Arne

Yeah, brass plugs are probably the answer if the threads in the manifold ports are still good. The header that was on my parts car had smog tubes, and the plugs do appear to be brass. I do know that they sure don't want to come out now (header cold).

My yellow '71 had an injected L28 out of an '83 ZX in it when I got it. Frankly, it was a nightmare and I was very happy to get rid of it. Wires going everywhere, with nothing to connect them to. Everything cobbled together, it was a mess. Maybe if you go all aftermarket it might be cleaner, but I don't know if you can do that for the budget you mention. One thing to think about if you want to pursue this, is that you'll probably need to use a head from an injected motor to get the injector notches in the intake ports. And since the injection heads all have big valves, you'll need to notch the cylinders for valve clearance. So if you're going to do it, I'd skip trying it on the L24, and go straight to the L28 from the start.

Look like Watanabes to me.

I figured as much. That's OK, I think I need to stay with 14" (for the vintage tall sidewall look) on the red car anyway.

The part that you can't do yourself is replacing the throttle shaft bushings. And that is exactly where they wear out. All the kits and fine-tuning in the world won't help a pair of SUs that are leaking air in at the throttle shafts. You can't really tune that out. If $600 is more than you can afford, or you simply don't need the beautiful concours-type job that ZTherapy does, consider just having them do the carb bodies instead. That runs $225 exchange and takes care of the throttle shafts - the rest is then up to you.

Yeah, but finding a usable '70-72 manifold is tough - I gave up. All the ones I found had the tube firmly rusted into the manifold, so there was no easy way to deal with them. And the '73 manifolds have EGR ports that need to be plugged, and that it hard to do as well. Because of all this, I had resigned myself to using a header on the yellow car, even though that is probably unnescessary for a stock L24.

Fat chance! Now that I have a 240Z with decent original paint and no rust, I'm certainly not going to change its color! Red wasn't one of my top color choices (orange and yellow), but it was one of the colors I wanted to avoid, either (white or silver, because those are the colors of my other cars). I may do that. I really do want to get proper sized tires on it soon, and I don't really want to put them on the wires. And since I do already have the steelies...Of course, I also have a set of ZX six-spokes. But while I like them, they aren't "period correct" enough for me.

That's a thought, but I'll bet my wife won't like those either...

I was hoping you'd chime in on this one, Jim.

Not bad, actually. Does anyone know if the Fast Forward center caps will fit over the 240Z front hubs? I've heard that the Konig caps don't.

I'm with beandip on this one - mostly. Since the manifold is cast iron, welding is difficult at best, even for an expert welder. I'd braze the holes up instead.

Never patch over the hole. Cut out all traces of rust, and then weld in a properly shaped patch. That area of the car is critical for strength, if you have any doubts about your ability to do it right, pay someone to do it for you.

That's true. Carfax only works on '81 and newer.

Pretty much down the street, he lives about three blocks away. I've talked to him a time or two over the past year, he stops by if he's walking in the neighborhood while I am working on the yellow car. So he knew I liked Zs, and when he decided (reluctantly) that he should sell it, he came to me first. He figured if I didn't want it, I might know someone who did. (Ya think?) So I was going to try to help him sell it at first, but the more I looked at it, the more I knew that I needed it myself.

I'm with Marty, even though I'm leaving the yellow car club myself. Lots of bright colors, but the original 919 yellow on a Series 1 is rather uncommon these days.

Yeah, the orbital and Griot's clay and polishes will get a good workout, I'm sure.

Yeah, and I really LIKED being in the Yellow Z-Car Club, too. You're right, on both counts. But thee are two reasons why not, either one sufficient on its own. First, I don't want to risk having one of my near-mint 'D' hubcaps falling off and rolling around in the road. And second, while the later 'Z' caps aren't bad looking, frankly I don't think the 'D' caps are all that attractive.Oh, if I can figure out storage on yet another set of wheels and tires, I can definitely see putting the steelies and 'D' caps on for shows and gatherings, but not for day to day use. And regardless how low miles it is, there will be regular use. (Although rain scares me now. )

Yes, but what about the other end of the ground circuit. How clean and solid is the ground cable at the starter bolt, for example. Also double check th eground at the alternator itself.

You bet. And for the yellow car, Libres would have been real high on my list, even though my wife doesn't care for them. But for this car, I think I need something with more polish than the Libres. Don't know, I'll just have to wait and see.

Yeah, stock 919 yellow would have been pretty cool. But this car looks good as is, the yellow car's avatar was photoshopped to look that good.

