tanny

I'll have to put some photos of my z in my gallery at some point here so that it can be raked over the coals. I'll wait till later this summer after it gets it's paint job and before my son thrashes it. It's nothing too special, but the three webers look nice, the dash is uncracked, minilite wheels, and the steering wheel's on the left side. Only thing that doesn't work is, you guessed it, the clock. It also has that "climbing out of a hole" look that comes from new springs on the front and old ones on the back. Kind of like a P-51 Mustang. Victor. Not sure if I should name the car. The most common thing I have called it during restoration has been "son of a b----" and "c--- sucker", but those don't seem appropriate for casual conversation.

I would bet that the arcing is being caused by deteriorated insulation. This would definitely allow the electrons to jump from the wire to ground. All wire insulation materials will deteriorate over time, although the silicone type seems to be fairly durable. I really doubt that you would get any arcing if you installed a new set of wires. BUT, I can't afford to guarantee it. Always hedge your bets. Victor.

Geez Alpha, exact same thing happened to me. Maybe it was the spitwads on the back of his shirt. Poor guy. But anyway, the obvious and I believe the only solution is to get a new set of plug and coil wires if they are all exhibiting the arcing. You probably already knew that. Victor.

I like zkid's analogy, but my lead never has broken even when twisted severely by a fat chick. I guess it wasn't in a tight enough corner. Victor.

Careful with the positive connector. I replaced the big O-ring to fix a gasoline leak, which didn't work. On closer inspection, the gasoline was leaking out of the positive connection fitting. I hammered the rivet tighter and put JB Weld around the fitting on the outside, and so far the leak is stopped. Victor.

Poor guy! You forgot to put the steering back on the correct side of the car? Does it still drive allright? Pretty precious. Victor.

Leads? Those are the little carbon sticks you put into those refillable pencils, aren't they? Lower resistance values would allow more current to flow through a circuit. Voltage = Current X Resistance, so algebraically Current = Voltage divided by Resistance, so the lower the resistance, the higher the current. I would think having lower resistance in your "leads" would be a good thing, but I think resistance is also used to suppress electromagnetic noise in your radio caused by the ignition system. Sounds like maybe there might be cracks in the insulation around your leads. There must be someone here who knows what the theory is behind arcing plug and coil wires. Victor.

At high altitude during winter there is no choice but to run the choke until the engine has had time to warm up sufficiently to keep running. 6500 feet and 15 below zero. In summer my z starts fine with no choke.(the 3 webers may be helping it out a bit) Victor.

This is an example of biasing statistics the way you want the results to be. The real reason these guy's sperm quality was down was because anyone who would have a predisposition to look for and enjoy a toll booth job is most likely a genetic failure anyway, and it follows that their sperm quality would be subpar. So the exhaust fumes actually had no effect except to give them a pleasant high at work. Victor This is tongue in cheek so don't take offense you toll booth operators out there.

I have one of these that I bought on ebay before I knew that the 73 240 one was different from the rest. Bright move. I also took a beating on it. All I know is that it's not for a 73, it still has the lower plastic surround that people cut out for their aftermarket radios, and has the controls still on it. If I remember right, the chrome is in mediocre shape. If you're interested, I can take a few pictures and send them to you and refresh my memory on it's overall condition. Victor.

If it turns out that you have the same problem, it might be good to email KYB and tell them their bung nut is not the proper specification for this application. They probably wouldn't do anything because this application i'm sure doesn't bring them in much money, but worth a try to save others the hassle. Please email me if you do have the same problem. Thanks, Victor.

I took the struts apart and found that the cartridge retaining nut that fits over the cartridge shaft and screws down into the strut tube was not seated down against the top of the cartridge, so the cartridge was slamming back and forth about 3/16 inch on every bump I hit. The retaining nut that came with the KYB cartridges would not screw down far enough to secure the cartridge, so I had to fabricate two washers(spacers) to place inside the retaining nut for each rear cartridge to take up the 3/16 inch gap. The clunking is now gone. If only the nut could have screwed in a few more turns. Interesting that the nuts that came with the front cartridges worked fine. What a hassle. Victor.

Thanks, Victor.

mikew, Yes, I adjusted the wheel from totally open to closed and still the marker wouldn't rise. The marker seems to be free of any undue friction, so I think the unisyn is working. I wonder if anyone with triples has had this problem. Thanks, Victor.

What is the actual amount of oil that goes into a flattop carb? I didn't see any specs in the manual other than type of oil(20w). Maybe I missed it somewhere. Thanks, Victor.

Just a note. I have triple webers and was unable to get the unisyn to register anything at all at idle. Has anyone else had this problem? After adjusting the mixture by ear, I used the colortune to check and was very close to optimal. Victor.

God I wish I were too "old"(36). I guess at 53 I have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, and my wife just found another receipt for 240 parts. Victor.

This is interesting because I just installed two KYB struts on the rear of my 240 and I am getting a clunk on both sides when I go over any bump. I can reproduce the noise by just pushing down on the rear of the car. I'm going to check out the struts today and see if maybe the top nut that retains the cartridge in the strut is not screwed down tightly enough, although I remember cinching down on it fairly hard. The clunk definitely is coming from the strut area. Victor.

I think I agree with carguyinok. It seems like the rubber would eventually accumulate grit underneath it and rub a nice patch of paint down to metal. I did buy a pair but I may not stick them on, especially since I live on a couple miles of dirt road. Victor.

thefastestz, Man that's disgusting, a Cavalier. At least it could have been a vette or a Lotus Europa or something else nice. The important thing though, did the girl have a nice ***? If yes, then I would forgive her. My 240(soon to be my son's) has been making frequent stops at the side of the road and my wife is becoming quite skilled as a tow car driver, which of course is a testament to my lack of skill as a restorer. I think I have most of the car's issues resolved, but am still debating going to the stock carbs instead of the triple webers, which continue to give drivability problems. As long as you are a decent mechanic and carry your tools in the car, I'd use it as a dd. For reliability, I think I'd keep it stock. Have fun, Victor.

I wonder if the Japanese originally used whale oil. Fill a carb, snuff a whale. A Hell's Angel friend used Crisco in his Harley forks, that might work in Death Valley mid summer. I've looked at all the local auto parts and none have 20 wt. oil. The motorcycle shop sounds like the ticket. Victor.

Definitely had to bend the lower mount significantly to get the antenna close to vertical(not angled toward the centerline). But it looks reasonable now. Interesting to me that the lower mount that came with the car(73 z) was severely bent in a strange manner with no way of fitting the oem antenna I purchased. The lower mount that came with the antenna also would not work, and it hadn't been bent up at all and was in original shape. Oh well, it works now. Thanks, Victor.

Baby powder! Now that is really innovative. Everyone calls their z " their baby" anyway. Excellent. Victor.

I am installing an electric antenna in a 73 240z and was wondering how the antenna should be angled relative to the car: does it angle back parallel to the centerline of the car, or does it angle back and inward toward the centerline of the car? When I install it and attach the lower brace, it wants to angle back and toward the hatch, and when hatch is open the antenna misses it by about 3/4 of an inch when extended. Does that sound right or not? Thanks, Victor.

I was at NAPA Auto Parts yesterday looking up an aftermarket strut for my camper shell. You could check it out and see if anything might fit. They list by stroke length and compressed length and pounds of force. Don't know whether you could jury rig one of their struts. They ranged fom $15 t0 $40. Victor.