Arne

Well, part of the reason I asked is that I have one of those headers on my yellow 240Z. Mine is in much the same condition, I have a Y-pipe collector for it, but the little plaque is missing. I somehow can't imagine anyone paying anywhere close to that for mine. Of course, if I put it on eBay now, I'd get maybe $125 for it. It takes two nutty bidders to run something up like that, and there may only be one of them left now. Bet the seller is laughing his way to the bank...

Depends on your definition of 'all'. I'm only bringing my red 240Z, not the yellow one!

Are the old Hooker Super Comp headers something special in any way? Or is the explanation for this just dumb bidders? :stupid: :stupid: :stupid: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200110008214

I prefer the chrome bumper cars ('68-72) myself, appearance-wise. But every time I drive one, I am unimpressed. The chassis and suspension are essentially unchanged from '63 through '82, and the early Sixties design just doesn't cut it for me. They feel over large, rather flexy and crude. Then again, I'm a bit prejudiced - I've always preferred the smaller, lighter sports car design model. All Corvettes of that vintage have going for them (in my opinion) is looks and a big torquey motor.

It is. We use AKI (Anti-Knock Index) which is an average of RON (Research Octane Number) and MON (Motor Octane Number.) That generally works out to 2 or 3 points less than RON. So at best, figure our 91-92 AKI as about the same as 94-95 RON.

I'd recommend something other than copper, I've heard copper reacts with some of the additives in gasoline.

It's probably for the best. While i could have easily at least broken even on it, the fact is that there just wasn't a lot of parts on it that I need for the yellow car. A few, but not all that many. So it probably wasn't the right car for me at this time. Which was probably why I didn't move very fast on it. Still keeping my eyes open though.

FYI - I didn't get the parts car I was looking at. While I was weighing the options, some one else apparently bought it. :disappoin

Guys, the old profile is still there, you just have to use one additional click to get there. Go to a new profile, and then one of the choices near the top (above the photo area) is "Forum profile". Click that to see the original profiles. All the original data is still there.

Seems to me that's the same text (errors and all) from the "History" printed in the front of every Black Dragon catalog.

John, first you have (correctly) pointed out the difference in octane requirements for the differing years. This is because as the emissions laws tightened up, Nissan (and other makes too) lowered compression ratios. So the '72 needs less octane that a '71. It may be that only the '70 and '71 240Zs will NEED the higher octane, assuming they are stock and well-maintained. As for the E88, I have found references to show that there were at least four major head variations that had the 'E88' casting mark. The very earliest were almost the same as the E31. I've heard these called "early E88s." These would have come on '71 cars right after the E31. The second variation was for '72 cars and maybe late '71s as well, and had a different chamber size and shape than the E31, and had the lower compression ratio also. These days I've heard these called "small chamber E88s". The '73s apparently came with an E88 with a larger chamber yet. These are referred to as "large chamber E88s". Finally, the US 260Zs had an E88 with larger exhaust valves, and are often called, unsurprisingly, "big valve E88s". Last, I'm a little surprised that your 2/71 car has an E88, as my 4/71 parts car had an E31. But maybe one or the other of these is not original.

I beg to differ. That may be the case for 280Zs and 260Zs, but not for 240Zs. The owner's manual for my '71 240Z says to use "a proper grade of gasoline of above 95 octane..."Granted, that was not the same 95 that we see now as AKI or (MON+RON)/2, but I still believe that the old 95 is probably more than today's 89. I know that my late '71 will ping on today's 92 AKI if the timing is advanced much past stock, and even at stock timing on 89 AKI. Yes, there could be some carbon build up, but that doesn't change the fact that I need premium fuel. The reason doesn't matter. If you need it, you need it.

The two spare wires (green and black) are the wires Nissan supplied for an electric fuel pump. They are not used on pre-'73 US 240Z unless an electric pump has been added.

And are you still running Datsun four lug hubs? If so, Mustangs haven't used the Datsun lug spacing since 1968. If you plan to convert to five lug, you'll be fine there, assuming the Mustang wheels you are looking at are five lug. But if they are the four lug pattern used from '74 through whenever they changed back to five lug, that's a different pattern.

Over the years, I seem to average a loss of about $1000 per year of ownership on my project cars and toys. Pretty cheap hobby when looked at that way.

Read this thread. It covers this topic thoroughly. http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22619

Sad, but true. I've been there, and they're right. Which is exactly why I bought my red Z even though I had already began restoring my yellow one. I'm driving and enjoying the red one now. (Drove it to work today, in fact.) The yellow one would not be ready for driving regularly for at least another 6 months to a year. And yes, I've still got plenty of tinkering, maintenance and replacement to do on the red one. Keeps me out of trouble. Of course, that doesn't mean I've learned anything from all this. I'm also laying plans to complete the yellow car anyway...

Dave speaks the truth, I agree with his post 100%. While driving lights will definitely light up the road in a straight line, best bang for the buck are good quality E-code headlights. I've been using E-code lights exclusively (mostly H4, a few dual H1) in every vehicle I've owned since 1976. In the 7" round size the Zs use, I have personal experience with Marchal, Cibié (pre-Z-Beam, Z-beam and BOBI), Bosch, Hella, Carello, Lucas, Wipac, Stanley and Neolite. While the Marchal and Cibié were both quite good, all of the best I've ever used (in any size/shape) have been Hella. Good range, and the most even, shadow-free pattern. So if improved lighting is the goal, I recommend Hella. In my experience, Hellas have lasted longer than Cibiés as well. I've had several sets of old Cibiés where the reflectors rusted. Never have had that problem with a Hella. Hellas are also easier to find here in the USA these days.

Welcome to our site! This is one of the largest repositories of Z-car knowledge available anywhere, with over 13,000 registered users, but more importantly over 200,000 posts in over 24,000 threads. So in general, almost any question that you, as a new owner or owner to be might ask has already been addressed here. Most of them not once, but dozens of times. Your questions regarding differences between years, and also with retrofitting 240Z bumpers to a 280Z are examples of topics that have been discussed almost to death here.Your best bet on these basics is to learn to use the excellent search feature here. Try searching with several different combinations of words and phrases, the amount of data you can find that way boggles the mind. There are several reasons why you may get better results from a search than from a new post. For example, many of the long-time members get tired of answering the same questions over and over, so they may simply blow right past your questions. Also, many of the questions posted by new members concern items that are static. In other words, the answers to these questions don't change, they are still the same now as they were 5 or even 10 years ago. Your question on retrofitting bumpers is an excellent example of a static topic, as are putting 280Z engines in early cars, swapping to a 5 speed transmission, how to tune the early SU carbs, etc. The answers to these questions never change, so using a search there gives the advantage of seeing posts from many more people, rather than the few who might answer your question directly. Simple economics. Supply and demand. The 240Zs are the oldest, and many have died from accidents and rust. So they are somewhat rare, yet are still in demand. So they are more expensive.

By this time, your carbs undoubtedly need the throttle shaft bushings dealt with. No rebuild kit covers that, you can't do it your self. If you truly want the carbs to run right, you're going to have to bite the bullet and send them off for rebuilding. Not cheap, but rebuild kits aren't going to help much at all.

When I installed the KYBs with factory stock springs, the ride height increased about 1/4 to 3/8". I figured I can live with that.

Later 240Zs changed the location on the balance tube that the hose connects to, so it takes a different hose. Might be able to use the early hose if you move the fitting.

Is this what you are talking about? If so, it definitely was not always fitted, none of my cars have it. http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25827&highlight=plates+differential

No. Heater hose won't work. You need an internally reinforced hose to prevent collapse.

Well, I suspect if you measure how wide a 240Z is...