Richard McDonel

Siteunseen, Yes! I have the right ones. (now comes the hard part - restoration) Many thanks for replying.

I'm trying to get my 240 as close to original as practical. I have the wrong shift boot, and am offered replacements in both vinyl and leather, and with or without a boot lace at the top. Which came original on a Series 2 1971? Thanks

Can someone tell me what model years are represented by hubcaps with "Z" in the centre, vs "D" Thanks

Since getting my 240Z restoration safety checked, licensed and on the road, last fall I've put on about 200 miles. At times it has run well, but there have been too many other times. Back in August, it quickly, without warning started running rough. I pulled the plugs and they were all showing a lot of soot - running too rich. I cleaned them up, re-installed, and nothing changed. I've now put in a new set of plugs, started the engine with minimum choke, shut the choke off quickly, and ran the engine for 10 minutes. It idled OK; just a bit rough. Open the throttle and it really stumbled until it cleared 2,000 rpm. Beyond that, it sounded fine. Pulled the plugs, and got really confused. Number 1 looked like new; 2 had some black soot; 3 and 4 were badly sooted; 5 had some soot, and 6 was almost as clean as 1. I read that as too rich at the centre of the engine, but leaning out as we move towards the ends. I could lean down the carbs (set at 2.5 turns), but what would that do to cylinders 1 and 6? Any advice or wisdom would be appreciated. Richard McDonel ps Back in the '60s I bought a used Triumph TR-3, with its twin SUs, and ran it for a year. I endured a number of issues with the car typical of English sports cars of the day, but nothing ever went wrong with respect to the carbs. But now...

Jim, Thanks for clarifying. No, I'm afraid there are no notches cut in the back of my carpet (aftermarket #%^&*@). Fortunately I have a friend who is a sail maker and he should be able to cut and stitch-trim the recesses I need. Best regards

Thanks Jim, I was a bit concerned that having the back of the carpet screwed to the floor might make spare-tire access an issue, but (hopefully) that's a problem we won't have to deal with often. I appreciate your advice.

I have an MSA carpet in the hatch area. The back edge is up against the two rear luggage strap mounts, and this forces the carpet forward, leaving a bulge in the middle. The carpet is too long. Should there be, or should I cut notches in the rear edge of the carpet to make room for the mounts, or should I punch through the carpet and screw the mounts down on top of the carpet? Thanks

Progress report: Had another look at the position of the float and determined that the only reason it wasn't centered was that there is a bit of sideways play on the pivot pin. Nothing to see here folks. So I rechecked the float level using my own glass- jar plus funnel system (photo attached); be patient Snap-On, l'll sell you the blueprints as soon as I get my patent in order. Re-installed the float, tried Siteunseen's push-down-with-a-straw method, and everything seemed as bouncy as it should. Fired up, let it run for a couple of minutes, drove a couple of miles, brought it back, and no gas coming at me through the vent. It reminds me of a friend's car many years ago, a Chev V-8. Occasionally it would start running rough, at which point he would pull over, dig out a fairly heavy screwdriver, and whack the carb bowls with the handle. Problem solved. "Float gets stuck in the bowl somehow" he explained. I'm not sure how the SU float could get stuck in the bowl with everything being clean and shiny, but I can't think of anything else. The only problem now is finding any engine between idle (does nicely at 700 rpm) and 2,200 rpm. Touch the throttle and the carbs pause and gasp before winding up to working range.

Thanks everyone, I had checked the float for leaks, but all seems dry. I did not use the push-down with a straw method suggested, and there might be something there. Right now, the float and lid assembly are sitting on my desk, and while the side-to-side variance is not great, there is no question the float isn't hanging dead centre. Enough to cause friction with the wall of the bowl? We'll find out tomorrow morning when I'll be brave and try to bend things just a tiny bit to get it all centered. What is the significance of "grose jets?"

The puzzlements never end. With new ZTherapy needle valves in place, and having set the float-bowl levels at 23 mm on a bench-test, glass jar I rigged up, I found my carbs suddenly worked far better than when I used the plastic-tube-attached-to- the- bottom-of-the-bowl system. Car ran nicely. But for whatever reason, the front carb is now blowing fuel out its vent tube. Remove the float lid, and everything looks fine; the float pivots as it should, and the new needle valve moves smoothly. But I`m still puking gasoline. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks All, So it sounds like if I want everything to be as original as possible, I needn't worry about screwdrivers and wrenches. What I'm missing is wheel chocks. I'm guessing they don't look like the made-in-china plastic bits that all the stores are peddling. I appreciate all the information.

