Carl Beck

This might help some in the future: http://Zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/69-83TrannyShifterDrawing.jpg The one on the Left is not out of a roadster, as they used the Type A transmissions in both 4 and 5 spd. versions. As I recall most truck transmissions were shorter.. ie had shorter tail shafts... FWIW Carl B.

If I had to guess - I'd say it was for an early 78 280Z most likely produced at or near the end of 1977... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Rich: That is even more amazing!! It looked like it had less than 30K miles on it before you started detailing it. Your Father must have taken exceptional care of that car.. way beyond exceptional.. FWIW, Carl B.

Looking GREAT - don't forget that you'll have to take the intake manifolds back off - to get the Air Injection Tube's back in... Keep the pictures comming - BTW - did you ever say how many miles your Z has on it at this point? FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Bo: I should have said "the largest set of wheels/tires that would fit on the 240Z without modification - was a 215R50x16". Nonetheless it's good to see/hear what can be done with minor modifications and the right size/offset wheels. Many people don't want to cut the body up and add flairs...

Hi Jerry: If it is "ready to install" - why are you - or why do you have to modify it with connectors from VintageConnectors.com? Post some pictures if you can - I'd like to see it... BTW - did you really mean Vintage Connections - www.vintageconnections.com/ FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guys: For decades it was "common knowledge".. that the largest wheel/tire that would fit on the 240Z was a 215R50x16... usual wheel was 15mm offset. Are there no 215R50's available? Just curious...

Hi Guy: Copied below - simply for information purposes, is the note I sent and the reply I received from WeldCraftWheels.com . If anyone has any interest feel free to contact James directly. = = = = = = = = = == = = From: "James" <james@weldcraftwheels.com> To: "Carl Beck" <beck@becksystems.com> Subject: Re: Wheels - Panasport Aluminum Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 07:56:14 -0400 Hello, I have welded forged and cast aluminum wheels as well as spun aluminum wheels .... no problems. What size are your wheels and how much do you want to add? James ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Beck" <beck@becksystems.com> To: <James@Weldcraftwheels.com> Sent: Friday, July 03, 2009 2:46 PM Subject: Wheels - Panasport Aluminum Hello James: I was looking at your Web Site - because a friend of mine ask about widening his Panasport Aluminum wheels. Another friend tells us that the Panasports can not be widened/repaired because they are Forged Aluminum Wheels. I don't believe that is the case, as everything I can find indicates that they are cast aluminum alloy. Nonetheless - I don't see any exception noted on your Web Site related to "Forged Aluminum" wheels. So I thought I'd contact you to see what you say? If one had a set of Forged Aluminum wheels, is there any reason they couldn't be modified? thanks, Carl Carl Beck, President Internet Z Car Club Clearwater, FL USA http://ZHome.com

Hi John: Welcome to the group. I bought my first 240-Z from Paul Jaremko at Valley Datsun in March of 1970 {now Jaremko Nissan/SAAB} and I've been driving them ever since. Paul and I are friends to this day as well. I still have the Metallic Blue 72 240-Z that I bought at the end of 71, it's the only car I never wanted to get rid of. If you have metal fabricating and welding skills - you are in better shape than most of us. The mechanical aspects of the 240-Z are very easy to master. As mentioned, Post some Pictures A little rust in the rear threshold plate {below the deck lid} and the doglegs are pretty common on the 72's. But in general they didn't rust nearly as quickly nor as extensively as the Series I cars did. Pre-fabricated patch panels are available for the dog legs {area at the front lower part of the rear quarter panels}. Remember - this is supposed to be fun. Enjoy the process and the end result will take care of itself. good luck, Carl B.

He needs to come up with something far more "original"...

Hi Les: Everything I can find says that the Panasports are cast aluminum alloy - not forged wheels. Earlier discussion here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29585 It seems that everyone was saying that a forged wheel would be far lighter and stronger than either the Street or Racing Panasports. Panasports Web site mentions only casting.. Am I missing something some where? FWIW, Carl B.

