Arne

No, I haven't heard of this before. Question: Why are you using lead additive, anyway? Do you still have the soft intake seats in your head?

The 245/60-14 size you now have is already two sizes taller than stock, and much wider. The normal 60 series equivalent to the stock 175SR14 is/was 225/60-14 on a 7" wheel. What tire size you should now consider depends on where and when the tire rubs. If it rubs when turning, you might get away with a narrower tire. In this case try a 215/70-14 which should be close to the same height as you have now. If it rubs when you hit a bump while driving straight, then the tire is already too tall. In that case, you're hosed. Either raise the car back up, or change the exhaust.

Will's spacers will work, but I really doubt that he would be willing to turn loose of them. Goodness knows how much he loves them! Seriously, the best thing to do is stock height springs. As for tires, you might be able to go a bit taller if you also go narrower, but you're not going to gain much that way. Stock springs is your best option.

Actually, most - if not all - cars made on the past 20 years or so have come from the factory with plastic tanks. Very common on modern cars, maybe universal. I know for a fact that both of my family cars ('91 Jetta GLI and '96 328i) have plastic tanks.

Since I have (temporarily) swapped the seats from side to side, in my case the driver's seat is the one that doesn't go back as far.

The "perfect gearing" will vary a lot depending on what the end goal of the car is. (It also must include tire size as a variable as well as transmission gear ratios and rear axle ratio.) The "perfect gearing" for daily driving will not be the same as the "perfect gearing" for auto-x, or for 0-60, or for... In fact, the "perfect gearing" for normal street driving will vary depending on the tastes of the driver. FWIW - the "perfect gearing" for 0-60 would be whatever combination gets the car to be as near to peak power as possible in second gear as it gets to 60 MPH. You only want to shift once, and you want it pulling as hard as possible as you reach 60.

I strongly suspect that your car IS faster than 7.5, Dave. The 3.90 in the rear is probably the key to that. Although - If the gearing gets too low, 0-60 times can suffer. With the stock 3.36:1 ratio and stock height tires a 240Z can make it to 60 with only one shift. If you get too low geared you have to shift again (into third) to get to 60. No matter how fast you shift, that is going to hurt the 0-60 time. Which is why 0-60 is not a really great measure of performance. It is too short a time/distance to allow things to all work together. There are some wicked fast race cars that have really poor 0-60 times (compared to their power output).

Stock '70 240Z (according to Road & Track. April 1970 issue) did 0-60 in 8.7 seconds. In my experience, the engine mods will only cut a little bit from 0-60. Gearing changes will have far more effect. I'd guess that without a gearing change or a turbo, an L24 powered 240Z would be hard pressed to get under 7.5 seconds. But that's just a guess, not a fact or experience.

Well, the transaction is in progress now. My payment is on its way now. I'll let you all know how they look once they're in my possession.

The parking brake is a cable-operated lever system that activates the rear wheel brakes mechanically, while the foot brake activates the same brakes hydraulically. So you need to find out whether the parking brake doesn't work because the rear wheel brakes are frozen, or because the mechanical linkage is broken, disconnected or missing. So yes, they can function independently, but they are also related. In my experience, the most common cause of "failure" of the parking brake is that they are disconnected because the cable has rusted solid.

Been there, done that. (A couple weeks ago.) Good luck!

I've seen some go for over $800.

Most of us have earlier 240Zs. The hoses for the 260Z and '73 240Z are much different.

That is the only wire in that area on my car as well. As noted above, test it by turning the ignition on and grounding that wire. The brake warning light should light up when it is grounded.

If it were me, I'd get the engine harness, both column switches (turn signal and lights/wiper), wiper motor, and any of the dash/console switches you can get.

The farther you get from the model you have, the more differences you will have to deal with. The '73 has a lot of differences from the '71, things like intermittent wipers, totally different defroster switch, lighted heater panel, etc. Unfortunately, (as I found out on mine) there are plenty of small differences between different month production of even the same model year.

Six of one, half dozen of the other. Either choice will be reliable and eliminate points and their maintenance. The big issue for a 240Z distributor would be how good are the shaft bushings? Because if the shaft is sloppy, the timing won't be stable, no matter how advanced an ignition you use. This may be the biggest advantage to the ZX/E12-80 combo, since those dizzies are 10 years newer, they are more likely to have acceptable shaft bushings. But if you've got a really good 240Z dizzy, the Pertronix should be just as good.A couple of things to add - you should replace the coil no matter which setup you go with. You can get a fancy performance coil, or just use an OEM type. But you should get a new one that was designed for electronic ignition, and not to be used with a ballast resistor. (Because you'll want to eliminate the ballast resistor either way.) And if you go with the ZX dizzy, you need the ZX dizzy support bracket as well, the 240Z support won't work. I have the ZX package on my 240Z, with a generic aftermarket coil designed for the '79-80 ZX as well. Works fine.

The gauge and switch wiring will be a bit different, but you can probably work that out. There may be differences in the connectors to the engine harness as well. It would be better to get that part too. I say this because I've been there - My wiring thread.

Yes, the car can be saved. But it will be expensive and time-consuming.

I saw that set too, but didn't pursue them. The ones I'm looking at are not that set.

Not necessarily quite that low. I've been told that the 2400 valve covers were phased out during 10/70 production. So call it the first 12000-14000 cars or so.

That's kinda what I'm thinking, although I don't have a lot of room to store them. Too many other Z parts scattered all about the house and garage. But the price is pretty good, so I'll probably get them anyway, even if I decide to resell them for parts money right away.

Hey folks - some advice please. It looks like I have a line on a set of 'D' hubcaps and matching early 4.5" stock wheels for a reasonable price. I really don't anticipate ever using them on my car, but since they are the proper vintage, should I get them just to have in case? Given that my car will not be all original ever again, and the original engine is long gone, should I bother? What do you all think?

No pictures, but you want one from a carbed RX7, not a fuel injected one.

Hmm, a clean and straight moderately low VIN '70, to boot. What's not to like?