TBone028

No, its coming directly from the carb. I can see it. I do have a colour-tune, I should check to see where I'm at as far as mixture per carb, just havent dont it yet. I also have a sychrometer that I have yet to use as well. Just thought I would post to get some ideas while Im at work. And yes, I do think my valves need to be adjusted. I know its part of the tune-up process. Just havent had a chance to yet and dont have the correct tools to set them properly. Thanks everyone, I'll post back after I see whats going on.

I have yet to dig into the wonderful world of SU carbs and have a general question. What does it mean when a carb is lightly smoking? Right now, the carb closest to the firewall (I believe that is considered the rear carb, please correct me if Im wrong), smokes at idle. Its very light, and I can see just small wasps of white smoke. What does this indicate? There isnt any backfiring, and the car runs well. No hesitation and excellent drive-ability. According to my A/F ratio gauge, I'm running just slightly rich (exhaust mounted wideband o2 sensor). Any help/insight as to what this indicates would be greatly appreciated.

Well, after making adjustments at both the clutch pedal and the slave cylinder, it shifts like butter now. No grinds, no difficulty, no problems. Everything works as it should. Nice and smooth, and clutch engages/disengages nicely. Unfortunately, the slave cylinder is f*&$*ed. It was moist, and I could tell it has been leaking. Surprisingly though, it didnt affect the test drive at all...which puzzles me. Oh well. I have new parts on order.

Good work! Always a good day when weeks of work pays off.

Whats up everyone, hoping someone can give me some more ideas. So my 72 240Z has a 5-speed, and when the car is off, I can shift into any gear easily and without any effort. When the car is on, I can barely shift into first, if at all. And when I am able to get it into gear, it takes a herculean effort to do so. Once I get moving, I can shift into other gears with relatively easy effort, getting easier as I upshift into higher gears. If I come to a stop and sit for a while (like at a light for example) it starts all over again and I can barely get into first gear. I had to turn the car off, shift into first, and then start the car. Reverse, is a resounding grind but usually will go into gear. I'm hoping that it is a clutch pedal height issue, but I have not ruled out a bad master or slave cylinder. When I tried to adjust the pedal height last weekend, I could not turn the nut on the master cylinder push rod (under the dash). It looked like there was plenty of multi-purpose grease on there and didnt look rusted together, but it did not want to move. Am I supposed to clamp down on the rod with some pliers first, and then adjust the nut to give more travel? (Should the nut go towards the front of the car, or towards the back???). When I checked the fluid level in the master cylinder reservoir, it was low. Topped it off and need to check it again to see if I have a leak. Things I have not done, but will be doing this weekend if I cant solve this with a pedal adjustment. 1) Bleed the clutch 2) check for leaking (again) 3) Order a new master and slave cylinder 4) Shoot myself. What am I not thinking of? The attached diagram shows the adjusting nut for the pedal adjustment...for some reason I thought there was supposed to be a lock nut as well? Or is that only with adjusting the withdrawal lever on the slave cylinder? Open to any and all suggestions. thanks, T

So, prior to installing your headlight relays, were you parking lights working and now they arent? Or is this an existing problem that you are now trying to fix? I dont know how the 260Z is wired, but, when I was hunting down my parking light issues (kept blowing fuses), I ended up disconnecting every single light, and slowly plugging everything back in one at a time. My problem stemmed from the parking light sockets in the front turn-signals. Years of wear and exposure to moisture were the culprit. They were corroded, and somehow causing a short to ground. Went to the auto store, modified a pair of 3-wire turn signal light sockets meant for a ford van, and adapted them to work. Havent had a problem since. This was after rebuilding the combination switch twice, tracing every single wire, and testing every connection I could for 2 weeks. My advice, if you have a battery tender, hook it up to your battery cables instead of using the battery itself while you are trying to trouble-shoot. Less voltage and you have a convenient power shut-off button. Also get plenty of spare fuses and beer. Electrical problems are the worst. I also went ahead and installed the parking light relay upgrade from MSA (built by Z'sondabrain). A very worthwhile upgrade and I wont have to worry about wearing out my combo switch anytime soon.

RB26DETT in your 240Z? It wont go very fast unless you put a direct nitrous fogger set-up into each turbo. Also, dont forget that unless you go with a forged radiator cap, the twin-turbo's will overheat and your car will go boom. The RB26 swap has been done and is possible. I would advise doing some research and heavy reading over on hybridZ regarding the swap before posting any questions though. Although the group welcomes people looking to make their Z into their dream car and purism is a non-issue, there is a lot of information there that needs to be absorbed prior to asking basic questions that have already been covered. Anything is possible with a well thought out game plan and a deep wallet.

I would say no to changing back to an original style steering wheel...but thats just me. If you decide to get rid of it though, I'd be more than happy to take that Datsun horn button off your hands! Looks great btw!

I think I lost brain cells reading that initial post. Sounds like someone got a hold of the Wangan Midnight comic books...

If you arent already lurking on hybridz.org, I suggest making your way over to that forum as well. Good luck with your project!

If it is just surface rust, then it is not rust free. But if it looks relatively solid, and there isnt anything beyond just surface rust (rust never sleeps...there will be more that is hidden. On the east coast we would say that is a fair price. But in AZ, it seems like Z's have not suffered the same fate that Z's in my area have seen. I guess it all depends on what your plans are for the car...Weekend toy? Purist restoration? Full on track demon? If non-originality isnt a big deal to you, then I say go for it and haggle a little. Maybe $4700? And I would agree, dump the 4-barrel and go to SU's or triples.

Thanks! Great pictures. Wish I could have made the whole trip. Looking forward to being more active with the club.

