clutchdust

I have a pretty cancerous left rear fender on the '72. I went boneyard hopping a couple weeks back and came across an early S30 (don't remember the exact year) that had surprisingly good rear fenders. I asked the yard operator how much for the fender and he told me $100 to cut as much of the quarter panel out as I wanted. So, if I decide to do this, how much fender should I cut out of the donor and are there particular seams I need to follow to properly graft the replacement into my car? As for the thread, if this isn't the right place, let me know where it needs to go. Apparently I am teh suck at putting threads in the right forum.

Sorry I didn't get back to you before you went. I don't remember the name of the place but it's just off Lamb near the women's prison. Southwest, I think? Right next to the all Japanese place. Hey, you go to Pic-A-Part up there off Lamb? I have dibs on a set of front coils off an S30 they have there. Hoping to make it up there on Monday and yank them. What part of town are you in?

Needed a hood for the '72 and found a 280z in the boneyard. Couldn't believe it but the thing was almost complete and relatively straight. Looked like you could put gas in it and drive it out. Even the windshield was good. Damn shame. N/A 5-speed car too. Only a couple minor parts mission, even had a new or recently refurbished radiator in it. In Vegas if anybody wants to make the drive, but it's missing a hood now.

Went junk yard hopping today and found an early S30 that, surprisingly, had good rear fenders. Well, at least they're better than the ones on my car, not much more than surface rust except for the joint right down by the door sill. Anyway, the guy said he would let me cut the entire quarter off for $100. I'm thinking that's not a bad price considering how hard it is to find these quarters in salvageable condition now. What's everybody's opinion on that price? Anyone want to give me a good idea of where I would need to cut for the best repair?

Went junk yard hopping with a friend today and ran across an S30 (think it was a '72) that was being stripped. Not much good drivetrain-wise, but the front springs were a little older but powdercoated blue. I didn't find a name on them but I'm betting these are not stockers. If I can get them for a song, any thoughts? Any ideas who sells their springs powdercoated blue? How much would you offer for them?

The number one reason for stamped steel fittings like oil pans, rocker and timing chain covers leaking is OVER TIGHTENING. Especially when hold down rails are not used. Over tightening warps the flange and squeezes the gasket material out, permanently distorting the pan rails. You may be able to remove your oil pan and use a sheet of flat stock to support the rail and dimple the bolt holes back in alignment. As others have mentioned though, get both mating surfaces clean with a non-residue cleaner like brake cleaner. What I do because I generally only intend to replace a gasket every 100,000 miles or more is put a LIGHT film of gasket sealer on the mating surface of the pan, apply my gaskets and then another very light film on the mating surface of the block. Put the cover in place and tighten all bolts in a crossing pattern starting fro the center outward until just snug. Then put maybe a 1/4-1/2 turn past snug all the way around in a crossing pattern. Oil pans are a NON-STRESSED member and only need to not fall off (and seal) so too much torque is a fine way to screw the pooch with a stamped steel cover. Chances are, if you're using a torque wrench to install a pan and you get a "click" you've already over tightened it regardless of how low your settings go.

You may be right about that. I just couldn't get past the weld in the middle of the main hoop. You won't find a sanctioning body anywhere in the country that will accept a two piece main hoop.

To excess, sure. The bearing concern would be if you took away offset by sticking the same width tires farther out on the axle, creating a lever. But my experience with wheel adaptors (which I've been running on my Vette for over 10 years) is that as long as the inside track remains the same relative to OEM, you will have no discernible bearing issues. You will likely want to do this anyway as the point of adaptors is to ensure wider tires/wheels don't contact inner suspension/chassis points.

Rollbar! Anyone notice what's wrong?

Sorry if this has been answered before. In a search the only thread I could find was from 2003. Just curious if there is such a function on this forum. Most of the other forums I haunt have something to the tune of "my recent topics/threads/posts". I seem to sometimes lose threads I have posted in but didn't start.

That's nothing. I hope it's a chick car, because it's a chick car. But either way, at least it's done well. You want to see some abortion, search for "Dragon Vette", then get back to me. [Disclaimer: I will not be held responsible for any damage you do to your eyes in an attempt to get the image from your brain]

Certainly not an expert, but the ones you're showing don't appear to be "ZG" flairs. These are "ZG" flairs. Being as old as these cars are now, there is a very limited selection of new suppliers. If you can't find it through one of the current Z specialists, your best bet is constantly scan Fleabay and this forum.

Is it front and rear? or just rear? I had a problem with my rear turn signals that drove me up the wall. Kept the car off the road for the better part of a year. Turned out to be the switch, but you seem to have eliminated that as a possibility. As I recall, and this is strictly off memory, the main wire that powers the turn signals is a solid green wire, but I don't think it's the one you're showing. There should be a six pin connector that contains it as well as the wires that then go to the turn signals. Anyway, pull the switch off the column (although you will have to provide a ground to test it) and see if you have 12v going to the green wire in the center of the switch. If you do, then the problem is almost certainly internal to the switch, likely the brake interrupt contacts. If you don't, trace backwards from that wire.

