How long your engine lasts and whether you stay safe comes down to having the right maintenance schedule with proper intervals and fluids. I'll show you the maintenance timelines and how to find quality parts today. You'll also learn why high-zinc oil matters so much for your flat-tappet engine and how you can keep from making expensive mistakes that could ruin your original parts.
I've seen that plenty of 260Z owners don't know just how different their maintenance needs are from modern cars.
Table of Contents
Service Intervals for Your 260Z
The foundation of any strong Datsun 260Z maintenance plan starts with oil changes every 3,000 miles. You'll want to use zinc additives since these older engines need that extra protection for their flat-tappet camshafts - most modern shops don't even know about this. If you skip this, you might end up with major cam wear down the road.
Your coolant system is going to need attention every two years with a full flush. Brake fluid should get swapped out every year because it tends to absorb moisture over time. The differential oil also needs to be checked when you do your usual service. Valve lash inspections are another requirement you can't skip on these vintage engines. The 1974 factory service manual walks you through these procedures step by step. I've seen plenty of owners who don't know about this until they start hearing some strange valve noise coming from under the hood.
When valve lash gets loose, it creates noise that you can hear echoing through your entire garage. When it gets too tight, it slowly damages valves and seats over thousands of miles. Your engine needs these clearances to be just right, and only manual adjustment will keep them there. You'll need to check each cylinder one by one when you do these inspections.
Here's the catch, though. You can't just go by your odometer if your car sits around for months at a time. Rubber seals can break down, and fuel turns to varnish even if you don't drive the car. Time-based maintenance matters just as much as watching your mileage. Storing a car causes problems that mileage never tells you about. Seals can shrink and crack in dry garages over long winters. Fuel systems get clogged with deposits that build up in tanks that just sit there. Your calendar matters just as much as your odometer when you plan out your service intervals.
These 1970s vehicles have their quirks, with fuel system varnish and rubber parts that just don't age well.
The Best High-Zinc Oil for Your Engine
The Datsun 260Z runs on an L-series engine that needs zinc to work right. Modern oils don't have enough zinc anymore - emission laws forced manufacturers to cut way back on it. Your cam lobes need ZDDP to stop metal-on-metal contact when you start the engine. This wasn't a problem when your car was built. Most people just buy whatever oil they see on the shelf at their local store. That's going to destroy your engine over time. The zinc content in standard motor oils dropped quite a bit after 2020. You'll need to look for high-performance racing oils or diesel oils instead.
Cam lobe failure is sneaky - it starts without you realizing it and just keeps getting worse. Every time you start the engine cold, tiny metal pieces wear away from the parts that rub against one another. These losses add up until you hear that dreaded ticking noise - and by then, you're looking at expensive repairs. Rotella and Delvac diesel oils work great because they still have plenty of zinc. These oils protect your flat-tappet cams and keep them from wearing out prematurely. Nobody wants to replace a cam lobe after a single track day. The bonus is that most truck stops carry these oils year-round.
The thickness of your oil matters, too, and depends on where you live. If you're in a colder area, you'll want thinner oils that can flow fast when you start the engine on freezing mornings. In warmer areas, you can run thicker oils that hold up better when temperatures climb. A 2020 SAE paper showed how flat-tappet cams fail when they don't have the right zinc levels. The study shows why your 260Z needs different oil than a modern car. Your engine was designed before catalytic converters became standard equipment.
Flat-tappet designs have direct metal-to-metal contact between cam lobes and lifters. Modern roller systems get rid of this friction with bearing surfaces instead. Since your engine doesn't have these newer mechanical fixes, it relies on chemical protection from the oil. Before you go out and buy specialty oils, it's worth checking your local emission laws. California has laws that might limit which oils you can use. Some racing oils aren't even street-legal in some states.
Racing oils can sometimes have too much phosphorus, which causes emission systems to fail. There are street-legal oils out there that still protect your engine and pass inspection tests. Your smog technician can tell you which products will pass in your area.
How to Keep Your Coolant System Safe
Your 260Z has a problem that most people never talk about. Most owners end up finding out about this the hard way. The aluminum head and steel block are two different metals that don't work well together. When you add the brass radiator into the mix, you end up with what engineers call galvanic corrosion.
Fresh coolant helps keep these metals from attacking one another. Without it, they start to corrode from the inside out. You'll start to see white scale buildup and rust particles that can clog up your entire system.
The fix is straightforward. But you need to stick with it. You need to flush and refill your coolant system every two years, no matter what. Traditional green or blue coolant loses its protection over time, even if it still looks fine. I wouldn't recommend going with those newer orange coolants that last five years. Your 260Z was built for the traditional coolant, and it needs that to run right.
If you skip this schedule, your cooling system turns into a ticking time bomb. Summer drives turn into overheating disasters while you try to figure out what went wrong.
