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Separating from my Rotary thread, which badly needs an update. I've made a terrible choice. One that I'm still unsure of - but should be entertaining for you guys. The back story is short, this 1973 Datsun 240z was sitting at a friend of a friends house. He sent me some grainy pictures a year ago and I replied back to let me know when he wants to sell it. Welp, last week the owner decided to part with it. A quick inspection and rust check, a few $$$$ and one hell of a drive home - it's now mine. Did I mention it's our 10yr anniversary and the wife is clearly planning on putting my head on a platter now? In penance, I'm selling 6 cars. Yes. 6. Two are already gone. Two more are pending. What I know: 1973 - Serial 152,700 and some change. L28 with 5spd from what I assume is a 78 280z 70,100 original miles Original interior Original color appears to be Orange. Two owners back appears to have done a garage respray in the 90's. Runs great except the 6 year old gas and 1500rpm hesitation. 70's Nissan Fuel injection should be fun, right? Right? (Yes I found the PDF).             God help me. I know NOTHING ABOUT 240Z's. Guess I needed a new challenge or something.
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Aug 15, 2018 23:25
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Ground floor! I hope your future plans include a respray; that red/black scheme is hideous.
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Aug 16, 2018 00:24
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Update: It has 70/1 seats. Wheels are AMR Spectre, center caps unknown. I like the original Orange, but the wife hates it. Calls it pumpkin. https://goo.gl/images/QBE9SN
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Aug 16, 2018 00:28
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i think i was called Persimmon
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Aug 16, 2018 00:38
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I'm glad you are saving this car. Whoever painted it did a bad thing. There is no way I can find an example that nice here even for fifteen grand. How's the battery tray?
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Aug 16, 2018 00:46
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Holdbrooks Orange. You're already in trouble, keep digging! Love the shape of these cars, classic stunners.
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Aug 16, 2018 09:04
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Clearly needs more RB under the hood 
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Aug 16, 2018 10:11
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20B You know you want to do it
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Aug 16, 2018 10:44
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Has it only got old EFI due to the 280 engine swap? Is it legal to change back to carbs* there (like there's no emissions requirement to have it tied to engine manufacture date is there?) I love 240s, I'm OK about 260s, but not a fan of 280s. You made a great choice and it's a awesome car. Very good condition too, and that's very rare. I wish I got a 240 when they were about $2k here, but last I checked they were about $13k and probably more now. Anyway, a whole bunch of piston fun awaits with many inline 6cyl possibilities *E: holy poo poo old 2nd hand dcoes are about $400 each still here! I hope they are cheaper over there At least someone still makes manifolds, but again, $400 new. At these prices may as well RB swap. Fo3 fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Aug 16, 2018 |
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Aug 16, 2018 14:46
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Fo3 posted:Has it only got old EFI due to the 280 engine swap? Is it legal to change back to carbs* there (like there's no emissions requirement to have it tied to engine manufacture date is there?) I think I live pretty close to the spyder (Tigard, right? I'm at the south end of Beaverton), and there's emissions testing for older vehicles (tailpipe sniffer for pre-OBD2), but the cutoff year for that is 1974, so if it's a 73 he can drop in whatever he pleases and no one should care. If we want to keep it a straight six, I'll suggest a Cummins ISB.
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Aug 16, 2018 18:48
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Back when I used to be into Zs, a buddy of mine had a 280ZX and ripped the EFI off it and put triple weber sidedrafts in. Since you are no longer using the original L24 so the originality aspect of it is gone, that's my recommendation as to what you need to do. Also, nice car. Very jealous. To this day I'd love an old 1st gen Z.
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Aug 16, 2018 18:56
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Well... I tried to take the car for a test drive last night with a buddy. The headlights would not turn on. Everything went down hill from there... Uhhhh....  Welp.  God.drat.It.  So from what I can tell, the primary ground wire for the dash/chassis harness cooked. The gauges somehow still work, but the clock is DEAD. One of the PO's removed the battery->chassis ground, along with all the fuseable links. Que hours of stripping out the harness.    What a mess. It was only today I noticed the electrical fire flash/burn on the firewall.  I added new grounds everywhere and created a basic star ground off a central point in the engine bay.  Someone asked about the battery tray. Not too bad. Couple of small holes and rust. I'm not sure if I want to just drill out the welds and seal it/reinstall.  Elephant oil?  I scrounged a spare FD fuse block and added fuses to all the circuits coming from the starter/alternator.  The good news is: It's alive! After all of that, everything is working. Future plans include a relay set for the headlights. I'm not a fan of current running through the combo switches if possible.    What's not pictured is rebuilding the rear brakes. At some point last night we realized there was a puddle of brake fluid under the rear wheels. Both cyl were shot. A friend sourced and delivered parts today. It was rather painless. Tomorrow I'm going to change the fluids and filters, possibly put a few more miles on it. I'm tempted to change the thread title to: A 240z - Why did no one warn me about the electrical?
