2ManyZs

They should fit fine, the only difference that I know of is the detent.

Of course, there are some of us who have a couple extra sets..:stupid:

I wasn't sure if anyone had tried it yet. But since you have, I say go for it! Main thing I was concerned about was getting too close to the water jacket and causing a hot spot in the head and having the head ruined. I would have been out of my mind to advise someone to go cutting on a good head without knowing if it would even be possible. In this case, it would have been better to be on the side of caution. One good thing about having a bunch of old parts lying around is you can try some of these ideas without loosing a pile of money. Always wondered why I had so many old junk lying around, maybe I'm just too attached to all the clutter....:cross-eye

Well, that's what they say..... Truthfully, I doubt you will see the extra webbing between the cylinders as it will more than likely be in the block casting itself. Unless you take off the pan, and look inside, and find a difference in the casting around the cylinder bores.......Don't have one to compare to an L-24 block.

One of the main reasons I would go with the 280 head is the fact that you will need to mill the injector port into the 240 head or you won't be able to use the FI. Since I've never seen a cross section of the various heads, what I'm wondering is this. Is there enough material in the 240 heads to get the injector port milled without it getting too close to a water jacket in the head since the 240 heads were not designed to have the notch for the injector? Yes, the 280 heads do have a larger combustion chamber, but with the larger valves they will flow considerably better than the 240 heads, and with a little mill work (shaving) you can come pretty close to compression ratio that you would have with a 240 head. Then there is the alternative of shaving and using one of the 1mm or 2mm head gaskets to bump the compression a bit more. Unfortunately these head gaskets are a bit pricey..... There is one other alternative which I have thought about but have not seen or heard of anyone doing. Using the 240 head with one of the 4 barrel intakes, and using something like the Holley Pro-Jection fuel injection systems (yes, I know they are expensive). The Holley would offer so much more flexibility and capabilities as far as mixture settings. You can just bolt on new injectors, that this would be so much more adjustable than the factory FI system. Maybe one of these days I'll have the means to try one......Or if I had the money, I'd try one of the Haltec programmable set-ups or something similar..... All in all, it's up to you and your machinist, if they can do your 240 head up with the injector ports, go for it. BTW, I've had the parts in my garage, and never attempted it... call me chicken:ermm: :stupid:

Like everything except the whale tail, the fender flares really look nice the way they are integrated into the fenders and the rear valence.

If your carbs are in good shape, the mixture is correct, and they are well balanced, the next place to look would be the timing. It might be a bit too retarded and causing the backfiring. How long since you did a good thorough tune-up of all the engine systems, ignition and all?

Your not the only one that goes the "economically responsible" route:stupid: I use a lot of Simple Green, it one of the best all purpose cleaners I have found. You can dilute it and use it on seats and carpets to get out stains. Or you can use it full strength and de-grease an engine or transmission quite well. It works great through a pressure washer too....:cheeky:

According to Wick Humble's book the early grills were the same color as the rear taillight panel, the textured matt grey while the later grills came with a matt grey-black. What year did they change? Not sure to tell the truth. Most Z grills were painted matt black sometime in their life, or at least all the ones I have seen. I would say the 260's were probably the matt grey-black, but unfortunately I don't see where he describes the paint mix for the later grills.

A decent parts cleaner is a good investment, you can pick one up for about 100 bucks from Harbor Freight or Northern Tool. I bought a 20 gallon parts cleaner from Northern and use a cleaning solution that is biodegradable and is mixed with water in it and it works very well. Just don't let it freeeze! I did and it took the paint right off the tank of the parts cleaner. Now it's coated with POR-15! A blasting cabinet is also a good investment, you can clean not only steel parts, but with glass bead you can do a nice job on the aluminum parts and have them looking almost like new in no time. With these two and a few small hand tools with abrasive discs, you should be able to tackle most any job.

If you put the FI on a 240 head, for example an E-31 or E-88 you would have to have the head milled out for the injectors in the intake ports. The only question I have is why? The N-42 head is a good head, it already has the larger valves that you would possibly want in the earlier head, and it has the intake already notched for the injectors. With a slight shaving, the N-42 head will give you the same compression as the earlier heads. Of course there are other FI heads, I am just using the N-42 as an example. IMO, why spend the extra money when you already have the a head that will work just as well as an earlier head? Just bolt the complete head, intake system off the 280 on, and then all you would need to do is the wiring, which might create enough head-aches as it is.......:cross-eye

