Phacade

That thingie pops up on my screen too!!

Hey -I- have a truck also. I was talking figurativly, however I know and most certainly realize that all it takes is a jerk who is not paying attention to munch up your Z.

Yeah I would like so as well, can you let me know what you find out and how much they will run. COme to think of it, are these actual guages or are they inlays like the white face gauge plates that are running all over ebay? Any idea how to change these? Thanks!

Check it. I had posted and agreed to sell my 240Z. I really did not want to sell but financial burdons kinda forced me to do so. So I had an interested party that was going to come get it in about a week. So I decided to drive it one last time with my wife. We went to a movie and then out to dinner. On the way home I stopped at a red light. I was #3 in line at the light. In front of me was a Ford Ranger, in front of him a Freight truck. The light turned green. The Freight truck started forward then slowed to turn right so he would not jack-knive the trailer. The idiot in the Ranger in front of me started to go quickly forward, realized the truck was slowing. So what does he do?? He stops, puts it in reverse and guns it. Now I saw all of this way before so I had not even moved. The guy behind me was wanting to go, so he had pulled up to my rear bumper. No place to go. The Ranger literally hit the front bumper at 5pmh or so. Not enough to totally jack up the car but enough to royally wizz me off.:mad: Then to top it off he tried to leave the scene. I jumped out and demanded some insurance papers. "Oh it looks fine to me." He gave me a little info and then took off before the police could arrive (my wife called the police while I was talking to the guy). By the time the police arrived, the guy was long gone and I was still stewing. The Tulsa police decided that since they were called and he decided to split that it was technically hit-and-run. So yes, trucks ARE our enemies. I say we formally declare war.

On my SU carbs I had before I had to sell my 240Z [single tear], I always used 20 weight oil. Tulsa being the oil capitol of the world helps just a little in finding it. I have heard some using Marvel Mystery Oil, however have never tried it. I talked to Scott at Ztherapy about this. He said to use 20 weight oil if you can find it or ATF (Mercon) if you cannot find any 20 weight oil. He said if you add extra don't worry because it will burn off or equalize itself. MSA sells it in little packages but IMO bigger is better and costs about the same. I have an unopened quart of 20 weight oil that I now no longer need if anyone is interested.

I'm going to have to go with 2MANYZS on this one. Way too expensive. A local guy here in the Oklahoma Z club tried it and ended up sprending $8k on the engine. I would stay where you are at. Besides, if it works, why mess with success. From what I understand, in addition to what is already mentioned, you would need different pistons, bolts, a major change in your valvetrain geometry, etc. Then you have to consider boring, microflux to make certain the block will take it. You mentioned a 280Z block, which block is it? F54 turbo block is the block of choice for stroker applications. I would reconsider but its your call.

I didn't think this particular post would fill so fast, I meant to post earlier but did't so am now. Ahem.. My name is Jimmy, 28. I live in TUlsa, Ok with my wife of going on 3 years now. We have 2 cats, Frito and Oreo; and a hamster named Popcorn. Seems like we have the whole junkfood theme going on here. I work for Sprint, my wife works for an insurance company. We were the proud owner of 2 Z's, a '73 240Z and a '75 280Z. Unfortunatly it became necessary to part with one and now I just have the '75. I miss my 240Z. [whimper]. My wife drives a '95 Ford Contour. Nice thing about that is whenver the whole family issue comes up, we already have the 'family car'; and I can keep my ride. Yes, the 280Z does not drive, take off, or handle like a 240Z. Its about 400lbs heavier. But it does look nice. Beyond that, Rebekah (my wife) is a game show freak, and will monopolize the internet connection. I am an avid Hung Gar practitioner. I have way too many swords, spears and other archaic weapons on the walls. Between my wife, my Z (used to be Z's) and Kung Fu, these are the loves of my life.

