Arne

Well, after crunching all the numbers, every part of the project came in under budget! So a significant donation to CZCC.com has been made, on behalf of all of us.

Good idea, I moved the thread to Wheels. I don't think it was Carl, I think he was after a spare ARE LeMans for the Baja car. But I too seem to recall someone looking for a Trans Am. Let me think on it a bit... EDIT: I think I found it, but it is the other way 'round. RHChew has three Libres and one Trans Am, and is/was looking for another Libre. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28004

I installed the third brake light I got from Dave today. But I did make a small change in mine. In an effort to make the installed light less obvious when it is not lit up, I added a red lens in front of the LEDs, and also extended the top cover to ensure that the LEDs can't be seen behind the lens from above. The red lens over red LEDs does not change the brightness noticeably, but actually tends to widen the angle a view some, which can't be bad. I like how it turned out, the picture on the car was with flash and so it lit the red slightly, it's not this visible in most lighting conditions.

Jonathan, if your end goal is to restore a car to factory original, you are correct in that this car may not be the best car to start with. But if your goal is to have/build a nice driving early Z with a few period-correct mods, an early 260Z that is already partly modified is a great starting point, especially if it's not particularly rusty. Don't let us 240Z owners dissuade you from working on the car you already have.

First two pics deal with the hood. While the drawing shows the vents, note that the vents themselves (#85 & 86) were not used until 8/76 production, and then note that the hood panel itself was also different at that break point. US 260Zs did not have vents in the hood as delivered to the distributor here in the USA. Definitely added later. Third picture is of the front bumper. No additional bar shown. Dealer added at best, never installed by the factory. The factory page on the carbs is too poor a drawing to make conclusions from, so I didn't attach it.

The early carbs are a very common swap to replace the trouble-prone emissions carbs on the '73 240Z and all US 260Zs. You'll probably find more 260Zs with 240Z carbs these days than you will see with their original flat-top carbs. Very common mod to make them run better. You should be happy that yours is so equipped. (BTW, they appear to be four-screw carbs from a late '70-71. Not from a '72.) The hoods and bumper bars are similar stories, although perhaps not for the same reasons. The front edge of 240Z and 260Z hoods are very prone to parking lot damage, and over the years many have been replaced with used 280Z hoods, since there are a lot more of those in decent shape due to the large bumpers of the 280Z. As noted, the bumper bars were also a very popular add-on (partly to try to prevent damage to the edge of the hood), and many were installed by the dealers when the car was brand new. Trust us on this, neither your vented hood nor your bumper bar are factory original. Dealer mods prior to first sale, perhaps. But not original. Also, after looking at the pictures, I'm not convinced that the hood really is a 280Z hood, it may be the original 260Z hood with aftermarket vents cut into it. Can't tell for certain without better pictures.

Back on topic - have any NW Washingtonians seen this car in person?

Yes, the Summer/Winter flap was present on the later '71s, and perhaps even on some of the late Series 1 cars. My understanding is that the flap was added to all cars that had the 1971 emission sticker under the hood. If so, my earliest parts car (12746, 10/70) probably came with the flapper air cleaner since it had the '71 emissions tag. But the original air cleaner for that car was long gone by the time I bought it, so I can't confirm that. My red car (37705, 7/71) does have the flap, and it is the original.

I like your solution, Arne! That will be worth a try at some future time.That trick is well-known in BMW circles. That's how you de-badge a BMW without damaging the paint. Now the Z community knows as well!

There's no better place in Oregon to come to see old Zs, and to get inspired. If you make it, look me up.

Thanks for reviving a 3 year old thread. :stupid:

260Zs with the stock carbs and hood ran hot in the engine compartment, and had lots of vapor lock problems. There were several "fixes" regarding vents, insulation and such in attempt to reduce underhood temps. Now that I look closely, it is impossible to say whether the vents in your hood are stock '77-78 280Z parts added later, something else added by the dealer while the car was still fresh, or if the entire hood was replaced with a late 280Z hood at some later time. I'd need better pictures to be able to tell. It would be interesting to see underhood pics to know what carbs you have on the car now, too.

The picture he attached in his intro thread (http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?p=320303) is larger. It shows an early 260Z (small bumpers) with a late 280Z hood and aftermarket front towel bar, aluminum rocker trim and side mirrors.

Back in the day the only color I recall seeing other than black and white was red. Not certain just what colors are available these days.

I merged the two threads, placed in the open discussion area instead of the ebay forum.

This is at least thread number 3 on this topic. I'm going to merge them all. We don't need this many threads cluttering the forums.

Search for "exhaust fumes" and you'll get pages of info.

Same here, even though my car sits closer to stock height. I think you'd need considerably shorter profile tires. Maybe 205/50-15 or 215/45-15. They don't fit with the look I'm going for on my car, but I can see that they'd be damn cool on a Z.

Anyone interested? Not mine, don't know the seller, yada, yada, yada... http://eugene.craigslist.org/pts/1634268499.html

Redline MTL (manual transmission lubricant). A synthetic that is a bit thinner than their MT-90 (which is what I use here in my mild climate). A cure for stiff shifting that's well known in many enthusiast circles.

We're all pulling for you, Steve. Everything you're doing looks great. Can't wait to see the finished product. P.S. - If I ever do another Z that needs floors, I think I'll want to bring it to you. Outstanding looking work!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I almost decided to switch at the last minute and get a DATSUN for my car. But the 240-Z on mine looks great. If they were something you could change back and forth now and then I'd have both.

The reality is that the rest is so messed up, it may as well be deleted.