MikeW

Interesting; I didn't know that.

I would think you could even temporarily remove the thermostat and see how hot it gets. The thermostat should be completely open at 160 degrees, which, in Las Vegas in the summer is about 2 minutes after starting the car. After that the thermostat serves no real purpose. If at that point you're still running hot then you know it's not the thermostat ...

I'm just going by the quote on the MSA page that I referenced: "This is a very high quality aftermarket replacement pump. For Carburetor fuel systems only." You may be right in that it could be made by the same manufacturer that Nissan used but just doesn't come in a Nissan box. I'd certainly use it. I've even bought fuel pumps from the local auto parts stores.

The weight is not on the door tag. My 1972 Factory Service Manual lists the following. I copied this exactly but note that there seem to be problems with the numbers. In the US and Canada the automatic seems to weigh 50lbs more but in other areas it only accounts for 2kg (or 4.4lbs) even though it's listed as 70lbs more. I tried to format this as a table but it wouldn't happen. HLS30UV 1,066kg 2,350lbs USA and Canada 4-speed manual HLS30AUV 1,089kg 2,400lbs USA and Canada 3-speed automatic HLS30 1,043kg 2,300lbs LHD 5-speed manual HLS30A 1,045kg 2,370lbs LHD 3-speed automatic HS30U 1,043kg 2,300lbs RHD 5-speed manual HS30AU 1,045kg 2,370lbs RHD 3-speed automatic HLS30Q 1,043kg 2,300lbs LHD for Europe 5-speed HS30Q 1,043kg 2,300lbs RHD for Europe 5-speed

As I recall you can take off the valve cover and easily see the offset cam lobe. However, before you do that, are you sure the fuel is actually getting to the pump? Since the car sat for so long you've presumably drained the bad fuel, blown out the lines with compressed air, and added fresh fuel.

I'd suggest using the private messaging system of this site to avoid publicly posting your e-mail address which could make you a spam target. You can edit the post above to remove your address if you like.

There's a lot of confusion regarding model years. There's whatever the dealer originally claimed as well as when the car was originally registered. Another factor is the "series" of the car. Your car has a lighter above the fusebox which is a sign of an series I or II car. My 9/71 model, which is titled as a '72, has the lighter in the dashboard which was a series III change. 9/71 and 10/71 were certainly transition months and it was quite possible to have overlap during that time. Here's a place to see production changes: http://zhome.com/History/DesignChanges.htm

My first car was my 1972 240Z. Purchased in 1985 for $2450 with 140,000 miles. Drove for 5 years in college and then let it sit virtually without cranking for about 12 years. Fortunately most of that time was in my semi climate-controlled garage. Now refreshed for a whole lot more money than the original purchase price and has about 190,000 miles. My daily driver is a 1990 240SX that I bought new. The only 2 cars I've owned in 20+ years if you don't count my wife's cars.

Well, a speck checker doesn't help when you spell "site" as "sight". I have that problem all the time. What we need is a proofreader. Have a look at the Google Toolbar. Is has lots of great functionality including spell checking any web page which contains input fields. It's free and available for Internet Explorer and just recently FireFox.

The MSA pump is not OEM but is probably good enough. I wouldn't bother with something that wasn't designed for the car unless you're sure it will work. If you went with the electric you'd probably also need to purchase a block off plate for the original which goes for another $12 which makes up the difference in price. My factory service manual lists the mechanical pump at 0.24-0.30kg/cm^2 or 3.41-4.27 PSI. http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=11-3060&Category_Code=SFC02 http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=11-3066&Category_Code=SFC02

I noticed just recently that VB finally added a few "featured" parts online. Previously you had to just fill in the blanks with part numbers. MSA started online ordering a couple of years ago but are still taking way too long to get everything online. I can't figure out why in the world they both don't just do everything online and save a bunch of money on people answering phones and toll-free numbers. Prices could be updated dynamically and they could have full color pictures of everything they sell. Catalogs are expensive to print. They could answer most questions via e-mail and there would be no waiting to order something.

If you look close enough you'll see the edges. The easiest place is probably on the end of the dash with the door open. You might also consider taking pictures and posting them here in order to get opinions on not only the dash but any other parts that may be worth something.

