Many problems. need some help

[FluffyBunnyFeet]

I did a bit of searching, and couldnt find much for what i was looking for...

First i have a 74 240z with a l28 and dual down draft carbs. I was told they are webbers but havent seen any brand name on them yet... jsut got the car today...

1st- timing, it sounds off, off idle to about 3K rpm it is hesitant, but after that it starts to missfire and sputter....

what is a good timing setting if i was going for 91 octane fuel...

I saw a timing setting of 35 degrees at 3k rpm

that ok?

2nd.

brakes

ive driven a few older cars and they too suffered from this...

i go to hit the brakes, pedal heads for the floor so i have to pump it to get the pedal back...

how to fix that?

3rd.

easy. what is the lug pattern?

is it 4x114.3??

Thanks for any info...

-Mikey

[2many280zzz]

Mikey

Firstly, congrats on the Z purchase. Currently ironing out a few of these sorts of kinks on a couple Zs we just picked up too. Sorry it's a not so timely yet lengthy response. Hopefully it will at least help you catch some typical problems and hassles quicker regarding an unknown Z.

Working backwards-

You are right on about the lug pattern. I wouldn't bother asking what wheel/tire combos fit though. Did you get to check the galleries and a few posts by searching? I went looking for those posts last weekend for a while and found a lot unanswered. Other replies just didn't strike me as the size/style I was going for either. Fitting wheels and tires is so personal that it seems to be a bit of trial and error for most people to get exactly what they want with a good fit. Keep in mind offsets, utilization of custom made spacers/adapter plates, rolling fenders a little and the conversion for keeping the speedo accurate (if you care about that). Find a little independent wheel & tire shop that admires your car and takes pride in the work they do to help troubleshoot what fits, looks good and works for you.

Brakes

If your pedal goes to the floor and you have to pump to get braking, it's maybe one of two things. The worst is that the diaphragm in the booster could be going out. It gets worse over time until there's virtually no apparent braking left at all.:eek: It's !$$$! on some cars like a '66 Polara-don't know about the Z. More likely, however, there's just air in the brake line that needs to be bled out. Just purchasing the car and not knowing a lot of history, bleeding the nasty old fluid out of the brake sytem would be a wise thing anyways. Good chance it will solve your soft pedal problem and also lead you to other immediate threats to good braking. A friend in college had a weird brake failure that was pretty scary.

Timing/Driveability

The book can be fairly helpful somtimes even if just as a good reference. Someone once suggested even getting both clymer and haynes because one filled in the gaps of the other

Soooo, the timing accordong to Haynes for a 240 manual with no emmisions control says static ignition timing at 17 degrees @ 650 rpm with a 6 degree centrifugal advance from 450-1000rpm and 5.5 degrees vacuum advance from 3.94 Hg to 9.6 Hg (by the way, vaccum lines and all can be a total mess on a Z-use a gauge and check everything and rule it out). I'm not as familiar with the 'preferred' timing that all the different Z setups liked, but I always personally ran more advanced on my iron Buick 350. More power, better fuel economy, less sputtering when cold, etc. Drawbacks are harder starting, hard on starter and electrical system itself, need to run premium fuel, and worst of all the chance of tossing a rod through the oil pan. Nine years and forty-some-thousand miles and no problems though.

Well good luck, there's often a lot of work that can be done to get 'em running nice. We'll be here for you.

Brannen