Arne

In that case I'd say that a conversion will be a lot of expense and headache for no gain. Not that there is anything wrong with the conversions, but both the Holley and the DGVs are far more complex than the SUs. Both will take some fiddling to get them dialed in on a stock L24. Of the two, the DGVs are probably going to be closer out of the box, but they still require syncing, which is one of the things that some people don't like about the SUs. In my experience, the biggest problems with dual SUs is that people can't leave them alone. They are always the first thing that people start tinkering with if something doesn't seem right with how the engine is running. But 95% of the time, the carbs are not the problem. Once SUs have been properly set up, they don't change on their own, so they should not be re-adjusted unless something else that affects the engine's breathing (cam, header, displacement) has been changed.

Odd. Both of my dashes (10/70 and 4/71) have the bracket as shown. I wonder if Phil's was removed in the past by someone making more room for a deeper head unit?

I guess my first question would be, "Why?" What are you hoping to gain? What other mods have you done to the engine?

If any of you have followed my posts in other exhaust threads, you'll have noticed that I normally recommend having it done locally, not buying a pre-built system. Well, I'm here today to say that I'm having second thoughts about that, now that I am in need of a system on my own car. It seems that all the local muffler shops around here have gotten greedy. I have talked to several of them and received quotes of anywhere from $375-600 for a 2 1/4" aluminized system. I figure this should be $250 max, but can't find anyone to do it that cheaply here in the Eugene, OR area. Shoot, I can buy a MSA package with the 3-into-2 header and shipping for less than what they want to charge me for the header back alone. Then I could eBay my Hooker header and be money ahead. I really would prefer smaller than 2 1/2" for my stock L24, but may have to settle for that anyway, just on cost alone.

Unfortunately, a prior owner disposed of the original motor long before I got it. I had planned on rebuilding an L24 out of a '73 for it until I got the parts car, which is a later (Series 2) '71. So it is not original, but it is closer than the '73 would have been and does have the proper E31 head. Of course, as far as originality goes, mine is even more non-original than that - it was built with an automatic, now has a proper early 4 speed.

My opinion - if you are going to go through the work and expense of pulling and refurbishing the motor at all, do it all and do it right. If you don't have the proper professional measuring tools (and most of us don't), take the parts you want to use to your chosen machine shop and have them tell you what you need. If I were going to go this far on mine (and I was planning on it until I bought my parts car with a good motor in it), I would automatically replace all the bearings, probably have the crank polished, the rods checked, new rings properly end-gapped, and either a light hone on the cylinders with the original pistons, or bored over-size with new pistons, depending on the wear in the bore now. Probably a new oil pump, and maybe have the crank/rods/flywheel balanced. While the head was off, new guides, timing chain kit, and hard intake seats (if they haven't already been replaced). Probably all new valves and springs. Reuse the cam and rockers if they are good, but a new cam oil rail if the cam is not drilled. The thing is that you only want to do this once, so don't take any shortcuts. If there's any doubt about a part, replace it.

I can weld (after a fashion), but I don't have a welder of my own, so that's not a very good option for me. I'm going to call a few more local shops for quotes, and while I'd prefer mandrel bent 2" or 2 1/4" pipes, the reality is that for a stock L24 for street use I can probably easily get away with normally bent 2 1/4" as well. I should think that if I salvage the Y pipe with dual collectors from the parts car, it shouldn't cost more than $200-$250 to make up what I want. I'll keep you posted.

Welcome, Peter. There is good info here, I've found this to be an incredibly useful group. You'll want to play with the "Search" function here, as the archives are filled with good data. As far as bringing yours back to life, there was a recent thread on this subject. Take a look at Waking the sleeping beast?

Hmm, you know, I've seen cases where one of the pair of carbs will have the throttle lever catch on the choke linkage and hang there. This could definitely cause this type of thing. I know Bryan won't mind me messing up a copy of his picture for a good purpose like this. Look closely at yours where I have circled in yellow.