An uncracked NOS dash will go for upwards of $1500 US on eBay. I'd make absolutely certain that it's truly an uncracked dash and not a well-installed dash cap. It's not that hard to get the dash in and out. I removed mine in just a couple of hours working by myself. Of course, it will take a bit more time than that if you actually bother to carefully label all of the wiring harness connectors and mounting hardware. :stupid: If you do want to transfer the dash to your own car you might find that you need to move all of your wires and gauges to keep things compatible. I wouldn't, however, attempt to remove the dash pad from the frame and transfer just that. There's too much chance of cracking it doing that. The fact is that if it's not cracked now it may be really fragile and close to cracking.

Yes; it's the black plastic elbow shaped duct with an accordion in the middle that's installed on either side of the car up near the radiator. The pull knobs under each end of the dash open a baffle that lets this air come in. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=8109

I see them on eBay occasionally. I got a used pair a while back myself. I've never seen aftermarket; it doesn't seem like the demand would be high enough to justify the manufacturing cost.

By longer lines he really means bumpers that stick out a little more (more than '70 to '72 anyhow). If he really wants longer lines he should go for a later 2+2.

With Dave's the connectors are down near the horns at the bottom of the radiator. The wiring from the headlight itself is unchanged. No wire splicing is required. He even provides a plug for the original connector that becomes unused. Everything is cut to the perfect length and can be installed (and uninstalled) very quickly.

The factory service manual as well as all of the 3rd party service books have a wiring diagram. For a 240Z it's only a single page so it's not that complicated compared to most cars. Which wires in particular did you unplug? What makes you think that it's a wiring problem?

It's special in that it has a flat side that properly fits in the slot in the spindle pin. If you can get it pushed out you'll see. If you can't find a proper replacement you may be able to take a bolt that's the equivalent size and grind it to match. My MSA catalog lists the "Lockbolt", P/N 23-4241 at $11.11 US.

It keeps the spindle pin from moving. If you just broke off the nut then the pin itself is still in place and doing its job. Based on the trouble most of us have had getting the spindle pin out you probably have nothing to worry about. You should be able to push the pin up and out and then replace it.

When I replaced all of my locks along with the ignition it took about 30 seconds each to use my dremel tool with a cutoff disk to put a slot in each security screw so that they could be backed out with a flat blade screwdriver. Bypassing the ignition is certainly easy. All you need to do is unplug the connector from the back and plug it into your own ignition assembly which you brought along. The biggest deterrent to a would-be thief is probably the steering column lock.

I don't see how the actually firing order could changed as it's directly tied to the crankshaft compression stroke for a given cylinder. It's quite possible for the engine to run on half the cylinders - usually because of a problems with one of the carbs - but it's not really drivable at that point. In the example given it seems like perhaps 3 6 and 2 are firing at the right time, 1 and 5 are firing 30 degrees too late and 4 is way off. In the first section below I'm attempting to show the proper Intake, Compression, Detonation, Exhaust firing order. Below that is the wrong order. You can see that only 4 is completely wrong. 1-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 5--I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 3---I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 6----I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 2-----I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 4------I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 1-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 5--I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 4------I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 3---I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 6----I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E 2-----I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E-I-C-D-E

Yeah, I guess I need to learn to keep quiet whenever someone asks a 280Z question and let someone like Stephen who actually owns one supply the proper information.

Your 280Z may be different than my 240Z but as I recall it's simply a matter of draining the coolant (there's a drain plug on the bottom), removing the upper and lower hoses, and removing the four bolts that hold it on. I'm not sure what you mean by "replacing" it but your best bet is to simply take the radiator to a local radiator shop and have them fix it right up. I highly doubt that you'd need a new radiator.

I copied these numbers from the official site where they are obviously given in kilometers so I converted them to miles for your benefit. Each line here represents a single day. Some of the short days are actually individual and team time trials but as you can see many of the days would require several hours driving in a car (remember that the route is often narrow twisty mountain roads and small towns) which would be enough to wear me out. The tour lasted from the 2nd to the 24th and there were only two off days. 11.81 112.78 132.04 41.94 113.71 123.65 141.98 143.85 106.25 119.61 107.50 116.20 107.81 137.01 127.69 112.16 148.82 117.44 95.38 34.49 89.79 Total: 2242.53 miles