240ZX

Excellent point there George!!! Time will tell. Everytime I see these natural disasters and how quickly life as we usually know it stops, it reminds me how easy it could happen to any of us if something disrupts the basic things we all depend on...like water, food, electricity, and sewage. I quess what I'm trying to say is, be prepared the best you can and do think about the consequences if you don't plan ahead. It is certainly sad that all these people are now scratching to survive. Fortunetly, life goes on...just not very smoothly in this case.

Here's an additional thought. I learned this years ago with a 289 mustang I had. What I'm talking about is the routing of the plug wires! On the mustang, if plug wires were routed next to each other, that in the firing sequence fired right after the adjacent wire, it would cause a miss fire. So, if the firing order is 153624, you dont want 1&5, 5&3, 3&6, 6&2, 2&4, and 4&1 next to eachother. Does this make any cents?

Regard the question on the drive shafts...I believe they are the same, not replacable. However, a good driveline shop can take care of that issue.

If the engine hasn't be run in a couple of years, it may be a good idea to change the oil/filter and also remove the plugs and squirt a small bit of 30w into each cylinder before cranking it over. If you've taken a compression test on an engine thats been sitting that long, its likely to show lower compression than it would if it was a daily runner. New plugs, point/condenser (if you have them), rotor/rotor cap, and maybe even plug wires are always a good think as well.

What type of distributor are you running. If it is a stock points type unit, the points may be floating at 5K and above. Just a thought!

That's the route I took as well. Funny thing was, when I first did the upgrade I wasn't aware of using the diode! So, quess what...I started the car, everything was fine and I thought to myself...another fine job except when I went to shut off the engine....surprise, surprise, it kept running :disappoin . Made a few calls and a trip to the local electronics store and installed the diode Eric is talking about. Been working perfectly ever since.

What ever happened to SEXY looking cars....you know, like the early Z cars with nice flowing lines. Some times I get the feeling, with focus on cost savings now days, that the design studios can only afford to hire designers with little or no taste (well, maybe the designers do have talent, but the people who make the final decisions do not...and I'll bet their favorite animal is the toad ), or they scower kindergarder classes for ideas! Why is it that most all new car designs (visually anyway) look just like the other guys, or worse. OK, I guess I'll have to exclude the new vette. Do you think Nissan could build a car to compete with the new vettes and at a similar price? I would think so!

I also have to agree with all the votes for gun metal...with or without polished lip. Would look outstanding on a blue Z!

IIRC, Victoria British sells the replacement hard lines.

I believe this question has been asked so many times by so many people! A simple search of the archives will reveal a load of post on just this subject. Myself, I have 17" x 9" wheels on the rear of my 240. No rubbing with the stock flare however, I do have sectioned struts, coilover shocks w/ 8" free length springs, and 235-40 x 17 Yokohama's. The question was asked...Why would you want 17" x anything? Because you can, that's why. Why do some people like black shoes as compared to brown shoes? Because that's what they prefer. Wouldn't life be boring if everyone walked the same path!

You can have the head surfaced, but at some point which I can't recall, you will also need to shim the cam towers to compensate for the head resurfacing.....IIRC, it has to do with the cam timing and chain tensioning. If you have a basically stock motor, either head will work just fine. The N42 has bigger valve than does the E88, by the way!

Brian, Regarding the dash, you can also look into a "full dash cap". They run just under $100.00 and are relatively simple to install....although patients helps, and depending on the condition of your existing dash. When done properly, they look great, with very little trace of it being a dash cap.

Ian, Just get yourself a replacement oil fill cap (dealership, boneyard, or where ever) and put it on....then change your oil/filter! That should take care of the oil spray on the inside of your hood and prevent the dirt from getting into the engine. As a suggestion, purchase or borrow some books on the basics of internal combustion engines and or car systems (brakes, drivetrain, electrical,etc.)...it may help you to understand the in's and out's of engines and the car's related systems. Learning the basics is always the best place to start from....without a good foundation (understanding), you'll have a tough time building a good house...so to speak!

Have you tested the fusible link near the starter and the main chassis groung? Other than that, my only suggestion is to get out the old test light, multimeter, and schematic and start tracing down the circuits. Pain in the butt, but sometimes thats all that can be done. Some issues I ran into during my redo, were that some of the connectors appeared to be fine, but upon close inspection revealed 30+ years of corrosion! So some cleaning and some connector replacement was in order. Electrical problems can be trying at best......good luck and tell us what you find!

TomoHawk, I'm impressed! Actual relavent info. No rants from me on this one!

Welcome aboard! I just looked through your gallery....certainly a sleeper. I would imagine you have surprised a few with it!

Careful Rob, Will (HLS30.com) may not like the way you phrased those words and get all over you! However, I agree with you 100%.

Jay, Do you have any pick-a-part yards in your area? They may have one. If not, the pick-a-parts and salvage yards have a national network system for locating parts. Just some food for thought.

Well Jeramy, Z cars are without a doubt great cars to own and drive. IMO, for drag racing a Camero is better suited. Basically, it has to do with the rear suspension....the Z has indepenant rear suspension and the Camero has a ridgid axle rear suspension (better for keeping the full width of a tire's tread on the race track....traction). If your not totally hooked on drag racing, the Z is great for autocross and or road racing. Owning and driving a Z car on your favorite back roads, without being involved in any sort of racing, is also great fun. Call it a hunch but, I think that might be one of the reasons we own and love our Z cars. If you truely love the Z cars, do what you can to it to please you......it will certainly grow on you! Ask any member.

Will, it's really simple......I think TomoHawk is a jerk. Sure I'm opinionated, get over it! When TomoHawk actually starts contributing something useful to this site, other than just babbling on about whatever, maybe I'll think differently about him. I do apologize for ranting about TomoHawk and derailing the post, but quess what? I'm human as well as anyone else. Can I be forgiven your holiness?

If this occurs at idle, it's likely that the RPM is just too low for the alternator to produce the required charging voltage. This is a common thing. Does the voltage come up when you rev the motor?

Amazing!!!!

What an articulate answer TomoHawk.....you're amazing! I don't think Jeramey cares that you have a 280Z or how you dream about driving it or what you think it was designed for!!! He simply asked about 1/4 mile performance and how it performs stock! If you need some attention, go talk to your mommy! Dawd, why do I even bother....your hopeless!

From the outside it looks to me like a relatively nice 71 with paint and a G-nose! The rest of the car looks to be the typical old and used up Z car destine for a resto job. I wouldn't give him more than $2K for it...at best!