Goose52

As of today, I've had my Z for 34 years, 1 month, and 14 days. It was up on blocks for a year while I was stationed in Japan, and otherwise has been out of service for maybe 4 or 5 weeks during engine swaps/rebuilds, paint/body shop, etc. - otherwise, I've been driving it all this time ... Goose

They just look cleaner since they don't have all the ports and supports for the emissions gear ... Goose

Arne's right - the HybridZ guys will have the experience on this one. I can personally report that I ran a 331ci SBC in my '72 240 (that was built to match or exceed the specs of the Corvette 327ci/365 horse engine - don't know what my torque was) with a stock 3.36 R180 diff for more than 5 years. However, it wasn't really severe service - some dropped-clutch starts and much "spirited" shifting ... but the tires were usually the "safety clutch" that probably kept the diff from breaking as they would spin if you laid down too much power at the wrong time. OTOH, a few years after pullling out the Chevy engine, and installing an L-28 six, I was pulling off the shoulder of a freeway, trying to accelerate into the traffic, and lost the diff during the 1-2 shift. After the tow home, I pulled the cover and about 1/3 of the teeth on the pinion gear had sheared off. Don't know if that was a manufacturing defect ... or the "debt" owed to the 5 years of V-8 service. Goose

The Mulhollands were pretty firm - not as bad as adjustable Konis set to full firm though. The Mulholland package included stiffer springs that lowered nearly 2", along with bigger stabilizer bars. So, when you go from a nearly stock 240Z suspension to the full package - it was night and day and it's really hard (especially after 33 years) to try to separate the effect of the shocks as compared to the combination of the shocks and springs. I'll mention that today I run non-adjustable Tokico struts and Tokico springs and my impression is that the Tok set-up feels similar to the Mulholland set-up. I just checked my latest Interpart catalog (1-1-74) and they have a number of pages describing all the Mulholland components but they don't specify any "% stiffer than stock" numbers nor do they specify who was the actual manufacturer. However, they show Mulholland shocks for about 25 different import/compact vehicles spread among the BMW, Chevy, Datsun, Ford, Mazda, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen brands so I would imagine they sourced these with one of the big shock makers. Goose

If I would have typed faster ... you would have had your answer... BTW - and you might already know, but Mulholland was not the manufacturer's name, but the name coined by BRE for their suspension packages - named after the famous (infamous) Mulholland Drive just above Hollywood ... Goose

In the 8-1-72 Interpart catalog they show Carl's data and add the numbers for Konis for 1972: Front #35-1412 Rear #35-1413 In the 2-1-73 Interpart catalog, they show the 1412 & 1413 numbers as "240-Z all years" Also in the 2-1-73, they start listing the "Mulholland" inserts with a new numbering scheme: Front pr. 2351501 Rear pr. 2351502 As a side note, the Mulholland inserts are what I installed in my car back in '73 along with the rest of the Mulholland package. Of course, as Carl said, these are all BRE/Interpart part numbers and don't answer your original question ... but it's fun to get out the old catalogs and note the dog-eared pages from all that catalog surfing we did in the old days (before the internet!). Goose

Here is a thread from a few months ago that had a number of responses describing the different seals... http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18761 Goose

Yep - not original at all - 72's had the diamond-pattern vinyl on the shock towers, trans tunnel, and front edge of the luggage deck. BTW - the luggage deck carpet is not original either and the luggage straps are rigged wrong ...

I've run on the street with the entire interior out - just a drivers seat (I was in the middle of refreshing the interior). It's pretty noisy. However, I didn't run a full interior with just the door panels off so can't say how noisy that would be. On thing to keep in mind is that without a door panel, you don't have the fuzzy strip on the top of the door panel that the window glass rides on and you will have a rattling window (and potentially scratched glass) ...

Wow - looks like I need to consider changing my declared value on my next renewal ! Goose

The $9,000 to $17,000 price range quoted for a 240 is an eye-opener; they didn't mention condition but obviously must be talking about the high-end cars. In any event, this price range must be why Hagerty didn't have a problem when I asked for $12,000 coverage on my '72! Goose

You took an interesting shot of my Fairlady Z grill - from inside the engine bay looking down and forward through the grill ... Goose

Yep - a stumper for me too. Well, bring on the hot weather and I'll see what happens this summer! Goose

I'm familiar with the tach wiring (I put a kill switch under the dash back in '72 by tying into the power going into the tach) but what seems to be key about your situation is that changing the tach did not fix the problem (eliminates that from consideration?) and that your problem went away after adding the MSD and tach adapter - implying that my problem and Jeremy's problem perhaps is not the tach but something to do with the circuit after it gets to the coil. So, what is heat sensitive with the coil or primary/secondary circuit that would cause the tach to read incorrectly, and the other symptom - the tach reading about 1000 to 1500 with the ignition turned on, but the engine not running. All that's out at that end is the coil, ballast resistor, and then of course the points & condenser. For folks with these tach symptoms, still having a points type ignition, I'm not sure an answer has been found yet ... Goose

The original tach on my '72 has been doing the exact same thing for years - I just figured the heat was affecting one of the components inside the tach. I've lived with it, figuring the tach would eventually die and I'd worry about it then. In any event, when it's that hot (I have no AC), I usually don't feel very skippy and don't usually come close to redlining the engine ... so don't need the tach anyway .... Early this year, I did upgrade to the '79ZX dist. w/E12-80 module, along with a new coil. It is just now getting hot enough here in SoCal to bring on the symptom so it will be interesting to see if I have the same problem with the tach this summer or whether it is now gone. If it doesn't come back this year, perhaps the problem had something to do with the coil??? Goose

OK - that's the first step ... when do you try an install !

