Arne

Here is an open invitation to Z owners within driving range of the Eugene, OR area for a day cruiZe through the historic McKenZie pass. No club memberships needed, just bring your Z. Date - Sunday, Sept. 23 Proposed itinerary: 9:30 - 10:00 - Meet at a convenient location TBA in Springfield. Gas up (gas stations are scarce where we're going). 10:00 - Proceed East on OR Hwy 126 through a bit of farmland, and then follow the McKenzie River upstream. 11:00 - Stretch break at Jennie B. Harris Park, just East of McKenzie Bridge. Restrooms and a short walk to the river. 11:20 (or so) - Continue East on Hwy 126 to the junction with Historic Hwy 242 (about 5 miles). Turn onto 242, continue on this narrow, serpentine, but well paved road through the trees and into the lava beds. 12:00 (approx.) - Stop at the summit, visit the Dee Wright Observatory. No, not for stars and galaxies, this observatory (also known as "Lava House") was built entirely from lava rock by the CCC in the '30s. Restrooms and great views of the surrounding Cascade peaks (if it's not too hazy or cloudy, September is generally pretty good). 12:30ish - Continue East on 242 to Sisters. Eat lunch. Totally no host, everyone is on their own for lunches. You can picnic at a very nice city park on the East end of town, or there are several cafes, restaurants and fast food to choose from. 2:00 - Head West on OR Hwy 20. Continue until the junction with 126, take 126 West. 2:45 - Stop at either Koosah or Sahalie Falls, or possibly Clear Lake, where the McKenzie River springs full grown from a spring-fed lake. The falls in particular are great. Sahalie does not even require a hike. (Restrooms at all of those three sites.) 3:15-3:30 - Return to homes. For some, continue back down 126 to Springfield. Others could do the same, especially if any want to chat over pizza or such before driving the last leg home. Or those of you from the North could backtrack slightly to Hwy 20 or Hwy 22 and head back towards I-5 and Portland. (Hwy 20 is a great sports car road, although maybe not the fastest route.) Comments?? Times are just approximate, especially as the day progresses.

Not necessarily. I've seen more than once that these L-series engines have good compression, but that the oil control rings are gunked up and don't scrape the walls clean. Has the engine been sitting for a while? You may want to try soaking the bores (and therefore the rings) with ATF. That can help free up the oil rings. Search the forums for "waking sleeping beast" which haas a good write up to getting one going right after it has sat.

No, when you're done with a thread, just ignore it and let it fade away by itself.

The picture has to be stored on a webserver some where else and then you can insert a link to it. You can't just upload it into the site that way.

OK, I thought yours were early, but they are not, those are original Rotolugs. Massey sold you Rotolug conversions, which I think are a better option than the originals, actually.

The workmanship does appear to be first-rate. And IIRC the seller makes no bones about this being a part that is patterned after similar badges for the 510, not a reproduction of an actual BRE part. My problem is, quality and such not withstanding, I don't personally care for grill badges on my cars. Never have. Didn't have any on the MG, and don't plan to have any on my Zs, either. I do like what Mike did with the shift knob, though.

Here's the basics: http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21274

The 225/55-15 would have been a really great size for a Z. Unfortunately that size was used only on BMW E36 3-series cars with the factory Sport package in '93 and '94 only. It was only made by four companies - Michelin, Goodyear, Dunlop and Continental, IIRC. None of them were true performance tires, and I seem to recall that only the Michelin (or perhaps the Goodyear) are still made. In '95 BMW changed the Sport package tires to 225/50-16 instead. Same height and width. And as Dave noted above, this is a great size for a Z as well. As long as you have 16" wheels.

Excellent point. I'm trying hard to maintain a "period-correct" look for my 240Z, but if you're not you should absolutely consider larger diameter wheels. At least 15", and even up to 17" can be done very nicely. I'm running 225/45-17s on my family sedan, which is also a very nice size on a Z, given appropriate wheels.

For 14x6 wheels (which is what I have on my red 240Z) I'd go with either 195/70-14 or 215/60-14. Either should fit fine, unless the wheel has more reverse offset than is standard, in which case the 215/60 might barely touch the lower corner of the front valance when turning.

I've got a spare, I wonder if I can clean it up...

I have dealt with that seller before. I didn't buy anything big or expensive, but it WAS good. Yes, he's proud of his stuff, but on the other hand, his stuff is damn good. Only potential buyers can decide whether the price is too high for their tastes.

