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Took a day to get the "chicken coop" Z going. then drove it 600km straight to get home. A couple of stops to flush the rad. It performed better the longer it ran. It sat in a Chicken Coop since 1986 and we got it going in 2007.

Well it took two days, about 8 hours of work, and a lot of sweat (it’s actually a heat wave here right now, +23C yesterday) but I did it. Boy is my right arm sore. I got this thing started. Was last running in 1981. Yup

I was in need to getting out of my own head this evening, so I went for some Z therapy - a drive after kiddies’ bath time. Warming the car up in the driveway on the choke at 2krpm, in want was a very dark night I spotted the primaries glowing orange!!! The iPhone camera does over emphasise the colours and makes them look 500*c hotter!!! Super glowing primaries Batman ... Is anyone else up for taking a photo of their primaries at 2k rpm in near darkness and uploading here? Would be interesting to see! FYI - that’s a Z-Story race/sport stainless steel header. And before anyone asks, the AFR was sitting at 12.8ish + timing at 2krpm is set to 22 degrees.

Final chapter for now. Had to clean the carbs more thoroughly than I initially hoped. The jet tubes were not moving on their own, so couldn’t set richness or chokes. It was massively lean, would bog terribly just blipping the throttle, so I took them off last night and cleaned them up. One jet tube had to be pin punched with a ball peen hammer to move it. No damage, after cleaning and lubing, they now work just fine. I drove it quite nicely into its parking spot in my yard under its own power. Clutch felt perfectly fine. Would have loved to take it around the block and get it in second, but with no brakes, no way. The master has a layer of probably the stickiest black goo in the reservoirs I have ever seen. Will have to soak for ever. It has the nice early “Front in the front” master, would like to keep it. The clutch slave soft line was plugged with crud. Couldn’t bleed the clutch initially, so I suspect the rest of the brake system needs more cleaning and work than I’m prepared to do this round. I have “peachy” to get ready by Christmas and there’s a storm-a-comin’ this weekend that will snow in the fleet for the winter. Thanks to Jitensha (Kevin) for helping with the car rodeo today and doing a great job of wheel chock placing when needed.

Most of them are non running cars given to me over the years. I need to drag them out of the bushes and see if there is anything worth resurrecting.

I cannot claim to be its first owner, just the second. It just arrived in my care last week. Apparently the rear brakes failed in 81, then never got fixed. Now if I can change the clutch hydraulics, I might take it for a spin. Who needs brakes anyway

Mark, Bingo! I think you nailed it. Long time since I've been offered the choice of detergent and non-detergent. You mention head bolts covered with the stuff. Mine were almost that bad. I could see them, but had to scrape the sludge off to get the socket to fit. BTW, my 240 is up and running, so I hope I won't be banished from this site for apostasy. The 327 is for my newest project, the restoration of a 1965 Grant King-built oval-track sprint car. Cheers

One possibility is back in the days of 327s, many old timers were still using non-detergent oil. If you didn't change the oil frequently, a massive amount of sludge would build up. I've seen it so thick that the head bolts were completely covered.

Today i got a package from Prague. Jirka who also made these beautiful Sticker replicas here: https://www.jdmjunkies.ch/wordpress/2019-05-06/240z-various-oem-reproduction-stickers/ Posted on Social media about a few sets of Kick panels which he made and were for sale. They're very close to the original, made out of (laser cut) Masonite, with very similar pattern on the back and painted in satin black I wasn't really able to confirm the fitment, but from this first view the look like OEM Fitment and knowing jirka, he does work very accurate. According to his social media post these kick panels are available in the versions, depending on the year of the Car. Thanks for another great product. Nice to see all those high-quality replica parts popping up lately, especially from the not-so-known sources.

You should switch hands once in awhile, eh? 😁

You could get a reasonable improvement by simply changing your camshaft, but - in my opinion - the simplest one-hit modification with the best butt-dyno results on one of these cars is a differential ratio change... What market model is your car, and what differential ratio does it have?

I know Mr Arnett, it's a cancer. But I have it in remission. Thankfully I can get a new pan for that side.

I would seal them all up! Even the accordion boot. If it ever needs to come out you'll be able to break it loose. Even gaps on the passenger side can cause cabin fumes

I plan on finding out . If anything - it will look cool

Nice Z bud.. enjoy the party... the oil was due to loose valve cover screws. its all cleaned up now

I wouldn't build an engine that I didn't have the block machined. Not a lot of cost difference in honing or boring. You'll probably be buying pistons anyway so no additional cost there... I understand wanting to keep the matching block in car but I wouldn't pause one bit about punching it out to a safe size. All that being said, power is made in doing head work over minimal displacement increases

The Ozdat calculator is mistaken on the length of 1969 through 1975-ish standard L20A (6-cyl) rods. They are 133mm centre to centre. L20B (4-cyl) rods are much longer, at 145.9mm centre to centre.

it depends what pistons you want to use. for example, Kameari offer pistons with 3 or 4 different pin heights to suit different rod length and crank throw combinations.

Here is how nice the engine looks inside. Runs without a puff of anything white or blue out the tail pipe. Heater valve leaks. Good thing there are holes in the floor to let it out on the ground.

Wow, your '71 240Z sat for almost 40 years without being started - incredible! Just think about that for a moment, the car was only 10 years old when you parked it. Congrats on bringing the old girl back to life!

Outie

This car is not 'HLS30-00059' in any practical sense. It is simply the identity of 'HLS30-00059' pinned onto a much later bodyshell. The description says that the body was 'replaced' ("...the original bodywork was in a lamentable state and had to be replaced...") but that is not possible on these cars as each bodyshell has its own unique identity - assigned to it by the factory - and it is non-transferable. The description tries to side-step this ("...very few “original” parts remain, and a substantial part of the bodywork is comprised of 1972 and 1973 parts...") but the bodyshell of this car is that of a complete post-1973 car, from which the original identity - in the form of the firewall-engraved chassis prefix and body serial number - has been removed, and replaced with that of another car. To all intents and purposes, 'HLS30-00059' no longer exists.

I have a drawer full of jigs and things I’ve made over the years to make things “better” but I made one today that I’ve been wanting to build for some time. When installing new stock T/C bushings, you have to compress the rubber quite a bit to get the end of the rod threads to stick out far enough to allow you start the nut. I had previously modified a special welding vice grip, but it was a struggle at best. It is now in the metal recycle bin. Here is what I built. Some 5/8 threaded rod, few nuts, some 1/4 plate steel, piece of 5/8 ID pipe (garage door spring tubing). M6 threaded rod to keep the two halves aligned. Added that after using it to do the first one. This is the vice grip tool I modified before. The jaws are always in a V shape, never parallel.

See, Im not a hoarder!!

OHH.. yes you can... if your garage gets to small... and you store carparts in your home.. I TELL EVERYBODY IT'S ART IN MY LIVING..