MotoManMike

/\ --- this might get sticky . Lets see where it goes. I like how people get all bent out of shape for some words on a computer screen. Looks like a Z to me, although I know theres a 327 under the hood.

parking nose down wouldn't cause it to flood. I had a vehicle do this years ago and it was the injector seals, like a $5.00 part, might not be your issue but its what i'm guessing is the issue. It could be that cold start valve, I wouldn't think a bad regulator would let it blow through the injectors that bad. WORD TO THE WISE, CHANGE YOUR OIL MULTIPLE MULTIPLE TIMES AFTER REPAIR!!!! Gas will wash bearings out faster than you can shut that thing off if it runs like this. Don't be surprised if oil leaks pop up after this either, sometimes a motor filled with gas will then leak from the oil pan, rear and front main seals because the gas makes the rubber seals swell. Been there, not fun but at least you know what to look for after its fixed.

Lee i'm going to take you for a ride in MY turdy mobile sunday. This is how she looked when my girlfriend said i want the orange car . She had no idea what she was getting into getting me to buy a car again.

I know Lee pretty well and he's free to blast me but I don't prefer non Datsun/Nissan swaps. This goes for any car i've ever owned. I just can't get over a swap of a motor not made by the same manufacturer( I said this to Lee the day he brought that car home ). Now with that being said, that LS1 powered Z is a FU(!^% blast to drive. I think radical exterior mods, roof chops, stretches, hideous body kits etc make it not a Z. If it doesn't retain the independant suspension in the rear its not a Z. If you can't tell what it is because of all the exterior mods, its not a Z. I own 2 Z cars, both 240's, both made within 4 months of eachoter, both basically stock looking rust and all. I am diligently working under the hood on the one with an L series turbo motor but I pondered RB, VG, VQ swaps, but to me its not a Z if I went any other way. Lee's car is a great subject for this thread. Is it a Z? anyone who see's it will think so. Anyone who takes the risk to run it when the light turns green will think otherwise. Me coming from stock car territory frown upon small block swaps. Its just too easy and too played out, they swap chevy motors into every damn thing with wheels here. If its not for a Chevy small block its not in stock at the parts store you get where i'm going? However looking at the attention to detail they took when they built Lee's car one might change their mind because it is done the best you could possibly do. For an answer from me, if it looks like a Z its a Z, would I swap anything other than an L series in it probably not. Swaps are murky water but i'm not a purist by any means, the real reason we drive these things is that feeling when that right toe drops.

I've been running 15% here for about 2 years in SU round tops with no issues. Be weary if any of your carbs you want to run have rubber parts with ethanol, it will shrink the rubber up and cause problems tuning. I've rebuilt more ATV carburetors than I ever have since they introduced this ethanol mess. they use a rubber tipped float valve and the rubber shrinks up and cracks due to the ethanol. SU carbs are old school so they have been unaffected as none of the rubber parts are exposed to fuel. Cork and brass, they did it right .

I did use black pipe, its code here. Also that is a junction box, I forgot to buy a cover plate at lowes this weekend but there is also a twist lock plug to disconnect it if needed (also code here). I appreciate the info on the line dryer. I havn't bought one because the price gaps are so large I wanted to research more but I will look into the Milton unit. I installed a fifth wheel hitch in my dads F250 this weekend and boy did it make it easy cutting that bed having a good air supply.

Looks good. I've got to get a line dryer and filter but otherwise its installed and looks pretty sharp. It works great. Ive had all kinds of air tools for years but never able to fully use them and man am I happy to hear that cut off tool run constant.

Wish I could find one in that good of shape over here for that price. You got a good deal. That is a solid foundation to start from but as far as straight floors they are few and far between. I'm glad to see another one being saved! Keep up the good work!

I would just source the rest of the components and go turbo from the beginning of the swap, why do it one way and then the other when you are already half way there after its bolted in? Just a thought. I pulled the hood off my 240z today and began draining all the fluids. I'm pulling a completely perfect running rebuild L28 to drop in a L28et running the turbo.

Its the 60 gallon runs on 220, I had to get new panel put in my garage because the old one wouldn't push it. I'm just happy I can run serious air tools now. Might not be a big enough tank to run a sandblaster very long but i'm patient enough to let it cycle if i need to do much blasting. I like the idea of the rubber mats, i saw some in tractor supply for horses, like fatigue mats for them in the stalls i guess but they were pretty thick i might get one and cut to put under it.

