260Z Truth

[AxtellZ]

I'll chime in here- i have an early 73, as well as a late 74 260. Both had flat-tops when i got them. Both have clean round top SU's now:love:

The 73 ran, but not terribly well- the carbs were dirty & out of tune. Never have had a vapor lock problem with either, but then i live in cool NY...

The 260 actually ran very well when i got it, in spite of the tuna cans. But, just one look in the engine bay is enough for me. The older carbs just look so much cleaner, less plumbing, less to go wrong, simple to work on and tune. Why would i keep that mess i had?

I did run the 260 quite awhile with it's original carbs, and all was fine- but the minute i found a bargain on a set of SU's- i bought them, cleaned/refreshed them- and never looked back. The tuna cans now have a lovely home in the upstairs of my barn:D

[TKR514]

Nah,

The 260 is not a basterd child, it's a LIMITED EDITION Z Car!

I always like seeing a 260 since they are so rare. After all the years and mods, you probably won't find a hill of beans difference between the 240 and the 260. If I could find a steller 260, I'd buy it.

[AxtellZ]

OMG, i forgot-

Bastard?!, Step-child?!!

Come on Keith, you know you love my BRIGHT YELLOW late 260- you're just jealous because i have a car, no wait- two cars- that i can actually start up & drive!!

[Bambikiller240]

Keith was kind and called them a "Black sheep".

Someone else called them a "Bastard Child" (and still stands by that description)

PS I owned a 73 with Flat-top carbs and it drove OK for three years until the grand rebuild when it got Round Tops and ran much better in performance driving.

[Mr Camouflage]

Originally posted by Bambikiller240

In the USA the 260Z got a bad reputation due to all of the smog crap that was forced onto it by the Federal and CA smog requirements. They had the flat top "boat anchor" carbs in place of the normal round top SU's, there were many changes from the 240Z model and the 260 was only sold for a year before the 280Z model was introduced. It became the "bastard child" of the Z model since it did not live up to the performance of the original Z sold here.

That is the way I remember it.

Only in the US though.

The rest of the world (well Australia at least) had a 260z that was more powerful than the 240z, and it survived up untill it was replaced by the 280ZX. We never got a 280z as such, but later model 260Z's were essentially 280Z's with L26's in them.

I have a 260z that i bought for parts. Dont know what year it is exactly (that an intersting story) but it has round tops carbies. Not the same as the 240z carbies, but i've never seen a set of flat tops, except for in pitures of american z cars.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by Mr Camouflage

Only in the US though.

The rest of the world (well Australia at least) had a 260z that was more powerful than the 240z, and it survived up untill it was replaced by the 280ZX.

Correct 100%. You all were the lucky ones. Our government enacted anti-pollution laws that necessitated the changes we've been talking about and it sucked!

[Rogersz]

We still got the flat tops acording to my nissan w/shop manual,

but my early 74 /260 has english SU's so I have no idea how the flat tops performed. My car never had an air pump or carbon canister bit i believe after 75 the OZ cars got the carbon canister in the fuel system also we never got the heavy bumper bars with the shock absorbers.

[TKR514]

Our government enacted anti-pollution laws that necessitated the changes so we now have 2.8 liter engines producing 300HP and getting a constant 25mpg.

Thanks Uncle Sam!

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by TKR514

Our government enacted anti-pollution laws that necessitated the changes ................Thanks Uncle Sam!

Like one has anything to do with the other.

:stupid:

[TKR514]

Then why did you say that that they did?

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by TKR514

Then why did you say that that they did?

You are th one who equated anti smog laws with 300 bhp, not I.

I equated the smog laws with the advent of the boat anchor carbs. Those laws and the boat anchor carbs took away performance of the Z cars.

[TKR514]

Well, if you blame the Government's smog laws for poor performance on the 260, you better praise it when performance increases. Right?

I blame Nissan for the lowsy 260 performance, not Nixon.