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Latest Entry
240z hard to start
Having trouble starting my 1972 240z, just got it about 6 months ago and it had set for 8 years. Everything is original motor, transmission, differential, etc. Engine runs a little rough once it is warmed up. Drained the gas and refilled tank and included new fuel filter. New plugs, plug wires and air filter. The SU carburators round top could use some cleaning I guess, but not too experienced to do this myself. I have to turn the key to get the fuel pump working before I try to start it. Then I have to pump the gas until it finally turns over. Seems like the carburators are starving for fuel. Strong gas order like it is running to rich. I have to leave the choke fully open longer than necessary I think, before the engine will run without coughing so much. Any help is appreciated.
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Body Electicial
Does anyone know if the cab wiring for the 240z is universal between 1970 and 1973?
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72 240 5-speed
I recently repurchased the 240-Z that I sold 17 years ago.
I NEED A 5-SPEED TRANSMISION 4 IT!!!!!
Thanks 4 any help that U can give me.
Tim
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1971 240Z getting make-over
My friend (mechanic) and I will be cleaning up my 240 from the engine bay out. The interior is impeccable, the body is straight, but bay is undesirable. My question is; what "secrets" might help with the overhaul of the engine and still maintain the car's value. We are also lookig for parts of an inexpensive nature. Help please. Chuck in AK
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Latest Entry
looking for help with engine timing
im working on a 73 240z, with a 79-80 280z engine....code l28e(that is the code on the cpu and block), it is also turbocharged....
the engine was just rebuilt and the car fully restored...im in the final process of completion, but cant get the engine to run.....has fuel and spark to the cylinders, but wont run.....has to be a timing issue.......an help would be greatly appreciated....thanks James
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lifters..solid or hydrolic?
pardon the question, but I haven't learned yet. Just got my 72 240, 120k. If it is cranked after having just been driven, you get lifter clatter. No clatter when first starting up cold. Since the car had been stored for a couple of years, I credited the clatter to needing an oil change. Just changed oil (10w 30) and it still has the lifter clatter when cranked hot. Don't know if I have solid or hydrolic lifters. How can I tell which and if solid, how often should they be adjusted? Thanks for taking the time to read.
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Latest Entry
Today the Sow's Ear - Tomorrow the Silk Purse
To restore or not to restore? That is the question. Well all reason be damned and full steam ahead. There can only be said that anyone that attempts to restore one of these precious gems is a fool in love. The Z becomes the other women when another women would probably be cheaper in the long run but just not an option at this time.
I remember my first ride in the Z back in 1970. I was lucky to have a close friend my age who was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his arse. He got it for graduation. She was green with the tan interior and had that new smell from Japan. Not only was the car green but so was I with envy.
I have always had a fascination with sports cars while many of my friends where out coating the streets with black steaks of rubber from big block quarter mile wonders. It must be the noise.
Later I bought an used Opel GT 72. Man was that thing fun. Later still I bought my first Z. She was a used 75 280 that loved to go looking for Corvettes to play with. It is sad but I can not remember what I did with that car. When you get to be my age you are lucky to remember anything. After years of being sports carless I stumbled upon a 911T 68 that from 10 ft looked like new and I just had to have it. I sold my favorite SS El Comino, my best fishing boat and went to the bank to borrow the rest. I don't have time to write all that went on in that car. I can say that I thought I should sell it after 2 years before I trashed out the engine or the trans-axle cause I would have never been able to pay to fix them.
So now many years later after raising 3 kids (ha If you ever stop) My Son drug home this poor neglected 72 240z that had been sitting sense 1986. To my amazement he had it running in about an hour and it sounded great. Well to make a long story short he thought he would put a V8 in it and put it on the drag strip. Thank God he never got around to it and I bought it from him a year later. She came from the original owner and was 98% original and intact.
I have started digging in and finding her little dirty secrets. I am sure I will be working on this Z till the day I die but my dream right now is to be able to take her out of the driveway and around the block through all 4 gears.
To Be Continued:
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Latest Entry
72 Datsun door panels??????
I would like the dealer Part # for a 1972 240Z Left and Right Butterscoth Door panels if anyone would have them? I've been told that I may still be able to order a set. The dealer said that they need the # in order to check if they are availible.
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Latest Entry
Paint Help....
I have a 1976 Datsun 280Z. I have several paint questions.. Ok, I recently sanded the car down and going to do some minor dent repairs, and then spray primer on the whole car, and then paint it. OK my question is whats the best primer out there for our cars?? Epoxy,Lacquer, Polyester, Urethane Primers ect???? Next, How many gallons will the car take??? What type of paint should I buy?
here's two youtube vids i made in the past:
Thanks Bro's Laters:beer:
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Latest Entry
1982 280z for sale
1982 280zx 5speed t-tops tan leather, straight body, 74,000 original miles, 2nd owner, 1st owner is a relative, have original spare tire and bottle. Daily driver. What is it worth? Thanks for your input.
