Royce

Mudge, When I lived in the bay I found Z's in the East Palo Alto yards and occasionally traveled to Hayward or San Jose for parts yards. There are several F54 blocked ZX's here in Sacramento junk yards if you wanted to save the long drive to LA for something else. I don't know about non-US but, in the US all the '80 - '83 non-Turbo 280ZX's came stock from the factory with F54 casting L28 blocks with flat top pistons. These motors also "came" with P79 heads, ofcourse the internals and heads could have been changed but the ones I have seen haven't been touched. Happy Holidays!

It sounds like a good deal to me, even better if it had the old original matching engine. One note is that with the frame modifications it may not meet the specifications for certain organized racing/autocross classes. But for that money it would be fine for driving down the street! If you don't buy it post the contact info here and I am sure it will find a good home!

Sorry, I have no idea what cam I have! I know, I wish I would have gotten that info from Rebello when they built the motor but that was 14 years ago and I had no clue what I was doing, things haven't changed to much! My car does not like to rev (doesn't like to go past 5K RPM in 3rd - 5th) which could be a result of the cam, but I have many other things to look into first. The engine has so much more torque than my old L24, so the fact it doesn't rev really doesn't bother me much. Fact is it is probably the reason the motor has lasted so long. However, some day I would like to see it work to it's full potential. I have a 2.5" exhaust ready to go in, and have some other things to check- distributor, intake, etc. then I may be in the market for a new cam myself.

If it runs decent, the title is clean, and it can be easily registered than you cannot go wrong with a running 240Z for $700. Typically the first thing you want to look at on a 240Z is body and chassis rust. Check under the interior carpets, under the battery, bottom of front fenders, rear hatch ledge, around the seam under the doors and in the spare tire well. You can spend a lot of time and money fixing rust if you end up wanting to make the car a keeper. Interior parts can also be hard/expensive to come by. Hope it helps!

What 2manyZ's and I were refering to is the casting number on the drivers side on the bottom near the motor mount. But the casting number isn't really important unless we are talking L28 motors. Most likely the dished pistons with the notches for valve clearance are replacement pistons. It is possible that they are lower compression, equal or even higher compression pistons than your stock pistons. You should crank the engines over and get both so that number piston number one is all the way up, then see how the pistion height compares. If the difference is not obvious you would probably have to take it to an engine expert to find out what the differences are. Another thing is to clean the piston top surfaces as some manufactures will stamp a number, usually the bore or overbore, or other info into piston. Also, measure the cylinder diameter because it sometimes can be hard to visually see the difference between a stock engine and one that has been slightly overborred. Especially if they have both been overborred. One more thing, I would check the diameter of the valves on the motor with the dished pistons and compare to the other engine. They may have used those pistons because they installed larger valves? Have fun! Hope it helps!

Admittedly, I haven't taken apart and compared the internals of the motors of various years of 240Z but I believe '70 - '73 originally had the same pistons (corrections are welcome). I am of the impression that compression and emissions changes during these years were done in the head and the intake/carbs. I do have several engines around and expect I may do some comparisons of them one of these days. But even then I think it is safe to guess that after 31 years it is possible that the engines have been rebuilt and may not have their original pistons. On drivers right the engine is stamped with a casting number this will give you a good place to start determining which blocks you have but without measuring the bore and stroke you still wouldn't really know what you have. I think it is time to get out some dial calipers and start measuring. Have fun!

I haven't shipped anything to AU (yet!) but I did ship some stuff to UK. I usually use US Parcel Post (www.usps.com) or UPS (www.ups.com) to ship, let me know if you have any other better options. It was way cheaper using US Parcel post to UK but it still cost $40 US to send a 6 lbs. package in one weeks time. The rates are determined by delivery distance, package size and weight, and desired delivery time. Hope it helps!

Yes, you can use either a three screw or four screw air cleaner. If you don't turn one up let me know, I friend of mine has several and he may be interested in selling one. Have fun!

Sorry Whitea207, you obviously have me mistaken for someone/something else! Good luck finding the "girl" of your dreams!

A carb change (or any part change) by itself may improve or may even degrade performance. The engine systems all opperate as a unit so it really depends on the supporting pieces. What model/size weber carbs do you have, what modifications have been done to your cylinder head and/or block, exhaust, or ignition? When all else fails put it on a chassis dyno! There is a shop near me that just started offering three pulls on the dyno for $50!

Guycali, Take your car to the events!!! Sure there are a few people who will turn up their nose but most Z folk will come over and want to talk to you about your plans for the car. You will get more advise and help plus you will meet more people and probably save some money along the road! Stand proud and have fun!

Well I spent most of my life in Redwood City but now live in Sacto, where the property is way cheaper and the jobs pay about the same! If you decide to do a Wine Country run let me know, I am sure I could round up a couple Z folk from Sacto.

When all else fails go with cubic inches. You could get an L28 engine block from a junk yard and bolt that to your head and get some more HP. If you get one in good condition it could be less than $200 but with any change the little things can exceed you budget quickly. To stay with your current compression ratio go with an N42 block ('75 280Z - '79 280ZX) or for an increase in compression go with a non-Turbo F54 block ('80 - '83 280ZX). The engine block model number is stamped on the block near the motor mount under the exhaust manifold. Of course the extra cubes would like a bit more fuel.

