oldhemi

Dont discard the idea of a 260Z. Early ones are light weight like the 240Z. Later ones are more 280Zish. Get one with a great interior and sell me stuff that you dont need for the racing part. Carl B. (and other historians) can correct me, but I think that 1974 was the highest selling year of the 240-260-280's. Hence, more of em!

Holy CRAP. What a bunch of nice cars! And very nice folks!!! I wanted to ask everybody tons of questions on their car but I could not get to everyone. The folks I did get to prolly warned the others to run and hide! I have not seen that many Z's in one spot EVER! Even at dealerships back in the early '70's. (You had to wait in line back then for the next one that came in!) 240's and 280's. Mine and Lon's early 260's are in their respective garage's and one other guy's car had a problem getting there. Once again circumstances prove my view that the 260's ARE the bastards of the bunch. And a real nice silver Turbo ZX that left before I could really look at it. I am jealous of everyone's car's front frame rails. Nary a spot of rust on any of them! I was so excited when I came home, I could not take my doctor-ordered nap! Even my wife was enthusiastic. She especially loved Mikes burgandy '78 with A/C. She thought that Frank from the Woodlands car belonged on a race track until she found out it had A/C also. See the theme here for her - must have A/C. Well, mine aint gonna have it - never did. And, I aint gonna get another Z because I dont have enough room as it is which means that I would have to sell one of my old Hemi's. But, I digress. Hopefully, I will be working on getting my motor running in the next couple of weeks. Its soaking with some ATF on the pistons. While I am waiting, I will drop the gas tank and see whats up with it. Based on all of my internet searches, I am pretty sure that I have a perforated pick up tube. While I am pondering the gas tank situation, I will try to start the car with a spare motorcycle tank provided it aint locked up. I have a contingency for that - I picked up a '78 280Z motor yesterday that came out of a running car that just had a LS1 conversion. Really nice orange car done in a shop up here on 1960 and Jones. Jsomething Power Motor sports or something like that. Jeremy is the owner. He says that Z's are not his primary work, but he now has 3 more customer's Z's sitting there for conversions. He must be doing something right and hopefuly his word about the motor is also good. But, I really hope that I dont need it! Once again thanks to everyone and especially Zenobi for getting the get-together together!

Yeah, you can. There are several methods these days. Back in 1976 when my early 260z was giving me all kinds of problems, I threw in a junkyard dizzy and coil from a wrecked 240Z. The 260Z module is still mounted on the passenger sidewall. I left the ballast resistor in place for the points. Never had any more problems with the car not starting. I found out many years later that there was a TSB concerning bad connectors to the module from the factory!

And, I am looking forward to checking out your ride!!! Saturday, right?

The LBC ( Little British Car) might be a MG Midget/Austin Healy Sprite. Leave it there and see if you can drag the other Z home also. I see some parts on that I maybe can use! You can drop them off the next time you are in the Houston area!

No filters on my Tokico. My front seal looks good and there is even fluid still in the resivor. The rear seal which appears to have been pretty thick melted into the resivor. I have got most of the gunk out. My master cylinder is toast as evidenced by the fluid that has leaked onto the booster. Luckily it has not ruined the inner fender sheet metal. Just happened to looking at this stuff tonight. My Nabco Clutch M/C has dried up fluid - Its crumbly! As I understand the situation so far - new units do not come with reservoirs/caps. Mebbe I am wrong and they are available at extra cost. I am hoping that someone reads this thread and can help out with a source for the seals!

Great thread so far. I am looking forward to your report on the rebuild of the calipers results. I am hoping for a good report!

Mine leaked like that out of the box MANY years ago. I solved the problem by putting on a fuel pressure regulator. I set it at 3 lbs for normal driving and sometimes to 2 for constant highway driving and had no problem over the years. IIRC, the 260Z's mechanical and electric pump seems to put out about 4.5 lbs of pressure and the 40DCOE's wanted less than 4 lbs. Caveat: I did not hook up the return line at the time, so I dont know if that would have solved the problem w/o using a regulator!

Moritz55 - Very nice write ups with loads of information! Where did you get the stock height numbers? Measured from center of wheel arch?

Gnose - never a driver - spectator or an adhoc crewman at the stockers when I was young and strong. Plainville, Riverside, Stafford, Thompson, Norwood MA, Danbury, New London. Lebanon Valley(Best Food) and Middletown in NY when I wanted to watch some dirt tracking. After observing the cost, commitment of time, education(breaking stuff) to become an owner/driver, I decided that was not for me. I had several MGB's, MGA's, a '67 XKE and a '65 AH 3000 in the late 60's and early 70's as DD's before I bought the Z new in '74. I was tired of windscreens, leaky ragtops and useless heaters. The Z's "creature comforts" appealed to me. Of all those British cars, I still regret selling the MGA coupe I'll check out the video!

