Mikez73

Think about doing it yourself. I replaced the entire suspension and steering on my shiro. That included burning out some bushings. I was a little uncomfortable w/ the MAPP gas at first but everything turned out well. I took something small...I dunno...maybe ball joints or t-rod bushings, to a shop to have pressed out and they quoted me $75. I said no thanks and went and got a loaner tool at autozone. Like Pop's Z said, the rear is important too. I don't remember much about s130's but it is probably a little harder like most cars. It's a good time to fix any rust issues and repaint too. I discovered my diff mount was about to go out when I was doing the rear. A new one was ~$200 so I made this instead: Better and cheaper too.

True, I did not do that. I wouldn't have done it but the look doesn't bother me enough to change. The buckets are fiberglass and the lights are quality and include relays so I'm okay with them. The head lights are really the only thing I'd have done different if I had modified the car. I'd love to drop in an L28et and an intercooler but I can't afford that right now. Thanks for the nice words and the welcome.

I've been reading a lot and forgot to introduce myself. It's a great site to learn. Anyway I'm Mike. 54 years old. Home is Houston, TX. I've owned two s130's and two z31's. I sold my Shiro z31 awhile back and wanted to try an s30. I was really looking for a 280z because I'm a lot more familiar w/ EFI than carbs but...I found a 240. I was a little uncomfortable buying a car that was already modified but something about the stance and clean lines just grabbed my attention. Technically it's for sale due to financial reasons but I'm not trying that hard to sell it I'm hoping if I stall long enough things will pick up and I'll be able to keep it. If not then maybe I'll at least be able to trade down to a 280z that needs a little work. Anyway I'll tell you a little about the car. The guy I bought it from bought it back in the mid 90's. I have to say he took great care of it. Always garaged and washed and waxed. I think he might have babied it a bit. He didn't actually know a lot about the car. The previous owner was responsible for all the modifications. It has an L24 block I believe. I know it has an E88 head. Some kind of aftermarket cam. It's got a bit of a lope. Headers, triple Weber DCOE40 carbs. Looks to be a 2.5" exhaust but I haven't really measured. It has some kind of flares that have been glassed in. A spoiler and airdam that were glassed in. Beautiful 901 silver paint. I've found only minor surface rust under the battery tray and in an odd place...right under the passenger side drip thing. I've checked the other usual rust locations but haven't found any rust. The seats look great. Very comfortable too which surprised me. The interior is really pretty nice overall. Has just the am/fm, no a/c and manual steering. Tach doesn't work nor does the clock. The clock I don't care about but I need that tach. The starter circuit on the carbs is not connected so it's very cold natured. Takes a long time to start and a long time to warm up. I'm hoping the hotter spark will help with that. I also need to find a way to connect the starter circuit on the Webers. Once it's warm it runs great. Revs and pulls very smooth. No stumbles at all. It has very wide BBS 2 piece 15" wheels. 225/50 on front and 245/50 in the rear. As fat as the tires are they still spin very easy. Not that I do that a lot Those 245/50/15 tires are gonna be expensive and hard to find. I've only driven the car 6 or 7 times. Still has the stock distributor and alternator/regulator. I bought a new '79/'80 280zx distributor and everything else to convert to electronic ignition. I'm not sure if I want to use the IC that came on the dizzy or convert to an HEI. I bought one so I probably will go ahead and use it. Got new wires, plugs, cap, etc too waiting to go on. So far all I've done is replaced the shifter bushings and wirebrushed/sanded off the rust and treated the metal. I've read a lot of the posts and tech writeups here and at hybridz but I'm sure I'll have some questions. About converting to a 280zx dizzy and the HEI thing for one. And there are a couple of wires that aren't connected that I'm curious about. And the wipers are s-l-o-w. Wouldn't want to drive it in rain. Whew...that's enough for now. I'll post a pic and a link to a lot more pics if you're interested. It's different but I hope you like it. http://67.18.219.83/image_hosting/web_pages/Mike88se/images/240/240Z.htm

Very good. I'm replacing my 240 distributor with a new 280zx part but if I had gone with the Pertronix unit I'd surely be using this writeup. I know you're loving that cold start improvement.