All three of my cars look the same as the picture. It does appear to be 'normal'.

Thanks for the great comments, people! I can't wait to pick it up. Individual replies: To nealkeith - More pictures soon. (A few more of the pre-purchase pics are attached below.) I should pick up the car tomorrow. I hope you're right about selling the yellow car. I don't have room for everything I've got now! To SavannahZ, 1 Bravo 6 - The sunroof is the biggest downside to the car, by far. But, it appears to be a very nice one, well installed and with a nice looking seal. It is a twin-glass pop-up type. It takes up almost no headroom at all. As add-on sunroofs go, it looks to be a top-notch one. While I don't care for it, the rest of the car is so good that I decided I'd over-look it for now. To sakijo - I had to really ponder this purchase, because I only have room to store one Z indoors. If I were to keep the yellow one too, it would have to live outdoors and that won't do. To rdefabri - I guess part of the reason to go from the yellow project to the red car was that now that the mechanical work (transmission conversion, engine swap back to L24, etc.) is substantially finished, the time was approaching for the part I can't do myself - the rust and paint. So while the yellow one was a challenge, it was also great fun and a good learning experience, and so buying the red car instead was not as easy a decision as it might seem. To Gav240z - I'm still trying to decide what I'd like to see on it for wheels. I think I'd prefer to not go with slots or Panasport/Minilite/etc. style simply because they are a bit too common. I don't know for certain what I want, but they'll have to be really nice, and I'll probably know them when I see them. And I've still got my steelies and 'D' hubcaps for 'formal attire' if that seems appropriate. To sblake01 - Yes, when I was shopping for my first Z I turned down a couple unseen solely because they had sunroofs. But the condition and originality (other than the sunroof itself) of this car outweighed the presence of the sunroof to me. And while there are a whole lot of people who agree that the wire wheels must go, there is a sizable minority who have already contacted me about buying or trading for them. To each their own... To Marty and zbane - Yes, the roof on the parts car is good, and that thought has occurred to me as well. I'll need to find a place to store it though, as I doubt I'll paint this car for several years. Anyway, more to come after I take possession. Stay tuned...

My project to restore my yellow Series 1 has been derailed. Today I closed a deal on a red, two-owner '71. It was a hard call in some ways, but after looking at the car closely, and then driving it as well, I figured that there was no way I could pass by a car this special. The car is a real find. A late '71 (Series 2) 240Z that the current owner bought from the original owner about 18 months ago. The car has been garaged its entire life, and has a documented 59,500 miles on it. The current owner spent a two or three grand getting it road worthy since he got it, all new brakes, tires, tuned, cooling, etc. It is red (905), original paint in pretty nice condition. The car is 98% stock. The only non-stock items I could see are the wheels (14x6 Appliance Fine Wires - true wire wheels, not baskets), exhaust, a pair of driving lights under the bumper, and an aftermarket sunroof. Everything else is stock - AM radio, 4 speed, steering wheel, upholstery, even all the smog gear is intact. Interior and under the hood look awesome, nice cad plating on all the smog stuff, great early ashtray/fuse cover, console, etc. Excellent chrome bumpers. Since it has always been a garaged Oregon car, and seldom even seen rain, rust is nil. I looked in all the normal places, found nothing. Not even surface rust under the battery, or anything. The interior is almost perfect, beautiful ubcracked dash, and the car runs like a dream. It appears to me to be ready to drive right now. Downsides? The paint could use a little work. A fair number of chips on the nose, and little flaws here and there. But if it were polished and properly touched up, I think it could be really good without a re-paint. Of course, the sunroof is a minus to many of us (myself included), although this one seems to be fairly high quality and the seal looks good. The rear hatch strut no longer holds the hatch up (although I already have a pair of good used ones). The factory power antenna no longer works. The shocks are a bit weak, and all the hoses (cooling and fuel vent) are original 35 year old braided units. The new tires are too small - 175/70-14 - so it'll need new tires before long, and - while I know that some of you will disagree - the wire wheels will have to go. But I'll have to find something really nice to replace them with first. But all in all, it's just way too good a car to pass up. Now I have to rededicate my efforts to get rid of the parts car shell, and then to see if I can sell the yellow car. It's almost ready to drive, mechanically, needs someone who can do their own body and paint to finish it. So now keep your ears open for someone wanting that kind of a project.

Powder coating works fine on aluminum wheels, if it's done properly. I've seen lots of powder coated mags that have done nicely for years.

Too high by a lot, unless it's located in a part of the country where all Zs are rusty, and this one is verified absolutely rust free. More on this from my experience soon...