240znz

I have found that CRC Carb-o-clean works well. As Chino 240Z says, use a toothbrush as well to get into those OMFG places. Sorry if I am being ignorant but I'm not sure if you get CRC products in the US.

Is it black with gold trim??????????

LOTUS = Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious. BBC's "Top Gear" tv program did a segment on the Track Elise. Looks like a bundle of fun. I'm not going to retype what others have said above but you might be better off getting a car that YOU can work on. YOUR time is free to a point and starting out with a older car might be the better way to go. Plenty of good basic cars around for you to choose. Nothing wrong with basic cars, they let you make plenty of mistakes and the don't end up costing you too much as most of the parts are available in junk yards. Heh...most people here have what you have.....a need to buy the car you one day previously dreamed about. It took me 2 years to find my Zed so just take your time when selecting you fist car. My 1st was a 1972 Datsun 1200 Coupe. It was real easy to work on (as is the Zed and really any car from that period) and parts are everywhere...not so much now though. Good luck looking and DON'T RUSH.

Hard like Ivan, I did a similar thing with my mini cooper when in Auckland years ago. Took the battery out of the car and charged it. Put it back in and hooked it up wrong. Woof when the diodes in the generator...smoked it good. I hope it's just the ECU.

Forgot to add that the roller is in it's carrier. It looks almost new.

Cheers Steve, I'll check it out tomorrow. I remember seeing a clip still on the weather strip (almost clamped on the door skin...maybe this has something to do with it. Digital camera time. What's the best thing to de-gunging the door lock mechanism? This is the reason the handle broke in the first place. I'm thinking of drowning it in CRC overnight then let it dry before pouring in some liquid lithium grease. The grease should get to most places in there.

Whilst removing the RHS door panel to get at the broken( :tapemouth :mad: ) door handle (my fault..arrrrggghhhh), I noticed that in the bottom of the cavity, a rubber roller was sitting there loose. It must go somewhere, but I don't fancy pulling the window completely out just to find out that I could have put it back without going to all that trouble. Any ideas of where it is soposed to go???? Can I get it back without removing the entire mechanisium? Cheers

Finally got around to doing a compression test tonight. The results were 1-6: 130;125;130;125;120;125. I thought this was OK but I was expecting a little higher in the 170's-80's. Then I read the manual and it says that I should have done this with the engine hot. DOH! Engine cranker has gone to bed so it'll have to wait until tomorrow. But the readings are 95% of each other so it can't be all that bad. It does suggest that the PO did do a rebuild. So I'm hoping that the readings will come up tomorrow or I will have other things to consider, like did the PO really rebuild this engine? If he did then why does it have a low compression with new rings??? It does have a chunky ground cam in there though...maybe that has something to do with it. It is a L24 block running a E88 head. The PO told me that the head had been shaved but I don't recall by how much, so I am thinking that the combo of the two might result in a lower compression. Still no more leaks. Rad level remains unchanged. Oil levels also remain unchanged. Any ideas? Should I be checking else where?

My advise would to take a terminal screwdriver or something with a fine pointed tip and start poking around the places that 2manyz's has stated above. It is amazing how much rust can be hiding behind a postage stamp size bubble of rust. After you have identified all the rust locations, make a list and price the parts, add labour and then reach for the phone to book your heart bypass. No one wants to see a Zed on the junkyard but sometimes the cost of removing all the rust is more than the cost of a rust free one to start with. I don't want to kill any ideas that you may have of rebuilding your Zed but maybe do the sums before you start. If you did decide that the car was too far gone to restore, then you will have a parts car for that rust free Zed you'll be getting next. I have a 71 series 1 Zed and it minimal rust in all the hard to find/get places. I am commited to removing ALL of it and ready for the cost. I am also trying to keep it on the road as much as possible while I restore it...this is the hard bit.

I have a hand throttle in my Zed. It was imported to NZ from Aussie. It is not connected and by no means will I re-connect it. It must the the single most dangerous device ever put in the Zed (except for the wife after she finds out much this thing has cost me...er...us). MDBrandy - your avatar shows some nice wheels...what are they?

Iy will fit but I'm unsure that the compression ratio will be what you are after. There is a link to a compression program somewhere on this site. Try doing a search function above....or maybe someone could place the link on a reply. For memory the P90a was used on turbo L28 ZX's of 83. So it is my guess that the compression ratio will be low.

Welcome to the world of Zed. You are in very small group of yonger drivers whom have seen the light and purchased an early series Zed. Most front panels are available, however parts of the "rear end" of the Zed's are not...only a few rust prone areas like rear deck lid. I live in NZ and I don't know of any Aus suppliers that can help. This site has many Aus Zed owners so I'm sure that they can help you. I do know that a company in the US called Victoria British may have what you need. You'll find them at www.victoriabritish.com The site it not all that but order a free catalog and you will see that they do have lower rear quarter panels and inner rear wheel arch panels to. Good luck and try to stop smiling when your in 3rd at 3500 RPM...go-on...just try.

Cheers 240Z in OZ... It WAS the airgrill drain hose. After I took off the LHS guard, I noticed that the drain hose was split. No a silly question....can you get new hoses from somwhere? Cheers and remember.......

