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I know about that one, no fun at all, now I install a secondary release on every Z that comes through the shop. It hangs next to the exhaust pipe.

In October 2019, drove it from our home just outside San Francisco to the Neillo Concours d'Elegance in Sacramento. Entered into the 1953 to 1979 Sports Cars Under $5,000 class. Another 2nd place to a Volvo 1800 that has survived the disastrous Paradise, California fire. The owner had lost his home and other cars, but had photos of his Volvo on a trailer driving through orange smoke and flames! This was a great lesson is how you present your car! All in all, great fun.

1/4" brass tubing. 5 or 6 inches long. Only flared on one end to help get the 3/16 nylon rope I use into the tube if its a bit frayed. I stuff the non flared end into the groove and drag it along feeding the rope into the tube to deposit it in the groove. Super slick. Gone in 60 seconds!

I like that description. One of the audible trademarks of a Z is the noise the doors make (clang!) when they're slammed shut. Some others that come to mind: Engine cooling fan that imitates a hovercraft Wheezy 'seatbelt not fastened' buzzer Sound made by hood release cable when it finally snaps

In 2021, took it to some local shows. The owner of the black Mercedes McLaren next to me was looking at my window sticker price ($4200 in 1973) and mentioned that his first service on his car was $8,000! Yikes! Found another '73 240Z at the show and he is now a member of ZONC (Z Owners of Northern California, of which I'm now the Membership Representative) An attempt at artsy fartsy car photo... Title: Sunset Over a Datsun

I don't have anything to contribute directly to the question but it does make think about the current attitudes towards repowering or increasing power in these cars. I think many people approach these cars and think they want 4, 5 or 600 horsepower. What they fail to keep in mind is this is an old light beer can of a car. It's not a modern 4 or 5000# car. It will move along nicely with 250hp and really move with 350hp. There's no real need for more than that you'll just break stuff or damage the chassis. Providing you can get it to hook up...

After returning from ZCON, took the Z to the 2019 JCCS in Long Beach, CA. Huge event with over 500 Japanese autos.

You could but ... So you would have to remove not only the modern engine but the transmission as well and you may have to find a differential with a ratio that will work with the old transmission. Installing a clutch pedal and master cylinder or an automatic shifter and its linkage. You may have a bugger of a time trying to defeat programs for the ignition, most of the modern dash instruments would be dark and you would need to wire up some old school gauges for the tach, speedo, temp, fuel level and such. In fact, forget about using the modern start ignition altogether and install and old one with a key or just a push button. 240z rack&pinion steering is not going to be fun to use, if you stay with the modern hydraulic steering pump then you need to hobble together a mount to support it on the L engine. Electric steering would be the easiest route to go. You may have to scrap the entire ABS system. Depending on which L series engine you use, you may have to work a choke cable through the firewall. There's LOTS of other problems you would have to sort out along the way. There are lots projects similar to this that get started and never finished, or if finished have so many compromises that the end result is iffy. It's much much easier to put a modern engine in an old car. But yes, it could be done.

I think it is for putting the string into the fold of the windshield weather strip, feed the string through the tube, place the tube in the fold, hold the end of the string and pull the capillary tube through so the string stays in the fold. @zKars has some photos of one he made.

I went with everyone's recommendation and had the glass installed with the original rubber seals. I'm just going to leave the chrome inserts out. If any needs them, reach out. I know I have the entire rear glass section and a bunch of random corner pieces. Other than that, interior is basically done with the exception of a one or two trim pieces and the headliner. Next things to tackle is the motor refresh....

I thought I'd update this thread with info about the Z of the last couple of years. Some of this info has been mentioned in other threads, but just to complete the saga to date about this car, this post is about our adventures at ZCON 2019 in Branson. Took it to ZCON 2019 in Branson immediately after Motorman "finished" the restoration. (is a restoration ever really finished?...) Bought a used Nissan Armada, rented a 24' enclosed trailer, and set off for Branson from San Diego after persuading my brother to help drive, as I'd never towed anything larger than a jet ski before this. Yoshihiko Matsuo (RIP) inspecting Motorman's work. Judges judging. Received 2nd place in Stock, after Zup's beautiful '73 Z. Very happy for Zup, as he had unselfishly helped on this thread. The Branson ZCON trophies are really nice!

Gundee and others, Here is a pic of the valve intake and exhaust seal change process done in 2021. Plug keeps coming out black and this is always after traffic jams at idle.

The Z uses 150 Hp to propel a 2500-lb vehicle. If you were to put that same engine in a contemporary mid-size SUV, you'd now be asking the same powerplant to propel a 5000-lb vehicle. The acceleration times would be cut in half. Also, you'd be dealing with a less flexible engine b/c of the absence of things like computer-controlled electronic fuel injection and cam timing. There's also the not-inconsiderable difference between having only 4 transmission ratios vs more contemporary units with 8 or more ratios and computer-controlled shifting. Doubling the vehicle weight certainly wouldn't be kind to the Z's clutch and gearbox (or engine). However, I have no doubt that they'd function ok... for a while. The Z's powertrain was a conservative design built with excellent materials. I think you'd be accelerating the physical wear on critical components by maybe 25% - 50% -- but not by 100%. Give it a try and let us know how things work out 😄

Thanks zKars Those look perfect

The stock ignition grounds at the TIU on the blue wire. If you are using a MS to fire the ignition, that means you two incompatible ignition systems connected to your car. Is the MS connected to the negative terminal of the coil? Post a copy of the wiring diagram for the ignition you are using. Disconnect the TIU. Wrap the ring lugs in the factory harness individually with electrical tape. Reconnect the blue wire at coil and reconnect the distributor. See if you still have your problem.

Thanks. It's the detergents that would be the issue, I suppose. Sludge. Browsing through all of the various oil container labels, and ad copy, and internet information, it's surprising that none of the companies can paint a clear picture of what someone with an old, pre-catalytic converter car can use to keep their old car engine in safe condition. Seems like there's an opportunity here. Not to mention all of the old cars with catalytic converters, What are they supposed to do? Valvoline seems to get closest with their VR-1 but even they can't simply address the basics of everyday use. Still called a racing oil, with just an insinuation that it's appropriate for daily usage. Pennzoil doesn't even have a link to their racing oil on the Pennzoil web site. http://www.valvoline.com/pdf/vr1_racing.pdf Somebody needs to just produce an "old car oil" and supply information about how they address the cam wear issue. With zero hype. That would be awesome.

A picture tells a thousand words......with 5 hungry Z's to feed, I keep a couple extra quarts of VR1. You never know when they are going to ban ZDDP altogether!