Most people forget about the small parts that matter. Your heater core sits there and slowly corrodes while you're worried about the radiator. The thermostat you choose matters a lot, and you need that radiator cap to hold the right pressure, or the whole system won't work right. These parts usually fail without giving you any obvious warning signs. Your heater dies during the first cold snap when you need it the most. If that thermostat fails, your engine runs at the wrong temperatures, which ruins seals throughout the system.
One forum member showed photos of his water pump after he hadn't changed his coolant for three years. The cavitation damage was terrible. The impeller looked like someone had taken a grinder to it.
Service Manual Guide for Your Z Car
Now that we've covered fluid basics, let's talk about where you'll find the actual maintenance info you'll need. The Factory Service Manual is going to be your main resource for this work. It has every torque spec and part number that you need to get the job done right.
The 260Z FSM covers all of the technical data that you'll need. But there's something you need to know. Sometimes, the 260Z manual leaves out info that you'll find in the 240Z or 280Z manuals. Since all three models share the S30 platform, lots of procedures work the same way for each car. When you're missing info, it can stop your whole project in its tracks.
The clutch master cylinder replacement is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. The exact same steps work for all three Z models. When your 260Z manual doesn't explain something well, the 240Z or 280Z versions usually have better diagrams with detailed instructions. This happens more than you'd expect.
You'll also want to learn how to read through Nissan's microfiche system. The part numbers follow a pattern that starts to make sense once you get how it works. Make sure to watch for errata sheets, too, since Nissan put out corrections after 1974 that fix common problems people were running into.
Here's something about generic repair manuals. Those Haynes diagrams might look helpful. But they usually skip over the emission control info that matters for your 260Z. You shouldn't trust some random forum post about torque specs when you can get the factory numbers straight from Nissan. You wouldn't rebuild an engine with a blurry photocopy from 1987.
Online archives have made it much easier to find these manuals than it used to be. Multiple websites now have downloadable FSMs, though some copies are incomplete and miss needed sections. The download quality can be pretty different depending on which archive site you use.
How Parts Supply Has Shifted to Communities
The parts situation for your 260Z has definitely changed quite a bit over the past few years. Supply chains had real problems during the pandemic, and plenty of classic car owners felt the effects firsthand. The timing of it all honestly couldn't have been worse. You probably saw how prices went up, and it became harder to find parts that used to be everywhere.
Nissan's Heritage Parts program has been one of the positive developments to come out of all this, though. They've brought back some of those hard-to-find pieces that disappeared from dealer shelves decades ago. The problem is you never actually know what might get discontinued next year or if that thermostat housing you need will still be around when you're ready to buy it. This kind of uncertainty pushes you to buy parts before you're actually ready. Your whole project timeline suddenly depends on whatever some company decides in their offices far away.
At the same time, the hobbyist community has stepped up in impressive ways. People are now 3D-printing those little plastic clips that always break and cost way too much to replace. It's pretty great what's available in owner forums and online groups now.
But you definitely do have to watch out for the counterfeits and low-quality parts mixed in. Counterfeit gasket sets show up on online marketplaces all of the time, and those questionable zinc additives from unknown sellers lead to more problems than they solve. There's nothing worse than paying decent money for what you think is a quality part and then finding out it's just a cheap knockoff. That counterfeit gasket might start leaking just a few weeks after you put it in. Then your weekend project turns into a total teardown all over again.
Your best bet is usually the community itself. Swap meets and classified sections in owner forums typically have people who actually know these cars inside and out. These people have a real reason to be honest with you. They're not going to try to sell you junk parts because their reputation in the community is on the line.
Build Your Dream Car
When you create your own personalized maintenance log, it seems like extra work at first. But this log becomes worth it as the years go by - your future self will thank you for keeping track of everything. It helps to take some time to look over your maintenance schedule at least once a year and adjust it based on how much you actually drive and what conditions you put your car through. These annual check-ins will show you patterns that you might miss otherwise. The way you drive your car changes over time, and your maintenance plan should change along with it. This simple yearly review helps you keep from wasting money on too much maintenance and letting problems build up from not enough care.
You might want to set aside a weekend pretty soon for that next oil change, and when you do, use it as a chance to give your car a thorough once-over.
There is something special about being part of a community that keeps these great machines running for future generations to enjoy. These cars bring people together across the decades. Every time you take care of your 260Z, you're helping keep automotive history alive and making sure these cars will still turn heads and bring joy to their owners. Every well-maintained 260Z represents automotive craftsmanship that could otherwise be lost forever. The care you give your car today decides whether a kid decades from now will get to see one of these classics cruising down the road.
With that said, whether you want to keep your car's original look and feel or you're trying to improve how it performs and looks, the right parts make all of the difference. At Skillard, we understand what Datsun enthusiasts need. We have a wide selection of custom parts made just for the 240Z, 260Z, 280Z, and other classic Datsun models. From well-made bumpers and aluminum door cards to center consoles and spoilers, we're all about quality and fresh ideas to make sure there's something perfect for every project. Visit us at Skillard.com to check out our full lineup and find just what you need to make your car everything you want it to be.
