Si|v3r72

that's actually pretty damn funny.

I'm having trouble understanding how to correctly set the mix on my roundtops. I knew for a fact my mix was too rich, so I attempted to lean things out, using the procedure described in the engine manual (reset idle nut and throttle pin positions, measure low and high rpm flow, etc.). According to the procedure, you first have to "reset" the mix nuts, thereby achieving a certain clearance between the needle tip and body opening (2.2mm I think is what it is). Well without taking the carb apart, this is damn near impossible. The book says to tighten one turn, then loosen 2 1/2 turns, then tighten 1/2 turn to achieve the desired starting position. Well what if your mixture is too rich like mine? That means the nuts will be lower than they're supposed to be and that you won't achieve the desired starting position. Next the book says to set the throttle pins to 600-700rpm, then slowly (1/8 turn at a time) tighten the mix nuts until the engine reaches the fastest and most stable speed. Ok, no problem, so I start tightening. Well, I keep tightening and tightening, and the engine slowly gains speed, but does not become unstable. I end up tightening the nuts completely and the engine is still stable. Will the car run like this? No. Toooooo lean. So I back the nuts off a bit more (2 turns) to try to richen it back up, but now I'm guessing as to where the final position should be. Would any of you SU nuts like to take a shot at describing the process of correctly setting the mix (daily driver setup, not race). I'm looking for better fuel economy. If you can describe it, a few "why's" along with the "how's" would really be helpful.

I'd say it depends on the condition of the rest of the car. If the rest of the car is mint, then it is probably worth it. Really it depends on your economic situation. I got similar bad news yesterday, not as bad as yours but bad. I took my Z to my body guy to fiz a hole in the passenger side floorpan, not knowing what the extent of the damage was. Turns out there was a hole about 3" in diameter with a good deal of rust around it. The rest of the floorpan looked ok. He patched the hole as best he could and sealed it, but alas it's only a "temporary" fix. Granted, it's probably going to keep my from having to do the whole job for quite a while (I hope to get a few years out of it), but right now it looks like the whole floorpan is going to have to be done eventually. My poor baby!!!

Hey grantman that's a perrrrty Z you got there. Nice choice and very nice price. I echo everyone else's sentiments that it's not fair that you have so many to choose from. If you guys knew how much I paid for my Z you'd prolly kick me out of the club. But I'm like BadDog - must have silver, and I had to ship from coast to coast . Anyway, I hope you have much better luck with this one!

Ok see I did have it wrong. You turn it to the right to tighten, but that's from looking at the nut (i.e. from the bottom of the carb). Got it. That makes much better sense. Ok so that means my mix nuts are out too far, making my mix too rich. So can I just tighten them, or do I have to reset the throttle screws and check my flows again?

I've suspected for some time, since I did my first Z-Therapy taught carb tune, that I was running too rich. Excessive exhaust, bad mileage, and finally, black plugs with wet plug holes. So apparently, I need to lean my mix up. How do I go about this? Do I go through the entire procedure of backing out the idle pins and resetting the mix nuts, or can I just go straight to the mix nuts? Also, the part that confused me the most the first time I did my carbs, was the direction I was supposed to be turning the mix nuts. The engine service manual procedure says, "Idling fuel flow volume is reduced by tightening the idling adjusting nut (turning it to the right), and is increased by loosening the idling adjusting nut (turning it to the left)." I know that this sounds completely stupid, but it was the tightening and loosening part that confused me. What I understood it to mean was that turning the nut to the right (looking down on the carb - i.e. clockwise), leans your mix. Did I get that right? So if I want to lean my mix can I just drop my nuts ( sorry couldn't resist)? How much? Or should I redo the entire carb tune?

I recently installed 2 1/4" pipe all the way through, removed the resonator, and used a Flowmaster in the rear, with a stainless tip cut at a 45^ down angle. Sounds EXCELLENT.

I'm saving this thread. I've been having problems too. For me it's bearable, but I don't like having one of the kids in the car, and I know they don't like it much either. Kinda ruins some of the fun.

