SupDoc

I removed the 2 into 1 collector pipe and had a local muffler shop weld in the oxygen sensor bung. After that was done, I was able to finally start installing the intake/exhaust manifolds. Before doing that, I installed a set of studs for the intake. There were already studs in place for the exhaust manifold, but the stock set up just uses bolts on the intake. I feel like there is a less chance of stripping out holes if studs are used. I used copper locknuts on the exhaust manifold. I found a generic Holley 4-barrel to 2-barrel adapter plate on Ebay and modified it to use on the Clifford intake. I replaced the old, crusty heater hoses with new silicone hoses and routed the coolant from the thermostat housing, through the intake manifold and back into the water pump. A brass tee was installed to accept the additional coolant temp guage. Found another potential paint color. This one is "Verde Gea Matte"

Spotted on Main Street in Rio Vista yesterday morning. You must have been eating breakfast at the Striper Cafe! It took me a little while to remember where I had seen this car before.😆

I removed the old external fuel pump and modified the mounting bracket to accept the the new pump that comes with the Holley kit. I also the mounted the pre-filter to the bottom of the bracket. I would have liked to mount everything higher up, but the instructions say to mount the pump lower than the gas tank, or low as you can. I may have to install an internal fuel pump, if I ever decide to lower this car. I mounted the post-filter in the engine bay with a generic bracket that I purchased off Amazon. Also found another potential re-paint color. This one is Audi's District Green Metallic. Kind of like a metallic military green.

I've never heard of Moss Motors, do they make Datsun parts? Probably not very good ones, judging by your comment.

After bead blasting the exhaust manifold, I used a carbide burr to grind down some of the extra material that was left over from the air injection tube gussets. Then, I blocked off the holes with threaded pipe plugs. Originally, I tried to fills the holes with brazing brass, but it just made mess because I had no Idea what I was doing.😂 The paint on this car is in really bad shape, flaking off everywhere. Originally, it was a light blue metallic, but was re-painted red at some point. I'm not a big fan of the red or the blue, so I've been searching for other potential colors. I recently saw a Nissan Xterra with a green metallic color that I really liked. So, I'm posting it in this build thread for future reference. It's called "Pop Green Metallic" color code "JAH" This picture make it look more yellow that it is in person...

I decided to cut bait with the defective unit and bought a new Beck-Arnley master cylinder. It solved the leaking problem, so I was able to move onto more exciting stuff. Next, I removed the stock intake and exhaust manifolds (along with all the smog spaghetti). I discovered that the manifold bolt closest to the firewall had previously been broken. The PO was probably driving it around like that for a while. I tried to use a bolt extractor to get it out. But, or course, that broke off inside the bolt. Then I had to spend the rest of the day grinding out the hardened steel with a dremel tool (like a dentist working on a cavity). Amazingly, I got most of the offending material out and was able to re-tap the hole fairly adequate. The stud wiggles a little bit, so I'll probably squirt some epoxy in that hole for good measure, when I install it. I also plan on re-using the stock exhaust manifold after plugging the air injection ports. I had to use some torch heat and and extractor tool on one of the ports that was giving me trouble. I've decided not to take the traditional route and go with a Holley Sniper throttle body injection unit on this car. To do this, I needed a Clifford intake manifold that has been on backorder for the last few months. I was getting frustrated with delay when I found a used one at the Datslocos swap meet last month. So I've been able to get back to work getting everything mocked up. I won't be needing the mechanical fuel pump with this set up. So I removed it and installed a Zcardepot block off plate.

I hooked up an air/fuel ratio gauge, using the O2 sensor bung that I had installed, when I thought I was going to go EFI. Turns out the carb is tuned pretty good already. Near stoiciometric mix. Not sure it is worth messing with carb jets at this point. Sometimes it does stumble if I punch the gas. I'll have to do some more research to see what causes that.

