240ZX

Greetings to you! I believe you're on the right track to learning about the early Z cars.............you're at the correct site. Here is what I did, as I too was lacking in Z car knowledge when I jumped into reworking my Z. I went to a number of Z car shows to see what I could see and inquire about what was of interest to me. Boy, did I ever have a lot of questions too!!! Then I started surfing the internet for any and all the information I could find that I could use or thought I could use. After creating quite a large collection of info, I went through the whole pile of info and sorted the stuff into catagories as well as discard the info that wasn't too good. Basically, info that just didn't jive with the other info on the same subject, written by others. Not all posts can be taken as gospel. Once you've digested enough info on any one subject, you start to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. So, do alot of research, it's cheap, and then figure out what exactly you want to do to your Z. Figure out a budget for what you intend to spend on your new toy and then double it!!! For myself, I budgeted about $12,500.00 (US dollars) What I actually spent was closer to $18,000.00 OK, maybe 1 1/2 times, in my case. Anyway, there will always be those "gotta have" items that will bump up your limit. Please don't think that all Z car projects cost this much. Then again, depending on what you intend to do, I've heard expenditures as high as $50,000.00 When you go looking for your new toy, everyone here will tell you the same thing, find one with the least amount of rust!!!! OK now, go for it! P.S. I hope this helps you off the starting line. Good luck! Remember one thing.....focus on what you will have when you are done and not on the little problems you encounter along the way.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't your Z smog inspection exempt? If so, save yourself some $$$ and ditch the smog stuff!!! It will also improve your performance! That's just one mans opinion.

Gavin, I totally agree with your last paragraph. Like I've said before, the 350Z is one heck of a performer, but it still looks ugly to me!!! 240's will always be the best looking Z's, IMO. Let's face it, how many cars have the style and class of a 30+ years old 240Z. Everytime I take my 240 out for a drive, you see people turning heads. You gotta love them!!!

Ask the guy for the VIN. Good point about the rear vents....I think they went away sometime mid 71 !!? Good luck, if it's a buy.

Ian, This is just off the top of my head...........assuming it does bolt up to L24 motor, you may want to concider what modifications are necessary to hook up the throttle and choke linkages and what CFM the single carb is capable of flowing. I think the dual round tops flow a total of about 450 CFM. Come on, I need some help here Alfadog!!!

WannaZ, It's most likely the year he is specifying. Take a look at the picture of the engine bay. See the I.D. tag mounted to the right side strut tower....I believe only the 70's and early 71's had the I.D. tag in this location. Later models have the I.D. tag mounted up on the firewall, somewhere! Someone please correct me, if necessary, as I'm old and forgetful......but I can remember that we ALL do love are early Z's.

Thank you for correcting me Rick!!! I guess I was being a little self centered there! Sorry guys, I lost it for a moment.

Well, the only thing that will be new here is dealing with the cam chain. Don't let go slack and fall down into the housing. If you don't already have a repair manual, get one. It will show you what you need to retain the chain while the head is removed. If the chain does fall down inside the housing, you have two problems....#1 you have to fish it out....#2 (MOST IMPORTANTLY) you will loose the timing relationship between the chain and crank sproket and you will have to remove the front housing and reposition the chain. Definitely read the repair manual, as it will also show you the wedge you need to maintain the position of the chain during disassembly and re-assembly.

Doug, I checked out the pics in your gallery today. Nice clean looking 240Z. Very classy looking with the Panasports. Where you located?

Maybe I'm just getting old or something, but to me the new designs BMW are coming out with are pitiful!!! Have the new age of designers been spending too much time playing video games and such or have they a lack of talent and creativity. Come on, look at the funny style lines on the sides of the Z4! What inspired those? The M coupe, well it just look strange. It's really sad too, because BMW's are great performance cars with great reliability. So, what's happened with the looks department? Glad I own an early Z. Now they look great!!! But that's just one man's opinion!

I'm with Beandip. I don't want to be too critical here but, maybe a little schooling in basic auto mechanics would be appropriate here Keith. However, you obviously got the cam cover off, so you must have some skills. Any ridicule you may get here is just in fun. Remember, we all love the Z car. So, if your not sure of yourself, do as suggested and have an experienced mechanic do it for you and watch what he's doing so you can do it next time.

Good question, but no answer!!! Anyway, he's got one hell of a nice ride......and Oh what an engine bay! When I attended the Vegas show back in 2000 I got my first look at this Z. One of Tod's buddies mentioned something to the tune of 400+HP. If looks could kill....this Z would be lethal. I'm quessing that someone here will come up with some answers!?

It sounds as though you are sucking oil past your valve guide seals. At 91,000 miles the seals are likely a bit worn. Well, at least it keeps the top end lubed. Seriously, it won't hurt anything but the environment. So quit decelerating.....keep it WFO!!! Keep enjoying your toy......until you must overhaul.

Now isn't that special!!! A yellow tragity!? I suppose someone loved it at one time!!!

This weekend I watched the TARGA of NEWFOUNDLAND. It's a rally run on local backtop roads and the participants seemed to all be of the non professional type. Anyway, the rally was every interesting. This guy and his wife, from down under, have a 68 Mustang fastback that just ripped. Then I really got excited when I saw an early Z, paint white with the red and blue side stripes, that was doing really well and looked way cool....................but then, on a tight right hander that was damp, the guy locked it up and right into a barrier. There went that front end!!! I almost got sick. Did anybody else see this Z car tragity?

Inspect your bottom end!!!! The picture of the metal peices that came from your pan warrant it!!!!

If you started with your front wheels pointing straight forward, you would be @ "0" toe. The dimension given for toe-in will be the total of both wheels, not each wheel. So, toe-in is the total toe-in of both wheels, from "0", at the leading edge of the wheels. Hope this helps you out!

Check all the rubber bushings and differential front mount for deterioration. My quess would be that the front diff. mount is shot and allows the diff. to rotate up into the retaining strap!

Hey! Anyone in the Ventura County area interested in putting together or just getting together to do a fun run locally.....we do have some pretty nice roads to work out on. Saturdays or Sundays can work for me. It seem that we have clubs in the L.A. area (south) and we have clubs up in northern Cal, but nothing in between.....anyone intersted?

Just replaced my worn out Yokohama A520's with a set of the new Yokohama AVS AE100's. I'm running 215-40x17" front & 235-40x17" rear. I love the A520's, as they have great turn-in responce and great traction, but they are a bit noisy and tend to follow road irregularities. The new AVS AE100's seem to have the same kind of traction, with a slower turn-in responce, but are much smoother, quieter, and don't follow the road irregularities nearly as much. Overall I'm quit happy with these tires. They are used mostly for spirited canyon cruising here in SoCal. Ok, I know there are probably better choices if you want to run autocross but my toy is just that....a street toy! Come on, lets here what all you guys are running and what you think about tire preference and performance. Please deposit your 2 cents worth............................

A couple of places you might check out are the centrifical advance in your distributor, assuming the valves are adjusted and the idle timing is correct, and also your fuel pump delivery. If either the distributor or fuel pump are near shot, they can provide intermitent operation. Just some ideas to investigate! Tell us what you find.

Check out KRYLON paints. (there are probably many companies that have similar products) They have a wide selection to choose from and have recently come out with a new paint for plastics. Spend a little time searching the net and you should be able to find exactly what you need for your application.

Coilovers......that is the question!!! Well, they will allow you to adjust the ride height at each corner of the car. They will allow you to run wider tires/wheels because of the reduced O.D. of the coilover springs. You don't necessarily have to shorten just struts unless you are intending to lower your car an inch or two or more. If you lower the car concideraby, without shortening the strut assemblies, you will wind up with very little bump travel and have loads of rebound travel...not a very effective suspension set-up!!! If you do lower the car, you may want to consider camber and or caster adjustment capability. Relocating the front transverse link pivot height (up) is also a good thing to do when a Z car has been lowered considerably. This step will improve the suspension geometry and minimize and or eliminate the bumpsteer effect. With a little research, on this site and on numerous other Z car sites, you will be able to gain a perspective on all sorts of suspension possibilities. Regarding the strut inserts (shocks) when shortening struts; the easiest way to obtain the correct length inserts is to talk to the manufacture of the coilovers you will be installing. Oh! The Chapman struts in the rear do have inserts like the front but, slightly longer. Anyway, this should get you thinking in the right direction. Understand that just about any modification you can think of, for your Z car, has likely been done and has been written about. All you have to do is do your homework. Good luck and I hope this info helps you out a little.