From ZHome.com

None of your questions matter. Once you drive a Z you will never go back. j/k (well not really). Honestly though, your questions are kind of hard to answer since they are subjective. This site is mainly dedicated to 240Z's, so as far as year model goes, I'm sure most people will say between 1970-1974. If you're looking for a stock Z, I would definately recommend a pre-1974 car. The carbs in these models were much better than latter years. A stock 240 in good condition, well tuned will put out about 150hp and run around a 14 second 1/4 mile. I've read about many owners replacing their dizzy's with electronics, but I'm not convinced there's a performance boost there - maybe just more reliable for some. My 72 is all stock and I love it. As for parts prices, many parts can be realced cheaply ans easily if you know where to look, others can't. My chrome side view mirror cost me $85 from a local parts guy. I replaced the entire exhaust from behind the manifold for $175. How much you're willing to spend is all dependant on how hooked you are on the car, right? Believe me, if you find a good Z, you'll wonder why you've been driving VW's all these years. Good luck!

2ManyZ's, I looked into it when I bought the car (failed emissions the first time and barely passed the second time). In Delaware anything past 1968 has to pass a single speed emissions test, and anything past 1980 has to pass a two speed emissions test. So no go on the exemption. What I don't know is if the cutoff changes as the years go by (which would make sense - but often things don't make sense in Delaware). IF the exemption date moves as time moves, I'd be exempt in four years. THEN I could think about removing the smog stuff. I really think my backfiring problem is due to removing the resonator and replacing the muffler with the Flowmaster. With the old exhaust system, I had zero backfiring. I've looked at the plugs and plug wires and they all look good. The plugs are new and the wires appear to be new. Haven't had a chance to look at the anti-backfire valve, but I tend to think it's ok since I had no probs before rebuilding the exhaust. Regardless, I'm seriously leaning towards installing a resonator ($40), if not only to help with backfiring, but to quiet the exhaust. I had no idea how throaty at low rpm's and how racey at 4000 rpm a Z could be.

I just put on Bridgstone Potenza RE950. See them here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/bridgestone/bs_re950.jsp This is a highly rated, high mileage tire with excellent dry and wet handling. They are extremely smooth and quiet at all speeds. I've only put about 500 miles on them so far but I am very happy with them.

Sweet ride Mike - good luck and hope you sell it soon.

R O F L (inside joke).

2ManyZ's, give someone else a chance to answer please. . j/k bro . The backfiring isn't really as loud as an M-80, but it is as loud as a firecracker. And yes the car still has all the smog equipment . As far as mixture goes, I did a "ZTherapy" tune of my carbs 2 weeks ago - I thought it went well but it was my virgin attempt. I was hoping to lean out my mixture enough to improve my mileage but it didn't really go up much. I figured on looking at the plugs (new NGK last fall) in another tank or so. Good ideas tho - I'll look into them. Danka.

Ever since I put the new exhaust system on (no resonator w/ flowmaster), every time I let off the gas the car backfires, sometimes loudly. If I'm careful not to stay on the clutch too long, I can accell through the gears with very little backfiring, but it's almost impossible to avoid when decelerating. What worries me is I've heard that backfiring can hurt your carbs and engine. A buddy of mine blew a cylinder in his 99 Ram pickup when it backfired. He showed me the piston today and the side of it was completely gone - SCARY! Am I putting my engine/carbs at risk by running the car like this? Anyway, I've been contemplating adding a resonator anyway. As is, the car is a tad too loud and I don't need to give the police a reason to pull me over. That, and I'm the only car I ever hear backfiring down the road.

Guys, the wierdest thing is happening to me when I drive my Z, something totally unexpected and I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with it. Everywhere I go, people look at me. Every time I stop at a red light, people are looking at me. When I park the car at the grocery store, people stop to talk to me about my car. I spent the day with my son today at a lacrosse tournament, and spent at least as much time talking about my car as watching him play lacrosse. I can't go to Burger King w/o having to talk to someone. And the gas station? Good lord. Car buffs come out of the woodwork when I pull up to the pump. Don't get me wrong - it's not that I don't want to talk to people or dislike them. Everyone is so friendly and they all have a story to tell about the Z their dad or neighbor used to have, or the Z they used to have that was eaten up with cancer, but damn it was a great car. It's just that in a relatively short period of time, I've gone from living in complete anonimity to being just short of celebrity status when I drive my Z. It's freakin' WIERD! Sometimes I feel like I'm driving down the road with spotlights on me, or like I'm in a big glass bubble car like the pope rides in, and everyone wants to wave to me. WIERD! I guess what's bugging me is I had no idea this would happen. Now I'm almost paranoid when I drive the Z. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it. Let me finish by saying I hope this doesn't sound like I'm trying to brag on my car or something because I'm not. I'm just trying to relate to you, my Z brothers and sisters, how owning this car is changing my life. I think in the long run, it's going to be something wonderful that I hope will bring me happiness for many years to come.

