Buy a 240?

[Marsh]

I'm thinking very seriously of buying a 240 to turn into a dedicated track car (kept streetable, for a little while anyway), and I can't seem to find a good FAQ on the slight differences between model years.

For sentimental reasons I would greatly prefer a 73, but this isn't an absolute since I will be building a race car, and all I really need is a frame and body. So is there a good reason why I should or shouldn't be looking for a 73?

Also, what would be the hot engine to swap in, if I'm going to stay with a Z engine. Should I keep the 240 and build it? I see a ton of people build up 280s and swap them. Why is this? Is it an ultimate power issue, or a weight issue?

Sorry for the all the newby questions.

[Shiin]

First of all welcome to the forum.

Next you can choose may different z's, since most of the parts are interchangeable, you have a great deal of mods to choose from.

In some ways people choose a 73 or younger in the US to avoid the hassel of smogging it. Check your local laws for smogging requirements. If you choose to use it on the street make sure it can pass smog, or there are ways around it, some illegal.

The Z's can be up graded with almost any Z or ZX motor out there and still be smog legal. The flaw that the 73 240z has is the carbs. the Carbs(flat tops) seem to have more problem and are said to be power robbers. Most people switch thoughs over with 72 or younger cars(round tops).

Goods and bads go with the car. I have a 73 and really don't no what all the fuss is with the carbs, but I'm no too picking since I'm in the process of a 280zx turbo motor swap.

Hot engines are really up in arms. some people say go for a v8 swap, some say efi, others go turbo, use 70-72 carbs and do a build up of the motor, or stay stock. the choice is yours.

V8 have alot of power potential and very simple but costly to install. however you will be offseting the weight distribution putting more wieght on the front.

EFI is for a newer updated version and in my opinion is more consistant and also trouble some(only an opinion).

Turbo is fun but power is made more or less after 3000rpms (if you're use to power spike from a turbo then you'll be fine, but some time the tail can get away from you)

Using the 70-72(round top) carbs can have great benifits

staying stock won't give you many differences in HP, but great for restorations.

With the Z cars the options are almost endless because you can pick and choose parts from other Z cars that work great and use them with less effort and fairly easy modding.

If you have a 73 240z use it. If you want a 280z motor it will easily fit and you can bore thoughs motors out to about 3.1 liters instead of 2.8.

Honest opintion is to read up see what people view are with different set-up and find out how well they run. I though I was just doing to do a motor build up, but when I found out you can do so much or I freaked out. A lot of companies and online shops carry parts for Z and a lot of different set-up on a Z-car have been done. So now it's up to you to find what your into.

[smg1404]

If you want the car for the track car... Remember the '73 weighs a couple hundred pounds more than a '70 , or '71.. This could make a big difference when racing..

[Marsh]

If you want the car for the track car... Remember the '73 weighs a couple hundred pounds more than a '70 , or '71.. This could make a big difference when racing..

What makes the difference in weight? Is there actually extra steel in them, or do they simply have a lot of extra stuff in them? It will be stripped and have a cage installed.

[smg1404]

From a previous post I heard that the difference was the thickness of the steel...

[Marsh]

From a previous post I heard that the difference was the thickness of the steel...

Hmm food for thought, thanks...

One last thing. I remember reading somewhere that they sorted out a diff, durability problem by relocating the diff in 73. Is this common knowledge, or did I missinterpret what I read?

[2ManyZs]

The diff was relocated somtime during the 70 production run. The very early cars had a bit of a driveshaft angle problem. Not sure exactly when they were moved, but anything after mid year of the 70 production run has been OK that I have seen.