Cooper260z

noted. Thank you guys so much. I don’t know why this change of carburetors seemed so daunting before. Guess I just got psyched out by reading about the problems people ran into. If there’s anything you think I should know about this, I’d love to hear it! Thanks again!

I figured I’d leave the balance tube for now and go back for that later. But if you have some insight on what I should with those hard lines when I do want to change the balance tube, then I’d be happy to hear it! I do have the round top linkage, I think. The guy I bought the carbs from, gave me two different sized center linkages with the confidence that one of them would be the right one. So hopefully one is.

Alright then, the blocked off port would seem to be the one that goes to the carburetors then. Thank you so much @Captain Obvious I think you’ve cleared most of questions! So I think I can start swapping the carbs then once I get new gaskets

Wow, are forums not the best aftermarket car part there is? Thank you very much @Captain Obvious that clears up a bunch right there. Although I’m sure I’ll come up with a few more questions next time I look at the car. But what about that blocked off thermostat port? The previous owner told me that he or the owner before him has “blocked off the water to the intake” but I can see that the water still goes through the intake and even leaks onto the exhaust I think. So what should that blocked off port go to? Incase I should put it back.

@Captain Obvious okay, That makes sense. Id recently seen a flat top carb by itself and saw that it had various holes in it, but I haven’t taken them off my car yet so I wasn’t sure if the manifold had water holes. The carburetor insulators I see for sale on zcardepot all have holes at the bottom, but I assume I can just ignore those and use them?

Oh, and if I take the intake manifolds off I assume I should change the manifold gasket, which would mean also taking the exhaust off. Is that correct?

I know this topic has been heavily discussed in the past but I am unclear on a couple things and am looking for some help.to set the scene, I’m working on an early 74 260z that to me looks like it’s bone stock and has almost everything in the engine bay that it came with. I have two sets of round top carbs and a mostly complete l24 sitting on a dolly. Also this my first Z car and I’m not too familiar with them yetNeither of the round tops that I have, have the holes on the manifold side of them that I think I are used to circulate water? So if I want to use these carbs should I use the manifold that’s on the l24 that also does not have the holes to circulate water, as opposed to the manifolds that are currently on the car? The l24 manifolds do have a water line going between them though, Incase that is relevant. As a side note, the round tops did not come on the l24.If I use the manifolds that are in the l24 it seems to makes sense to also use the balance tube that lacks the provisions for the egr diaphragm and such. But if I use the l24 balance tube then what do I do with the two hard lines that are coming out of the balance tube that are currently on the car? Those two hard lines seemingly being used for water and egr. The l24 balance tube has one port at the end of it but that port is currently blocked off and I don’t know what would’ve been there originally, if it would’ve been water or gone to the exhaust manifold like the 260 one.And on the thermostat housing on the 260, a port is blocked off and I’m wondering what that should go to.I’ll add some pictures of what I’m referring to and am happy to take more pictures if necessary.I’m trying to get at least most of the details of this conversion sorted out before taking the car apart, because even though it’s not registered and I’m not driving it around, the car does run and drive and occasionally needs to be moved and that’s obviously an easier task when the car runs.So if my questions aren’t too annoying, I’d appreciate any and all help anyone has for me. Thanks! The pictures in order of appearance show the blocked off thermostat housing port, the hard lines on the 260 balance tube and the single blocked off port at the end of the l24 balance tube

Alright then. I’ll put those wires back and get another tachometer. Thanks!

@Zed Head I thought this car should’ve had points originally? It runs quite well, it drives, idles great and starts right up. Just the other day I moved the wires off the ballast resister block (is that what it’s called?) because I thought that those were for points and I don’t have those. As for the gauge, the gauge lights work, the left arrow indicator blinks, right arrow doesn’t blink and the tach doesn’t move

Right you are @Zed Head! So the pictures show the block inside the distributor and that there is no box on the outside of the distributor. (Disregard that water block off. Haven’t fixed that yet) the blue wire is on the coil negative, the inline resister for the tach is present and plugged in (previously wasn’t plugged in) and the tach has voltage at the positive and negative posts and the red and black wire. So I think the tach should be working unless the gauge itself is broken

Disclaimer: I don’t know what exactly has been done to this car as far as modifications though I don’t think it’s much. And I’m not great with wiring At first I was thinking I had a zx distributor but if it was a zx distributor wouldn’t it have a little box on the radiator side of the distributor? But the igniter(?) Block inside the distributor doesn’t say pertronix on it so I don’t think that’s what it is And then my tach currently doesn’t work but I have voltage at the red/black wire on the tach, that varies with rpm so I think that means I’m getting tach signal and it should be working. So does that mean the tachometer itself is just broken?