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240z
I have a 73240z with L28 motor 4 speed I want to put a 5 speed i heard a 83 280 zx tars works good any ideals
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Latest Entry
My Engines
How All Started
Some time in the year 2000 my neighbor gave me a cylinder head (AB7)?
It was off a Nissan 4 cylinder L series engine.
A friend of his gave me a 1983 bluebird wagon with a faulty carbie.
I used the block out of this car for my 1983 Bluebird sedan.
In my spare time I ported this head and a manifold that I had.
In 2002 I installed the good block from the wagon and the cylinder head into my 1983 Bluebird.
It fired up ok took it for a test drive wow it was really responsive.
I had 33 cc in the chamber approx compression ratio 12.5:1
I found just by depressing accelerator to the floor I was able to create wheel slip in 2nd gear, going around a typical right-hand corner at normal speeds I was pleased.
But the timing was really out when the revs where up past 3000.
This engine had a very short life.
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I ended up destroying this high compression engine, because of the timing characteristics that was needed to run it.
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The strange characteristics.
I found by revving this engine with no load above 3000 Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) it made a terrible knocking/banging sound like all the bearings were not there, but the block was in good condition before.
The knocking/banging sound was constantly there when driving the RPM was over 3000 RPM.
I had plenty of power under the hammer I was pleased with my work.
The correct spark plugs for this engine would only last 3 days.
I started replacing the all the high voltage components; the result was a slight improvement but short lived.
I ended up reducing the compression ratio to 8:1 in 2002 I did know what else to do.
I had discovered a way to run a spark ignited (SI) internal combustion (IC) engine several degrees After Top Dead Center (ATDC), all thought I did not realize at the time.
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I connected timing light and started to investigate.
I found the only way to silence the noise was to retard the timing back to 3 to 4 degrees Before Top Dead Center (BTDC) this was when the engine revs were over 3000 RPM, with no load on my engine.
With the standard mechanical advance it then caused the timing at idle to be totally wrong.
When at idle which is ~22 degrees less this engine would not idle, because it was being fired ~18 degrees After Top Dead Center (ATDC) which is extremely too late in the power cycle to achieve Peak Combustion Pressure (PCP).
I now know from my 2nd engine the vacuum advance needs be approx in an 18 degrees range.
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I started to think.
I could make a computerised ignition system I had a Laptop.
I built up an interface for the printer port.
I built the first interface with 2 transistors and 2 leds 6 resistors on a piece of veroboard soldered on the end of a DB 25 way connector .
I bought 2 kits from altronics to try and tune the engine.
1 was the high-energy ignition kit and a programmable ignition controller that would allow a negative slope, however I found this was not good enough for my Engine.
I then started to write a program in BASIC, the first one was just to delay the spark.
It didn’t work very well but it did stop the knocking above 3000 RPM.I worked on the programs all night to try and overcome this timing problem.
I quickly got a program to work and have been improving it till now (7 years).
I had to grind out the locating keyway on a rotor button to allowing the timing signal to be advanced so the computer could takeover
I had to manually enter the timing every 25 RPM into data statements.
I gathered data over the next 8 months after lowering the compression to 8:1 in 2002.
My engine died and I threw out but I should of kept the head.
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Peak combustion pressure (PCP) needs to be achieved by the time the crankshaft is 17-19 degrees ATDC according to research I have done on the Internet.
The second engine is now running with an advance is approximately 15 degrees BTDC at 3000 RPM with WOT.
The timing drops with carbon build up thus is very unstable in the long term but if it keeps going we will end up firing after top dead center (ATDC) again.
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I’ve found on many sites From Information stated that a knocking engine will quickly destroy the pistons and bearings etc
Yet I was not able to melt my pistons even with 22-25 degrees to much advance.
My engine was run with extremely heavy knocking AT WOT up to 6500 RPM through the gears to over 120 km/h on a hwy lots of times and never melted anything,
But I was hammering the life out of the crankshaft and other parts below.
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I would need to build a 3rd engine and do more tests.
Assuming current data would be similar in range on previous engine at Wide Open Throttle (WOT) the original head may have been timed (fired) as late as 14 degrees ATDC above 3000 RPM and still achieve Peak Combustion Pressure (PCP), it’s a rough guess at best.But it’s a slippy slope estimating timing on the down side of the power stroke when no one has done it before. *
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After suffering many personal hardships.
I then moved to my sisters in Huntingdale and continued to improve my timing program.
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In 2005 had the courage to start this project again.
To work a head and manifold on another L series engine.
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I got it all together in the 3rd quarter of 2005.
Now with the second engine a mild version, the data that I have gathered it now indicates that there is approximately 30 degrees of vacuum advance, on a cold night.
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I'm building a web site
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Latest Entry
How long have you owned your Z?
Just curious how long the members have owned their Z cars. I bought my 71 ,#12164 in 1973.
