Arne

Probably won't make reserve.

Yup, you'll hear lots of pros and cons to the dual Webers. FWIW, I do prefer the SUs. In my opinion, good SUs will perform as well or better than properly set up dual down-draft Webers, and probably give better economy as well. But good SUs are expensive. Most of the used ones you will find will probably need the throttle shafts rebuilt, at best. So if the Webers you already have are set up well enough that the car runs decently now, I'd leave it as is for the time being and spend your money on other things that it needs.

As a guess, I'd say the valves were stuck in the guides. As to how to remedy without disassembly... ??

A main seal is no reason for a total rebuild, assuming that one of them is really your problem. They can be replaced without doing a total tear-down. If the leak developed suddenly after the oil change I'd be looking a bit deeper for the true cause before opening my wallet. Here's a thought - have you checked the PCV valve? Is there excessive pressure inside the crankcase?

Channel locks are better than a pipe wrench, easier to control. To prevent damage to the shaft I normally push a bump-stop all the way down.

My car (obviously) sat in a garage for most of its life. I've put more miles on it in the past 9 months than it's moved in the past 10 years combined. I intend to continue to add miles, too.

I know how you feel. I bought my red 240Z last October with 59,500 on it, it's over 62,000 now. Drove it to work today, in fact.

Yeah, a pipe wrench will work. Or back when I did struts for a living, I generally used a very large pair of channel-lock pliers, about 30 inches long. Those worked great.

Mine were painted black by the PO, I plan to bead-blast them at some point in the future.

Before you mentioned the $2500 figure, I think I'd have been willing to offer $4000 for it - had it been fairly local to me. The big issue is transportation. Since it's not a runner now, transporting it and all the parts will be a chore unless you can find a local buyer. I think this might hold down any eBay action as well.

A couple of additions. 1.) Both the tabs on my 10/70 car are vertically mounted. 2.) Also -- as some one who did brake and suspension work for a living for a few years -- I agree with Carl on the wrench bit. A Craftsman or other 'normal' grade flare nut wrench may be fine on a nicely maintained fairly rust-free car, but you'll want something better for your average 35 year old rusty 240Z. FWIW...

For most 240Zs Dave's switch rebuild IS a bargain. But IIRC Randy's 240Z has less than 30k on it, so de-gunking and lubricating was all it needed.

Hugh, the early cars like yours and mine didn't come with insulation on the fuel rails, not from the factory. So there is no factory solution that is right for an early 240Z. As for a modern asbestos-free alternative, perhaps some header wrap?

Yup. Many new cars are that way these days, it helps cool the engine down quicker after shutdown. Whether or not you want it to do that on your car is up to you.

To go with the ZX ignition, you need three things: 1.) Distributor from a '79-83 non-turbo 280ZX. 2.) Distributor mount tower also from a '79-83 280ZX. 3.) The ignition module from a '79-80 ZX. The later ('81-83) are not good as they require input from the injection computer. Other Datsuns also use this module, which is marked "E12-80". I know that some 510s, 210s and some pickups used the E12-80 modules as well as the ZXs.

No, he's talking about the complete distributor and ignition module from a '79-80 280ZX. It's a very simple conversion.

Do the patterns on the two keys look similar?

If the '73s are like my '71s, the key code was hand-written on a small paper sticker attached to the inside of the glovebox door. I can't say for certain if it can be found anywhere else on the car. There was also a spot for the dealer to jot it down on the inside of the cover of the Warranty and Service booklet, as well as on the owner info page in the back of the owner's manual. But in my experience, the dealers seldom noted them in those spots. You say the key won't work in any of the 4 locks -- does that mean it DOES work in the ignition? If so, there's a really good chance that the ignition lock has been replaced at some point, and even cutting a new key to code may not help. That might work all the other locks, but not the ignition.

EScanlon has a set in his 240Z. Look through his gallery.

Added note - this is not a new problem, it has come up several times before. Here's a link to one of them: http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21999

On a 240Z, there is no circuit board. Those little light sockets are grounded with a small contact that touches the gauge case when the socket is snapped into the gauge. That little contact on each bulb holder is probably what needs cleaned, and it might be a good idea to clean the lip of the hole in the back of the gauge as well.

Yup. The pushrod in the power booster is mis-adjusted, it is a touch too long for the new master cylinder. You'll need to pull the master cylinder away from the booster and adjust the tip of the pushrod. DO NOT pull the pushrod out of the booster, if you do there are parts inside the booster that can fall out of place.

Ahh! Very good, Mat. I hadn't given that any thought, but you're right. We should start at the LR on an S30. Excellent tip!

If you are talking about the head thickness, it is (as best I have been able to determine) just a hair under 4 1/4", or 107+ mm. When I was looking for this info last year, I found that exact figures were surprisingly difficult to come by.

In my opinion, a small lip spoiler (like the BRE Spook) is great on a 240Z, much better looking than an air dam or valance replacement. But on a 280Z, the front bumper would completely overwhelm a small spoiler. For these cars, a bigger air dam is the way to go.