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Aug 17, 2018 07:39
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That Z has gone to a good owner. You've put more work into that in a day that I have put into any car for the past month or more. (I've only stuffed around with the MAF and front brake pads recently E: besides trying to find a suspension knock) Fo3 fucked around with this message at 10:07 on Aug 17, 2018 |
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Aug 17, 2018 09:52
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This is awesome and progress has already been insane. Look forward to watching what you do with this. 
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Aug 17, 2018 16:25
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Good job. To this day I get scared of working behind dashboards and electrical in general 
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Aug 17, 2018 19:12
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I have been working on this car what feels like non-stop for the last three days, putting in 14+ hours. There's been gremlin after gremlin. First the alternator went bad (regulator), which caused a dead spot from 1000-2000RPM. A used coil mostly fixed that issue after troubleshooting everything else I could think it. . I did discover it has 280ZX 79-81 L28E electronics while inspecting the ECU. Check out the case. After being rather frustrated at the electronics and before I discovered the coil, I drained the gas (which was a mix of old/new), added a pre-pump filter (had none), and changed the engine bay fuel filter. The take drained clean, but the filter... bleh. Yesterday I spent way too much on Rock Auto and ordered most of what I could find needing replacing, including a new water pump which is weeping slowly. I replaced the battery with a smaller Honda sized unit (Costco) and discovered it had NO fuses to the ECU before my fuse block mod. At least there's some protection now. I'm still trying to figure out what distributor and coil system is in it- it's not 73 and not 79-81.          Friday night I spent 8 hours detailing the car. The original post's photos are blown out due to the pink/red oxidized paint. This consisted of clay bar, a wool pad +3m cutting compound, a foam pad + Mecguires cutting compound, a foam pad+ polish, and finally a coat of carnauba wax. It's stunning. I left the spoiler off for now. I like it.               Which brings me to the bad news. I found rust while detailing. A lot of rust. Hiding under the undercoating. Curiosity got the best of me and I started picking at it. Which lead me to discover the passenger floor pan being made of fiberglass... it was hiding under a tarpaper-like sound deadening. The short version is, I need a new passenger floor pan/frame rail/firewall patch. I'm super disappointed and I can't help but feel I probably paid too much for the car which is a shame. I'm trying to not let it discourage me. So after three days of being frustrated with 70's electronic fuel injection, I've been looking at ITB's and R1 carbs. I'll post more photos tonight when I have a moment.      The good news: It drives great and once I get the new water pump I'm going to take it on a nice long trip. I took my son to cars and coffee Saturday, still not having found the dead coil - it died at ever stop. He still loved it. The attention it got was amazing - mainly from the 50+ crowd. I'm hoping to take it to a local Beaches Cruse-in this week. 
the spyder fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Aug 20, 2018 |
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Aug 20, 2018 00:10
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Looks good. The battery tray looks okay to me from what I can tell but you really need to pick at it and the strut tower it’s connected to very firmly.
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Aug 20, 2018 00:50
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I got to this picture and said "holy poo poo!" That cleaned up nice, sorry to hear about the rust.
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Aug 20, 2018 01:28
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That car is in real good shape and you almost certainly got a deal despite the passenger floor rust. Also those clocks are notorious for failing, and repairing them is kind of a pain from what I can tell online.
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Aug 20, 2018 11:09
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Thanks guys, I've been very bummed by the rust- but not enough to stop me. In other news: The fuel pump died. I installed a new coil today and promptly took my buddy for a test drive... only to be stranded 2 miles from home. I was thinking this might happen due to the old fuel filter situation...  So $75 later... a new pump will be here in two days.
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Aug 21, 2018 06:58
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If nothing else you can probably flip it considering it looks pretty awesome now, but still I think you should fix the floor and make it into something awesome (for our entertainment). I know what I would do, though. I love those old Zs but I feel like any one you buy would be a long term project and lots of rust repair.
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Aug 21, 2018 13:17
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What, were the rotaries getting too predictable and reliable for you? Anyway super cool ride. Amazing progress and good luck with the rust. It doesn't look "bad" so much as in a really awkward place. Following.
