coupe72001

Hey mate, due to a house move and my car destroying anything that gets attached to it I have little left in the way of parts. If you get really stuck for something specific let me know... I have a few mates here with bits and pieces that may be able to help.

Local buyer or international? My money was on local, but... Hope you got a respectable deal at any rate!

If you haven't already found it there is an awesome RB/240k restoration on classiczcars. Buckets of useful info for you there. Look for posts by kidk.

Mechanical parts are no biggie. Original interior and good panels are almost impossible to find. Be prepared for buckets of rust removal/panel beating of what you have already got, and that you will need to spend a fortune on interior retrimming or go for a non-original interior.

Unfortunately the GT-R of C210's is no G-TR of note, I've driven one and it basically sucked. The Japanese L20 non-intercooled turbo with injection makes, according to my Japanese advertising material, 130HP at 6000 rpm. That's a full 4 horsepower less than your stock-as-a-rock single carb L24, 8HP less than an L24E, and 32HP less than a stock L26 with twin carbs. I'd like to imagine that a warm L28 (like mine) would make more power than that again. You could always modify the L20 with bigger injectors, intercooler, computer (I've been driven in a tricked up L20 turbo, and it was exciting)... but if that's the path you're going down, you may as well mod a local engine. Fitting power-steering (which I prefer not to have on a C210) and air con (which I also prefer not to have) from a wrecked Australian car is a big expensive pain, agreed, but way less eye-watering than the parting with 5 figures. Customs is going to degas your Japanese air cond anyway! I think if you lurk around import monster, you'll slowly amass the cool goodies you want, without going anywhere near a $15,000 budget. If I were prepared to part with that much to bring over a Japanese car, it'd be for something with a substantial resale value in Australia... unlike a C210. In short, add the GT-EX parts you like to your existing car.

No, no, no. A JDM GT-EX, and lets be specific here, has different lights, electric windows, mirrors and badges to your Australian C210, in a good way. It also has an L20 turbo (yawn), different seats, rims and steering wheel, and possibly grill and headlights in a much-of-a-muchness to less than good way. Then there is the predictably awful state of any given Japanese interior and engine bay to sort out, after you get the car complied and registered. In short, why would you pay $15,000 for $2000 worth of interesting parts? Buy the specific bits you need from import monster and throw the remaining 13 grand at... well, whatever you want.

Thankyou guys so much for all ur help so far i cant believe how much u guys have helped! wouldn't of gotten anywhere without u guys! Pleasure. The memory of this horror of a job is all too fresh in my mind. You'll certainly know a lot about front ends, timing and swearing at your car by the time you get done!

The Skyline c10 and c110 GT-R versions had a (now insanely expensive) cross-flow head/engine called the S20... but it's not L series compatible in any way as far as I know.

Sorry to wade into this late, but I'd just like to recommend you use your stock E88 head with your stock L24. The E88 head has large round combustion chambers (rather than small kidney-shaped ones) so you should actually get lower compression than some of the other L heads around. BUT! You do get the largest intake valves, and almost the largest exhaust valves of all the L heads, so it's going to breathe very well. In addition, your L24 has slightly dished pistons (if it's from your 240k), so overly high compression is not going to be an issue. In fact you could consider a 1mm gasket to increase the compression some given you'll have a little extra valve clearance to play with. I've run an E88 with flat top pistons with no hassles (other than my own incompetence putting it together). Finally, give Motor Improvements a call on 9555 8278. Last they were in Bricker St Cheltenham, but they were looking to relocate, so I'm not sure what their address is now. They help me out quickly and cheaply every time I smash up my heads (which is alarmingly still quite often). They won't lead you down the garden path.

Like what Daewoo said. I think that you may have the spindle from distributor to oil pulley wrong (I certainly did first time round.) 1. Get number one to TDC. 2. Check the timing mark on the cam sprocket. 3. Have a look at where the distributor is pointing. It should be pointing at number one lead on the distributor cap. If the distributor is NOT pointing at number one, drop your oil pump, drop the spindle, and rotate your distributor to number one. You can now start poking the spindle back up there till it clicks home into the distributor in exactly the right spot. Now all you need to do is replace your oil pump. Of course it wont fit because the spindle is in a new position! However, you can stick a screwdriver into the slot for the spindle in the oil pump, and rotate it until the slot is at the same angle as the spindle. Then it will cobble back together. Or remove the distributor and check the position of the spindle this way: http://www.pape.ws/allan_and_rosanne/Z-Car...lpumpshaft2.jpg

With the timing cover off its easy. Squish the tensioner home with your thumb on your left hand and pop your cam sprocket on with your right hand! Without the all the junk in the way its the easiest job in the world, it's just removing all that junk which is time-consuming and irritating. Start at the grill and burrow forward till you see timing chain. I forgot to mention, to get your crank pulley completely off you'll need a crank pulley puller (a cheap and nasty from supercheap will do). Pretty much everything else comes off with a 10/12/14mm spanner or socket or a screwdriver. The timing cover might need a bit of a knocking to dislodge it, but don't start tapping away at it till you are certain every last bolt is out, including the one hidden behind the oil pump.

From memory mine didn't have a flap, just a tensioner head on a spring that crams into a housing.

If the chain is on the wrong tooth then the groove in the sprocket won't line up with the timing mark on the cam tower. You'll have too unbolt the cam sprocket, and carefully reposition the chain by a tooth. A sharpie (pen) is great to mark which chain link/tooth you were on as a reference. Jiggle your cam so the cam sprocket hole and its lug line up again and take 2. I'm usually one tooth off every time - but with the tensioner chocked and the chain slack repositioning is easy enough.

