motorman7

I thought this was cool... Changed the front break pads on my '73 and inspected the old ones. The old ones have 'Akebono' inscribed on them with the Nissan logo up in the right hand corner. I am guessing these are original. Was debating on whether to toss them or not.

It looks like it needs more brightener. I put the hole bottle of brightener in my 3 gallon tank. Seems like that comes pretty close. Your 'T' looks too dull. These are the nuts and bolts I made with the caswell kit

No Panasport option? That would be my preference.

The two tach wires are part of the start/ignition circuit. I removed my broken tach once to get it serviced and the car would not start, it just turns over. I had to jump the two wires in order to get it to start without the tach installed. I am thinking of tapping into this circuit with a hidden switch in the future to use as a hidden circuit break to make it harder for theives to steal the car.

I read somewhere that if you open up the hole on the back of the fuel rail return line that it solves alot of the problems. Guess I will have to see how it does. As for now, I am very happy with how they are running. If I didn't pop the hood, you would think there were SU's under there.

Sounds like a good idea. I'll have to give that a try.

OK, running lean was exactly the problem. I pulled the flat tops off and checked the piston and needle configuration. The collar of the needle was about .010 out of the piston base on both carbs. I loosened the set screws and made the collar flush with the base, then re-assembled. Car now runs very smooth at constant speed. We will see how these perform now over the next couple months.

I am pretty determined to keep my newly acquired '73 240Z original and run the flat tops (AKA boat anchors). Initially, the car idled real well but coughed all the way up the power band. With a little study on the threads here, it sounded like the issue was the small pump on the side of the carbs. Sure enough, took these both apart and cleaned out the 'jelly' in the forward carb and the operation was much improved. (The rear carb side pump looked to be in good shape). Float bowls were both at the proper levels. The car now idles beautifully, works well when accelerating hard, works well when choked; but seems to have an intermittent miss when running at constant freeway speed. It 'feels' like the car is running lean. So, I am thinking that I will adjust the needles 'up' about .010" and see if that solves the problem. Any thoghts on this from the flat top crowd? Any input, other than switching to SU (which I agree are better), is appreciated Thanks, Rich

Hi Bob, Yes, the first silver ('71 240Z) sounds like exactly what he is looking for. The guy was originally asking $4500, but took $3200. The only rust issue was a quarter sized rust hole in the passenger floor pan and two minor rust patches near the rear dog leg. I will be welding those up soon here (before paint), but no big deal. The frame rails were dented but no rust and in reasonable shape. The battery tray was clean. The engine is a 260Z motor with high compression pistons that had just 5K miles on it. Still had cross hatching on cylinders when I popped the head. It also has a 5 speed trans and LSD, suspension package, Konig Rewinds, racing seat and racing wheel. All in very descent shape. The interior also was very nice. The guy also tossed in some beautiful stock seats, steering wheel and other parts. The silver paint was faded, but I will be painting that here shortly. Now that I have the '73 (with flat tops!) running well, I will put the '71 in the garage and start stripping parts, removing motor and glass, welding holes and sanding smooth. Should take me about month. I will have Lance in OC do the paint for me. Anyway, I am very happy with the '71. It was a very good deal and better than a lot of what I am seeing out there now. As always, PATIENCE is the key. Rich

some more items. The paintjob is really lame. Very bad overspray as you noted. also, you can see the bondo or bad patch spots. This is not a $3000 dollar car. Maybe $1600. There are much better...

here are some good rails...boy, I need to clean the bottom of my car

Looks to me like the original was very rusted out so someone partially welded bar stock in there. For what it's worth, I consider it one of the most important parts of the car. It is a structural member or a box beam component. I will see If I can find a picture a what a good one should look like.

Is this a frame rail???? I think it is

Looks like a fun project car with a nice body and rims...My biggest concern would not be the drive train (those you can get cheap-donor cars are all over). I don't see glass, bumpers, interior carpet, dashboard and a host of other things. Those get pricey when you add them up. If they are there, what is their condition? I think the thing to do is look for what you want in a car. Some people want a complete car in great condition. Others, like myself, want a diamond in the rough they can work on for a year or more (keeps me out of trouble). Depends on what you really want to do and have the time and money for. I think you can get a drive train for $1000, but that may need some work as well (I usually pull the head just to see what condition things are in). Hope that helps, Rich

The tape is just kind of worn/slightly torn from contact with the block, so I am leaving it 'As Is' for now. If it gets too bad, I will just re-tape it. I think the tape is just a secondary restraint for the magnets.

