ConchZ

Thanks. I'll contact him!

Hello All, My 1973 240z has some barely noticable rust starting in the dog legs and around the rear wheels, otherwise the body and paint are in good shape, including the floors and rails, which were redone a few years back. However, those of us who live in S. FL know that the salt air means you have to attack any and all rust immediately. The last time this car was refreshed was in 1985, so the paint is getting a little dinged up. I'm considering getting it completely repainted when I get the rusty dog legs and wheel wells repaired. Yesterday, I took it to the South Florida Z Place/Collision and Custom Paint, in Ft. Lauderdale. They seem to specialize in Zs, but also are restoring and repairing seveal other collectable cars. It seemed like a good enough shop. I was wondering if anyone else had used this shop, or if anyone had a recommendation. In any case, the shop did give me an estimate. Stripping everything off the car, except the interior and engine, then sanding and priming would cost $2500. Repairing rust, repainting and putting it all back together would cost another $3500, for a total of $6000. They would R&I the engine and repaint the bay for another $1200, meaning the entire body and paint would be refreshed for a total of $7200, including the engine bay. A much cheaper option would be to redo the rockers and rear quarters with new metal, then repaint those areas to match the existing paint....for only $1500. I'd rather get the entire car done. I live in Key West, and have limited access to quality shops to get estimates. Given a car in very nice shape, with only the above mentioned rust, do the above prices seem in the ball park at all? What have other people paid for similar work? Any tips on what I should make sure is included in the above work? Thanks all!

Mine did this until I replaced all the bushings in the front suspension and steering. I have the stock bumper and no spoiler. It doesn't have any rattle or vibration at any speed anymore. I used poly bushings. The old ones were shrunken, squished and cracked. Couldn't say if the ride is rougher because of the poly, as it seems the same as it was with the worn out stock bushings. Maybe it'd be softer with new rubber bushings, but the poly seems just fine to me. Before the bushings, I could feel the vibration in the steering wheel. The one bushing I didn't replace was actually the steering coupler. Its rubber and in pretty good shape. I was going to replace it if the vibrations continued, but since they stopped, I kinda like the cushier rubber coupler. I think you should check for play in your wheel bearings, and make sure your tires are balanced and your front end aligned before digging into those bushings, though. Good luck.

if you are going to calculate horsepower gains by directly relating it to gains in displacement, then you have to think about what his other modifications do to horsepower. Suppose the Webers, headers and headwork net him 40 extra horsepower, giving him 160 horse at the wheels, without the change in displacement. Increase the displacement by 8.3% with the L28 crank.... 160 * 0.083 = 13 hp increase. While not a huge difference, its an interesting to think that the extra displacement will add roughly 8% more to each subsequent modification. The real story might be in the longer stroke increasing your torque. As for keeping it stock, you would be using the same old numbers matching L24 block and E88 head. From the outside, that engine would look stock, except for the headers and triple Webers attached to it. You could go back to a numbers matching car fairly easy, if you think that's important. It its not important, then the hybridz guys are right, get the L28. Of course, I'm not an expert at any of this. I'm just keeping the discussion going, I guess.

Get the Ztherapy Tuneup, as it covers more stuff than just the carbs. It'll teach you how to do your valve adjustments, set your timing and then do your carbs. The backfiring is probably related to your ignition timing, which if I understand you right is 10.5 advanced? Try lowering that a lot. You might even set it to about 5 before. If you can't get it that far retarded, its likely because you put that dizzy in wrong. There's only two ways to install it, but the wrong way will cause your timing problems. The timing problems will also explain the hesitation at high RPM. Another thing explained by having that timing so far advanced is if you are having problems starting it on the first crank of the day. It'll crank slowly, like the battery is low.

Its 5 oclock somewhere.

For the scientific explanation of why these little zinc anode thingies don't work, see http://corrosion-doctors.org/Car/car-electronic-rust.htm

Has anyone had bumpers or other parts chrome powder coated? I've seen valve covers done this way on ebay, and they looked good in pictures. The powder coat is tougher than chrome, and cheaper, so if it looks close enough to real chrome, I'd consider it. I just haven't seen it in person.

