Jetaway

I love mine. They are from 70s to about 1990 Jag XJS's. A bit heavy, but the coverage is good, very good. They are the only mirrors that I have had on that, in conjunction with the interior rearview, completely eliminates blindspots. Does give the car a bit of the Third World Dictator look, but I can deal with that. Chris

In November of 2013 I posted the following under Plasti-Dip Longevity Report: === Just thought I'd do a follow up on a post I made a little over two years ago. I wrote about Nevr-Dull and Plasti-Dip: http://www.classiczc...metic-uses.html Two years later, going on three to four years after application, the Plasti-Dip is still a nice, solid black, unfazed by washing or heavy sun exposure. === Another two years has passed since the above and I can now report: Nothing. Absolutely no change in the Plasti-Dip. From the cap on the wheels to the back panel, the metal panel between the dash and windshield to the windshield wipers, still an unfaded, ungreyed black. I salute thee, Plasti-Dip! Chris

Airbags are vastly over-rated as safety devices. The fact is that it is awfully difficult to be killed behind the wheel if you are wearing properly adjusted / fitted 3-point seat belts. So, make sure you always wear your belts. (Aside: I'm so maniacal about clicking up that friends used to give me *hit about putting them on to back out of the garage. Which I would, albeit because it is so automatic.) Going to a full safety harness may or may not attract the type of person to whom you may wish to attract, but increases the safety margin further. If you really want to go all-in, have a roll cage installed. It's not like real people can fit in the +2 part of the Z anyway. Use LEDs for the brake lights. They hit peak brightness faster than incandescents and I've heard that at 60 mph they give the car behind you the equivalent of 15 -- 20 feet "extra" braking time. Every little bit helps. Replace / inspect the windshield. The constant slow-sand scouring that occurs during driving eventually destroys the opacity of the glass, especially noticeable at night. Finally, heed the many and wise posts about the dangers of distracted driving -- both of yourself and others. Chris

You are welcome, hope you find it as useful as I did. Chris

Thanks for the replies. The pipes will be coming out, or at the least, be cut back considerably. I tried, with not much expectation of success, to remove the pipe fittings to make it a clean job. Much to my surprise, the first nut turned without any drama. Having been down similar roads before, rather than removing it, I went to the second nut -- a nut now well on the way to be rounded off nut. Third nut, same as the second. On to Plan B: I used a Dremel-like tool with a cut-off wheel to slice the pipes as close as possible to the manifold proper. I may end up leaving it as is; with the distribution pipe still attached, there is no chance of leaking; but I'll haul it around town and see if I can get a shop to weld the holes shut for me for $20. If so, I'll cut the pipes on the outside for a cleaner look. Thanks again for the advice. Chris

I'm in the process of pulling the head on my '72 240Z and on removing the exhaust manifold found long pipes extending into the head (photo attached). I assume these were for a long-disconnected air pump (it was gone when I bought the car). My question is should I remove them and do one of the hacks found in the topic: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/51171-keep-original-air-port-exhaust-manifold-or-who-cares/ or leave them be? I can't imagine that they are any help to performance, but do they do any harm? I installed a Motorsports premium exhaust system a few years ago, but otherwise run a straight, albeit, smog device removed engine. If, if the cam needs to be replaced, which is possible because the oil tube clogged on me a couple of years ago, I probably go with a Stage I or Stage II cam of some sort. SIDEBAR: [i was lucky that the cam oil failure, good lord was that an absolutely horrible sound, came literally as I was pulling in to park at the end of my journey. The unlucky part was that my journey ended 60 miles from home. We diagnosed the next day and, perhaps with Mr. K watching over me while still on this plane, headed home after slathering STP on the cam. Made a stop when I heard the slightest of noises, slathered more STP, and made it home. Those Nazi-era German scientists knew their stuff for sure.] My options are to be: 1) Do nothing. 2) I don't know how to weld nor do I know anyone with a welder, so I'm leaning against going the welding route. 3) Remove, then tap and install brass plugs. Why brass instead of steel? Better sealing because the brass will deform slightly against the cast iron? 4) Cut the tubes off inside the manifold, but keep the distribution (external) tube. The thought here is that by removing most of the tube it would clean up the exhaust flow and no, or very little harm results from the connection to the distribution tube. The tube would effectively become pressurized with the first exhaust pulse and that in turn would partially block new exhaust pulses from entering the tube. At the least, the energy needed to push back down the tube the previous pulse would be less because the tube itself will be much shorter. Does this make sense or would my labors end up accomplishing exactly the same outcome as 1), doing nothing? Chris P.S. I think I attached the photo, if not, look for a follow-up post with the photo.

