beandip

go to motorsports and get the thick header gasket , you wont be sorry .

address the carb issues , you are running way rich is my input. Unburned fuel collected in the muffler and detonated. I wouldn't do anything with the muffler until you fix what is wrong with your Webbers . Not a timing issue .

I dont know about the 280Z , but in the past the condencer is for a static suppresser for your radio . Just take it off.

Just for conversation along the lines of being able to show the car . I and a few other Z drivers have been showing our Z at the Wednesday afternoon show at Portland International Raceway . Beaches the restaurant sponsors the show and charge $5.00 to enter. The proceeds go to the underprivileged kids . They have areas set aside for groups of cars , but mostly it is just park on the grass and show your car . So far this season the turnout is over 500 yes 500 cars being showed every week . There is live music and they serve food and drinks for a money maker. It goes every wed from 4:00 till dark and is a real great time being able to see all sorts of cars . It is like being at a HOT ROD show . Amazing , we are treated with respect with our little L-6s and people take pictures and ask questions just like for the full blown hot rods. Camby was like a 1/8 in size in comparison . This and many other shows that are going on out there every weekend but on a smaller scale than PIR , this is what you are up against for your Camby show. Trying to make the Canby show a elite showing , if you want a mass support and charge a big fee to compete with garage queens is going to fail in my opinion. I was talking to one Z car owner at the Canby show and he said he had a budget of 1K a month for his Z . How does anyone compete in the driver category with him. Another said he has 30,000 in each of his cars and if it started to shower he would call in a flatbed and have it hauled home. Sure , go ahead and charge $30.00 to show your cars . I will be at PIR having a great time meeting great people and enjoying the evenings . Let the flaming fly. My 2c Gary

first of all POR-15 is UV sensitive , for inside the car and under it no problem . It just turns hazy. The main problem is it is so hard when cured it is difficult to sand . If not sanded properly regular paint or primer will not bond to it after it is cured. It will simply peal right off. Before you try it , paint something and let it cure and try to sand it . Now if you are going to do a small area like a engine bay , do use the recommended preparation and paint the bay and before the POR cures and is still tacky shoot your primer . It will bond to the POR then. The makers of POR has a primer called ti coat that will adhere to the por paint. I used this on my engine bay and so far ,almost 3 1/2 yrs , all is good . Gary

KTM , If you have a ZX ignition and the PO used the 240 bottom of the dist. the part that actually bolts to the block. The 240 part will not allow you to properly set the timing . The position of the plate where it connects to the dist is in a different position on the 240 part from the ZX dist. you dident say what ignition you have. Gary

Zdrally . The '83 maxima has a 4 speed with a lock up torque converter . It bolts up to and gives you a advantage of lock up converter and a additional gear. 4th is a overdrive . The converter can be manual switched in third and forth giving you a 500 rpm split at the flip of a switch. With this set up a set of 4.11 would get you off the line and the overdrive gives almost unlimited top end. If used on the drag strip with a built engine you could have the converter worked on and the stall speed increased so you will be in the power band off the line. You need the drive shaft from the maxima and the 240 one as well and have the shaft shortened . You will have the best of both worlds. I was going to go this route my self , but I know myself and I would just get into too much trouble . Here in Oregon a ticket for over 100 mph gets you a couple of days in the gray bar hotel and a fine of 1K . At my age I am not interested in any of this . Kim Blough of Idaho Z Car is the man to contact on this mod. Gary

To my knowledge the autos from '72 through at least '82 bolt right up . '71 is a different one and parts to rebuild are NLA . The auto is a strong trans from my experience so far . I recently had my truck's trans rebuilt and was talking to the mechanic about the Z auto . He had nothing but good to say about the Z automatic . I have one in my 240 and it seems to be holding up well behind my ZX engine . I was going to change to a 5 speed , but after driving my 240 for a couple of years before I did my mod/restore . I changed my mind and kept the auto. If I were going to auto cross or do any track driving I would go with a manual for sure . For street driving the auto has my vote. I did change to a 3.70 to 1 diff. and with the cam she pulls strong and is a kick to drive. Gary

One thing different is the engine. all the 280s have dished pistons and the ZXs have flat topped pistons if not a turbo. The casting of the ZX block is supposedly stronger due to a casting change . The XZ engine was the last development of the L-6 engine. They still have low compression , stock . Congratulations on the "new" Z you will find her to be a fine car and a pleasure to drive. Gary

Do you have the '70 metal fan ? If so by all means change that out and in the mean time check it over vary closely . They can come apart and eat the radiator and or your hood . Especially if the clutch is locked up. No I have never heard of a valve adjust causing what you are describing . As to the noise of the valves . Is this a stock cam or a aftermarket ? Some times a regrind will cause some valve clatter . However it does not come on later , usually it is there from the get go. The car setting for 90 days should not have any effect on the car , unless you have some vary old tires that get flat spots when they set for a long time . But that will go away when driven a block or two . I am out of ideas . Gary

The fan clutch , mine does this , has the fan running at engine speed for a short while when I first start the engine in the morning. It will sound like a muffled roar . This will not continue for more than a minute or so , and then it will spin freely if I raise the rpm to anything above 1000 or so . Once the engine has been running for two to three min. the clutch allows the fan to more or less free wheel . At least it is no longer keeping up with the engine speed . Since you suspect the throw out bearing is faulty , if this is so do you hear the sound when at idle and you depress the clutch ? And then while stopped rev the engine up slowly to 1500 rpm or so with the clutch depressed ? Unless you have been in deep water , like a foot deep or so , I doubt vary much there is any moisture in the trans. Normal maintenance of all fluid levels is expected . GARY

