Bambikiller240

If you are taking the head to a machine shop for seats, guides and general machining, just scrape what you can off with a putty knife and let the shop deal with the rest. They will have a perfectly flat surface plate to finnish the head surface which will keep everything perfectly flat. If you get too carried away with a dremel tool or other means you're likely to cause the head to require milling to get the surface perfectly flat again. The machine shop is well versed in how to care for your cylinder head, let them to the exacting stuff that makes or breaks a proper rebuild of the head. You just take care of the block surface. You're far less likely to bugger up that cast iron surface than the soft aluminium cylinder head. Just my $.02 Carl

Your car doesn't have a head either, but it does have headlights, I'll bet!

Bart: If you are talking about the connections at the front of the gas tank, (in other words the connections near the fuel tank/guage sender unit) the ones that go to the front of the car for the fuel pump and carburetors; NO, dropping the fuel tank will not help much, but you really should not have any problem getting to these connections. It is a little tight there, but not bad at all. kmacks advice about loosening the (any) hoses with a pliers before trying to remove them is really good advice. On the other hand if you are talking about the fuel VENT hoses, (the ones that are about 5/8" or a bit larger in diameter, then lowering the fuel tank WILL help, but you need to drain the tank as completely as possible before doing so. It also helps to get the car up on blocks as high as you can, so that you can be directly below the tank as you loosen the tank straps in order to support the tank and gently lower it to the ground. I support it with my knees, and then lower it to my chest, then I slip out from under it (to the side).

As mentioned by Smokey, the important thing is if YOU like the mods or not. Also, the body condition must be detrmined EXACTLY in order to assess the value of the car. RUST IS CRITICAL. Inspect every part of the body. Are there bubbles of rust showing unde th paint ANYWHERE? Rocker panels, benhind the fender well, around the rear wheel arches, in/on/around the hatch area of the car? How about in the spare wheel well? On, under, around the battery tray area? Floor pans, inside AND outside? Has the car been used as a daily driver in your state? Does your state apply salt to the roads in the winter? Salt will KILL the body and once the car has been subjected to this environment, it is VERY difficult to prevent the car from developing a serious case of body rot. The salted snow, ice, water gets everywhere, into the smallest gaps and crevices and will disolve a Z before your eyes over time. The photo shown below is an example of what to look for. This rust is fairly advanced, and is "probably" more pervasive that what is actually visable.

The guage 2ManyZ's refers to only comes with the Solid Aluminum/Delin T/C Kit that is sold through companies like Ground Control. It is not provided with the polyurethane bushings sold by MSA. When I bought my P/U bushings from them 3 years ago, they told me to assemble as normal and torque to spec. Then to retorque after 500-1000 miles of normal driving.

I've done that , and they can't do anything unless it can be PROVEN that the seller is doing so to avoid selling the item. Of course they can't/won't/don't investigate much. Even if it can be proved, all they can really do, is to bannish him/her from eBay. Of course he/she just comes back under a different name, email address, and a mail drop-box address. You are essentially at the mercy of any sellers honesty or lack thereof.

Now if I could just get Anna Kornikova's HEADLIGHTS into my 240Z!

Rear tail light is sort of like a "double negative". A tail light is a tail light. It is found at the TAIL of the car, right??? Now does anyone know if the "front headlights" from a 260Z will fit in a 240Z!! :stupid: :stupid:

The early 240Z's came with an E31 cylinder head, and YES, an E88 head can be substituted. Be advised, however, that there are TWO varieties of E88 head. One came on the very late 71 240Z's and the very early 72 240z's. This head had combustion chambers of similar size to the E31 (a high compression design). The later E88 head came on the late 1972 240Z's and the 1973 240Z's. This variety of E88 had significantly larger combustion chambers (low compression) and was designed to meet the more stringent SMOG regulations that were imposed on new cars. Both heads will fit the block, but you will get different (lower)performance with the late version E88 head. The only way to tell the two apart is by examining the combustion chambers. See picture below. It shows the early head; E31 or EARLY E88, that area indicated is "notched" or filled in on the early heads resulting in a smaller combustion chamber on the E31 and EARLY E88. In the later E88 the combustion chamber would be "more round", in other words, the notch of metal would be missing, giving a larger combustion chamber.

Love that Mexican Food!

I emailed the seller this evening and inquired about a brief inspection of the car. He's replied that he would be willing to make the car available in the next couple of days. If I can clear my schedule enough to make the run to San Jose for a look, I'll do my best to check it out thoroughly and report back to you all what I find. Now I am NOT well versed in exactly what equipment should and should not be on #212, if those that truely know (knock, knock, Mr. Beck ) would send me a PM with a few tell tales it would help me to report what I find. I know where to find the tags and where to look for the VIN stamped into the firewall, and I believe that unless the chassis was altered by a "master bodyman" I could identify a chop or "clipped" chassis.