Don't know about how rare they are for Datsuns but they've been around for American cars for decades. Here's Chevy, courtesy of Jegs:

No advice but good luck with the venture. You know you're going to need to do quite a bit of aero work too. Either that or just have enough horsepower to push a brick through jello. My question though is, if you're going with a non-stock turbo set up, why go with the stock-ish straight 6? I would think that taking a later 300zx turbo motor would be a better starting point. But then again, "I want to" is a perfectly acceptable answer.

Alright guys, I've done the 'search' thing and I have not found what I'm looking for yet. I've searched "timing marks, harmonic balancer and harmonic damper" but no luck. So what I have is a stock balancer with four marks. I can't remember if this is the stocker from the 2.4 or 2.6, but this is the original from either a '73 2.4 or a '75(?) 2.6 I combined. What I need to know is which one of the marks is supposed to be TDC and what are the increments of the other three marks? Help?

You are a braver soul than I. Far, far braver.

OK, all I can say at this point is make sure you take a small tool kit with you. Seems to ward off the mechanical gremlins.

If you have that big a vacuum leak you really need to find that thing and get it fixed. Running very lean does really bad things to pistons. Where's your video? And how soon do you need to drive it the 40 miles?

At the very least, you should grab both carbs and rock the motor. You can give it a pretty decent tug. I'm betting that something is loose. You can make your own gaskets too, by the way. Especially with the way the factory carbs are it's super easy. Go to your parts store and get some of the thin gasket material. Take off one of the phenolic spacers (the brown insulator between the carb and mainfold. Trace it out on the gasket material and use an Xcto or similar knife and cut out new gasket. Now, as I reread your post, it almost sounds like you could have sprayed the carb cleaner into the carb inlet. Please clarify.

If I understand you correctly, the car almost died when you sprayed the carb cleaner at the mounting flange between the carb and manifold. Is that right? If so, holy hell, you have a big vacuum leak! Do not drive that car until you get that fixed. A small leak will just seal up for a couple seconds when you spray the cleaner until the vacuum pulls the cleaner in. What you're describing, if I'm reading it right, is a leak so big that it's like shooting cleaner straight into the carb. As bad as your carbs may need rebuilding, you should pull them off and replace the gaskets between the intake and blocks and the blocks and the carbs. One time, many moons ago, a guy I knew had this old Buick or Olds something or other and he was complaining to me that it was running like crap. Would idle OK but had no power and ran like garbage when ever he gave it throttle. I took a look at it while he revved the engine. The carb had come apart internally. While the carb's base was still bolted to the manifold, the main body had come loose and would separate from the base, showing a good 1/2" gap. Stunning that car ran at all. I don't even think he replaced the gaskets, just bolted it back together and ran it like that until he got transferred and I never saw him again. Crazy.

It does sound rather tinny, doesn't it?

I think I heard what you're describing, but it is hard to make out on your video. It sounds like it might be a vacuum leak, and a pretty major one at that. Have you checked all your vacuum lines? Odd that it would start up after you drained fuel from just one of the floats. Not sure it matters but which carb did you drain? Why did you pick that one and not drain the other? Is it down on power? Does it backfire? What have you done so far to troubleshoot it? If you rev the throttle does the whine speed up or go away? Just need as much information as possible since we can't actually be there and put hands on. Know what I mean? [EDIT] OK, just reread and caught the part where you say it sounds like a whistle. Whistles typically indicate a vacuum leak. So here's what you need to do. First get some carb cleaner. And just for safety's sake get the hose on stand by. I have not tried this with a Datsun engine where the header is right by the carbs. So get the engine running and reasonably warm. Now spray the carb cleaner around the carbs. You want to spray it on any of the joints, like where the base of the carb bolts to the manifold and where the manifold bolts to the head (although this is the part that worries me). Carb cleaner has notoriously low volatility so itshouldn't catch fire but that's where the hose comes in. Spray on all of the vacuum connections on the carburators and intake manifold. If the whistle goes away, even for just a second, you've found your vacuum leak. Make sure you check that big, fat vacuum hose that goes to the master cylinder brake booster. Your brakes feel OK?

Excellent score. One thing I was wondering though, how did the impeller blades get that torn up that far inside? I mean I can see the outside edges getting galled if they come in contact with the housing or even the curved portion if the bearing allows the shaft to slide in and out. But looks like something must have been sticking down inside the intake tube for the blades to be that chewed up. I'm no turbo expert so I'm just thinking out loud here.

Wow, partner. You sure have your work cut out for you. I wish you all the luck. I'm still new at this steel body japanese car thing, but your rust issues make mine look like a weekend wax job.