Darkstar

Ok, big thanks for the description and picture! My only concern is to be able to drive the car to the mechanic (furtunately his shop is just 10 minutes away), so I'm just going to do some minor work to get it going right. I'll just add those things you pointed out to a "to do" list: 1) inspect the ignition; 2) inspect the fuel lines, fuel pump, fuel filter; 3) inspect and clean the carbs. My biggest problem is the body, but that's another topic. I'll be working on it slowly, fortunately I have some free time to spend. T.

Thanks for the replies. My car is a hundred per cent standard euro version, which runs the Hitachi carbs. I don't know if they are flat top or round top, can't tell them apart :stupid: Anyway, it has a P30 block, E88 head, and has E41 stamped somewhere on the intake manifold. Dunno what kind of fuel pump does it have, but I suppose it's the original one. I got some original Dat parts with the car, so I don't think the last owner played in adapting parts from various other cars. Here's a picture for reference: The air filter cover isn't as bright as it looks in the picture, I accidentally used the camera flash... Anyway, I tried again today, and the same problem occured. After a while it ran well, just as yesterday. It seems that I'll have to take it to a mechanic earlier than I thought... Thanks again for the replies! Best regards, Tony.

Hey guys, I was working on my Zed's interior the other day - I found out that it'll need a new floorpan. Anyway, After I cleaned up everything I decided to give it a ride, despite the fact it isn't in the healthiest state. As usual, I turned the key, gave it some choke, and tried to start. The car fired up, but it was running on 4 cylinders or something. After a while it ran normally, it was just as usual when I drove it. I didn't drive it fast, I thought it didn't start as usual because it was raining earlier in the morning, and it was quite colder than the day before. The next day was sunday, and I decided to further work on it. Before that, I wanted to check how was the motor doing. Except for the fart-like noises coming from the exhaust manifold (could be a blown manifold gasket, I'll replace it with a header anyway) it looked fine, at least I thought so. I turned the key, but it simply didn't want to start. I tried to do everything, inspected the plugs and wires, checked if it leaked or made any strange noise when I cranked it. After several tries I left it as is. Today it was exactly the same - only that it started for like half a second, then dropped the revs and stalled. I inspected the plugs again, took the air filter out to see if it doesn't have any leaves or anything inside, and tried again. After two or three tries it started, and when I gave it just a little gas it stalled. I tried again (both times I made it WITHOUT choke), and then it ran on like 3 cylinders. I checked which cylinders weren't operating, and it seemed that all three ones from the front of the engine weren't firing. After a while and several tries, I gave it some choke. It began to run quite smoothly, and I thought it ran on every cylinder. Checked everything againg, gave it some gas - everything worked correctly. I then decided to go for a ride to check if it goes ok. It did! Again, I didn't turn it over 3000RPM, even though it ran just as usual, with no strange sounds or lots of smoke coming from the exhaust. I don't know what should I check, I am by no means a mechanic, just a Zed enthusiast. I've had my car for three weeks already, and I will eventually rebuild it. Even so, I'm worried about it, and the last thing I want to see is my car being towed away to a mechanic. What could be the problem? I think it may be the distributor, but since it ran nicely on all six cylinders after a while, I don't know if it's the spark that causes the problem. It's a '73 original euro car, and it has about 150k kms on the clock (94k miles). Any suggestions? Best regards, Tony.

I'm taking apart the interior on my HLS3052689. I still have some things to do before it goes to a sandblaster. Just found several rusted places, it seems that I will have to cut out the original floor... And yeah, rust must die.

I bought my '73 two weeks ago, and I did about 50 kilometers from then. It's an original Swiss car, chassis code HLS30-52689 with the factory L24 engine. The odo states 132k kms (about 82k miles). It used to be olive green (still has the original paint inside), but it was repainted in the 80' in black. The last owner added 245mm wide tyres in the rear and 225 up front - they really slow the car down! It runs on skinny Dunlops - I've got to change them quickly, as driving in the rain isn't safe. It has this stupid spraypainted thingy on the hood, just around the bulge, and I need to remove it fast, it looks so ugly... It has some rust, but since it was driven only in Switzerland (the Swiss don't use salt), it doesn't have holes in the floor panels (but I will take the seats out, so we'll see how it really looks like). It still has some of the original parts, like the wooden spare wheel cover (as far as I know, standard in European cars), jack with additional tools (found it in the box behind the driver's seat) and the luggage-holding belts in the boot. As for now, she patiently sits in garage waiting to be restored. I think I will paint it dark green or orange. I will leave the stock engine, but I'm already in search of a decent triple 40mm Weber setup. I also plan to add a fast road cam, make a full twin tip exhaust and shave the head slightly. But first, I will get her to the best possible condition. I hope I can make it in a year or two...

They look like the G Games rims by Rays Eng., and they don't disturb the Zed's styling. Anyway, I like the classic Panasport/Watanabe look, or maybe something like the Longchamp XR4's (they're pricey though).

Well, what do you need so much space for? If two people fit with enough place to move a bit, then it's enough... Seriously now - I don't think that more than 10 people would fit... But then again, there's more space behind the seats than in a VW Beetle. And btw, do you count with or without seats?

