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A Kansas Z Rescue


MattC55

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 Hello everyone! I have been searching your forums the last week or so, preparing for this day. Last night I made a trade for this '73 240z that has seen better days (as have most around here). I had been conversing with this guy for about a week, putting some feelers out about the condition of the car, and was pleased to find that for the most part, he was true to his word. It had been sitting for a year or so as he was in a motorcycle wreck and could not work on it. 

 

The good is that it runs! It idles smooth, no knocks squeaks or dings that i can detect. Needs an oil change bad, and a bucketload of TLC.

 

The exterior, although not pretty, is serviceable and is relatively dent and rust free. Surface rust on drivers side and one spot that needs cut out and welded which I can do myself. Frame rails are not rusted and underside looks pretty decent.

 

The P/O welded in (shoddily) floor panels, but they will do I believe. Interior is a mess right now, but the headliner and sun visors are white, and intact completely! I was blown away when I saw this... First used car i've owned that didn't tickle my hair with dangling headliner fiber.... Dash is cracked, but he has a snap on cover over it. Seats are shredded, drivers side needs bolted to the car.....Everything is serviceable though! I can do body work, I can do interior. No rust on the inside, even where the spare sits. The engine bay is a baby blue color? Would have been neat to see the whole car in its original color.

 

All in all, the car is solid, running and definitely something I believe I can bring back from the brink and turn it into a daily driver. My plans are exactly that; Fix what needs fixed, give it a tune up, redo the interior and paint the exterior, sell those slotted mags (any takers??), and just have a nice daily driver. 

 

My budget is small, but I have time and -some- knowledge, but I would DEFINITELY appreciate some help diagnosing a couple things.....

 

One: I have a major slave cylinder problem. The P/O Installed a brand new master cylinder which is all fine and well.. but when i attempt to bleed the slave cylinder, it will come out of the bleeder valve as it should, but also... out of this rubber.. squishy deal. Grommet? Don't know what the right word would be; It covers the rod with the rounded end that pushes the cylinder when you push down on the clutch. It is leeking profusely and I don't know if I can rebuild the slave or just buy new? And if it were a chore to put on? That's what's holding me up right now. Any thoughts would be much appreciated for better or for worse, and... Thanks for the forum! Glad to be here!!

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Post pictures of your 'new' '73

 

If selling or buying it must be done in our classified section... http://community.ratsun.net/classifieds/category/10-wheels-and-tires/?sort_key=date_added&sort_order=desc in order to keep the forums free for discussions.

 

Just replace the clutch master slave with a new one. A good new one. Most after market parts today are 'bad in the box' crap and a $9 Nissan master is not the way to go. Expect to pay $30 for a real Made In Japan part. 

 

 

Glad to have you here Matt, welcome to Ratsun

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20151017_131320.jpg

 

 

 

 

Lots of....stuff.... Spare exhaust and intake gasket, some speakers, interior pieces... 5 quarts of 10w30 and a fram filter though! Looks like a free oil change to me...

 

20151017_131533.jpg

 

 

 

Yes, I have to start it with a flat head, no it's not stolen... :geek:

 

20151017_131512.jpg

 

 

 

Driver's side door panel, or lack thereof

20151017_131459.jpg

 

 

 

 

Headliner

20151017_131418.jpg

 

 

 

 

Mess

20151017_131334.jpg

 

 

 

 

Remnants of the mess.... :poop:

20151017_131330.jpg

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Well.. I know I like pictures.... Guess I do take quite a few.. :thumbup: It is a true ratsun, just have to figure out where to start... I do believe I'll order a new slave and put it in, hopefully that will be the end of that issue... Will keep posting pictures, whether anyone comments or not!

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20151017_112803.jpg

 

The black rubber hose from the side of the head is connected to the lower rad return hose to the water pump. In effect this by-passes the heater core that is likely leaking. This should never be done other than in an emergency to get home to be fixed. Effectively, hot engine water is being diverted around the radiator and is not being cooled. This just places a larger load on the cooling system.

 

The woven mesh hose in your hand should be connected to the head and the other to the lower rad hose inlet to the water pump. When the heater is not in use the water flow is shut off.

 

Expect the heater core or a hose to leak if you connect this up.

 

If you have no plans to fix right away, cut that black rubber hose and place large bolts in each end and gear clamp them in place to stop water flow.

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20151017_112733.jpg

I guess I said replace master...I did mean slave.

 

 

20151017_131330.jpg

 

Do not ever use fram filters, they are junk. Get a WIX or NAPA Gold for superior quality. The oil is adequate. I like to run Shell Rotella T 15w40 (Chevron Dello 400 similar) it's a light diesel oil that continues to contain high levels of ZDDP in it while all other gas engine oils are lowering their levels yearly and fazing it out on universal roller tappet cam engines of today. We still need the scuff protection of ZDDP on our flat tappet cams of 40 years ago.

