My Z build

[Jonu]

Going to use this as my build/resto thread. I just picked the car up last Thursday and am looking forward to working on it. It's a '73 Blue 240Z that is all original as far as I can tell so far. It isn't running yet, though I hope to be able to turn it over by the end of the week. I doubt I'll have it ready to run for another few weeks but I'm working on it. Right now, I'm following the steps in the "Waking the sleeping beast?" thread to hopefully get it to turn over with no further damage (if there is any). I pulled the plugs tonight and put some ATF in the cylinders. I did notice that the spark plugs are extremely fouled and are a very dark slightly shiny black. I'm thinking it is a combination of running a little rich and some oil leaking past the valves. I plan on trying to see if it turns over by hand Wednesday evening. Tomorrow, I plan on pulling the carbs out so i can get them cleaned up and ready for operation.

Prior To Start-up:

1. As mentioned, I'd drain the gas tank and see what comes out. If it's full of rusty partials - drop the tank and have it boiled out (some radiator repair shops off that service). Plan on replacing the old rubber fuel lines as well as the vapor recovery lines that run into the passenger compartment. You will more than likely have to do this anyway - as the vapor recovery lines leak gasoline vapor into the passenger compartment - and it will give you headaches and drive you out of the car. Do it now and be done with it. It's not fun, takes some time - but you'll be glad you did it all at once....

2. As mentioned, replace all the fuel lines in the engine compartment.

3. No doubt you need to check the carb's for operation - the vacuum slides get stuck... pull them apart and clean them... The flat tops look odd - but they are pretty much the same as the earlier SU's.. as far a basic operation goes..

4. Might as well replace the upper and lower radiator hoses - you'll have to do that anyway - do it now before you loose the fresh coolant you put in later.

5. IN PROGRESS: Pull the spark plugs and poor a couple ounces of ATF in the cylinders... let it sit over night.. poor a little more in the next day... then - see if you can rotate the crank pulley by hand... if you have a large Strap Wrench it helps... of course you'll remove the old fan belt first - as you have already bought a new one... (when you bought the new hoses, oil, filter, coolant)... If you can't rock the crank back and forth by hand - put the car in low gear and push the car forward/backward (air the tires up and it's easier to hand push!). The idea here is to break the cylinder rings loose, and get some oil between them and cylinder walls. The ATF is very high detergent and very thin... Once you break the cylinders loose by rocking the car - poor a bit more ATF in the cylinders and see if you can now rock the engine back and forth by hand...

6 - Now drain the old oil - replace with fresh oil and new filter...

8. Install new NGK BP6ES spark plugs

9. Install new starting battery... and make sure that the oil battery cables are in good shape and very clean at the terminals..

10. Remove the valve cover - and poor some clean oil over the cam lobes and rocker arm pads..replace the valve cover - (just check to be sure all the rockers are on/in-place..)

11. pull the wire from the coil - and crank the engine over rapidly - you should at least see the oil pressure gauge move... at least a little to indicate your getting oil pressure... replace the coil wire and crank it over - it will take a few seconds to get fuel though the new lines and into the carb.'s... USE THE CHOKE! (you almost always have to choke the old Z's to get them started when the engine is cold).

http://ZHome.com

I also noticed that there are two different types of plugs on the car. They are all NGK plugs, but plugs 1,2,5, and 6 needed a 13/16 size socket while plugs 3 and 4 needed a slightly smaller 5/8" socket. I'll get pictures of them tomorrow when I pull them off again, but I think they maybe two different heat ranges. Either way I think it was a bit rich and possibly burning a little oil.

[Jonu]

Should also add all the questions i've had can be found here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?45881-Have-a-few-questions-about-my-240

[Gary in NJ]

I also noticed that there are two different types of plugs on the car. They are all NGK plugs, but plugs 1,2,5, and 6 needed a 13/16 size socket while plugs 3 and 4 needed a slightly smaller 5/8" socket. I'll get pictures of them tomorrow when I pull them off again, but I think they maybe two different heat ranges. Either way I think it was a bit rich and possibly burning a little oil.