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Aug 21, 2018 13:34
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What a let down. When you picked it up and said it was rust free you made a believer out of me as previously I thought there's no such thing as a Z without floorpan rust. Oh well, reality as returned as it has rust. All Zs have rust so everything is normal again anyway. Make it the best Z ever!
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Aug 21, 2018 14:17
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the before and afters on that detailing are amazing.
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Aug 21, 2018 15:44
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Ugh I need another car like I need a hole in the head but I really want any S30 chassis car. Time to go cruise online car ads for them more.
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Aug 21, 2018 20:13
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Goodbye money!  Not pictured: $70 Hella H4 Headlights $26 Coil $72 Alternator/Fan Belt/Fuel Filter $16 Fuel filter/Oil Filter $72 Fuel Pump $72 Battery $18 Castrol 10w30 $10 Antifreeze $18 Gear Oil $22 Shifter Boot This thing is getting expensive. I just found the complete Energy Suspension Kit for $176.... God help me. And headers for $229! http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic19c/15-6003 I'm far to used to 7' prices where that won't even buy me a cat-back exhaust. drat. the spyder fucked around with this message at 08:10 on Aug 22, 2018 |
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Aug 22, 2018 07:48
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Holy poo poo, parts for that car are cheap.
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Aug 22, 2018 19:56
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Shoot it wasn't the fuel pump. We put in a new pump this morning and within 10 miles it started making the same cavitation sound. Turns out the tank has more rust then I thought. The new pre filter I put in was covered in rust. Going to drain the gas, drop the tank, and use the vinegar/chain method tonight.
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Aug 22, 2018 21:15
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Ha, that happened to me with a Miata. Fuel pump sock was clogged with rust, I just bought a new tank tho. You're gonna get wide black Watanabe wheels for it and put fender flares on it right.....Right?
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Aug 23, 2018 00:03
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Here's the fuel filter I just replaced- not pictured the crap in the drain pan that came out. Curiosity got the best of me - I opened up the fuel pump and found nothing wrong? I'm guessing the pickup is being blocked in the tank.   First batch of parts arrived. Installed the new water pump, hoses, and thermostat.     I have a special place in hell for the engineer that put this hose in.   Like so many projects, it has spent more time on the lift than driving. Hopefully I can fix that soon. 
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Aug 23, 2018 07:55
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You're getting rid of the lift?
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Aug 23, 2018 09:54
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Where did that little bastard hose come from?Sormus posted:You're getting rid of the lift? 
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Aug 23, 2018 14:33
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Good one. Hose: Right next to the thermostat housing. You can just see the empty nipple in the background. There's 1/2" between hardline -> block hose barb. Just enough room to slip it nearly completely over the hardline, kink it to barely touch the hose barb and pry into position. Took a good 20 minutes.
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Aug 23, 2018 17:05
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I just learned about the fuel tank evaporation box and ~10 hoses. WHY???? At least that explains the raw fuel smell.
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Aug 23, 2018 17:05
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the spyder posted:I just learned about the fuel tank evaporation box and ~10 hoses. WHY???? At least that explains the raw fuel smell. You should be glad yours is new enough to avoid the electromechanical turn signals. Then again... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChH--ndoofc
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Aug 23, 2018 17:20
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I had a '73 240Z with a 280ZX engine and 5 spd tranny. Whoever converted it replaced the EFI with the dual carbs off of the 240Z. It drove fine like that. What a wonderful vehicle, other than all the rust. Sigh ......... Good Luck!!
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Aug 23, 2018 18:23
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Seat Safety Switch posted:You should be glad yours is new enough to avoid the electromechanical turn signals. I 100% think that looks better than the modern LED variant (Audi etc). The LEDs just give the impression that they are lagging IMO.
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Aug 23, 2018 20:15
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Seat Safety Switch posted:You should be glad yours is new enough to avoid the electromechanical turn signals. That's cool as hell. Is that how the old sequential signals like on the T-bird worked?
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Aug 23, 2018 20:24
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the spyder posted:I just learned about the fuel tank evaporation box and ~10 hoses. WHY???? At least that explains the raw fuel smell. You could always retrofit a evap canister and a purge solenoid that is connected to a window switch that only activates the solenoid at some cruising RPM so it purges the canister.
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Aug 23, 2018 20:58
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Pulled the tank.  Not terrible? There were larger flakes around the pickup, but I didn't screenshot the endoscope.  Never tried vinegar before for rust removal, so we'll see how it works. 
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Aug 24, 2018 07:01
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