Turbo7MN

Okay, I'm going to get this out of the way first: I started looking for a Z because I intended on just finding one with a clean chassis and beginning an engine swap project... an aluminum block Ford DOHC 4.6, likely from a Lincoln Mark VIII. I had been looking for a chassis for a little while, maybe a month or two, when I saw a car pop up on craigslist a short drive from my old house that sounded promising. Originally a Texas car, sat in a garage for the last 8 years, and supposedly very clean. So I went to look at it. The car was originaly a putrid green color but it had a fresh coat of bright red put on right before it was parked that was still in very good condition. The only serious rust on the car was the rear edge of the hatch. I couldn't believe the kind of condition this thing was in. So me and a couple friends went back last Sunday with a trailer and picked up the car. I almost feel bad saying how much I paid for a Z in this condition, but I will anyway . $700 cash and she was mine. We tried cranking it over but it didn't turn much before it got stuck. On the way to my friend's place where I'm keeping it, we talked about what kind of shape it was in and they kinda talked me into trying to get it running in its current state and driving it with the L24 for a while. The very unfortunate thing is the car has an automatic. If I did get it going, I'd probably manual swap it over the winter. But anyway, my friend pulled the plugs out and put some MMO in the cylinders and has been turning it by hand all week so we're hopeful that we can get it going soon. I do have some questions now: 1. The car has been sitting 8 and a half years. I figured changing the gas, oil, coolant, etc. is a given. A friend also reccomended pulling the valve cover off and making sure everything moves freely by hand before trying to run the car. Anything else you guys reccomend before trying to fire it up? 2. This car is a '72, but an early 72 from what I've gathered. I cannot recall the exact build date. Anyway, I have heard the '72 is heavier than the original 70-71 models but have not been able to find an actual curb weight of the 72. How much heavier exactly is the '72 compared to the 70-71? 3. I have not been able to find out whether the L24 is an interference motor or not. Shouldn't matter too much since it's a timing chain instead of a belt but it would be nice to know. I'm sure I'll have more as time goes on. Oh, and here's a crappy cell phone pic of the car. I'm gonna try and get better ones this weekend. -Darren

After searching for a long time, I ended up finding a '72 240Z that was mostly rust free and incredibly cheap that had been sitting for a long time. I picked the car up last weekend and I'm looking forward to trying to get it running this weekend. I'm no stranger to cars in general, I bought an RX-7 when I was 14 and had been building that up into quite the machine up until last June when I unfortuately flipped the car into a ditch. I'm going to fix it when I get out of college but for now I decided to pursue one of my other loves, Z cars. Unfortunately I am not nearly as well versed (yet) in these cars as I was in RX-7s so I will be asking questions on here quite a bit. I'm going to go start another thread in the technical forums about some specific questions I have regarding the car, just figured I'd say hi here first. Here's a crappy cell phone pic by the way. I'm going to try and get better ones this weekend. -Darren