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Latest Entry
Nissan Museum
Excited to find out that the first ever Datsun Museum in U.S. is 2 blocks from where I live. This is Temecula Calefornia, Riverside. Amazing thing. This non profit museum is managed and onwned by a guy9
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Latest Entry
My car is older than I am!
Hey everybody,
My name is Jon and as you can tell I am a brand new member of this sight. Just about over two months ago, I bought my first ever car, a 1972 Datsun 240z. You may be intrigued by my title, well I am 18 years old. You may ask why or how I am interested in z's, most of my friends dont even know what Datsun is! Well my dad had bought a grey 72 240z back in 1973. So as a result I have always been ubsessed with these beauties. At the beginning of this past summer my parents told me that I needed a job to get a car. there was no way it was not going to be a z:classic: I literally mowed lawns for an entire summer while my mom bickered about me getting an old car while my dad smiled at me. But i did get my puke green datsun 240z. It was not the easiest finding one. I almost drove to California to buy one! This was the origanal car I was going to purchase, unfortunately for exceptible reasons, the owner backed out on me. So i spent a good deal all over the internet looking for one, I considered an automatic... no thanks. Then came the one out in Cali, $2400. Gorgiouse car... the wiring was messed up. No good. then I even considered a 260! no offense, but my dads car was not a 260:lick:it was the first z i ever sat in, i still have a love for that girl, lost my v-card to her you knowLOL it was just to much work for me. so im freaking out, ive got about a month to go till college and i dont have a car! then we find a 73 up in michigan, this is the one, i was going to buy it, i mean we were leaving to pick it up the next day. the car that i actually have now was now back for sale, i didnt care, it was the one in michigan...then the phone rings "i cant get the car started" NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it was terrible. not gonna lie, i cried, a manly cry, but i cried. i think my dad cried too!
So my dad said "hey well call this other guy back and see if we can get a deal" so we called the owner of the car about 50 or so times, i slept out in the living room my dad was on the couch, we knew he was at work but we didnt care if he called at 3 in the morning. we even told him that in messages. no answere none at all. the next day were callin again till 4 in the after noon. this car was in ashland kentucky, were near cincinnati. on a whim my dad sais hey lets drive that way and and maybe we will get a phone call on the way. sure enough on our way out the door, who calls, thats right. so finally i got my car. man this is a really long blog! thanks for reading.
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Latest Entry
need 1978 280z engine and 5 speed tranny
Any suggestions for finding???
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z resurection
Hello all
I have a chance to purchase a 76 280 z (We are moving and must get rid of our '76 Z car. The engine had been disassembled by our son when in HS 7 years ago and put back together somewhat. We think that all of the parts are there. It has been on jack stands since 1992 in our garage and under car covers but there are several dents in the body due to carelessness in the garage.The engine has about 110,000 miles on it.) As you all can see the car has been on jack stands for 16 years. will it be super expensive to reserect a car that has sat that long? I also want to know how hard or easy the car would be to work on . I owned a 81 Datsun 310gx and it was very easy to work on I would assume this car would be no problem also.Thanks for letting me ask a question or 2 . look forward to hearing from you folks.Jeff
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Latest Entry
vin question?
Hi, I just purchased a very nice 1979 zx and am puzzled about vin id. Car is equipped with ac,ps,and 5-speed. According to manual the letters h-l-f-b-c should be in vin. vin shows hs130, and only numbers.The vin matches in all places on car. Can anyone explain?
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oil pan needed
I need an oil pan for a 1972 240 Z can anyone help me?
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my 75 280z Project "The unnatural one"
Just Got the engine bay primed in my 1975 280z. Will try to paint on Sunday. Maybe I will have the engine in soon!
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hakasuka engine specifications
anyone know the engine specifications on the hakasuka? I am also looking for information on the exhaust and pictures in detail of the car.
tom
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15Wheels for 1973 240Z
I need your help again. You have helped before and I have been grateful for the info. I need to know now if you can put 15 inch wheels (custom) 4 lug on a 1973 Datsun 240Z without problems. Help please, and thank you. KirkgZ
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Class 1 or 2?????
I have a beautiful 71 240. People keep asking if it is a class 1 or 2. Would someone help me. The vin is HLS3029707? Thanks
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Latest Entry
1972 wont run
my 72 240 was running fine but for the carbs not drafting properly.my bro put new wires, cap
points.condenser.set points to,.017 and we cant get it to start.checked firing order, fuel
plugs spark yellow,but new coil and all.
after market wires,would it cause it?
WORKED SO HARD HATE MY BRO NOW>>
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Latest Entry
Help! Engine acceleration.
280zx-10, engine stutters when accelerator is pushed down and feels as if it is running out of fuel. Runs at low speed ok. Will not go above 30MPH. Have; replaced ignition coil, (old unit out of specification); pick-up coil voltage, resistance ok. Fuel filter replaced.
Gas tank dirty?
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