Buying a 240z, help me identify some stuff

[white94cam]

Im about to buy a 73 240z: maroon, sunroof, 4 speed, new front end of some sort with foglights, 3 piece spoiler, and some cool rust spots. Engine wise: has aftermarket carburetors (2 chrome boxes off the side, what kind are they? any idea?) and supposedly an aftermarket intake. Also has a positraction/lsd rear end, not sure of the gearing....getting it for 400 dollars

[ZmeFly]

for one i wouldnt buy it if it has a sunroof but thats just me, the only lsd that will fit without modification is the quaife unit, costing at 900+, or with modification, a 87-89 Z31 turbo rear.

i would say that they are su's unless there are three then they could be mikunis, webers, dell ortos?

pics would help also

[Victor Laury]

(2 chrome boxes off the side, what kind are they? any idea?) and supposedly an aftermarket intake.

Weber DGV's were a common upgrade to replace the problematic 1973 U.S. market smog SU's, refered to here as "Hatichi's" , "Flat-tops" or "Tuna-cans".

If the Weber conversion was made, you'd see the two, retangular chrome air cleaners, I believe you'r describing. It's a "fair" upgrade, supassed only by installing earlier 1972 SU's, known as "Round-tops".

Rust and the "moon-roof" are the scariest part of your description. $400.00 would be equal to it's part-out value. But, we hate to hear of another one just scrapped out.

[white94cam]

Sounds like the Weber conversion. Anyone know how much power that frees up, and would upgrading to the earlier SUs be beneficial ?

[Gav240z]

Could be depends on how the carbs are set up, you can do just about anything with the su's. From turbo charging to a 12 second non turbo beast.

As the others said the sunroof is scary, do you really want one? They are difficult to fix and the unibody structure of the Z means that rust sunroofs etc.. weaken the body,

Unibody meaning the whole car makes it's strength up not like the old detachable chassis.

To repair the sunroof you need to replace the roof really and it's not an easy job because of the thin metal.

Pics would really help. I'd really suggest it as us Z guys do know a bit (not to blow ones horn) but we've all seen our fair share of lemon's.

Good Luck.

[axelr8]

Whats so bad about a sunroof they look good and is a better alternative to air con, I took my sunroof off and there is absolutely no rust near the hole or on the roof itself.

[blitzkraig]

The majority of sunroofs I have seen on early Zs have been horribly installed. Either they leak, or they retain water in the area surrounding the window and eventually start a major rust problem in the roof (the Z already has enough trouble with rust). And as mentioned before, the Z gets it chassis strength from the unibody design, and cutting a big hole in the roof isn't very helpful. However, if installed correctly they can be a great addition to a Z.

[AxtellZ]

My 260 had a fair-to-decent sunroof installed 2 owners ago. It was showing age, mostly glass & seal, but no rust to speak of. When the last PO had the car painted, they installed a new sunroof that really looks good, IMO.

Now the car rarely sees rain, is stored inside, and gets taken care of with pride-

little chance this one will rust either.

However, i have seen several that were just NASTY!! Plexiglass, caulk used to seal up around them, just ugly:sick:

The one downside of mine, is that i lose about 3/4 inch of headroom- okay unless you want to wear a helmet:stupid:

Also detracts from the resale value to the true collector, but mine is staying as-is.

Jeremiah