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Hello I am a new 240z owner. I won an auction on BaT back on 2/9 and the car arrived here just a couple of weeks ago. The car was the orange 72...pretty much all original and it was as advertised by the former owner. Attached is a photo as it came off the trailer. In the first couple of shake down drives most things seem in order. I have already acquired a set of stock hub caps and I am looking for a set of stock wheels...a 2/72 date would be really nice. I am not totally new to Z’s but it has been a long time. I owned an orange 72 240 back in 72 and a 260 from 74-80. I had been looking for the right car for a few years now. Buying a car without looking at it was a bit scary but the community comments on BaT gave me some confidence. I look forward to enjoying my Z and meeting any owners from Northern VA. I also look forward of being a member of this forum. Thanks Jim

The gaskets on mine were practically glued on as well, just make sure they are smooth and flat before installation. I used some sticky backed 400 grit paper on a granite flat and worked both sides until smooth, as I remember one had a slight warp that was causing a small vacuum leak.

And so my friends, we shut the book on this project. I drove the car about 60 miles today and settled on around 14.9-15.1's tooth for cruising and man, I'm floored at this engine. My other car is electric and I've never driven a gas powered car that runs as smoothly at speed as this does now. Adjusting the TPS was the key but I was also running it too lean earlier today, as I felt I needed to rely on the WOT pin to get any sort of power out of it. Richening the cruise out from 15.5 to 14.9ish really was the key to smell, responsiveness, smoothness and power (even before the WOT pin connects). For reference, that was richening by 1 gear tooth this also changed WOT numbers from 13.3 to 12.2. I can't thank you all enough - I hope this thread helps others in the future if they decide to tune with one of these gauges. Some other observations due to leanness I believe: - the car comes to operating temperature faster than before (but does not overheat) - the car is harder to start now if the TPS is disconnected

Amazon to the rescue! Ordered a bendable magnet and was able to find the key and fish it out. It indeed dropped into the pan.

What resistance number did you get from Pin 13? That's the coolant(water) temperature sensor. High resistance makes the ECU think you're in the Arctic. Adds lots of extra fuel. Pretty common to have a problem there. You could disable the fuel pump and see if it dries out enough to start with fluid. It will give you a clue about timing.

Factory roll bar mount points IIRC. More of the same on the sides below the quarter windows. https://zclub.net/community/index.php?threads/240z-factory-body-brace.23013/

Have you tried wrapping everything in a garbage bag so the rag can't dry out so easily?

Seems like most of those responding missed the fact that the tank hasn't had gas in it for more than 20 years.

You can reuse those spacers just fine. As mentioned above, maybe hit them on a sanding surface a little to see if they're badly warped, but other than that, run 'em. If you think they're bad enough to risk not sealing, you could put a little gasket sealer on them as insurance. For those, I'd use a non-silicone type like Permatex Moto-seal. It's MEK based and (in theory) is resistant to gasoline. So I got a question for the collective... Has anyone come up with a good "solvent" to loosen the old petrified stock original gaskets? They're hard as rocks, stuck like the dickens, and probably harder than the aluminum they're stuck to. I've got the same job ahead of me (getting spacers off intake manifolds) and I've tried the typical methods with little success. I'm looking for a silver bullet without having to completely powderize what is probably asbestos laced old gasket material. All these years of experience and I'm asking how to get old gaskets off... Kinda embarrassing.

Excellent!! Glad to hear you're getting good numbers. And remember that you're getting those numbers from a completely open loop analog voodoo box that was designed 50 years ago by some genius from Germany. Seal up all the vacuum leaks, clean the electrical connections, get the fuel pressure where it belongs, tune it (as best you can with limited options) and put it on an otherwise healthy engine. Guess what... It can work! So what's the bottom line? What general numbers are you getting for idle, cruise, and WOT? And also... in the end, you moved the AFM gear about 15 teeth from where it started? That's a lot. Do you think the AFM was messed with at some point in the past thereby changing the calibration? Or do you think that other things have just shifted so much that 15 teeth was required to bring it back to where it belonged? I should have let you borrow my AFM adjustment tool:

I've heard that many times in my life. Nowadays though everyone wants to know if I'm related to Stormy Daniels. I tell them she's my ex.

