm always a little bummed I never got to lay out all my suspension like you have. It's fun to see all the shiny new parts in one place RB was my dream too before I had a deal too good to pass up on my L28ET. Love to see it

It should only be the bolts that hold it to the block. No extra secret hidden bolts. Have you tried tapping it with a rubber mallet? if someone used gasket adhesive on both sides it would be pretty well stuck. I had to use a rubber mallet to knock mine loose. If it's really stuck with something like permatex ultra black instead of a stock style gasket have you tried running fishing line through it? Could cut through easier than a blade without damaging the metal.

Stock diameter I think is alright with wider wheels. 245/50/16 looks good honestly, but 225/60/15 has only a few options, and they're all basic all seasons As much as I want Watanabes in maybe a 16x8 0 offset I may just end up with the Panasports that Z Car Garage offers in a 16x7 with a slight positive offset. I'm not completely sold on the +11(?) offset of those. They're on a ton of Z's, and I think they would look a bit better as a 16x8, but short of something custom and over double the price I just don't think I'm going to get exactly what I want