Problem solved. It was not electrical, it was timing. Decided to do a complete tuneup, including valve adjustment. Valves were way off. After valves, checked timing. Timing was so far advanced that the early spark was forcing pistons back down before reaching the top. Essentially, the engine was fighting itself. Once it got running, the pistons had enough momentum behind them to complete a full cycle, I guess. I'm still surprised that it ran at all, much less ran as good as it did. Had to remove the distributor turn it and re-install to get the timing back to where its supposed to be. Previous owner had installed an electronic ignition, and probably put the distributor in wrong. After that, adjusted the carbs per Ztherapy video. The result is the car seems to breath better, has more power, and is much smoother at low RPM. Previously it was a bit lurchy when driving slow at low RPM. It also now fires up easily. Me happy now.

ehh, the American worker is more productive per hour than anywhere, its just the wage per hour is high enough that it makes sense to produce things elsewhere. That might change as the cost of transporting those goods rises, while the dollar collapses. We might become the next low wage factory country. We'll be attractive because we have decently educated workers, and our transportation and telecommunications infrastructure is still better than most. We won't be ranked at the top for anything, but the combination of near top rankings will make us attractive for factory work again. The trick is to not overpopulate with imported workers, otherwise our wages will be TOO low. I wanna drive my Z now. Too much political thinking, have to clear head.

Thanks guys for the help. I'm too busy to try out anything, what with Gustav about to clip us, and Hanna staring at us. I'll just park the Z somewhere high and dry for a while.

I've got a strange one. My 73 is pretty stock. It does have an aftermarket crane ignition, but I can't see how this would cause the following problem. When it hasn't been started for a few hours, and the engine is cooled to the ambient 90 degree air temp, the first two or so times you turn the key, the starter behaves as if it isn't getting enough power. It sounds like the battery is almost dead, and simply cranks slowly. On the third try, the starter cranks normally, and the engine starts fine. If the engine is hot, this problem won't happen. I've read up on cleaning the electrical connections between the battery and the starter, done that, no change. I'd really hate to buy a new starter and still have this problem, but that seems to be the next thing to try. Any thoughts?

I called Banzai. They have raised their prices from $5 to $15 for their link. He says that since Nissan doesn't sell them, he has to make them. I ordered two, so I'd have a spare. However, I'm keeping my home-made link just in case I ever need it again. I'm using a 30 amp fuse in it, and it hasn't blown yet. Interestingly, they no longer sell the washer bottle/pump combo. He suggested I follow your advice and just buy a generic one and make it work. I went to Advance auto, and asked to see their pumps. The guy asked me what car it was for, and wow...they actually can order them. We'll see if it comes in. It costs $33. Thanks for your suggestions and help!

Any tip on detaching the pump from the bottle? Does it just pull off, or are there actually some bolts through all that rubber that hold it on?

Great! That's a reasonable price. I'd rather buy a correct part than do my own hair-brained fabrication. While on that site, I also found a windshield washer bottle and pump under bits and pieces. My pump hasn't worked in years. Since the pump is fairly well attached to the bottle, it seems best to just buy the bottle with the pump at that price. Unless someone sells just the pump, although I think you might tear up the bottle when you remove the pump. Thanks so much!

I've been digging all evening, and not found any posts that list the rating of the fusible link on my 1973 240Z. I need to replace the link between the battery and the starter. Ran the battery down and had to jump start, which burnt out the link. You can't buy this thing for less than $25, and only at Courtesy, so far as I can tell. I refuse to pay that for a short little wire. The reason you pay so much, instead of building your own is two things. 1) One end of the link has an extra wide plug on it, that you can't buy in the store. 2) You can't find out what the failure amperage should be. I was able to get it going again by wiring in a 30amp inline fuse. I tried a 20 amp fuse, and it blew. I used the old wide plug and soldered it onto my inline fuse, so that I wouldn't have to cut up the factory wiring, just in case I ever buy a real fusible link. Does anyone thing 30 amps is too high? I figure that the alternator only produces 50 amps or so, and there are some accessories that use 20 amp fuses, so 30 should be about right for that small wire to the starter. Also, if anyone has a cheaper source of these 1973 fusible links(or that odd width blade connector), please let me know. Thanks! A picture of one is attached.

Got some rain and wind here in Key West, but no real damage. Saw some palm fronds down. Kept the 73 in the garage.

I understand that you want the "correct" weatherstripping, but here's a tip. The factory weather stripping does a poor job sometimes in keeping out exhaust fumes. To see if you have this problem, simply close the hatch on a sheet of printer paper. If you can move the paper around, your weather stripping isn't sealing right, and exhaust can get into the car. Try closing the hatch on the paper all the way around the hatch opening, looking for leaks. Even with newer weather stripping, my Z would stink of exhaust inside it. I have a white interior, so you could see soot stains on the plastic panels on the inside of the hatch door, right above the exhaust. I broke down and solved the problem by adding generic weather stripping to the hatch itself, complementing the "correct" weather strippng that goes around the hatch opening. I only went half way up the sides of the hatch, as the closer you get to the hinges at the top, the tighter the seal becomes. Make it too tight, and you might warp the hatch when you close it. Anyway, stinky problem solved.