jonathanrussell

Really enjoyed your story about owning your 240z. Thanks for sharing. Your story caused me to think about some things. My dad bought his 72 240z in 73, slightly used, and paid as much as a new one. He put 190,000 miles on that car driving all over the southeast for his job. I drove a 280z during high school in the early 80s and put probably 30,000 miles on that car. My point is that reading your story and thinking about my dad's ownership makes me want to drive a 240z every day. Most of us, yes there are some exceptions, will never know what it is like to put that many miles on one of these cars and really experience all there is to know about the car. I find myself paranoid about letting it get wet. My dad drove his in the rain all the time. Funny.... Anyway, enjoyed the story. Take care.

Looks like great fun. How is the rust situation?

N42 heads are pretty hard to find. This one looks like a nice one to rebuild. N42 Head on Ebay

I personally don't see how the stick on shims would work or how they would be different from having no shim. I have found that something similar to the stock Nissan shim plus a light, full coating of brake grease / anti-squeal grease on both sides of the shim where contact is made with the pad and the caliper piston works. I have thought about why it works and I have a few theories but none are based on anything that really warrants sharing.

I rebuilt two proportioning valves this weekend. I used the seal kit from MSA. I paid close attention to the orientation of the seals during disassembly. Both valves had the exact same seals in them and they were identical to the photos above where seal (3) in BR-8 is fluted / grooved on the flat outside edge and dotted on the cupped inside edge. Seal (5) in BR-8 is exactly like the photos above where it is a little thicker than seal (3) and not dotted or fluted / grooved on the outside or inside surface. For clarity, in the case of both seals, the cupped side is oriented to face the middle of the valve. I personally was easily able to match up the MSA seals with the equal (but not identical) original seals. I found disassembly and re-assembly to be fairly quick and easy. I used a small c-clip squeezer (not spreader) (OTC brand, 1120) to squeeze the c-clip and remove from valve. Re-installation is a little more tricky. I use the same c-clip squeezer to squeeze the c-clip and insert it partially into the valve. Then I used a 5/16 deep socket to push / press (gently) the c-clip down until it clicked into position. To be clear, I don't yet know whether the proportioning valve works as I am still rebuilding the brakes on my 240z. I should know in a week or so. The valve from my low mile car was very clean. The valve from the car I am rebuilding the brakes for was very full of dirt and sediment....but not corrosion. So, I feel like I accomplished something....assuming the valve works. And, I enjoy rebuilding little parts. I should also mention that I cleaned up all original seals and, to me, they look new....like they could be reused without concern. Again, I think the key thing I accomplished is cleaning out the valve.

@esmit208 sorry but I do not. Those are pretty hard to find. I have one N42 on my 75 280 and one spare.

I know folks express an interest in the Maxima N47 cylinder head from time to time. Here is one on ebay in case someone is interested. I have too many cylinder heads and two of these. Looks like it has been milled though. Good price though. To be clear, I am not the seller and do not know the seller. MN47 head on Ebay

Great car and price. When I was a kid my dad had a white / red 72. I love that combination. Wish we still had that car. Congratulations.

All looks great. What product did you use to paint the differential black? Thanks..

Vintage Rubber. Fits perfect. Doors close, for me, perfectly. Looks original.

+ 1 Vintage Rubber.

If it were me, I would keep the L24 as long as you keep the car. These cars are getting valuable and my recollection of yours is that it is mostly parts swapping from being very original You also seem to think about Alfas more than occasionally. If you sell your 240 the next buyer may really value having the original engine. Clean it up, keep it oiled, and call it art for now.

Use the thermostat housing for leverage. If you have good balance, stand on the shock towers and reach down and lift from various places...camshaft, thermostat housing, etc. Hit it hard multiple times around the sides of the head with a rubber mallet.

Hi @papabear Based on what you have written and the photos you have provided, it looks like you have a fantastic 240z. Would love to see more photos. I personally love the look of the original paint on these cars, even if the original paint is flawed with many imperfections. And, Safari Gold is one of my 3 favorite 240z original colors. Also, really consider doing what is absolutely necessary mechanically and then driving it a lot....before taking too much apart and making big changes. I speak from experience . I am guessing that the tires are many years old. A new set will transform the car compared to what it will drive like now. Enjoy and congratulations!

