5 hours ago, AK260 said:

 The are positioned perfectly for being splashed with road crud.

 

 

Haha! Probably took a lot of testing and revising to get that just right!

So you don't have that 77 style hatch? I knew the UK stopped engine sizes and carb evolution with the 260, but I thought the rest of the car was the same as the US. So your entire car, body stampings, electrical, all that? All that stagnated*  in 1974 and held through until 79?

 

* Not intended to be derogatory. Used for description only.

Quiet the contrary old bean! The “superior” :p late (‘77/‘78) 260z had many improvements over the early ‘74 260z. In between we got the 2 by 2 version.

 

It has the stiffer unibody, the fatter chassis rails / floor supports that go all the way back, suspension improvements, the hubs are bigger, 3.54 R200 diff, better torque spread and 161bhp on a more tractable engine, a more plush interior, different wiring loom and so on. On that note, my old L26 would pull strongly from 1100rpm in 5th all the way to 5.6k. It’s a shame we didn’t get the 280 engine - without the smog stuff it would have been a very decent bit of kit.

 

But the UK had protectionist taxes in place so they were expensive compared with British Layland cars and we got, relatively speaking, very few S30s. So very sadly we have to go to US / Japan for parts and still pay stupid import duties of about 30% on the parts and the postage + the obligatory £8 handling fees!!!!!

 

It is lighter than the 280z but I guess the 280 got aircon, a plushur interior and those “robust” bumpers etc.

 

I’m sure there are many many other things I have failed to mention, but at the risk of being a heretic, it’s mechanically closer to the 280z than the 240 from what I have seen. But no secret hatch in the boot!!

 

 

 

So I'm confused then... If you got the "improved" 77-78 cars, it sounds like (other than the engine), it's the same thing I have.

So why don't you have that convenient access port-hole in the rear deck for the fuel sender unit? is yours an early 77 or something?

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

So I'm confused then... If you got the "improved" 77-78 cars, it sounds like (other than the engine), it's the same thing I have.

So why don't you have that convenient access port-hole in the rear deck for the fuel sender unit? is yours an early 77 or something?

Access port hole *should* be on all post Aug 76 models. Key #34. Did not search for 2+2 applications.

Unsure if the microfiche sold by the club covers *only* export to US models...

You made me think again and looking through my photos it appears I may have such a thing but buried under sound proofing!! [emoji15]



Will have a proper look at the next play day!

Thanks Wayne!

So AK, I'm not sure if you've got the access hole or not. Your sheet metal deck looks different than mine. Starting in 77 they put the stiffener frame rails on the interior side (top side) instead of underneath (gas tank side). My guess is that since they had to use the raised floor for the spare tire anyway, they figured they had the room and moved the stiffener braces. It doesn't look like you've got those braces.

Another way to tell... Do you have a full sized spare, or the collapsible inflatable one? I'm thinking you've got the full sized spare and rear decking that we would call "76" over here.

There's no guarantee that what we call "77" over here has to be the same as what you got in the UK.

To be frank I don’t know what spare wheel I’m supposed to have as my car had a few owners before me. It did have a diamond cross wheel with a full size tyre on it and VERY old rubber. So I would say it’s safe to assume it was designed for a full sized wheel.

When I finish home schooling* later today, I will go to the garage and remove the sound proofing in that area as I am very intrigued!

* I feel my work here is done!! [emoji41]

So that was "Physics" class?  Potentially followed by "Pre-Med"?  Haha!!   

What's your build month/year on your door jamb plate? If you've got a full sized spare,  I'm thinking that here in the US, we could call your car a 76, not a 77.

So that was "Physics" class?  Potentially followed by "Pre-Med"?  Haha!!   

What's your build month/year on your door jamb plate? If you've got a full sized spare,  I'm thinking that here in the US, we could call your car a 76, not a 77.

 

Exactly right, except I was “that dad” who fell and had grazes!! I was merely, as a good parent, sacrificing by demonstrating what not to do and the merits of wearing their knee and elbow pads! ;)

 

 

I couldn’t take the sound proofing off, however I’m pretty sure I have the bump but not the hole / inspection lid below it.

 

Having said that, my fuel sensor is on the back of the tank in the same place as a 240zeee further back from it so I’m not sure it would have served a purpose for me anyway.

 

Finally, I’ve been investigating fuel smells and drained the tank with the full intent to drop it. But as it happens my courage and time ran out so upon further investigation I found some deteriorating breather hoses inside the car. Replaced and no more smells - for now.

 

Why am I telling you this? Because:

 

Here’s the gauge with ignition off ....

 

 

And ignition on but totally drained ...

 

 

And with 9 litres or just under two imperial gallons poured back in ....

 

 

Unfortunately I didn’t measure the impedance as I was in a hurry to beat sunset (which is currently about 20:50 here) and de-grump my wife.

 

 

Yeah, your fuel gauge looks like it reacts the same as mine. Always too low. I haven't done anything else with mine (since I cleaned up the connector right at the sender unit), but I fully expect my issue is inside the tank. Murphy's law pretty much demands it. That Z hasn't come back around on my work sheet yet. I've got all sort of other car work to catch up on. Today I changed the plugs on a V6 Kluger. Including the three invisible ones in the back... That's no fun.

As for the bike "teaching moment"... Very nice!      Thankfully, tis but a scratch!

I filled up my gas tank yesterday for the first time since cleaning the connector pair at the sender unit, and guess what!!!!?? 

My gas gauge now reads significantly higher than it used to before cleaning that connector. Here's a full tank now. It used to read at about 7/8 full (even when full), but now it looks a whole lot better:

So for me, cleaning this connector made a big improvement:

I may still pull the sender unit out of the tank for inspection, but the priority just dropped down on the list a bunch!

That is such a nice treat for you after such a simple effort! Well done chap. Funny how these little things can make us go to bed feeling all is well with the world now! ;)