Arne

As someone who had a Series 1 (since rusted and parted out), and also someone who hasn't become obsessed with the low-VIN fetish, I'll put the importance of owning a Series 1 fairly low. A Series 2 (late '71) is just as nice a car, IMO. I've gone there before, and overall condition is far more important to me these days. I'd much rather buy a straight and non-rusted later car than even a semi-rusted Series 1.Which is exactly what I did. No regrets at all. Not to say that no one should buy Series 1 cars, but to me there's no reason to think of a non-low-VIN Series 1 as any more desirable than any other similar 240Z. Different in some small ways, yes. But not more desirable or valuable.

Because it's yellow, of course. Many of us want to be members of the yellow Z club...

Japan, for the most part. Those look like Watanbes to me. You can find sets here in the states now and then, but they're expensive.

Tire Rack has them too, Stephen. If you search by tire size, the BFGs are the only thing that comes up.

Those look stock. Early 240Zs used FRP (Fiber Reinforced Plastic) headlight buckets. They changed to steel sometime around the '73 cars, I believe.

No prob. Welcome, and welcome to the Introduce yourself forum!

The reason you haven't seen a "clear and definitive answer" is because there isn't a clear and definitive answer. I can think of several other variables that are pertinent. For example, stock front valance, or air dam? Is rolling your fender lips acceptable? What size tires are you considering? And don't forget the fact that even if all this is defined, it is normal for production differences from car to car, so a package that works perfectly on someone else's car, may still not work on your particular car.

If there are any people here who are interested in being on the map, but don't have a Google account and don't really want one, either post here or send me a PM and I'll get it set up for you.

Nope. Been there, done that. Moved from the MG to a graymarket BMW, and later to the Z. Never go backwards, always do something new. Yeah, it was a great little car. Still is, I suspect. But can't imagine that I'll ever see it again, not 3000 miles from here.

You're probably correct, Stephen. I've never known anyone to install the delay valve on these conversions. That may be the answer for mine, but lots of people use these successfully w/o the valve.

Carl's post above is dead on track. I found that the particular E12-80 dizzy that I tried was not a good match for my engine. Seemed like too much advance too soon. With it installed, the engine suffered from pre-ignition under load with the best street fuel I can get around here, and with the static timing set to 5 degrees BTDC or less. As is most commonly the case, I do not know whether the dizzy I used was from an auto or a stick, nor what year it came from or if the vacuum advance mechanism was original or not. I could have experimented with different ports and other things, but in the end I decided it made more sense to ditch that and go with a Pertronix in my original dizzy instead. The results that way have been excellent. That's not to say that you can't get good results from an E12-80 on your car - the many, many people using them now proves that they can work. But occasionally (depending on many other things) you may have to fuss with it a while to get it right.

Unlike modern large diameter wheels, small 14" wheels can be significantly lighter than you might think. Your Shelbys were probably a touch lighter than average for a 14x6 aluminum wheel, but not totally unusual. That's one of the advantages of smaller rims. Of course the flip side of that is that 14" tires with all that sidewall are frequently heavier than 15, 16 or 17" tires of similar width and overall diameter, so the end result is not as different as it first seems. But in general, expect each inch increase in wheel diameter to add 2-4 pounds of unsprung weight. Don't forget to delete your classified ad....

Not much digital, I was all film back then. I need to sit down and scan some of this stuff. Here's one in progress, and a 'before' shot to compare.

After I finished restoring it, I drove my B daily for 4 years, regardless of weather. (Well, not in the infrequent snow, but every other day.) No failures, no special maintenance, nothing broke. I changed a few filters and fluids, replaced plugs and points, lubed it now and then, and kept the valves adjusted. Nothing special. It was stone reliable while I had it, and the lady I sold it to had similar experience until she sold it. Last I heard, it was sold to a guy in Atlanta, or thereabouts.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think either kit is still generally available. The Black Pearl stripes were pretty much just silver and red pin stripes and should be fairly easy to replicate, given a few good pictures of the originals. But the ZZap stripes would be much harder to do. You'd need to probably work with a vinyl sign shop for those. Both pictures and measurements would be necessary.

No, it's a later RD-108. Dates from 1980 or so. If some one looks at it, look VERY carefully. In addition to the blue right rear quarter, both the hood and - worse - the radiator support show signs of orange paint. It may have been pieced together from multiple cars....

I't's been posted in our classifieds here as well.

Moving thread from the S30 (240/260/280Z) forum to the ZX forum.

I don't have any codes. But I do know that the stroke lengthened in '74 to make the L24 into the L26, and then the bore was increased in '75 to make the L26 into the L28. So only two different bore sizes, and two different stroke lengths for the three engine sizes we got here in the USA.

I could do that. Or maybe if it catches on we could get Mike to put a link on the Front Page, or somewhere visible like that.

OK, I finally remembered to check my spares. I do have a good working spare switch that appears to be the same physical style as yours, but the logo on the handle is different. I think the one I have is from my 10/70 Series 1, as your 3/71 and my current 7/71 are the same. It looks like the early style has one longer pigtail, but may still work. The one Enigma has that's under the lighter appears to be the correct switch. First picture is the spare, second is the one in my current car. PM me if you're interested.

The ones in that auction are for '73 only. The '70-72 are much simpler. Looks like 62656-E4102 and 62657-E4102 are the numbers.

ZX was the US designation, I believe. I think that the S130s were called Fairlady 280Zs in Japan. Can't swear to that, though.

Yes, if you remove the inside trim panel from the hatch you can get to the latch mechanism and probably open it. It's a pain, but can be done. In my experience, this problem is most frequently caused by the button lock, not the latch itself.

I wanted to try something, could be fun. I've shared a Google map where we can all post our approximate locations. Don't worry about posting your exact address, be close, but don't feel you need to post your real address if you don't want to. The URL is: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=116791503026316859130.000465ae5d1eeaea6a54b To add a pin for yourself, click the Edit button as circled in the first picture, then the Pin button as shown in the second picture. The save and click Done. The results should be interesting.