This is what I used in a recent build. Kameari Valve Spring Shims Expensive but I spent a lot of time looking and could not find any alternatives for both inner and outer that I was willing to use. With respect to generic shims, seems like I never found inner that were even close. I think I found outer that were close but not close enough where I was willing to use them. If I recall, the generic shims I tried were from McMaster-Carr.

I would be surprised if you don't know about these, and they are not exactly like what you are asking for, but.... MSA- Camber Adjust Bushings

+1 on what @siteunseen said regarding float bowls. The first most fundamental adjustment to make is to set the floats so that they maintain the fuel level at an appropriate height in the nozzles. There are multiple techniques that have been written about and documented on this site, in fsms, and in books, to set the floats. The ZTherapy SU carb tuning video is a pretty good place to start. There are other techniques though that, in my opinion get you to a place where you have even more accurately adjusted floats: namely setting the floats so that the fuel level hits the top of the fuel nozzles when the mixture adjuster is 10 turns down (involves removing the domes, pistons, so you can see the fuel at the top of the nozzle). Point is, I would suggest investing time into reading and learning how these carbs work if you haven't already. When your floats are adjusted correctly, you end up in the ideal situation where you can turn the mixture screws down between 2 and 2.5 turns and be very close. In addition, at this position you have adjustment range where you can turn down farther and be more rich or turn up higher and be more lean. Once the floats are adjusted, everything else gets easier in my opinion. Note that I didn't say that getting the floats really well adjusted is easy. I can do it now but it took me a long time to really figure out a way that gets it right. Once your floats are adjusted, I find that using two colortunes, one for each side, helps....along with the technique well documented where you lift each piston slightly and note what happens to idle. Also, as Site said, having something that shows you the rpms right in the engine compartment is really helpful. -

This is a total guess without really measuring and diagnosing the efi system but the sound is very similar to what I heard in my 280 when the airflow meter flap was stuck open....due to being bent....and bent due to a previous backfire.

I would like to buy also.

@madkaw- I agree regarding drilling new holes and had thoughts of doing the same but managed to break one of my long lid ears. They are cast and very brittle. @siteunseen I want to clarify my post above based on morning memory rather than what I was remembering late last night. I tried two things with the long ear lid. Z Therapy ships (at least as of a year or so ago) their 3 screw carbs with long ears but short needle valves. When I try to adjust using this configuration, the angle of the float is extreme and causes me at least to not be able to achieve the 10mm level. Not sure whether it is because the float is hitting the chamber wall or because the extreme angle causes the float to not engage with the modern (and more cheaply made) needle valves smoothly. When I look at old original needle valves vs new needle valves, the new ones move less smoothly, less precisely, have thinner needles, and just seem to always want to catch on the metal tab on the float. unless you carefully manage the angle of the tab. Alternatively, when I use the long ear lids with longer needle valves (not sourced from Z Therapy), I find that the floats start getting limited in terms of their ability to rotate because they hit the float chamber wall. My recollection is that the float chamber seems tapered a bit as you move from top to bottom. Since the longer ears push the float down a bit, the float ends up hitting the narrower portion of the chamber wall. I even tried shaving the shape of the float but was never able to achieve the 10mm level. Hope this clarifies and is helpful.

@siteunseen I stopped trying to make the long ear / long needle valve float lids work in my 3 screw carbs. I use two short lids (borrowed from an extra set of carbs) so they end up working like the 4 screw carbs. I spent an enormous amount of time about two years ago really focusing on getting the floats set right. With the long ear lid, I was never able to get the float set so that the meniscus hit the top of the jet at 10 turns down. BTW, I don't pay any attention to where the fuel level sits in the bowl. For me, removing the domes and setting the levels at the jet tops (10 turns down) makes more sense and gives me more repeatable results- ie: both carbs end up adjusting in the 2-2.5 mixture screw turn range. I use a Color Tune also to help set the mixture screws. I am sure others have figured out how to make the long ear lids work but for me, it just feels like a design flaw. Essentially, with the long ear lids, I am never able to achieve the 10mm mark and the angle of the float is at such a severe angle that I believe the float is hitting the wall of the float chamber.

I would be very interested in both stainless and yellow zinc kits that use JIS size heads.

@grannyknot Attached snip / image is from their web site, about page.

I am pretty sure Eiji at Datsun Spirit rebuilds transmissions...and at least when I visited him a few years ago he had a few in stock ready to rebuild.

I followed your walmart link. It is hard to tell from the photo and I don't see it mentioned in the specs but it looks like stranded cable to me.