beandip

It sounds like condensation in the exhaust plumbing being pushed out and collecting soot and driping down. Does this still happen after the car has been driven for a half an hour ? It really takes quite a while for the engine to completly warm up . Just because the temp gague shows normal temp, the oil and the block and head are not all up to temp. During this warm up time moisture is turned to steam and condences back to a liquid when it is cooled again , if the pipeing is cool it acts like a condenser and turns the moisture back to a liquid. The cooler air does the same thing . If the humidity is high the more it is noticed. you may just be aware of now since you just got it back up and running. You said that you were not leaking or missing any coolent .:classic:

This question should be posted in the electrical or help me sections. :classic:

What are you grousing about I have 12 yrs on tanny. I have trouble getting up after lying on the concrete painting POR on the underside of the 240 . I now have a POR tattoo like Mike Tyson has on his cheek. and a sore everything . Enjoy the ride , my car is in pieces . As for the seats look to the foam and the straps in the seat bottom as mike said as well as spacers you can use pipe fittings for spacers if needed . :classic:

I am a 240 guy but from what my frends 280s look like , your links look the same at least from the pictures. I dident think that leaving the ignition on with a electronic ignition would hurt it . I know that if there were points and they were in contact that they would burn or weld them selves together. What type of dist are you running ?

This is a tuff one. When the engine drops the RPM is it running roughly and then it smooths out to a 700 RPM Idle. is that right? What happens if you depress the throttle quickly and run the RPMs up ? What I am thinking is that it may be loading up like maby a float level is set too high. Just a thought.

check the vacume advance to see if it works or leaks vacume. If you dont know how , just disconnect the vacume hose from the manifold and suck on it and slip your tounge over the end and see if it holds vacume. Also remove dist. cap and look inside when you do it to see if the braker plate moves when you draw a vacume. If the vacume advance leaks repace it.

power steering fluid is automatic trans fluid, the same thing. Much thinner than 20w . it is the viscosity that makes the difference.

I would still run plus and not reg.

what oil are you running in the carbs? If auto tranny or mystery oil or 3 in 1 , try 20w it is thicker and is what is called for by the factory. Thinner oil allows the piston in the carbs to rise a little too fast and causes a lean condition , especially noticed when cold. I agree about the stock air cleaner and the water in the manifold.

Z therapy 503-587-9800

oil smoke is blue unless mixed with a too rich mixture of fuel then it will be black unless you are running a cat.

BINGO !

Victor , I bow to the master. :classic:

check out geocities.com/zgarage.2001/engine.html I think you will find what you are look ing for

Sounds like two parts cars and one with a great running gear. Sorry . H aving said that , if you are prepaired to do a lot of work on welding and fabercation , otherwise pass and keep looking. Rust repair is vary time consuming and costly . If you can TIG or MIG weld and have a shop to do it in great. The other option is to just drive it untill it gives up and in the mean time look for a good car with a sound body . frame rails are a tuff fix. I am with you about sun roofs, and 2many is right on about what he said of the car and the repair of the top. If the donor car has a good top that is a possability for parts , usually they cut the windshild posts and by the hatch . Best to have a custom body shop do this part. This project could easily double the cost you are buying the car for.

Have you been doing anything with the wireing? you either have a bad ignition switch , as blitz said , or have cross wired the ignition.

here is a web site that will answer your questions. gocities.com/zgarage.2001/engine.html you will find a run down on the Z car and what swaps are best and so forth. Tons of great info. garyROFL

Yes it disables the carb when you lift the piston . And no it dosent increse the fuel flow. Disables means just that it dosent work when the piston is lifted. So to repeat when you lift the piston on t he rear carb, you are then running on the front one only and if the engine dies then the front carb is set too lean. If the engine keeps running rather smoothly then the front carb is too rich . When you lift the piston of one carb the engine should stumble and still keep running !

Welcome aboard . As for the engines none are big HP engines really . They have potential thou. The '70 through '73 were all 240s and Had t he L-24 2400 CC engine the first 3 yrs. had what is known as round top SU Carbs. and were the best for performance. '73 was the major beginnings of the emissions standards and they came with crapy carbs.. '74 also but they wanted to get back some HP so it wint to 2600 cc and is the 260Z . From there on was the 280Z L-28 block and multiport injection. All the cars have independent suspension , disk brakes front and drum on the rear , cant remember when the rear disks came in. In 79 --'83 is the latest in the engine develoupment and still a 2800cc and is a 54 block . These cars are light and t he first three are the lghtest. All of the inline engines are interchangable. The early cars had 4 speed trannys and the 280 went to 5 speed the later of the 280s have different gearing . There are automatic t rans also starting at '71. Hope this helps. :classic:

