JimmyZ

BBB and ripoff report are two good places to check before ordering. Use a REAL credit card and not a bank card if you want a decent chance of getting your money back should things go wrong. The autoparts warehouse site reminds me of an I-net business I got burned at some time ago. Upon doing a BBB search they are also called "Parts Train"?? Seems like it might be good to steer clear of them. Rockauto seems to have good reviews. Before any online ordering I would call and verify that they actually have the part. I went to order a part for my Z which they seemed to have according to the 'net. Upon calling and asking for them to check and see if they had it they found they didn't. 2c Jim

As you might know a most points systems start on 12V and when IGN is switched to "run" they use 6V. Sometimes the black wires to the ballast are reversed which gives 6V for start and 12V for run. Running on 12V will burn points and quickly bake/kill a "normal" points coil. When I put my car back together I had said wires reversed and couldn't figure out why I was killing points/coils. A quick search on the board explained this simple mistake. 2c Jim

E is right. Your screen is blocked. One other possible negative aspect is that by running the pump dry it gets damaged. Run it dry long enough and you'll need a new pump. It might just be easier to grab a junkyard tank at this point. If a chunk of punctured screen or POR goes through the pump that might be the end of the pump. If you had to save the tank you MIGHT be able to get to the screen via the drain plug. (E's idea of poking the now covered screen) Sharpened coathanger or welding rod might do the trick. Be sure before touching metal to metal that you ground out. (Prevent static spark which could blow you to kingdom come when in the presence of gas fumes) Here are some pics of the inside of my 240Z tank. It is different in that it has no screen. At least you can see where the pickup is. Be sure to blow/flush things well after poking holes. (If you decide this route) http://warbuddies.homestead.com/gastank.html (Pics at bottom) Good luck, Jim

Mt Dora FL is my 240's home. Welcome

If memory serves me that area of the country has poor cell phone coverage. I'd be sure to check everything before getting stranded. I'd check ALL of the fluids and grease the U-joints (where applicable/ I don't know if 280 joints are greasable)Make sure all of your hoses are in good shape. (Fuel and water) When was the water pump or thermostat last changed? I'd at least change the T-stat. These are the things which will probably bite you IMHO. I'd also drive it as much as possible leading up to the trip so that any problems will present themselves in town. I'd take my 240 X-country in a heartbeat with a few tweaks. Good luck! That's a beautiful part of the country. Jim

If you should decide to do it yourself it would be a good idea to take pictures of the shoes/linkages.(Have digital camera??) Sometimes the drum can be difficult to remove due to a lip created by wear. Look in your Haynes manual etc for pictures describing how to turn the "star wheel" with a screwdriver. This will create slack needed to get the drum off. Sometimes it takes a lot of cussing and turning of that little wheel. The Z wasn't my first car but it still taught me a lot about working on cars. If you're up for the fun of working on it I'd say go for it. The area you'll probably have trouble with is getting the old brake line off. Even the best flare wrenches can round off a brake fitting. One member of the group made an excellent suggestion which I've yet to try. He suggested using a vise grip OVER the flare wrench to keep it in good contact and to keep it from spreading. I've always resorted to vise grips w/o a flare wrench but prefer his method now that I have new brake lines. Be very careful when loosening the bleed screws initially as getting them to "break" can easily make them break. I like to use a socket to avoid rounding them off. The socket also decreases side loads when two handing the ratchet.. Having a bleeder break off is not fun. 2c Jim

It's always nice to be able to say your car is 100% stock knowing this to be true in the back of your mind. If you do opt for the L-28 be sure to keep the L24 just in case you want to revert. I had an L-28 w/ SU's as a "temporary" five year motor. (It only cost $125.00!!) It pulled great but top end performance suffered due to poor breathing from the SU's. Looked like someone else bored my SU's a tad too. It's also nice to have a spare motor, radiator, etc, etc.

How awful! Sorry to hear about the mishap. Are you selling any parts??

Norm Simpers (12secdualSUdude) used to take his '72 up to 140 as indicated on the speedo. (See above mentioned posts RE sppedo errors) His Z was slightly modified and quite a bit faster than my all stock '71. If he said he did it then he did or at least his speedo said he did. My '71 used to break 100-110 on pizza deliveries in my younger days. 120 mph in the Z is the threshold of fear for me and I'm not afraid of much! You just can't find a road straight and long enough to really open it up. (Now that Florida is developed) Doubt my Z could go over 130 stock.

Your profile doesnt say which type of Z you own. I was thinking that perhaps you got the "right" parts for your car but we'd have to know what kind of Z you had first. The 1972 240Z FSM had some detailed descriptions and formulae regarding the proportioning valve. (Don't know if this was true for other FSM's because this was the only one I ever had) It truly is amazing how much thought goes into designing any system on humble passenger cars. The simple choice of using a resistor in a plug can cut plug erosion to a fraction for instance. The refinement of these sciences makes modern car's 100K tune-ups a reality. If the cylinders are dimensionally the same as the originals (except bore ID) then you could get an adjustable proportioning valve and adjust the rear brakes function. This is what you'd do for any custom brake system. There are actually books on brake system design that the average Joe can buy. I've only thumbed through them but they were interesting. 2c Hope this helps. Jim

I've used these cold cathode lights on another project. (Used the 4" and 12" styles) They are simply awesome! Extremely bright. Hadn't thought about using them in the car though. They are a bit delicate and under dash mounting seems best. (As opposed to anything on the doors) I'm bummed though. I was hoping you'd come up with some extremely bright lights for the instruments.

