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Moltar

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Posts posted by Moltar

  1. At one point I nearly got a Scammell Explorer, a 6x6 recovery vehicle version of the Scammell Pioneer the UK Army used as a general heavy duty traction vehicle... 12 litre inline 6 rolls royce engine with a tickover idle speed of 200RPM and TONS of torque. Swing beam rear axles.

     

    They used them to haul broken down tanks to be repaired, made M35s look anemic!

     

     

    But haulling my 280ZX back from Christchurch to here I used my old '85 Hilux Surf, what you guys know as a 4Runner. 2 litre 4cyl carbed engine, it didn't like the load :P

     

    I thought the 22R was a 2.4L.

  2. From my experience over this last summer of selling of 7 boxes of Datsun parts - I couldn't GIVE away half of my parts.

     

    When I sold one of my two Z's at the end of all of it, I loaded up the hatch with as many parts as possible just to get them out of my garage.

    There are a few parts that everyone wants, but the majority of it will be very difficult to get rid of.

     

    Several reasons for this, from my analysis.

    1)Economy

    2)Shipping costs - while the part may be cheap, after you add shipping it is suddenly out of many Datsun owners acceptable price range.

     

    The second reason leaves you with two conclusions. One you deal only locally - which is fine, but requires a lot of your time (as you are organizing meeting times with people), and can further saturate a market already filled with Pick-n-Pull "pocket parts" (small items stuffed into people pockets as they attempt to recoup entry fees) and other individuals parting out their Z's.

    Second is to eat shipping cost, which very quickly makes the time put into organizing and selling parts not worth it (as profit's in my case wouldn't even pay for a week's gas).

     

    In Sacramento, I had the whole Craigslist market to myself (only competing with Pick-n-Pull, which I would raid for "wanted" parts for people). Even then, I still had to drastically cut prices in an attempt to clear inventory. Didn't work... I tried selling here, and got the highly sought after parts sold within a week, whereas the rest of it sat.

     

    If you do decide to go ahead with it, I wish you the best of luck, sir!

  3. Very nice work. :D

     

    It looks like you still have the intake water heated.

    My understanding is that this is only needed for warm up, in cold climates.

    I beleive the end fitting may be a thermostaic valve. Is it still functional ??

     

    Curious on your thoughts and experience with this.

     

    I ran without the intake heater and found my motor was running 10-15 degrees hotter than when I wasn't.

     

    That and the more that I read (currently, "Scientific Design of Exhaust & Intake Systems" by Philip H. Smith), I found that by running coolant through the intake it allows the intake to act as a heat sync - keeping the intake charge at a constant temperature. I'm not quite through the book (it is a rather difficult read - and I just finished taking Fluid Mechanics at college!).

  4. I went with McMaster-Carr, they aren't local (online only), but the selection and quality from them is well worth it. The 5/16" rod ends with brass races were $5.53 from them (P/N 6072K22). I also ordered their 5/16" shaft to save myself from lathing one myself. Also don't forget the shaft collars (McMaster P/N 9414T7) to prevent everything from sliding around on you.

     

    But you are dead on - I built mine with two purposes in mind. First, as you noticed, was for the backing plate to replace the heat shield. And second was adjustability (notice how I am able to change my pedal ratio with the linkage I went with). Before with the SU's my Z had a light switch gas pedal which made it difficult to drive (and was wrecking havoc on my clutch), so I wanted to go with a setup that allowed me to manipulate the way the pedal opens the throttle.

     

    I just finished the first round of jetting of these carbs on my L24 and I am at a 55F6 (very rich in terms of jetting), and I am finally getting it to not give me an off-idle bog. Just another carb to learn and tune.

  5. I don't believe datsun every endorsed belt buckles, from what I have seen the only swag datsun endorsed where jackets, shirts and hats.

     

    Alright! Knock-off Datsun swag, how funny.

    Reminds me of the Pat Benatar concert tee my buddy found at a thrift store that was obviously sold in the parking lot before the show.

     

    Also, I should I have included, on the back it says "Taiwan" with the number 562.

