mattbibbey

The DCOM series of weber carbs were the replacement carbs for the Weber DCOE production. The Italian Weber DCOE production lines ceased in the middle of the 1980's and these carbs were the next evolution.Weber didn't forsee though that the electronic fuel injection systems would replace carburetors. The DCOM has improved performance over the DCOE carbs and more lasting on/off use due to the perfected acceleration pump diaphragm and adjustable pump lever. DCOM carbs will bolt on any standard side draft weber 40 DCOE carburettor manifold and uses the same inner parts, namely jets,needles, seats and floats as the former DCOE carbs. I believe this information to be very accurate however I wouldn't like to be quoted on it haha. Hope this has been useful Matt

Loads of good advice here guys thanks. Some amusement too . It' seems to be a purely personal choice but there is quite a lot to think about. I am rebuilding 2 engines at the moment so I suppose I'll know which oils are best for those when they're apart?! I think I will put Castrol Classic in my current engine for the next oil change and see how it goes. Cheers again everyone who offered help etc here. Matt

yeah cool, that's kind of what I thought but just wanted confirmation. I know here in the UK and probably in the States as well, we have Castrol Classic, don't know how much it is but thought i might give it a go. I'll post the findings of 'Practical Classics magazine' here as well if anyone is interested. They tested a whole load of different oils in a load of scientific ways, which is probably why I switched off reading it in full haha. I'll read, digest and summarise it next week.

Thanks for that. Like you say, I am after an oil that's suitable rather than the best as "best" is as you say a personal preference. I read in this magazine article about the frothing of modern oils and how that can adversly affect the take up in a classic engines sump and oil pump. As long as someone else is running an oil without any dramas then i suppose it's suitable. It's a shame Nissan are trying to sweep the old days of datsun under the rug, otherwise they might be giving us the manufacturers recommended oils and lubricants like MG did. Have you ever picked the wrong oil and had problems with your car?

I posted this topic on a UK Z site and have had a few suggestions already. Namely Millers 20/50 classic and Valvoline 20W-50 racing synthetic oil so far. Anyone use either of these?

Hello everyone, we all know that the most expensive oil isn't always the best and especially not for classic cars. So, just which oil is the most suitable for the older Z cars. I know there was an article in a recent/current Practical Classics issue but was interested in what everyone was using and if anyone had any horror stories with "the wrong oil" I'll start with a story, in the army we use an engine oil called OMD90. It is a good oil and it contains a small amount of some sort of detergent. My friend at work has a triumph TR4a on its second engine now because of "the wrong oil". So from this I am keen to use the most suitable oil for the 70's mechanics in the old Z. Any help and fact and opinions are welcomed!! Thanks for everyones time. Matt

Well sadly, the Army (arseholes) have forced my hand and posted me 18months ahead of time so I'm not going to have a garage! I'm furious with them. So I think I'm going to sell this project. Also I've picked up another rolling resto. Will post some details of that one eventually.

Thanks for a lightning reply Alan.

I've found a sill panel for sale on one of the other Z club websites and it says it's for a 240Z or 260Z. Can this be right? I thought that part of the car was a different length in the 240 and 260. It's only £100 though so if anyone could help I'd be gratefull. Cheers

Thanks Charlie, I phoned them on friday and they'll get a quote back to me for monday I suppose. Thanks also for the heads up on soda blasting. I didn't know that and they don't tell you!

I know someone on here will have something to say about this but you "can" drive the car without the clutch functioning correctly. Treat it like a crash box. Apply pressure into the next gear whil gently altering the revs and it will go. BAD BAD BAD though, but if it's an emergency.......

Right! I've got the rear lights out now. Who ever it was that suggested i buy a Dremel tool.... GOOD advice. It was fairly easy with the new tool. I've also detached the fuel tank and that doesn't look to have any holes in it yet. I went to visit Charlie Boy the other day to see his Z and WOW, what a Z indeed. So after that I have decided that my Z project will not be a "to original factory" job. This is purely because the amount of chassis work that will be done the car won't be original anymore so what's the point? To that end, hopefully I can get the body done with what i have in the bank now! Does anyone know where i can get my bodywork stripped down to bare metal cheaply. I had an absurd quote of £1600!!!!! These are some pics i took of Charlie Boy's Datsun 240Z for anyone who was interested. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbibbey/4314339624/" title="3.1 litre Stoker. Datsun 240Z by matt bibbey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4314339624_0c24357ea6.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="3.1 litre Stoker. Datsun 240Z" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbibbey/4314339618/" title="Interior Datsun 240Z by matt bibbey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4314339618_5617ff7bc3.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Interior Datsun 240Z" /></a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbibbey/4314350284/" title="240Z by matt bibbey, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4314350284_7d87e3ee9d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="240Z" /></a>

Could anyone tell me roughly what i should be paying for a replacement windshield? I am in the UK Cheers

Wow, as few as that? I'm quite surprised. I'd done a bit of reading about 240Z sales here in the UK and how they were few, mainly through cost i suppose. My guess is that a significant number of 240's were scrapped without being registered as such. This explains why I've only ever seen one other than mine here! (which is also WELL off-the-road ) Thanks for the info.

I've had a look around on this site and the Internet more and I still can't find out how many 240Z's are left in britain! Obviously MANY have died of rust here in the UK and also crashes. Please feel free to add speculation here as well as cold hard facts. Cheers everyone Matt

Charlie, is your pangbourne the one that about a twenty minute drive away from me in Abingdon? If so I'd like to take you up on your offer. At the moment it looks like I'm going to have a very busy year haha. I have heard nothing but good things about Fourways and they've been around doing Z's for a long time haven't they.

i've got one of those as well it's just finding a decent grinding head for it. I've bought some real crap on ebay. Unfortunately soldiering keeps me away from the shops!

Just nto take this thread back to the begining a moment: Here in the UK, what you call Premium Unleaded Gas costs (on average) £1.09 a liter at the moment, that's about $1.75. X that by 4.5 to get a gallon and that's $7.87 per gallon of normal pertol (gas). So a full tank of gas in the UK will cost me around $104!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bad Times!

When you pulled the acorn nuts out, did it damage the plastic? I can't get to some of the screw heads with my angle grinder and I really don't want to put holes in the rear panel, it's one of the few parts that actually good!