Weasel73240Z

Blow out all of the fuel lines.

Based on your description, and assuming the car is as mint as you say, I think 20K is around the ballpark. Now if the car is really a (documented) special car, maybe more. A few pictures would help.

You seem to have a lot of stuff going on, but based on what you've posted so far, I think you clearly have an electrical issue. I think I'd be looking at the ECU, and the injectors. Get a multimeter, and start testing stuff. Maybe locate a back-up ECU to try. I might have an extra ECU at home, it came with some parts I bought a year back. Let me know if you need one, we can work something out. Running the fuel tank almost empty could have pulled some crud into the line, which could make the car shut off after a few seconds of running.

I have a 73 240Z, running a pair of new ZTherapy SU's. I eliminated the electric pump completely, it runs great without it. I think the electric was mainly needed with the original, flat top carbs, and in really warm climates.

I don't buy from him. But I have read enough about his tactics on here, from people who's opinion I respect, to chime in. The one time I did contact him, I asked it he would put together a "nut and bolt package" for my whole engine. He said no, that I'd have to figure out what I needed on my own. With that level of customer service, I just chose not to do business with him.

Vaughan, Take Bruce up on his offer. Talk to him, the guys at ZTherapy are the SU gurus. They were very helpful getting me up and running right.

After you adjust the float level, are you disconnecting the coil and cranking the engine over to re-fill the fuel bowls? You need to crank it for 10+ seconds to "top" the bowls off, after each adjustment. If you have the floats adjusted all the way up, and the fuel is still 1" below the correct level, something else ain't right.

And like EScanlon said, we are talking about it so people know the game he's playing. Hopefully, people stop buying from any deceptive sellers on eBay, but if the word doesn't get out, how will people know who to avoid? You are defending reddat awfully hard for someone without a "dog in the fight".

My bad....:mad:. I was talking without looking at my catalog.

I've never bought from him, but I get so irritated with my search results, looking at 2 pages of nuts and bolts, that I set the search to eliminate anything from him.

I paid just over $230, installed. I supplied the gasket.

Black Dragon Auto has the whole accelerator/rod assembly. Not sure what they cost, but it can't be too much.

I assume an EDM is an electron discharge machine, which I used to run when I worked in a machine shop. EDM's use electricity and a graphite element to burn away metal, and its a slow process. Setting the thing up requires getting the bolt holes perfectly plumb with the element, which can take some time. $300 doesn't seem out of line for a couple hours on an EDM. But is there a reason why you have to EDM them out?

It is possible that you have the wiring and no fuel pump. I have a 73 and I eliminated the electric when I installed my new (OEM) mechanical pump. I think its pretty common to eliminate the electric.

Upper right is definitely the rearview mirror base, the thing on the bottom doesn't look like a Z part to me.

If you are turned the A/F mixture screws all the way out and you still aren't rich enough, the float bowl (fuel level) is probably still too low. Take off the float cover, and bend the arm on the float so that the float stops higher. Make small adjustments, maybe 1/8" at a time. The big pain in the arse is the fuel bowl gaskets usually get trashed when you take off the fuel bowls. If you are turned all the way out and still not rich enough, I'd bring the float up about 1/8" - 3/16" or so and try again. You're right there, a few more tweaks and it'll be screaming. Glad to hear you got it this far. These carbs are great when they are dialed in, but they do take some fine adjustment to get running perfect. :classic:

If your floats are set at the right level, you should be somewhere around 2-1/2 turns out. You may have a fuel bowl/float level issue if it runs best with them 1 turn out. If you take off the domes and look into the carb, you should see fuel about 1/16 or 1/8 below the top of the fuel opening. Thats one easy way to check float level w/o removing the float covers, which can be a be-atch. Just be careful not to let the piston (with needle) fall out of the dome when you do it, or the needle will get trashed. Slowly lift the dome after you take out the 3 screws about 1", and you'll see the side of the piston, pick them up as one piece. The FSM says the float should be around 1/2" from the top of the float cover when you invert it. Measure as soon as the float arm touches the pin to shut off the fuel. My car runs better when the measurement is around 3/8". BTW, you don't slow down the idle with the mixture screws. You reduce idle speed with the brass screws next to the domes, near where the linkage goes through the carbs body. The mixture screws are just for getting the A/F mixture right. Before you spend any more on parts, get the ZTherapy video "Just SU's", it'll teach you what you need to know to tune and balance these carbs. It'll be $20 well spent, trust me. Get on the rest of the ignition parts and report back. You'll get it, it just takes some digging sometimes.

Thats a 240Z dizzy. You should replace the points when you do the rotor, cap and wires.

I just re-read my post...just to clarify, that looks like a 280ZX (79 - 82???) dizzy, not a 280Z.

Thats a 280Z dizzy, I think between a 1975 and 1978. You should order parts (rotor, cap, wires) for the 280Z not for the 240. The plug wires could cause a rough idle if you have 2 of them swapped. Try Blackdragonauto.com, they have the parts you need.

If you have to floor it to keep it running, it sounds like you're still not getting enough fuel. You said its a new fuel pump, but it wouldn't be the first time a new part didn't work right. Maybe you should get an in-line fuel pressure gauge and see what pressure you're getting at idle. Of course, my car has SU's, so I'm probably not the best guy to be answering EFI questions. Good luck.

This is a total shot in the dark, based only on the sounds of the motor from the clip, but what do you have the timing set at? The erratic idle could be from severely retarded timing, which could also cause some fouling issues with the plugs. Again, I'm guessing just based on the sound of the motor running in the clip. It doesn't look like you've done all the cheap and easy stuff, like new plugs wires, rotor, distributor cap and points to go along with the new plugs. If not, that should all be done. It does look as if some of the plugs may not be firing consistently, which could point to a damaged plug wire.

FWIW....60 mph will be well over 3,000 rpms. I have a 4.11 rear w/a 4-speed and 60 is somewhere around 3,400 for me, so it'll be higher with the 4.56's (I'd guess maybe 3,700). Probably snap your neck taking off, :laugh: but very high rpms on the highway.

This isn't you? This was posted at zcar.com the same day you brought it up here. Heck of a coincidence I guess??? 4x4 Z ? Posted by: newby77 Date: April 23, 12:37AM anybody done a 4 wheel drive swap yet. i'm getting very irritated trying to find my running issue, and have a 98 ranger 4x4 with a 3 liter v6 sitting in the driveway. just might drop the z on the rolling chasis, and be done with it! not lifted offroad style, but rally it out a little. i'll throw the current setup in a pile, and thermite the whole friggin thing!

When I installed my 5-speed, it was a straight bolt-up. Used my original 240 driveshaft, all mounts, etc. and it worked fine (except for the fact that the 5-speed tranny needed a rebuild ). Wish I did that before I installed (then removed) it. I did use the shifter from the 5-speed instead of my original 4-speed shifter. I also think there are subtle difference in the TO bearings, but I'm not sure on that.