2ManyZs

BTW, what are you planning to do with the original engine? The car would be worth a lot more if you kept it original. It's a rare enough piece here in the states, and in original condition it would be very valuable. Unless there is something terribly wrong with it, I hope you keep it so that it could be put back in the car at some point. Of course that is just my opinion......

I agree with Royce, it is more than likely a plugged heater core or something is wrong with the fan motor or vents. A heater that is properly working in a Z should just about run you out of the car. I've never heard of any upgrades because they really aren't necessary. The first thing to check would be the fan and the heater control valve. The heater control valve controls the amount of water that is circulating through the heater core itself. Check that first, it may be the cable or not be opening due to corrosion inside. It is mounted next to the heater core under the dash on the inlet side to the heater. They are not too expensive to replace but they are kind of a pain to get to to work on. If that seems to be working OK, check the fan motor, and the vent control cables. If it isn't that then it is probably a bad heater core.

Just thought I would add one thought. Synthetic is only worth the money if your engine is in good mechanical shape when you put it in. If you are looking for a miracle cure to a tired engine, save your money and get it rebuilt, then use the synthetic. There's no sense in spending $6.95 a quart or more if your engine isn't in good shape to begin with. I've had people ask me if they should use it in an engine that had 75,000 mile on it to make it last longer, it won't. As a side note to your other posting, a good quality motor oil has detergents in it that will do as much to clean your engine as any cleaner. If your engine has some miles on it a combustion chamber cleaner will do more good than anything you can put in the crankcase. I had an old 200sx I bought years ago that had 160,000 miles on it. The original owner maintained it religiously and so did I. He used Castrol GTX 20w-50 in it from the first oil change, when I sold the car it had over 240,000 miles on it and had never had anything more than the valve cover off it. It pays to maintain a vehicle.

The 260 has to be a 74 as it was the only year they made them. If it has the bigger bumpers like a 280 and the turn signals in the grill and the back-up lights in the rear are separate from the taillights it is a 74 1/2. If not it is an early 74. You shouldn't run into too much trouble except for the wiring harness plug-ins matching with the 72. I do know that there were some things that couldn't be swapped from a 72 to a 73 without re-wiring the plugs. Body parts should be no problem.

The signal to the injectors comes from the distributor, but which wire is going to take a lot of research. If possible I will go through my service manual for my 75 and try to give you some kind of answer soon. I hope....

Yeah, I whined now about Alphadog being 17 and having a 240 as his first car. My first car when I was 17 (way back when) was a 1973 Plymouth 'Cuda, 340, 4 barrel, Slapstick, A/C and now I only wish I could have that car back. I was making $2.00 an hour and couldn't afford to feed it gas while I was "cruising for chicks" so I traded it for a motorcycle. Yes, I have told myself what an idiot I was back then, over and over and over and over........... Why is hindsight such a PITA ???

Since so many of you are still in your thirties or younger does that mean I'm a Senior Member?? No, let's not go there! And don't say what you are thinking kmack! Sophisticated occupations?? I guess instead of putting truck driver I should have put Mail Relocation Technician with a "Master's" in Heavy Vehicle Dynamics. There now I'm sophisticated too!

Nice find! It looks like it is definately worth fixing up. You'll have to give us up-dates once in a while so we can see it again. Even though I'm a "kutlz" with my left hand, I always wanted a right hand drive. Missed my chance on one years ago.

It's hard to say how much HP you would gain by going to 40 over pistons only. You would increase your displacement a bit, but the total gain would depend on what other modifications you make. Carbs, porting, which head, which size valves in the head, cam, final compression ratio, so to be honest it would be hard to say exactly how much of a gain you could expect. Yes, you'll gain a few HP if everything else is left completely stock, but with a few more mods you could be looking at anywhere from 30-60 HP gain. With just the pistons maybe 10-15 HP, but that's just a guess. I might be guessing a little high. Just remember HP costs money, at some point you can spend a lot of money to make very small increases. If you have a stock L-24 your best bet might be to go to an L-28 (280) bottom end and get a bigger increase in displacement and go from there. There is an old saying that goes "there is no replacement for displacement". It holds true for L series engines as well as a Chevy small block or whatever.

