EScanlon

A common problem with the 240's is the actual IGNITION switch. That part that connects to the back of the Ignition Key Cylinder. Sometimes the contacts inside this switch get worn and corroded to where you have to push in hard. To verify if this is the problem, remove the Steering Column Shroud, remove the Ignition Switch from the back of the Ignition Lock, then turn the switch with a flat blade screwdriver WITHOUT pushing in. If you're able to repeat your problem, you've found the culprit. Enrique

Here's a place to begin learning: http://www.lambolounge.com/Body/Paint/paint.asp We've had this very same question posted numerous times, do a search and sift through them to get a mini-education. If you truly want a unique and excellent job, I'd go back and patch things up with your painter. Remember this though, the FINAL look of ANY paint job begins with the prep work. You're already talking of stripping off ALL of the prior paint without knowing whether you need to or not. That is one of the most common misunderstandings about painting a car. Don't just go by the "everyone knows" myths, almost all of them aren't true in every instance, and so many are so plain old wrong that they serve as instructions to avoid. Enrique

I question how it is you know how to paint yet don't know the first thing about prepping for paint (from your other post). Sorry, but your question of "How would you paint your car if?" sounds like another version of "Does this dress make me look fat?". Go to an old book and magazine store, or the library, find books on custom cars, hot rods, how to paint books. Read them! There's tons of pictures, instructions on how to do it, even step by step pictures. How you paint your car is subjective and highly personal. What one person would drool over, another would find vomit worthy. Besides if someone has a really good or exceptionately unique concept, what makes you think they're just going to give it up to you? If you are a painter, then you know that people that go for custom paint jobs DO NOT want what others have. You'd sooner get two women to wear the same dress to the office party (I saw that happen in an office once, and it was a regular work day...talk about tense feelings!) than have the owner of a custom paint job allow you to copy his. It happens, but I'll be willing to bet that it isn't by consent of the original. Other than that, I like Will's suggestions! Enrique

It's going to be difficult to diagnose over the internet. You'd be better off contacting Phred (member here) he's on the other side of Portland from JustaZcarguy, and he might be able to offer help. Otherwise ask Brian where he used to take it to get tuned up or invite him over for a beer and pizza to help you tune it. 2¢ Enrique

Off the top of my head, it sounds as though your timing advance is not working. On the earlier 240's this was a common problem, the advance mechanism INSIDE the distributor was supported on a thin plastic piece with some ball bearings in it. After time the plastic would dry out and break, and freeze (or almost freeze) the advance mechanism so that it would cause the motor to act as you've mentioned. Hope that helps. Enrique

You best re-check your electric motor manual. Not until recently (last decade or so) have there been motors that do not have magnets around the armature. As I remember, without a magnet you can't get an electric motor to run. E

Something very important to note on the third picture in your collection. The picture that's labeled: throttlecableattachment3.jpg ; is showing the throttle cable mounted incorrectly. The Bracket shown in the first picture should be clamping the metal end of the cable sleeve. The 3rd picture shows it BEHIND it. The Nylon washer that's in front of the clamping bracket should be clipped ONTO the accelerator pedal "wishbone". The ball on the end of the throttle cable, does not attach to anything, it pulls on the nylon sleeve when you pull on the hand throttle lever. The design is such that it will allow you to accelerate MORE than the setting on the throtle lever with the foot pedal, while allowing it to return to the hand throttle position afterwards. I've attached the picture for those that might have a problem seeing your site. Enrique

Did you make sure they're Metric? :devious: E

If I recall correctly, the rivets used on the tail-light finishers are just slightly different than the interior rivets. The ones on the finishers are just a dash smaller, almost imperceptible until you put them side by side. If you were at a concours points show, you'd get a small deduct IF the judge / evaluator is aware of the difference. E

Air Horns and / or the regular horn. E

Do a search for Carl Stahlnecker's (Bambikiller240) article on re-assembly of the pivots. It is probably the ONLY article you'll need. Enrique