I picked this up last night for a song. Now I can get serious with this body work. NICE. Very excited to get it hooked up. Should make doing the motor swap this weekend go pretty smooth.

Us car guys, we are sick individuals I swear. The crap we spend our time on. Think about it. Ok enough thinking about it, why aren't your hands dirty?

I'm pretty sure the ones from Motorsport wheels for the Z are all a -5 offset so you shouldn't have the rub issues with that offset with whatever you go with as long as the tire isn't too tall. I got my wheels at tire rack dirt cheap, like 420 a set for the wheels but they only had 0 offset. Thats pretty awesome you have kept the car that long. I admire your ability to stick with something but hey you made the right choice 40 years ago which helps ALOT. I love the G-nose. They look sharp, i'm sure it really helps when its windy outside too as these cars are affected alot by side winds and my stock car is worse than the other Z I have with a front air damn on it in the wind, and its much more stable above 75mph. 17's IMO are a little large looking on these cars but some people really like that big wheel look, I chose the 15's because it looked to me more period correct and tires are a heck of alot cheaper. I'm really hard on tires so i've got to keep my wallet in check. Keep up the good work, i'd love to see that car.

Gotcha. Ok so the clutch is staying ENGAGED. OLZED is on the right track for sure. Have a friend look at the clutch fork while you are in the car and not the results when you press the pedal down. I've had issues with using aftermarket slave cylinders where I actually had to adjust the rod that attaches to the pedal itself from the clutch master cylinder (thing filled with oil on the firewall) and have fun, that cotter pin has been the waste of many of mens afternoon I had to bleed the system, they rotate the threaded rod out toward the pedal itself so when you push the pedal the rod travels a further stroke into the clutch master cylinder. The old original Z cars had an adjustable rod on the clutch slave where most of the aftermarket ones do not. If the slide of the throw out bearing is stuck and will not slide on the transmission shaft, you may have to tap on the clutch fork with a BFH to get it to break free and slide again. GOOD LUCK!!!!

Is the clutch stuck depressed or engaged? If you try to push the car with it in gear will it move?

Very nice reply 5th Frankie, they are only as big of money pit as you let them be. I can go hop in either 1 of my 2 Z's and drive them where I need to go, no problems and have a blast doing it. I could however drop another 10 grand on them and probably still want some more parts or power. There is a very fine line of satisfaction when it comes to upgrading anything whether its a car, boat, motorcycle etc. If it isn't broke don't fix it philosophy will keep the money in your pocket. Fix it until you are happy will usually leave most men spending more than they ever want to because you will always see one better and want yours to be that way and the cycle continues. What size tires are you running and what size and offset are your wheels? I've used 15x7 inch Konig rewind wheels on both my cars, with 0 offset with 205/50/15 on both. They look pretty sharp IMO. On both cars the tire rubbed on the drivers side worse then the passenger side. I had to trim the inside lip of the quarter panel to get my clearance so they wouldn't shred tires. I found that taking one of those cheap car ramps you can buy at auto parts stores, backing just one rear wheel up on one ramp would compress the suspension enough I could mark the inner lip of the panel with a marker so I knew how much metal to trim to let the wheel travel throughout the suspension stroke and not rub. Good luck. Horseman is right, these cars are dirt cheap to keep running, vanity costs money. I wouldn't mess with wheel adapters, then offsets get tricky because they push the wheel out even further in the rear. The wheels you like are out there just search the bolt pattern for the Z I think is 4x114.3 if i'm not mistaken. If you were running flares I would have thought they would have cut the quarter panels anyhow do you have any pics of the wheel well in the back?

