Excuse my manners ;)

[Mikez73]

I've been reading a lot and forgot to introduce myself. It's a great site to learn. Anyway I'm Mike. 54 years old. Home is Houston, TX.

I've owned two s130's and two z31's. I sold my Shiro z31 awhile back and wanted to try an s30. I was really looking for a 280z because I'm a lot more familiar w/ EFI than carbs but...I found a 240. I was a little uncomfortable buying a car that was already modified but something about the stance and clean lines just grabbed my attention. Technically it's for sale due to financial reasons but I'm not trying that hard to sell it

I'm hoping if I stall long enough things will pick up and I'll be able to keep it.

If not then maybe I'll at least be able to trade down to a 280z that needs a little work.

Anyway I'll tell you a little about the car.

The guy I bought it from bought it back in the mid 90's. I have to say he took great care of it. Always garaged and washed and waxed. I think he might have babied it a bit. He didn't actually know a lot about the car. The previous owner was responsible for all the modifications.

It has an L24 block I believe. I know it has an E88 head. Some kind of aftermarket cam. It's got a bit of a lope. Headers, triple Weber DCOE40 carbs. Looks to be a 2.5" exhaust but I haven't really measured.

It has some kind of flares that have been glassed in. A spoiler and airdam that were glassed in. Beautiful 901 silver paint. I've found only minor surface rust under the battery tray and in an odd place...right under the passenger side drip thing. I've checked the other usual rust locations but haven't found any rust.

The seats look great. Very comfortable too which surprised me. The interior is really pretty nice overall. Has just the am/fm, no a/c and manual steering.

Tach doesn't work nor does the clock. The clock I don't care about but I need that tach.

The starter circuit on the carbs is not connected so it's very cold natured.

Takes a long time to start and a long time to warm up. I'm hoping the hotter spark will help with that. I also need to find a way to connect the starter circuit on the Webers. Once it's warm it runs great. Revs and pulls very smooth. No stumbles at all.

It has very wide BBS 2 piece 15" wheels. 225/50 on front and 245/50 in the rear. As fat as the tires are they still spin very easy.

Not that I do that a lot

Those 245/50/15 tires are gonna be expensive and hard to find.

I've only driven the car 6 or 7 times.

Still has the stock distributor and alternator/regulator. I bought a new '79/'80 280zx distributor and everything else to convert to electronic ignition.

I'm not sure if I want to use the IC that came on the dizzy or convert to an HEI. I bought one so I probably will go ahead and use it. Got new wires, plugs, cap, etc too waiting to go on.

So far all I've done is replaced the shifter bushings and wirebrushed/sanded off the rust and treated the metal.

I've read a lot of the posts and tech writeups here and at hybridz but I'm sure I'll have some questions. About converting to a 280zx dizzy and the HEI thing for one. And there are a couple of wires that aren't connected that I'm curious about. And the wipers are s-l-o-w. Wouldn't want to drive it in rain.

Whew...that's enough for now. I'll post a pic and a link to a lot more pics if you're interested. It's different but I hope you like it.

http://67.18.219.83/image_hosting/web_pages/Mike88se/images/240/240Z.htm

[cbudvet]

Welcome to the site! Thats a nice looking z. This is a great site for information if you plan on modifying it further. Good luck with everything. Love the pictures.

carl

[five&dime]

wow!! very cool body work. What headlights are those? I have never seen rectangular headlights on a Z before. They actually look great with the way you modded the buckets to be more squared.

And welcome

[sblake01]

wow!! very cool body work. What headlights are those? I have never seen rectangular headlights on a Z before. They actually look great with the way you modded the buckets to be more squared.

And welcome

He said the previous owner did that. From what I recall, 'back in the day' there was a kit that consisted of those buckets and the necessary hardware.

[Mikez73]

True, I did not do that. I wouldn't have done it but the look doesn't bother me enough to change. The buckets are fiberglass and the lights are quality and include relays so I'm okay with them. The head lights are really the only thing I'd have done different if I had modified the car. I'd love to drop in an L28et and an intercooler but I can't afford that right now. Thanks for the nice words and the welcome.

[d240zx2]

Boss lookin' Z, Mike.

Were you at the Z meeting last night?

[oldhemi]

Hey Mike, I hope you can avoid selling the car. I followed it from ebay to Houston Craigslist!

Great pics, I wish my car had as little rust as yours!

I met up with several Zhedz a few weeks ago at the Galleria. Great cars and even better people!

If you get the time, you can drive that Z up to my house, so that you can see a very old Weber install. Send me a message. I can see that your mechanical fuel pump is blocked off and that you need some "choke" cables. I used the original 2 that were on my car and that puppy never failed to start right up in cold Connecticut! Your 73 had roughly the same carbs as my '74, so there should have been 2 cables, IIRC.

Since you have an electric pump only, you might want to turn the key on and let the pump fill the bowls before you start it.

Do you have the vacumm advance hooked up?

Here is a link to a pic of the carbs on La cagada cafe for comparison:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14971874@N03/4346496433/sizes/o/in/set-72157623403713850/

Edited February 17, 2010 by oldhemi

[Mikez73]

Boss lookin' Z, Mike.

Were you at the Z meeting last night?

Thanks. No, I've never been to a Z club meeting. I had a friend named Spot who was a member. Haven't seen her in a long time though.

Hey Mike, I hope you can avoid selling the car. I followed it from ebay to Houston Craigslist!

Great pics, I wish my car had as little rust as yours!

I met up withe several Zhedz a few weeks ago at the Galleria. Great cars and even better people!

If you get the time, you can drive that Z up to my house, so that you can see a very old Weber install. Send me a message. I can see that your mechanical fuel pump is blocked off and that you need some "choke" cables. I used the 2 that were on my car and that puppy never failed to start right up in cold Connecticut!

Since you have an electric pump only, you might want to turn the key on and let the pump fill the bowls before you start it. Here is a link to a pic of the carbs on La cagada cafe:

Hey oldhemi. I haven't really gotten attached to it yet but I kind of hope I can keep it too. As far as I know the car was never on ebay but it was on CL in Washington. The previous owner lives in Seattle. He didn't even want to sell it to me. He had a little list of the type of people he would and wouldn't sell it to and he wanted a local buyer. I had already written it off and moved on to other cars when a a friend in that area interceded and convinced him I'd be a good owner

I have it on CL right now but I haven't let anyone come over to look at it. I'm sure that's annoying the hell out of people that are interested but I'm stalling as long as I can.

I definitely need to find a way to set up a cable for the starter circuits. I'll have a look at that link. I appreciate the invitation and I might take you up on it sometime.

[DeMoore]

Trade down? TRADE DOWN?!?! Sir, I take offense.

Edited February 17, 2010 by DeMoore

[Mikez73]

Trade down? TRADE DOWN?!?! Sir, I take offense.

Haha...not what I meant. Trade down to a 280z that isn't in quite as good a shape as the 240z. In other words trade the 240z for a "project" 280z plus cash.

That would help my cash flow situation and leave me with an s30 to play with.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Welcome aboard. I can add you to my houston mailing list if you like. Great bunch of folks.