If it is the early 260 with the small bumpers and carbs, almost everything will interchange with no problem. Only differences would be if it had fuel injection and the bigger 280 style bumpers. You wouldn't be able to use the bumpers without making a few changes. There may be some interior parts that are not the same if the 240 is an earlier model. Some of the wiring may be different, they changed the plugs on the wiring harnesses a few times during the 240's model run, so I'm not sure you would be able to take out switches etc. and have them plug right in. As far as the major body parts hood, fenders, doors, hatch they will swap over with little or no problems. Suspension wise they are the same.

Let's see, no you would want the drive gear that came in the four speed since you want it to read right with a 3:36 rear. 280's had a 3:54 so if you put in the 280 drive gear it would be off. You want the drive gear that corresponds with the rear end ratio so that your speedometer would read according to the final drive ratio. Unless he had a 3:54 from an automatic which would make it right with the drive gear from the 280. I don't think I'm confused, or am I?

I have all the old issues of Z-car magazine except for one. I'll look through the pile and see if I can find out anything. I'll try to post something tomorrow on what it said.

Most people go for the 5 speed swap when they plan on changing the rear end ratio to something quite a bit lower than the stock 3:36. The fourth gear ratios of the 4 and 5 speeds are 1:1, and fifth is around .86:1 I believe. So, if you think you might want to go for the rear end swap in the future you might want to go ahead with the tranny swap now, if it's already apart you won't have to pull it later. The biggest benefit of swapping the 5 speed is with a lower rear gear you get quicker acceleration in the first 4 and have overdrive to cruise on the highway. It's isn't the most difficult swap so if you are so inclined go ahead and do it. But with the stock rear it is going to be a bit sluggish in fifth gear. Your final drive ratio would besomewhere between 2.90:1 and 3:10:1 in fifth ( I'm just guessing, I'd have to find the formula to figure it out exactly) so there is my 2 cents worth.

Yep, that is one of the biggest problems with a Z-car. There isn't a seam on any car that is sealed. The reason? SPOT WELDS. Ever really look at your car? Ever open the hood and look down the inner fender at the weld flange on the frame rails? Notice how many waves and gaps that are there? Guess what goes into those gaps. Yup, water and dirt. I doubt if there has ever been a frame rail that truly rusted through from the outside. They always rust out from the inside out! Rocker panels, quarter panels they all rust from the inside out. By the time you start to see the rust on the outside the little "metal maggots" have got a big head start on turning your car into junk. What to do about it? Well, since it's not likely anyone is going to completely dissasemble their car, clean every nook and cranny, then butt weld every panel back together. The only solution is to try to get as much of the crap out using whatever means you can think of, (however EScanlon's idea sounds pretty ingenious) and after letting it sit to dry for a couple days invest in a little seam sealer. It isn't expensive, it's easy to use and best of all it might just keep your car from becoming a rust bucket parts car before the really nice paint job you just spent so much time and money on starts to lose a little of its shine.

What about building small speaker boxes in place of the kick panels under the dash? Could easily be done with a little bit of plywood and you won't have to cut anything up. You might lose a little leg room but they shouldn't have to stick out too far, of course it all depends on the size speaker you choose. Just my thoughts.....

Eastwood's also has a tank re-sealer kit that is quite inexpensive, but you will have to buy acid at the hardware store to use with the kit. Hopefully you can find someone to repair yours or find anothe one in a junkyard somewhere of off someones parts car they may be selling here in the For Sale forum. They are one of those parts that the aftermarket sometimes has and sometimes can't get. I would say you should be able to pick up one pretty cheap off a parts car that may be in better shape so check out the For Sale forum. Only one problem with a fuel cell is the price. By the time you buy a 16 gallon cell (or something close to 16) and buy a fuel sending unit and get it all hooked up you will be looking at a significant investment. Over $500 easily, so if you don't want to spend that much try to find a used one or possibly try to have yours fixed. You could check the web-links area to double check if any new ones are available, but they will probably cost in the 500 or so category.

