RobotandtheRoad

Thanks! It doesn't seem like the antenna raising/lowering works anymore. AFAIK, the car never had an AC unit. The other one ('72) has a pod that's mounted hanging under the driver's dash instead of to the side of the center console.

Much to my chagrin, I'm getting into the wiring of this thing. Trying to figure out what/where "jumping into the ignition" is supposed to go. (If there's any advice, I'd love it.) As I try to understand where to wire the green connector that would go to the fuel pump, I've once again run into the following component: Does anyone know what this is? The top switch is a push-to-activate and triggers the sound of a small electric motor somewhere in the paneling behind the driver's side seat. The bottom is an on/off switch and I'm not sure what it does.

I have been working on a '71 that has sat in my garage for a long time. The last time I remember it on the road was around 2006 when I was a little 'un in the stiff seat riding the 80 to Lake Tahoe. This car has been my father's since production and he took care of it. At some point, he had 3 of them. The '72 beside it needs a lot more work, but was in the hands of Scotty Kilmer in the 2000s. I'll get to that one at some point. If this one goes well. The last time the '71 moved was in 2021, but it hasn't driven. I'm doing this in my father's memory. What I'm doing here is trying to get the car back on the road. It's been difficult. I am not someone who knows cars. Starting this project off, the first thing that I did was drop the gas tank and clean it. I've had a number of people step in with guidance as well as help and it's been very enlightening. I have been documenting it, partially to show what's going right and wrong to people, but also for myself. Those videos can be found on Youtube. Current problems with the '71 (Ordered as most to least pressing): A. Does not accelerate B. Spark Plugs have blackened C. Parking break seems weak, but engages D. Hazards do not work E. Hood latch cable is snapped F. Glovebox keyed to the '72? & Glovebox light drains battery G. Minor body damage and paint Here is a list of things that have been done on it, in (almost) order: 1. Dropped the gas tank. Cleaned and coated it. 2. Replaced all soft fuel lines 3. Replaced the starter and battery 4. Cleaned carburetor 5. Replaced mechanical pump 6. Changed oil and oil filter 7. Checked spark plugs (👌) 8. Rebuilt carburetor 9. Replaced clutch master and slave 10. Replaced front brake calipers 11. Replaced drum brake pads and wheel cylinder 12. Replaced mechanical pump 13. Messed up the ignition cylinder... (Discovered problem F) 14. Tested driving & Washed the car (15 feet) 15. Replaced starter 16. Fixed the ignition cylinder 17. Rebuilt Brake proportioning valve 18. Adjusted parking brake 19. 'Fixed' blinker, brake, and headlights (Discovered Problem D) 20. Reconnected air box 21. Replaced Starter 22. Tested alternator (👌!) 23. Tested driving(1/5th Mile) (Discovered Problems A, B, and C)

Thank you very much for the explanation! That's much, much simpler than I imagined. I'll look into the manual. Car idles and revs well. It creeps in gear at 1st, 2nd, and 3rd... but it only creeps (slightly faster in higher gears) regardless of RPM. Jerks forward up hill, but will not move uphill. Will be doing more testing after I just learned the spark plugs have blacken since I last checked and before getting it running. Will clean them and see if conditions have changed. Generally I have been checking the basics—fuel, spark, air, clutch engagement—and wouldn't even know what to look for when it comes to adjusting the carburetors. (Honestly, I was hoping to get the car moving on its own to be taken to a shop that could dial in the carbs. People that actually know what they're doing.)

