Jon Dickson

The mechanic was going to order some new arches that go over the cam because he doesn’t know how to plug the small oil holes, any suggestions? Or would it be better to just replace the arches, they already had to do a weld where they found a crack. Looks like the pistons are dished. The number I found on the head was E31. He has also had quite a bit of trouble collapsing the oil rings on the pistons. Any tricks that I can send his way. He said that the red and green need to be butted up against each other and with them butted he has not been able to collapse the ring. Thanks for your help!

Yes, sorry the cylinder head, I am learning as I go on this project, the mechanic is saying that there is a tube missing down the right side of the cylinder head. So in your opinion this an a later model that has little can holes and is not missing a small tube or spray bar? Thanks

I went and checked on the Z’s progress. The engine was ceased up but they finally broke it loose. They were very impressed by the engine block. The mechanic seems to think that it is missing a small tube that runs the length of the block. I don’t remember seeing it. I will attach a pic and please let me know if you know if you see anything missing from the block, he seems to think it should be running along the right side of the block in the last picture. It’s a 280 engine so he may be getting confused with a 240 engine.

I will post some more pics when I swing by the shop. Here is one I took of the inside of the glove box.

Thanks for the warm welcome and info. I am located in Wenatchee Washington a little less than 3hrs out of Seattle. I wish I was more of a DIY guy with cars but it’s hard to find the room and time with six kids running around the house. Today I sent my lady off to the shop to have a mechanic look her over and help me start putting the pieces back together. I couldn’t find the engine tag (must have been removed when it was last painted and must have it in a box somewhere) but the VIN that I did find on my old insurance card is S30100541. How do I determine what type of engine I have in there now. I know it’s not the original and I know it’s from a 280. The car is a five speed and the engine is a dual carb. Does anyone have a diagram for what emblems we’re located where on a 73 240 Fairlady? I have most of the original emblems but someone took one of the side roof pillar Zs. Are those hard to find for this particular model? 73 RHD

I am new to this forum and under qualified to have an educated conversation with a Z enthusiast. Despite being undeserving of a Fairlady, I do own one and am in the process of trying to get it back on the road. I purchased the car from my uncle while I was in high school in 1997. I had the rust replaced and body work completed as well as the engine rebuilt before leaving it my parents garage for nearly 20yrs. I now have it in my garage and am looking to bring it back to life. I am looking to make connections with others that have done similar projects and that can help me do a respectable restoration of this car. I admire everyone's passions for these cars but I have to be honest I don't know all of the history and am not a gear head so I don't mean any disrespect by my ignorance. If you have one of these and always wanted one, I would like to know how you did the restoration or would do the restoration. I don't have the original engine as of now, it has a 280 dual carb engine and has had that since I purchased it. I was told that they used to race it in Japan, someone brought it over to WA state, my uncle bought it from him in the early 90s and I bought it from my uncle. Just throwing all of this out there to the Z world, what do you think?