I'm seriously pondering selling my one Z, its the newset Z to me but i'm really thinking about it. Its a 73, with round top Su's with a Reman L-28 block. Car runs phenominal, a little hard starting but they all seem to be a little. The car is in good shape. Needs some body work, some of the paint is starting to bubble on the bottom of the doors but over all in good shape. My issue is I keep seeing all these super super clean cars and I keep striving for it but i'll never get there unless I do a total restoration. The car didn't set me back a whole lot. I have a turbo motor i was planning to swap in but i'd like a cleaner car for the swap. I'm not sure which route to go, what do you guys think? Its the car in my garage with the "240Z" vinyl striping across the bottom. I'd replace it with another Z, one with less body work needed, obviously i'd pay more for it but i'm not sure which route to go. I plan on keeping my rusted to hell Z, even though it looks beat up, its a beast to drive. Handles great, engine pulls seriously hard and I feel much more confident driving it than I do this one i guess because of all the upgrades. This one i'm just not that excited about and can't figure out why.

<------Has said a few choice words to said cotter pin myself. What a beautiful car! Nice example kept in rare form and all original even to the flat top carbs. Wow.

Sounds like a mixture issue to me, popping at high rpm tends to be a lean condition. What oil do you have in the dash pots?

Awesome Lee, who wouldn't love that car. Feel any better now?

I worked on my most recent Z upgrade. I've got an L28ET i've replaced the oil pan, oil pan gasket, front main and rear main seals, timing set, i've painted the passenger side, now i'm working on the intake exhaust side before swapping. Its getting there, slowly. I did take the soon to be transplanted Z for a spirited ride today too. Its 100 degrees here and it never thought about running hot which is very good. I have some concern about the oil pressure fluctuations in that car from idle to 3000 rpm. Its all over the place. Not a huge concern as that motor will be on the stand soon enough

I don't know what i'd do Lee. Depends on how much you need the money. That is a lot of cash. I'd keep the seats though. They felt pretty good the day I drove it.

Thanks everyone. I didn't realize it doesn't affect their value as much as old muscle cars. Either way I did buy these cars to drive, not to make money. I have the one rusted car so tuned it just drives great but i've owned it 2 years so i've had the time to go through everything underneath safety wise, new brakes, ball joints, bushings, struts etc etc. The cleaner Z just has worn out suspension, i've only had it maybe 5 months. It doesn't look as if anything mechanical was affected during the accident, the unibody rails are straight looking at it on the lift. Control arm mounting looks true on both sides, it almost looking at the repair looks as if they spun out and hit into a ditch backwards or something as it was isolated to the right quarter panel area. I have a good idea which direction to head now though and appreciate everyones input. Turbo it is, Ill put the turbo in the cleaner car since i've got to tear the suspension off and rebuild it all anyhow and the transmission has a terrible deceleration whine in second so its got to come out anyhow. Thanks everyone.

Hello all. I like many of you am a Z car addict. I have 2 1973 240Z's. One very clean, one not so clean rusted. They both drive fine, I drive them both regularly, probably 10 to 15k miles a year. The one rusty Z, I have all the metal for, and I have the original block that matches the number plate. It is solid driving and much "safer" feeling than my clean Z. My question is does this make them more valuable or desireable with numbers matching? This car will take a lot of work to get it to look new but i have all the metal, and capability just need some direction. My second Z, the clean one. Has been in an accident in some point in its life. It was hit in the right rear, the portion was repaired fairly well, you can see the hatch was bent and they should have replaced the hatch but didn't. With that being said, it is as close to stock as one gets but its not the numbers matching motor. So I bought a turbo motor i'm planning to swap in because the car is tainted in my opinion with the accident, and non numbers matching car. If you pull the hatch carpet you can see the ripples still in the metal so its by no means perfect. It is sad, I didn't realize it when I bought it but hey live and learn right. Am I off track with any of this thinking or does it even matter? Also value wise I know it really affects value if they have been patched back together whether it was done right or not. Opinions please. I love these cars, don't really plan on selling any of them but you never know what life might throw at you or what other Z may come along .

Motor showed up yesterday. More complete than I had expected which is a good thing. I'm astouned by how large the ECU is . I've got alot of cleaning up to do, most all of the rubber hoses are dry rotted and in need of replacement but otherwise looks like everything is there and it turns over ok. For $900 delivered total I can't complain. The engine was 6, cost 3 to ship to me on a pallet from Florida. I'll probably be weeks cleaning, painting and replacing hoses before I even attempt the swap. My car runs great now so i'm going to enjoy it over the summer and probably start on it in the fall. I've go to source a newer fuel tank, pipe new lines and fuel pump and some other odds and ends so that will give me plenty of time to source everything. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.