Gee

I had the same problem a few months ago and heat, plus an easy-out and a pair of locking pliers finally did the trick. I was told that any easy preventative measure to stop this happening in the future is to coat the threads with a smear of copper grease before putting the studs back in. I've since removed a stud that had this treatment done to it and it makes all the difference - came out without any hassles.

Are you talking about the welch plugs /freeze plugs? If there is a hole in one of them the block will leak coolant, unless the block is all silted up inside. You need to pull it out and tap in a new one (with a bit of gasket cement around the edges to make it secure). You should be able to get some from any auto store. Don't tap too hard or it'll go into the water gallery!

$16,000 for a 510.... and it's sold!! 510

I was a little disappointed with the article actually. The photos were nice, but I don't think it actually "said" much... that noted, one of the British car mags has the same review (350Zv240Z) next month on the Aussie stands..it'll be interesting to compare! Judging by the little preview photo it looks like the yellow car that was featured in Classiccars a few months ago..

anyone got a good zx dizzy they want to sell??

Are there any other after-market electronic ignition dizzy's? I'm not talking about the Petronix "coversion" unit. I mean new, dedicated electronic ignition rather than an internal points conversion - after all if the shaft is worn, it'll still be wrong.

$450 for the dizzy......ugh:dead: That's from Performance Ignition in Melb. I know that 280 dizzys are generally cheaper, but most of the one's I've seen have been stuffed..

Has anyone had any experience putting a Bosch disctributor in their zed? I found a place that converts them for use with a L6 motor and as spares are plentiful should it be easy to maintain etc. I've heard there aren't many parts for the stock ZX distributors left, and what is still around is expensive by comparison. What about other aftermarket dizzys? My points dizzy is too stuffed in the shaft to use the magnetic conversion.. help!!!!

I found one for $880 Gav.. it you want the info, let me know. Even then, I thought THAT was pricey. If you were going to do a heavy, bulk order from overseas I'd say you'd be better off getting some LSD's at the same time as well!! You'd get a fair interest in them too I'd say. Count me in if someone wants to look at this as an option.

Well I have kinda modified it a bit from original (5spd instead of auto, leather to replace crappy vinyl on the seats), but other than that the essentials are all still original, right down to the radio. As I don't have the space to store a motor (I live in a flat at the moment) I think it will be a case of refreshing the L24 and looking at other options later - I have a friend who had his "refreshed" and it goes pretty hard so maybe that's the course I'll end up taking. Anyone have an experience with refreshing or rechroming bumpers? I think mine are seriously letting the car look a bit dowdy at the moment! G

Problem is, I have nowhere to store the original parts, and when you lay-up a motor your basically asking for a rebuild when you want to put it back in.. Can you get to 2.8 without causing any structural problems (ie bore wall thickness issues)? If you can get to 2.8 by boring, surely you can get to 3.0 by putting in a diesel crank?

I'm interested in you comment Halz as I am now in the dilemma of keeping the original block in my 240 or swapping to a stroked 3.1 L28. On the one hand there is a definite performance bonus, on the other I lose the originality factor. It seems that originality NEARLY always results in higher resale values thereby pushing me toward keeping the L24. Decisions, decisions!! Anyone give me some guidance? This said, I wonder if an original Auto is worth more than an auto changed to a 5spd?

If you decide to catch a plane, there's always this one240z I have seen this car and it's pretty nice - it's also the zed that was sold to buy the "Car of the Month" car so you could talk to the PO (George)! After buying if from George I know this guy spent a bit getting an original factory A/C unit fitted as well - a definite added bonus! When I looked at it (maybe 6 months ago??) it appeared to be rust-free, I think this might be the result of it being a Canberra car - George could no doubt tell you more though... I don't have any links or associations with this guy BTW. Good luck!

Many of you may have seen the 240's converted into Ferrari look-a-likes..but check this out! HORROR! I'd love to see what the front/back look like.

I finally got my 240 back after being resprayed. No "glamour" photos unfortunately, just banged one off as the sun was going down.. should give those who give a damn an idea!! Now all I need are bumpers.. Happy to refer sprayer to people in Melb, Australia - job was far cheaper than traditional panel shops. See gallery - front right shot of car...all the others are "before's"! Enjoy.

You could try Challenge Fibreglass in Melbourne (+613) 9822 2998 I bought some zed bits off him and he had a wierd variety of stuff there - cast directly from the ye olde moulds. Old Celica, mini, z, 1600 etc etc bits.. quite reasonably priced too (I thought). I realise you're in NZ, but surely they must be able to ship???

Thanks - the old ones didn't look anything like that (after 30 years!).

I know it's asking a lot, but any chance of a photo Marty? Is that your blue zed? Nice....

I just had my 240 resprayed and I'm looking at putting the bumpers back on. Are there any sorts of rubber grommets that sit between the irons and the bodywork? There seemed to be some sort of old rubber there, but over time it appears to have deteriorated and was kinda scrappy and unuseable. Without anything there I would think that the bumper irons may damage the bodywork. Anyone know?

Just bought a British mag called Retro Cars because it had an article on 240Z's in it. Elsewhere in the mag is an article on wheels - listing various PCD's of common cars. Along with the 240z, the MGB and Austin 1100 were also listed as 4x4.5". Does this mean I can source wheels from MGB's and Morris/Austin etc etc 1100's and they will be OK??

Hi All, Just wondering if anyone in Australia has any reasonable 240z bumpers for sale? If not, has anyone had experience with getting them rechromed??

Halz, You are right about warm soapy water - well that's all I used. That said, I did miss a couple of spots and the spray has remained stuck nevertheless. As in your case the worst areas were the strut towers and the very tops of the door trim. I also did the transmission tunnel and it's made a marked improvement on the look of the interior for a relatively low investment. New carpet sets it off even better. The colour matching cost me about $30 or $40 but I still have plenty of paint left over. I'll admit that I'd now be tempted by the US seatcovers, when I was looking the AUD was at about 65c, so it's now about 15% cheaper! That said, the leather cost me $600 and I didn't have to frig about with trying to fit the things etc. I would say that to get a great fit you'd have to take the cover to a trimmer - they have specialist heat guns (like high-powered hair dryers) that mould the vinyl/leather to the exact contours of the seat. I'd also investigate refoaming if you go down that path!! More $$... I'd send a photo but I'm on the Gold Coast and the car is in Melbourne still!! I miss her.... Gareth

Are you going to do the other bits of trim as well Halz? In order to get the door and other bits of trim back to the original colour I lifted the rear carpet and cut off a bit of diamond vinyl that lies under it. The stuff was like new as it had never been exposed to sunlight. I then took the sample it to a specialist automotive paint manufacturer and they colour matched the paint with some vinyl spray. I basically redid all the faded panels with the stuff and it looks great. I have a red interior, but I can't see there being any major differences between spraying red and tan. Seats I found more difficult and basically ended up going close with leather rather than vinyl. The difference in cost actually wasn't that much. Otherwise, like the guys say, you can buy the remanufactured seat covers overseas.. Gareth

Thanks Mike!!! Talk about "on the case"..