2ManyZs

Yeah, I whined now about Alphadog being 17 and having a 240 as his first car. My first car when I was 17 (way back when) was a 1973 Plymouth 'Cuda, 340, 4 barrel, Slapstick, A/C and now I only wish I could have that car back. I was making $2.00 an hour and couldn't afford to feed it gas while I was "cruising for chicks" so I traded it for a motorcycle. Yes, I have told myself what an idiot I was back then, over and over and over and over........... Why is hindsight such a PITA ???

Since so many of you are still in your thirties or younger does that mean I'm a Senior Member?? No, let's not go there! And don't say what you are thinking kmack! Sophisticated occupations?? I guess instead of putting truck driver I should have put Mail Relocation Technician with a "Master's" in Heavy Vehicle Dynamics. There now I'm sophisticated too!

Nice find! It looks like it is definately worth fixing up. You'll have to give us up-dates once in a while so we can see it again. Even though I'm a "kutlz" with my left hand, I always wanted a right hand drive. Missed my chance on one years ago.

It's hard to say how much HP you would gain by going to 40 over pistons only. You would increase your displacement a bit, but the total gain would depend on what other modifications you make. Carbs, porting, which head, which size valves in the head, cam, final compression ratio, so to be honest it would be hard to say exactly how much of a gain you could expect. Yes, you'll gain a few HP if everything else is left completely stock, but with a few more mods you could be looking at anywhere from 30-60 HP gain. With just the pistons maybe 10-15 HP, but that's just a guess. I might be guessing a little high. Just remember HP costs money, at some point you can spend a lot of money to make very small increases. If you have a stock L-24 your best bet might be to go to an L-28 (280) bottom end and get a bigger increase in displacement and go from there. There is an old saying that goes "there is no replacement for displacement". It holds true for L series engines as well as a Chevy small block or whatever.

If it is the early 260 with the small bumpers and carbs, almost everything will interchange with no problem. Only differences would be if it had fuel injection and the bigger 280 style bumpers. You wouldn't be able to use the bumpers without making a few changes. There may be some interior parts that are not the same if the 240 is an earlier model. Some of the wiring may be different, they changed the plugs on the wiring harnesses a few times during the 240's model run, so I'm not sure you would be able to take out switches etc. and have them plug right in. As far as the major body parts hood, fenders, doors, hatch they will swap over with little or no problems. Suspension wise they are the same.

Let's see, no you would want the drive gear that came in the four speed since you want it to read right with a 3:36 rear. 280's had a 3:54 so if you put in the 280 drive gear it would be off. You want the drive gear that corresponds with the rear end ratio so that your speedometer would read according to the final drive ratio. Unless he had a 3:54 from an automatic which would make it right with the drive gear from the 280. I don't think I'm confused, or am I?

I have all the old issues of Z-car magazine except for one. I'll look through the pile and see if I can find out anything. I'll try to post something tomorrow on what it said.

Most people go for the 5 speed swap when they plan on changing the rear end ratio to something quite a bit lower than the stock 3:36. The fourth gear ratios of the 4 and 5 speeds are 1:1, and fifth is around .86:1 I believe. So, if you think you might want to go for the rear end swap in the future you might want to go ahead with the tranny swap now, if it's already apart you won't have to pull it later. The biggest benefit of swapping the 5 speed is with a lower rear gear you get quicker acceleration in the first 4 and have overdrive to cruise on the highway. It's isn't the most difficult swap so if you are so inclined go ahead and do it. But with the stock rear it is going to be a bit sluggish in fifth gear. Your final drive ratio would besomewhere between 2.90:1 and 3:10:1 in fifth ( I'm just guessing, I'd have to find the formula to figure it out exactly) so there is my 2 cents worth.

Yep, that is one of the biggest problems with a Z-car. There isn't a seam on any car that is sealed. The reason? SPOT WELDS. Ever really look at your car? Ever open the hood and look down the inner fender at the weld flange on the frame rails? Notice how many waves and gaps that are there? Guess what goes into those gaps. Yup, water and dirt. I doubt if there has ever been a frame rail that truly rusted through from the outside. They always rust out from the inside out! Rocker panels, quarter panels they all rust from the inside out. By the time you start to see the rust on the outside the little "metal maggots" have got a big head start on turning your car into junk. What to do about it? Well, since it's not likely anyone is going to completely dissasemble their car, clean every nook and cranny, then butt weld every panel back together. The only solution is to try to get as much of the crap out using whatever means you can think of, (however EScanlon's idea sounds pretty ingenious) and after letting it sit to dry for a couple days invest in a little seam sealer. It isn't expensive, it's easy to use and best of all it might just keep your car from becoming a rust bucket parts car before the really nice paint job you just spent so much time and money on starts to lose a little of its shine.

What about building small speaker boxes in place of the kick panels under the dash? Could easily be done with a little bit of plywood and you won't have to cut anything up. You might lose a little leg room but they shouldn't have to stick out too far, of course it all depends on the size speaker you choose. Just my thoughts.....

Eastwood's also has a tank re-sealer kit that is quite inexpensive, but you will have to buy acid at the hardware store to use with the kit. Hopefully you can find someone to repair yours or find anothe one in a junkyard somewhere of off someones parts car they may be selling here in the For Sale forum. They are one of those parts that the aftermarket sometimes has and sometimes can't get. I would say you should be able to pick up one pretty cheap off a parts car that may be in better shape so check out the For Sale forum. Only one problem with a fuel cell is the price. By the time you buy a 16 gallon cell (or something close to 16) and buy a fuel sending unit and get it all hooked up you will be looking at a significant investment. Over $500 easily, so if you don't want to spend that much try to find a used one or possibly try to have yours fixed. You could check the web-links area to double check if any new ones are available, but they will probably cost in the 500 or so category.

