Mickl

haven’t used the car in 3 or 4 months but started the 260 up today. Down the road I noticed the fuel gauge was on empty and I ran out of fuel just as I got to the servo. Lucky there! It appears that the tank contents has siphoned out through a rubber waste line connecting both carbies and outletting to the side of the gearbox. The cardboard sheets on the shed floor have clearly soaked up several litres of petrol whilst it has been standing. I had observed a fuel smell over the summer but mistakenly blamed some mower fuel containers!! what causes the fuel to drain out like that and how can it be prevented? Not great to have petrol leaking over hot exhausts as the rubber tube is not fixed down. Cheers , Mick

Thanks Dave, I put them on evil bay but I doubt anyone would want them? cheers,Mick

I found these two hub caps in the shed today. Checked all over the net but can’t find a Datsun model that had them. Can anyone identify them?

Scott's, happy to mail you one of the old ones which you might be able to copy. I hope I never want another one now but there could be guys out there who might have a rear brake job coming up. They are for a 1977 model on and earlier models have an elongated rubber seal, which is quite different. USA sites refer to them as for 280z send me your address if you want to try. Mickl

Thanks for the rapid responses. I should have mentioned that it is a77 model with the self adjusting mechanism. however, I took a drum off and applied the handbrake 50 times or more and the self adjust lever does not activate the star wheel. That is why I was trying to get at the adjuster from the back of the backing plate......and it seems impossible to crank it from here. I did turn it about one rotation to push the shoes apart a bit but any more and I can't get the drum back on. I am thinking I might drive it a bit and wear the shoes in and maybe I will be able to remove the drum a bit easier and crank it another turn or two?. i am shying away from taking the shoes off and trying to get the self adjuster working as it was such a mongrel to get them on before!

I have just replaced shoes and cylinders and had to back off the handbrake star adjusting wheel fully to get the hubs back on. Bled the brakes etc but now the handbrake is not coming on and the brake foot pedal is not very effective as the rear cylinders have to push the shoes along way to grip the hub. I find it impossible to adjust the handbrake up by accessing the small adjusting slot in the backing plate....there is just no room to get any tool in. help needed please! Mickl

Black dragon is no more. Found some at the z store. Postage was horrendous and two arrived in an envelope a couple of weeks ago but at $60 each!,! i don't think 3D printers can use rubber?? have reassembled it all but adjusting the handbrake through the backing plate slot is a nightmare so I have posted a new thread to ask for help here. Mickl

Thanks guys, I will track a pair from USA. i found a Black Dragon catalogue which has them in it. cheers, Mick

I have just bought some new shoes and brake cylinders for my 77 2+2, along with machining the drums, but cannot find a supplier of the squarish dust grommet where the handbrake lever passes through the backing plate. Does anyone know where to get them? cheers, Datman

Yep, that's it.

Got a bit too physical with my stiff choke and broke the knob today. Anyone out there with one or where to find one? cheers, Mickl

I am considering getting hold of some standard 260 mags ( are they called snowflake?) as I am getting some trouble from my car club in getting the historic registration. They reackon the wheels must be no wider than the tyre placard so my wide jelly bean wheels don't comply. Has anyone got a set out there they don't want. I live in Newcastle NSW. Cheers, Mickl

Thanks again everyone for helping out. Suggestions centre around the distributor not operating properly as well as the diaphragm being split so I have asked the mechanic to send the lot up to Dualfuel at Mooloolaba to get checked out thoroughly. If there are still problems after that, it might be a trip to John Collins in Newcastle for a spin on the dyno. Regards Mick

Thanks everyone for the detailed input on my problem. I just contacted the mechanic and he confirmed that the vac unit diaphragm was split so it needed refurbishment to get it going and the place in Caboolture sounded very suitable. The rest of the distributor seemed OK. However, there was no "ported" vacuum on the Su carbs, only the manifold vac. and the manifold vac does not perform properly between isle and revving. I got the Su carbs long ago from a guy in Wollongong before I swapped the old mechanical points distributor over for the electronic 280zx distributor so maybe they don't complement each other? Do the original hitachi carbs have this "ported" vac off take which my su's don't have? The mechanic says I either need to find a way to get the SU carb "ported" and then the vac unit repaired, or Get a mechanical distributor and forget the vacuum, which could be expensive, or Get different carbs, which sounds expensive too. As I mentioned earlier, I am no mechanic and I am having some difficulty with the concepts and communicating exactly what the mechanic is explaining. Getting the car to start easily, smooth warm up and running properly under load is what I am hoping for. Next move??

I have discovered today that SU carbies do not have any vacuum pipe on them. Not sure where the tube onto the vac unit on the dizzy comes from as the car is at the repair shop atm. A friend has advised me that the manifold can be removed and drilled for a pipe barb then connect it to the dizzy vac unit. Also, there is a thick spacer(?) almost one cm thick between the carbie and the manifold and alternatively it can be drilled for the barb instead of the manifold. The vac unit itself has been found to be split so I will also have to get a new one or get it repaired. So......can anyone confirm the above and which path would you take? Thanks, Mick