Ahhhh! Thank you Zed Head! Chris

Would it be possible to combine all the chapters into a single archive (.zip) for downloading ease? With appropriate warning of a very large file and recognizing it may bump into a system-level file limit for some users. Chris

Attached is the checklist I made for pulling the engine / transmission from my 1972 240Z. It takes you up to removing the engine mount and transmission crossmember bolts. I used the Removal Note column for bolt / nut size (might as well replace them as long as they are out), part bag names, idiosyncratic electrical connections, etc. Hope someone else finds it useful! Chris P.S. Apparently not allowed to upload Excel files, converted to .pdf. Sorry about including 2 blank pages at the end. Engine Removal Checklist.pdf

Absolutely correct. I used 3 in one (black label) and it was obvious that the piston was jumping around way to much. I tried a straight 30 weight (motor) and while it ran reasonably enough, you didn't have to press too far down on the pedal to realize it was doggy. The 3 in one (blue label -- SAE 20) has no power or drivability problems. Jetaway

I was able to give the Z a stress run yesterday. Pulled nicely, if a bit sluggishly, w/o pinging up a stiff foothill grade in 4th from 2800 rpm. A new problem, went from slight to worse upon my return, however. While no symptoms while moving, the idle went from a slight chop to very rough on my return. Pulled the plugs, #6 was wet, all the others looked pretty good. Pulled the cap and discovered that the rotor had been busy carving out paths through the contacts. Gave the distributor shaft a wiggle and it did -- probably more wiggle than in the old distributor which I replaced less than 1000 miles ago! So, the immediate task will be to pull the distributor, take it back to the store, and get a replacement for the "rebuilt" that I bought less than two months ago. Madkaw -- You're running what I did before I replaced the distributor (the old vacuum advance never worked on the original). I was happy with it, you are happy with it, so when I get the new distributor I think I'll just ignore the vacuum advance and go with aggressive static and let the centrifugal do its thing my itself. Chris

Dan, welcome to the club! I doubt there is a standard list of kinks to work out. 40+- year old cars have developed their own personalities, or to be more precise, have their own usage and repair histories. Maybe electrical problems, especially with the headlights. I know they are a problem with the 240s, but not sure about the 280s. A common preventive is to use a relay system to take the big electrical load off of the switch. Beyond that … nope, got nothing. For sound, I think you'll just have to poke around and experiment. Worn or damaged window / door seals can contribute to the noise level even without readily apparent wind leaks. Older tires with hard rubber are noisier than new tires and new tires have considerable variation by brand and type themselves. Looks for holes, either by P.O.s or from the factory but now filled with non-factory installations in the firewall. Finally, consider multi-purpose heat and sound insulation (I bought the stuff from Black Dragon Automotive, I'm sure other suppliers have the same). Pulled up the new carpeting and laid it underneath. Covered the firewall as best I could with it underneath the carpeting. I also put it on the inside of the door sheet metal and under the carpeting in the storage compartment. I used aluminum tape and 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to secure it. It has made a noticeable difference in lowering the overall sound level. Chris

Ahhhh, crap! When I set the needle flush I set it with the trough, not the base. So, it was right before. Dang it! If I didn't want to pull the needle again, would the following do as a work-around? I figure I managed to set the needle too far into the piston by a guesstimated 1.5 mm. Assuming that is correct, would I be able to compensate by "leaning" (i.e. raising or turning clockwise when looked at from underneath) that carb out by 1 and 1/2 turns of the mixture knob? Chris

