carburetor question 2 *sigh*

[chocobosteve]

i bought a '73 240z somewheres in between a month, and two months ago. since that day, i've learned a few things about the flat top carbs that everybody says i should ditch. hmmm... like the fact that they totally suck! here in good ol' utah, we've got a junkyard dedicated to the classic z. the man, who lives among the z knows them inside out, upside down, front to back, and every other way there is, i'm sure.

well, now that the intro crap is through, it's time for the question. he says he can modify the carbs to run better, to not die when the weather's hot. my problem is that it would cost $400! another option is to install a holley 4-barrel (i'm leaning toward this). he has all the things i'd need to convert, and he'll even do the work. it would probably cost less than the other, and i imagine the power increase would be greater than the other option. i'm just a newbie to z's though, and i'll leave it up to you seasoned enthusiasts to tell me what's up!

[Daniel]

As the saying goes you can't make chicken salad from chicken sh*t.The 73 carbs aren't worth your money or efforts,they were junk when they were new.I drove a holley Z once years ago and it seemed to do well.Thats a choice you'll have to make. Daniel

[2ManyZs]

If you have some tools and some mechanical abilities try a couple things before you spend any more money.

Have you put an electric fuel pump on the car? It should have had one as a factory recall. If it doesn't have one, get one and take the mechanical pump off. You will need a block off plate for the head, but it's quite cheap.

Can you or have you removed the smog pump and it's related plumbing? If you can this will make an fairly significant improvement. If it is legal to do so in Utah on this year car do it.

Disconnect the coolant hoses to the carbs/intake and plug them off. This will make the car quite a bit more cold blooded, but if you don't drive it in winter you shouldn't notice much difference.

I had a 73 for my first car, and after a while (and removing some junk) I got it to run darn near as good with the flat tops as a buddies car with the round top early carbs. It was a bit of a pain in the winter since it was my only car at the time, but the improvement was well worth it.

Of course the other alternative is finding a set of early carbs to replace the flat tops. In the end you may have saved a few bucks. But if you don't mind getting your hands dirty you might save even more by just getting under the hood and trying a few things before you start throwing money at your local Z guru.

Even those of us who have tinkered on these cars for years learn something new everyday on this site.

[Dan]

I don't doubt that your Z guru friend could make that flat tops work, but for that money you might as well go all the way and get your self some ZTherapy round tops. They are about the best SU's money can buy and you won't believe the difference they make. I would just check out the site and decide for yourself, BTW i have a set and love them.

www.ztherapy.com

[beandip]

I have a friend that is parting out a early 240 and he is selling the intake setup . you should keep your intake as it is most likely a 36 and is a good one . The round tops and linkage and he even has a real clean air cleaner the whole thing . For less than $200. for the whole thing and shipping from Portland Or. shouldent be that bad. If interested get back to me . I dont want to give out his address without his permition.

[beandip]

another thing the car was running great when he drove it home from Washington, so I dont think they need any work , just adjustment and we can talk you through that no problem,

[visionary]

I have a '73 which did have the flattops on it. Those carbs now reside in my shed as I don't have a boat.

It is worth a try to tune the flattops while you save the money to but a replacement carb setup. Both the Haynes and Clymer manuals have tuning instructions and you can get rebuild kits for them at import parts suppliers.

You should plan on replacing them however. I got a set of '72 round tops, which is the Hitachi HJG46W, from Scott at ZTherapy and have been extremely happy with them. I had a set of cores to send him and got away with about a $400 investment. The cost will depend on what he has available for you, but make no mistake about his rebuilds, they are the best you will find in the U.S.. He replaces the throtle linkage bushings with roller bearing and makes some other adjustments and mods that improve performance. The only caution is if you plan on SCCA racing, they will not pass tech, because of the mods.

Check out his website and give him a call. When I got mine from him, he was in Mt. Home Idaho stationed at the airbase. He is very easy to deal with.

Keith

[jcdozier]

An update for all of you who have dealt with Scott Bruning at Z-Therapy. He had a post several months ago over on the IZCC e-mail link telling everyone that he had been transferred and was selling Z-Therapy.

Z-Therapy is still there and still offers the great SU "stuff", but I think there are new owners.