Arne

And a great investment that will be! Go for it!

True story. I've got $4000 in my yellow car, which is only just now approaching being driveable. If I scrimped a bit, I could maybe get it nicely finished for another $8000, since my skill set is is different than Enrique's - I do all my own mechanical work, along with the electical and upholstery. But the body and paint I have to pay others to do for me. Realistically, I figure that I'd end up with $15-16k in that car before it was done. And when I go to sell it in a few weeks I won't get close to that $4000 back out of it.

Sounds like you are on the right track, if the goal is to have a project. As long as you are aware (and it sounds like you are) that it is ALWAYS cheaper to buy the best already done, rather than build it from scratch. But that negates the entertainment of the building process. I've done it both ways - in years past I completely restored a '67 MGB from a bare tub, last year I started rebuilding an old 240Z with the intent to do like I did on the MG, but just last week I bought a peach of a 240Z that needs minor maintenance, not rebuilding. Both approaches can be rewarding, but if you can get your son involved the rebuilding job is great.

I've got two Zs parked in the RV space, close enough...

I feel safer drinking my own homebrew, thanks.

Hah! My goal is to thin the herd down to one. I don't have indoor storage for more than that, so no Roadster(s) in the foreseeable future. I think the shell of the parts car will be ready for crushing (RIP) after this weekend. Then I'll need to see about selling the yellow car. No way it'll bring what I've got in it, but it should be a good start for someone, especially if they can do their own rust repair and paint.

I've got no good pictures of "he-who-shall-remain-nameless's" car with the dice, or I may have thought of that as well. And it seems to me that there's not much orange paint yet on that car that needs assembly...

More or less. The factory listed different part numbers for those two, but the differences are minor. In fact, most aftermarket hoods are the same for '70-76. So yes, it will bolt on to the older car fine. The '77-78 hoods fit also, but have the hood vents on them. Front fenders are pretty much the same for all years, '70-78. Doors have differences both internally and in latch hardware, it may be simplest to stay with the correct ones there. I believe there were three different tailgates - Series 1 with vents, other 240Z with single strut on the the left side, and the rest with two struts. These are also more or less bolt-on interchangeable if you allow for the vent and support strut differences.

I think I have a spare pair of cover bolts as well, if Mark doesn't. On the yellow car I replaced the filter element with a paper one, I think it was a Casite (sp?). It has the same issue as the K&N that beandip uses, the cover doesn't fit all the way down. Not a huge issue, as Gary notes the filter is still filtering, so nothing gets to the carbs. Seems to be an increase in intake roar however, much like inverting the cover on the air cleaner on an old Chevy V8 did. I remember that the element I got was listed as fitting '70-74 all, whereas the OE elements were different for '70-72 and 73-74. I suspect that perhaps the difference is that the '73-74 filter is a touch thicker, and that some filter manufacturers figure the thicker one is close enough to cover them all.

Didn't have any handy pictures of Enrique's car or yours either, Jim, or I would have tried to sell them as well. Since this is now getting much wider distribution than I had planned, I put a note at the bottom identifying it as a joke.

I was far less fussy with the yellow car. For the red car parts are going to have to be factory, or darn good replacements. Not going to go far from stock on this one.

Gee thanks, Enrique. I hadn't really intended that to go public. The site is bogus. It was my response to an e-mail from Gary (beandip) claiming that since I was acquiring so many cars I must be becoming a dealer. So I slapped together a bogus site, coincidentally offering to sell Gary's yellow car for him. It's not serious, and full of small inside jokes.

Let me get this straight - while parked and the clutch pedal depressed, it makes the noise in third and fourth gears, but not in first and second? Sorry, this doesn't compute. If the car is stationary, the pedal is depressed and the transmission is in gear (any gear), there are no parts moving inside the transmission. So there is no possible way that the transmission bearings could be making this noise since they wouldn't be moving at all. My guess is that the throwout bearing is bad. This could account for your symptoms. If the clutch is adjusted properly (with a small amount of clearance at rest), you should only hear it when the pedal is depressed. However, if the clutch is mis-adjusted and the bearing is slightly contacting the pressure plate fingers all the time you would get varying levels of noise all the time.

Regarding the larger one, if you can scrounge a spare balance tube from another car, the fitting that plugs the port on the end nearest the firewall is the same as the larger one. Or you could do it with a welder and grinder. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=15081

I have heard they are BSP - British Standard Pipe threads. Try asking for that.

You means 'slots' or 'dish mags'. I agree, and that's definitely an option. But I'd like to find something slightly less common if I can.

I spent a good part of the weekend cleaning and exploring the new car, and at times the originality shocks me. I think I mentioned all the OE braided hoses and the smog gear, but the car is still running points, and the plug wires also appear to be original! The plug wires are especially interesting - each wire has its cylinder number printed on it, as well as '1971' which is what makes me thing they are original. The state of this car is causing me to drift much farther to the 'keep it original' end of the Z spectrum than I had planned. I think the mods will be a lot fewer than I had first envisioned. I posted a few high-res pics in my gallery, but Victor hasn't approved them yet.

If you could smell it, something got too hot. I'd definitely check the underside of the fusebox for damage.