I checked the rear carb fuel level and it was as I remember setting it, 21 mm below the outside top of the float chamber. I'm not entirely sure if measuring from the top outside is what the ubiquitous "float level drawing" means by 23 mm. I then take 2 mm off of that because of the different setting for rear carbs on 72s. Before taking him out for a run, I brought the mixture nuts all the way to the bottom then moved them a half turn up. In the coolish morning air, that seemed to solve the missing problem though I _think_ it might be running out of power in the high 5000s. Could be my imagination, however. I want to give it a run this afternoon with expected highs in the mid-90s, but for some unexpected reason, we have a bit of cloud cover, keeping the temp down. It doesn't smell rich, but I'll be keeping my eye on fuel consumption. In addition, it did nothing to address my puzzle over why disabling the rear carb improves running at idle speed. Upon returning from my run I went over the timing. I've been running at 10 degrees static when between 500 and 600 rpm and vacuum disconnected. Because of the non-stock distributor and so much variation in ZX distributors I attempted to ascertain the contribution of centrifugal and vacuum advances. I first estimated and marked with paint 40 degrees BTDC on the crank. First thing I discovered was the most I could retard the timing was to 6 or 7 degrees BTDC. I then obtained the following measures, as closely as I could estimate: Centrifugal Only: 25 Total Advance Centrifugal and Vacuum: 60 Total Advance. Using 6 degrees as the base, that works out to 19 degrees of centrifugal and (60 - 19 - 6 = 35) for vacuum. Looking at the "Datsun Z Car Distributor Timing Curves" chart (sorry, I don't remember who made it) and assuming that; a) it hadn't been rebuilt with American-spec 240Z or 260Z springs and that: these are real seat of the pants estimates, I'm guessing that I have a "red zone" distributor with 17 degrees of centrifugal and 25 or 30 degrees of vacuum advance. If I go back to my setting of 10 degrees static and assume the maximum vacuum advance module of 30 degrees, I have a theoretical peak of 57 BTDC. That sounds like it could be trouble but: a) at least so far I haven't detected any symptoms of pre-ignition (which I assume would be similar to very early ignition) and; I had to work the throttle to get the big vacuum advance figure and I wonder if under a real world load it hits the maximum vacuum advance at the same time as the centrifugal has fully kicked in. OTOH, it hasn't had a real stress test with these settings and parts -- he hasn't been out doing 70 - 75 mph in near or in triple digit heat for a couple of hours followed by a delightful slog over city streets. So, as always, any suggestions are welcome. In particular, any ideas on why disabling the rear carb appears to improve running at idle speed and, in addition, what should I be watching for regarding engine timing. For obvious reasons, I prefer to be aggressive, but what would tell me that I've gone to far advanced? Chris

Another straight 20 weight, no additives or detergent oil is "3 In One" _Motor Oil_. Not the stuff in the white and black cans, er, bottles found in every home in America, but an oil for larger electric motors. Comes in a blue and white container. Chris

Thanks, Blue. I returned the old distributor for the core charge (between the wobbly shaft and my GM HEI conversion I didn't figure to have much use for it) so I can't do a comparison. I do remember thinking that the vacuum advance seemed to give an ungodly amount of advance when I installed it, so I'll take a look at it again. But first -- on to checking the float level. And a question: In your second post you referred to "needle height." Am I correct in assuming you mean that the needle in the front carb is set in the correct position with the shoulder even with the piston? I had wanted to get the rear carb installed and the car retuned before cleaning the front carb, but if I can't get it running good today, I'll stop futzing with it and go ahead and dismantle the front carb. Plug reads are a bit of a problem -- with 200,000+ miles on the engine there is too much variation in wall wear and top-end clearances to be able to make a very definitive diagnosis with the plugs. Chris

