Oiluj

I was watching the movie "Constantine" the other day. When he goes to Hell, he is walking across the top of a row of cars. One of them looked like a battered S30 Z.

As you surmised, a less than smooth idle is a typical compromise you expect when using a higher performance cam. How bad is the idle? Just a bit rough or loping? Also, the previous question about where in the rev range your power band falls can make a difference in drivability. For what it's worth, mine has a slightly rough idle that initially bothered me. Now I kinda like it...

Nice job! I'm impressed. Much better results than my first try at painting a 1953 Willys jeep! Better than my 2nd and last try painting a 1970's NOVA when I was in college as well.

Nice looking Z! IF you need any technical help, there a quite a few of us classic Z owners in the bay area. You might want to check out ZONC, (Z Owners of Northern California). It's a club for al years of Z's, mostly made-up of 350's, but there are quite a few very nice S30's like ours. Enjoy the new ride!

Nice pics Andreas!

Drove the Z from the SF peninsula to Inverness in Tomales Bay to attend a dinner. Lovely coastal area, curvy roads through forest and coastal scrub. This morning we drove out into Point Reyes national seashore. The roads were pretty rough, so we turned around after about 5 miles. Even so, it was still worth the drive. The Z ran great the whole time and was a pleasure to drive. The car generated a few admiring "thumbs-up" signals and lots of smiles. All-in-all, a good Z weekend.

Will do. At least it's not over-heating.

OK, I verified that I do have oil over 12 psi oil pressure at idle when hot, even when the dash gage indicates zero, so all is good. However....this weekend, when travelling down hill on a cool, foggy morning, for an extended time, (10 minutes), my temp gage dropped to about 120 degrees. I've previously verified dash gage readings vs. a digital thermometer. Temp came right back up as soon as the engine was loaded. Guess I now need to check operation of my thermostat...

Lead acid from Auto Zone for last 4 years with reversed terminals. Still working fine.

All the advice in the posts above is good. Find a Z with minimal rust. These cars had virtually no rust-proofing, so a small amount of visible rust is usually hiding a bigger problem...While some parts can be hard to find, they are still less expensive than extensive body repairs. 240Z's are generally quite reliable and easy to maintain, and can function as a daily driver if you don't mind the lack of modern technology. The 280Z with fuel injection is a bit more complex, but still not difficult to maintain. I concur with FastWoman regarding the Volvo P1800 being a good alternative. In fact, it's one of my favorite cars. While not be as powerful as the Z, it's got great lines, it's easy to work on and there are some after market parts available. Based on sales prices I've seen, the P1800 appears to be appreciating at a slightly faster rate than a 240Z, at least here on the west coast. Either way, buy the best car you can and enjoy driving it.

Congrats!

Nice!

Thanks! No more MM oil...

I'm on keeping the spare side of this particular issue. 1) A guy at work had a tire failure this weekend when he hit something on the road. From his description, some canned goo wouldn't have cut it. 2) I've heard mixed reviews on the effectiveness of the canned air & sealant products. 3) When you are out in the middle of nowhere, 15 minutes to slap on a spare is far better than waiting two hours for a tow truck. One to two hours is not unusual during rush hours and weekends in urban areas, and if you are in the middle of nowhere, good luck... I great sound system is nice, but I'd rather have a spare. Just my 2 cents...

I have a Pertronix ignition. Timing checked with a timing light, vacuum disconnected at 750 RPM. (My vacuum advance is not connected at this time). I do have a vacuum gage and will try adjusting for max vac at idle.

I plan to hook-up a mechanical gage to the port this week, though I suspect, as posted above, everything's all functioning normally. Am already adding acetone, (mixed with a small amount of Marvel's Mystery Oil), and it does seem to help reduce pinging at WOT or under load going up a steep hill, but not it's gone completely. I have no audible pinging at all in normal driving. I've tried added a several gallons of 110 race fuel to a tank, and no pinging under any conditions, but it's a pain to get and expensive... Regarding cooling, I wasn't running the A/C. The fan clutch shows no evidence of leaks, but bears some investigation. I'll check it out. I checked the timing today and it was a 3 degrees too far advanced, so I set it to factory spec. This doesn't seem far enough out to cause the engine to run hotter. Think I'm going to add a coolant recovery bottle as well. I have a heavy-walled, 1 quart round poly bottle, (Nalgene), I've been planning to make into a coolant reservoir. Thanks for the input! Guess I've got some more detective work to do...