I believe this is what you're asking about: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=8950&cat=500&page=1 2nd view: http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=2600&cat=500&page=1 And no, I don't know how it "double exposed" as it was with a digital camera. I bought those off e-bay and they are quite similar to the first ad you posted. One note, check with your state DMV as BLUE lights in front of the windshield pillar are considered NO-NO's in some states. E

There CAN be a slow drain that wouldn't necessarily register through the fuse box. I had it happen when the Accessory Relay went bad on me. The easiest way is as Ken pointed out. Except I use a small continuity checker in line on the negative side of the battery. (By the way, to check for a drain, either the negative or positive will do.) As long as the bulb is glowing (and the rate of glow indicates the size of the drain) there is a drain. Disconnect items and if no change then reconnect them. This ensures that you don't introduce other problems. Check the relays on the kick panel, these have been known to go bad and cause your symptoms. Enrique

Emphasis Mine. This is EXACTLY what happens. Great words Stephen. I recall this one dude in Basic Training when I was entering the Air Force. Even though I was Dorm Chief (i.e. the fool who gets blamed for everybody in the flight's mistakes), he'd continually give me sh!t every morning as we walked into the shower (Communal shower). He'd shout with a small glee of laughter while pointing at my ~clam digger~ and ask "What a tiny little thing....who the hell are you going to please with that?". As IF I would discuss this with him, let alone take it back to the store for a larger size. Last time I checked, you're stuck with what you get. Well after a few days of this, I finally got fed up, and in front of just about the whole flight, when he once again did his shpiel, I shouted back: "ME you idiot! But I just want to know why you keep looking at MY d!ck? Is it because you like them? Or something else? Speak up!!!" And that ended that. This guys sounds a bit like my Flight Mate years ago. Needs to make noise denigrating you and your choices in order to make his appear to be better or more desireable. Next time he starts spouting the "negative" points about the Z.....look him straight in the eye....smile like if you were saying "You poor misinformed fool"....and say: "You're right!". Vary the method, but always agree with him. Eventually, he might ask why you agree yet do nothing....smile - as before- and say "You're right!"

Your friend says "...in review, there is no performance aspect, finical reasons, or even a great memory lane trip." And he's right......for him! You may not need the punch of a nitro dragster, or the re-saleability of a Rolls, or the memories of prior ownership. It may be that you've fallen in love with the car, it's styling and for it's age, the ride. The only way to get that ride is to "re-fresh" it. There are other ways of getting that thrill, but if it isn't your cup of tea, it isn't. Just that simple. So, instead of trying to get him to see your point in restoring it, ask yourself if he's an integral part of your restoration, (i.e. without him, no mechanic) or if he's just another friend with his opinion to voice. If it's just another opinion, then shouldn't that tell you something? E

Chasing Thread means, as MikeW and Larry said, to run your tap through the hole to ensure that the thread has no deformity in it (such as POR), or a bent thread. By running your tap carefully into the hole that's already threaded you remove anything that would interfere with a proper load on the bolt. Cutting new thread is where you MAKE the thread on the rod. The position where you begin cutting new thread isn't normally important (meaning in radian degrees of the rod), but chasing thread on an old bolt or nut you need to be careful that you are in fact chasing the old thread and not beginning to cut new. Sorry for the confusion. E

Will, Would you have him contact me? Or send me his info and I'll find out where he is. Don't forget that Washington is a BIG state. It might not be as big as California or Texas, but it still takes more than 3 hours to go from southern border to northern border, and West to East is probably closer to 8+. So hopefully he's not on the East side. If he's close, I'll see if I can't get that hatch to you. Enrique

