Tony D

My experience with drivers are the ones who are consistently fast, are fast no matter what. And they are fast in no matter what car they drive. Safety issues aside, a car in 'stock' form is generally more than 99.9% of the drivers out there can handle. And rather than admit the worst part of the equation is them (the driver) they concentrate on niggling little things that a better driver does not let bother him, and simply "drives around"... A great example is my wallowing pig of a bone stock 260Z, with big stock steering wheel, stock sized tires, and all the warts of a 40 year old car. It's not an unsafe car, but it is a well maintained example of what a STOCK 260Z is...with obvious slack or play here and there from the years. Not excessive, but not 'new'.... This car will consistently turn top 5 times at the MSA AutoX Event, often grouping within a second or two of cars with $30,000 of prep work that do nothing but dedicated track work. (Same Driver...) Is it different to drive? Yes, it slides and wallows, but doesn't do anything unpredictable. You have to DRIVE the car to get the most from it. And, curiously, those drivers who are the best, love driving the stock version and wringing it out at 10/10th because it reminds them of how well the stock package worked together! We are not talking about weak or soft brakes here, we are talking about 'steering wheel play'.... IMO, this is one of those niggling little things a driver 'drives around' because it does not appreciably affect anything. I have seen guys who swear the stock adjustment on the clutch was not to his liking, and INSISTED we put the engagement point where he wanted it. no 45 minutes into his turn (anchor) driving, the clutch started slipping. We put the adjustment back where it was supposed to be, and not where he 'preferred' it to be, and the car finished the race with no other driver on the team having an issue with the engagement point. They either drove around what was "stock", or the one guy was just fussy and blaming equipment for his own inadequacies. More often than not, the worst part of the package is the nut behind the wheel. It is the component that can use the most improvement. Not to say the OP is inadequate, but it is a 'personal preference' which I see as having no material effect on the way the car performs other than his preference as to tactile feedback...with a possible deadly downside in a collision. I don't see that play as a major contributor to much of anything. Then again, I could drive a 62 Microbus through the 1/4 mile traps at 89.899mph with a center pin so loose you could wiggle it up and down 25mm. I didn't have 1/8" play, I had 90-180 degrees of play in the steering wheel (depending on what you were doing) to keep it straight! I just drove around it. Maybe I'm not the best judge of steering wheel play and what is tolerable.... But I do find it hare to think that 3mm of play affects anything material in the way the car performs.

The sign of a good driver is he drives the car and doesn't pester the crew getting everything just perfect the way he wants it... Gluing a collapsible shaft meant for chest impalement prevention? I'll pass on that mod. I can live without it. I'll drive the car!

Mine didn't have an EGR port on it, either. I welded a 1/2 Half Coupling to the header and connected the EGR and didn't miss a beat. You always have a choice, you convince yourself of what they are. Good to hear (as someone surmised) it didn't have anything to do with your banging about the engine bay!

Read the cooling thread. Don't loop the hoses, PLUG THE HOLES! Facebook...ugh... Do they even know cavitation before thermostat....screw it I'm not writing it all over again. Good luck. Read/search. This is covered.

Uh, don't do that. Plug the holes and watch your problems go away. I noted when I run the car with my heater on full hot it does similar things. That is not a good way to "eliminate" the heater. You just open a 15mm shunt for hot water from the back of the engine to bypass directly to the inlet.

And to reiterate, your pre-76 Z-Car IS NOT Smog "Exempt"!

"If this is a community to help the kids do grey area stuff instead of doing it the right way " Then again, without those 'hopeless cases can't pass smog' where would I source my donor vehicles?

What does "Nissan USA Exhaust Manifold Gasket" mean? The Graphite Composite was specifically for the L28ET in 82/83 (maybe 81) Beck Arnley usually is pretty good about sourcing OEM Suppliers, and if they have a graphite composite, then it's OEM Supplier. I have never seen it applied to the N/A L28, only the L28ET. If you go in and aren't specific, you will get an N/A gasket. Then again, Nissan Japan supports things differently than NMCNA, and they may source locally now through US Suppliers and have determined on their own as a sales company with some autonomy that a paper gasket is 'equivalent' and that is all they stock for obsolete vehicles they choose to no longer support. They are available in Japan, from Nissan. Stacks and Stacks of NEW gaskets show up at the flea markets and swap meets all the time (with appropriate mark up...)

