Arne

True, they probably were rather heavy. But you need to put them in their proper context. Back in the early '80s, their competition was companies like American Racing, Appliance, Western and Keystone. The Shelby's didn't look too bad in comparison. They were one of the first affordable wheel makers to make their wheels hub centering, for example. I don't think I'd want a set now, but back in the day they were acceptable.

Back in the '80s we sold them at the tire outfit I used to work for at the time. The mesh style was called "CSS". They made several other styles as well. Most of their styles were kind of two dimensional, not many curves to them. They were OK wheels for the most part. I never owned any though, because that was about the same time that the first Enkei wheels hit the US market, and the Enkeis were so much higher quality that those of us in the business all bought them instead.

It is a good book, if you're goal is to totally strip and restore the car. It's an OK book if your plan is to refresh only, or refresh and modify. I bought the book as research before I decided for sure that I wanted to tackle a Z. I was hoping it would be as good as a similar book I had covering MGB restoration. That one covered each area separately, whereas Humble's book covers the entire process as one overwhelming lump. Fact is, Humble's book (while being filled with valuable info) might scare off someone who's never gotten into something like this before.

Vapor lock is typically caused by the high underhood temperatures that the lean mixture of the flat-tops create. PCV and vapor systems have no measurable effect on performance or driveability. The term "dizzy" is short for distributor. There are gains to be had by using a dizzy with a different advance curve.

When I sold wheels and tires for a living (prior career), Elite wheels were a low cost wheel of so-so quality. But I left that industry over 7 years ago, so I can't say that my impressions from then are still valid. A lot can change in 7 years.

Glad this post came back to the top so I could find it. The series 1 car that I am picking up in two weeks no longer has its original vented hatch. I've been trying to decide if this is going to be a problem or not. So if I'm reading this correctly, if the rest of the car is properly sealed the issues I may face for having no vents is the pressure "boom" when closing the door, and lack of flow in the ventilation system with the windows closed. Hmm, I may need to look for an early hatch...

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't complaining. I am enjoying the investigative part of the thread, and will continue to follow it as long as new data is unearthed.

True for most of the world, but the US 240Z had a smog pump, so the damper had two belt grooves. MSA sells the single belt unit as an upgrade, claiming it to be even lighter yet.

As a Z newbie, I've been following this thread with interest, and yet some amusement as well. The interest because I enjoy learning new things about the family of cars I am getting into. The amusement because this discussion has been much like some of those I've seen (and participated in) regarding my prior restoration projects - a '67 MGB, and an '81 BMW 323i (Euro model not officially offered here in the USA). So I have learned some things about early and late S30's from this thread. But I have to agree with some of the sentiments expressed above. Interesting as this is to look at, it is really just an intellectual exercise. We will probably never know the whole story of this car. I do hope that it is restored, just because, but whether a particular car is really low numbered or not doesn't mean much in most cases. When I decided I wanted to restore a Z, my only hard and fast criteria was that it would have small bumpers. Series I, series II, early 260 - I really didn't care which. It just had to be suitable for restoration. Turns out the car I settled on is an early '71 series I, just by chance. But interesting as all this is, the main point for me is for all of us to learn more about these cars, so that they can be saved for the future.

If you have enough money/time/skill, anything can be done. But for the real world answer, there are several differences in frame, body and mountings that make it difficult, but not impossible to do.

Offset and rim width are both measured based on the rim seating surfaces, which is the spot where the bead of the tire sits. Those are 7" apart, and if the offset is zero, the hub mounting surface is centered between the two bead seats. The backside is measured differently. It is measured from the hub mounting surface to the inner bead lip. The difference comes from the fact that the bead lips are typically .5" thick. So for example, if you measure a 7" wheel from the outside bead lip to the inside lip, it will have an overall width of 8 inches, not 7. So a 7" wheel with zero offset, a 4" backside is correct. It just sounds funny.

There used to be a dark blue Fairlady in Eugene, Oregon some years back. No flares, but definitely right hand drive, and still had the fender mirrors. Haven't seen it for a while, don't know what happened to it.

You'd have to replace the backing plates, return and hold-down hardware too.

There were no physical differences (as far as I have been able to determine) between cars sold in California and the rest of the country. So if they have no proof, there is likely no way at all to tell. And even on later cars that had both CA and 49 state variations, the CA versions were often sold in other parts of the country as well, depending on supply and demand.

The early '71 that I will be picking up in a few weeks has an injected L28 in it, from an '83 280ZX. I strongly suspect that I will end up converting it back to SUs, but I may have differing goals for my car than you have for yours. Anyway, if you'd like, once I have the car in my possession, I can assess the injection and take some pictures for you if you'd like.

It is difficult for an average guy to get really high quality results. It is important that all six combustion chambers have the same volume (within a very small tolerance) to get good results. Similarly, all the ports should be very uniform. This is exceedingly difficult to do with hand tools in the garage. I myself would leave it to the pros with the proper equipment.

I knew that comment would draw some flak...

I'm still shopping for my 240, and any color (as long as it's original) will be fine. For a while I thought I'd prefer orange, but now I'm leaning toward 919 yellow as my favorite.

I'm in a similar boat, same background, but looking for a project, not a ready-to-drive car. I posted a similar question a while back (http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18300) and came to the conclusion that for a driver, there's no reason not to get a 260. If you want a "collector" car, buy a 240, the earlier the better.

Agreed. I had this done with an old MG that I restored ground up. A year and a half later I had a $4000 dollar claim on it, they never said a word, just paid to have it fixed. I highly recommend that anyone who has a nice older Z get it appraised. I think I paid about $100 for the appraisal.

I have used a vinyl/plastic paint called SEM on hard plastic trim, with excellent results. It requires a special cleaner for prep, and bonds very well to the plastic. Don't know if they make white, however. Look for it at upholstery supply houses, or automotive body and paint supply houses.

I'm going to look at a '71 automatic this weekend. If I buy it I will convert to a four or five speed, and will likely need a new console, so I might be interested as well.

Sure did. Also noticed (pictures I didn't post) that the door hinges on that door are white. I am assuming that one or both of them failed, causing the door ugliness.

Yeah, I noticed that also. Didn't get much response from a previous post on that subject. (http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?p=141159#post141159) Haven't decided what I'll do about that if I buy the car. Leave it be? Find a series I hatch? Add the series I vents to the existing hatch?

Yes, new to Z cars, but not to restorations and rust repair. I've done my research, both here online and also in printed Z-car specific books. So I have a good idea where to look for rust issues. This car is 300 miles away, so I will have to travel to assess it. Here in the Pacific NW, there's no road salt used, so rust is a little less common than elsewhere. This car looks to have lived in these parts all its life, and the only obvious spots in the pictures I have so far is the two front fenders. But I haven't seen under the battery, or the hatch tray yet. Frame rails and floors are reputed to be solid. (We'll see.) A couple other pictures...