I'm having some trouble with acceleration under load and think fuel/air delivery may be a problem. Learned the hose was not connected. I assume this creates air pressure in the float bowl? Can someone confirm or correct? What problems would it being disconnected cause? Also, the pipe is pressure from the engine right? Does this help regulate the air/fuel delivery to the combustion chamber? (Especially when accelerating) (As a bonus question, how does the Summer/Winter dial factor into this?) A lot of what I'm seeing on carburetors says the float bowl prefers atmospheric pressure. It seems like the hose would be bad for that, instead matching the pressure coming in the carb's air intake through the airbox. (This is assuming the pipe puts the airbox under positive pressure)

I thought I had fixed the issue of fuel delivery via priming it. I am wrong! All that did was let the car run and give me the false sense of success when the underlying issue—the mechanical fuel pump—is still not adequate (likely). Gas gets into the clear fuel filter just before the pump, but not very well. The car does not run off of anything that isn't in the float bowls and doesn't accelerate despite revving. I'm going to try hooking up a pump sprayer(?) before the pump to see if gas pressure is the problem. If it is, I suppose I'll add an electric fuel pump. If not, then I'm afraid it's a clutch issue. I saw ethanol free gas while I was riding around Arizona and Oregon, was surprised to see it! Don't have it here though. I'll look into Sea Foam though, thanks.

The spacer I've on it isn't that big, more like a thin, flat gasket. That said.... I had no clue carbs needed gas manually put in them to start. Priming it solved the pump issue as the engine ran long enough on float bowls that the mechanical pump could get to working. Turns over just fine. The starter, on the other hand, was replaced and ran everything fine. Really hope it doesn't go out as quickly as the last few. As a side question: I opened one of the float bowls and saw the gasoline residue there from last working on it ~month ago. Since gas sitting in the carbs over a long period of time is the reason carbs have to be cleaned if you let the car sit, is there a simple process to prepping them for storage? I can only assume, otherwise, they'd need to be rebuilt before or after storing.

I'm on my 5th replacement of starter and 4th replacement of the mechanical pump on my 240z in the last 2 months. Is it really this much maintenance? I'd imagine replacing these would normally lead to them working for a while. The mechanical pumps stop pulling fuel through the lines at some point. Pulling them out and actuating them by hand gets suction, putting them back in does not get fuel up the line. I do not have a second person to test the suction while the pump is installed. They work immediately when they're new, then stop over the course of a day or weeks. Fuel comes up the line just fine (by mouth... if it matters.). I can only imagine the eccentric lobe isn't actually pushing the fuel pump lever far enough to pump... or I'm not cranking the starter long enough to prime an otherwise dry system. What am I doing wrong? Similarly, I'm doing a lot of dry cranking as I test the car and get it operational. The starters keep going out. I'm cranking for 3-5 seconds and letting rest for 5 seconds (trying to deal with the issue above fuel pump issue usually). Want to know if starter solenoids are this poor or if there's a different process I'm missing.

The reason I say "From what I understand" is because this has happened with two different ignition cylinders from 2 different 240Zs. One of which was already using an aftermarket ignition cylinder. The only difference is that the aftermarket one gave up the key without a fight once it got stuck. Maybe both were worn in the same way. I'm not willing to risk it with the recently unstuck cylinder just to see what happens. Don't ask me why I repeated the mistake... part of the process was figuring out what key went to where. That's 6 keys between 2 cars. At least now the ones for what I'm currently working on are clearly marked.

Initially got the key out with a little bit of tugging. I was able to take the lock to a locksmith and get the cylinder unstuck. From what I understand, it will admit any wrong key and turn as long as a specific cut matches. Then it breaks or gets stuck after turning to a certain point. A little frustrating on a car with 3 different keys.

Noticed some odd keying for the Z I'm working on ('71). Another car's ignition key being keyed to the glovebox and— Anyway: I turned the ignition with the wrong key (WK), it got stuck 180° clockwise (in the on position) and won't turn back with the WK. This WK turned smooth into the on position and got entirely stuck. The right key also has resistance going in and I don't want to break anything further. I already have a work around, but is there any way to keep the ignition and fix this? Also why does it allow the wrong key, turn, then lock up?

Just in case I do something similar, would you have a recommendation for a modern one to replace it?

I'm not much of a car person, so the resources I know of to reach out to are... low. There's 2 Datsun 240Zs in my garage and, while neither run, one is a bit closer than the other. Figured I'd use one as an example for the other, in case I took something apart and didn't remember how to put it back together. Though, one has a part that I'm having trouble naming and it's not there on every image I've seen for the car online.