You can also get Stainless Steel Braided hose from http://www.earlsperformance.com/html/index.htm Carl

The law requiring VIN #'s has been around for at least as long as I've been into cars which dates back to the mid 1960's. I think it has been around much longer, but I'm not sure.

Most of us did & do just that. Don't take the concerns of the "few" so seriously. You had the b*lls to post the avatar, surely you've the b*lls to take the criticism of a small minority. We don't all have to like the same things, do we? The USA was built on disent. Ain"t nothing changed in that regard for over 220 years PS I am NOT in favor of Bush's war either, but I absolutely support the troops who will have to do the fighting.

Did you do it "down the road or across the street"? PS: you won't get much sympathy from some of us who are Viet Nam or Desert Storm era veterans. Surely you understood when you signed up that you could get called up to the big leagues. Didn't you?

Yes, but not in a long time. I used to attend animation film festivals in my younger days. It is one of the classics. Carl

Yep!

If the seller really knew what he was doing, he'd have posted a picture of the VIN stamped into the firewall, instead of the plate that either has, or could have been moved from one dash/car to another. Seems to me he's looking for a buyer with his "head in the sand". Because he's sure not showing anything that "proves" that what he's got to sell is in fact #212 PS I'm not flaming you, Zedrally. I'm discussing this from my perspective as an eBay buyer who has seen many things offered that were not what they were claimed to be. Even with my "buyer beware" attitude, I've been burned a few times so I question everything that isn't perfectly proven.

In the US, I've never seen one that wasn't rivited in place, except when someone was doing a chop job (or front/rear clip). The real telltale will be the VIN stamped into the firewall, not the tags that can be moved with relative ease. Only for a "plate" collector. If the CHASSIS isn't what it should be, the plate is meaningless. 2ManyZs, the console can be changed in half an hour by you or me, so it won't prove anything. But I doubt the seller would bother, since he was too busy brushing on the primer!

1. Me thinks you read too much into the responses. "implied vehemence" ???????? 2. If it looks like a Duck, quacks like a Duck..........it's a Duck! Pintail, or Mallard, or Brown; they're still DUCKS! But the Mallards don't belong in the Pintail Duck Club! 3. 280 hp v.s. 272 hp. come on, a very minor tweek in the engine management system software likely accounts for that negligible difference. Probably only done to adjust fuel mileage to appeal to a different market segment, or to keep it from being classified in a higher insurance rate class. 4. Nothing wrong with owning a Luxo car, but don't call it something it isn't. IT AIN'T A Z!! Do you really think a "G35 Club" would welcome 240Z,260Z,280Z, Z31, Z32 owners just because the G shares a platform with the 350Z? Somehow I doubt it. 5. First you point out how it is necessary for all of these cars to share common platforms to save dollars for the manufacturer, then you complain because we point out that these are the same platforms, and how the only real differences are in creature comforts tacked on, (Oh, and a whole 6 hp too!), and the badges on them designed to appeal to a different market segment. In this case an upscale market. The badges ARE different, you cannot argue that point, and the platforms are the same, you admit to that. There are differences, to be sure, but those differences tend to SEPARATE the Infinitys from the Nissans. Let's keep it that way! I wonder how eager you would be to invite owners of a car that was built on the 350Z Platform, but had a 2.0L, 100 hp, 4 cylinder engine, a 3 on the tree transmisson, a spartan cloth interior and no radio into a 'Z club"??? PS In many areas of the country one would have to BLOW the salesman to get a 350Z for $26K.

The picture of the VIN plate on the dash shows the tag mounted to the dash with screws!! All three of the 240Z's that I've owned had that tag mounted with blind (pop) rivits. I'd be examining the car, and the locations of the other VIN plates VERY carefully. The clincher would be the VIN stamped into the firewall. I'd want to be very certain that this car hasn't been altered to appear to be something that it may not in fact be. Call me suspicious (of anything)!!! Carl (shoulda been born in Missouri:) )

probably not even close to the reserve price. JMO

You pays your money, and takes your chances. or as Forrest Gump says, "Life is like a box of Chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get! :stupid:

Here is the reply that I received from the seller of the brake kit mentioned in the start of this thread. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "This set up was designed specifically for the early Z cars, it uses a Bendex 4 big piston caliper set up from a 4x4 truck, vented rotors that I had slotted by a machine shop and all the spacers and hardware needed. As you can see I have this same set up on my $30K show car with a 3.2 stroker and it stops on a dime! This is a direct blot on in less then a hour .Good luck with your bid, its well worth ever penny, believe me only a few people have this set up, will you be one? " Al Allen ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wonder how fast (or often) a "show car" gets driven in anger.