Hardway

If the car is complete, runs, drives, stops, and handles decently, buy it. Series-1 cars are indeed getting hard to find. The pictures you posted could be a repair from many years ago but it is hard to say exactly what they are. With no other pictures to show us, if it is all there and runs, at $6K you could buy it, clean it up, take some good pictures of it, and probably turn a decent profit. There are basket case cars with asking prices of $5K. The market is definitely moving with the Series-1 cars being the fastest. Buy it before someone else does.

Thank you for all the compliments guys! Everyone's encouragement is what helps keeps the cars going and projects moving forward. I must admit, it was a huge bummer to have to pull the head. When I bought the car last year I paid a premium for it based on the fact the engine had been rebuilt. I honestly don't know if the previous owner knew what method the shop used to rebuild the head so I don't hold it against him. He owns a large garage and I am sure does business with a number of shops for work like this but I am considering bringing this to his attention as I know he is already working on another Z. On the head gasket, I am planning to use a Fel-Pro with a light coating of copper coat on each side. My machinist said I should not have any issues with it. I could go Cometic if I wanted and they do offer the ability to be re-used. Since I staying stock he felt confident that with the right prep and torque procedure I should be just fine. The valves are from Manley I believe, I would have to double check the paper work. The combustion chamber might be a little smaller but probably not much to make a difference. I talked about this with the machinist and he said my CR might go up a hair but nothing to warrant any modifications and probably would not notice any change in power. All of this work was for increasing reliability and the longevity of the motor. I guess that is another hard part to get over. Anytime I spend over $1,000 on a component of a car I usually expect it to go faster, stop quicker, or look better. In this case, all of the beauty will be hidden but I will sleep better at night knowing it is "right" and will provide many miles of trouble-free service. On the large number of "Today" posts. I actually type up everything in a Word document first and paste all the links to my pictures. This way I can work on it and come back to it as I please, make changes, check spelling, etc. I could have posted up stuff a few weeks ago but I like sharing milestones and accomplishments. Statuses are always nice but accomplishments are much more interesting, even if someone else did all the work. This weekend should be productive so I will have more to share next week.

I am glad I clicked on this. The wires on my '71 240z had been replaced at some point in its life with some greenish clear NGK wires but the cap is the same as yours. Greyish green, made of a rather soft plastic with aluminum terminals with the same part number molded in the top, 4659-2700. When you Google the part it comes up as a Hitachi part number but I cannot find any reference indicating it is original. I checked my '71 240z factory service manual but it does not provide any part numbers. I too would love to know for sure if the cap could possibly be original.

After a few degreasing wipe downs I shot some light coats of Rustoleum aluminum silver paint. This really helps keep the aluminum clean and from getting dark from dirt getting buried in the pores of the aluminum. I tried to mask off the valve train but no matter how clean I got the valve cover surface none of my masking tape would stick to it. As I let the paint dry on the head I started cleaning the top of the block. While I was at it I scraped off the carbon on the top of pistons #1 and #6. Probably won’t make a difference but it certainly can’t hurt. Then I went about cleaning out and chasing all the bolt holes with my tap. For anyone that is wondering it is a M10 X 1.5 bolt size. If you are doing this kind of work or anything similar to it, buy several packs of these long stem Q-tips. I found these on Ebay but also discovered Northern Tool carries a variety pack of them as well. They are priceless for doing detail cleaning and easily help clean out bolt holes. That is all for now. I recently received my new turbo head bolts and picked up a can of copper coat. Once I finish cleaning out the rest of the bolt holes I plan to reinstall the head and go through the torque sequence. I am taking my time with all of this work and trying to enjoy it as much as possible. I encourage anyone doing this type of work to do the same as there are plenty of small tasks to take care of in between the bigger milestones. Staying organized and being methodical is the best way to ensure success.

