73 240z out of the garage after 20 years

[Iceboat711]

Hello everyone. Every time I get another car I seem to join another forum. I've already been lurking here for a few weeks learning what I can. Here's my story.

After sitting in my mother in laws garage for the last 20 years I decided it was time to get the old girl on the street . It's a 73 Z vin# hls30 167511.

The car was left there by my brother in law who moved to Japan in '86 and has since passed away. He had a bad habit of drinking then driving so the car was hit more than once and now has a primered right front fender, the hood is seriously dented in the front and both bumpers had been removed and lost.

The motor turned free so I put in a battery, checked the oil and put the fuel line into a gas can, turned it over until I had gas at the carbs and oil pressure and gave it a spin. It fired up after a few tries and ran pretty good above idle. The motor sounded really good for sitting all those years. At idle it's pouring gas out of the vent tube in the venturi.

Now that I know it runs and all the major parts are there I plan on getting it on the road. Not a major restoration but a good daily driver. I've got the flathead carbs off now and will rebuild them. The brakes are next and then it's body time.

I want to thank everyone here for being so helpful. I wouldn't even know where to start if I hadn't done some research on this forum.

[mgmoreau]

Hi Lou,

Before you rebuild your flattop carbs do a search in the carb forum on the 1973 flatops. They were prone to vapor lock issues and other problems. Many folks on this forum that have a 73 Z have replaced the flattops with the round top 3 screw 72 carbs. You will notice a major improvement in how the car runs if you make this carb swap.

Good luck with the refresh.

Marc

[DeMoore]

Yeah, and pictures of the progress would be great. Good luck

[Bonzi Lon]

Great find. Our cars were built 989 apart. What month does the door tag have on it? Get the round tops, makes a huge difference, I know. The 73 has some one year only parts, bumpers the most obvious.

Bonzi Lon

[jtmader]

I can attest to the carb conversion. I just had my '73 flat top's converted to the round top SU's and the difference is like night and day. This is a Z with only 6,000 original miles and the flat tops were just cleaned and adjusted.....still ran like crap. Z Therapy sells conversion kits so you can use most of the same parts so it still looks stock. Good luck.

[Diseazd]

Jeff... Good to hear you made the change to real carbs......did you fix your oil gauge problem? Guy

[Iceboat711]

Bonzi,

The car was built 7/73. I just took the carbs apart and have them in the ultrasonic cleaner as we speak. If it doesn't run well after reassembly, maybe I'll switch to the round tops.

[Bonzi Lon]

Thanks for looking. I'm trying to find the lowest and highest VIN numbers for July 73, to average amount of cars daily, wanting, wishing and hoping mine was built on my 18th birthday. It was purchased as a 21st b-day present to myself and turned into my college car. Yes, I can fit myself and 3 chicks in it just fine, the smallest one folded up in the hatch area.

I could never get a 3rd gear scratch at 60 with flat tops, but I can now. My predicition is, you're going to love round tops.

Bonzi Lon