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This is what I'm surmising... How far off am I? sorry for the paint drawing!

20151017_112803_1.jpg

 

 

 

 

And also, I do remember reading that fram is not reccomended... i'll go get a bosch or what I can find. That's interesting that you're running diesel oil... I will probably use this GTX and next go-round try what you use. Have you ever ran the super scary seafoam treatment in any of your datsuns? Was considering doing it, considering it has been sitting... But then again, if it ain't broke!

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Yes, connect as your drawing is.

 

Bosch if they are anything like their rebuilt parts, I'd keep away. WIX or NAPA, AC Delco maybe. Fram charge a lot for less filter material inside and crappy paper and glue. Made as cheap as possible in China.

 

 

If not started for years, drain the oil and change it and the filter. Pour the new oil over the cam and valves. Pull spark plugs and crank engine with the coil wire off. This will circulate the oil to all the moving parts. Start it up.

 

Seafoam? I would never use it in an engine. It's just snake oil and only looks impressive. It's just a solvent that can loosen sludge if used in a gas line and plug the carbs. Replace the fuel filter.

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Bosch filters are good quality. Not as nice as wix but easily as good as delco. Wix are the best. Napa gold filters are just wix with blue paint (so they're good too).

 

This is based on 10 years in auto parts sales and cutting open every brand of filter O'Reilly sells.

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Bosch filters are good quality. Not as nice as wix but easily as good as delco. Wix are the best. Napa gold filters are just wix with blue paint (so they're good too).

 

This is based on 10 years in auto parts sales and cutting open every brand of filter O'Reilly sells.

 

 

Will keep that in mind... Glad to know though! I don't want to cause more problems than I already have. Which takes me back to this, while i'm thinking of it...

 

 

Also, this little rusty guy... the one closest to the end... leaked all my brake fluid out... Can I replace him, or cap him off??

 

20151017_152703.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

This guy.... The rusted front one; That valve is leaking (obviously), and was thinking.. I'm not exactly sure what it's there for aside from the fact that I know you can use it to bench bleed the master before installation.. Are there any other uses? if not, was thinking about plugging it temporarily? Or get a new one, although not sure if they sell them?

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If it's been loosened already it should be removed and looked at and the sealing surface cleaned. Probably tighten it more and rinse off with brake cleaner. If it stays dry it's fixed. If not replace. No not over tighten and snap it off.

 

 

Looks like tightening torque is only 5-6..5 ft lbs.

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20151017_112803.jpg

 

The black rubber hose from the side of the head is connected to the lower rad return hose to the water pump. In effect this by-passes the heater core that is likely leaking. This should never be done other than in an emergency to get home to be fixed. Effectively, hot engine water is being diverted around the radiator and is not being cooled. This just places a larger load on the cooling system.

 

The woven mesh hose in your hand should be connected to the head and the other to the lower rad hose inlet to the water pump. When the heater is not in use the water flow is shut off.

 

Expect the heater core or a hose to leak if you connect this up.

 

If you have no plans to fix right away, cut that black rubber hose and place large bolts in each end and gear clamp them in place to stop water flow.

 

 

So I was thinking about this randomly today..... Do you mean something like this? Is this better than having the loop in place? Obviously the red squares are there to indicate the spots to plug..

 

20151017_112803_2.jpg

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Slave cylinder fixed!  Didn't have the key to the garage, so couldn't get my big jack..... or my clear line.... So I made do.

 

Got my scissor jack out (Stupid and not particulary safe, but worked) and got partially underneath her in the street; Got the bolts off easy enough, but someone rounded the rubber hose bolt, so had to pipe wrench those. As suspected, I had a massive hole in the rubber boot surrounding the piston.  Old slave:

 

20151024_172948.jpg

 

 

No, that's not a blurry man hammer, and yes, I am almost always shoe-less lol

 

New one went on easy, bled it myself by gravity bleeding and using a hose off a spare radiator that came with the car..

 

And we cruised! The only gauge that works is the speedo, probably cause it's mechanical... But we went around town, stopped at the "historical" Old mill and took a couple pics:

 

20151024_180306.jpeg

 

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She's rough and dirty... But I love it!! I know this will be a keeper, and I can't wait to get further into it. 

 

 

Plans for today: Oil change, clean carbs, clean the car..... I bought a new attachment for removing surface rust, gonna knock all that off, lay down some primer for the time being, and hopefully... Clean those mags up!! They say SHELBY on the inside?... hmm.....

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Bondo... Everywhere.  :sick:

 

Oil is changed, carbs are cleaned, looking for some cheap throttle linkage between firewall - carb....Cleaned the innards and took the rear bumper off, and started sanding away! 

 

The roof, after scraping at least 3/16 layered bondo off..

 

20151101_140556.jpg

 

 

 

And.... the rear... AKA bondo city. Should I just cut it out and replace the whole rear? I was going to shave the bumpers anyway.....

 

20151101_140607.jpg

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