I am running a auto and dont want to change either, I am gearing down a little fron a stock 3.54 to a 3.70 not too much difference but a little . I am also installing a 54 flattop 280 with head work and cam and headers . I looked into a maxama trans but the overdrive was electronic and I dident want to deal with it. The Automatics from '72 to I think '77 are all the same . at least from what I have heard that is true. My Z is a driver to enjoy and not race, been there done that and have the tee shirt . I agree with the 3.90 but the difference from my 3.7 is nothing. I want a car that can cruse on the hiway and not buzz high RPMs. :classic:

Adjusting SUs ,round tops only, is realy not difficult. There is a must in the way of tools to do it correctly. To ballance the ammount of air being drawn into the two units you must have a method of measureing the air flow. The tool comes with different names and brands. Mine is a UNI-SUN made by Edelbrock. Available at the local speed shop and some cycle shops. I paid $25.00 for mind. To start with remove the air cleaner cover and filter. Start the engine and warm it to driving temp. This may take 10 + min. to really warm the engine and not just the thermostat and sending unit. These engines do take a while to get up to temp. When sufficently warmed up and the engine at Idle , should be about 7 or 800 RPM , insert your finger in the inlet of one of the carbs. Lets start with the back one. Lift the piston of the rear carb up an inch or so. This will dissable the rear carb , and the engine will now be running on the front one only , and this front one is the one we are testing. If the engine dies when the piston is lifted the mixture on the front carb is to lean. If the engine continues to run and fairly smooth manner the front carb is too rich. If the engine continues to run but roughly the mixture is correct ,for now. If the setting is too lean , reach under the front carb and feel for a small fuel line , about 1/4'' in dia. this line is connected to a adjustment knob on one end. Turn the adjustment CLOCK WISE , one half turn. This will richen the mixture . Restart the engine and do the test once again. Now if at first the test determines the setting is too rich because the enging continued to run smoothly . Reach down and adjust the adjustment COUNTER CLOCKWISE . This will lean the mixture. Repeat the test on the rear carb by lifting the piston on the front unit. When reading the manuals I find it confusing to try and follow there instructions.What we are doing is by lifting the piston and disableing one of the carbs we are seeing how the other unit adjustment is set. Disableing one while adjusting the other. SIMPLE. Now after all has been adjusted and the ballance has been rechecked and adjusted. With the cover still off the air cleaner and the engine at idle, BLIP the throttle to wide open and let it go back to idle . Just wide open and shut. If there is a backfire through one of the carbs, this is known as a lean pop , and adjust that carb richer slightly about 1/8th of a turn and repeat the final test. No Pop and you are done. take her out and drive her. I have found that the oil that workes the vary best for me in the dampiners of the carbs is 20wt . Auto trans oil and Mistery oil is too thin andit causes a lean condition when the throttle is first opened. This can cause a stumble . 20wt is what was called for when the cars were made and I have found it works for me. Another thing check the small fuel line that attaches the float bowl to the adjustment under the carb for stiffness. they get hard from being close to the manifold and will cause the choke to stick open . Do NOT use vacume hose for this or water hose , ZTherapy has replacement hose . Nissan dealer should and or look to a cycle shop. Hobby shops will carry fuel line also but be sure it is for gasoline not nitromethane fuel. The wrong line will fail and dump fuel on the exhaust manifold !! Not good. If you have trouble send me a PM or email .Gary

When you lift the piston of one carb you are disabling it and testing the other carb to see if it is set too lean or too rich. If it is to rich then the engine will continue to run rather smoothly if it dies then the carb is to lean. adjust accordingly and then repetet the test on the other carb. If the carberator is adjusted properly the engine should continue to run but stumble when the other piston is raised. Usually a starting place is the adjusters turned counter clock wise about 21/4 turns from the stop. Hope this helps .

you can run the secound cable through the dash and have it end above the brake peddle out of the way , this way you wont need to crawl under the car.

Texaz , I think that you will either need to find a certified welder as I did or fine a true body shop that builds hot rods or custom cars . The other shops are just parts changers not really body and fender people. Just a tip , If when you get the floor pans in hand and if you are going to cut out the floor yourself , the welder cannot weld rusted metal. The sheep metal is so thin to start with and if rusted it just burns away and sparkels. If you are in need of the rocker pannel and the front area of the where the front end support attaches back to the frame, $ 2500 is expected . This is the vary reason that we here on this club site warn buyers to be careful of the rust and it's need for repair. This is a lot of work and vary time consuming. This is major repairs.

I have a '73 also and wanted to install a sway bar. What you need is a swaybar from a early '74 260 . My 240 shows a build date of 8/73 and must have been one of the last '73 built . The early bar you need is shown on page 83 at the bottom of the latest Victoria British catalog. It has bends that allow it to clear the diff. .:classic: