LanceM

Hedders are part of a package of performance parts. If you are not going to change the cam and carbs you don't really need headers and won't really notice any improvement in performance. They will raise the underhood temps also. I would say that if you are not going to be doing any other engine mods I would stay with your current setup.

Well I've got it troubleshot down to the starter!! With all wires removed from the starter except the = - from the battery, jump it with a screwdriver and away it goes!!! This falls into the catagory of way too weird, so time to pull the starter again and figure out just what is going on with it!!

On my 73 240 when you go to start the car the starter won't stop even if you shut the key off! I thought it was a bad solinoid and put in a new one and it does the same thing! The only way to stop it is to pull the battery cable, luckly I guess the engine doesn't seem to be firing either??? If you reconnect the battery then everything is fine until you try to start it again. This started all of a sudden and I'm sort of stumped as to what the cause is... I don't see that there is a relay in line but maybe I'm missing something in the wiring diagram. Any and all help on this stumper would be apreciated!

I would think that they would have to be pretty dirty, but then they may be! An easy test would be to pull them off and take a quick spin down the road. I won't hurt anything to run around the block once without them unless you live on a dirt road

I'm a Webber guy so this might not apply, but the carbs looks simular in construction so they probably work much the same way. My first guess is that the float level isn't set right or the needle valves are leaking bad. Ever get any gas dripping out of the front of the carbs? The only adjustment besides syncing them is the idle mixture which is out of the picture at 2K. If they have a "choke" which is really a mixture riching valve maybe they are stuck open or you are running the choke lever in the wrong position, this would give you a way rich mixture all the time. If you have been running it this way for a while the plugs are probably pretty fouled and could be part of the current problem, though it sounds like changing them will only be a partial fix. Those are my guesses....

Did you put it under the carpet too? I'm just wondering if the bubbles will pop like under your heal and cause your carpet to wear faster because of no cushion. Sounds great though for the tunnel and firewall!

I feel your pain, I'm in the same situation. The first thing I did was decide that there was no way that I was going to be driving it before next spring, I'm in northern Indiana so who knows when that may be I've been doing a little of both, body and engine. When I get tired of doing one I work on the other, sometimes I don't have the money for one but I do for the other. Fuel line is just a couple of bucks and there's plenty to replace, I spend $5 and have something useful to do for an evening and another thing is done. In doing my inspection for rust I pulled the fenders and I've decided to leave them off until next year, it's alot easier working on the engine compartment with them off and I don't have to worry about messing up the paint with a belt buckle or dropped wrench. I guess my advice is go slow, do things in logical steps (like don't worry about getting the engine to run before you clean out the gas tank and lines) and switch to another part of the car when your interest in the current job is in low tide. Make a list of what you need to replace and carry a copy in your wallet, that way if you feel like working on another part of the car tonight you can stop on the way home and pick up the parts without trying to remember what you need. When you are restoring a car like you are take your time and do it right, and since it all needs to be done, do it as you please and enjoy yourself.

Hard to say without seeing what you are trying to come from, how about a pic of your car so we can see what has to be done to get where you want to go...

I find it interesting that your low readings are in pairs for the most part. Putting oil in and increasing your readings does indicate rings but can be a fooler sometimes. Typically low paired cylinders indicate a bad head gasket/warped head/cracked block, alowing one cylinder to leak into another. I would be very tempted to pull the head and look inside, it would be only an afternoons work and a couple of gaskets. With readings down to 20 that cylinder should either have a ridge like a clif at the top or look like someone took a grinder to it!! This would also give you a chance to see if the engine is worth rebuilding, if the cylinder walls are tore up you would be better off finding a newer better block to start with. You can change rings with the engine in the car, no fun but it can be done. I too wonder how you got it home with readings like that, I'm suprized that it runs at all

First thing I would do is run a compression check, it will only take 10 minutes and will tell you a world of info before you tear into it. If it is just a head gasket, you could have it changed in a couple of hours for the cost of the gasket. That would keep you driving until you are ready for the big swap, if it is more than the gasket then I would only work on the swap not spending any money on something that you are going to toss in a few months.

I'd say bad sending unit. I've had simular problems before except I would loose pressure at speed, sort of a shock the first time it happens

Just got mine out after 15 years of sitting. Clean the fuel tank, unless it was put away dry you will have some really nasty stuff laying in the bottom of the tank. Bleed the brakes and the clutch, flush out all of the old fluid. If after the bleeding they don't work expect to buy new masters, don't bother with the rebuild kits, they are a waste of money, been there done that. I replaced some fuel lines & filters, cleaned the carbs, changed the oil and filter, I greased up the cam for the first start and dumped the last two quarts of the new oil on the valvetrain. She fired right up! I've still got some carb problems but I hope to cure them today. Good luck on your new project!

No they shouldn't be tightened as far as they will go, they are the adjustment for toe in. The best way to adjust them is to center the stearing wheel then adjust them so that the rotors are parallel and in line with the rear wheels.