     

    ~Thanks

  6. Phil indeed! I have pics of his linkage setup that I will post when I get on my computer that has the pics.

     

    I'll also include more detailed pictures of what I did when the sun is up. Reason mine is so expensive is everything is on rod ends.

     

    Mike:

    Did your kit come with one bad rod end with a silicone race too - or was that just mine? All of the other supplied rod ends in the kit were steel races, and one had a silicone race. Needless to say I hucked that in the garbage and replaced it with one that had a brass race from McMaster.

  7. I know of one local gentlemen who has completed this swap on his L28 powered 240z, and I borrowed from his linkage setup.

     

    Unfortunately I cannot tell you about any felt power changes between SUs and webers because I am also dropping a 4:11 R180 in the rear of my Z at the same time as I complete this swap.

     

    I went the MCHH route because they are significantly cheaper than triples, I haven't heard great things about dual downdrafts, and I think Holley swaps are a little uninspired. So I am left with these quirky carbs that not too many people know about unless you describe them as a "DCOE cut in half" - which they are.

     

    Total cost of this swap will be about $450-460. Not as cheap as I had hoped when compared to the Holley swap or rebuilt ZTherapy SU's, but others can probably get it done cheaper than I did.

     

    The Weber kit is for a Triumph TR6 which has a 2.5L straight six engine, so converting this over to a Datsun with a 2.4L L6 engine wasn't terribly difficult.

    Link to Weber Carb

     

    In researching these carbs, the biggest complaint I've heard of is vacuum leaks. Even my local buddy had vacuum leaks. After receiving my carbs in the mail, I can assume that the origin of these leaks is from the gasket that connects the carb to the adapter supplied in the kit. So I ordered the Weber DCOE soft mount kit to replace this presumed faulty washer. Nice thing is you only need to order one kit, and that will supply each carb with a replacement gasket. Updates on vacuum leaks will come once I turn it over and get tuning on it.

     

    Here is a teaser pic of what I've done thus far... more will come as I finish it off.

    post-6032-006279800 1293049181_thumb.jpg

  8. Here is my advice: Unless you already know a lot about the V8 conversions, I would stay away from them unless you really, really trust the seller. If it's from a reputable person in the Z community that is known for quality work, then yea, go for it. The problem is, it is really easy to get the wool pulled over your eyes when buying such a modified vehicle, because you don't necessarily know what to look for unless you have already done it yourself, or you have researched it so much that you know the ins and outs of a V8 conversion. Not to say you shouldn't buy one, you just have to be careful. If you buy one, it could end up not even being close to the setup you want or really need, or worse, it could be just plain unsafe because of a poor install or corners cut on things like chassis reinforcement, etc.

     

    There is a thread that has been going on with people talking about how much they have spent on their V8 conversion, it might be a good idea to go through that thread just to get an idea of what a real conversion costs, as well as look through some of the build threads to see what goes into it, so you might know better what to look for.

     

    This man speaks the truth!

     

    When my father retired about a year and a half ago now, we decided to buy him a retirement gift. I got him into cars when I was 16, and it has been our mutual hobby since. There was a beautiful looking V8 Z on Craigslist (out in Roseville - for you z2go, who should know where I'm talking about) for an unbelievable price of $3500, which of course we snatched up. I paid $3400 for my rust free Z up in Chico, so $3500 for a V8 rust free Z seemed even better, right? Wrong.

     

    The car was a hack job. Wiring was done twice over, heater cables were cut out rather than unscrewed. It was done quick and dirty, slapped with a fresh coat of paint and sold. Motor was some junk yard SMOG block from the early 80s, and the TH350 made a nice clunk when put into gear. I always found it funny how my Z with the L24 was still faster than the V8 Z.

     

    I wound up sinking less than $100 into it (selling/trading the spare parts it came with) fixing most of what was wrong and made $1300 off of it after holding onto it for 6 months.

     

    Here is a picture of what a "nice" car can look like.

    post-6032-049194300 1292137713_thumb.jpg

    post-6032-013690200 1292137720_thumb.jpg

  9. So assuming it is the same as the 240z - I would need the 720 side axles as well? Pretty sure he doesn't have them. Then what?