Franklin, if you don't mind a little advice from someone who's already been there, done that. If you decide to get into any kind of racing and do it seriously (read many modifications to the car) I strongly urge you to look at cars that are already built. If you start with one that has the basics you can add your own touches later. I spent twice as much building an ITS car from a car I had than what I could have bought a decent one already to go. Just something to think about.....

We learned the way you are, by asking people who have done it already. Why? So WE didn't make the same mistakes THEY made when THEY were trying to figure it out. One of the first rules of mechanics in my opinion. BTW, I would have to agree with Daniel on his point about the one advantage of having points instead of electronic. Unless it is a dual point like what was in the later cars and the automatics, they were a major PITA! The early distributors were the best by far. If and when I ever get to the engine on mine I am going to give the electronic ignition unit in the old distributor a try. It's been in my drawer out there for 5 or 6 years, might as well use it. I think mine is the Crane set-up from MSA. It's been so long since I was in that drawer I don't even remember what kind I have.

I can't answer question number one. I know they are a countersunk head but what size? I'd have to go dig thru all the jars of nuts and bolts and find the ones out of mine. Anyone else?? 2. I bought the speaker panel from MSA to put 6x9's in the back of mine so that I didn't have to cut any panels. It is a bit expensive to buy one, unless you are better at wood working than I am ( I can't saw a board straight with a table saw) it wouldn't be too hard to make something out of plywood so that you don't have to cut up the car. 3. Yes they had the ventilation holes in the backrest, I think there are 6 if I remember right. 4. Try to adjust the striker plate on the door post, they have a little adjustment built into them, if that doesn't help try the latch on the door itself. It may be rusted or just full of crud. A little WD40 on that and a little adjustment may be all you need. Try to loosen the bolts on the striker just a very little bit, then close your door. Then open the door easily and tighten the plate back up. It may put itself into alignment that way. 5. The decklid may take a little work. I would say to check the rubber bumpers on each side to make sure one of them isn't missing, then you should be able to loosen the hinge bolts (again, only very slightly) and close your hatch. See if you can move it into alignment, then carefully raise the hatch enough to tighten the bolts back up. This may take a few tries, especially if you are by yourself, or lossened the bolts just alittle too much.

I have used the Motorsport springs and the Suspension Techniques. They are both quite stiff, especially when you combine them with stiffer sway bars. If ride is an issue you might want to look into the Eibach progressive rate springs. They are a little more expensive, but may give you a better ride on the street if you go with stiffer bars. They all usually lower the car about the same amount but your ride will suffer. I am planning on the progrssive springs for my 71 since it is going to be a street car, I just want it a little lower, and I may leave the sway bar in the front alone and go without the rear bar. I don't think there is much difference in the spring rates between the springs you mentioned.

I'm just taking this off the top of my head, but I think it should be in the 170-180psi range. I can't seem to find it in my pile of books right now, but I think I'm pretty close. Hard to say about one with 93,00 miles. Could be in the 140's or 150's. I think if it would be much lower you would be looking at a ring job. Anyone else that can find what I can't seem to??

Franklin, Which class are you planning on running?? There are so many and the prep rules so broad we would need to know which class you want to run. There are quite a few auto xr's here but just need to know what mods you plan on doing, if any.

I don't know about anyone else, but after reading Alphadog's I want to sit down and cry. Oh, to be 17 again. And have a 70 240z as my first car!!

I hope you let us know, I will need to know how it is done when I get the motor back in my 71. BTW Royce, I had my faux-pas with the LSD slip-up the other day, so none of us are perfect. Darn it!! I knew I had heard it could be done, but unfortunately I have never seen or heard exactly how it is done. Unless I want to go through the old try it and if it doesn't work, try something else.

Bill, I asked that question a few weeks ago. I guess we just live in the wrong place. Or maybe we need to get a few of them and bring them back east! Between that car and that darn 280 convertible conversion, I'd almost be tempted to take a trip out west. I guess when I was driving over the road I should have found a way to get "lost" with an empty trailer.:tapemouth

Might as well let people know who the "the mouth of the south" is. My name is Keith. I just hit the big 4-0, never been married, no kids (yes, I'm quite sure of that) and have one very spoiled Sussex Spaniel as my favorite companion. I bought my first Z-car about 1982 or 83 (a while ago), it was a 73 240 that I sold to a friend of mine who raced it in ITS will he totalled it. I bought his wife's old 1975 280 in 87 and started racing it in ITS in 89. I retired the car in 94 when my father was diagnosed with cancer and haven't raced since he passed away in 95. He always said I had too d--n many Z's around here so hence my username. Right now I have a 1971 series 1 that I am restoring, and I still have my old 280 sitting here. I also have a 72 240 ITS car (wrecked, but may be fixable) and a 72 240 parts car. I think I still have an old 76 280 out in the woods behind a friends house I bought for parts too. So I guess that means I have had 8 Z-cars total and still have 5, more or less. I drive tractor trailer for a US mail contractor, and have driven in 39 states and 2 provinces of Canada in the last 18 years. My daily driver is a 2001 Dodge Ram 2500. What else would a truck driver have but a diesel?

Sounds like it might be worth a second look. Unless it is difficult to register a car with a salvage title in Ca. I know in Va. sometimes the DMV can give you a run-around trying to re-register a car.

She would probably "cost" a lot more in the long run. But I think I'm on your side. Maybe if they hadn't put those triangular lights on it would look a lot better.

I've got a 72 that looks a lot worse than that. Wanna trade?? Just kidding, at least you have something to start with!

Me thinks the price has gone up too much. Guess I'll forget that idea, unless I can get that box from a scrapyard in the UK! I'd rather have used ones, than to pay that much for new ones.:tapemouth