SBK86

So it's not a fuel smell, I'm an idiot. Sorry about that, when I first got the car and had it in the garage I thought it smelled strongly like fuel but after getting it out on the road a bit I noticed it's just the exhaust and it was running a bit rich. I've adjusted the carbs some to fix that but when I have more time I'm going to balance them properly this weekend. The tail light gaskets are rough so that's where the smell is getting in I'll just replace those next. I checked all the fuel vent hoses in the back and they look pretty good and it looks like that expansion tank and gas tank have been treated to protect from rust. I took it out for a drive to the state park on Sunday and took a lot of pretty pictures (attached one). On the way back I filled up with some 93 octane and the car started bogging down really badly and couldn't get any power in 3rd or 4th gear. I pulled over and checked the fuel filter and it was clogged up with a ton of junk. Maryland gas is pretty high in ethanol which I think frees up a lot of those particles.. I'm going to try and find an ethanol free station but those are pretty rare around where I am. Anyways I just popped the filter off and banged it a bit to unclog it and the car ran great all the way back home. Ordered a bunch of filters which I'll keep with the car until it starts clearing up. Great weekend, I'm so glad I bought the car it's a lot of fun

Thanks! That's a big help. Banzai Motorworks is actually only an hour from where I live. I may have to give them a visit sometime.

Thanks everyone. Yeah I'm going to put the car up on jack stands and check everything brakes, suspension etc next weekend. The brakes feel a bit soft to me but then again I've never driven a 40 year old car before so it may just be me getting used to it. Is a rear disc conversion worth it? My parking brake doesn't work so if I do rear discs I might as well just hold off on that and do it all at once. I smelled around last night and couldn't quite figure out where it's coming from but I only ran it for a few minutes in the garage since it was raining last night (yes I left the garage door open ). Today if it's nice I'm going to take it outside and see if I can narrow it down better. I love the orange and black interior! I usually don't like orange on cars but it looks so good on the z. That white looks pretty sexy too. I checked the humidity in the garage last night with a reader and it was at about 85% so I think I'm going to pick up a dehumidifier with a drain hose attachment. The bottom has already been undercoated but I'm not sure about the frame and lubricant, never heard of that before. Also where is the best place to order parts around here? If I was looking for vent hoses, tail light gaskets and such.

Thanks Hardway! I'll take a look at the vent tank tonight and smell around to see if I can figure out where the odor is coming from exactly.

Finally got my 240Z! I posted on here a while back when I was looking at ads and now I've finally had the time and space in my garage to pick one up. The car is in great shape with no rust and the engine is solid. Bought it from a guy in WV off of eBay... the whole process actually went pretty well. It has a couple problems that I'll be working on soon... few paint chips around the corners of the hood, parking brake doesn't work and there is a strong fuel smell in the cabin. So I'm sure I'll be on the forums here a lot asking questions. Anyone else here from the Maryland area and are there any clubs around? Seems like a lot of people are further out west. Also the humidity down where I am in southern Maryland is really high so I'm thinking about getting a dehumidifier for my garage to try and keep it around 50%. Good idea and is it worth it?

Thanks. I'm still looking around just things are on hold for a little bit. I'm in Germany for work for the next month or so. Once I get back in June I'll be hunting again.

Thanks Jerry. Yeah I think I'll pass on the three I listed and keep looking for a good original one to start from. It seems like the best way to go so I don't run into any surprises with the heavily customized ones.

Yeah that car looked amazing when I saw it a few weeks ago. Unfortunately it has been sold according to their website: Hoosier Classic Motorcars

Thanks guys. All this info is helpful. I don't have a problem messing with carbs, I pick things up pretty quickly. I've always done my own maintenance; timing belts, suspension, head gaskets, etc. Then again the oldest car I've owned is a 98. I'm good as long as I got some instructions and forums to help me. I'm just not the best at diagnosing problems so I'd be on here a lot asking questions. I just keep going back and forth on whether I want the 240z or 280z.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking to spend 10-15k at the moment though it depends on the car. Actually just the front bumper but I guess that's actually common for 280zs.

Hi everyone, So I've been looking at S30s for a long while. This would be my first zcar and first classic car. There are 3 ads up on ebay recently and I was wondering what your guys opinions on them are. I prefer the 240z 71-72 but I'm not really picky at the moment. Anyways the 3 ads I'm looking at: Car 1 Car 2 Car 3 For the first car, it's much more original than the other two. It requires a little bit of work but I don't mind wrenching in my spare time. The second car is a bit modified. Engine and trans from an 80s 280z. Looks like some parts from a 240z. 3rd is a modified 260z with a RB20DET which is pretty common I'm guessing. Anyways, I'm just asking for opinions from experienced people and what would be the best value really. I hope to get into the zcar community soon.