The CAMARO you had all that stuff on would have the SAME issues passing smog. This has nothing to do with a Datsun V8 Swap. Frankly, a V8 Swap is easier in many cases than trying to smog the existing one in there if there is a bad cat, bad afm, bad harness, etc. No loophole is necessary, just comply, it's not hard. You would have to with your Camaro Donor, and you have to with older cars as well...as John C says. For all the effort people put in trying to game the system and making things worse for everybody else...they could breeze through a Smog Check with a little forethought and intelligent reading BEFORE doing the swap the way they did it.

Oh my, it still has door handles?

What part of "Nissan" got translated to "Aftermarket Distribution" such as VR, Fel-Pro, etc? If you're having trouble finding one, I lay money I know where one WILL be found: "Your Local Datsun Stockist!" Never Paper, never was, never will be... Then again, I don't shop Pirate Parts blind, either!

You specified L28ET, 1983? They NEVER had a paper gasket. Last one I bought from Nissan was like $30~40

Hahaha I thought something like that went on...couldn't remember if the floor was up 75 or less... 30mm is still a lot! "Layback seats"!

Nissan Motor Company, Yokohama Japan.

It's not difficult to lighten them as mentioned. Plus you can decide where you want to maximise that loss. I lightened per the How To Book back in the 80's when rocker arms were $6 new... Now I understand the trepidation, but it's a longevity mod more than anything else. Un lightened rockers have gone over 9,700 rpms for minutes at a time in our Bonneville engine. But the geometry is right, stem height is right, lash pads are right, everything is straight and at right angles... Start cutting corners in the Valvetrain reciprocating area, it will come back to bite you!

Waste gate...what's that?

With all due respect due given your above comment, screw you sir! Opinion is one thing, what you are stating is something altogether different. And, in fact, flies DIRECTLY in the face of what many have said "proper welds, penetration correct, but setup and adjustment is a PITA"... The skills level here is a bit higher than most Honda Boards. An example to be found in Post #16: "Naptown Dave-Always Here -Members-188 posts-Location Indianapolis IN-Posted 20 August 2013 - 02:35 PM I've been involved in the welding industry for more than 20 years (man that makes me feel old)." Your dismissive comment is a bit insulting when more than one poster on the thread has similar qualifications. When a machine can't feed without repeated birds nesting, it's a POS. With the price difference between the machines, the smart bet (as most have agreed) is to spend the nominal amount more to get something that works reliably. I'm a fan of HF, and will rebuild most of their stuff so it works. But the wire feed welder I got was not really worth what I paid... I would have been money ahead buying a Lincoln,Marquette, or ESAB... For less than $200 more than the POS Birdsnest Special, I ended up buying a 300A Hobart Cyber-TIG with a Spool Gun Attachment from a welder friend who retired. Know what? It's 1,000% better. And hasn't Birdsnested once. You want my old HF Unit? You can HAVE it...I will gladly GIVE it to YOU exclusively... You deserve it's quality for the comments you made. The 220V units MAY be better than their 110V stuff...but I will not chance it when I've seen the competition's stuff with better fit, finish, & functionality.

Headroom is resolved with floor mounting the seats, usually...but I believe the floor on this car has been RAISED 75mm (?) Leaving reclining the seatback the only other option.... Or putting "Cobra Bubbles" in the roof.... Muahahaha hahahaha! "Come roof fitting Series Six, because Cobra Bubbles are easier to beat when the roof is off..."

Looks like you flanged the connection point so it could be accomplished with a double lap weld instead of a butt weld. I did a 76 in similar fashion...and due to beer wasn't sure on my measurements so at the last second also decided to flange the connection point as "it's a 76, who cares if it's been clipped?" There was some measurement error on my part...it was good to have a double flange to work with! I would probably butt-weld today, and take a lot more time on it. Cross measuring and being careful keeps things aligned. I literally bolted the hood back on and closed it...making tack welds top and bottom after the sections were aligned for smooth opening and closing. When the fenders went back on gaps were fine! We did not have a frame jig. But we did have four cases of good old 12.5% Red Horse and all weekend at the Torii Auto Hobby Shop to get it done!