Glad to see this car was finally picked up. Its been for sale for a while now, and its not far at all from where I live. Would love to see some regular progress and photo updates on this car.

I'm sure if you go to a fabric shop like Jo-anne fabrics or something, you can find something close to the original diamond vinyl or just something that will look ok. Cut a pattern and put it over your trans tunnel. If you want, try to find some thin foam backing. Use 3M spray adhesive to secure...you can find it at any autostore. For the floor-mat carpets, just make a pattern you can live with out of cardboard or something, and then transfer it to your carpet material. You can try to take it somewhere to get the edges bound, or, if you know someone with a heavy duty sewing machine, just sew on a border out of the scrap material that you used to cover the trans tunnel. I actually did not want to permanently adhere my floor mat carpets to my floors, so I went to the autostore, and purchased hook and velcro 3M tape. I used 4 1"x1'' squares per side. Worked really well, and I just made sure to clean the area of dirt/dust before I applied the tape. That way, I can take my carpets out to clean them whenever I like. They barely move and dont slide around when I'm getting in and out of the car.

I believe you will also need a 280ZX oil pan among other things.

Modern fuel injection is great. But, based on what you asked, most people would say the 280Z fuel injection is outdated and will be a lot of work to convert over to your 240Z. If you're still kind of hesitant, order the DVD "Just SU's" from Ztherapy. It will give you a great idea of how they work, and how to service them yourself. From there you can decide on how difficult it will be for you to maintain yourself. Chances are that if you send your current carbs to ztherapy to be rebuilt, once they're on you wont have to touch them for a very long time.

If you are putting this L28 into your 240Z. You will need to do a whole lot of work to convert to EFI. Just to start you will need things like: 1) ECU 2) High pressure fuel lines 3) High pressure fuel pump 4) running all the associated wiring for 6 injectors and various sensors The list goes on. Once you get your 240Z ready for EFI, get the L28 transplanted and hook everything up...cross your fingers and assuming it runs...then: If you decide you want more power from the L28 (i.e. cam, headwork, etc) you will find that the antiquated factory EFI will not know what to do with the increased fuel and air you've introduced. Your gains will be minimal if anything at all. That being said, lets take your L28 (assuming its got solid compression), drop it in your 240Z, send your SU's off to Bruce at Ztherapy, bolt them onto your 240Z intake manifold and run that with the L28...you will be surely happy. Later down the road if you decide to put in a hotter cam, swap the head from the race engine you have to up your compression ratio...your SU's will still be up to the task of feeding the engine (for the most part). There are a lot of resources on hybridz.org that can give you some great inspiration for whatever route you want to take. I would look into what kind of block and head combo's you currently have at your disposal. There is a chart somewhere around here that tells you all the different combo's and what kind of compression ratio you can expect. 9:1 or 10:1 is pretty aggressive for the street. From what I'm reading, you have 3 engines available to you. Thats a lot of different possibilities. I'm not even touching the tip of the iceberg by the way, I have no idea what you have, your mechanical skill, or resources available to you in Montana. Personally, I think EFI is a fantastic thing. I would like to eventually convert my carb'd stroker to individual throttle bodies and use something like Megasquirt n' Spark for control. It would not only give me more power, but mainly be much more reliable and smoother in every way. What I'm saying is that the factory EFI is NOT the best option when planning for more power. What I'm saying is that strictly from the options you listed (Factory EFI or Carbs), I would go the carb route. The only caveat: Sidedraft carbs like SU's are a lost art. You will most likely not find a local shop that still knows how to work on them and you would have to do the service/maintenance. Just something to consider. Good luck with your project, hope to hear some updates once you decide which direction you go.

I think you also need to think about what you want to do with your Z. Will it be all show and no go? Or do you want to actually get some power out of your L28? Also, what car is this going into? 240Z, 260Z, 280Z? My Opinion: Factory EFI, not bad, but as far as performance, leaves much to be desired and is often replaced. Carbs...finicky, a lost art, and a pain in cold weather. That being said, SU's are probably one of the best types of carburetors ever built. I have them on my stroker.

Thank you Zlady, I think I will try to meet up at the Sheetz, submit my application and dues, and drive part of the way down with the club. Unfortunately, I had some recent obligations come up later that afternoon.

25 feet of part number 1120A331 from McMaster-Carr. http://www.mcmaster.com/#1120a331/=6l3xfm I would not hesitate to recommend this as another option. For me, my doors were difficult to close due to overly thick weatherstripping. The McMaster-Carr weatherstripping fit perfectly and took about 40 minutes total to test-fit, cut to length, and securely install on both doors. Initial leak test showed zero leaks and my doors now close perfectly with just a light push. Post and reviews from other folks on the weatherstripping here: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/83080-new-weatherstrip-alternative/page__st__40

McMaster-Carr weatherstripping works great and was $42 shipped to my door in just 3 days from me ordering...just a thought for those of you who dont want to wait.

Unfortunately, I cant make the April 14th meeting, but would still love to try and join for the 18th. I still have yet to hear back from Mike Bell, so if anyone has any further details involving this meet-up, please let me know.

Thanks! Just used it for some parts needed to pass inspection for my daily driver. Save $2.50!

Thanks guys, I just emailed Mike Bell. Hopefully the weather will be cooperative for April 18th. Pbarcher, are you a member of ZCCNV? I'm in Fairfax as well. Hope to meet you at this event if you decide to attend.

Peter, I have an amp mounted under my passenger seat installed by the previous owner. I live in Fairfax County as well. If you want to take a look at it and get some inspiration, let me know.