True story. But a call to the local shop that was recommended to me by the hot rod crowd put the brakes on the project real fast. He gave me a ballpark figure starting at $550 for the job, up to as much as $1200 for full stainless. Now I know this shop will do excellent work, but $550 for an aluminized 2 1/4" system with a Y pipe and two 2 1/2" flanged collectors seems a bit high to me. This shop does do mandrel bending, but it was not clear in the ballpark estimate whether the low-end included that, or was just normal bending.Man, I'm going to have to start selling off some spare parts to raise some cash...

That's right, no more 280ZX under the hood. Well, maybe just a little, it still has the ZX distributor and alternator in it. But the oil-burning L28 is no more, and a clean running L24 is in its place. For details (and a few pictures) of the weekend's progress, check the car's website - A Work in ProgreZZ But the short version is this: the L24 is in and it runs, quite well actually. It's rather loud now, with its totally open headers. There was no feasible way to marry the old exhaust to the headers, so the car is grounded until I can get it to the muffler shop, hopefully next weekend. All in all, a rewarding weekend for me. I'm not sure if I can be ready or not, but I'd like to have it on the road in time for the Mt. St. Helens run in October. We'll have to wait and see...

Yes it is.

<sigh> Try as I might, I can not see any redeeming value to either of those. I guess I am hopelessly old school.

Glad to hear it! I feel like I had a vested interest in this, what witht eh alternator adapter being involved and all. Pleased to hear that all is now well.

It looks like a previous owner has added a relay to the circuit that energizes the solenoid. No idea why someone would do that, as the solenoid itself is just a big relay. The fusible link is just a special wire, which connects to the same lug on the solenoid as the positive battery cable does - it is about 6 inches long and plugs into the harness. In your picture, it is black, looks like to me.

I don't have any of my timing covers off right now to look at them, but I think that bolt goes through what should be a sealed passage. So I don't think it should leak unless either a.) the timing cover is cracked where that bolt goes through; or b.) there is something preventing the timing cover from sealing properly against the front surface of the block.

Not in any form I recognize from the brochure, kats. Isuzu had no market presence at all in the US until General Motors re-badged their compact pickup as the Chevrolet LUV in 1972.

What a great idea, Brian, using an inner socket for the pivot! That should work slick for track use.

I have to admit that since there are a fair number of club members here in Oregon and Washington, that I have had the pleasure to meet a number of you in person. I've been involved in automobile hobbies for over 3 decades, and in all that time, this is the first club/group where I have actually found new friends - not just acquaintances. We up here in the Pacific NW are fortunate to have many active members in a relatively small region. Unfortunately the "share a drink over the Internet" choice applies in so many cases. I'm truly sorry that there are many of you - whose knowledge and personalities I enjoy - that I will likely never have the chance to meet in person. Related to that is the "withdrawal when the site is down" choice. I don't post here as often as I did a while back when I was really new, nor do I read every thread anymore, but when the site is down I find myself clicking my bookmark frequently, hoping that it will soon be back. And it's not just the cars, it's the people.

The "JWL" logo is generally an indication of a decent quality wheel though, even if they're not Panasports.

Any markings on the backside?

Before I eBay one of them, I thought I'd ask here. I've got two owner's manuals for late '71 240Zs, both in decent-but-not-great condition. Does anyone have one for a Series 1 240Z that they'd like to trade? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Yeah, wheels are one of the things I'd want most off those cars, the ones on the blue car are great.While we're talking eBay and wheels, get a load of this one - those things were garbage when I (reluctantly) sold them back in the late 70's and early '80s! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RIMS-CHROME-WIRE-BASKET-14-DATSUN-240Z-260Z-280Z_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ140748QQihZ008QQitemZ180020890049QQrdZ1

I took enough grief on the second one, even knowing that it'll be hauled off and crushed when I'm done with it. Five? Not a chance.

I'd be surprised if the lot of 5 sells. The buyer would need to be relatively local, have someplace to put them, have access to a trailer/flatbed, and be willing to buy a bunch of unknown cars. Might be a good way to start a small Z recycling business, but it's probably going to be a tough sell. There's parts on them I'd like to have though, so if anyone here takes them on, let me know.