My '71 Z came with an original jack, handle, and tool-kit bag. All are in good condition, but the only tools in the bag were a couple of un-matched slot screwdrivers. Can anyone tell me what tools should be in the bag? Any photos of what they look like? Thanks

View Advert 280 five-speed I acquired this transmission a number of years ago as part of a parts package. It does not fit in my 240. Casting number is 7226602. It has what appears to be a welded seam on one side (see photo), and for that reason I took to a reputable transmission shop for inspection. They disassembled it, found nothing wrong, and put it back together with new seals. Their invoice and notes are attached. Asking $500 Richard McDonel 403-347-6567 Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 07/17/2019 Price $500.00 Category Parts for Sale

I've never used sealant on head gaskets, and haven't blown one since around 1970. Go dry.

Good restoration project. A weekend or two and she'll be as good as new.

Stole a measuring cup from Mama. What I drained from the seemingly full diff was 16 fl. oz = .47 litre. I have no idea where to put the other .53 litre.

I now have around 150 miles on my freshly (last year) restored '71 240. The differential seems quite noisy so I checked the oil level (finger tip reaches oil), then drained it. No sign of metal filings or debris on the magnet. I drained it into a four-litre ice cream pail and it only filled it to 15% capacity. I put in new hypoid lube, but in a 1 litre bottle I've still got 700 ml left with the diff filled right up to the edge of the fill plug. the FSM says it takes approximately one litre, or .21 gallon. Just to make sure the oil wasn't all backed up in the diff casing, I left the rear of the car on jack stands and lowered the front. Very little difference. I've still got well under half a litre in the car. I see there was some discussion on this topic in 2011, and people emphasized that actual capacity can vary depending on casting irregularities, but in the case of my car, the difference seems somewhat greater than a casting variation. Any thoughts? Thanks,

DaveWM Agree that is very much nostalgia driven. That's what drives the collector car market. Guys in their peak earning years can now go out and buy the cars they lusted for as 18 year olds. It's a market that comes and goes. Model A Fords used to be worth a lot more than they are today just because that demographic is past their wrenching, tinkering, and show'n' shining days.

240260280, Well, a 240Z with a hot-rodded BMW engine, and a faux GTO body - who knows, it might beat a real GTO at LeMans. And a lot cheaper to insure, as the most recent GTO sale I'm aware of was in August at RM Sotheby's Monterey auction: $48 mill + buyer's premium. Hot-rod Zs have a way to go to catch that.

ps, I'm Canadian, and our $ has shrunk, so $68,000 U.S. = $91,500 C. Never thought I'd own a $90k car.

OK Gang, we all just moved into the high rent district. Last week, BringaTrailer.Com listed a Ferrari 308 - pretty decent looking car. Bid topped out at $68,000. This week on BaT, a `70 240Z sold for $68,000. Time to have our insurance appraisals updated? Cheers

Thanks Granny (as always). The new bolt was always in the cards. 8.8 grade and bigger head (yea I know, it's not original, but who else is going to be crawling under the tranny?). "Time-cert" is a term I'm not familiar with, but will be looking it up asap. Best regards,

Threads on the captive nut at the right-side end of the transmission mount are in lousy shape. I tried to tap out the hole but it still looks ugly, and the bolt won't go in smoothly. I don't think I've got much left there. So my question is if install hel-coil, will it be strong enough to withstand the torque of the transmission? Many thanks

Granny, Thanks for the words of encouragement. The dent is actually quite shallow (shallow enough that it did not show up on the screen on the back of my camera), but it's still there. Certainly nothing that anyone would notice once mounted on a car. But it's still there and I should have noticed. It is originally from the Series 1 that I bought from my son in the hopes of restoring, but ultimately had to give it up to rust. My finished car is a Series 2, so it has the plastic fan.

Thanks for replying, Two things, First the colour. Actually, it is very close to the colour that was originally on it. It was definitely not yellow. As for the damage, this is embarrassing for me. I simply did not notice it until I pulled up my own ad and saw the photo, full screen size. Pretty hard to miss, one would think. But I've had this thing hanging up on my garage wall for several years, then I brought it down and took the picture, and just never noticed it. In fairness, The dent is not as pronounced as it appears in this picture. In any case, I'm open to offers.