     

    And I can pick it up for $75.

     

    All I had was exactly what is pictured. I just swapped the side axle flanges (the portion that bolts into the differential) and in it went.

     

    $75 is a good price for that - I paid about $100 for mine.

  10. The unit will essentially bolt right in but you'll have a problem with the side axles. The K series R180s use a snap in side axles while the side axles for the 240Z are bolt in. The side axles from your R200 won't work due to the different spline count (29 vs. 25).

     

    The later K series had snap in side axles. The 720 was equipped with bolt in side axles - as seen in the picture.

     

    I just finished swapping in a 720 4.11 diff into my 71 240z. All you have to do is swap the side axles (straight bolt in swap), and change out the flange the drive shaft mounts to.

     

    I can't speak to any effect of how much of this is true for a 280z, but for my 240z it was a very hassle free swap.

     

    How much is it selling for?

  11. Gollum:

     

    I'm glad you posted this, especially since you have owned both a S30 and a S130, which in my mind validates this post that much more.

     

    I've recently be contemplating the purchase of an S130, I love the look of them and have zero problem finding them at Pick-n-Pull in Sacramento. The weight issue you address solidifies my plans to purchase one. That has always been the major complain I've heard in regards to the S130 (major pro being the suspension).

     

    Every time I'm at Pick-n-Pull I hop in the ones I find, rust never really seems to be an issue from what I've seen (maybe I'm not looking hard enough).

     

    ~Thanks

  12. How big is your brother?

     

    If he isn't built like a refrigerator, go look for early 90s Toyota Corollas. They sell for about $1000-1500, if you can find one (which can be hard, as they are cheap and very reliable - so obviously in high demand).

     

    I just picked one up off a friend for a grand. I'll keep it until I finish college, and sell it for what I payed for it. Mine gets 35 mpg on the little 1.6L EFI motor it has under the hood.

     

    ~Good luck

  13. I had the same issue with one of my Z's - one drum would always stick to the hub (it did this for 2 or 3 drums IIRC). I wound up cutting the drum off with an angle grinder because I couldn't find a pulley large enough to pull the stuck drum.

     

    Cut vertically from the hub and wedge a chisel in the hole and try to crack the drum off. I didn't damage anything with mine. Just remember to sand the inside of the drum hub so it doesn't stick again (assuming this is where it is stuck).

     

    Also if this is truely an original car - the rear drums will be aluminum. You can only buy cast iron ones from auto stores now - so go check out your local salvage yards and hope you get lucky.

     

    ~Good luck

     

    Also - you a navy man (being in Fallon)?

  14. What's wrong with your carbs in particular? One thing I've noticed about these SUs is that those "rebuild kits" (I refer to them as gasket kits as that is all they are really good for) don't offer any parts that will actually FIX the problem.

     

    Biggest thing I've found is that either the nozzel wears out (not the needle), or that the throttle shafts wear out.

    Only cheap method I've found for fixing the throttle shaft issue is to tear the carb apart, measure the OD of the shaft, and ID of the steel bushing. Then I either braze weld or solder up the ends of the shaft where the hard chrome plating has worn off, and grind it back down to what I measured the ID to be on a lathe.

     

    It works decently well. I didn't have any vacuum leaks on the throttle shaft for the 6 months I ran them.

  15. Tripple check all your vaccuum lines. I had that issue when my car had the L28ET setup and everytime I came to a stop the car stalled out. It ended up being a vaccuum line that went to my boost gauge that had a leak in it.

     

    By the way beautiful looking Z!!!

     

    I'm with gothalosism on this one, sounds exactly like a vacuum leak (surging idle, but car runs fine under load).

     

    Buy a can of brake/carb cleaner and start spraying parts of your engine that you think might be the cause of a vacuum leak (brake booster, etc), and listen to the engine.

     

    If you spray somewhere and the engine chokes and wants to die, that is where your vacuum leak is coming from.

     

    Good luck!

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