2ManyZs

I doubt it would work without major reconstruction under the dash, as the vents and the heater assembly are totally different. I'm not even sure it would be possible to put one from a 75-78 280 in a 240 because of the same differences...... FWIW, the kit from MSA would be my choice, even though it is a bit on the expensive side. It has a much better and more efficient compressor than the originals, and will give better A/C performance.... The only other alternative might be to find a used A/C set up from a later 240 and upgrade it with pieces from MSA such as the compressor... you might be able to find the A/C for sale from someone stripping a rust bucket, or one that is being stripped to race...You might also try one of the used Z parts suppliers, such as ZBarn, or perhaps Zcarsofarizona.

For anyone interested, Rusty has put a number of pics of the car in his gallery.

Damn, I never even heard about his accident that he had in 02...

Is that your old ITS car Rusty, or is that another car altogether? Wish I had the money and room in my garage for it.... I still have Russ Thomas' old car sitting in my shop waiting for me to do something with it.... :disappoin

I misunderstood... usually the camber is given in degrees and the toe settings are given in increments of an inch.... If the strut cartridge shows any leakage at all, I'd replace them first.

Well, not the first time I've been wrong......:stupid:

The Factory Service manuals all have the body dimensions, if the shop can't find them. But, before you go that far, you need to clarify a couple things. You said in your first post the tires were cambered in, which led to the springs/strut cartridge replacement due to sagging.. Now you say that the rear is out of alignment too, which is a whole nother story....... If the toe in is out in the rear, it leads me to believe there may be some body tweaking, or something may be bent, as the rear toe is non-adjustable unless you fitted the adjustable camber bushings on the lower control arm. You can change the rear toe with the adjustable camber bushings, as they can be changed independantly to change the toe in or out on the rear. 7/16's is quite a bit to be off by, which, if this is also the corner that has the most negative camber, leads me to suspect that corner may have been hit at one time and has some type of damage that is throwing it off. Even running through a large pothole or hitting a curb at some time in its life could have been enough force to cause a slight bend in the control arm, or one of the mounts. I think, given your info, the first thing I would do is put it on a frame machine and check the uni-body before you spend any money replacing any more parts, as it could be the parts aren't needed. No sense wasting time and money on parts until you have a better idea of what is causing the problem to begin with. If the chassis is OK, then you know for sure you have a slightly bent control arm on the right side that is causing the toe problem, which can be cured with either a used control arm, or the adjustable bushings. You can install the lower control arm bushings easily while the car is on jackstands, as they are the easy one to replace. As far as the camber problem, it sounds like the strut cartridges are showing signs of leakage, which could be most of the problem in itself.

If all the bushings are new, about the only thing it could be is the springs are sagging to a certain extent. What is odd is that it is on one side and not the other. Perhaps, the side that has the most camber has a bad strut cartridge, that combined with the sag of the spring is making it appear worse than it possibly is. The one thing, asides from the obvious problem, is that somewhere in its life, the car could have received a little damage from something as simple as a parking lot bump and either the strut tube is bent, or perhaps the frame in the rear is tweaked... The worst case scenario would be hidden rust somewhere you haven't found that is compromising the uni-body....

The first Christmas and Thanksgiving is always the hardest, and it has taken me since 95 to get used to the empty spot at the table. :disappoin I even caught myself shopping for Dad the first couple of Christmas' after he died. I haven't had any Christmas "spirit" since Mom had her stroke either... even though she's still here in body, she's not herself and it just isn't the same. We haven't exchanged gifts for the last 2 years... No matter what you do, it will never be the same as it used to be..... But, you still have the memories of Christmas's past.

Yup, they are different, and I don't think there is any way to modify them to work.... you need to use the center linkage for the 4 screw.

Could be the strap, or the bushings are bad do to their age in the mustache bar and other parts as well. If the car only has 53K on it, the bushings still can deteriorate just with age. The first thing I'd do is to drain and refill the diff and trans, and use a quality lube... perhaps even go with a synthetic. It could be the diff is just a little low and the whine you hear is the lack of lube..... U-joints are a possibility, but since it's a 280 with the "nom-replaceable" u-joints, it's more than likely not them.... My old 75 280 is going on 29 years with the same u-joints, and the since 1989 it's been a race car...... The chassis had well over 150K on it, before I started racing it....