A Merlin V-12 in a Chevy? Yikes! I've seen them in pulling trucks but never on the street. Talk about a bit of overkill. Probably a bit cheaper than one of Ryan Falconers V-12's he built a while back which was basically a Chevy V-8 with 4 extra cylinders........ But what a waste for such a hard to find item.:disappoin

Ian, Too Intense has a set of the clear front signal lense up for auction right now, gonna cost a lot more than they used to, but if you want them, they are right there.......Bid opens at 165.50 ande there are no bids as yet... Here's the link to their auctions.. http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=intense04&completed=0&sort=0&since=-1&include=0&page=1&rows=25

Actually the original lights are a sealed beam. The bulb (reflector and lens) and filament are made as a unit, whereas the later style lights are made as two distinct units. The filament is made separately from the lens and reflector and can be changed with simply a twist of the plug and removing the bulb. The bulb itself is a sealed unit in that the filament is enclosed in its own glass enclosure, and that is filled with gas to prevent the filament form burning up. A sealed beam is a sealed unit with a fialment that is made as part of the assembly and whole unit is filled with a gas to prevent the filament from burning out. That's why a stone chip in the lens will burn out the light, the gas escapes and the filament then burns itself out.

They really aren't that bad, but you need to do a couple things to make them better. Like ditching all the smog equipment if you can legally do it, and then blocking off the water to the intake and carbs. I had a 73 that ran fine with the flat tops after doing these things. The flat tops aren't as good as a set of the early round tops, but they would be better than the downdraft Webers IMO. Good luck....

Well, there are some of the euro lights still in the US, but they are not being sold at least for now. The last new set I saw was being offered for 300 each. As far as a set of new US spec taillights Too Intense has a set right now on Ebay, but the price is going to be fairly high. Check out their web-site and their auctions, they do have some hard to find parts available. Since they have become one of our latest advertisers on the site, take a look and if you buy something, let them know their advertising dollars are working for them by mentioning our site! Here is the link to Too Intense Restorations auction site on Ebay: http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=intense04&completed=0&sort=0&since=-1&include=0&page=1&rows=25

Bought the 71 in the spring of 97. Drove it some but not much, had to build a garage in 98 to store it, then started dissasembling it in the fall of 2001. Here it is the winter of 02 and it is still sitting forlornly on the jackstands waiting for me to get out there and start putting it back together...... The pic in my gallery shows the car as it sat all summer...... Guess mine will end up being a long term project as well.:disappoin

A pressure test is done with a hand pump connected to a specail radiator cap that will pressurize the system. It would be a lot safer to do it this way than to have your hands somewhere you can't see and have them covered with hot antifreeze as antifreeze will stick to your hands and continue to burn. Most any shop will have a pressure tester, or possibly you can rent them from an auto parts store or tool center. Chance are that it is a hose leaking as most people never replace the short hoses on the heater core when they change the underhood hoses. The second most common place for a leak is the heater control valve, with the core itself being the last place it will probably be leaking. If the car still has the original hoses on the core and the stock clamps, my money would be on a hose leaking......

If it isn't something with the tires, I would guess the front toe needs to be tinkered with a bit. What did they set it at? If they set it to the factory spec it may or may not work well with wider tires. I'd try having it set at 0 toe, just to see if it helps. That's what I always used on the IT car and it always drove nice and straight with no wandering, that was with 14x7 wheels and 225/60 tires. Sometimes the size and width of the tires will require a bit different setting than the stock setting with the tall skinny tires.......

Sean, check out our newest advertiser. Too Intense Restorations also has an H-4 conversion kit for 56.95 each side.. Not sure how much shipping would be but it might be worth a look.

The car looks like a pretty good deal if you can get it for under 3500. The body looks great, hopefully the underside is still in good shape. What the car needs to finish could run you into a couple grand more if you do a complete job, of course, some of the things it needs can be found used in fair condition which would save a lot of money in the long run. Check for rust in the usual places. You can do a search on this site for posts relating to rust issues and where to look. If you have the money and it's close by, I say go take a look and then decide whether or not to bid on it....

It isn't easy to do, but you should try to get a look under the dash to see if it might be a heater hose or the heater control valve that is leaking. It could be something as simple as a bad hose. If not, then pulling the heater core isn't difficult, just annoying if you can't get yourself under the dash to see what you are working on. You could try pressure testing the radiator, if you have a leak, it will be a lot easier to spot while there is pressure on the system. Hopefully all you will have is a leaking hose.......

Me thinks Steve has been into that "home-brew" a tad too much..... Are ya sure that's a V-8?:cross-eye Sure looks like a V-6 to a "sober" eye.....

Geez Sean, you are no help at all...