A 7" wide wheel with a "0" offset will have 3.5" to each side of the centerline that runs across the mounting surface of the wheel/hub interface. Because a 7" wide wheel measures 7" inside the rim lips, it is usually 8" wide measured to the outside of the rim lips. Backspace - is measurement taken from the mounting surface of the wheel to the outside of the rim lip on the back side of the wheel. It is always better to actually measure the wheel for "Backspace" - but you can usually get close by calculating it. On the wheel above with "0" offset, you would add the 3.5" width inside the rim lip determined by the offset being "0" - and the additional 0.5" thickness of the rim lip itself - to get a 4" backspace. Jon said you can use a 5.25" Backspace. So if you wanted to stay with the 7" wide rims which should be about 8" wide measured outside the rim lips - your new wheel would have 5.25" of the 8" width to the inside of the car and 2.75" to the outside. Converting "Backspace" to "offset" then, you would subtract 0.5" from the 5.25" and get 4.75". That would then be 1.25" {31.75mm} offset. {3.5" of the "0" offset wheels from 4.75" = 1.25"} That however might leave your wheels looking like they are set too far to the inside.... Do you need an additional 1.25" of clearance on the outside to get the tires past the fender lips? Maybe go to a 7.5" width with a 5.25" Backspace and/or a 32mm off-set. Or don't use the full 5.25" Backspace and go with a 7" wheel with 15mm offset. Just keep in mind that "offset" deals with the width of the wheel measured inside the mounting lips. "Backspace" deals with the the distance from the wheels mounting surface to the outside of the rim lip on the back side of the wheel. Most aluminum rims have at least 0.5" thick lips. Another option for tire clearance is to simply have your body man roll the fender lips under. In the old days, we simply cut slots about 12" apart around the fender lips, so they could be bent up inside the fenders. Then we put a baseball bat between the tires and the fender lips and rolled the car forward/backward... adjusting the bat to use an ever thicker part to roll the fender lips up... hope that helps... FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Tristan: Thanks for the update. The split image pictures are a GREAT way of showing the improvements. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Chris: On my listings I have L24-2476 as the lowest engine number used in March 70, and L24-005562 as the highest reported. So that I could sort numbers - my list eliminates Zero's to the left of the first significant whole number. Nonetheless - as reported by the owners - several report L24 0055xx, several others report L24 055xx... So it would at least seem that for some reason, some engines got four digit numbers, some got five digit numbers and some got six digit numbers - if the owners reported them correctly. With the exception of #2476 & #2497 which were reported as being in cars produced in March 70 - - all engine numbers below #3606 were installed in 69 Production units and 01/70 units. So by Feb 70 all the engines had eight counterweighted cranks. You may have got "August" as the date that the TSO was published. I don't recall Rich saying that - but I do recall someone else mentioning that it might be possible his engine had the three different lengths. As mentioned above - owners report numbers with four, five and six digits... but all have only four siginificant digits. Could have been a way for the foundry to keep track of different lots produced... Who knows? FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Guy: That's easy. As Arne mentioned you want a 10mm off-set, not a -10mm off-set. You take the wheel to a wheel widening speciality shop and have them add 10mm to the width on the back side of the wheel. Street rod'ers have wheels made wider all the time. Just google "widen aluminum wheels" and most likely find someone in your area. If not, try the Yellow Pages.. BTW the stock steel wheels on the 240-Z's had a 15mm off-set {.59"}. FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Rich: When you drop the steering rack to replace the bushings I'd suggest that you add a strip of lead stick-on wheel weights - across the top rubber bushing. This will tighten up grip that the clamps have on the steering rack. This really should not be considered an "up-grade" so much as a bit of reinforcement to the OEM bushings - they were too soft and too weak right from the beginning. Either do that, or use steering rack bushings made from more modern materials. You will also notice what looks like a muffler clamp - around your steering rack. That clamp has a rubber nose on it that presses against the front cross member. Normal by now the glue that held the rubber nose on the clamp drys out and the rubber nose falls of. Make sure you glue it back on if that is the case and reinstall it. Nissan added these clamps to help keep the steering racks from walking around in the soft rubber rack bushings - which puts unnecessary stress on the tie-rod ball joints. FWIW, Carl B.