Resisting the temptation to turn the post topic into a bad pun (knock-knock joke). Like I said, a bad pun. As far as a knock goes, depending on the severity of it I would park it and not drive it for awhile until it is fixed. Like 2MANYZS said; bearings rod or main, pistons issue or valve issues are usually to blame. I have heard of another possibility. If you have an original L24, the rods used a 8mm bolt to secure them. Now in years past it was advised in old 70's hot rod magazines to replace pistons 1 and 6 at 100,000 miles. Not certain why and any guess I would make would be a guess at best. In any case I remember reading this in some old magazines of my Dads from when he had a '72 240Z auto when I was a kid. Alot of times the bolts on these rods were replaced with 9mm bolts as thy were bigger and generally more available. As a result the bolts themselves forced the bearings to wear unevenly and viola! Instant knock. Just a thought.

Personally I like BF Goodrich Radial T/A tires. I chose something with a little meat on them, somewhat a profile yet very driveable. I went for P215/60/14.

Just my two cents worth but if you do go to get a wooden Z steering wheel (whcih there was a bit of debate as to if they were really wood or not, but lets save that discussion for a rainy day). I had this ugly chain steering wheel in my old 240Z when I originally bought it. I looked for a few original Z steering wheels, I found two I liked. The first one I made a mistake of letting the guys at the salvage yard pull for me. While wrestling it out they chipped the wood in several places and warped it in other places. Of course they frowned at me when I refused the part. The second steering wheel I was lucky enough to find already pulled and in decent shape. Replace your horn button when you change the wheel, good cheap horn insurance.

I have heard the same deal with new weatherstripping. The trick that worked for me was after I put it on, I took a little chauk and put around the door so I could see where it was connecting. Based on this I was able to adjust the striker on the body for the door. Been a little bit but I think I had to adjust it all the way out. After 30 years or so, there definatly has been someone who adjusted it in to accomidate the old weather stripping. If you replaced this on the doors, now is a good time to replace the rain gaurd rubber thingie on the door just behind the mirror on top.

Any ideas what would cause my '75 steering wheel to vibrate wildly when I go over bumps? The wheel itself has been changed and is a bit smaller than stock and seems to be a bit loose itself. I have not seen alot of wear on the wheels so I am thinking it could be the wheel itself is loose, maybe the gearbox. I dunno. Any thoughts?

I am glad to hear that worked out for you. That happened with my '81 280ZX. I went to the dealership for an emergency brake cable and someone had just returned one. They needed a brake for a '91 300ZX but the guys wife had ordered an '81. He returned the unused cable and bought the correct one. Now certain what to do with (by Nissan standards) a 'used' emergency brak cable, he sold it to me for $5 bucks! Of course I have ince lost that car, but the story still makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

Yeah I ordered one from Motorsports once, for my 240Z (which has been sold to anothr 240Z.org member). It worked fine, although it did not have a lot lot of motion to it. I had Z therapy carbs (1970 model) attached but was advised my Motorsports to go ahead and get '73 choke cable to match the car. The cables worked fine but did not have a great range of motion.

Just a thought, but I have heard that a gas tank from a 280ZX will fit if you modify the straps or other holding gear to accomidate it. I have a gast tank of an '81 280ZX left over from my conversion of an L28 into my 240Z. Never bothered with the tank but it is in great shape. Lemme know if interested.

As long as the setup you have now works, who cares, right? The alternative is going with a 4 barrell setup or EFI. Just a thought.

Interesting. The kludge hole, as you put it in photo #1, looks like it was installed by someone with a drill and not much else to do. I noticed in photo#2 that someone vut holes in your aircleaner. Fast forward to pic#4, the top questionmark hole is for wiring, mine has the same hole and sealant, the bottom questionmark hole is for the choke. It looks like someone put another hose here and tried to seal it. The chokes coming out of this hol makes alot more sense than fromthe drivers side. If it comes from the drives side it would be too long and might dangle on the manifold (or headers if you had them) and get burnt. Also they would be in the way of the aircleaner, it would be more difficult to remove the aircleaner and tune the carbs. Now coming from the passenger side would keep the choke cables out of the way of all of this. Also the two clips (each of which are secured in a 'V' fashion about two inches about the valve cover) hold the choke cable in perfect symetry to the carbs themselves. My cables look good.

