Finally, a Nissan Z cracks the Top Five at a Lemons race! (Page 1 of 2)

Gotta love all the underdogs from Tampa!

Well, keep in mind that the Team Underground 300ZX guys at the West Coast races were doing the exact same thing at Reno and Buttonwillow (as I recall, they ended Day One at Reno in something like 3rd place)... and they did blow up. I didn't want you to blow up, but thought you'd be in for less of a let-down if you didn't get your hopes unreasonably high.

Great job Black Sheep!  A Nissan WILL win a Lemons race.  I'd love to say we will have a chance at the Lamest Day, but it's our first Lemons and the car has been in a barn of 15+ years.  We are hoping to run the whole race without any major failures and then come out swinging next year.

Did you see my fuel tank pics?

Here is what the inside of the tank looked like when we got the car

This pile of crud came out with some water and muriatic acid

And here is what it looks like now after a LOT of work and a POR-15 treatment

We replaced all the fuel lines and the carbs got a complete cleaning and degunking.

The brake fluid solidified and turned to powder inside the master cylinder, wheel cylinders and calipers.  We also removed six mumified mice and at several POUNDS of mouse shit.  Even with every soft part removed from the car, it still smells horrid.  We are thinking of painting the interior and all body cavities in an attempt to encapsulate the smell.

Yes.  Since the tank was obviously very bad, I first hosed the tank out over and over with water and a few feet of chain to help break up the debris.  After I got some of the loose stuff out, I bought two gallons of muriatic acid from Home Depot and mixed a 1/2 gallon or so to a few gallons of water and sealed all the openings.  Each time, we would slosh the tank vigorously and then drain and flush with water.  We did this over and over all day until the water was free of chucks.  Once that was done, we used the actual POR-15 kit.  It costs about $85 shipped and comes with two quarts of cleaner, one quart of etcher, and one quart of sealer.  One quart of cleaner is mixed with hot water and the shaking process is done followed by letting the tank sit on each surface for several hours to eat the gum and varnish off the surfaces.  After that, it is again rinsed with hot water and the same thing is started over with the second quart of cleaner.  Once that step is done, the etching liquid is used in the same mannor.  Once done and rinsed, the tank must be dried with hot air.  I used a heat gun for several hours followed by a few days to make sure it was 100% dry in all  the tubes, seams, and baffles.  Once ready, the sealer is poured in and the tank is once again closed up tight and rolled around until all surfaces are coated.  The sealer is then drained back into the can.  It must not have any puddles which is a real bitch to accomplish the way the filler neck and sending unit holes are designed.  When finished, about 90% of the sealer ends up back in the can.  From there, the tank needs to dry for at least 4 days before fuel is introduced.

I have used this product on another tank with fantastic results.  After three years, the other tank still looks like new.  It will even seal small pinholes in the tank.  The worst part is the back breaking work.  It takes several weeks and many, many hours from start to finish and must be done when it's warm and dry outside.  In my case, I had a gravel driveway to do it in which helped greatly.  I filled and drained the tank at least 50 times so the gravel let the water drain without creating big puddles.  The muriatic acid is nasty stuff as is the crud that comes out of the tank.  I wore a respirator, safety glasses and thick rubber gloves in 90 degree heat while using the acid.

Sounds like you have $250 in fuel tank restoration. 150 laps!

We've seen many, many cars spend an entire weekend battling maddening problems caused by years of built-up crap in the fuel system working loose when the car starts getting tossed around.

Great job keeping the Nissan / Datsun Banner alive Black Sheep !!

DATSUN  WINS !

> the next great thing <

Our Z sat behind my mother's garage for years after I bought it a police auction in 1997.  The registration and inspection stickers on the windshield were from 95/96.

Fast forward to 2008, the car was about to get stripped and crushed when Lemons came along.  Now we race the against time as the car is rusting it's way back to nature.

We installed a fuel cell to eliminate the problems Jeff went through.  It's safer and more reliable but it took a good bit of work too.

Like Phil says, we went through just about everything fuel related on the car.  Realistically, we went through just about everything on the car.  Lots of elbow grease in our heap.

Our engine hasn't blown up in a race but clutches/transmissions have been a problem.  Then there are those pesky black flags.

Regarding Zs in Lemons, the early Z cars up to the 280ZX, with the L-series motor, have lots of potential junk yard mods.  They are older than most of Lemons cars so that's a drawback but also shows how the cars were kind of advanced for their time.

The first gen 300ZX (Z31) has the VG30 which is durable and reliable but not a whole lot of cheap and easy mods.  The cars are kinda heavy though.

The second gen 300ZX (Z32) has the VG30DE or VG30DETT which have a twin cam or a twin turbo twin cam.  Every once in a while you'll find a cheap Z32 but they have probably got more electrical gremlins then an E30.  While I think the Z32 is a very nice looking car, they are heavy too.

interesting....so you basically moved the fuel sump into the engine compartment and use the fuel tank as the source for the real pickup...cool. I was thinking of some kind of slosh baffles that drop in through the hangar assembly hole. Guess you need a super clean tank now!

No, that was both of us.