Royce

Looks like quite a find! I would say it is a keeper so long as the frame and unibody are in good shape! Even if they are not it would be hard to pass up with all the original bits it comes with. Looks like a bone stock US market, series I 240Z with a few dealer addons- front bumper overrider, center arm rest, A/C & wheels. Regarding the wheels, either they are 14x7 or have a bit of negative offset judging by the way they stick out from under the body in the back. I may be joining this a little late and this may have already been discussed but check to see if the orignal engine is there by comparing it (near the back on the passenger side of engine) to the tag on the fender wall in the engine compartment. Also, if all original should have E-31 head, E46 intake manifold and 4 screw SU carbs without the drain plug in the bottom of the float bowls. Have fun!

I am also on the hunt for mirrors. I would like something chrome like the stock mirrors that fit both sides. I have considered putting a stock mirror on backwards but am still looking at other options. Rob, we in the US did not get the Ford Escort until the late '70 or early '80s as a front wheel drive econo box. Not the warrior rally Escorts of the early '70s which is what you are probably referring to. I saw the pictures of you motor, very nice setup, but do you have any of the mirrors on your car to share? Thanks,

The valve cover breather is attached directly to the air cleaner and yes would be under vacuum. The PCV draws vapor out of the block by vacuum. But I don't know if a bad PCV valve allows more or less vacuum or maybe to regulate pressure at various RPM levels!?

Oh yeah! My last post was for US Z cars! Sorry, folks!

I have seen discussions about the breather on other lists. The valve cover breather should be attached to the air cleaner and is under vacuum. I have heard arguments that this helps draw gas vapor and other contaminant gases from the valve/cam area as well as equalizes pressures. But that is just what I have heard, any experts out there? Have fun!

As far as I can tell the '70 - '72 the bumpers are the same. In '73 different mounts were used up front that were more substantial and they mounted the bumper a little further off the car. The front bumper had additional metal and rubber trim to take up the gap between the bumper and the car. The guards were closer to the middle and it used a different narrower over rider that mounted to the bumper instead of the guard. The '73 rear bumper mounts and looks a lot like the earlier style but the guards were moved further to the corners. I have not seen a rear over rider up close but it also look to be a little different. I haven't seen a early 260 bumper up close but from a distance they look like the late 240 bumpers but with full rubber covers on the overriders. The late 260 went to the shock style mount just like the '75 - '76 280Z. Also, the late 260-'76 280Z still had the 240-early 260 rear bumper mounting holes in the rear panel of the body work. But the side mount locations, behind the rear tires, were not the same. No clue about the '77 - '78 280Z bumpers. Just got some ZX bumpers and starting to figure them out. Hope it makes sense. Corrections, comments, or questions are welcome!

Mr Camouflage wrote: "I'm sure that would work, wouldn't it?" It has worked very well for me! Again see "Transmission ratios and suggested rear gears" thread on this site or go to the original at www.zhome.com in the Z technical library, Index of technical articles and look for "How to determine which ratio..."

Zed, Nice looking car! I am guessing your airdam is fiberglass?? It is hard to tell if the one from the picture that driftmunky posted is fiberglass or urethane because of the nice paint. Like 2manyZs, I would also guess that it is a standard urethane airdam without the air inlets. Regarding the Z in question, I would suspect that as 2manyZs said they used tape to cover all it's lights as required for racing. Very tastefully done! By the way it sure looks like it says FairladyZ on the front fender of that car to me, especially since the license plate is also from Japan! They could have easily moved/changed the mirrors since they didn't mind adding the ZX Turbo vent to the hood. I wonder if it is turbo of if they use the vent to feed the carbs? Regarding the wheels/tires. Could be BBS, Enkie, Riken, etc. many manufactures made that style wheel. The rear tires are certainly taller and wider but it almost looks like the rims may be taller as well. But, I will vote 16" diameter front and back because it is probably just my eyes, it sure is hard to tell from the picture. Anyone have more pics of it or know more about this car? Also, it seems to have a BRE spoiler on the back. It sure is a pretty Z!!! Would look really good in my garage!

Sounds like you have to be pretty precise to measure the ratio that way if the diff isn't welded. Something I would not be good at! Typically if you spin one wheel/axle of an open diff with both sides free the other wheel/axle will spin in the opposite direction. This means neither wheel is spinning as much as it should and the calculation would be off. Since the differences are pretty small I think with an open diff I would have a hard time turning the two axles the same and would screw up my calculation. Holding one side still is a little easier to me than spinning both sides equally. But hey, whatever works for you! Have fun!

hmsports, I think that would only work with a locked diff or maybe posi, would require you to spin both rear wheels in the same direction!? I have just posted something similar that I have used with good success in the "Transmission ratios and suggested rear gears" thread. I got it from www.zhome.com in the technical articles. Hope it helps!