A few highly dodgey tricks: Choose if the tensioner isn't all the way popped out, make sure your block of wood, broom etc is cramming it all the way back into its home. You want no tension on the chain at all before you try to get the sprocket back on. Try not to shave splinters of wood into the engine. Jiggle your cam back and forth using a wrench on the lugs till the cam sprocket hole is perfectly lined up with the little lug on the cam. You'll be able to see without the cam bolt and washer (and a bloody great broom handle) in your way. Finally, if it really is only 1mm off, and you are sure the cam and sprocket are lined up, try threading the cam bolt in and s-l-o-w-l-y tightening it. Not recommended in the manual, but I have got a sprocket to click home this way.

By the sounds of it the timing chain tensioner popped out. I've made this error a lot - and am expert for swearing for a while and then just dealing with it - with the engine still in the car. Disconnect battery and remove spark plug number one. Remove your grill and radiator. Pull everything off the front of the engine (fan etc) bar the water pump. Don't remopver the head, just the rocker cover. The harmonic balancer (or crank pulley if your prefer) can be loosened by chocking the cam with an adjustable wrench - it has lugs in the centre of the cam for this purpose. If you don't chock the cam the engine will turn over without the bolt loosening. Loosen your sump a little. Remove the 2 little number 10 bolts from head to timing cover. Remove timing cover. Pop your tensioner back in its home (having fished it out of the sump with a magnet). reassemble with new (timing cover etc) gaskets as necessary. Make a real effort not to damage head/sump gasket as replacing them sucks. At least setting up the timing chain/cam position is really easy with timing cover off. Be sure that number 1 piston is at TDC exactly when you position your cam sprocket. For future reference I enjoy shoving a broom all the way down the timing cover to prevent the tensioner popping out. Best of luck.

Yep, that's the groove and mark in question. See how nicely they line up! Have a look-see when you are doing the tappets.

I've never bothered with any of the treatments you've listed. I'd choose a decent quality oil though for sure. The cam timing is no biggie to check. Makes sense to do it at the same time as your tappets. Take of the timing cover and turn the engine over till piston 1 is at the top. The big sprocket bolted onto the front of your cam can be bolted on in 3 different positions. Position 1 is for a new timing chain, position 3 for a stretched timing chain. The sprocket has a little notch cut out of it. When your number one piston is at top dead centre the notch on the sprocket will line up nicely with a little mark on the cam tower. If the chain has stretched the notch won't line up any more (I think the notch will be to the right of the timing mark from memory.) If the notch and the timing mark don't line up you'll need too compensate for the chain stretch by unbolting the sprocket and repositioning it. If the sprocket is already on position 3 it's time for a new timing chain. Word of warning though, don't let the chain go slack at any stage, as there is a little spring loaded tensioner which will pop out of its home if you do. The reason to bother with all of this headache is because your timing chain certainly will stretch as you start to clock up serious miles, and a floppy chain will definitely affect the performance of the car. Good luck!

The C210 came out with a couple of options, C1 and C2. C2 being the full box and dice with power steering, tape player, 3 speakers and air cond. C1 is air cond only. Poverty pack is none of the above. The C211 had the updates mentioned by TIR31, but interestingly a lot of the c211 electric goodies were available on the Japanese C210's which came out in 8 basic varities: 2000 GT EL/GT EX/GT E/GT ES and 1800 TI L/TI ES/TI EL and TI EX. This means the Japanese also ended up with several varieties of grill, head/tail lights, seats, steering wheel and other interior bits not seen in Aust. As you can guess the Japanese also used 1.8 and 2L engines, some with Turbo, and not the 2.4L found in Aust. cars.

I'm very relieved that you didn't pay $620 for a carby rebuild, that is OUTRAGEOUS. The car is bound to run a little average when cold, choke or no, they take a bit to warm up. I would mostly worry if the car ran poorly when hot. Grab some tools and a service manual, and have a go at checking your valve clearances, ignition timing and cam timing. These things aren't to hard to check, but they all make a fair difference to how the car runs. Good luck!

I've never heard of a single carb c210 with extractors (and I've driven plenty) needing a heat riser. I think the problems you have are related to poor carby cond or the exhaust leak. Who told you that you need a heat riser? Don't trust/believe them.

Fix the immediate problems before you make any elaborate plans. 1. Get rid of the exhaust leak. Extractors can be a bugger to prevent leaking if they are thicker, that is they stick out further from the head - than your inlet manifold. (Given only one bolt and washer is supposed to be clamping both the extractors and the inlet manifold to the head.) Your extractor place may need to make up some washers with little lugs welded to them to accommodate for the difference in thickness; it's probably only a couple of mm, but that's enough for exhaust to escape as I have found (emerging from my car smelling like smoke, eyes watering etc). 2. Get the carby rebuilt. The single carby is refreshingly cheap and easy to rebuild. I paid about $160 for an overhaul about two years ago. 3. If the car isn't right at this stage (and I'd be surprised) review your other options. Good luck!

c110 coupe and sedan bonnets (and front ends/guards) have been interchangeable in my experience.

Datsun gear sticks come in an array of shapes. When I went to Z shop last I saw some of the sticks were straight, and some had bends in them. I don't know which model has which shape though... Hope you find something that suits.

Do a search for webers on ebay and you will find that $350 is a bargain... BUT, if the webers need a rebuild, jetting, dyno tuning etc so they run right on your car (and they probably will) that $350 is going to rapidly turn into $1350.

Hey Mags, You can strip the car at my mate's factory and he'll dispose of the scrap for you... you'd want to do it pronto though, the factory is rapidly going into financial death throes...