The car: 1972 240Z w/ a 280ZX electronic distributor. I had, perhaps still have, an odd problem with the rear carb. The car would be running fine but our of the blue would lose the ability to accelerate at a rate faster than a bus without going into a spasm of misfiring. It would accelerate and get up to speed, but it was ugly getting there to say the least. Then, mysteriously, it would be fine. Eventually I figured out that the rear carb would lose its damping -- despite having oil in it. After convincing myself, that yes, there was oil and more importantly, being able to reproduce the problem at home, I pulled the carb and dissembled the vacuum chamber. To be honest, I didn't see anything that could explain the behavior. I did clean the hell out of it and it is possible that gunk had clogged up one of the holes in the dome, so perhaps that caused the loss of damping. Put it back together, put it back on the car and balanced the airflow at idle (650 -- 700 rpm) and higher speed (~2700 rpm). Test drive was a bit doggy and some misfirings, but I got rid of most of the issues by richening up the mixture (I start purposely lean, so this is not a surprise). But not all of it -- power seems to drop off around 5000 with a hint of misfires also. I have three thoughts: One, a month ago I replaced the 280ZX distributor that came with the car with a rebuilt unit due to wobble in the shaft. The original's vacuum advance didn't work and so I set the timing around it. The new has a vacuum advance which I have hooked up. So, I'm thinking that it might simply be a timing problem and I should play around with the timing a bit. Two: When I had the carb dissembled I saw that the needle was apparently not correctly set in the piston. My repair manuals and the FSM all indicate that it should be set so that the shoulder is flush with the piston while on mine it was sticking out a bit. So I reset the needle and tested per instructions. It seems to work, centered in the nozzle, but perhaps something went wrong. Three: This may be the oddest. As I wrote earlier, the airflow is balanced between the carbs both at idle and at higher speed. But -- if I disable the rear carb at idle by lifting the piston, the engine picks up speed and runs just as smoothly. Doing the same to the front produces the expected result, a drop in idle speed and rough, choppy running. If I repeat the test at higher speeds, say mid 2000s, the result is as expected, disabling the front or rear carb causes the engine to run very roughly and slower. Is this suggestive of a problem with the float level? I checked it a couple of years back and don't know why it would change, but I've seen odder things with my Z over the years. Any help appreciated. Chris

Damn. I got sick to my stomach just reading about your unhappy day. My condolences for your loss. Chris

The redline on my 240Z is 7000, I assume the same is true for a 280Z. Out of deference for its mileage (200,000+) I use 6000 as the high shift point. But don't sweat bullets if I overrun it in 1st or 2nd gear. OTOH 85%+ of my shifts are between 3000 and 3500 and close to 99% occur at less than 4000. The wear equation is simple and universal, all else equal, fewer (no pre-detonation) revs per mile = more miles per engine. Chris

Ahhh. It was what I had called the "tiny" vacuum tap on the carb. The walls of it were thicker than I remembered and I had no trouble hooking up an ordinary vacuum distributor hose to it. Thanks much. Chris

Hi, all. A quick and basic question. Several years ago the vacuum advance on my 240Z got wonky and so I disconnected it. Recently the distributor itself has gotten wobbly, so I bought a remanufactured distributor. For the life of me, I don't remember where to connect the vacuum advance. I have a likely tap blocked off on the balance tube, but there is also a tiny vacuum tap on the front carburetor that I have sealed up with 3M electrical tape (only -- not on the back and it's different from the connection to the top of the float bowl). However, it is so small that the usual vacuum advance hose, i.e., one that fits the advance mechanism, is way too large for it. So, now that I'm about to return to the land of the vacuum advanced, where do I hook it up? Chris