This bears repeating, and emphasizing. Even if you re-use your original hardware after you cleaned it up, the never-seize is an excellent idea. Granted, you need to be careful with the silver paste stuff as that stuff will get on your hands and every single panel you touch thereafter. One important note, make sure that you do use lock washers and or nylon lock nuts when necessary. Otherwise you're asking for something that needs to be fimrly bolted eventually working itself loose. On areas where you've used POR, this can't be emphasized enough. CHASE THE THREADS!!! If you try to cut through the POR, even with stainless screws, you are almost ensuring that you will strip or cross-thread into the carbon steel nut you're threading into. POR is tough and extremely strong. Even when you cut the thread through it you'll be surprised at how tough it is, it just doesn't cut like paint does. And don't forget that some screws and bolts should be locked tight WITHOUT never-seize. These should be locked in place with Loc-Tite or some similar product. Enrique

I'd be willing to bet that each and every one of you went back and re-ran the video...... E P.S.: I did.

OFF TOPIC RANT Now this is the main reason we have so many liability issue problems and a totally messed up insurance and legal suit program. It's always someone up the chain that "should have" done something to prevent someone down the chain from being supid. Now I'm posting this before seeing the video, but from the comments I've read and this one, I can tell that the problem was lack of proper procedure. That is, some form of accident where the initial action was to see the driver and / or the equipment involved and NOT ensuring that no one else gets involved. From the comments apparently one of the bikers leans into a corner and clobbers a corner worker who is responding to a prior spill by attending to the motorcycle. This may be totally erroneous, as I said I've not yet seen the video, but the gist of what Bill is saying is that the people AT THE SCENE should be held blameless for the catastrophe that ensued and that the owner should have foreseen this situation and taken steps to avoid it happening. (Rant begins here....) Accidents happen, people get hurt, it's not always due to malicious intent on behalf of someone, sometimes it happens to be good old fashioned...no one has thought of that way of hurting oneself before. So how do you prevent or even go about preventing the myriad ways that humans have of proving our knack at finding new ways of picking ourselves off? You can't, and that's the problem. So, sorry Bill, but blaming the owner / sponsor / next guy up the chain for not having foreseen something catastrophic is inane. E P.S.: Now, having seen the video: That one is hard to lay blame for. That's basically a hazard of racing. That there was enough time for them to wave traffic off the rider, they could have continued doing so and never attended to the motorcycle. Possibly everything would have been fine. I see it as the corner workers thinking they could move the motorcycle off the road and let the race continue. Now if that is NOT part of their job description, then they put themselves in peril. If on the other hand, the corner workers are required to move equipment, then that would be the fault of the owner / promoter, for not having enough personnel for safety.

The Emergency Brake gets adjusted by pulling up and releasing several times until such a time as only 7 clicks or so are enough to hold the car on a slight incline. The Hatch Lock many times will actually get a bit worn and require a gentle touch so as not to push the lock cylinder down into the holder sleeve. Insert your key and making sure you are NOT pressing down and moving the cylinder down, rotate it 90°. Generally, straight up and down is locked, (Relative to the top (front) of the hatch) and side to side is open. FWIW Enrique

In the military they remind you that the first thing to know about Security is that you don't discuss it with anyone. Now, with that out of the way.... The 1st step to deterring a would be thief is to make it plainly obvious that THIS vehicle is simply NOT worth the hazzle. A second is to re-inforce that deterrence. The removal of the steering wheel is to make it obvious to the thief that they will have to be driving with their Vice Grips....not necessarily something you want to be seen using...while driving. This makes it a hazzle. If they persist and enter the car, then, having the alarm respond in such a manner that it draws attention plays in your favor. The thief is going to want to LEAVE right away....JUST IN CASE.....someone sees him. The typical, and I am not a criminologist so I'll stand corrected or supported by one, Joy Rider wants to get in quick to leave quick to go have a quick "high" Unfortunately these guys are the most damaging. They don't care if they destroy the car, they're "using it up". If the car gets destroyed but they walk away it was a "good ride". The car thief is looking to make money on it. The higher the value of the car, then the more damage they'll do on it, in trying to steal it than if the car is only worth it if it's complete. Although a determined car thief will take it for the quick buck it offers. In any one of these cases it's their speed of attack and the strength of our defense that details how fast they can get away with it. An experienced thief or joyrider knows that it's easiest when it's fast. Walk up to the car, open the door, get in, insert key, start it up and leave. All without being noticed. If you offer enough "dis-incentive", than the car next to yours, he'll walk past yours. I knew a guy in a city that will not be mentioned, that used to keep a pair of those pony compressed air tanks in his rig. As he parked it for the night, he'd flatten both tires on that side, and refill them in the morning from the tanks. Thiefs look to defeat your well thought out plans, but they are limited with what they can do. A spare pair of tires to fit your particular vehicle....that one would take the expertise of a pro, and then you're screwed anyhow. So, hopefully you get why I'm making light of it..... E