Franklin, if you don't mind a little advice from someone who's already been there, done that. If you decide to get into any kind of racing and do it seriously (read many modifications to the car) I strongly urge you to look at cars that are already built. If you start with one that has the basics you can add your own touches later. I spent twice as much building an ITS car from a car I had than what I could have bought a decent one already to go. Just something to think about.....

We learned the way you are, by asking people who have done it already. Why? So WE didn't make the same mistakes THEY made when THEY were trying to figure it out. One of the first rules of mechanics in my opinion. BTW, I would have to agree with Daniel on his point about the one advantage of having points instead of electronic. Unless it is a dual point like what was in the later cars and the automatics, they were a major PITA! The early distributors were the best by far. If and when I ever get to the engine on mine I am going to give the electronic ignition unit in the old distributor a try. It's been in my drawer out there for 5 or 6 years, might as well use it. I think mine is the Crane set-up from MSA. It's been so long since I was in that drawer I don't even remember what kind I have.

I can't answer question number one. I know they are a countersunk head but what size? I'd have to go dig thru all the jars of nuts and bolts and find the ones out of mine. Anyone else?? 2. I bought the speaker panel from MSA to put 6x9's in the back of mine so that I didn't have to cut any panels. It is a bit expensive to buy one, unless you are better at wood working than I am ( I can't saw a board straight with a table saw) it wouldn't be too hard to make something out of plywood so that you don't have to cut up the car. 3. Yes they had the ventilation holes in the backrest, I think there are 6 if I remember right. 4. Try to adjust the striker plate on the door post, they have a little adjustment built into them, if that doesn't help try the latch on the door itself. It may be rusted or just full of crud. A little WD40 on that and a little adjustment may be all you need. Try to loosen the bolts on the striker just a very little bit, then close your door. Then open the door easily and tighten the plate back up. It may put itself into alignment that way. 5. The decklid may take a little work. I would say to check the rubber bumpers on each side to make sure one of them isn't missing, then you should be able to loosen the hinge bolts (again, only very slightly) and close your hatch. See if you can move it into alignment, then carefully raise the hatch enough to tighten the bolts back up. This may take a few tries, especially if you are by yourself, or lossened the bolts just alittle too much.

I have used the Motorsport springs and the Suspension Techniques. They are both quite stiff, especially when you combine them with stiffer sway bars. If ride is an issue you might want to look into the Eibach progressive rate springs. They are a little more expensive, but may give you a better ride on the street if you go with stiffer bars. They all usually lower the car about the same amount but your ride will suffer. I am planning on the progrssive springs for my 71 since it is going to be a street car, I just want it a little lower, and I may leave the sway bar in the front alone and go without the rear bar. I don't think there is much difference in the spring rates between the springs you mentioned.

I'm just taking this off the top of my head, but I think it should be in the 170-180psi range. I can't seem to find it in my pile of books right now, but I think I'm pretty close. Hard to say about one with 93,00 miles. Could be in the 140's or 150's. I think if it would be much lower you would be looking at a ring job. Anyone else that can find what I can't seem to??

Franklin, Which class are you planning on running?? There are so many and the prep rules so broad we would need to know which class you want to run. There are quite a few auto xr's here but just need to know what mods you plan on doing, if any.

I don't know about anyone else, but after reading Alphadog's I want to sit down and cry. Oh, to be 17 again. And have a 70 240z as my first car!!

I hope you let us know, I will need to know how it is done when I get the motor back in my 71. BTW Royce, I had my faux-pas with the LSD slip-up the other day, so none of us are perfect. Darn it!! I knew I had heard it could be done, but unfortunately I have never seen or heard exactly how it is done. Unless I want to go through the old try it and if it doesn't work, try something else.

Bill, I asked that question a few weeks ago. I guess we just live in the wrong place. Or maybe we need to get a few of them and bring them back east! Between that car and that darn 280 convertible conversion, I'd almost be tempted to take a trip out west. I guess when I was driving over the road I should have found a way to get "lost" with an empty trailer.:tapemouth