Isn't than and RB26 by chance? Damn, this is one of the coolest Skylines I've ever seen... Congrats!

Hello, I'm searching for any photos of the Datsuns that took part in the EASR from 2003 on. I saw some photos of the Rob Collinge's 240Z and 260Z that both won (2003 and 2005), but I couldn't find any photos of other competitors. Any suggestions would be appreciated. And btw: I used the Google image search and found nothing... Regards, Tony.

As far as I remember, two or three robots from "Transformers" were based on 280Z's. I used to watch it as a kid - the police Z was the coolest one. ;-)

Thanks for your replies. The bumper - mounted units don't looks so well, so I'll just have to convert the car to US spec indicators. Again, thanks!

Hello, I'm importing a EUDM '73 240Z fom Switzerland. I've spotted on the photos that the indicators are not mounted below the front bumper like on this G-nosed car... ...but are set in a separate, let's say, box, sticking just in front of the grille, just like here: My question is: did European cars have those as standard from the beggining of production? As far as I know, the 260Z had those indicators as standard from the beggining of production. I didn't spot them on any American or Japanese 240Z, were they mounted only for the European market then? Tony.

Looks like I'm going to need to do lots more research. There are some exhaust system specialists over here, so designing and making a well-working system shouldn't be that much of a problem. As I thought before, one of the most improtant issues when revving high are going to be vibrations, so I'll have to balance the whole bottom end (crank pulley/crank/rods/pistons/flywheel) and buy some lighter parts for the head. Is the HKS head gasket still in production? There's a possibility to make a custom one in Poland. I suppose that the CR shouldn't be much higher than 10:1, as the fuel quality isn't really good. Before doing anything, I'll try to get my hands on the book you mentioned. Is it available new or will I have to search through the US eBay? Regards, Tony. P.S. - Steve, thanks for the PM!

Fast road driving with a tad of trackday fun and occasional local rally usage. Definetely not drag racing ;-) Ok, but what about the late 240Z E88? As far as I know, they have smaller combustion chambers, which results in higher CR. It should not be a problem to get higher CR, as I'm planning to mill the head and block just a bit to make them flat. The Big Sam's current engine specs sound impressive - it seems that this is what I should be aiming for! :-) Back to the realistic world - I came up with the L28 block/L24 crank idea because I'd like to use at least some factory parts. Of course, saving money in an area like this is pointless, I've seen too many cars broken because of that. In this case, what cam should I be looking for? Something 290-ish or 300-ish with not much over the stock lift? Except for the camshaft itself, what should I buy for the head - harder springs, maybe valves? I'll have to limit it to the 7500RPM then. It's not going to be a full race car, so it shouldn't be a big disadvantage... ;-) Thanks for mentioning, I'm going to ask about the specifics in the Suspension and Chassis section. The brakes alone shouldn't be a problem - I've seen some ready kits available for the 240Z. Thanks for the info guys! To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting anybody to write this much so quickly. It's a shame that there aren't many forums like these... Regards, Tony.

Hello, I'm a Z newbie from Europe, and I've been doing a lot of research recently. I found this site some time ago, and searched through the archives - talk about lots of info in one place. This forum is great! Back to the topic: my dad (we're both classic sportscar nuts) found a nice euro '73 240Z in Switzerland for an acceptable price. The body seems to be straight with no major rust spots. The car still has the original L24 engine, and quite probably it's never been rebuilt before. The plan is to rebuild it to the best possible condition and modify it so that it will be possible to drive it daily and race on weekends. There should be no problems finding parts for the drivetrain, braking and suspension. My main concern is the engine, and I just wanted to share my thoughts with you guys. As far as I know, most of the higly modified NA Z's run stroked L series motors, like those that have LD28 Maxima cranks. However, I'd like my engine to rev quite high (over 7500RPM would be perfect), and make most power from 4000RPM upwards. This means that a stroked motor is not an option, as more stroke creates more force on the cylinder walls, and this means the lack of possibility to rev it to the levels I'd like it to. There's also another possibility - increasing the cylinder bore will result in more power in high RPM range, just where I would like those ponies to be. Increasing the bore in a stock L24 block can be a bit risky, as it may involve installing new sleeves, thus reducing the block stiffness. How about the N42 or F54 blocks from the L28? The bore is slightly bigger than in the L24, and the later F54 block should be as strong - if not stronger - than the factory one. If combined with the factory 240Z crank and rods, some nice high-compression pistons and the factory E88 head (is it possible to get an early E31?) it should have about 2,6 liters of displacement, which should make a slight difference from the stock lump. I was also thinking of getting a nice camshaft (something like 270deg. duration for both intake and exhaust), delicate head work, Weber or Mikuni carburetion, and a ZX Borg Warner T5 'box. Didn't Spike Anderson make such motors? As far as I recall, the british Big Sam had that combo, but soon after the installation the block split in half when revved to 8300RPM... So these are my personal thoughts. I'd be glad if somebody gave me a piece of advice, as I'm in some kind of confusion what to do with it. I'm not going to leave it stock, that's for sure! Regards, Tony.