It is done. Being a tad bit nervous about the process, I grabbed a friend of mine, "The World's Best Mechanic" -- my title, not his -- for consultation. Good thing too, because while I had the basics down -- marking the timing chain, finding the marks, securing the chain, it took one hell of a lot of torque to get the camshaft gear bolt off. We ended up using a 2 and a half foot long pry bar, laid across the bolt of the cam bearing shell through the gear and a two-foot long socket wrench on the bolt to get it off. I pressed down on the pry bar and was damn near lifted off the ground before it finally broke loose. The spec's on it are 40 ft./lbs +- 10% and a guess, and believe me, Greg would have a very good guess, is it took a good 200 ft./lbs to break that sucker loose. As I suspected the chain was loose. Boy Howdy was it loose. The gear was in the "1" position and I moved it to the "3" which put the notch on the cam gear right in line with the oblong mark, not to the right of it as it should be after adjustment. So, we're talking 10 degrees of stretch in the chain. Figure its good for another 10,000 miles and then time to replace the whole assembly. Not surprisingly, after driving around to warm it up, every valve was "tight," and they really felt tight by the same amount. After adjusting the valves, and what the hell, as long as I adjusted the valves, the carbs, a very different feel to the car. It could hold a smooth idle at 550 -- 600 rpm while before it would need 700 -- 800 rpm to be somewhat smooth and trying to go any lower risked a downward spiral to stall. About the only tip I can add is that the FSM is much clearer on where to locate the oblong mark. Maybe if I didn't have to clean off decades of engine build up that was pretty much indistinguishable from a metal finish, I could have found it using the diagram in Chilton's, but even then I have my doubts. I'm still a little amazed at how much force it took to break loose the gear nut. If it had any effect, the engine's rotation would serve to loosen it, not tighten it. Either it had been replaced at some point by an over-enthusastic mechanic, or more likely, 42 years of close company and likely 1000s of heat / cool cycles melded the two together. Thanks for the tips! Chris

Jacco, The cars have so many interchangeable parts that many of the advantages of the latter 280Zs can be easily transferred to a 240Z. My 240Z has a 5-speed (not sure from what), electronic ignition from a 280ZX, and the Iron Cross wheels, also from a ZX, I believe. Oh, and I installed a 60 amp alternator, a ZX model, I believe, following one of the numerous explanations on changing from an external to an internally regulated alternator found on the web. The differential also swaps easily. As does the larger engine. OTOH, to get rid of the louvers in the 280z hood, find a hood without them -- 240z, 260z, they will fit. The parking lights -- that I think would be very difficult, if only because the very front of the Z probably underwent the most changes of any section of the car due to the introduction of U.S. Federal bumper standards (other than emission control). Over the production run of 240 -- 280Z the standards went from none, to 2.5 mph (with exemptions) to 5.0 mph, to 5.0 mph at a specified height and, I believe, a 2.5 mph side impact test as well. To answer your question, you need to figure out what you want to do with the Z. You obviously are unafraid of working on cars, so are you looking for a near primal street beast to feast on the unwary? A nice looking car that someone you are interested in would jump into? Both? Once you have that figured out, check out parts availability. I don't know about the Netherlands, but here in California, mechanical parts are quite easy to find, I picked up a new brake caliper -- from the back room! -- at the local branch of a national auto parts chain. Trim parts, interior parts, and small but impossible to live for long without electrical parts such as turn signal switches, etc. are much more difficult to find and tend to be pricey when you do. I wouldn't make the decision a 240Z/260Z/280Z decision as much as finding the specific vehicle that best fits your answers to the considerations I gave above. I will make a pitch for carbs. Yes, they are, and even then, were an obsolete technology, but they were one damned mature and well understood obsolete technology. The L-Jetronic injection system is damn near as obsolete, never really matured, and other than by FastWoman, not understood by anyone on the planet. Chris

This is a good thing to know. Thanks! Chris

Prophecy. While it is true that I didn't ask specifically about how to tell if the chain needed replacement, I probably would have on a follow-up. I asked about it because if adjusting the timing required pulling the front cover I would just go ahead and install a new chain et al. as I've put 60,000 miles on it since buying it six years ago. With a likely 140,000 on it at the time, the timing chain, had it ever been replaced, was likely replaced many miles earlier. But since I can check it, and if needed and not already on the 3rd peg, adjust it, while adjusting the valve gaps, I've already paid for part of the labor, so to speak, so might as well make the adjustment then. Thanks for the responses. Chris