Richard McDonel

Wow, you guys know your stuff! You remind me of something I witnessed at Pebble Beach Concours 2018. I was standing next to an OSCA (low production Italian sports car mid 1940s through early '60s) when the judges came around. A sign next to this car said that it had won the 1 litre class in the 1951 Mille Miglia. One of the judges spent an inordinate amount of time peering under the hood. Finally he stood up and pointedly asked the owner, "Is this the original cylinder head for this car?" "No" the owner answered, "but it IS the head that was on the car when it won the Mille Miglia." You could see the judge pondering and puzzling , looking at his clipboard, as in "Do I dock this guy a point for an incorrect cylinder head, or let it go because this is the head that helped make the car famous?" I guess with an incorrect head on mine, I dare not enter it in a concours. Thanks All

Now that my 240 restoration is complete (well largely complete - is it ever complete complete?) I'm trying to clean up my garage. I knew I had two spare heads, but find that I actually over the past decade have accumulated four. Three are N42s while the other is E31. I have an N42 on the car. The only difference I can see is that the valves are a bit larger on the 42. I haven't measured the combustion chamber size, and don't know what differences there are in cams. I'd like to know which head is correct for my '71 HLSS30 28726,and what differences there are in terms of performance. Many thanks

I'm coming a bit late into this discussion. Do you have in-ground styrofoam insulation on your foundation, and hopefully beneath the floor slab? I'm in a colder climate than you, but I know you still get genuine winter. My garage is only 22 by 24 feet, and the walls and ceiling are well insulated. I have a forced air furnace. The garage is quite old, and I'm certain there is no insulation on the foundation or beneath the floor. When the furnace kicks in it gets quite comfy, but the minute in shuts off, you can feel the cold just seeping in through the floor. By mid-December It's probably solid frost beneath the concrete. A friend of mine went with in-floor hot-water heating when he built his garage a few years ago. The hot water comes from a domestic h.w. tank, although he understands that wouldn't pass building code today - must have a proper boiler. In any case once he turns the heat up, the room never gets cold. But your floor is already laid, so my free advice is of no use, unless you wanted to go to the expense of laying a second concrete slab. That is a lovely property you have. Congrats.

Kent, "A very nice gentleman." Would you mind if I shared this with my long suffering wife? Cheers, d*** McDonell

View Advert I'm old; Time to sell 240 STUFF As we approach spring clean-up time, I'm going to be posting quite a number of 240Z parts for sale. As I dig stuff out of my snow-bound shed and take photos I'll probably post two or three per day. In addition to the ones posted today, I'm going to be selling a Series 2 rear hatch and two doors, a new replacement driver's side floor pan, headlight buckets, a set of new, shorter (racing) springs, a RF fender, 3-piece rear exterior panel set, a plastic ceiling cross-piece, visors, probably two front anti-roll bars, and more as I mulch through my collection / accumulation. For today, I'm listing two differential mounts, two transmission mounts, and asking $10 each; a Series 1 steering wheel (in need of refinishing but otherwise sound) asking $25, and a glove box door (missing two flat-head screws) at $15. I'm in western Canada; Red Deer, Alberta to be specific, so shipping for larger stuff such as doors will be a big-ticket item for long distances and across borders, and probably not workable. As for the smaller parts, it shouldn't be an obstacle. Advertiser Richard McDonel Date 02/28/2020 Price Category Parts for Sale

@7tooZ Dalwhinnie is nice, also Talisker. McCallan too, but that's expensive stuff - better suited to folks who can afford $310,000 cars.

@87mj, Ohhh the pain of missed opportunities! I had the same feeling a number of years ago when BaT was young, and listing perhaps half a dozen cars a day. I missed following it for a about a week, and when I checked back on, a late 1960s Alfa Romeo roadster with 5,000 original miles had sold for something like $6,000. That car was less than 100 miles from where I live. Perhaps a sip of Scotch will calm bad old memories.

Zed, My computer seized up with 9 seconds until the end of bidding. The car had reached $310,000 at that point. Minutes later I received notification of the sale at $310,000, but could not get into comments, and as of 10 minutes ago, still could not. I occasionally find myself parked next to a Ferrari Testa Rosa in a downtown parkade. I'll have to rib the prosperous lawyer who owns it - hey Chris, howcum you keep driving econo boxes?

A 21,000 mile , 1970, Series 1 240Z just sold on BringaTrailer for $310,000 (U.S.). Not a misprint - there are six digits there. I tried to get into that page to see what people were thinking, but at 800 plus comments, the forum seized up. Might be a good time to update that insurance appraisal. Cheers All,

Many thanks fellows. What I have now is real leather, but a bit too small to attach properly to the console. If anyone knows what it might really belong to, I have a deal for you! Cheers

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.