The presence and condition of that cover is one of the prime reasons that I have not done the ZX alternator upgrade on my own red car. Might be silly, I know, but there it is. P.S. - The attached picture is one from my pre-purchase inspection. Several things shown there have been corrected, notably the fuel filter.

Side note, on other cars I've owned, fuel pumps typically fail when warm, and often work fine when cold. You may simply be in the early stages of pump failure. FWIW.

No, no leaded fuel available here either, other than race and specialty fuels.

Sure. Some late California 280Zs came with catalysts, and so the filler neck from a CA model should work.

As an ex-tire guy (20+ years), I agree with the above posts, with the additional thought that the best choice also depends on how wide your 14" wheels are. Typical widths run from 5.5" up to 7" wide. The 195/70-14 size should not be used on wheels wider than 6.5", or narrower than 5.0". The 215/60-14 size will be a bit wider, but also a touch shorter than stock. While they will fit on a 5.5" wheel, pinching them down that narrow will negate much of the improvement that a wider tire can bring (probably the source of the "soft" comment you heard), so I'd recommend that size for 6.0-7.0". Another size not mentioned would be 225/60-14, which is good for 6.5" and 7.0" wheels. But this size is getting hard to find, and can cause clearance problems depending on wheel offset and whether or not the car is lowered.

Markus, what we here in the US have may not be the same in Europe. Our 240Zs, 260Zs and early 280Zs had the original engine number and chassis number stamped on a number plate that was located under the hood (bonnet), generally on the right side inner fender. (An example is circled in green in the attached picture.) The plate was not always in that exact location, but that is a good example. The later US 280Zs (after '76 or so) had the chassis number but did not specify the engine number on the plate. I do not know if the 240Zs and 260Zs that were sold in Europe had the engine number noted on this plate as well, but it seems likely.

I agree with Nissanman. If your battery is good, then your regulator is not. Either replace the regulator, or upgrade the charging system to a newer, internally regulated alternator.

First thing to remember is that when you are asking questions about your Z, you should always specify what year car you have, either in the post, or in your signature. Because there are lots of differences between all the years. Second, when looking for parts, it is generally best to post a parts wanted ad in the Classifieds section of this forum, rather than posting to the general use areas. All that said, I dug down to your profile to see that your car is a '71 240Z. And it turns out that I do have a spare switch from a '71 that I would probably be willing to sell. Send me a PM (Private Message) and we can discuss it.

No experience on a Z, but the replacement Holley I put on an older Chevy truck a number of years back had an electric choke that worked beautifully. If it were me, I'd do that on a Z as well.

Yes, but... The 240Z charging system is not all that great, that's true. And my yellow car was the guinea pig for the 280ZX adapter plug and therefore has a more modern system and can not be compared to stock 240Zs. But my red car is still totally stock, original alternator and regulator. And its ammeter does NOT continue to rise with RPM. It works the way it should - it hovers barely to the positive side of zero regardless of RPM. If you turn on an additional electrical draw, it blips to the plus side briefly and then stabilizes again near zero. And that's pretty much what it should do, if everything is in good condition. As for the problem described here, I'd guess it to have a lazy (slow reacting) regulator, a weak battery, or a combination of the two.

I don't recall ever seeing a white 240Z with a white interior. Most that I see came with red, blue or black interior. There is no way to tell for certain what color trim a particular 240Z had originally. So as long as you pick an appropriate original color and do it right, no one will ever know. But as far as what color the various parts should be, I can't say. Both of my '71s have black interiors, which makes it simple.

Probably not the throw-out bearing, as when the pedal is released, the bearing does nothing, it only spins when the pedal is depressed. Input shaft bearing on the other hand, is spinning when the pedal is out and the tranny is in neutral, and stops spinning when you press the clutch. It is your prime suspect. Much lesser possibilities are bearings on the layshaft, or the needle bearings between the input shaft and the mainshaft. Here is a bit of diagnosis help: Input shaft bearing - makes noise at any time the clutch pedal is out. (Any gear, or neutral.) Goes away when clutch pedal is depressed. Generally varies with engine RPM. Layshaft bearings - Similar to input shaft, as it is directly driven by the input shaft. Less common to go bad though. Needle bearing at front of mainshaft - Noisy any time the input and mainshafts are spinning different speeds, so it is quiet only in fourth gear, and noisy any other time. May get quiet when the car is moving if you depress the clutch. Output bearing - noisy anytime the car is moving, any speed, all gears.

I guess that's why there are multiple choices. Because while I too like both, I prefer the Konigs. It's all personal.One possible thought, the Konig center caps do have issues on 240Zs. But that's not normally a problem for the ZG look, as most people don't run the caps in that case.