Gnosez - OK, cool. Sorry on my attack on you. I can understand your frustration. I have been to all of the tracks that you mention plus most of the stock car tracks and Laconia. I am hoping that you come up with some more stuff because i have not found one person knockig your stuff. Your floor rails are mighty tempting. Hey I'll buy the beers! But I wont drink that Sam Adams stuff......... Mayitin - I want something that is at the same noise level as my old system. I cant remember what the stuff was. But, I did put a Monza on my MGB at 19 years old and it WAS loud. Thanks for reminding me! I hope to hook up with some Houston area Zhedz and review their exhaust systems and see whats what.

ArneTx, I am almost in the same boat as you concerning rust. But, I have no dents on my early 260Z. I am the original owner. I have seen a lot of threads with pictures of rust repair on the hybridz site along with this site. With money being no object or a lot of experience by the owner, I have seen some real POS's being repaired. Didja notice that rust is like cockroaches? You poke at one small spot of rust and there is 10 times more than you expected! You either suck it up and fix it to the best of your ability/wallet or close it down. I dont want to discourage you, but your cars are going to require a lot of money and time. They could be good parts cars - especially if you stick with 240's. The 75-78 280's have enough differences that you could be going backwards mechanically picking parts off these 2. You gotta ask yourself how much money or time do you want to spend? Its evident that you already have started this process. IMHO, you need to see if you have a motor/trans that are good between the 2. Then, maybe study the brakes and suspension situation. You will be at least taking mental notes of where and how bad the rust is as you go along. As long as the process is fun, then you are ahead at this point. Nothing wrong with having a safe decent running ugly car. Some welding and use of sheetmetal and fiberglass might get you going.

Gnose, you talking to me? If so, thanks for holding my hand! Come on down and help me with my driving, too. I had respect for your apparent knowledge of zcars whereas there was no internet since the last time I drove my Z. I figured if someone who I perceive as a very knowledgeable person( yeah, I have done a lot of searching lately and you do show up on the net) went with a particular part, then at the very least I should look into it. I also figured that person would be able to point out where to get this item after posting about said item without an attitude. Was it real hard for you to point out what exact part was available on that site that you had on your car without trying to ridicule me? You dont know me. But, now I have a good idea about you! Is this how you treat your customers when they have a specific question? Do I still respect your knowledge after the insults you threw at me? Yes. Do I respect you as a person - not so much now. Would I like to meet you in person - you betcha. You are a real piece of work. WTF, go get laid or something. Maybe then, I can come up to Boston the next time I visit my my family in Connecticut and we can hoist some beers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey guys, I am not here to be an a-hole. I have NEVER been attacked on any other site like this. I try to share what I know on 69-78 Honda 750 Sandcast's and Honda SOHC choppers having extensive experience with them for over 35 years. I help guys even when I am holding their hands for the umpteeth time - I just dont make fun of their computer skills or writing/spelling skills even if I have to work at getting them squared away. I cant ride or wrench much on my bikes anymore due to being disabled and old, but that dont stop me from trying. This longevity does not make me "the" expert, I am always leaning something new from a young kid or another old-timer. I think that I can contribute to this forum in some way and earn some modicum of respect from all of you regulars. Be it checking out or picking up a part/car for someone here in Texas to walking out to my garage and looking at my 74 Z to check for originality for someone - I am the original owner. I have picked up and stored bikes and or parts and also helped with shipping them out of my garage for some folks. Thanks ARNE for supplying more info. I appreciate it and look forward to other members posting on this thread.

Thanks Mike! Doh, I think that I might have been there earlier and was just confused. Now that I been there again, I guess that I would like to see or know which tip/muffler to get/ponder! The Web site has a dizzying array of stuff including a pic of a ruined SEMA modified early Corvette! Another point that I need to learn is what size of exhaust is rotting away on my 260Z.

Gnose (or anyone else), would you please expand on the "Sebring Tuning muffler"? I have a 260Z which has no cat, but still has an old header on that I hope to repair - rest of the exhaust system is not so good. If you could point me in a direction on the web or elsewhere, I would appreciate it!

I have that exact VR on the right. I remember putting it on back in 75 or 76. Its about the only engine compartment item that is still shiny! Picked it up in a parts store.