Smart!

The excessive oil pressure thread got me thinking. I'm running a Fram oil filter. Was thinking that perhaps the bypass valve is open and I'm losing pressure there, enough to lower pressure at idle below the oil pressure sensor threshold...

Last few days I've been driving my 72' 240, and noticed a couple strange events. Observation #1) Normal oil pressure at speed, (2/3 to 3/4 on gage), but while sitting at a stop light, gage registers "zero" oil pressure. I blip the throttle up to maybe 15 RPM, and pressure bounces up to 1/3 or higher and stays there... No additional noise from valve train or anything else to indicate a loss or reduced lubrication. Oil level is fine and oil is clean. I searched the threads, and yes, I have a gold color sender. Thing is, it's never done this before... Observation #2) Everything's good, then temperature bumps-up from center of the gage to almost 3/4! This is in-town, stop-n-go traffic. She doesn't act or sound different, (like she's overheating), but again, it's a new behavior. BTW, this does not happen in conjunction with low pressure reading, they seem to be unrelated events. I checked water level and while a tiny bit low, is fine. Have not checked operation of the thermostat or radiator cap, though I don't se why they would change... Was running with the ignition retarded about 7-10 degrees to see if minor pinging at WOT could be eliminated. No difference, but retarded ignition resulted in intermittent dieseling when shutting engine down. So this weekend, I advanced timing 7 degrees which seems to run better and no dieseling. Sadly, I'm stuck using Kalifornia 91 octane, (if you are lucky), + alcohol fuel, so I guess I'll just not push her when going up steep hills... A friend with an older Porsche has a similar issue with low octane fuel. Any thoughts?

I hate brake problems..! "Zero" pedal feel does not indicate a small leak. Look under the car for evidence of brake fluid. No pedal feel sounds more like a problem at the master cylinder. 1st, repair the leaky line, then go back to basics. Start at the "top", and work your way down. Check the fluid reservoirs to see if they are empty, and maybe bleed the master cylinder. Then bleed the brakes in order, looking for leaks as you go. It's best if you have a helper or a pressure bleeder, so you can watch what's happening at each brake. To your last question, it is possible to tap new threads, providing you have the correct tools and the threads are no too deformed. The "seal" is not made by the threads though, but is a valve seal at the end of the bleed screw. Take one all the way out and you will see what I mean. It's also possible that you have some dirt in the metal-metal seal area on the brake/bleeder, which can cause a leak as well. Good Luck!

Carl, I agree completely, if it had the OEM rubber seals. However, it's just the edge trim, no door seal, which seems out of line cost wise. Is the bare rubber seal, (not mounted to the edging), still available? I thought Nissan S30 door seals were NLA. At least that's what the Nissan dealer told me a couple years ago...

I would not tow with a car cover on. Even a soft cover would possibly abrade the paint. If you are worried about sun on the interior, just tape tin foil on the inside of the windows with removable blue or green masking tape. Additional thought.. No tape on defroster lines in rear window! 800 miles = 2 or 3 days travel, which is not a problem in terms of paint fade, (unless you are driving on the surface of Venus). To minimize exterior rock chips, you have a couple options, 1) as stated above, masking tape, or 2) 3M Paint Defender spray-on film.

Too funny! Unless I'm driving it, which is typically only one day a week, I guess mine qualifies as garage art as well!

Actually it will work. I used it on my previous Z many years ago, glued after-market rubber seal to the welting. Looked and worked fine, a better fit, in fact, than the precision rubber I used on my current Z.

$185 for door welting w/o rubber seal? Datsun 510 240Z Door Welting Set New | eBay I can buy the same thing, (or very close), from McMaster-Carr (Style 6 or 9) McMaster-Carr