Ed

You might consider rebuilding the caliper since your having trouble with them. If the piston has any surface rust they will stick in the bore. Usually causing the brakes to wear uneven. A clear sign is one pad being thinner than it's partner. These brakes are over 30 years old and chances are the piston needs to be cleaned and the O-ring replaced. Never disassemble the two halves of the caliper or it will leak. You might also consider getting some remanufacured calipers. Remember that brake fluid is corrosive it will desolve the paint from any surface it comes in contact with. SO when your done wash every surface with plenty of water. Good luck

I had the same problem with the regular rubber bushings. I had to push them farther out to get the hub to fit. Not sure about the poly bushes. Are any of them smaller or thinner? I'd grind at the bushing before I removed the powder coat.

Repairing from the top would be rough because your room is limited. It would probably be easier if you were planning to remove the dash anyway and just plugged the hole with a patch. Rebuilding the intake trumpet would be easiest if you found a donor.

Like Carl mentioned try the timing cover. There is a passage in the cover that allows coolant to go into the block.

Here is the link dash .

The intake for the fan is directly above it. There is an opening under the cowling (on the outside between the windshield and hood) on the passenger side. Remove the cowling and inspect the area. It's kind of hard to describe but it's about a 6" square with a cover over it. Inspect the lower portion of it. There is caulking around the base and more than likely it's cracked and that's where your water is coming in.

Also make sure you get the correct clutch for your Zed. The later 280ZX clutches will put your fan too close to the radiator.

Thanks Phred, Once again your a life saver. Ed

Oh yea, go to the MSA show next month in Orange. You will find everything you need to know.

Hey,welcome to the world of Z addiction. You've got an oxymoron going on there in your question. "good & cheap" no such thing. Good = expensive. And Cheap = get it done twice. $.02

I'm doing the final assembly on my engine and have lost the torque specs for the crankshaft cap studs made by ARP. I've tried calling them but I missed them by 1/2 hour and today is Saturday. Can someone help me with the proper torque specs before Monday? ARP Part # 202-5406. I'd hate to have to sit around until then. Thanks guys. Ed

You should be able to replace the elbow. They are screwed in then epoxy'd to prevent them from coming loose.

I agree with you Vicky, the 77 does have plenty of potential. A good rebuild, maybe an overbore, new injectors, some head work, a good exhaust and a good ignition will bring that engine to life AND it will be close to the 3-5K budget.

That's a really nice looking Zed. Welcome.

This one goes into my "stupid things I've done" book. So, I've got my engine on the stand. I've been working on it for a while. It's been cleaned & painted. It's had a little grinding done here and there and has been through pre-assembly. I'm pretty happy with the way it's going. I recently got my internals back from getting balanced. So I'm getting everything ready for final assembly. I turn the engine up side down and am contemplating leaving the oil pick-up tube in place. I'd already cut a new gasket for it and installed it during pre-assembly. Then I said to myself. Nah, I'll take it off and wash the block one more time. I remove the pick-up tube and noticed that I had forgotten to cut out the center of the gasket. There was no way that oil would have been able to flow through the tube :stupid: :stupid: :stupid: .

I paid over 6K for my paint job at a restoration shop. The car was already stripped when I took it over. So all the money went to stripping, body prep, and paint. They put in about 140 hours of labor. The only rust repair they had to do was a dime size hole in the passenger door. The rest of the car was in excellent shape. So I think 6K for a good paint job is decent. Especially if it turns out looking like mine. :classic: On the other hand what's the condition of your current paint? Does the engine bay need new paint, door jambs or trunk area? If you just want a freshened up look then remove some of the cosmetics yourself (turn signals, antenna, locks and emblems. Then take it to Macco, and in a couple of years if you still have the 240 you can do it all over again because they used cheap paint.

When you do replace the head bolts I would recommend using an air impact wrench to loosten the bolts. If they are by chance rusted in place you might break one removing it.

Something else that might help you identify the differences betwee the 240's. Is a parts catalog either from Victoria British or MSA. Most of the other information can be found here on this web site. There is TONS of info here. Welcome and have fun with your restoration. P.S. one thing I recommend before you start your restoration is start buying parts now. :classic:

Are you going to do any of the work yourself? Or are you going to take the car to a shop and say "rebuild the engine please"? The first will get you some good parts for some extra ponies. Pistons, porting, cam, ignition, headers etc.. The second will get you a stock rebuild.

I believe the 5 slot only came as wide as 6.5" or 7" X 14 which would allow you to use a 215/60 R14 (you could use something else but it wouldn't look right IMO). You could try some bone yards or keep searching E-bay. I've seen them there every now and again.

That roll bar with the thick padding looks like it would hit you in the back of the head.

I think all this is really going to depend on the condition of your head. How much has it been shaved? Or has the combustion chamber been modified? You will really need to measure the combustion chamber cc's, provided along with your bore/stroke and the head gasket cc's and the 0.08 positive deck height. You can then find out exactly what your compression will be.

Here's a picture:

Is the headlight cover for the "G" nose different? It looks longer (judging by Alans avatar). If so are those rarer?

Just a suggestion, before you start welding make sure that BOTH surfaces are clean, you must remove all rust, grease and dirt. Any impurities on the welding surface can cause "popping", excessive slag and welds that are not as strong as they could be. $.02