In 1970 I installed a set of CIBIE Biodes in my 70 Z. Wish I could buy a new set today... They were among the first 7" round halogen replacements for the OEM headlights. They had two halogen H1 bulbs - one for the low beam that utilized the standard large reflector.. and one for the high beam that was inside it's own smaller reflector.. a projector beam more or less. When the high beams were on, both H1's were on. Very directional lens and the high beams were amazing! You could see highway signs light up as the light from the projector beams hit them more than a half mile away at night. When installed in the Z - you had to insulate the metal mounting taps on the back of the lights - otherwise they would short out to the body - and that would burn your engine wiring harness out!! The sealed beams that are OEM have glass mounting tab's on the back of the glass lens.... and as we know the ground for the headlighs runs through the wiring harness. Picture courtesy of TRE Motorsports FWIW, Carl B.

Hi Mike: Sorry to hear that - but you are not the only person that has happened to. One guy found a "body man" that took his car apart - collected the money for replacement parts and body shop supplies.. then left town. The "body man" was working on the car out of a rental garage, on which the rent hadn't been paid for several months. The owner of the car wound up paying several months back rent - just so he could get in the garage and get his car out - in boxes. After that he found that not only were there no new parts, but many of his parts were missing. It could be a 76 L28E with an aftermarket turbo set up. Or it could be an 81-83 L28ET factory turbo engine. Most likely quite a difference between the two possibilities. Get the engine serial number off the block and Post it - then we'd have a better idea of what your dealing with. The engine serial number should be stamped into the block, just below the #6 spark plug. There are several options, among them are: 1. fuel tank from a 75/76 280Z {edited per sblake01 below -thanks Stephen} 2. modify the fuel tank from the 240Z (hard to do) 3. install a serge tank You can't use a stock 240Z fuel tank as it isn't baffled properly to supply constant fuel to the pickup - a lean condition on a turbo engine can melt pistons in a heart beat. By all means post some pictures ... FWIW, Carl B.

Timing Is Everything... but he should have removed the reserve by now... and grab the $15K...That's a strong bid in todays market... FWIW Carl B.

The first thing you want to do is compare the original engine serial number on the Data Tag - to the engine serial number on the block. Ask for clear pictures of both.. With a VIN of HLS30 06513 that car would have had a build date of 07/70. Not really what most of us think of as an "Early 70" - - more a mid-year 70. If it was built in July of 70 - it most likely arrived in North America around Aug or Sept. Most likely sold as a 1971 Model Year - although it could have been sold as a 1970 Model Year... True that the very early Z's into Canada were not equipped with the Air Pump, nor gasoline vapor recovery systems... but for the most part they were built in 69 or the first three months of 1970. The original engine serial numbers for July of 1970 build dates seem to run mostly in the L24-94xx to L24-97xxx range. Although that is not absolute.. To tell you the truth - I personally can't see enough clear details related to the SU's to tell much about them.. Could be an earlier engine swapped into a later car.. ie a non-matching number car... Still worth the price if there is indeed very little rust. FWIW, Carl B.

FROM: The SEMA Action Network Saved From The Scrapyard Hobbyist Protections Added to Lessen Impact of Cash for Clunkers Program It seemed inevitable. In response to the economic tsunami, nations around the world have enacted cash for clunkers programs to help jump-start new car sales. The United States has now joined the crowd. But, there is good news. The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and the SEMA Action Network (SAN) persuaded Congress to spare cars 25-years and older from the scrappage heap and expand parts recycling opportunities under the new law. Congress passed the controversial program in June. Consumers who voluntarily participate, will receive a voucher to help buy a new car in exchange for scrapping a less fuel-efficient vehicle. The SAN was able to ease the program’s effects by convincing lawmakers to include a requirement that the trade-in vehicle be a model year 1984 or newer vehicle. This provision will help safeguard older vehicles that may possess ‘historic or aesthetic value’ and are irreplaceable to hobbyists as a source of restoration parts. The measure also allows all parts to be recycled except the engine. Lawmakers were convinced to permit the drive train to be recycled if the transmission, drive shaft or rear end are sold as separate parts. The cash for clunkers war had two battles. The first ended in mid-February when President Obama signed a clunker-free stimulus bill into law. For the previous two months, thousands of SAN members responded in force by deluging lawmakers with e-mails, faxes and phone calls in opposition to a scrappage program. The second battle began on March 30 when President Obama embraced the idea as part of a financial aid package to help a struggling auto industry. The signal was sent—when, and not if a scrappage program would be initiated. The SAN then focused its efforts on lessening the impact of the program on the hobbyist community. “SEMA and the SAN are disappointed that Congress ignored evidence that vehicle scrappage programs will not achieve claimed environmental benefits,” said Steve McDonald, SEMA’s Vice President of Government Affairs. “However, we are pleased that lawmakers agreed not to include the older cars and parts that help drive the passions of many in the automotive hobbyist community.” Under the program, consumers who agree to scrap a trade-in car that gets 18 miles per gallon or less (15 mpg or less for heavy pick-ups and vans) will receive a voucher to buy a qualifying new car. The voucher will range from $3,500 to $4,500 based on the new car’s fuel efficiency. The program primarily targets SUVs and pickups since most passenger cars manufactured during the last 25 years get more than the 18 mpg combined city/highway requirement. The car buyer will receive a $3,500 voucher if they buy a new passenger car that was rated at 4 mpg higher than the older vehicle, or a new pickup truck/SUV that was at least 2 mpg higher than the old truck. They will receive a $4,500 voucher if the passenger car was at least 10 mpg higher and the truck/SUV was at least 5 mpg higher. Lawmakers want the program to last one year but have only set aside $1 billion to fund car purchases made from July 1-Nov. 1, 2009. They will seek another $3 billion later this summer to fund the program into 2010.** “It took countless meetings with lawmakers and their staff in order to secure the 25-year exemption and recycling provisions,” said SEMA Director of Regulatory Affairs Stuart Gosswein. “While it proved impossible to kill the scrappage program, lawmakers were keenly aware of the SAN’s opposition to the program and wanted to remove any unintended consequences to the hobbyist community. Your voices were heard.” FWIW, Carl B.