Three weeks go by and I receive a call from Glenn indicating he is done with my cylinder head and that is came out great. He provided me with the following camera phone pictures while he was working on it. You can easily see the cleaned up valve seats and new valve guides. With the work paid for and the cylinder head back in the garage I took a minute to weigh it. This is just the head with the cam and valve train installed. No other studs, plates, etc. are on it. I knew this thing was heavy so 56.2 pounds was not surprising. If you ever need to ship one or are going to attempt to lift one off by yourself, keep this number in mind. The pictures below show the final product. You can tell the difference in the valves based on how much they were turned down. The difference in color around the water ports show the repair work that was done. As you can see almost all of them received some attention. In this picture you can see just how thick the 280z valves are.

“A good machinist is a like a good lawyer, you don’t know one until you need one” For anyone that has had to get quality machine work done knows good machinists are in demand and Glenn is no exception. He had everything from a race ready BMW 4 cylinder w/dual Weber carbs in the dyno room to numerous SBC, BBC, BBF, and BBD blocks and heads he was working on. However, the biggest attraction in the shop was a crankshaft for a Duesenberg Straight-8. The pistons to it can be seen in the background of the picture above. He took the time to tell me about it and explain all the unique characteristics of it. The silver barrels bolted to the front are filled with liquid mercury to aid in balancing it while running in the car. Glenn's passion for his work is second to none so it is no surprise that he remains a very busy man.

It has been over a month since my last update and some key events have taken place. I dropped the cylinder head off at a local and recommended machine shop in Round Rock Texas, Glenn’s Machine. A quick inspection of my head and pulling a few valves revealed what he already assumed. The valve seats had been cut too deep in to the head causing the #4 intake valve to sit too high and thus not giving any room for valve lash. After analyzing the seats we also discovered some of the valves were not cut correctly and not sealing correctly. According to Glenn the valve should seal at the outer most edge. Unfortunately most of my valves were sealing like in the picture below, basically allowing pressure and fire to get under the edge of the valve. With the valves out also we also discovered the valve guides had been knurled. Knurling pretty much makes the inside of the valve guide look like it has been threaded. This is a process used by some machine shops to reshape a worn valve guide. Knurling has two distinct schools of thought, the first being old timers who still swear by it as they have not had any issues with it and that it promotes better lubrication. The second being that modern machinists do not use this method anymore as it has proven unreliable since it literally removes half of the surface area of the valve. In addition it damages the surface of the valve stem over time and has not been found to promote better lubrication. The pictures below help illustrate this. Here are some better pictures with the valve guides cleaned and removed. As you can see on the valve stems the impression of the knurling has been etched in to the valves. It looks like something that would just wipe off but it is on there for good. Another area of concern was the condition of the water jacket ports. Many were dis-figured due to corrosion and in need of repair. Since the head was off now was the time to address this. After talking about it the best way to approach the repair given what my plans were for the car he recommended getting a set of new 280z valves and turning them down to match the existing valve seats. This was really the only feasible option as replacing the valve seats would have been $75/each times 12, do the math. He was going to clean up the seats and felt 100% confident this was the best route to go. The old valve seats would be replaced with new brass ones, the water ports would be repaired and reshaped, new valve seals installed, and the head would be resurfaced. Total estimate, $1,180.00 with a wait time of three to five weeks. I said let’s do it and put down a $600 deposit to get the parts ordering started.

I am surprised this car is still up for sale. $6500 seems very reasonable given what is shown in the pictures and description. It is interesting they mention needed to do the detail work on the door gaskets. Anyway, someone needs to pick this car up!

Most of the comments on BAT seem to agree that even at near $30K it was well bought. I think the value on that one lies in the fact it is very original and un-restored. Based on the pictures I would believe the claim of only having 22K miles. Rdefabri is right, under appreciated cars are now getting the spot light as they were once "affordable" Once classic Z's get priced out of range the next thing will be 80's and 90's stuff, some of which is already taking off. I know a guy that paid $10K for an original '90 CRX Si, $10K!!! Again, original = value. Don't get me started on Mark 4 Supra's as they have never been affordable.

