WORLDS COLIDING

Stole this from another blog(s) but it was worth a repost.

 Coolest R107 SL I've ever seen.

STACKED

Carbs are pretty much all ready to go, and these are the velocity stacks I ended up ordering. Came all the way from Hungary, yet they were still a fraction of the cost of anything in the states. 

I was at first looking at much more expensive units but these actually resemble the ones I've seen on cars built decades ago, so that sold me. Saving money also wasn't a bad thing.

GOT THE CALL!

The sand blast shop called to let me know the Z is ready to be picked up. I'll have some pics up as soon it's back at my place. 

To try and keep from posting with out any pictures here is the new alternator that came in today and the new adjuster arm. I went ahead and got an alternator for a 280zx. They are 60 amp as appose to 40-50 amp units that come on early Z's.

 

HATE WORKING BACKWARDS!

There is probably nothing I hate more than working backwards due to a mistake. I guess that's how you learn. So note to self; Don't put the oil pan on before you install the crank pulley, cause that woodruff key will come out and it will fall into the pan. Yet not far enough to fish it out!

 

OEM

Many times if you know what you're looking for you can find OEM Nissan parts for less than aftermarket. 

  I know it's hard to tell but the new parts are on the right...

WORK

Having this sitting in the shop should keep me motivated. And my redline soft mount kit for the carbs came in.

 

The soft mount kit provides reduction in both vibration and heat to the carbs.

ENGINE FASTNERS

Been waiting on these for a while, but very much worth the wait. They are from MMS & Accessories, it includes the external bolts for the entire engine all in stainless steel. Even includes the exhaust and intake manifold studs. The kit comes in individually packaged and labeled baggies for easy installation. 

 I'll update as soon as I get the engine all bolted up.

WEBERS

With the car gone for a little while, I got to work on getting the carbs all cleaned up and rebuilt. I think the biggest lesson on rebuilding anything is what you learn by taking it apart. I didn't take any pictures of this process as it's self explanatory. As you take them apart keep everything from one carb separate from the others, staying organized is key.

Find a shop that has a sonic cleaner, this works far better than just soaking it. (make sure they keep your parts separate) 

 Here are all the internal parts in their separate bags. Spray some wd-40 in the bag and work it into all the parts.

Before you start get this book, even if you don't run Webers there's plenty you can learn from this literature. Also needed is a quality rebuild kit (got mine from pegasus racing) and all the tools you used to take the carbs apart. I also got new bearing for the throttle shaft.

Get organized! lay out all your parts so they are easy to find as you put things back together. Also take the extra time to give all the jets and other fuel passages a good extra cleaning.

Do your reading before you start and take your time, clean carbs makes a world of difference down the road.

Want these

Care package for the Z

Throttle by...

...wire cable!

Ran across this article on Racing On The Cheap about running a throttle cable instead of the factory swivel linkage set up. The factory linkage and its many joints creates binding and slop that reduces the feel of the skinny pedal. Another major disadvantage of the factory set up is that it connects the engine to the firewall causing unwanted throttle input from engine movement. Running this will also allow me to simplify the engine bay even more.

 

 

 

Valve cover color

Taking the valve cover along with a few other things to get sand blasted and powder coated. I originally wanted to do the valve cover in wrinkle black but now I'm leaning more towards a wrinkle red finish. Either way I want it to look like it could possibly be oem.

For reference:

 

 

Long block assembled.

Dustin wanted to help put the engine together since he's never done it before and I wasn't going to turn away some free help. The machine shop did a great job and everything went together with out a hitch.

 

With the long block all put together we call it a night. Still waiting on the new bolts, and a few other things and the engine will be ready to go. I still gotta rebuild these bad boys below, but that's for another day.

Modern Kulture...

this is it.

 

 

 Justin's photos

 

Headache...

So stripping out those threads in the head wasn't the end of the world. I used a helicoil thread repair kit. It's pretty simple, you just drill out the damaged threads and tap the hole to a bigger thread size. The picture below shows the insert. The insert allows you to reuse the original bolt as if nothing was ever damaged.

Here's the head assembled. I'm using a Schneider 460 lift and 270/280 duration camshaft along with matching Schneider valve train.

It's important to make sure to have a proper wipe pattern on the rockers along with the right valve lash. Either one being off could cause some serious damage. Speaking of preventing damage, here's all the ARP hardware that came in.

Engine painting

The Z engine is back from the machine shop. Had the following done:

Block bored and honed .040(1mm) over stock
Rods checked and micro polished
Crank balanced and micro polished
New pistons pressed on rods
Valve job (valves regrind, seat resurface, new seals, new Schneider springs and retainers)
Block and head resurfaced

It was a nice sunny day with little wind so I decided to go ahead and paint the block and head. My buddy Zach was over at the shop and gave me a hand.

Everything taped off and ready for primer:

Coat of primer:

Here are the results:

I usually use VHT paint but they were out so I used this. Hope its just as strong:

Oh and did I mention Im running flat-tops:

Good progress for the day. I also cleaned out the garage which it has been needing it. On another note if you live in Texas you need to check out The lone Star Round Up hot rod and classics show in Austin!!