I have strange listening habits - my taste constantly changes - I find a new band I like and listen to them until I wear them out (currently Linkin Park), then I ALWAYS revert back to my staple, my baseline, my god - Frank Zappa. I have a 12 cd-changer in my Z and I'm guessing 8 out of the 12 cd's in there are Frank .

since we're on the subject of carbs.... I tuned my carbs with the ZTherapy video and the shop manual last week. The thing that confused me the most was the idle nut. I'm not sure I was turning it in the right direction (pretty sure, just not 100%). The ZTherapy video kind of skimmed over the actual tuning and mixture nut adjustment pretty quickly so I was a bit confused. My questiojn is, looking down at the top of the carb, when you turn the idle nut clockwise are you making the mixture richer or leaner? The book said to turn to the right to tighten, but it just seemed like it should have been the opposite to me.

Ok I've come to the realization that I fubared the reinstallation of the steering wheel. I've been insisting that the large spring should go behind the wheel (between the wheel and the column). The reason I insisted so is because I swear that's where it was when I took it apart originally, but now I guess it wasn't. I had such terrible problems with it yesterday (spring was still between the wheel and column) so I took it apart again and the large spring was completely mangled. Also the horn contact arm was mangled. Keep in mind I've been driving with the horn fuse pulled so I'm not honking my horn everywhere I go. So I pulled out the mangled spring, straightened the horn contact arm as best I could with needle nose plyers, and re-assembled the wheel - and voila! It works like a charm! Still no horn tho. I think my biggest problem at this point stems from the fact that when I bought the car the foam inside the horn pad was deteriorated to the point that the pad was falling off. So in order to keep it on, I epoxied it back on. So recently when I pulled it apart to refinish the wheel, I had to break the epoxy. So the horn pad doesn't fit onto the center of the wheel like it's supposed to, but it does stay. Anyway, I guess it's time to go looking for a new spring somewhere. Thanks for the help guys!

Last week I took off the steering wheel on my 240 and repainted it. All went well, or so I thought. Being the newb I am, I must have done something wrong putting it back on. I've tried several times to fix it. The problem is the horn sounds when it turns past a certain position, in both directions. Needless to say I've been driving around with the horn fuse pulled, but I don't want to drive w/o a horn. Also, it clicks terribly when I turn it and seems to get hung up on something. The spring between the wheel and the column is getting caught up in the mechanism in the column and it's actually bending. Not good. How do I get the spring set properly, and how do I get the horn to stop sounding?

Thanks Daniel. Great post! BTW one of the first things I had done when i got my car last summer was all new front brakes - loaded calipers, lines, and had the rotors turned. Still using drums in the rear but that is on the list to upgrade.

Hello everyone! My name is Tom Banez and I've been coming here for several months now. I'm 38 years old, married for 15 years, and have twin 11 year olds (Tyler and Hannah - yup, instant family). We live in Dover Delaware, USA. I'm originally from St. John's, new Brunswick, CA, but I've been in Delaware since I was 3 years old. We also have a 6 year old female boxer named Cleo (100 lbs!!!!), and a cat named Trixie. I'm a Civil Engineer with the state highway department and I design roads. My Z history is relatively brief I suppose. About 10 years ago I bought my fist Z, a black 1978 280Z for $1000. It wasn't in great shape, but it was a hell of a fun car and I fell in love with it. Well I got carried away one night and stranded it on a concrete island. Tore up the underbody pretty good. Luckily no one was hurt and I got out of it w/o penalty, except for a badly torn up underbody. At that point I decided it was time to get rid of it for something more family oriented - a 1993 Ford Explorer. Time passed and last year it was time for the wife to get a new car, so I traded the Explorer in (thank god) on a 2001 Toyota Highlander for her. That meant I was left with her old 1988 Mazda 626. Well, I decided since her car was going to be our "all purpose family vehicle", I was going to find myself the car I really wanted. I searched online for weeks - looking at early 70's Corvettes and Z's. I finally found my dream car on E-Bay, my 1972 240 (pics in members gallery). I bid on the car and won! My first and only E-Bay purchase! Needless to say, I've been consumed by this car - an instant love affair (don't tell my wife!). So now I find myself visiting here daily, learning everything I can about Z cars, and meeting all the great people who share my passion. Maybe someday I'll meet some of you in RL - looking forward to it!