With a tow rope and a good driver in the Z yes. Towing the Z on a trailer is out of the question. I've towed things on a trailer that equaled or exceeded the weight of the tow vehicle before. Talk about white knuckles! (Especially when going above 50) If you're getting a two wheeled dolly and U-haul lets you use it with the Honda just drive under 35 and leave extra room for breaking. In Florida the state requires you to have a white flag on a tow rope more than twelve feet long. (Just thought I'd add) My Z once tugged a full size van and lawn trailer a few miles. (Used 50ft of pressure cleaning hose for tow rope ) Sure it was hard on the clutch etc but it worked. Using a rope makes more sense. You just need two good drivers. Keep mild tension on the rope at all times.

Just a question Roundy.. Are you able or willing to do any of the prep or are you just going to give the paint shop the keys and tell them "have at it"?? You can save a buttload of money doing your own prep. It's not that difficult to learn either. The cost of equipping your garage with the right tools isn't so bad if you shop around. (Plus you have a nice tool collection at the end) Here's a page I made which outlines some things you might want to know. I'm just an ameteur but I've done a few vehicles and had decent results. http://warbuddies.homestead.com/RestoHelp.html Jim

Looks great! Did you actually save the hood and fender or are they new? I also liked the pic of the frame straightening. Glad you could save it. Jim

Here's a quick test I did which might help you red dog... This is on my 2/71 240... With the steering column cover of you should see 4 solder connections on top of the light switch. The upper left and lower right connections/wires should always have current. (Lower right is a white w/ red stripe) When you switch the running lights on the left two connections are live. Switching the head lamps on the right two come alive. (Actually all 4 connectors have voltage) Left side is running lamps. Right side is headlights. There are two fuses in the upper right side of your fuse box for the headlamps. 2c Jim

BTW unplug your side marker lights each and every one. Unless the are new they often corrode and short. Try and get the headlamp thing sloved first. (duh)

Geezer's advice is excellent as he has a professional background in automotive electronics. Time to pop out a multimeter and poke around. Get a set of jumpers (alligator clip & wires) from radio shack for supplying 12v to certain leads once you have gone over a schematic. Check your connections on the steering column harnesses. Unplug and re-insert one at a time to see if that helps. If the contacts in your light switch are corroded you might be able to get them to work by tapping on the electrical box at the base of the switch. There have been numerous posts on how to take apart and clean the contacts inside the switch. I'm betting it's your switch or a harness plug going to it. There have been several discussions RE getting/making harnesses. It seems that the connectors are too rare and unobtainable to make new harnesses from. That leaves you with buying used harnesses or getting a generic harness. There have been many threads discussing this too. I had talked with some other members about working together to make 240Z generic harnesses. It seems that there are a few differences which would require different sub-harnesses such as the tach. Any such harness would require a some degree of cutting and splicing on some things. 2c Jim

Not knowing the specifics about the pump and it's relay I'd have to say that it's something to do with the supply to the pump/relay. You need to be more specific about where the system is and what it's hooked up to. Also have you hooked up a meter to the pump to see if it's getting voltage? Is there a relay or is it just a fused direct link to the pump? Is the pump tied into the ignition system via a relay or is it something using the stock harness in back?? If so then it's probably just a simple matter of finding which wire is hot during "run" and hooking up to that.

Sounds like you've already got the paint. You can get OK results with vinyl paint from a can. Definitely practice on something before spraying the real thing. Recently I used some SEM from a can. It had a nice rectangular pattern and sprayed almost as good as from a gun. PPG makes a really nice line of interior paints. The one I'm thinking of can be used as a stand-alone base or can be topcoated with various clears. (Sheens of clear) The stuff I'm talking about can be applied to vinyl. Can't remember the name of the line and I tossed the literature. They'll know right away though. I also like SEM's products. (vinyl/plastic paints) You should be able to have a custom color made. None of this will be cheap but should be between $30-$100 depending on which system you use. SEM sprays OK in cans but using a "real" spray gun hooked to a compressor is the best. Use some wax and grease remover before spraying of course. I've never used laquer thinner for this but have heard that hard plastics wiped with LT will soften a bit and grip vinyl paint better. Never had a prob with W&G remover and spray.. even on vinyl tops. 2c Jim

Let us know how it goes. For me, installing the tank in my 240 isn't much fun. Mine was painted nicely so no jack was involved. I had to to a funny jig with both knees propping one side and both hands pushing on the other. Once you are able to get one tank strap on you have 1/4 of the battle over. A helper helps.. Some extra hands to hold the filler neck or attach some hardware. The main pain is getting the filler neck to slide over. One easy thing to do is use a hair dryer to warm the hard plastic. Start the dryer away from the tank and don't allow it to suck in any fimes or the sparks in the dryer's motor might ignite the fumes. You'll be surprised how much easier it is to insert/manipulate the filler neck once it is pliable. Don't heat it too much of course. Work quickly as the plastic cools quickly. Be VERY easy on the steel vent tubes. Don't apply any side force to them because the solder joints can crack. (Ask me how I know these things ) Good to hear your tank was clean. Good luck Jim