I would say that all's well, there isn't much resistance in the clutch pedal and it should go all the way to the floor. As long as you are getting full disengagement of the clutch with the pedal pushed in you are ok.

A knock sounds like someone wacking the block with a ball peen hammer, nothing like valve noise. Usually only heard under hard acceleration or high load like lugging it in high gear.

Before you take it apart try running a bunch of fluid through it. I've found that the clutch will gravity feed, put a 3/16" id hose on the bleeder and stick it in a can, open the bleeder and get back to the master and keep it filled. If you have an extra person have them pump the clutch slowly. That should really flush the old crap out of the lines. If after that the clutch is soft or leaking down it's time for a new master and maybe slave. Don't bother trying to rebuild them, I just went through that and now have new, with wasted money on the rebuild kit Something else I found is that the slave is steel, water in the system sinks to the low level when the system sits for a long time and rusts the crap out of it. If it works now it probably won't in a week.... If you change the master spend the extra $20 and replace the slave at the same time and be done with it. Another case of do it now or do it later....

I'm putting what I was told were Datsun Euro 240 springs on my 240. I can't tell you much about the fronts as they are already on the car but I have a rear here, Free lenght 14" about 9 1/2 coils wire dia. .460" part # 55020-E4201 Right ft 9 1/2 coils .460" wire part # 55020-E4106 Left Ft 9 1/2 coils .460" wire Part # 55020-E4107 They are suppose to lower the car 1" and are a higher rate spring. I guess I'll find out next spring For compairison my old stock springs off the front were 10 coils, .430" wire.

Timing is a funny thing. With the timing too advanced static you can have cold start problems and low speed problems, though yes it seems to give you the best power warmed up and running. Since your engine is mostly stock my recommendation is to do it how we did it in the old days, lug it like you are doing in 4th gear and keep reducing the timing until the pinging stops, pinging is bad. Now if you have problems cold starting or low speed continue backing it off until you have the best of both worlds. One of the things to remember now that these cars are older is that the springs in the distributor are tired and the weights may be worn. This will change the curve of the distributor, the amount of advance to rpm. In a perfect world there is a perfect advance, giving you spark at the right time to make the most power at that particular rpm. When things get tired you get too much advance to soon causing pinging in the midrange until the engine rpm catch up to the spark advance. Remember that every ping is a little chunk blown out of the top of your piston, like I said not a good thing... So by setting it so you don't have a ping through out the rpm range you know that you are not exceeding the advance curve no matter what your static setting is and hopefully getting the most power available from you advance curve. Clear as mud right Oh and to get higher timing marks, put a timing tape on your dampner and use the zero mark on the case as the reference point. I don't know any more who or if anyone has them anymore but once again that's how we did it in the old days It just divides the dampner into 360 degree marks using the TDC mark as the zero point. Ah if it was just 30 years ago and I still had my 454 Monte Carlo SS I'd show you Boy am I glad I'm not buying gas for that today!

Sounds like a place to give return business to. So often anymore the job is done when you drive out the door instead of when you are satisfied.

Since it was done in a shop I'd take it back! Sort of sounds like a short in the wiring causing a full load on the system since in theory all current runs through the ampmeter. Could be just a bad connection or a bad VR but since someone else did it I'd keep showing up at their doorstep with a smile until it was fixed right.

Closing the warm air intake won't hurt. It's a polution thing, cars before the '70s didn't have it. Ram air sounds neat but requires proper ducting and is only effective above 100 mph. Cost to gain ratio makes it unpractial for the street. The money is better spent in increasing hp in other ways.

Hi Brian, The stock electric fuel pump is mounted to the chassie in front of the fuel tank on the passengers side. If I remember correctly the electric fuel pump only runs after the engine reaches 600 rpm or so. This is a safety feature so if in an accident the fuel line ruptures and the engine is stopped the pump won't empty the fuel tank just because the key is on.

Looking at mine I would say that the pin was a press fit, in other words it was never ment to be removed. Given that and the age of the car it is probably rusted in place. I would go with your option of threading it, drill and tap the pin out, that would save a lot of pounding

The other day I got my 240 out and drove it up to the house to do some power washing on it, (just running after 15 years of storage), it ran fine and I put it back in the shop. Last nite I wanted to fiddle with the carbs and went to start it when it went Klack klack klack with every turn of the engine and I mean it was a real LOUD KLACK! Needless to say the start was aborted and the cause of this sound was looked for. Found it under the valve cover! one of the rockers had come off and was getting beaten by the cam and other moving componets!!! Oil spray tube bent, spring cap dinged up but luckly that's about it. I was able to straighten the spray tube and put things back together. Needless to say I checked the valves, several rockers were about to fall off! and a couple were way too tight! The funny part was that there was little if any valve train noise when it was running... Moral of the story, just because it was running when you put it away 15 years ago, and started and ran fine 15 years later, you should check all of the adjustments even though you aren't going to be driving it for 6 months..... sort of one of those pay me now or spend more later things

I'd say the VR is shot. I don't remember for sure but I think if you unplug the VR there is no output from the altenator, so the steady voltage you are seeing is the battery voltage.