A lot of good info in this thread. Moritz, please update us on how hard/soft the ride is when it stops snowing:)

Ha, my old Z with Mullholland suspension rides like it has no springs - 4 iron pipes welded in there would be better. You can visually inspect the spring now to see if it is broken and wedged somehow. I doubt this though. The wheel should drop down as you jack that side up. If it does not, well then you really do have something stuck. Try a length of 2x4 or really long crowbar under the tire and see if you can move the wheel up and down. Every car or truck that I have had that had bad shocks would bounce like crazy. Maybe you have a shock broke or rusted in a stuck position?

I am thouroughly unfamiliar with fuel injection, so take what I say with a grain of salt. How about pulling the spark plug wire on the suspected cylinder that is ticking? I would think that a no-fire condition would lessen or eliminate exhaust noise thus indicating an exhaust leak rather than an injector tick. If the ticking does not go away, try the nearest plug also. I am not sure if you could also try disconnecting the injector electrically because I know nothing about this fuel injection system. I would try this once the ticking really starts going. Should not hurt anything if you are only doing this for a short time.

Thanks for both bits of info! And, I apologize for not searching harder for the online manuals. I have downloaded EVERY manual up to the 260Z manual and been studying. So, I look at the data and I see that it appears that the early 260Z was only.3 inches higher in installed height. It seems to me that the car sat at least an inch+ higher than 240Z's. I also see that the 260Z springs have a higher weight capability which is good because me and the mizzus are no longer svelte 20 somethings:) I guess that I will have to look at aftermarket springs and shocks. Not sure if there are new 240Z springs available. I just can not take the bone-jarring setup that I now have. I am seeing that KYB and Tokiko(sp) are the front runners for cartridges? I am hoping to hook up with some local Zhedz and see if ZI can get a ride in their cars with various setups. Meanwhile, I am busy poking and prodding the rust.

Thanks Geez! Interesting numbers on the chart - can I ask you where this chart can be found? The insulator pic should also be helpful to 280Z folks. Like you posted, now I (we, if anyone else is interested) need the 240Z equivalent. I am going to hunt through some old boxes this weekend which might still have some info concerning the spring color codes that was in the parts boxes with the springs. I know that it is not factory documentation but it might be helpful for any other historians here.

Nissan raised the height of the rear by 1 - 1 1/2" to the best of my memory in 1974 to help some high speed stability. I never liked the look. I put on Mullholland springs and shocks in '77 and that lowered it too much. I would like to get the same stance as the stock 240z's and I am asking if anyone knows what I gotta do. I still have the original springs somewhere, I think. IIRC, all 4 springs have the same color coded tape on them - meaning that they are all the same spring rate I would guess. I dont want to cut the coils. IIRC, the local auto parts places list the same spring for the 240Z and 260Z which I know is wrong. Are there correct 240Z rear springs that I can substitute? Or, as I saw in some thread recently, did Nissan accomplish the deal by substituting thicker top insulators? Also, I can no longer take the stiff ride of the springs/shocks. What are some gentle brands of shock cartridges out there? Thanks for any input/opinions/comments.

New guy here, I would like to come to look at some cars, sts and generally hang out. I am at 249 and Louetta - 5 miles north of Willowbrook and 8 miles south of Tomball. My Z is a non-runner. See "Welcome to the Forum": http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36833

Hello y'all. Transplanted Texan from Connecticut for 19 years! I bought my early 260Z new in spring of 1974. Anybody remember Stephens World of Wheels on Rt 6 in Bristol? Wanted a silver one, but a brown one came in when my number was called. The only bondo in this car was installed due to the gorillas unloading of the car off of the transport. Small ding on the drivers door. "upgraded" the car in 1977 with 3 Webers, headers and a whole lot of suspension stuff. Ran like a bat outta hell and rode like a rigid frame Harley! Good 85,000 mile, mostly dent-free, original paint(bad) car except for the bottom 4 inches. Not sure if the rust is terminal. I have not driven the car for 18 years and am thinking of maybe starting her up. 10 years ago, I was hitting pick u parts for other cars that I had and I would pick up some stuff here and there for the Z because the stuff was so cheap. Missed out on some doors back then.:stupid: In any case, I am now disabled/retired with too many projects on my hands and limited income. I hope to get with a few local folks and get some opinions and pointers to ponder on to decide on the future of this car. Anyhoo, great site, some inspirational stories and cars! I hope to be here for awhile lurking and HOPEfully asking some questions.