2ManyZs

Hate to be the one to disagree with you guys, but the P-79 head is the only one that does not have provisions for a mechanical fuel pump that I know of for sure. I'm not sure about the P-90a, but the N-42, N-47 and P-90 heads all have a block off plate in place over the bosses for mounting a mechanical pump. The P-79 has not opening in the casting for a mechanical pump at all. So, it could in fact be a 2.8 head on the car with carbs and a mechanical pump. I have an N-42 with a mechanical pump on the 71 (original numbers matching L-24 block) so they can be interchanged easily. I'd say since it looks like they swapped the stock intake and exhaust manifolds over from the original engine, it's probably an N-42 or P-90 head as they would be the ones with the square exhaust ports and provisions for a mechanical pump.

Yup, the RS, RSR, and Carrera's were the factory 911 hot rods back in the early 70's....

The old saying, "Can't live with them, can't live without them." applies to cars as well as the opposing sex.......:cross-eye

They have the first and third one pegged, but the second one has me stumped. It's not a transistor ignition unit since it's not a FI car, and I'm not sure about this, but the 73's didn't have the seatbelt interlock. That came out either late 74 or not until the 75's if I remember correctly. Did the car have A/C by chance? Where did you ever find that battery hold down?:devious: :cross-eye

Oops, I thought you were one of the ones that was looking to change springs and cartridges... my mistake, but they still would have disassembled the spring assembly to change it or even removed the whole thing. Which could have gotten something bent ot out of place. I'm going to go out on a limb and wager another guess, it could be an exhaust leak. Either at the gasket at the head or possibly at the collector. This will give you a loud "ticking" sound that will easily be heard inside the car. You won't hear it unless you listen very carefully while the car is idling even if you have the hood up, but while driving it will be quite noticeable... Just another random guess... And the noise would be coming from where you described it as well....Sometimes they can be very difficult to find if it's on cylinders 2-5.:cross-eye

Well, since you didn't tell me that someone had done a spring change when we were chatting, that does reinforce my idea that someone may have bent the dust shield and it's hitting the rotor. Could be something else, but that seems a logical one...

Driving a 240 is like driving a 911 RS or an early Carrera compared to a new 996. No frills, just a good handling, satisfying ride. The earlier cars are fairly bare bones cars that were made for driving pleasure if you like driving. The later cars were starting to get "fat" with luxury items and forgot what the pleasure of driving is. Although they did come close with the 300ZX TT's, they still had too many luxury items and too high a price to be considered a "true sports car". Any Z made up till 78 can be made to handle, and go fairly quick with a few well chosen modifications. The later cars with the large crash bumpers are carrying a fair bit of extra weight, but they do a decent job and they do have FI which when right, can be a lot less "maintence intensive" than the carbs on the early cars. As far as I'm concerned, any car prior to 78 can be a great handling and exciting ride if you have the desire to make it that way. The later cars are a bit cheaper to buy to begin with as they still are available in higher numbers than the early cars simply due to the fact that many more of them were imported.

Well, if this was on the 78, there's no points to worry about. It sounds like something happened to one of the engine sensors that caused the FI to enrichen the mix and caused the car to choke itself out. Hard to tell, it could have been in the water temp sensor, air temp sensor, air flow meter, cold start valve.... Could have been a lot of different things and the only way to find out would be to wait till it does it again and then start checking things to see what is not operating correctly...... That's the worst thing about the FI system, diagnosing an intermittant problem if you can't duplicate the symptoms...:cross-eye

Actually you are just as well off with what you have. The bore and stroke are the same between the two engines. The only way to improve the F-54 engine would be to put a turbo on it to make it worth the effort. You probably have a slightly (very slight) higher compression in the engine you are running now. The only real advantage the F-54 block has is that is a somewhat stronger block since it has the siamesed cylinders. The engines are so close to being the same as they are, there really isn't much reason to change unless the engine you have now is going bad. You'd be further ahead to go ahead and rebuild the F-54 with flat top pistons for more compression while you continue to drive the one you have. That way, you still can drive the car, and with flat top pistons, you will then have a bit more than what you have now. However, if the F-54 you have is from a non-turbo it should already have flat top pistons, which would mean you'd save some money on a good rebuild, then you could change everything over and have a slightly better performer and a fresh engine.

You are lucky in a way, at least it's repairable and the parts you need are still available. Doesn't make it an easier to swallow, but there have been a few members who have had to total their cars. Hmm, maybe you can get them to replace the ball joints, tie rod ends and a few other items while they are fixing the car.... As long as the frame rails and core support are OK, maybe it will get fixed and be better than it was before. The best thing is it was someone else's fault and no one was hurt.

Saint, has it done this ever since you got the car back? Does the pedal firm up with a second pump on the brakes? I'm wondering if you possibly just need a good bleeding again, perhaps there was some trapped air somewhere and it is now moved to one of the wheel cylinders and/or pistons and is causing the soft pedal. Did they bleed the master thoroughly before they bled the brakes themselves I wonder? Most of the time, a problem with the Master Vac will cause a harder pedal due to less assist and you will be standing on the pedal to get the brakes to work, like driving a car with no power brakes at all. When you say the brakes get worse when the power is off(idle?), I'm also wondering if maybe you just have something as simple as a vacuum leak to the Master Vac.....but that would also make it stiffer not softer...

