1974 260z Rebuild

[LearnAsIGo]

Greetings to all,

I have taken it upon myself to rebuild a 1974 Datsun 260z.

Some background: my grandfather purchased this car long ago and decided he wanted to to tear it down, and build it back up better than before. In 1991, two things happened, in order of importance: a Stage 2 engine rebuild and my birth. Unfortunately following that, the Z never again was whole. A computer programmer by trade, a father of 4, and a man of many projects, he lacked somewhat in skills and massively in time. Unfortunately, life took its toll and he ended up fully dissembling the car and mothballing it in storage openly expecting to die with it incomplete. Along come I. Having been dating a lovely woman who was raised in a garage, and having access to both a full professional shop and both her and her master mechanic father, I decided I would take on my grandfather's ambition. He packed up the pieces and drove this beaut to me.



I was given a bay in the shop, and we immediately set to work:




Sadly, some things are not meant to be, and that lovely young woman and I not long after went our separate ways. I ended up towing the Z for storage at the on-base auto-hobby shop...



...and am working on the engine for now in my small garage




Now, why this long personal story you might ask. The answer is to make clear my situation: I am fully dedicated to accomplishing this project, and while my grandfather was a meticulous labler of parts and I have a wealth of necessary shop manuals and parts catalogs...



...the resources and people I had started this project with, are no more. I've changed out fluids, suspensions, and radiators, but know how to do little more and am self-acknowledgedly way over my head now. Trial and error, reading, and YouTube are my future.

So, I make this thread, for two-fold purpose:
1. To document the process and allow you all the opportunity to laugh at my pain, as I teach myself how to do this the same way my mother taught me how to swim: by flinging myself headfirst into the deep end and seeing what happens.
2. To solicit advice, warnings, and foresight on potential pitfalls from those experienced in their craft. No advice is too basic. I don't know enough to know what I don't know, so let loose anything that you think I might be missing as I go.

[LearnAsIGo]

Started working on some small parts. Had to wait for my parts cleaner to come in the mail before I could start in earnest. Did hit my first snag though: I can't get the water temp switch to thread all the way in... it just stops. I've cleaned the threads completely and there's still plenty of room before it bottoms out. What could be causing this?

[AZhitman]

If I'm not mistaken, it's tapered. In other words, the threads are the sealing surface, not the shoulder (much like house plumbing). Wrap the threads with some teflon tape and reinstall - as long as the bung is exposed to the water in the housing, you're good.

Welcome aboard - I've restored a few Z cars, so I'll pop in and help where I can. You have a TON of reading ahead of you. Also, buy Wick Humble's book, and steer clear of FB Z pages until you get some more accomplished - rookies will only confuse you.

Glad you're here!

[LearnAsIGo]

One of many intermissions due to work travel, and I've started to put more parts on:

Thanks AZhitman for the information! The taper was the answer.



Also installed the BAE remote oil adapter to the block. I know absolutely nothing about this model. The install instructions were pretty straightforward, but which port is in vs out, as well as what the 3rd hole is for is beyond me. The internet has been unhelpful so far, but there some time before this engine will be running, so I've got plenty of time to figure it out.

[LearnAsIGo]

Correction: BRE remote oil adapter... still no hits from the Google machine though.

[Niti QX4]

Probably in / out / and bypass/oil pressure sender or tubing for direct read

[LearnAsIGo]

Installed the alternator, timing plate, oil pump, and distributor.

Having decided to run an electric fuel pump to avoid the woes of vapor lock (among other things), I also pulled out the studs and put in a cover plate for the mechanical fuel pump hole.

I fit up the fan just to test, and found the fan clutch to be hopelessly gummed up. I decided to avoid the headache and just order a new clutch.

[LearnAsIGo]

Old A/C compressor is hard frozen, and honestly, I don't want to rob any more horsepower than is necessary anyways, so I'll order up a new Sanden compressor when the time comes.

All that said, I'm starting to feel like the time to put the engine in the vehicle may be soon. And so I poll the community: at what point do you actually install the engine? What more should I bolt on first? What should I avoid putting on before it's in the bay?

[LearnAsIGo]

New A/C Compressor initially fit. Not sure if I want to run a single belt, or two.

[LearnAsIGo]

Final fit for the compressor. Test fit breather filters and belts. I'm not really sure how you're supposed to tension belts without a tensioner... I just sorta used a lever then tightened my bolts. Was that right?

[LearnAsIGo]

On the hoist, and ready to start working the back end.

[LearnAsIGo]

Plate and initial hardware attached

[LearnAsIGo]

Tranny (original 4-speed) is on

[LearnAsIGo]

Back from vacation, and returned to find my velocity stacks in from Japan.

[LearnAsIGo]

Cleaned up and corrosealed the rear diff

[Easydriver]

@LearnAsIGo, great job anyway! Your grandpa should be proud of your work on his car!

[LearnAsIGo]

Further work travel, but now I return to put the rear diff in!





Yes, there is some surface rust under there, but nothing serious. I'll be cleaning it up and corrosealing it before its all said and done.

[LearnAsIGo]

I do have some misgivings however, as I could not find the correct orientation of these isolators, and just sort of visually matched dirty and clean sections by shape... looks weird to me though. Any suggestions?

[LearnAsIGo]

Some casual Sunday afternoon stub axle installation and rust remediation.

[LearnAsIGo]

With the help of two others, I moved the engine from my garage to the auto hobby shop and installed it.

[AZhitman]

The isolator stack on the mustache bar is wrong... I'll look for a diagram, but the bottom piece with the rubber "bumps" should be toward the frame.

[LearnAsIGo]

I knew it! Sadly my shop manuals do not have any details of the isolator stack.

[AZhitman]

Here you go - More info than you could ever want: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/top ... gs/?page=2

[LearnAsIGo]

I've suddenly been struck with a warning that my images may be no larger than 750 pixles high. Given the resolution of modern smartphones, I'll have to massively resize everything before upload. When did this begin, and why?

[LearnAsIGo]

No excuses, I fell off the map. Here's a summary of what I did while I was away. Currently working on A/C and assorted plumbing. Remote oil may one day hook to a cooler and/or 2 filter setup, but that's a future project.

[Niti QX4]

That looks good! Coming along very nicely.