Howdy, Regarding your first question. Unlike American cars the VIN on the 240Z cars don't tell you much. The US 240Z's didn't have any factory options other than auto or stick as far as I know. I don't think the VIN even distinguishes which trans it had. They all came with AM radios, rear window defrost, cig lighters. Only the engine is numbered (not the trans) and that number is stamped on a plate inside the engine compartment that also contains the VIN. Everything else was dealer add ons- A/C, bumper overriders, mag wheels, and center console arm rests. No cup holders! Best place to find one is at a Z car show! Good Z's are hard to find and can pop up anywhere. You will find them on ebay or on your local used car lot from time to time. Good to ask questions on this forum or the many other Z forums to help you find what you are looking for! Sometimes you can find a complete but ruff car for $500 and a fully restored mint condition could be $10K to even $20K. Usually more for the early series one cars built '69 through '70. Hope it helps!

Just read the news and wanted to say that I am wishing for the best for Keith's mother and Alfadogs great aunt!

Oh yeah, a tune up and a compression check would still be a good idea to find out if there is anything wearing out!

It is most likely both the valve guides and the valve stem seals. However, replacing the seals will probably make it go away and unless the guides are heavily warn you could probably drive for years without any issue. Unless it is smoking heavily I wouldn't worry about it. To change the seals you would have to disassemble the valve assembly- rockers, springs, etc. Then you would need to do something to keep the valves from falling into the cylinder, ex. fill with compressed air or rope. I have only done it with the head off the car but I have heard of people doing it these other ways. Hope it helps!

You could use the door skin from the 280Z but if you want to swap complete door for complete door you need one from any year 240. I don't know about the striker but the internal door parts are certainly different, your 240 door panel and arm rest would not mount to it. I believe your second question was about using the 280Z window regulator in a 240!? This would require fabrication as the mount holes for the 280Z regulator are not in the 240 door. Hope it helps!

Hey Mark, Keep looking it is in there! As previously mentioned it is hard to get to. The only original 240 mirror I have removed was on a door that was off the car and I removed all the door internals first. With some creativity and if you take your time you could probably get it out without removing everything. Have fun!

Howdy, I use synthetic in all my cars. Not because I am a expert on engine oil but I know enough engine builders to be convinced that synthetic is the way to go. The only time I would not use synthetic is if your car uses a lot of oil, because synthetic is more expensive. I choose to go with 10w-40 for all my cars ('99 Honda Odyssey, '90 Honda Civic, '71 240Z L28, '79 Ford F250) because it is in the middle of the road and I buy it by the gallon! If you are in colder climates and have difficulty starting your car you may want to go with a thinner oil during winter months and if you race you may want to consider a single grade thicker oil. Hope it helps!

If you are looking for good used parts, just ask for what you need on this list. There are many people like my self with a few extra parts laying around their garage. If you are looking for new or reproduction parts check out the web links section of this web site. You will find all kinds of companies or individuals that make the hard to find Z parts. Have fun!

I weighed a N42 block L28 complete with N42 head (no valve cover), water pump, FI manifold, exhaust manifold, flywheel, and 4-spd trans at 600 lbs. on a commercial scale. I will admit that a L6 does look a little scary sitting on an engine stand. But I stored the same motor minus the trans on a rear mount engine stand, using long bolts so I could leave the flywheel on, for more than a year. Make sure you use good bolts!!! Have fun!

I took mine to Baylands Raceway in Freemont, CA USA in the first year I had it, back in '88. I went to watch my buddy run his 13 second '65 SS Nova. It was the Wednesday night grudge matches and it was the same price to spectate or to run your car. My best pass was 16.66 @ 88 MPH. I was just outta high school and had no clue how to get off the line well. The car was bone stock with 195/70R14's. I remember going home and digging through my Dad's old Road & Tracks to see how I compared to the car new and I was dead on! They listed 16.5 quarter mile and 8.7 0-60. I know it doesn't sound like much these days but it was pretty good for it's time. Hell in the '80s I think a stock Camero/Mustang was in the mid to high 15's and a stock C4 Corvette only ran a high 14 second et. I hope mine is a little faster these days. Actually, my Z buddy just bought one of those Gtech copies and we plan to take are cars out to a long stretch of lonely contry road and see how they do. Just gotta go get it (with me in it) weighed at the local metal scrap yard. Have fun!

Hey LA240Z, Yes, congrats on the new car! It was the E31 & E88 heads that came with soft valve seats. In US the N42 head started with the '75 280Z and with hardened valve seats so don't worry about them sinking. If in good condition it is a good head and you can use straight unleaded gas (won't need leaded substitue). All the carb Z's came with Hitachi built carbs. They key is are the domes on them bell shaped or flat. The '70 - '71 240s came with "4 screw" Hitachi SU type carbs and the '72 240Z came with "3 screw" Hitachi SU type carbs. IF you have either of these you need not be concerned. The '73 240 & '74 260 came with the flat top Hitachi carbs that are not as desirable. But I have seen people use these with good results it is just harder to find help or parts for them. Since your head was changed I am willing to bet you have the earlier round top carbs. I am also curious if there is a L24 or a L28 under that cylinder head. May just need a good tuneup, some fresh fluid in the carbs, and a valve adjustment. Hope it helps! Have fun!

Regarding carbs, I was not being specific the '71 - '72 240Z's have SU style carbs that are made by Hitachi. Have fun!