"It" the 73 240Z or "It" the 280ZX Turbo engine??? The complete 280ZX Tubo engine - or are you useing just the long block - that you plan to run carb's on? Sounds like you are actually doing an L28ET complete swap. You do know that you'll need to either change the fuel tank or add some type of surge tank - right? You didn't mention what engine management system you plan to use. Are you going to use the original L28ET ECU or are you going to up-grade to something else? I would suggest that you get on E-Bay and search for a Factory Service Manual for the 280ZX with the Turbo Supplement. Also it would be helpful if you provide a lot more specific details about exactly what you have and what you plan... Pictures are a great addition to our understanding as well... All these types of engine swaps have been done many times - so you should be able to complete yours... FWIW, Carl B.

Oh... is he wanting to buy a CAR or is he wanting to buy PARTS? My response was based on the preception that he wanted to buy a CAR that he wanted to be correct - but Mike seems to take it that he wants to buy correct PARTS... In which case the Parts Catalog is what he needs.. sorry if I misunderstood.. FWIW, Carl B.

You can just clean the metal and solder {or braze} the tubes back in place. They weren't welded in there to begin with. Oil pressure - is really needed to support the main bearing/crank interface. Past that point oil volume is more an issue. The spray bar provides a good volume of oil distributed along the cam/rocker interface, and that oil then drains back to the pan. So the condition of the spray bar has little to no effect on oil pressure. FWIW, Carl B.

I used to have American Collector many many years ago - so I don't know what they do today. First let me say that in all too many cases the Agent selling the insurance - misinforms the potential customer by saying things like "you are limited to 2500 miles per year" or "you can't drive the car more than 2500 miles per year" - just to weed out real Collectors with Classic Cars, from Enthusiasts that plan to drive their cars "almost" every day. Some Agents say these things - but when you read your Policy you will normally find that there is no specific mileage limit placed on the car. Always Always keep in mind that what the Agent says is meaningless - what is written in the Policy is what defines the coverage provided and the limits on the cars purpose/use. All that said - I have used the Hagerty for many many years now. They will tell you that most of the time the cars they insure are rarely driven over 2,500 miles per year - but that mileage alone is not a limit. If you drive it over 2500 miles one year - no problem. The restriction is that the car must be used for pleasure use only, NOT FOR DAILY TRANSPORTATION, nor to use as a temporary substitute for daily transportation... Classic Car Insurance is relatively inexpensive - and really IMPORTANT for our old Z's - as they provide excellent coverage with an Agreed Value at very reasonable prices. Get your Policy and go over it with your attorney if possible - see what it says... If your not happy with the Policy, switch to another carrier.. Personally I always recommend the Hagerty and they love our old Z's... FWIW, Carl B.