I cleaned out the fuel system by filling the tank with 10 gallons of acetone and denatured alcohol and recirculating it through the fuel system by connecting the feed/return lines in the engine compartment. I had to rebuild both rear drum brakes. Unfortunately the wheel cylinders were beyond saving, so I had to buy new ones. Everything went back together fine, but I couldn't get the auto-adjusting feature with the hand brake to work. The front rotors needed to be resurfaced, so I had to separate them from the hub, which turned out to be quite a challenge. I couldn't beat them apart with a hammer. So, I ended up using this portable electric hydraulic press we have at work. My plan was to rebuild the calipers, but there was one stubborn piston I couldn't get remove. After trying various methods I found on youtube, I gave up and just bought a new pair of calipers on Amazon. This was supposed to be a budget rebuild, but that idea is quickly going out the window. Anyway, after the new calipers arrived, I installed new wheel bearings in the hub and reassembled the front brake system. The old brake master was in bad enough shape, that I had to buy a new one also. Once I got everything installed and began to bleed the brakes, I discovered that the brand new brake master was leaking from the bushing that connects to the front brake line. I tried to tighten the bushing as much as I could, but it still leaked. So, I decided to unscrew it and see what the problem could be. I saw that it had a copper washer that might not be sealing properly. So, I installed a new copper washer but it still leaks. Now I have to decide if I want to go through the headache of returning it, or just buy another one, and hope it doesn't do the same thing. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Thanks for the suggestion. You are correct. Only one of the carbs was frozen, so I took that one out. I still can't get that flapper valve rod to move after partially disassembling it, squirting it with PB Blaster, beating on it with a hammer, and trying to twist it with some channel locks. May have to cut bait on this one and move on to plan B. Working on carbs is just not in my wheelhouse and I don't have the patience for it. Right now, I'm trying to decide between a dual DGV Weber set up, or just go with a TB efi set up.

This is in a 260z that's been parked for many years. I can't push the gas pedal to the floor, so I've been working my way back to the carburetor, checking the linkages as I go, to find the area that's stuck. As far as I can tell, there is a metal tab that is acting as a hard stop right next to the carburetor. You can see it at the end of my ball point pen in the following picture. Basically, I can only wiggle the linkages about 1/4" back and forth, before that spring loaded screw hits that metal stop. If pop off the ball joint from that linkage, I can press the gas pedal down all the way. It doesn't seem like that metal stop is supposed to move, so I don't want to force it and break something. Anybody know what's going on here?

I bought this old R&T magazine, thinking it would have some good road testing information. But it just reviewed some basic information that was revealed at the Tokyo car show that year. I needed to buy some new tires, since the current ones were trash and could barely hold any air. I decided to get these cheap used tires, since I only need something that I can roll the car around on, for now. They look kind of goofy, since they're not the right size, but they were the only used 14" tires that the shop had. I also bought this cheap endoscope camera that plugs into the iphone. I intended to use it to look in the gas tank, but the built-in light is not bright enough. It did work good for looking inside the cylinders, though. Does anybody know if this is the stock side mirror for the 1974 260z? This one flops around and won't hold it's position. I need to figure out if there's a way to tighten it.

I just brought home this non-running 1974 260z 2+2 on a trailer. I purchased it from a local family that had it in a storage container since 1991. It has a lot of surface corrosion and, at some point, rodents tried to eat various parts of the engine and made a nest in the splash pan area. So far, I've been prepping the engine before I attempt to crank it. Luckily, it does rotate freely. I changed the oil, filter and spark plugs. Plus, squirted a little bit of mystery oil in each cylinder. Check out this old filter. The coolant system was bone dry, so before flushing it, I hooked up my shop vac and tried to suck out as much loose rust as it could. The brake drums were very corroded, but didn't look too bad after bead blasting them. I also had the insides re-machined at the local Napa Auto. I decided to re-use them, since you can no longer buy the OEM aluminum drums. I'm not sure what this relay is, but it will obviously need to get replaced. This splash plate is also in bad shape. I don't know if it is worth cleaning up and re-installing.

This guy was designing a rotex supercharger kit that might be interesting. But hasn't updated the site in a while... https://www.bossadesignengineering.com/products/rotrex-supercharger-kit

I'm getting a small oil leak along the top of the timing cover, where it meets the head, on both sides. I changed the inspection cover gasket in hopes that it was the source of the oil, but no such luck. See pictures below. So, now I'm looking at re-sealing the timing cover, which I'm kicking myself for not doing before the engine was installed. Is it possible to to do this successfully, without removing the oil pan and head? I've read some posts about not using RTV where the head meets the timing cover. Is this a bad idea even with high-temp RTV? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

When I removed the spark plug, I was able to see that the top few threads were messed up, the ring gasket didn't have a good surface to seal against. I was able to get a copper washer that was wide enough to span the bad area, and it seems to have sealed the leak.