Here's an excellent thread on this. Perhaps you can kill two birds... (have brighter lights) Enrique suggested sylvania 53's http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1206&highlight=instrument+lights

Typing at 12PM I messed up. Should have said magnetic P/U. Incidentaly both pickups were variable reluctor type. (magnetic pickup with non-magnetic tooth setup) To end this thread Ron and I played with the car for a bit. Took the plugs out and found that they were all fouled and drenched in gas. (rich fuel mix) Upon replacing the plugs it started. I learned a lot since I own a 240 and have rarely touched 280Z FI. If anyone has some good tune-up/setup material for 77Z's FI I'm sure he would appreciate it. He has replaced the AFM and TPS but soemthing isn't right. His dizzy is a single pickup type in an automatic tranny car. Thought this was odd since the manual stated otherwise. 2c Jim

The mechanical pump, if not used for some time will rot inside making it useless for a pump. Sounds like the PO kept it for a fancy block of plate. The mech pump runs of a cam and is purely... mechanical. No electricity required. A lever inside the pump moves a diaphragm back in forth and two one-way valves allow flow in only one direction... Towards the carbs. As mentioned earlier it takes a while to prime the system if it's run dry. The Mech pump sucks fuel so slowly it might take a minute and a half of cranking to get enough fuel to run the engine. Of course once the system is primed everything is normal when starting. Just bump the starter and it comes to life. All that really matters is that there is enough fuel in the float bowls. (duh) This is why I mentioned a shortcut to priming in the last message. I think this was the answer you were looking for. Hope so. Jim

They're great dogs! Bummer about the GF keeping the dog.:mad: Hope she takes good care of it. Simply buying a new pump may not solve things. Do a little poking around first. Taking the plug off the bottom of the tank will tell you if you have tank rust and if it's lined. A lined tank may have a membrane or "skin" on the plug or it's hole. If it's whitish in color it is Kreme or Hirsh's white sealer = no good with ethanol blended fuel. This stuff softens and gums up making a nice mess for the radiator shop guys to remove. I think I'm getting a better picture of what you have in the car IF I'm reading things right. It seems that you have two filters, one before and one after the electric pump right? If it was one of the facet brand pumps then it can stand to be run dry for a bit. What we need to do is find out if the pump took a crap and whether it is supplied fuel. To test the old pump remove it from the car and get some isopropyl alchohol which is a hell of a lot safer than gas. Using alchohol won't blow yourself or the car up should a wire spark when starting the pump. Take this seriously please. Rig some lines up to test for flow. Once it's flowing, put your finger over the end and feel for a slight amount of pressure. If it's developing pressure and flow your prob is elsewhere. If the filters have been changed, the pump cleaned and verified as functional it's obviously a clog. It's not ideal but you can use your mouth to blow the supply line somewhat clean.. (At least get any big chunks 'O stuff). Make sure there are no filters to slow down the flow of air. Find a part of the line and that goes straight to the tank. Ideally you'd use some air from a compressor for this. Don't let anyone see you "blowing" your car they may get funny ideas about you. Next, hook the pump up and leave the output open until some fuel comes out. Allow fuel to evaporate before reconnecting to rail and trying to start the car. If it still won't start then the fuel rail should be checked/blown out. Blow it out from the return end as there is a restriction in the end of the line. (Very small hole. Blow in opposite direction of normal flow) The small hole is there to regulate fuel pressure for the stock system. It is easily clogged. To answer one other question RE where to put a regulator.. Normally it would make sense to put the reg at the return end of things. (That is after the carbs are fed) Since the stock fuel rail has a restriction already the reg would need to go in BEFORE the rail. This would best simulate the stock sytstem. If the restrictor hole has been drilled out the put the regulator after the rail obviously. You want to keep the restrictor hole in case you should go back to the mechanical pump someday. At the bottom of this page there are some pics of the inside of a 240's tank. On later Z's there was a strainer. Not so on the 240 though. You can almost see the end of the strainer through the plug.. http://warbuddies.homestead.com/gastank.html There are plenty of threads regarding the tank vent hoses and good substitutes for the expensive hoses. Long wided/hopefully helpful 2c Jim PS Taking the float bowl covers off and filling 3/4 full of gas will start the car and run it for 30 seconds to 1 minute. This would apply if you had a mechanical pump and needed to prime the sytem quick.

I imagine that all Z's used only one style of pickup but I could be wrong. (see message above) It would make a difference what style of pickup was being used if the "brain" was designed to accept a particular signal. Depending on the design of the brain's internals it might kill it if the wrong signal was introduced. One would think that the brain should have been made to handle such abuse but the signal in question is extremely faint during starting. (especially on non-magnetic P/U system) Hopefully a knowlegable 280Z person will chime in. Someone who knows all of the later style dizzys ins/outs.