Arne

The only thing out of place for a 2/71 car in your list is vents in the hatch. All the rest you describe would be correct for a "late '71" car.

On slots or Libres.

I remember that Car and Driver article from reading it while I was in high school. I wish I knew where I could find a copy of it now, it would be interesting reading for those of us who want to keep their cars looking "period-correct".

Will, if that's the impression that came across, I worded it poorly. My point was that the Series 1 and 2 tags are useful here in the USA because of the ambiguous nature of the changes related to the model and titled years. A '71 could be either Series 1 or 2. But all '72s are (theoretically) the same, as all '73s are (theoretically) the same. So when speaking of a '72 or '73 240Z, it is simplest to call it a '72 or '73, and not cloud the issue with "Series" references that not all will understand or agree with.I have no issues with any 240Z, when I first started looking for an S30, I decided that I wanted small bumpers. So I seriously considered all years of 240Zs, and even a couple of early 260Zs. Sure, the earliest cars are more "collectible" but since I wanted a driver that didn't mean much to me. It was simply chance that the one I first bought turned out to be a Series 1. The fact that it was a Series 1 had no bearing on the purchase. Actually, I seldom refer to my cars by Series anywhere but here. When talking to other car people - even other Z people - I typically refer to the yellow car as an "early '71" and the red one as a "late '71". Some people frequently refer to all Series 1 cars as '70 240Zs, regardless of the titled year. Seems to make sense, and could reduce confusion if EVERYONE did that. Most people understand that model-year terminology.

Stephen, I recall seeing that the clear glass was the norm for the first 1400 cars or so, after which they all got the vertical lines through mid-'72 or '73.

The lighter was next to the ashtray on both Series 1 and Series 2 cars (US terminology). Basically any '69-71 model year 240Z. The attached picture is of my Series 2, which is a rather late '71 (7/71). The ashtray and lighter both moved for the '72 model year.As an aside, I seldom think in terms of a Series 3 or 4 240Z. I normally think of Series 1 as the original, Series 2 as the later '71s, and then the '72 and '73 model years as separate entities. Another way to look at it is to consider all of what we call Series 1 cars as '70 models (regardless of title year), Series 2's as '71s, etc...

Dave, here's another link, it gives Nissan's "official" list of the changes from Series 1 to Series 2 in the US. http://zhome.com/History/New71Late.htm

Dave, my understanding is that the Series 1 are the cars with the hatch vents, which were the first 20,000 or so US cars. The Series 2 cars started production in early Jan. 1971. So most Series 1 cars were BUILT in 1970, with a few in '69 and even fewer in early Jan. '71. About half were probably sold and titled as '71s. In short, if it was built in 1970, it's a Series 1, even if it is titled as a '71. Here's a link from ZHome.com that goes into greater detail: http://zhome.com/History/1970or1971.html

Hmm, my R&T library goes back to '77 or so. I should have that one. I'll have to dig it out.

I vote for the rogue part thing. I've not seen anything like it on the cars I've looked at. But there's probably lots I've never seen yet...

Randy, the fact that the compression goes up (even a little) wet is normally a good indicator of ring problems. Whether sticky, broken or whatever. You might try simply pulling the head first to take a visual look at the bore, but if the rings are sticky you may not be able to see much.

If you see a deal on a backplate only for an oval one, I've got a spare front housing for one I'd sell cheap.

If the clutch operated correctly before the teardown, I'd be strongly inclined to continue to use the collar that I knew worked with the clutch cover that you now have. Trying to second guess it when you already have a combo that works sounds like a potential problem to me.

Looks fairly complete, to me. And being that they are supposed to be from a '72 and therefore are (probably) 3-screw carbs with water passages, you would not actually have to change out the entire manifold. The '72 carbs with their center linkage should bolt straight onto your existing '73 manifolds. In fact, some believe that the '73 manifolds flow better, and prefer them over the '72 E88 castings. I think the '72 balance tube will bolt up to the '73 manifolds if you prefer the less complex look of that. Or you can swap the whole enchilada. Re: fuel rail - I believe that all '70-72 rails are the same, so any of them should work. But lots of people run round-tops on '73s using the original '73 fuel rail. Perhaps not quite as clean looking, but functional. So that's not a critical issue. Re: air box - Get an oval one from a '70-72, not the later odd-shaped one from the flat-top cars. The flat-top air cleaner will require adapters from Z Therapy (or some custom work on your own) to fit the round-tops. The adapters aren't cheap, and if you're going to have to buy an airbox anyway, better to get one that fits correctly from the start.

No, the pictures you posted in a different thread show the fuel rail and air cleaner as the later flat-top types. So your car has been swapped over.

Big sigh....

Answer on the last line.