Hallaian42, From what you describe most likely you have a 280Z 5-speed. I say this because I have one and the drop in revs from 4th to 5th is only about 400-600RPM at freeway speeds. It doesn't feel like they drop much at all if you are working through the gears as you accelerate. If you are revving as much as you think you are than your diff was probably also changed to a lower rear end, higher ratio (3.9 or 4.11). There is an easy way to tell what your diff ratio is. Jack up your car from one side so that one rear tire is off the ground and the other is still on the ground. Support the car on jack stands, but you knew that, and put the car in neutral. Mark a visible spot on the drive shaft and on the tire that is off the ground. While some turns the tire 10 times count the number of rotations of the drive shaft. I think the relationships are: rotations..ratio ..16....3.36 ..17....3.54 ..18....3.7 ..19....3.9 ..20....4.11 etc. There is a technical writeup on this method at www.zhome.com under "z technical library"/"Index of technical articles"/"How to determine what ratio a specific differential contains" by Ross Corrigan. Then once you determine your diff ratio, you can go to http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ and plug in your diff ratio, trans "77-79 Factory Five Speed" is a preset, and your tire sizes and it will calculate for you what your RPM is at various MPH. So you can find out what your RPM is at 65MPH without a tach. Have fun!

First, a 4.11 diff would make your car rev more on the highway, assuming you do have a stock rear end. Going to a R200 will provide you a potentially bullet prof diff but would also add somewhere close to 20lbs to the weight of your car. Not to mention it will require a little more work to swap in than another R180. It isn't hard but it is something to be aware of. Second, would be good to know more about the car! What do you consider "high RPMs???" Ex. 4000RPM @ 75MPH What 5 speed do you have now or how much do the revs drop when cruising and 65MPH? EX. 500 or 1000 RPM. What size tires do you have and are you planning to change your tire size? I have a hard time thinking your RPM would be that high at freeways speeds unless your diff was changed, your tires are very small and low profile or you are used to driving a V8 that runs down the freeway at 2500RPM. Have fun!

I have known of at least three 240Z's that had a single "dim" headlight that was fixed by taking out the fuse and tightening the fuse holders by bending them together slightly. While your at it you may as well tighten the rest of the fuse holders too. If you are going to spend much time playing in your fuse box you should disconnect your battery, just in case, and be careful not to sqeeze them very hard. You don't want to break them! If tightening the fuse holders doesn't work, I would replace the fuse. Remember how old they might be. Old fuses can look fine and still not work very well. Then, disconnect the leads going to the light and put a test light or better yet a meter and see if there is a difference between the "good" side and the "dim" side. This will tell you if you need a new bulb or if the problem is up stream. Remember start with what is easy and cheap and work from there. Have fun!

Keep it down to the legal speed limit and it should stop leaking! They all leak a little, but will be likely to leak more if you are driving higher speeds and/or if the fluid level is too high. Did you fill it with the car level or with only the rear up in the air? This is typically not something to be concerned about. If yours is leaking heavily you might want to put a long tube with a catch can at the end. Lots of racers do this to keep fluid from leaking on the track. Not a bad idea to check the fluid level once a year. If you drive the car hard wouldn't be a bad idea to change the diff fluid once a year or so as well. Same goes for the trans, breaks, coolant oh and engine(of course this should be changed more than once a year if hard driving). Have fun!

Dan, How much did the pistons cost? Do you know how much rear wheel HP/torque your motor puts out? I certainly don't have anything against the stroker setup, I was just thinking of building the motor the other way around. Build the top end first because a good top end will make any L6 a lot better and then go after the bottom end. Regardless of whether the bottom end is a stock L24, a 10:1 compression stroker L28 with custom pistons or a 10:1 stock crank/flattop piston L28 it will really sing with modifications to head and exhaust. Since a F54 L28 could be bought for about $100 it wouldn't be very much more to upgrade there. But if the budget is more open up front then I could see how it would probably save money(cam choice, etc.) in the long run to start with the bottom end and then build the top end from there. I love my family but they sure have cut into the Z budget! ;-) Have fun!

stratcat asked if it was a ZX motor. You cannot tell from the pictures, the way to tell is that there will be a casting number on the manifold side of engine near the oil pan and the motor mount. It will either say N42 or F54. Have fun!

Oops, sorry John I misspelled your last name! John Coffey is a contributor here and on other Z discussion groups. Here recently mentioned his 305HP motor for his 240Z on the IZCC group and I thought maybe I could get him to let us know more about the engine design for his hot rod Datsun L6. Don't know if he will want to tell all his performance secrets or how much he paid for his motor but I am willing to guess it doesn't involve a diesel crank and was more than 10K for the block and head alone. Are you watching this conversation John?

Can you expand on "needs work" a little?