I did not even see this response. I thought I caught all the posts on this site, sorry about that. Actually I do not have a billpoint account, but if you give me a day or two I will find out exactly what shipping would run. What Zip code are you in? Feel free to email me, I tend to get those almost instantly. timberwolf@geotec.net

You bought rims from the guy selling a 280Z like mine in Stillwater? Did you, by any chance, buy some 14' gold rims for $100? Nope. Not me.

My 240Z shop manual says the choke cables are to come out the passenger side. There is no hole at all on the drivers side, but the hole on the passenger side was the EXACT size as the grommit on the choke cables. Some of the earlier 240Z's may have indeed had it on the drivers side but not the '73. There was (and is) a factory clip mounted on the valve cover to hold both the cables as they head for the carbs. If one was to mount them on the drivers side, despite the fact I would need to drill a hole there because there is not one there; I would be left with too much extra choke cable. Mounting the cables on the carbs is really quite similair to mounting brakes on a 10-speed bicycle (oddly enough). I believe two people are needed to adjust them properly, one to actuate it from the cockpit and one to see the motion of the choke pulls it all the way down into the 'choked' position. I have also heard, FYI, from MSA and a few guys in the local Oklahoma Z car club as well as from the Nissan dealership; not to use WD-40 on the cables themselves. Over time WB-40 leaves a residue that can harden and may actually leave the cables stiffer than before. Don't rush this project, I have heard of a few guys rushing this and in the process bent the cable and were unable to unbend it enough to use it.

A couple of thoughts. You have the headers already. Are they square or round port exhaust? This will pretty much determine the head that will mount to them. If for example you went with a P79 head, you would probably need a new set of headers since both heads you mentioned are square port exhaust heads. There is really no bad choice, just a few better choices. Personally I liked my P79 head, much better than my N42 head I have now. After the head work and mated to my F54 block, Z therapy SU carbs and MSA 6-1 headers, I have an unbeatable combination. A couple of things you have to ask yourself. What do you intend to use your Z for. Racing? Autocross? Daily driver -w- attitude? While most of us would like to build out engines to race, few of use actually will. N42 heads tend to make good racers but poor drivers. Again this is my opinion form personally experience, please feel free to flame me if you like. Another idea on the Datsun garage web site was to use a P90 head. It has the square exhaust ports the will match your headers but is very free flowing. Should make a nice compromise between racing and everyday driving. Again, just a thought.

I have not checked in awhile but Z barn used to have good emblems at alot less than MSA or Victoria British prices.

My '73 has retractable lap belts, however the shoulder belt it one length, bolted at the top. No give and I imagine would hurt if ever used in a panic stop. The do click in on the lap belt but can come out rather easily. Most states have a lap belt only law so I just wore the lap belt. I have heard it is possible to retro-fit a complete system out of a '75-78 280Z, both the lap and shoulder belt assembly. The belt looks similiar but cannot unsnap. The should also has its own seperate retraction mechanism, so it takes a little getting use to. You will get the belt out where you want it but the shoulder is too short when you click it. Everytime I click my belt in my '75 I think of that cheesy movie 'Beverly Hills Ninja' where Chris Farley puts on a seatbelt and it starts to strangle him. He screams and pulls out a knife and cuts it. Funny stuff. But the comparison is similair.

I have noticed the same thing with my 240Z. I am even running a '81 L28 and it does the same thing. When I asked around (at length) I found that this was a 240Z thingie. According to some old Z nuts I talked to in Illinois, the 240Z alternator is acutally not a alternator at all but rather a generator. Why the difference is slim, the faster it turns the more power it cranks out. I changed out my voltage regulator and same thing happens. [puzzled look] I suppose that it really is not a big deal since it is usually over 1000 RPM when driving anyway.

I realize it is an expensive option, but I highly recommend Z therapy round top SU carbs. There is just no subsitute. I paid about $900 for everything but it was well worth it. I have never had another problem with them. Scott at Z therapy walked me through just about everything with them, mounted them on a polished intake manifold and included alot of hardware to get it installed. If you have the flat tops, you really have no idea what you are missing!