Sorry to burst your bubble, 2Many, but on the '73 240's the choke cables DID come throught the firewall on the passenger side of the engine!

The '73 240 I bought years ago was stock and this was the case. It's that way because of the '73 flat-top carbs. And there is a "V" or "U" shaped cable holder that mounts to the top of the valve cover where the cables cross over.

I have a picture of my '73's engine bay and I'll try to find it.

well, waddayaknow....

Either way, I just ordered my vids from Z Therapy.... figure I better get some "baseline" knowlegde before I bug anybody with more questions that might be covered in there

Bad dog, Just an FYI.Myself when I use the choke handle.I put my finger under the "head" of the knob and pull back on the neck.That has the metal arm in it and is stronger.You can't buy those choke knobs anymore. Have fun!! Daniel

Well, it seems that I am right about the choke cables on the early cars, but not on the 73 and later cars. I guess it has been a while since I have been under the hood of a 73, about 18 years in fact.

It seems I have played an April Fools joke on myself.

My 240Z shop manual says the choke cables are to come out the passenger side. There is no hole at all on the drivers side, but the hole on the passenger side was the EXACT size as the grommit on the choke cables. Some of the earlier 240Z's may have indeed had it on the drivers side but not the '73. There was (and is) a factory clip mounted on the valve cover to hold both the cables as they head for the carbs. If one was to mount them on the drivers side, despite the fact I would need to drill a hole there because there is not one there; I would be left with too much extra choke cable. Mounting the cables on the carbs is really quite similair to mounting brakes on a 10-speed bicycle (oddly enough). I believe two people are needed to adjust them properly, one to actuate it from the cockpit and one to see the motion of the choke pulls it all the way down into the 'choked' position. I have also heard, FYI, from MSA and a few guys in the local Oklahoma Z car club as well as from the Nissan dealership; not to use WD-40 on the cables themselves. Over time WB-40 leaves a residue that can harden and may actually leave the cables stiffer than before. Don't rush this project, I have heard of a few guys rushing this and in the process bent the cable and were unable to unbend it enough to use it.

Here's a few pics I scanned this morning. #1: The "kludge" hole

#2: Top-down view

#3: from passenger side (you can see the "boots")

#4: "Mystery" vacuum tube circled on left, another candidate circled on right, but used

...and YFI just to show that you can't go by a brochure: the pic of the engine bay in the '73 brochure is the same pic as Mike posted (I think for '72?)

Interesting. The kludge hole, as you put it in photo #1, looks like it was installed by someone with a drill and not much else to do. I noticed in photo#2 that someone vut holes in your aircleaner. Fast forward to pic#4, the top questionmark hole is for wiring, mine has the same hole and sealant, the bottom questionmark hole is for the choke. It looks like someone put another hose here and tried to seal it. The chokes coming out of this hol makes alot more sense than fromthe drivers side. If it comes from the drives side it would be too long and might dangle on the manifold (or headers if you had them) and get burnt. Also they would be in the way of the aircleaner, it would be more difficult to remove the aircleaner and tune the carbs. Now coming from the passenger side would keep the choke cables out of the way of all of this. Also the two clips (each of which are secured in a 'V' fashion about two inches about the valve cover) hold the choke cable in perfect symetry to the carbs themselves. My cables look good.

The mystery/vaccum hole is the correct 73 choke cable hole.I don't recall seeing the rubber boots on the carb end of the cable.I would think they would act as a return spring when compressed and also take up space and shorten your travel.. Daniel