73 vs. earlier motors

[Bambikiller240]

Can someone "edumacate" this West Coast guy? Who is Rock Vest? I thought I had read of, or knew of all the great Z gurus, but I've never heard that name before. I guess I didn't/don't. Please shed some light over here in the hinterlands!

Carl

[Daniel]

Guess I'm in the dark also.I was trying to think where the town of RockVest was in the Carolina mountains:stupid: Daniel

[Victor Laury]

Try the link to learn more about Mr. Vest

http://www.datsun.org/fairlady/RockVest.htm

[Smokey]

Yeah, Rock still races his roadster quite a bit. He runs a shop in Lewisville, NC now (RV Performance). He used to work on just the Roadsters and the Z's, but that got to be a small customer base so he branched out to pretty much all imports. He is one of the most honest and genuine people I know.

And I am very glad that I have access to something that the California types dont :devious:

[Stryder]

I have an early model 73 so it has the round top carbs, was built in october of 72, also the smog pump is part of a landfill somewhere. The only differents that I know of is the E88 cylinder head. My advice is to grab it.

btw what is the condition of it?

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Stryder

I have an early model 73 so it has the round top carbs, was built in october of 72, also the smog pump is part of a landfill somewhere. The only differents that I know of is the E88 cylinder head. My advice is to grab it.

Stryder:

All 240Z's manufactured for the US market from 8/72 on came from the factory with flat-top carbs. They were standard from the 1973 models(from VIN# HLS30-120000 on) until fuel injection was introduced in the 280Z's. A very few customers who complained of drivability problems were able to convince dealers to (illegally) replace them with Round Tops, but the vast majority of 240Z's manufactured from 8/72 on that have Round Tops, have had them installed by owners.

There are two two types of E88 cylinder heads used on 240Z's. The early (72) model had a small combustion chamber design similar to the E31 heads. The later (73) E88 head was a lower compression design. The only way to tell which kind of E88 you have is to remove it and examine the chambers. Since your car has had the carbs changed, it is possible that the head was changed to the earlier model as well.

Quoted from ZHome.com: "The E31 head was used on the 1970 and 1971 Model Year Z's. There are at least two E88 heads. One was used on the 1972 Model Year Z's and the other was used on the 1973 240Z and the 1974 260Z. For performance applications the 1972 E88 is considered a better design, thus yeilding better flow than the later E88's.

You can spot the E31 and early E88 heads because they have a distinct notched area just to one side of the spark plug hole. The later E88's lack this notched area and are smooth on both sides."

[Smokey]

Originally posted by Stryder

btw what is the condition of it?

The '73 is in pretty good shape. It has 128K miles on it, and is all original including paint. It has had no body work at all. It was originally a cali car. The current owner bought it in 83, and has had it garaged, and covered since. The dash is cracked (of course). There is only 2 small under the paint rust bubbles on the hatch. There is a small amount of rust on the driver's side frame rail from paint damage. That is easy to fix.

Here is the add.

Owned since 1983 - This California car has always been garaged & covered Exterior - Good to Excellent original Burnt Orange paint with original Black 240Z stripe down both sides - NO RUST Interior

Original black in excellent condition with dash cracked in usual places NEW WITHIN LAST 12,000 MILES: - Blinker switch - Map light - Rubber on all bumpers & bumper guards - Clutch slave cylinder - Koni shocks & coil springs all around (lowered 1-2") - Ball joints - Oversized front & rear sway bars (1" front 7/8" rear) - Strut bars - Steering coupler & rack bushings - neoprene - Pressure plate, Clutch disc, Release bearing, & Flywheel - Headers - Transmission seals and bushings - Brake lines - K&N carb filters & breather - Water pump, Thermostat, & Coolant lines - Radiator & Fan clutch - Plug wires, Points, Condenser, Cap & Rotor - Complete fuel tank removal & all new hoses & fittings - Complete tune up including disassembly of carbs

Recent compression test showed - 150-160-163-160-150-160 - Michelin tires with mag wheels The car at this time is running in A-1 form!

PRICE: $ 6,800 OBO

I have gotten him to come down to 5800 so far.

[Bambikiller240]

IMO, It looks like it's worth that much. I wouldn't mind having it myself. Let us kow what Mr. Vest says about it!

[Victor Laury]

The '73 is in pretty good shape.

Looks Sweet! My only beef is the door ding trim. Personal taste - I hate that stuff

[Smokey]

I hate the trim too. It will come off if I get it, and when I paint it.

Anyway, back on topic (the off topic has been very informative tho). I was noticing that the 70-72 Z's were rated at 150 hp from the facotory. The '73 dropped to just under 130hp. Is that simply from the carbs and head? Once the carbs are replaced with round tops is the hp close to 150, or does it get back to 150hp? I just don't want to start with a weak car.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Smokey

I was noticing that the 70-72 Z's were rated at 150 hp from the facotory. The '73 dropped to just under 130hp. Is that simply from the carbs and head? Once the carbs are replaced with round tops is the hp close to 150, or does it get back to 150hp? I just don't want to start with a weak car.

Smokey:

Carbs alone will not do it. They will make a difference, but the cylinder head is IMO the major reason for the loss in HP. The E88 head used for the 73 cars is a lower compression design the an the E88 head used for 72 cars. The photo attached to my previous post from Zhome.com shows the combustion chamber design for the 72 E88 and indicates the difference between it and the E88 used for 73 cars. Until you raise the compression ratio, you will have somewhat less power than the earlier cars

[Smokey]

Thanks BambiKiller, Guess I have to find out which head is on the car. He has not mentioned which one, and he might not know.

The '70 I am looking at has a swapped in 280 5spd, and the R200 diff. That makes the car a bit more appealing to me. Just need to set up a time when I can go look at it.