twofouroh

Heat helps a lot too, since aluminum expands faster than steel. Everybody says alum (used for pickling) will dissolve steel w/out harming aluminum. Dont forget to silicone the hell out of that thermo housing when you put it back on, they leak onto the studs all the time. I run no gasket and Permatex Grey on mine, never leaks, but the metal has to be clean and flat.

What year? What engine? What mods? What lights? Wont turn over or wont start? Any existing electrical probs? Do you have the FSM? If not, get it. Tracing electrical is impossible without the complete wiring diagram for your specific year.

PM

Check the injectors for flow, one or more may be stuck open. Check the cold start injector too. That black smoke means something is flooding it with gas.

The 4th picture is all hatch emblems

Is that the E12-80? Have a couple I probably wont use but I've never run them to see if they're working good

Look for 307 Pacific Blue. My '74s original (and next) color. It was the Nissan version of Daytona Blue, which is pretty much what that civic color is. Also, the 303 Green Metallic for the 260-280 Z is incredible too. I bought a tool storage lid out of a junker just to have an example of that emerald green. Paint codes with pics that aren't super accurate - but it's better than nothing. http://zhome.com/History/ZColorGallary/index.html

If your left turn signal works normal, then it isn't the silver can. Make sure your right side circuit has correct, good bulbs in it, and the sockets are clean. The flasher unit works off of heat generated by current draw thru the circuit. Low current = no flash. Check to make sure the sockets and ground points are good and clean too.

That happens from somebody over torqueing the temp sender. Mine did that to me, from some PO years ago over torqueing it and getting a crack started. I limped along by cleaning the hell out of the threads that were left and finger tightening a new sender in coated in Permatex grey. Lasted me the month it took to chase down another housing. Good luck Scott B

Yeah, I bought a P90A head from Datsun LLC awhile back advertised as 'professionally rebuilt' including the adjusters. When I got it, the adjusters wouldn't pump up, so I took them apart and they had never even been opened at all by him. They were all full of dirty crap that looked like blobs of Form A Gasket #2, and one of them even had a wimpy little spring some PO had put in it. The valve seats were cut to very different depths, and I ended up making him send me a solid lifter conversion set for it. WAY don't recommend him. Very sketchy, very overpriced, and definitely NOT a 'pro' operation.

Why buy 'green' brake cleaner when it is flammable? Carb cleaner works better on brakes, IMO. I think the only point of old brake cleaner was to not explode every time a mechanic lit up while using it. I'd rather just stick with my core group than have a can of everything under the sun, I'd never have the right one when I needed it. . . . . . My cleaners: Alcohol 90%+ - the 70% stuff just leaves water behind Windex 409 Dawn dishwash soap, gets grease out of your way! Diesel - GREAT solvent, especially if you let it soak. Try soaking a piston top with it overnight, and then hit it with some light steel wool. Good on frozen bolts too. Carb cleaner - all around good for lots of stuff. Also used instead of starting fluid, brake cleaner, and wasp killer . Charcoal lighter fluid - this is a good substitute for gasoline - it works about the same and it is much harder to light, much less explosive. Less headaches too. The one thing I like the old style brake cleaner for is that it 'may' dissolve some things the others won't, like hard chewing gum, trim glue, or that butyl rubber crap. I never use it to prep metal, or clean brakes

Brake cleaner is NOT carb cleaner or starter fluid!!!! It is basically dry cleaning fluid (non-flammable), and if you get it really hot, it can decompose into phosgene gas, which is deadly. I don't ever buy it for that reason. Welders tell horror stories about cleaning metal with it, then welding causes a trapped pocket of it to explode in their face as phosgene! Please read this guy's first hand account of what it did to him -----> http://www.brewracingframes.com/id75.htm

Seems like he builds quality engines (unlike what I've heard about the Datsun Parts guy). Yeah, I second that. 'DatsunParts LLC' on eBay IIRC, I bought a "professionallly rebuilt" P90A from him - it was garbage, seats were cut to very different depths, hydraulic lifters were full of trash, weren't even opened up during the 'rebuild'. Had to make him give me a solid conversion kit.

Bumpers changed a lot, what year? Or does it matter?

-There is a vacuum hose leading from the distributor to a little cylinder with the other hose going to the carbon canister, is this needed of can I just plug off the hole. If it is needed, what do the two wires coming from the small cylinder plug into? Not important to get it running. It's the vacuum advance line. Check your FSM for vacuum hose routing, and make sure all are properly connected or properly blocked off - vac leaks suck . . . . . -Also, when the engine is at TDC with the distributor on, it points directly toward the front of the car, right on top of the cylinder that is supposed to fire first. is this correct or way off? I thought that the rotor had to start before the first cylinder? It should be pointing at the #1 spark tower on the cap, which is usually towards the front of the cap. Also make sure the wires are stitched up to the right cylinders (FSM again). - I have tried to start the car many times within the past few weeks but it wont even pop once or twice. I took the plugs out today and they are perfectly clean, and barely even smell of gas. So I assume the injectors are not doing their job properly. I saw on someones build that they had to sauder the connection together in the air flow meter because it was not telling the car to open the injectors. The plugs (and exhaust) should reek of gas after cranking without it starting. Before you dive off into the 'heaven' of troubleshooting the FI system, hit all the basics first!! Probably need to check whether it's getting any/enough gas. Fuel pump running? Fuel filters clogged? Is the gas fresh? Old gas is harder to burn. Does gas come out of the fuel rail when disconnected? Are the injector electrical connectors making good contact? Ford Duratec motors have good injector connectors for a cheap junkyard replacement. Clean all the engine connectors while you're at it. Check timing & compression? Autozone has timing lights & compression checkers as loaner tools. Get a can of carb cleaner and spray it straight into the intake plenum for about 2-3 seconds through one of the vacuum bungs. The ignition on a 78 is separate from the FI system, so the car should run for a second on the carb cleaner if the ignition is firing. Take one of the plug wires off and make sure it will throw a good spark to ground, then you know youre getting spark. I have also heard of people getting one with a dead FI computer to crank by hot wiring the cold start injector, but that's dangerous if you don't watch out. Anyway, good luck getting it running, hopefully more people chime in soon Scott