Makes me think a PO installed HeliCoils in two stripped spark plug holes. You just may be using the spare head.

[Jonu]

Got the carbs pulled off the car today. I also looked at the plugs again, four of them are actually champion spark plugs and the smaller two are NGK. Here are a few pics from my cell phone, Camera battery was dead.

Good pic of what the plugs looked like when I pulled them

Rebuild kits preserved in Miracle whip jars

Carbs and plugs off the car

All my extra parts for the rear carb

And finally the exploded diagram of the crabs, I'm posting this full size so that if anyone ever needs to refer to it they can.

[Jonu]

Well, today I was planning on getting the engine turned over by hand, but wasn't able due to a slight clearance issue. But I managed to get the tabs off the rear window for the old louvres. I've decided the weather stripping on the rear hatch window is going to be replaced, the current one is about has hard as plastic and even more brittle. I also completely disassembled the rear carb and gave it a bunch of TLC and got just about all the crud and gummed up crap out of it. I also got everything back together as well. I thought I found 3 more new carb rebuild kits, but they are for a different carb. I'm going to check the other carbs I have and see if they are the ones these kits are for.But for now I'm pretty happy with my progress. I still want to get the engine turned over but at least I still managed to make some progress towards being up and running again.

[Rainman]

Good work Jonu, your 240Z will be alive and kicking before you know it! I followed the same procedure on my early 260Z back in 2006 after the car sat for 11 years and it ran great for two years when I found a Rebello 3.1L stroker to put in it. So you need the rear hatch glass seal? I just bought one for my brother-in-laws '73 240Z last week, from Nissan. I go to them first as they still have a great number of parts for these cars. When I first started down this road, I bought quite a few parts from ebay but later learned that nearly everything on ebay was available from Nissan at a lower price with free shipping. I use my local Nissan dealership but others use Courtesy Nissan. Again, nice work and keep the updates coming!

Tom

[Jonu]

Good to know Nissan still has some parts for these cars. Thanks for the heads up Rainman!

[Jonu]

got the second carb cleaned up and ready, now to get a chance to try turning over the engine, first by hand. Then I'm draining the fuel and replacing all the rubber lines. I had one break in 3 places when I removed the carbs.

[Travel'n Man]

Good to know Nissan still has some parts for these cars. Thanks for the heads up Rainman!

Sometimes you can find a Nissan Part Number manual on ebay - i bought one several years ago -most of the parts managers at your local Nissan dealership will not be able to look up part numbers on our cars. Once the parts guys found out the car I was working on they gave me the "body shop" prices which was about a 15% discount off list. Enjoy your journey and keep us posted

[Jonu]

Finally got a chance to do some more work on the car, even if it was only about 15 minutes or so. All i did was pull the radiator back out and tried to turn it over by hand. I tried a 1 1/16" socket but it wouldn't fit either, so i the tried the strap wrench and was able to get it to turn over with that. I was able to turn it about 1/2 a turn before i couldn't get levarage to keep turning, but i could definitely hear the pistons moving around. Still sounds kind of dry, so I'll probably put some more ATF in there tomorrow and wednesday and see how it feels then. Feels great to know the engine isn't seized up completely!

[Jonu]

Also planning on buying a new battery once I'm closer to needing it. I want to go with a lightweight battery and have the Braille B129 battery in mind. I'm just not sure how much juice i need for starting. From what I read it seems that 650 is minimum and 750 is good. I don't plan on having a stereo. So that will lighten the load some, but I'm thinking of going to electric radiator fans and an electric fuel pump later on. I know those are more of alternator thing, but i just don't want to get a battery that is way underpowered. It has 813 Pulse cranking amps (5 sec burst), 240 Cranking amps, and a 12 Amp/hr electrical capacity.

[Bonzi Lon]

Now that the radiator is out, look in the crank pully and see just what kind of bolt is in there.

I use a 'deep well thin wall' 1 1/16 socket, it is an antique Proto or Plumb brand, that might be the difference.

Bonzi Lon