I had something like that happen to mine. The problem was the wire going to the dizzy would short on the exhaust manifold. I have since re-routed the wire to keep it way from the exhaust manifold. Just a thought. Also, check the terminal fits on the contacts for the entire ignition system (wires going to resistor and coil). Make sure they are clean and snug.

A couple observations from my install: In step 4; it seems very odd to me that they have an adjusting screw and then two fixed countersunk holes. What's the point in the adjusting screw if the assembly is fixed? The second countersunk hole (without screw in the picture), should be a slot just like a set of points. That way, when you assemble the magnet collar and it contacts the 'Hall effects sensors assembly', you can adjust it to avoid contact. Not only do you have worn dizzies, but you have tolerances of manufactured parts (petronics rivet assembly) that vary from assembly to assembly. After tearing up the green tape on my Petronixs because the fit was too snug, I slotted the countersunk hole. Much better fit...no problems. In step 5. What's up with the wire routing? The Petronics part should have been designed with the wires coming out the other side so you dont have 3 inches of wire flopping around inside your distributor. It should be on the other end, 1" then out the dizzy, no excess wire issues. The excess wire also tends to get pinched when you put the cap on. Anyway, just my two cents. Such is the curse of being a Mechanical Engineer. I think they could have done a much better job. Peace Out

I must say that I really enjoy this zinc plating stuff. I think the enjoyment comes from the fact that in about 30 minutes you can take something that looks like complete garbage and turn it into something gorgeous. Here are a couple before and after pics of stuff I did today. The flourescent lighting makes stuff look a bit orangey. In real life, the parts look much better. The only problem I have here is Patience. I am supposed to let the Yellow Chromate dry for about a day since I dont bake it at 150 to cure it. The problem is that I want to assemble NOW. So, here is what I put together today. Most of this was plated and assembled today. Only a few pieces were done a last week. It makes assembly slow, but sure looks nice.

Yes, love the color. Very nice set-up there!

I have both bought and sold vehicles on Craigslist. I find what works best is a phone number. Typically if someone calls you it's pretty legit. I always call them if they leave a number on the ad. The only problem is that you get the occasional car selling company that wants to low ball you or someone that wants to trade you tatoos for your vehicle. Private parties typically work best. Cash Only. Be careful with non-craiglist e-mail addresses.

When I bought my '71, my daily driver, it had the Tokico 5020 Springs and Illumina adjustable struts. This was way too stiff for me. I changed to the Stock springs but still have the Illumina's. I like this combo much better. It rides about an inch higher. It is still a bit stiff (I have 7/8" anti-sway bars front and back), but very solid.

I was first introduced to the Nissan USA folks through our Z-club, ZCCIV. They had my car in thier booth for the October 2009 JCCS show along with Yokohama. They wanted an original '70 Z to show with a 2010 370Z. They recently called me up about 6 week ago and asked if the car would be available for this photo shoot. I will probably blog that experience later. Nice to see the car getting a little press. Dad will be happy to see that. I'm in the 370 and my son is in the gold 240 for the dynamic pic. http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=CW&Dato=20100209&Kategori=CHICAGO&Lopenr=309009996&Ref=PH http://www.motortrend.com/auto_shows/chicago/2010/2010_nissan_370z_40th_anniversary_edition/photo_15.html

Yes , Just thought the whole spy thing was kind of funny as it was not very secretive at all. They did let me drive The 370 for the 'Dynamic photo shoot'. Was pretty fun with plenty of horsepower. Only bad thing is the track is really a motorcycle track and not a car track.

Of course we see a nice picture of the new 40th anniversary 370Z, but the spies have misidentified the 240 shown in the pics. It's obviously a 1970 Safari gold 240Z. What were they thinking?:stupid: http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/25/spy-shots-2011-nissan-370z-40th-anniversary-edition-spotted/ http://forums.mazdaworld.org/index.php?showtopic=40760

That is GREAT news!..very glad to hear it. Thanks for checking into this! :)