Bill: You need to see the show on either the Discovery or the Learning Channel that highlights what Repo men do as part of their job. Believe me, they can get it EVEN with cars parked up against it. The ONLY way is for you to park 4 cars around it. (so that no side is open) As far as the second......Great....except that now you can't leave the car. One idea is to install a CO2 cartridge and plunger under the seat, as you leave the car you release the plunger needle. When the thief enters the car, he sets off the plunger and releases the CO2. If the car doors have been closed up, the thief passes out for a couple hours with a mild coma induced by the CO2, or it freezes his butt or the back of his calves. Either way, he'd have to know that it was C02 to stick around to the end. Otherwise, he's going to have been startled out of the car by the sudden discharge of the gas. If in addition to that you use a blinking LED behind one of the lenses on your console (Seat Belt; Choke) that you've changed the lettering to : TOXIC GAS Or even better, one of the "Talking Lady"'s from the SX's that announces as soon as the gas starts "WARNING: DO NOT BREATHE THE GAS, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY, CALL AHEAD BEFORE YOU SEEK MEDICAL HELP, DO NOT CONTACT OTHERS, DO NOT HESITATE, YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER, .......... E

Sadly, if they want it bad enough, they'll literally come and pick it up and put it on the back of a truck and off they go. Years ago, my group of friends went out and between all of us, we lifted this guys VW Bug and carried it 150 feet onto the golf green at the country club. So, a boom truck would have no problems picking up a Z and carting it off. The key I think, is to determine the amount of "DETERRANCE" that you need to put into the car. If you're parking it on the street, remove the steering wheel and turn the tires to the stops one side or the other. Simply remove your horn button and remove the nut holding the steering wheel onto the splined shaft and take the steering wheel inside with you. When you replace the wheel, the nut need only be tight enough to not let the steering wheel slide on the splined shaft. Yes, it's a PITA but it's better than having your car stolen. A car alarm, unfortunately, has become an ignorable sound in parts of the country, so swap the horn it actuates to one of those musical air horns. As long as your alarm is NOT going off every other night, or often enough to inure your neighbors to the sound of "La Cucaracha" going off incessantly and loudly at 3:00am, you WILL get someone to look. Whereas for the "Standard" Alarm tone, they'd just roll over and cover their ears. If you have the money, buy a Car Boot. You know, those nasty things that some cities use to prevent you from moving your car once you've been "booted". Again a PITA, but maybe it would do the trick. Personally, I would opt for a car alarm that immediately released some form of nerve agent to immobilize the thief, but that would dissipate after a bit. That way the thief is disposed of, and you still have your car. I used to love the idea of J Bond's Theft Deterrent System that he used on the Lotus in "For Your Eyes Only", but then you're out the car as well, so I've thought up this idea instead. Biggest setback with this system is finding a commercial source for the nerve agent although some of the hair coloring solutions around could serve as substitutes. Anyone else with other ideas? Enrique

Based on: "a smaller retangular piece on the bottom and kinda funny diamond shaped on top", and that they are about 24" ...in one direction or another..... My WAG is the tool bucket liners. However, as an aside, Year or Model (at least), would help narrow it considerably, a photo would be ideal, if not at least a good description and dimensions of the item. Now if you don't mind waiting for the correct answer...... 2¢ E