Walter Moore

Really? My internally lubed cam shaft came with plates to bolt over the oiler tube openings. It seems to work, because the engine has run for years that way.

Hello again. I just replied to your post at http://www.indyzcarclub.org/ We seem to be traveling in the same circles.

Typically in the U.S. any car sold after October is the next year's model. I hear that in that era it ended up being whatever the dealer put on the paperwork. But the "series 1" cars were made well into calendar 1971 anyway. Oh, and my clock works, not very well, but it only loses about 1 hour per week. All electro-mechanical clocks from that era were like that, at least the DC powered ones. The pictures look great, but beware of the typical rust places, and remember that the floor of cars rust out from the inside, not the outside. Remember to check things like all of the U-joints, brakes, exhaust, etc. (Those headers look old to me. Uncoated headers usually only last 3 or 4 years in the wetter parts of the country.) Good luck!

Could it just be that the fuel mixture is too lean for hot weather? I also notice that you didn't list a thermostat among the items you replaced.

Actually all of the Mustang II (74-78) and Fox Body Mustangs (79-93) had four bolt wheels. I think the were a different bolt circle diameter however. (4 1/4" comes to mind.) But then no one would ever accuse a Mustang II of being a muscle car.

Simple green and a scrub brush will work. It just takes time.

The Holley electric fuel pump that I put on my Z (from Summit Racing) came with instructions specifying that it needs to be protected with a 7 1/2 amp fuse. I used 14ga wire and thought that was overkill. 10ga wire is fused at 30A in house wiring. On a car it would be expected to carry the full output of the OEM alternator. But hey, it is your car. A little extra copper won't hurt anything.

I used a strand of copper wire to clean my plugged nozzle. I just stripped back a 10ga stranded wire, separated out the strands, and used them one at a time until the blockage was free. Sorry, I don't know a good source for the nozzles.

Define "standard" size tires. The OEM tires on the early cars were 175/80 14, which are no longer available. The OEM tires had a theoretical OD of 636mm (25 inches). The later cars came with 195/70 14 tires which have a calculated diameter of 629mm and the Tire and Rim Association book shows them at 630mm (24.8 inches). I don't have a T&RA book that still shows the original tire size. So, if you have 195/70 14 tires on your car, and all other things are right and working correctly you speedometer should read 636/630 times faster than you are actually traveling. Which equals about 1% fast. (You would never notice) My guess is that either the speedometer is out of calibration, (it is 40 years old...) or something in the system isn't actually the part you believe it to be. Edit: Have you checked you odometer to see if it is accurate? If the odometer reading is correct but the speedometer is off it is in the speedometer. If both are off by roughly the same amount, poke around on Courtesy Parts to find a 20 or 21 tooth speedometer gear and try that.

Nice looking frame/body that you have there. Hey, a stroked L series is still at least a Nissan motor. (more or less) It retains the car's original look and weight distribution. No harm no foul in my book.

Are you changing the fluid in the transmission or the differential? First because they take different fluids. Second because there are drain and fill plugs in both units. On the early cars with universal joints on the half shafts they bolt into the differential. I would be a royal pain to pull them out just to change the fluid.

Hey, he fixed the listing! He doesn't know what it is, but he will be happy to pack it up and ship it to you!

That is where I was in 2002. I found my car sitting along the side of the road with "$125 OBO" on the windshield. I had never personally owned a Nissan or any other Japanese car. Five years and several thousand dollars later I got it running. I am still working on it but at least I can enjoy driving it. Hopefully your car is in better shape than mine. It took me so long because I did all the work myself, on a shoe string budget. Good luck! Glad to see an new face in the game.

Hey, I have one of those in my basement! Never thought about selling it that way. (Something about my outdated moral code I suspect...)

I believe that the single row pulley is a racing/after-market part. All years of the 240Z came with an air reactor pump, and the later years started adding true factory air conditioning and various power accessories. Edit: I am talking here about U.S. specification cars... other markets will differ.

So the problem then becomes that it is nearly impossible to prove that a 77 280Z that had paint code 411 was NOT originally a "ZZZAP" Z. Looks like a golden opportunity for certain less than scrupulous Ebay sellers to me...

So, any advice on the best quality and sound available in speakers today? That is meant to be a serious question by the way. The speakers in my car right now are old used parts that I bought cheap in the 80's, pulled out of my Volvo after my better half drove it through a stone wall, and were stored sitting on a steel shelf for 20 years. You could say they have seen better days.When I have to crank the stereo up on the interstate they sound really bad. (By the way, my wife walked away from the crash without a scratch. By golly those cars are safe!)

Yep, I saw that.

I searched the various FSMs until I found references to a neutral switch on a manual transmission. There is no switch shown on the 71 FSM, which is why I didn't think the transmission had such a thing. The earliest reference that I could find was in the 73 manual, so I assume that is the year transmission you have. If you want to hook this switch up I would just make up some extension wires to get it to the neutral interlock connection in your automatic wiring harness. The switch may just be out of adjustment. On the other hand I suspect that most people just jumper the two interlock wires from the automatic harness and live without the neutral interlock. You would just have to remember not to start the car without pressing the clutch pedal down. I personally don't think I ever owned a car with a manual transmission that wouldn't start in gear. Just one of those things you have to get used to doing.

It isn't a neutral switch. The later 280Z had a high gear switch that ran to the distributor to increase the spark advance at highway speeds. At least that is what I read somewhere on this site. (I can't find the other thread now...) The 4 speed that was in my 240Z when I bought it also had that same switch up at the top of the housing near the shifter. It is useless on any car except the 280Z. It seems like someone said even those cars ran better with the switch disconnected.

Since he is in Arizona the 20W50 might be acceptable. In Indiana using oil that heavy in any month other than July or August is suicidal. I have been running 0w40 in mine since the rebuild with no oil consumption. But then what passes for a cold day in TX or AZ most of the year would be considered normal here.

Have you checked with these people: http://www.zbarn.com/index.html I think they are sort of local to you. (At least closer to you than to me...)

I have a black rubber antenna on my 240Z and the reception is horrible. Just thought I would chime in here.

Arne, Where did you get the Cibie headlights? I had a set of those back "in the day" for my 82 Charger 2.2 and I would love to get my hands on a set of 7" round Z beams for the Z. (I found some site that will order them but they seemed pricey....)

That is a late 70's Datsun 280Z. The year will be listed on the tag in the engine compartment visible in your second picture. You can download the appropriate factory service manual here: http://www.xenons30.com/reference.html