Highly doubtful you'll find any touch up paint in the correct color, as they usually are more for late model cars and trucks. You'll be better off getting a pint mixed up and doing it yourself with a touch up gun, or having someone else do it... Touch up guns are fairly cheap.... you can usually find one for under 60 bucks, and it can be useful if you find any other small marks you want to touch up.

Yeah, whoever came up with the slogan "Virginia is for Lovers" must not live here... must be one of those "Cali people".... :stupid: :cross-eye

Done......:classic:

Hmm...... Did you get a bill of sale or title to the car when you bought it? I take it the guy you bought it from never raced it, since he had no logbook.... If you got a bill of sale or the title to the car when you bought it, or the PO has a bill of sale for when he bought it, the PPO doesn't have any claim to the car..... If you have a bill of sale/title, you should be able to get a logbook re-issued for the car without too much trouble. If the PPO tries to claim the car stolen, the only thing that might happen is the guy caught in the middle of all this, is the one who's going to have the legal problems, although, if it goes far enough, the car might be impounded until it all gets sorted out. Most race cars have no title anymore, as many are built from salvage cars, so the logbook serves as a title as far as the SCCA is concerned. Don't know how that would stand up in court as to proof of ownership though..... Sounds like a mess to me... hope you get it sorted out.

Hehe, I've been thinking about the Maxima/810 flywheel myself... I believe it's supposed to have a casting number of Y-70 on the back.. just so you can double check it....

Do the side skirts have a flat surface along the top that you could use a double sided tape on them to seal them to the body? Just curious....

The mechanical fuel pump can probably be repaired or checked, but since it's an inexpensive item, it's probably cheaper and easier to just replace it...... You can check the vacuum advace by removing the cap and rotor, and using a vacuum pump or doing it the "old fashioned way" by putting a longer hose on it and up, you guessed it...see if the advance plates move at all... Another thing, be sure to check the movement of the advance plates, just to be sure the little bearings aren't gone..... Yes, the module is replaceable, but not adjustable if I remember right..... Before you do anything, I'd double check your static timing... it's possible it could be advanced just a couple degrees too much and is causing the pop through the carbs......

Wasn't trying to make you paranoid... just letting you know the 280's have one place that does like to hide rust that the 240's don't... most people would never think to even look at that part of the bumper till it's too late... and we all know how expensive and hard to find the 280 bumpers are...:disappoin Well, sounds like at least one of us is gonna get his wish for Christmas...:classic:

Hmm, only 165 at the flywheel Phred? I would have expected a tad more than that.... what head was he using? I would have guessed it closer to 180 at the flywheel...... Gee, then I guess that goes to show the Bimmers do have a huge advantage.... I saw a dyno sheet on one 325 that was pushing better than 200 to the rear wheels....

Tell her you'll forgo any Christmas presents for the next couple years.... One caveat, those bumpers have a habit of rusting from the inside, so be sure to take them off and check them carefully if you do bring it home...The mounting place is welded insde the chrome outer "channel" and is open on the ends which elads to a lot of junk and water getting inside the bumpers.... When I was patching a rusted thru face bar (small hole) on my 75, I tipped it up on its end and tapped it on the floor, and was rewarded with about 1/2 pound of rust scale..... If you look, you'll notice the mounting plate is a double thickness.... sooner or later they end up being one thickness of metal plate, or less...:cross-eye Looking at the engine pics, I don't see how it could possibly be over a 100K on the car.. it's just too clean. Unless the guy who owned it was totally anal about cleaning.... which is doubtful. Have you been humming "All I want for Christmas is my Black Pearl Z"?????? :cheeky:

At least we all agree on why it's the "black sheep" of the family....

Main reasons? 1. Flat top carbs same as the 73 240's. 2. Had the same problems with vapor lock, and poor driveability as the 73's. 3. Only offered for one year in the US, in two models. The early cars are no worse than a 73 240 and merely needs better carbs and most of the problems are fixed. The later cars were a "step-child" of the 280's with the big bumpers, and without the increased engine capacity, along with the early 260's carb and drivebility problems, created most of the stigma associated with the 260's. The late 260's IMO are tha main cause of everyones hesistance of buying a 260.... more weight, and the same problems of the 73's... makes you better off to get a 75 or later 280 with FI and the larger displacement.

Clubhouse sounds like fun..... first thing we do is take a "cruise" to Japan and bring back a few 432R's, ZG's, GTR's..... hmm... maybe not. Might not have enough room to sleep when we got done... Have our own roving Convention site...:classic: