deadflo

Well I guess I should ask for opinions on how to test the ballast resistor???

OK, I wonder if it's a difficult part to get?

Again I am getting spark, but too weak to realy get car running for very long...i.e the plugs will foul with gas. I am basing this on spark that will not jump across a KV meter. It reads how much spark you have and if there is enough to jump the.30 or so gap of your spark plug. Right now it will only jump about .005 It's a deal you connect to plug wires and ground, and then it has two points that mimic a plug gap. Wires, cap and rotor are all nearly new, but I am wondering if the rebuilt dizzy is more the culprit. Also wondering if the ballast starter would be playing a role?

When i got the car to run, whcih was for only a minute or so before she died, I checked the dwell and it was in the ballpark. I have not been able to restart since, and thats when I noticed the weak spark.

Oops no, it's the 71 Z. Stock dizzy with points. I seem to be getting spark at points, but again I beleive it to be weak, given the previous description.

Ive finally been able to determine my no run condition has a alot more to do with weak spark than the carb situation (see rust in gas now bad running thread) I had spark at the plugs, but realized it is very weak. My mechanic loaned me a little tool that will show spark from a spark plug wire and how far of a gap it will jump and its real tiny for the spark plugs. I did replace the coil. I can get spark from the coil wire to ground, but comparing it with the spark from my 280Zx shows it to be weak, as in not very bright. I also used a 12 V test probe to confirm I do have power to the coil, and that the switcheing mechanism in the dizzy is working (tester on neg side of coil blinks on and off when engine turns over). A trouble shooting guide i have says it could be cap and rotor, at least if you have spark from the coil, and I havent checked that out yet. They are not all that old, but NOTE I did put a rebuilt dizzzy in last fall. Think it could be bad????

When I signed up with haggerty two years ago, they offered me coverage of 6K for my car, when i renewed this year they said they could insure it for 12K, but I thought this sounded a bit overvalued. My car is very original but certainly needs paint and some rust repair.Anyway I stuck with 6K, but im suprised Carl feels this is fairly low value. 6K would buy a pretty decent car around Spokane or on Ebay. Have the values gone up that much in the last two years?

Very good analysis, I think the Z is poised to become more collectible in part because there is a huge cadre of younger folks who worship the "ricer" Japanese cars, and they are discovering, or will discover the history of their vehicles and the ancestry of the Nissan Z. That's my theory anyway.

I bought my 280Zx on June 1st 1990, with 95K on her. Still driving that car, although no longer every day, she now has 169K. Bought my 71 240Z March 23rd 2004 with 98K on odo (198K more likely), now has 109K(209K)

You know it does look alot like v12's 260 color, but it's kind of hard to tell... I have always referred to a similar color that I've seen on 280-Z's as "ice blue" and that may actually be what is on that 240-Z in the brochure, because it's a small pic and you know color can vary alot in photos. i will try to take a digital pic of the brochure photo and post it here. Also Marty, I wondered about the color combos and how rare they are. Once Sal at Motorsport told me the blue interiors were only in about 5 percent of the early cars, but that seems a bit high. Also Ive seen more blue than white interiors, but who knows which is more rare?

I also have Haggerty, and while they told me I could not use it for driving to work, they did not give me a specific mileage limit per year, as rtayor mentions...

Speaking of color, I picked up a little promo brochure of the 1970 line of Datsuns. it has a pic of a 240-Z that is light, robins egg blue. I have never seen this color in picture or real life before. Anybody else know anything more??

OK so I guess that means the 73 cables won't fit...my outer wrap on both cables is cracking, so maybe I should replace both of em.

Do the cables vary a great deal depending on the production year? My car is a 1/71 build date, has four screw SU's. Woudl cable from a later year work? Someone from this forum is already offering to sell me some from a 73...

Ok well it sound like I should probabaly get some cable, what do you recomend to lube em up with ? Is it difficult to install?

My rear choke is coming on ok when i pull back my lever, but the front one does not move, although i can push up on the linkage at the carb and the nozzle will pull down. What should i look for to repair this? Is it a case of a broken cable, or could the cable be binding up? Alos can you still get OEM cable? I have heard bike cable is not the best thing to use. This is just one thing i'm trying to fix in my ongoing saga, for more details look at the thread"rust in gas bad running now". Thanks folks!!

Thanks to all who would still be following my saga. Today I pulled and cleaned the plugs, and put about a tablespoon of oil in each plug hole. Hit the carbs with a bit of starting fluid, set the chokes and ...she started ! and ran for about two minutes. I had the high idle screw tunred up to keep her idling but then she started to lose revs and died. I confirmed she was still getting fuel, I could see it coming up into the filter. I pulled the plugs again, they did appear wet, but I figured it was from the oil?? I cleaned em off again and she ran about thirty seconds and died. I would like to be able to check carb balance, timing and dwell, but can't do so till I get her to run a little longer. Anyway I guess my mechanic idea of lack of compression was correct. OK well any ideas what I chould check for now?

Yeah I came to the same conclusion about the oil down the cylinders, I will mention that to him today, and see what he says. I will also ask him about the lack of acelerator pump on the arbs as far as a chokeless start up goes. He does seem like a good guy, and obviously he hasnt charged me anything to come out to my place, I live about 12 miles outside of town.

The site was down the last few times I tried to get on and update my situation. I did get the leak situation fixed, it was definately the little gaskets on the fuel inlet bolt. Also, I had fried the points by leaving the key in the on position. I put new points in and gapped em. Checked and confirmed I have spark. BUT, while I can get her to run for a second or two, it's still a no start situation. Recall that I know a guy who runs a car shop, who has owned a few 240-Z's. He came out to my place on his own time and kinda looked over the carbs. He pulled the domes off and the pistons and the carefully measured the distance between the nozzle tops and the brass (?) deal it sits in. He said there was a specific measurement that is where the nozzles should sit, regardless of the two and half turns we've all heard about. Anyway he said they should be set up ok, and we tried to start it. He did not want to use the chokes at all. I thought that was kinda weird , but regardless we got no start. He also claims i should be able to start my Z anytiome without the chokes, by pumping the gas while cranking. I didnt really like the sound of that concept, in part because the owners manual says specifically not to pump while cranking. Anyway he figured we had soaked the spark plugs with gas and so he had me pull em out and dry em, and then try again the next day with some starting fluid. I still had no luck, although I did use the chokes.I noticed one of the chokes would not come on when I pulled the lever, so I manually pulled the nozzle down. OK, this guy has not charged me for any work. He has given some advice on what to look for. He believes she has lost compression since the gas flsuhed all oil of the cylinders. He says he will try to come out this week, and PULL THE CAR to get the engine to kick over and then we'll get compression again. Does this sound like a reasonable idea? Or someone who is grasping at straws? he seems real confident it will work. I thought maybe we should just shoot some oil down the spark plug holes and try that.

You know those tockico springs look great!! On this forum folks have said the tockico's were progressive on the front springs, but the spring coil distances sure look uniform on both pairs you have. Anyone know if these are progressive? I would like to pick up some tockicos if they aren't.

Have you ever seen this webpage? http://www6.plala.or.jp/iga/car/nostalgic/index.html It's a 2002 vintage car show somewhere in Japan. Lots of S-30's, and neat stuff like Toyota 2000GT, Mazda Cosmos, etc, plus great US cars like corvettes, cobras...