grantman240z, I was looking through some documentation last night and was suprised to see that the L6 engines produced more HP while the V6 Z31 engines produced more torgue. I understand that it was needed due to the extra weight they had to drag around but I have always thought the L6 would be the torque monsters. 71datsun240z, There are lots of places to find a good F54 L28 block with flattop pistons. In fact I would think it would be much cheaper and much easier to find than a L28d crank. I bet if you told us where on the planet you lived someone might be able to chime in with their favorite junk yard are engine source that would be close to you. If you use a stock F54 L28 N/A block, which came with flattop pistons, with a stock early head- E31, E88, N42 or N47(has different exhaust ports.) you will greatly increase your compression (just over 10:1 I believe) over stock which gives you the potential for more torque/HP. The change itself may not help a lot until you make other changes to take advantage of this increase in compression. Going from memory here so don't remember if it is necessary to cut into piston or block to allow for valves to open completely. A higher compression engine responds better to other modifications- bigger , larger valves, more aggressive cam, exhaust.and ignition. On the other hand I am pretty sure if you want to go with the L28D crank with a stock L24 bore you will end up somewhere in the same 2.8l area. If you bore the block out to it's max I think the combo will give you approx. 3.2l. I am going from memory and haven't done the math recently so corrections are welcome. But you will not be able to use both your stock L24 rods and pistons or the increased stroke will try to run your pistons through the head. Again, this engine setup alone will not give you tons more torque/HP but will respond better than a stock L24 to other modifications. I apologise that most of this is information regurgitated from my fussy memory. Hopefully someone else can fill in with details, or I'll try to come back with more factual numbers after doing some research. Maybe John Coffee can give us some of the specifications- bore, stroke, block, head, compression, etc of his 305HP Sunbelt L6 engine!? Hope it helps!

FYI, last time I talked to Rebello they felt that 40mm carbs are only good for show on a stock motor. They recommended triple 44's or 45's minimum for a modified Z motor. I am not familiar with the diesel crank setup but I do think with whatever crank you deside to use the F54 280ZX L28 block that 2manyZ's recommended is a good choice. Given the choice I also prefer the ZX 5-speed because I feel the ratios better compliment each other. Have fun!

The DGV's fit on a stock Datsun Z manifold. I would guess you have a N36 manifold that would be perfect for some early SU dome top carbs. Have fun!

I agree with 2manyZ's they don't look stock! For example where is the strap handle on the passenger door panel. The one that WGHungerford posted looks like an original panel. Have fun!

The way I understand it is any of the first generation Z ('70-'78) heads combined with the F54 N/A block (which came with flattop pistons) will give you more compression (10+ if I remember correctly) then any second generation ('79-'83) head will with the same block. You can get high compression with the P90 series heads but you will have to do considerable milling and then shim the cam towers to get the cam geometry correct. From what I have heard it can work very well but it takes a lot of developement (time and $$$) to get it right. That's what I have heard from the handful of people that have done it. Sorry, no first hand experience but it makes sense if you look at the specs of the different blocks and heads which are documented on several sites on the web. The engine that Rebello built me 10 years ago is a N42 L28 block with stock stroke bored to 2900cc with 240 rods (which are longer than 280) and custom short dished pistons, to bring the compression ratio back to 93 octane street gas specs. Then they used my E88 head but upgraded the valve seats and guides to hardened steel and added 280 valves. I requested a street cam which I feel has limited the power curve to below 6k RPM. I installed it in my car with all other stock manifolds and carbs which probably isn't helping the power end of the scale either. So I probably don't have much more than stock HP but it has noticably more torque than a stock L24. I am considering upgrading the cam, exhaust, and ignition to realize it's full potential but my conservative setup is probably why it has lasted me so many years. From what I understand these days Rebello is building their current evolution of the long rod motor using F54 L28 blocks bored to 3.0l with stock stroke or 3.3l with diesel crank, 240 rods, custom short pistons with a modified (depending on budget) N42 head. They claim these motors are producing between 225 - 275HP with SU carbs and wouldn't doubt it. I think that unless your head is wharped or otherwise damaged in some way you would probably be better off having it developed further than start over again. If you change from stock dished pistons to flattop pistons you will have a high compression hot rod motor for sure. That's my opinion! I am open to hearing what other have to say on this topic because after 13 years of good service I am starting to plan my next motor. This one may not survive the abuse of my right foot much longer! Have fun!

The one with the most time and $$$ put into it! Really!!! Of course it depends on your definition of performance? Here is my qualified answer open for discussion, since I really haven't played around with all the different combos myself. For a budget swap into a US naturally aspirated (N/A) 240Z or 260Z, my vote goes to the N42 because it is more widely available(lots of '75 - '76 280Z built), came ready for unleaded fuel with hardened valve seats and guides(which last way longer too!), fits the widest range of Z applications with square exhaust ports, and has the best compromise of compression and flow characteristics. Shave it a little and it is as good if not better than a E31. Finding a good E31 can be like chasing a ghost and if you find a good one at a reasonable price you will still want to change the valves and the cam. With the P series heads, unless you are swapping over the complete F54 block with the head or going with a Turbo or Supercharger the P79 & P90 series heads require to much developement(read $$$) to get good compression on a N/A L24, L26 or N42 block L28. On paper the hot ticket would be stock F54 L28 N/A block (which had flat top pistons) and N42 head. Then add some cam work, some polishing and things would be getting really interesting. Milage may vary! Making a fast car is just a function of time and money! Who's next?

Hi Owen, I have a urethane airdam and it is not ridgid and I would not be surprised to find out it distorts a little at speed. However, I am sure I could drill some holes at the bottom and add some supports to avoid this. A friend has a fiberglass airdam on his Z and is having a hard time repairing cracks. I would probably be on my third airdam if mine where fiberglass. Sorry, don't know anything specifically about the JC Whitney Z airdam. Have fun!