Lucky for me that I live local to MSA. I ate the cost of the JC Whitney seals, but the 2-pc Precision (seal and welting) that I bought I took back to MSA and exchanged it for the 1-pc Precision. This was for the drivers door only. Once I found one that would work - then I bought for the passenger side.

Yep - I had 5 different types of seals all laid out on the counter at MSA and the "genuine" 2-pc seals were indeed softer than the Precision 2-pc. I went with the 1-pc (attached welting) as that was what was on the car and I knew that they had worked before. I guess I must have had the seals replaced back in 1987 during the repaint after all - at that time the 280z-type 1-pc must have been installed. After all the changes I've made to the car over nearly 34 years, I wasn't concerned about originality - just what would work. Like you say, the proof of the pudding is when you try to close the door. I'm sure all the folks that are on-the-fence about which to buy will be interested in hearing how the "genuines" work in your car - make sure you report back when you get them installed!

Sorry, I was the one that posted the photos on the other thread - http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18761 I didn't think about laying out a ruler as the discussion was related more to the 1-pc vs. 2 pc configurations rather than the particular dimensions. In any event, the link you posted to MSA is for the seal that worked on my car - 1-pc precision. If you press hard enough - this seal will compress to 3/16" against the welting. As you noted in that other thread - no one seal works for everyone but in my case, the 2-pc (shown in your photo in the first post) absolutely wouldn't work in my car - neither would the JC Whitney. The 1-pc precision did work and my door rattles (really bad before on the passenger door) are now gone. YMMV

I was at the MSA show and had one person notice my alternator set-up and the use of this adapter. Unfortunately, I was walking the show at the time and my wife was car-sitting - she didn't know the technical details so I missed a chance for a first-person endorsement of this adapter ... drats !

Brandy - from the title of a song by the Looking Glass that reached No. 1 on the chart in August, 1972 - just before I bought my car in September, '72 ...

Mine is a driver. Daily driver for the first 17 years, and then about twice a week since then. Nowadays, I average about 50 miles a week. Over all these years, it has probably only been out-of service a total of 4 or 5 weeks (during engine swaps/rebuilds, paint/body shop, etc.) Bought it new in 1972 while in the Marines, using a re-enlistment bonus to pay cash for the car. Had a BRE/Interpart header, spook, and rear spoiler installed by the dealer at delivery. After I had the car for a month or so, drove up to the BRE shop in El Segundo and bought the Mulholland suspension package. In ’73, put in a hotter cam. In ’74, bought a new WR OD 5-speed, driveshaft, and R-190 LSD w/4.44 gears from Datsun Comp ($575 through a mechanic friend at a dealer!). The car scooted pretty good with that gearing. Car was up on blocks for a year while I was stationed in Japan in late ’74 into ’75. By 1977, wanted more power, so skipped the triple carb scene and went with a 331ci SB Chevy – 11:1 forged, cam, Edelbrock Tarantula manifold, Holley double-pump carb, headers. Had to pull the R-190/4.44 out and put a R-180/3.36 in for the V-8 (the R-180 lasted while the V-8 was in!). After 5 years with the V-8, I got married, needed a better transportation car, and was getting caught up with smog/legal issues, so in 1982, put in an L-28 with just a slightly hotter cam, and another 5-speed. In 1983, the R-180 pinion gear finally failed while I was doing a 1-2 shift (must have been something to do with the V-8 service!) so put in an R-200/3.54. In ‘86/’87, did a moderate refresh of the car – went through the mechanicals, had it repainted original color (901 silver). Then, didn’t do much but drive and enjoy it for nearly 20 years. Then, last summer, started a mechanical refresh again (mostly suspension). In December (unfortunately) the head cracked and I had an oil pan full of coolant – so, an unplanned engine rebuild. As long as the engine was apart, went with flat-tops and a hotter cam. In January ’06, decided to go to the MSA show, so I worked on the cosmetics a bit and finally refreshed the interior. The SUs that are currently on the car have never been rebuilt so next up will be Z-Therapy carbs. After that, the car will be ready for another 20 years of driving. I will then be about 75 years old, and will probably not be able to steer the thing, so will have to pull out the quick steering knuckles and put stock ones in, and put in a really BIG steering wheel … and then drive it some more! It’s been a long, but fun, 33 ½ years of ownership !

Have linked to a good pic of the completed installation that 240ZGL posted on another thread.