Post up some more photos please. Great looking car. Stimulus checks on the way and already itching.

Wow, it's awesome to see how many good looking Z's are on BAT. Also feel free to promote our club to the potential winner in the comments section of BAT. Would love to see these guys come to our site to help preserve and maintain their cars. I've already seen a few, so this is exciting!

I have welded three tanks in the past and never had any explosions etc. My advice. You plan to POR it afterwards and that is what I did on all three tanks with a similar treatment. The tanks needs to be cleaned before you coat it, if you do that first you will, 1. Clean and prep the inside of the tank, 2. Remove all fuel residue so you can cut it open without any danger to yourself. Just make sure the cleaning solution is water based. My second piece of advies is to cut a section out of the top of the tank directly above the damaged area. Make it big enough so you can get good access to the areas needing work. A weld repair on the top side will not be visable later and less likely to leak if you have a pin hole.

Never really considered refinishing them, but they are reusable. You might give them a good coat of beeswax, on the parts that are exposed, then buff to a nice gloss.

Welcome Jim! We now have another "Jim"! I think that makes about 5 !!!!!!!! @zKars Jim Karst @S30Driver Jim Smirlies @jfa.series1 Jim Arnett @Zup (that's me) Jim Daniels and now @VaCat33 (that's you Jim) You'll be best friends with Jim Arnett for sure. He likes Safari Gold!

Alright then. I took the head off today. The head gasket didn't stick to the block or the head, so I think it is reusable. After I got the head off, I went to work on modifying the gasket. I used a washer with a 1/4" hole to guide the drill bit. With the gasket modified, I turned my efforts on eye-browing the block. Hopefully, I have not royally screwed up here. I removed the timing chain, rotated the crank to get the pistons below deck, and then covered the block with a plastic bag, and cut out the top of it so I could access the tops of the bores. piston 1 - pic taken from passenger side - front of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 2 - pic taken from passenger side - front of piston is toward the top of the pic:: piston 3 - pic taken from passenger side - front of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 4 - pic taken from passenger side - front of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 5 - pic taken from passenger side - front of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 6 - pic taken from passenger side - front of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 1 - pic taken from driver side - back of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 2 - pic taken from driver side - back of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 3 - pic taken from driver side - back of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 4 - pic taken from driver side - back of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 5 - pic taken from driver side - back of piston is toward the top of the pic: piston 6 - pic taken from driver side - back of piston is toward the top of the pic: A few more pics: I did this with a die grinder and oval cutter. Tape and bag is still in place. I think I will switch over to a tapered roll and try to look for inconsistencies to address... as well as smooth the eye brows to final finish. I am well above the top ring land currently, and inside the fire ring on the head gasket as well. I was being cautious (I hope!). I will check clearances and continue - before I bolt the head on.

The above-bumper front turn-signals were a result of changing European safety laws for minimum-height front visibility ! Johan apparently later bought a silver 260Z two seater which now resides in Spain - I saw the previous paperwork with his name on and drove it on the Barcelona F1 circuit.

Well, you're about 2 hours away from me. Would you like a second opinion on your car? I have been taught by some very good people like @240260280 about how to balance/adjust the carburetors. I might even be able to convince some other Z friends to come over, too.

Good advice on wearing eye protection.... I spent two weeks in NAS Jacksonville Hospital after a wire came off of a wheel they were grinding the deck of the Destroyer SS Waldron. Luckily no permanent damage to my eye, but it went in a half inch. BTW grannyknot.....really enjoy watching your project!!! Guy

Oh there's no fear of that, I love the look of the GTV's, absolutely beautiful car and I almost bought one before my first 240z but I was allowed to take the car for a test drive and they really don't handle very well, the suspension and steering design are from the 50's. The Z is much more fun car to drive and was more affordable, not so much any more. I had my stint with British cars too, they certainly have their charm but they also have a lot of drawbacks. I almost bought a 510 when I was 16 but my folks wouldn't let me so I'm looking forward to getting this one on the road.