Using a 240z as a daily-driver ?

[Zpeed]

i drove my 260z 2 seater daily, i personally wouldn't have driving the car everyday if it had good paint, but it didn't so i didn't bother... i cained the crap out of the car 24/7 every time i droove the car, its just that i couldn't resist reving the car out and going sideways thou the corner, reason why i went thou 3 sets of tyres in 2 years of driving most prolly, and that was only 20,000kms, my car held up pretty well, i never left me stranded, only things to majorly stuff up was the rear moustache bar broke after i thought id drop the clutch, and my voltage regulator blew up from old age, and my distributer was old and rough, so i bought a new one, also my fuel pump was only pushing 0.7psi took a while to work this one out.. , but all in all,

i warmed up the Z all the time, untill it got 3/4 the way to full temp, then i drove it slowly till full temp, then FT all the way... hehe, loved that Z

[thefastestz]

I drove my 240z as a daily driver for almost 2 years. With a 50 mile round trip.

I had almost no problems even though I liked to take it to close to 6500-7000rpm sometimes. The only things

that went bad were the brake booster and the condenser(I had an aftermarket distributor-Mallory Dual point mechanical advance). The condensor went bad cause it was mounted close to the header. Once i mounted it on the other side it was okay.

It wasn't till recently that some yellow light beating girl in a cavelier slammed into me and totaled my 240z.

[turbo240]

i use my 260 as a daily driver, has a leak in the gas tank though, you cant fill it up past 8 gallons, its a pain. but its a good car for gettin you where you need to go at this point. when i get the money i'm gonna do a rotary swap & buy a corolla for daily driving/daily drifting

[royalflush313]

I guess it will be okay for me to use as a daily driver.

Another thing is that I will most likely not keep the stock engine, or the tranny.

I am most likely going to drop an engine from one of the turbo Zs. Well anything reliable, powerful Nissan engine.

Im hoping to get a little bit more reliable car with a more present engine and tranny.... although the 240z engine with no computer should be a lot easier to play with.

Well Im off to looking at couple Zs. Maybe I'll pick it up if it looks good. Thanks for your help

[Zedrally]

Have always used it as a DD.

330km from a 60L tank and apart from the normal servicing runs great.

Couldn't imagine not driving daily now!

[tanny]

thefastestz,

Man that's disgusting, a Cavalier. At least it could have been a vette or a Lotus Europa or something else nice. The important thing though, did the girl have a nice ***? If yes, then I would forgive her.

My 240(soon to be my son's) has been making frequent stops at the side of the road and my wife is becoming quite skilled as a tow car driver, which of course is a testament to my lack of skill as a restorer. I think I have most of the car's issues resolved, but am still debating going to the stock carbs instead of the triple webers, which continue to give drivability problems. As long as you are a decent mechanic and carry your tools in the car, I'd use it as a dd. For reliability, I think I'd keep it stock. Have fun, Victor.

[royalflush313]

well i guess i'll just have to see what happens once i use the car as a dd.

^^ btw, Lotus Europas are beautiful cars. My father had one totally restored when I was younger, one day maybe I'll get my hand on one of those too.. I like how you can put your cigarette out on the road by sticking your hand out the window.

[1 Bravo 6]

:love:

I take Precious out for a run three, maybe four days per week,

usually travelling around 50klms each time.

If I was still a working man I'd have no qualms at all about using her as DD. (Then I'd miss my trusty old 89 model Toyota ute)

It all depends on the condition of the car itself. If it's in good, roadworthy condition, sure, use it as a DD, otherwise catch the bus.

By the way, Lachlan and George are bloody right about warming

the engine before driving.

I ALWAYS WARM THE MOTOR BEFORE SHE LEAVES THE GARAGE.

I have far to much love and respect for old engines than to place them under load while cold.

When all's said and done, friend, the final decision is yours and yours alone.

Rick.

[Si|v3r72]

My 72 240 is a daily driver, I even use it as a grocery getter from time to time. My typical commute is around 20 miles round trip. I have had zero problems mechanically with my Z - it has been 100% reliable (knock on wood). The only times I don't drive it daily are in bad weather and winter.

[landmizzle]

Hi all,

I'll toss in my experience for what it's worth. I've owned three Z's since 1988 and have driven them all as daily drivers. I do rack up the mileage. My commute to work round-trip is roughly 90 miles.

The nice things about Z's are that they are extremely reliable once you work out the issues of neglect or ignorance from the previous owner. Thats not to say things don't go wrong with them (u-joints anyone...) but, they do amazingly well. I almost forget I'm driving a 30 year old car.

It didn't really hit me that I've been driving old cars until late last year when I was trying to get "Classic Car Insurance" on my '66 Mustang. The company, Hagerty, I think, turned me down because I had only one "modern" car, which turned out to be my wifes 2000 Xterra. The rest of my stable consisted of a '71 240Z, '72 240Z and a '86 Ninja 900 motorcycle. I then realized that the "newest" vehicle I owned was a 15 year old motorcycle. Funny thing of course, is I drive all of them daily and they are extremely reliable. They have the added benefit of being workable on even by an idiot such as myself. Can't say the same about the X-terra. I don't even like looking under the hood on that one.

Best Regards,

Landmizzle '71 and '72 240Z

[ZCCOR#109]

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There is no reason to warm the car up prior to driving away. Just adjust the choke as you drive depending on the engines requirements at the moment. DONT drive off with a full choke and leave it on for several minutes or forget it. Start driving after about 30 seconds, keep revs to 3500-4000. Once into second, push the choke in as far as the car says it likes it. This can usually be fully closed at 3k. When slowing, starting, changing gears, adjust more or less choke as the car tells you it needs. The 240 Z will warm really quickly when driven, given the proper thermostate and as lean a choke as possible. The idea is to use the LEAST amount of fuel into the engine. Leaner runs hotter, thus quicker warmup. All this above is temperature dependent, more choke when it is 25Deg outside.

If you think you are "saving" the engine by letting it set under choke and idle you are mistaken. Raw gas in excess of what can be burned is running down the cylinder walls taking the lubrication off, allowing the rings to wear, and diluting the oil with fuel.

Admittedly you can't drink morning coffee while changing gears, steering, and adjusting the choke, but this is the best way to treat your engine.

[1 Bravo 6]

:love: :love:

G'Day Lowell,

I guess I wasn't clear about warming the engine.

When I start the car, I sit there, adjusting the choke, until the engine runs smoothly without any choke at all THEN engage gear.

You're absolutely right about the effects of allowing the engine to run on choke for any length of time.

Rick.