@Zed Head after reading what you said and looking at the mechanism multiple times, I understand how it should work now. When I Installed the new wheel cylinders, the adjustment arms that move the wheel did not contact the wheel at first. If I bend the arms so that they do contact the wheel do I run the risk of altering the point at which the arm will stop moving the wheel? Or as long as I’m bending the arm upwards to contact the wheel and not bending it inwards or outwards, will it still operate the way it should? my dad keeps Instilling the fear in me that the shoes will just keep adjusting out until the drums seize and then I’m stuck somewhere

@Terrapin Z but if you turn the adjuster until it doesn’t turn anymore, would the drum not be seized tight?

I couldn’t get the handbrake to adjust the shoes reliably, but I adjusted them manually so that if I put the wheel on and give it a quick spin it rotates for between a ¼ to ½ a revolution which I think is what some older forum posts suggested. My handbrake still clicks about 5 times though and there is more drag on the drums than I would set if I was adjusting them on another car. is this an acceptable setting? I haven’t tried driving the car like this yet

@Mark Maras the hole will line up with the wheel, my worry was that I wouldn’t be able to rotate the drum to get it lined up If it got adjusted too tight

Cool, sounds good to me. Thanks @Zed Head I’ll give it a try

Hello again. I’m new to Z cars and trying to learn about how they work. I’ve done some Research and come to the conclusion that I probably adjusted the drums incorrectly when I replaced all the parts. I’ve been reading about how when properly adjusted the drums shouldn’t turn much at all? This contradicts how I’ve been adjusting drums on other cars so could someone explain why this is how it’s done? The new wheel cylinders I installed did not actuate the star wheel to adjust the brakes when I got them so I played around with them and got them to adjust the brakes by pulling the parking brake, but was worried that they’d adjust out so far that the drum would just get stuck, and if it gets stuck with the adjustment hole not at the star wheel then how are you supposed to get the drum off? And if the proper spec is for the shoes to be tight against the drum then how do the shoes not get wasted quickly by rubbing when you aren’t even touching the brakes? I've found information on how people say to adjust the brakes, but not why that works, so I apologize if this has been discussed before but I couldn’t find it. And again, that process just goes against my previous experiences, so I’d love to know why these cars are different.

Thanks for the tips! And looks like quite the clean car @LeonV if that is yours

@dutchzcarguy thank you for that, I was a bit unsure. Do you have pictures or more specifics on where you lift it so I can do it properly

So this car seems very complete and mostly original. Normally my mindset would be to remove the smog equipment, like the air pump and the charcoal canister. But I feel like since everything is there it’s almost kinda sad to take it out. Do these parts even work anymore? Does anyone els need them? Would I get style points for having a cluttered engine bay? I’m undecided so far

@Captain Obvious that 2002 is my dads, but I have a couple also. That’s what I started with. My first car was ‘69 2002 that I bought before even had a learners permit. It was fine because it needed a lot of work before I could drive it. Love that car

@LeonV wow that’s a close vin! I would be interested in a bumper but the budget is tight right now. Too many cars and not enough money kind of thing. I’m sure I’ll need something eventually though, I’ll be sure to ask. thanks @grannyknot that’s what I like to hear. I love a good forum community @wadelester My dad does body and metal work so I understand what it takes to do that stuff, and I understand that I’d prefer not to. But I could do it, and I’m taking automotive painting at the community college I go to. So given enough time and money, it could get to looking pretty nice. And the underside of the car looks very nice.The floors are a bit pushed in, but no rust

@heyitsrama thanks! I’ll send you a message sometime for sure

@Mark Maras The plan for now is just to get it running and driving well. Then I’d like it to be a bit lower, better wheels and triple carbs look pretty cool and fun. But that stuff will be later. And I still want a 240Z too, but this car seems too solid to get rid of right now. @heyitsrama Hey, maybe we can get together sometime! I don’t have any Datsun buddies yet. The vin is 023321its a February ‘74 car. @wheee! Gotta have an extinguisher, especially with the new unknown cars.

I’ve made another thread for a general overview of the car for anyone to point out anything they see of interest or concern, if anyone is interested