Spotted a small bubble in the underseal on the LHS chassis under the wheel arch. Just behind the TC rod connection. Poked at it with a screwdriver with a nervous push and horror....through it went....into stale air. So after removing the guard it gain real access, I poked some more. There is what seems to be a factory strenghting plate there (maybe there to strenghten the TC rod mount??). The reason I say factory is that the whole area shows no signs of damage, the paint is matched and the underseal has not been touched. It was spot welded on and then underseal sprayed over it, got out the wire wheel to clean it up and IT turned up just fine, but it had holes in it. Anyway, I have removed all the plate as under it the metal was micro thin. I now will have a easy patch to put back in there but I put a double plate back in to be double sure. Looking down the exposed inside of the chassis rail, I see fisholine everywhere with great looking metal. I also see a opaque (probably clear when new) plastic bung on the pasenger fire wall. Pulling up the carpet I see it there and wonder if it is also a factory standard item to inspect the chassis rail internals or a PO add on? Any ideas. The whole area would have been rust free if at the factory they had not rushed to spot this plate in. There was a slight ripple in the front of the plate that water entered, and tracked down the panel to eat away merrily. So....check your Zed to see if you have the same little problem. So I'm going to POR the entire internal rail before and after the plates are back in. The resto remains.

Pulling my Zed to bits and finding hidden places where the rust monster is hiding. Impossible to spot when I first looked at the car as you will read. Took off the airgrill panel and found some surface rust in only two spots. While there are lavish amounts of Fisholine used, it appears that it is not enough....or is the rust caused by a PO additon. Did the factory install some white (off white now) foam cushioning to the underside of the airgrill, directly in front of the drivers wiper pivot? (Sorry, but my digital camera is out again.*&^"£$^%!) I have killed it but just wondering if this foam is standard. BTW, I have cleaned all the fisholine off and wow....as good as new, I'll be re-applying that good old fish oil again...unless someone can suggest a better solution. Cheers

Lightest cars made were the first 12000 out of the factory. Hard to find one but they do come up from time to time if you look hard. They also were the best at rusting (I know, I have one). I think weight was around 2000lbs. US laws just kept adding weight and thus slowed them down...until the turbos thurned up, however they did get kinda ugly there for a while to. Can't beat the classic lines of the 240Z's. If all out speed is you thing then either put in V8 or a Nissan GTR- RB26DETT engine. The RB26DETT is a 2.6litre twin turbo injected straight 6. Might be a little hard to find one in the states though. There are a few members here who have converter the L series to the RB. Just type in RB into the search function.

I think 280ZX fever was referring to the title o fthe post. "Question about my rear end" In Aus/NZ we call your "rear end" an "arse" So...a question about your arse eh? I see 280ZX fevers point...maybe better in the funnybone section. HEHEHEHEHEHE So sorry, I don't have any knowledge about the diff area in the 240 so I'll leave that to someone who does. But a good question is at what speed do you hear the whine....70mph?

CZCar, Sounds as though the line you have on those 2 HS30's might be the same as I had a nibble at. Might be wrong but here goes. I placed a wanted ad on T&E website. The guy said that one is RED. Has number plate of REDZED. It failed a warrant sometime this year due to rust. The engine in it came from the rolling shell he also has for sale. Rolling chassis has all the body parts/nuts/bolts/everything labelled up in bags and also on excel format files. He told me he was offered $10K when the red zed had a warrant. He said to me that he was going to email me some pics (as I am in CHCH), but never did. Strange that this guy replied to my ad but didn't follow it up...I wonder why. So.....for a mint "RUSTLESS" shell with full inventory and a rusty parts car with original engine and box from the shell car......he only wants $100's....then jump at it from a 10 story building...that is the bargin of the century. Me...I wanted a car that I could drive while restoring. I find that I lose the faith if the car is off the road for too long. No I have a running Zed that keeps my fever down. Go for it, or at least if you don't want it then I'll grab it for parts. Let me know.

Spark plug looks great. No water in the engine oil. I'll do a compression test tomorrow. Weird. Maybe as you suggest Keith. Don't really want to rip the head off but it might just have to be. Should I retorque when hot or cold?

I always check out the Zed before taking it for a spin. Noticed last weekend that the block has rusty water stain on the left hand side (LHS). Traced it to the back of the head, right behind no6 cylinder. Then noticed that the stain is on the RHS of the block as well but not as much. Check rad for water and......heart lept out and stopped for the 5 seconds......CRAP....it was dry. I put 1.5 litres in it to get it up to level. Started it up and a very small trickle emerged on the LHS. Let it warm up and checked again....nothing....dry...no leak.....hmmmmmm. Took it for a mild drive, stopping and checking LHS every so often. Dry each time and also RHS. It could still have a leak and the heat of the block will be evaporating instantly. Checked levels today and all OK. Did exactly what I did last week in checking after start-up and when warm but no leak. Rad level still OK. Cleaned all the rusty trails off and took for another drive. Zip...no new trails....what the? Rad level OK after the run too. I was thinking of re-torqing the head as the PO has rebuilt this engine some 1500 miles ago. Head as been shaved and it was a lumpy cam in there also. Any ideas? I have a new head gasket and I'm thinking of pulling the head to make sure that it isn't serious....last thing I need is a warped head. Your input/ideas/help is appreciated.

Gidday Ivan, The cars where in Danniverke (sp?). The 280 woth L28 was black and the 280 with L20...don't know. From memory it was a parts car. He wanted $1500 for the L28 and the L20 was free. My thoughts also where that it was a ZX not a Z. Any news on the Aussie move? Hows that beast? James