Walter Moore

Citroen cars have not been available in the U.S. for decades. We do however have our share of "gutless wonders", typically sold as economy cars.

How often do you use the air conditioner in your daily driver? (Assuming it isn't the Z) If the answer is more than 25% of the year, strongly consider fixing the AC.

I don't know about the 280Z, but the 280ZX distributor does have this characteristic . I pulled the oil pump and repositioned the distributor drive shaft to resolve the alignment issue. Arne: There is nothing intrinsically wrong with running points, so long as the distributor bearings are in good condition. As you state, cars used them for years. The only real down side is increased maintenance. If the car isn't a daily driver, and the points are working for you, why switch? I know nothing about the Pertronix. It wasn't something that I was interested in pursuing. The ZX distributors typically do have too much vacuum advance, at least in the later years, and since the only breaker plate that is still available from Nissan is for the 83, there is a strong risk that a rebuilt earlier distributor may have excessive vacuum advance as well. So your choices with the ZX distributor are: 1. Mechanically limit the vacuum advance to no more than 15-17 degrees (at the crank) 2. Disable the vacuum advance altogether. (See jmortensen's post) Either approach will prevent the spark knock so common with the ZX "upgrade". When using the ZX distributor you should jumper out the ballast resistor, and use the ZX ignition coil as well. I also notice that there are after market ignition modules from some of the generic parts stores for $100 - $150 each. If you are going to carry a spare, why not carry a cheap one? But if your points distributor has good bearings, and the timing is set correctly, the relative improvement from electronic ignition will be difficult to notice.

An electric might help with fuel flow in that case, but if the car runs without it the choice is likely just personal preference. Is the fuel return line still in place? Without a fuel return line the electric pump probably wouldn't help with vapor lock.

The 260Z was a 1974 model in the U.S. 1975 - 1978 models were 280Z's The big differences here were the extra emissions controls on the 73-74 cars, and the introduction of fuel injection in 1975.

The DAD "racing" seats that I bought on Ebay bolted straight in with no modifications. That being said, they aren't the optimum choice for long distance touring. In fact I doubt that they are more comfortable than stock seats. They were just a lot cheaper than rebuilding the OEM seats.

You can buy a starter at almost any auto parts store that will work acceptably. I bought my most recent starter at Advance Auto, but only because the store is 1/4 mile from my house.

Misaligned pulleys eat fan belts quite often, as do high wattage alternators used with the belt for a 40A unit. I am not sure how "excessive" engine torque could cause a fan belt to snap since the load that the belt sees is essentially independent of the torque produced by the motor. Any properly running motor has sufficient power to destroy a fan belt in short order.

I am missing some context here. Is it legal in California to use old license plates on a car? Here the plates themselves change every few years and they will ticket you for using an original plate, even with an updated registration. The classic car guys I run into at car shows have to change plates once they get to the show, and put the "real" plate back on before they can drive it home.

I have never had a problem with synthetic oil in any car, regardless of the mileage, PROVIDED it met with the three requirements in my earlier post.

I run 195/65R 15's with a stock valance and no interference of any kind. I am using ZX-Turbo wheels (15x6 with a +10mm offset) I am not sure about the offset of the Rewinds. That can make a difference.

Oh, and you may end up having to pull the oil pump and re-aligning the distributor drive because the ZX distributor mounts at a slightly different angle than the original points distributors, which makes it difficult to get the desired timing.

Here are some links that apply: (Self promotion I know...) http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34559&highlight=Distributor http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34192&highlight=Distributor Be sure to check the actual vacuum advance of your distributor before driving the car very much.

My opinion is that the BEST oil has three primary characteristics: 1. It is clean 2. It has been in your car's engine less than six months 3. It is the appropriate viscosity for the current outside temperature. (e.g. no 20W50 below 10 deg. C and no 5W30 above 40 deg. C) Secondary characteristics, including ZDDP content are important, but less so that the three listed above.

Check to make sure that your fuse clips are tight. The old glass style fuse clips spread over time, and when you apply a heavy load they arc and overheat. Sometimes, if you are lucky it blows the fuse. If you are unlucky it melts a hole in your fuse block.

Really? My internally lubed cam shaft came with plates to bolt over the oiler tube openings. It seems to work, because the engine has run for years that way.

Hello again. I just replied to your post at http://www.indyzcarclub.org/ We seem to be traveling in the same circles.

Typically in the U.S. any car sold after October is the next year's model. I hear that in that era it ended up being whatever the dealer put on the paperwork. But the "series 1" cars were made well into calendar 1971 anyway. Oh, and my clock works, not very well, but it only loses about 1 hour per week. All electro-mechanical clocks from that era were like that, at least the DC powered ones. The pictures look great, but beware of the typical rust places, and remember that the floor of cars rust out from the inside, not the outside. Remember to check things like all of the U-joints, brakes, exhaust, etc. (Those headers look old to me. Uncoated headers usually only last 3 or 4 years in the wetter parts of the country.) Good luck!

Could it just be that the fuel mixture is too lean for hot weather? I also notice that you didn't list a thermostat among the items you replaced.

Actually all of the Mustang II (74-78) and Fox Body Mustangs (79-93) had four bolt wheels. I think the were a different bolt circle diameter however. (4 1/4" comes to mind.) But then no one would ever accuse a Mustang II of being a muscle car.

Simple green and a scrub brush will work. It just takes time.

The Holley electric fuel pump that I put on my Z (from Summit Racing) came with instructions specifying that it needs to be protected with a 7 1/2 amp fuse. I used 14ga wire and thought that was overkill. 10ga wire is fused at 30A in house wiring. On a car it would be expected to carry the full output of the OEM alternator. But hey, it is your car. A little extra copper won't hurt anything.

I used a strand of copper wire to clean my plugged nozzle. I just stripped back a 10ga stranded wire, separated out the strands, and used them one at a time until the blockage was free. Sorry, I don't know a good source for the nozzles.

Define "standard" size tires. The OEM tires on the early cars were 175/80 14, which are no longer available. The OEM tires had a theoretical OD of 636mm (25 inches). The later cars came with 195/70 14 tires which have a calculated diameter of 629mm and the Tire and Rim Association book shows them at 630mm (24.8 inches). I don't have a T&RA book that still shows the original tire size. So, if you have 195/70 14 tires on your car, and all other things are right and working correctly you speedometer should read 636/630 times faster than you are actually traveling. Which equals about 1% fast. (You would never notice) My guess is that either the speedometer is out of calibration, (it is 40 years old...) or something in the system isn't actually the part you believe it to be. Edit: Have you checked you odometer to see if it is accurate? If the odometer reading is correct but the speedometer is off it is in the speedometer. If both are off by roughly the same amount, poke around on Courtesy Parts to find a 20 or 21 tooth speedometer gear and try that.

Nice looking frame/body that you have there. Hey, a stroked L series is still at least a Nissan motor. (more or less) It retains the car's original look and weight distribution. No harm no foul in my book.