Randalla

Wondering what, if any, issues I may have with this swap electrically. I've done this many times for 240Zs I've owned, but am unsure what other functions the ECU manages on a 280Z that I'll have to work around. I plan to manage fuel pressure with an inline regulator to compensate for the difference from 3-5 lbs. (carbs) to +30 lbs. (injection). Thanks for your help/thoughts.

Maybe I'll try running them in my Z to see if I notice a difference.

Thanks for weighing in Captain Obvious. Not sure I understand your response. At idle, the effect of the higher sitting piston would pull the needle further out of the jet tube allowing more fuel to be sucked out of the tube and across the bridge, correct? I.e. the same as raising engine speed with the idle screw. The material is definitely steel, as I tried to carefully file one of inserts flush with the bottom of the piston. The non-metallic chunk you reference is in exactly the same spot as the steel inserts in the pistons I have. Seems to be someone experimenting/modifying the stock inserts with larger diameter steel ones???

This is a first. I've probably rebuilt 60-80 Z SU carbs over the years, but have never seen this modification. These pistons were in a set of early, 4 screw carbs from a customer's 1970 240Z. As you can see in the pictures it appears someone drilled and inserted a short piece of steel rod into the bottom of each piston. The end protrudes below the bottom of the piston raising the piston perhaps 1/32" off the bridge. The net effect would richen the mixture significantly, similar to dropping the needle from the piston. The piece is small enough that I wouldn't think the extra weight would impact throttle tip in but I can't be sure. Anybody else seen this modification before?

Not a fun job, but got it just about wrapped up. I did have to drain the radiator, remove the lower hose, remove the alternator, and completely unbolt the large compressor bracket. It was a two person job to hold the compressor up while lining up all the bolt holes to re-attach the large steel bracket. Now that I've done it, I could do the job in half the time (isn't that always the way?). A fair amount of time was spent assessing how to tackle the job. Thanks for your input guys.

I have the compressor and bracket separated but still no room to get the bottom bolt. Looks like I'll have to go in from the bottom, necessitating draining radiator, removing lower hose and removing alternator. Arghhh!

I have the compressor lose but there is very little ability to move it more than an inch or two, not enough to allow access to the final nut.

Working on a customer's 1973 240Z with early AC compressor. Looks like removing the bad fuel pump and installing a new one will require substantial disassembly. Is there an easier way to swap the pump without disassembling half the car? Got off the two nuts on the top of the pump but can't find a way to reach the bottom one.

Thanks Bonzi Lon. I wonder if anyone has ever flowed these different intakes and if there's enough difference to matter for anyone doing a performance build. For those of you with Rebello motors, which intake did they use on your motor's build???

Going through my parts stash this afternoon I noticed I have intake manifolds with four different casting numbers, E46, E88, N33, and N36. Seems like I've also seen one in the past with an N37 casting number. This raised a few questions: Are there other casting numbers out there for 240 and 260 carbureted Z cars? Which casting numbers went with which years? Are there any differences between them in terms of flow characteristics? Seems like I've seen some discussion on here in the past with regard to the last question but I can find it with the search function. I'd be interested in answers to all three questions. Thanks guys.

Steve, do you mean the connector for the water temperature sensor that screws into the thermostat housing?

Thanks for the reply Chuck. Took the Z for a ride last night and the temp gauge began working briefly and reading properly, before dropping back to zero. Another piece of information I just recalled is last Fall while driving up to Williams the temp gauge went to zero then read properly again two or three different times on the trip. The fuel gauge which has always read about 3/4 after a fill up, all of a sudden, after filling up, read completely full. That only happened once but I thought it was curious. Do you think a bad ground could cause both of those conditions?

Recently I lost the fuel and temperature readings on my 1972 240Z simultaneously and am wondering if there is a connection. I know on Roadsters there is a step-down voltage regulator that controls both functions, but I'm not sure if there is any relationship between the two on an early Z. Checked the connections at the fuel tank and the temperature sensor and they seem secure. Is there a single fuse somewhere that controls both? Thoughts?

This is my second Z32, and I had never heard that before dutchcarguy. Very interesting trivia the turbo having four unique wheels, CRAZY!!! Thank you for the education. Certainly don't ever want to get on the wrong side of the BaT trolls😄.

Will ring them tomorrow. Thanks for the referral.

Considering going to either 245/55/16 or 245/60/16 to fill the wheel well up a bit but would like to see what they'd look like and know if there would be any rubbing lock to lock.

Thanks for the kinds words guys. "Diseazd" is that your Z32? Tire size? I realize that Classic Z may not be the best place to solicit input on Z32 models but thought I'd try.

Just picked up a 91 300ZX 2+2 in desperate need of new tires. Currently has stock wheel and tire size (225/50/16) which looks pretty wimpy to my eye. I want to fill up the wheel wells more. For the time being I'll stick with the stock 16" wheels, though I'm not really a fan of the look. For those of you that have upsized tires on stock wheels I'm wondering what size you've got and if you have any clearance issues. Thanks!

Thank you Steve for that explanation. Appreciate your feedback and I will be checking this out today and reporting back. It is a 240Z and I'm running a Pertronix pointless ignition.

I believe I have a bad ignition switch. Before I replace it I want to be sure I don't have another issue. The starter is energized and turns with the key, but the car does not start or even pop. I've ruled out any mechanical issues. I'm not measuring any voltage at the coil when power is switched on with ignition. Can anyone confirm a Z ignition switch can energize the starter, but not the coil?

I'm alive and well. Still planning to produce some more Float-Syncs but have been distracted by other Datsun stuff. Hoping to have some by the end of the year, but no promises.

Interesting how much misinformation still gets circulated on Scarab Engineering, its cars and its founders (Brian Morrow and Keith Bergey). 4 years ago I wrote the definitive book on the company after visiting with both founders and speaking with them extensively. My book, "Resurrecting the Legend - The Real Datsun Scarab Story," can be found for sale on eBay.

I don't currently have any units left for sale but am considering producing more if there seems to be sufficient interest.

We've made incremental improvements, but it still doesn't seem quite right, though I'd say it's maybe 50% better. Turns out the strut inserts were the correct ones for his car after all, and after seeing both versions in the flesh I don't really see any way they could be assembled incorrectly, as dimensionally they are quite different. Any improvements made can be attributed to three things I think. I added a small amount of gear oil in the strut tube before inserting the KYB inserts to neutralize any harmonics that could have been created. I also replaced the spacer between the spring perch and insulator, though it was only a small amount compressed/deformed. Tires on his car were set at 35 lbs., so I deflated them temporarily to 25 lbs. as an experiment. I did climb in the hatch with my stethoscope to see if I could isolate where the noise was coming from when driving over the road reflectors. Unfortunately that did not yield any new information. This is a moving target but we do seem to be moving in the right direction.

The struts were recently replaced by someone else to try to solve the problem, but from the pictures posted on Rock Auto showing both early and late strut cartridges, it appears that person used the later inserts. When I take the strut apart next time I'll be able to verify if he has the correct KYB part number. If not I'll swap them. If he does have the correct part number I'll have to keep searching for the problem.