Hey Mikez280z, welcome to the club and the disease! When I got in to classic Z cars back in the mid 2000's a 280z was the first one I wanted too. I see your budget above at $11,000. I would recommend you think about what the end goal is for the car. Is this something you are going to drive on a regular basis or just be a weekend cruiser, go to shows/events, and take out to dinner or lunch. With a budget of $11K that will certainly buy you a good 240z. If you are wanting a clean ready to enjoy 280z I think you would only need to spend around $7K - $9K. The blue one you posted is not an $11K car given the fact it has a sunroof installed, generic seat covers over the originals, and aftermarket wheels. There is no mention of what was done during the supposed "older restoration" but at this point you can expect that things like bushings and other consumable items will need to be replaced if they have not already. With some of that in mind I would say go drive it and see if you like the car. 280z's ride different than 240z's but if the 280z is what you want, I would offer $7K and go from there. I think that is reasonable and not insulting, especially if they still have it after having it posted for a month. Keep us posted on how it goes.

The same jump is reflected in their guides for '70 - '72 240z's as well. I think part of that is driven by the auction season has started and some true #1 and #2 cars have come up here and there. In the grand scheme of things most Z cars are still #3 cars. Given a value price of $14,600 for a #3 car and I think my '71 240z is a solid #3 car as it fits the criteria listed for it but I would not sell it for that. Another good reminder to update your insurance policies if you have an agreed upon value.

Thanks for the info guys. Since it is on the exhaust side I don't think it is hurting anything. I may take another stab at trying to get some of it off tonight.

Good idea Blue! No telling what else might be hiding in there. No time like the present when parts are 100% accessible to take care of small jobs like that.

With the two front head bolts removed and bagged I went about breaking the head bolts loose. Most were pretty but three in the middle on the passenger side did not feel as tight as the rest. Anyway, all came out without issue and were laid accordingly. I cannot tell if these are the original 40 year old bolts so a new set may be ordered just to be on the safe side. With the help of my wife we lifted the head off. It did not require any prying or persuasion. A naked eye inspection seems to show the head is in overall good shape. The intake valve on the #4 piston looks to be fine but the machine shop will give it a thorough inspection and diagnosis. The cylinder walls feel perfect but with the head off you can see coolant has been getting past the gasket since it has a small amount of rust outside of the gasket. There is much discussion on which head gaskets work best. Many people have great luck with Fel-Pro head gaskets just like the one on the car while others go with high performance pieces from Cometic and the like. For now I am going to do some research and order the other gaskets I will be needing for reassembly.

As items were removed all of their related hardware and fasteners was bagged and tagged along with notes. As we all know this is key to making reassembly as painless as possible. Following the write up I properly marked the link on the timing chain. Using the template found on Californiaparts.net I made my own timing chain wedge using a piece of 3/4 inch scrap wood. I made sure to sand all the edges so it would not splinter in the engine. Unfortunately when I went to install the wedge it would not clear the mechanical fuel pump cam even after trimming the corner off. I had a conversation with Mike W and he said the wedge might be a little too long and advised take some material off the end. Sure enough with a half inch cut off and the end rounded off it went in. I took my time with a mallet and half inch socket extension to hammer it in to place. Next came the moment of truth. I have read about the horror stories of the chain tensioner plunger popping out when tension is taken off the chain. Confident the wedge was firmly in place I removed the timing gear. Luckily everything was quiet so the chain was laid to rest and covered with a rag.