Once upon a time frame checking a Z in SoCal was $575, including the first pull. That was putting it on the frame machine and checking all dimensions, determining if there was a plane of misalignment (or more than one) and making one corrective pull along with remeasurement after relaxation. If the thing tore apart during the pull....it was on you.

Graphite Composite on ALL my engines, I stock one spare and that is it. I don't use the paper gaskets.

EXAMPLES: 1) The vacuum line that went from the distributor to the canister, I rerouted to the manifold. ***which end went where? 2) I capped off the line from the throttle body when deleting the EGR. Is that correct? ***line from T/B to....where? 3) I think I have the TPS set properly but if not could that cause it to run that rich and foul plugs? ***That's not required for any "elimination work" you did....why was this done? 4) Also, it sat without the manifolds on for two weeks, maybe some moisture got in there. And also some pb blaster got in there from trying to removed some broken exhaust studs. ***why were the manifolds off? What else did you do? If indeed you "read".... Ripping things off a poorly running engine to begin with is a recipe for bad results. 5) I don't think this would effect it, but I tried to start it with the the send/return fuel lines accidentally mixed up. Could that have possibly flooded it? ***putting 60+ psi on the backside of the FPR? Anything is possible. Basic diagnostics... Get out the book and start checking pressures! ***What about the canister? There's more than one line going to it? You may or may not have done anything to them...you don't clearly say. ***What about the EGR? There is more than a vacuum line going to it. You may or may not have done anything to them...you don't clearly say. ***What about the related switches for the EGR...You mention nothing about them. You may or may not have done anything to them...you don't clearly say. ***What about the manifold? You swap to. Non-EGR. Is THAT why the manifold was off? You may or may not have done this...you don't clearly say. ***What was the running state of the vehicle before you started? Was it even running? Was this intended to "fix" something? You may or may not have had this intent...you don't clearly say. If you didn't think to include these in the diagnostic, or consider their impact when doing your "re-engineering" of the system, any one of them could affect the outcome. That you left them out shows a superficiality in assessment of importance, the root of the issue we have in this case.

The statement that they can be removed without consequence... Think Nissan mighta done that? If you understand what they do, removing them and avoiding issues from that removal and taking proper steps to prevent consequences should be obvious. There's two examples of oxymoronic, contradictory style statements. Just to clarify it. Putting everything back the way it was is the obvious solution, as then you can diagnose the separation of the problems you are having, with what you did. Wanna make a bet you put it all back together and find out it still runs that way, and that it was pure coincidence the symptoms appeared after you were banging around in the engine bay? That puts us back to basic diagnostics and the FSM....which is applicable to an unmodified system, but not necessarily to one where someone without a clue started rerouting and capping vacuum lines ( and doesn't list all those that were capped, moved, or eliminated!) Vague,incomplete posts get vague, frustrating answers. Don't blame that on the people trying to assist you out of the mess you yourself made!

"Alright. I mean I know what they are and how they work, but I thought it was common to simply delete them with no consequence." That is a clear statement of oxymoronic proportions. Completely contradictory, all within itself!

"I heard from an Arizona region tech that he towed the car there to get an annual but they wouldn't do it because he couldn't produce the log book that matched his newly stamped roll cage serial number. He also tried the same in the SFR regional with a newly ground and painted roll cage but the word was out then. " This is universal across job trades! I got a phone call one time to verify someone's job application (touchy subject) person in question was a 'resign or be fired/prosecuted' situation. Phone call goes like this: "Got an applicant for this job, has XYZ Company on it. You worked for XYZ then, didn't you?" (not actually calling me when I still worked with them)... Yeah. "Is he the one?" Yeah. "Thanks, good bye." He knew what it was. I know what it was. The applicant knew what it was. Apparently the second interview went something like "So while at XYZ there was this incident, do you know anything about it?" He answered "No" Another applicant got the job. Nobody likes a liar. Grinding the cage and trying again....oooooooh.... talk about persistence! That will get the word out fast. If you want to cheat, at least be creative so the scrutineers will tell stories about you and how proud they were to actually catch it! LOL