Check the timing , if the engine turns OK with no plugs . Maybe your to far advanced . I don't' know if you have been doing any adjusting of the timing . Other than this , ??? Gary I just reread your question . You are feeling the resistance while turning with a spanner and with out plugs ? If this is so , I don't have a clue . you said the cam and the valve train is all OK , sorry . let us know what you find is causing the deli-ma so we can all learn . g

Welcome to the ''club'' Gary

generally a throwout bearing makes noise only when the clutch peddle is depressed . This ''drowning '' sound , could it be the engine fan spinning because of a locked up fan clutch ? Have a look at that. If I can think of something else I will post it . Simply having the car at rest for 30 days shouldn't have effected any thing but the battery . Because the sound is rpm effected only leads me to question the fan clutch . usually a water pump problem starts with a shaft seal leaking . How about the alternator , if you have a long screw driver , with the engine at idle touch the casing of the alternator with it and put the handle to your ear and listen for bearing sounds . Gary

Welcome to the ''club'' , if you can describe the rust damage a little better , or include a picture or two , this would be of great help. It may not be as bad as you think. My roof on my 240 was badly dented from the PO sitting on it and I thought I was looking at a replacement . Now it is perfect and was all straightened and saved in a matter of several hours of working the metal. So don't be ready to cut into the car . Gary

there are a couple of members here running flat top carbs and know how to make them work, they say any way. Post a new thread asking for help with flat top carbs . For your information back in '73 and maybe in '74 . The dealers when they had a customer that complained laud enough and long enough would pull the flat tops and install SUs . So maybe you can convince your parents to concede and allow you to pull the boat anchors and install a set of round tops . If you are concerned with originalality keep the old carbs for show. The round tops will bolt right up to the existing manifold . You will need the piece of linkage that fits between the carbs and the the earlier air cleaner as well. The engine will run much better with the SUs and you will find them to be much easier to work with . Gary

Just a note on the pictures of the Z cars. This is a little deceiving because we were parked near the entrance and it looks like just a few cars were there . All total there were over 500 cars being shown . Plus about 100 Harley's . Scanlon saved spaces for the Z cars so we could be together. We included the Roadster as well . Gary

Carl , May you rest in Peace.

Welcome to the club . I hope you can enjoy your new toy soem , before you tear into it . There are many members here egar to help .

Reclaton , There is a article on the adjusting the SUs and I think you will find it if you do a search for adjusting SUs. Arne is correct the 2 1/2 turns is a good starting point to get you up and running . Do you have a flow meeter to balance the two carbs air flow ? I bought mine at the local parts store for about $25.00 , they have a performance section . mine is a uni-sen and packaged by Edelbrock . A device to balance the carbs is a must . I does sound like you are running rich , you should be getting up in the 20s for mileage . If you do replace the needles , get #54s , I think you will be satisfied with these . These are still available from Nissan . But do check the search because there is a step by step on adjusting these carbs. Gary I just tried to find my article on this and couldent. Send me a PM on this and I will go over it with you .

And You May Find Dingle Ball Fringe All Arround Your Windshield . And Light Up Valve Stem Caps To Match The Halo Head Light . Zorro

If you pull the pushrod toward the engine bay at all , there is a disk inside that will fall away . When you reinsert the rod it will contact the correct area of the the booster , however when you apply the brakes the peddel will go to the floor. You MIGHT be able to shake the offending part into position , I was lucky and did , other wise the thing must be taken apart and assembled correctly. Sorry. Gary

measure the distance from the jack points on the rockers . My 240 sets dead level at 7 1/4 '' front and rear. Now that is measured from the rockers not the spot welded flange. I did lower the front of mine about 1 1/4'' to achieve this. Handles at speed better . Doesnt feel light in the Loafers like it did before at around 85 ,90 MPH. I like the look . I have had the car in 3 shows and have had complements each time . I just cut the flat circle of the coil spring + 1/4 of the helical . The small amount taken off didnt effect the ride as far as stiffness or bottoming out . All of that is like before , alignment wasn't effected either. You may be running different wheels and tires and this will effect the height measurement. I have at present 195/70 14s Also she is a 240. Gary

That maybe true but you should at least be consistant and have both sides the same !

350 , Looking at the pictures , which seem fairly complete, I didn't see any real bad rusting . One place was under one of the doors. Mostly it looked like surface rust. Service records on a car like this would only be interesting reading. It would definite long term project , only depending on how much you have done or do your self. The low ven # is vary important for bragging rights , UNLESS you are going to RESTORE the car not a mod/restore. Numbers matching then is a must and the cost of the project just goes in to the vary high figures. If you just want to save the car and clean it up to have a great quality driver . I recommend finding one close to your area , spend the cash for a driver with the least amount of rust and enjoy the ride. You will be money ahead. If you can do almost all the work your self and want the project and have a garage to devote a large part of to the project . Do it . I recently ''finished'' my 240 that is a not stock mod/restore and it took me almost 3 yrs. I didn't work on it daily and there were lapses of a week or two a couple of times. I have a Wife and grown kids with grandchildren to take fishing and have fun with, plus our home to take care of. Worked mostly winter time. Now I am having a great time enjoying the ride. And doing a few shows this summer . All the best to you . Gary