With the fuel system up to slightly more modern standards and a few more test drives I have noticed a persistent tapping in the valves getting worse. When the engine is cold everything is quiet and runs like a sewing machine. However once the engine warms up the tapping makes itself known and gets louder. Knowing that intake valve #4 will not go in to adjustment spec I knew this was the reason for the audible disturbance. During previous valve adjustments I cannot get any clearance between the rocker arm and the bottom of the cam lobe even though the adjuster is lowered to its max depth. After a few conversations with other Z owners and a local machine shop the cause is probably related to the valve seat. It was either machined too deep or pressed in to far causing the valve stem to stick up too far. Of course the only real way to tell was to pull the cylinder head. This pains me since the engine was rebuilt less than 2,000 miles ago and was a big reason I bought the car and paid the premium for it. Oh well, no sense in risking damage to the engine or any of its components so I bit the bullet and started on it Friday evening. I used Blue’s excellent pictorial write up as a guide as well as lessons learned from Mike W who just went through this on his 260Z. You can check out Blue’s write up here -> http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/39674-77-280z-head-removal-step-by-step-photos/ Since the engine had been recently rebuilt all of the fasteners came off with no issues. The first to go was the carbs. While I have them off the car and on the bench I will go through them to perform the checks I had originally planned. The domes will get some polishing while they are off as well. With the carbs off and access easier the beauty of the carbs and plated linkages become more apparent. Next was the exhaust manifold. Once it was off I found a rather interesting issue with it. Inside the manifold is a rock hard clay like substance that will not easily come off. I have posted a separate thread asking about this. If it turns out to be nothing I will clean the manifold and put a fresh coat of manifold paint. There is even some traces of it in the exhaust pipe. With the inspections continuing I noticed a piece of metallic debris in one of the holes in the oil spray bar. Using a stick pin I extracted it from the hole. It is debris like this that can cause a cam to fail.

As I was in the process of pulling the E31 head on my ’71 240z I have been inspecting every part as it comes off. The engine was rebuilt by the previous owner to stock specs but I have no paper work on it. The reason for pulling the head is that I cannot get the intake vale #4 in to adjustment. As I was inspecting the exhaust manifold there is a fair amount of rock hard clay like material on the inside of the manifold. There is also traces of it in the exhaust pipe but not as built up. Can someone tell me what this is from? It appears it would come off rather easily but I have tried chiseling some of it off with a flat head screw driver but it is not budging. Should I be worried? Does it warrant buying a new header?

Next I installed the AFPR and gauge setup. Everything went as planned except I used all new hose clamps and saved the originals that had been re-plated. The original style clamps certainly look good but they are a big pain in the butt to deal with. For now they are bagged and boxed along with the original fuel pump and associated hardware. Since I was only using one bolt to hold the AFPR in place I used a lock washer behind the bracket. This securely held it in place and helps keep things tidy under the hood. With everything in the engine bay wrapped up I moved to the back of the car to install the fuel pump. I located the original green and black wires that would have been used for a factory installed pump. I double checked the ground continuity and all was good. Knowing I would have to get power to the green wire I found the connector for it behind the radio. The black wire of the connector is 12v key on so I used a simple inline fuse holder with a 7.5A fuse to complete the circuit. Another check out back confirmed I had power to the green wire. I retained the factory bullet connectors so everything could be serviced if needed. Next up was mounting the pump itself. There were three threaded holes in the structural support over the diff so I determined the hole to the far left was best. The threads had been covered with under-coating so using my M6 X 1.0 tap and some WD40 I cleaned out the threads. Using a new bolt, washer, and lock washer from the parts collection along with the strap included with the kit the pump was mounted. With new some 5/16 inch fuel line and clamps the plumbing was complete. Wiring was a no-brainer and with the connections made and covered in plastic loom the install was complete. I had planned to replace the return line as well but I did not have any 1/4 inch fuel line on hand at the time. It is looking rather sketchy so it will be replaced sooner than later. A quick turn of the key to ON provided a pleasant whine from the fuel pump. Once everything was cleared out of the way and fire extinguisher at the ready (you can't ever be too careful) I gave her some choke, turned the key to let the pump prime the system for a few seconds and started her up. She fired right up with only two rotations of the engine and quickly settled in to a high idle. This was a very welcome change as it usually took 7 - 12 rotations of the engine just to get the engine to initially fire. I pushed the choke lever down and let the engine come down to a nice idle. With everything sounding good I looked around both ends of the car to confirm I had no leaks. With visual confirmation attained I turned the car off, let her back down on the ground, and took her for a test drive. The test drive revealed more predictable throttle response and maybe a little more power but that could be my imagination intertwining with the satisfaction of my work. For an afternoon's worth of work I am very happy. I have few follow on items for this project. In addition to replacing the return fuel line I plan to add a relay to the circuit as well as an oil pressure or impact switch for safety. In addition I am going to look in to my carbs to double check their settings as the car's power seems to plateau at 5K RPMs.

I had some free time weekend before last and wanted to tackle a few more items on the Z. During the previous week I had received my Carter electric fuel pump, Holley adjustable fuel pressure regulator, and Fuel Lab fuel pressure gauge from Summit Racing. I had used the same pump and AFPR on the old Lime Green Machine with good results so I went with them again. The gauge is a non-liquid filled unit, is easy to read, and had good reviews. All three pieces were around $80 together. Add another $20 or so for the brass fittings from the hardware store and some new 5/16 inch fuel line. I started by determining where to mount the AFPR. I decided to use one of the existing threaded holes that originally held the external voltage regulator. Next I assembled the AFPR and gauge using yellow sealing tape. I had been debating whether or not to keep the mechanical fuel pump since it appeared to have been restored by the previous owner. As I remembered how long it would take to pressurize the fuel system and knowing it might hinder the performance of the electric pump I decided to remove it. A block off plate was in order but I did not want something that was flashy or screamed "look at me". A quick search on Ebay revealed a very nice but very plain block off plate from Z Car Depot. It is a trick piece with a groove machined in to the back that holds an O-ring so there is no need for a gasket. A few clicks of the mouse, $26, and 4 days later it was in my hand. Once it was mounted it seems to blend in perfectly with the rest of the engine. The included countersunk screws finish off the install nicely.

I concur with everyone else. Go with the US spec bumpers. I think any car with the original style bumpers and complete rubber trim stands above a stock car with the JDM smooth bumpers. Like others said, if your was modified the JDM pieces may be the way to go.

Nice pics SurferD! I would recommend starting your own build thread and showing more before and after pics of your work. We love this stuff and it keeps everyone motivated. The black and silver color scheme of your parts is rather striking. Good job on getting them prepped and painted so well as we can see the evidence of the rust from sitting outside for so long. Your experience with the rear suspension is like all of ours. A strut replacement project can turn in to the biggest case of "while I am it" syndrome. Of course since the rear struts are such a pain anyway it really makes sense to go all the way if you can.

Thank you for the compliments guys! I really enjoy the documentation side of my projects on the Z and glad they are of use and entertainment to others. SurferD, I know the boat you are in with your car as I was pretty much there with my previous 240z. Check out the build thread for it here -> http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/44963-the-lime-green-machine-restoration-thread-1972-240z/ It had been a daily driver for several years when I bought it. However it had essentially received zero maintenance except for a 2.8L/5spd/R200 swap at some point in its life. My '71 silver Z is a living example of buying the best car you can afford. My '72 was very much a project that ran and needed everything done to it, cost me $3,000. My '71 is indeed a much better starting point but with a better car came a higher price, $9,500. Is my '71 three times the car as my '72, probably so. One thing is for sure, I have been able to drive more than three times as much as I did my '72. Have fun and keep us posted on your progress!

Thanks for all the info guys. I got my order placed with Summit Racing for just about everything I need along with a block off plate from Z Car Depot. Once everything is here I will visit the hardware store to get the brass fittings I need for the install.

I only drive my 240z every other weekend or so. After it sits for a week the fuel system is empty and takes the stock mechanical pump many rotations of the engine to fill everything up and start. I plan on installing a Carter electric pump at the tank along with an adjustable fuel press. regulator and gauge. My question is, should I keep the stock mechanical pump on the side of the engine or get a block off plate and keep the pump in a box? If I keep the mechanical pump do I need a fuel press. regulator?

I have the same 3 Row Champion radiator using the stock fan & clutch and no shroud. In sitting traffic the temp gauge usually gets to the middle but never goes past. Is your fan clutch good? I had tried one of MSA's fiberglass shrouds and did not like the fit or finish. The fiberglass is so thick and the one I received had damage on it already so I returned it. Most guys have used the 280z shroud, I would be curious to know why a 280z shroud did not work for you Jalex.