This has got to be one of the best examples of American over-indulgence........:cross-eye http://www.travelsupreme.com/products/me2.asp

All it needs is a bumper sticker that says, "So, you want to provoke me into a fit of road rage?"ROFL

Just think how easy it would be to get through a traffic jam....:cheeky: Or how you wouldn't have to worry about a little snow on the road....

Sorry guys, but I'm one of those people that think F1 stinks! Racing is intended to be how well an man AND a machine can work in concert to cover the distance in the quickest time. Not how well a man can adapt to all the electronic driver aids that are so prevelent in F1 now. It has nothing to do with driver skills and "cojones", it's all a matter of which team has the resources to configure the electronic aids into the package that can beat the other teams. There are so many driver aids in these cars, it is almost a matter of which man can work the buttons on the steering wheels without crashing than it is about who can actually drive. Give me the racing back in the 70's or 80's and even the very early 90's in F1 to see a really good show. Now that was racing the way it was intended, todays racing bears little if any resemblance to "real racing". Take the cars and take all the electronic aids out of them such as in NASCAR, but leave the rest of the car alone and then we will see some really good racing where the driver has more than a 20% input into how the car goes around the track. Of course, without the elctronics, those cars probably wouldn't make it 10 laps without spewing their guts out all over the track. I for one want to see more than one or two cars that have an actual chance of winning, passing and racing for the lead, and no more of this winning by 50 seconds over the second place car, or pulling over to let your "No.1" driver pass you for the win. There's only one type of racing that puts me to sleep faster than watching NASCAR go around in circles and that's and F1 race... I'll stick to the Trans Am, Speed World Challenge, ALMS, European Touring Car, and others for my racing "fix"... Unless they want to run those cars on the one track in the US that really deserves and is worthy of an F1 race, Road America. Or take NASCAR or CART to one of the F1 tracks in Europe. Now that might be interesting... Just my $.02 worth....

Bet you would get lots of attention from the police, and it's not even painted "arrest me red"! Wonder if you could use the HOV lanes on the way to work... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2405633868&category=6737

Great song, but a lousy way to treat a car..... It says an easy fixer-upper, doesn't look so easy to me and it's too expensive to use as a donor for a 240..:devious: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2405151851&category=31864

You could bead blast it with either glass bead, or the poly beads, or even walnut shells for that matter. Best way I have found to remove gaskets is with one of the gasket removers from 3M or ScotchBrite on a pad that you can use on a Dremel tool or cut off tool. Just be careful with some of them, as they are a bit abrasive and you can end up scratching the surface too much. You could always use the stiff putty knife and finish it up with a Scotch-Brite pad by hand if you don't have the Dremel tool or a die grinder.

13070-E3000 is the L-24, L-26 timing chain set according to the Microfiche.... If I'm reading it right...:cross-eye

They are the rear stub axle bearings. 43210-E4100 is the inner bearing 43215-E4100 is the outer bearing The seal part number is 43232-E4100 if you need it....

Lowering the diff ratio is probably the only way to increase your performance with your budget of $500. You'll hurt your top end unless you change to a 280 or 280ZX 5 speed, but that will be out of your budget for the time being.....

The mustache bar bushings won't do anything as far as handling, but they will help get rid of any clunking you hear when shifting or thumping when on a rough road. The mustache bars main function is as a differential mount. They are the easiest to change. The spindle pin bushing will affect the handling, however, a word of warning, don't be surprised if you have to take the strut assembly to a machine shop to have the pin pressed out. I have done two sets recently, one set came out with only a hammer and a small drift, the other set I had to cut with a sawzall to separate the strut assembly from the control arm and they will need to be pressed out..:disappoin BTW, if you do the mustache bar bushings, be sure to check your front diff mount at the same time, you might as well take the diff out completely and change that at the same time, that way you will not have one part that needs replacing in the near future after doing all the work on the mustache bar. If you do a search on here, you will find numerous posts regarding the spindle pins and what a PITA they are, so it's your decision......:cross-eye

The inside bushings are fairly easy once you get the whole assembly off and on a workbench.... The hard ones are the outer spindle pins bushings as the spindle pin is usually a PITA to get out, sometimes nearly impossible. The inside ones are not nearly as difficult, although if you don't have a couple tools to make the job easier, you might want to have someone else go through the aggravation. I use a 15/16 or 1 inch metal hole saw to cut the rubber in the bushings so you can get the inside sleeve out. Then I use an air chisel with a V notch bit to slowly roll the edge of the bushing and then use the small edge to cut down one side of the outer bushing. With a little practice it usually will not take long if you take your time and try not to cut a groove in the control arm. You can then use a round file to clean everything up and put the hew bushing in. If you use urethane bushings, be sure to grease them thoroughly, or they will squeak later and drive you nuts. I'm doing a set right now, and the bushings are taking less time than it takes to sandblast the control arms when I'm done. But then, I've done a few sets....

If you have all the necessary tools and parts and are somewhat mechanically inclined in case a problem pops up, you should be able to do it in a weekend with a little help from a friend. FI is going to take a bit longer as you will need to do some wiring to hook all the wires up to the ECM for power to it, I'd go with a ZX motor with carbs, in which case it would be a simple matter of pulling one motor, and bolting another in its place and transferring things like the intake and exhaust.

Have you tried a different coil? Since you say yours is 5 years old, it is possible it is the coil overheating and that is causing the problem.