Cecil - my 1973 240z

[theremm]

So after almost exactly 4 years of ownership I thought it about time to start a project thread and provide a little introduction to myself (seeing as I never did that either). I own a 1973 240z - one of the last of them too - complied in 7/73. My name is Alexander. I'm 26 y/o now and purchased the car at a time when a graduate's salary would still permit! It was a local Brisbane car and the previous owner said that he and his uncle had owned it for quite some time - about 15 years if I recall correctly. 10 years prior to selling, the car had been repainted and overall the body presented really nicely. The paintwork is still in fantastic condition and there are no signs of any rust at all. Unfortunately however I don't know details of the ownership history beyond that. 

The car was originally an automatic so one of the first jobs was converting to manual. I sourced a close ratio 71B and a 3.9 R180 and swapped both of these over with the help of a friend, sourcing genuine components where required. Somewhat bizarrely, the car did not have any mirrors fitted at all when I bought it (and all holes had been filled), so I also purchased a set of genuine S30 fender mirrors from Japan. Overall, I prefer the subtleties in styling difference that the Japanese market cars had and this is the approach I am taking with my car. For the roadworthy certificate, I also replaced the shocks and  did a general tune up and service of the car.

Engine is the original and very stock L24, although I've rebuilt the SU's and fitted a 2.5inch exhaust system and headers along with a Pertronix electronic ignition kit. I'm about to send off an E88 efi head to MIA engines which will receive a general service and mild cam after having been inspired by a couple other builds here, particularly WA240Z's  'A Lime 240z spruce up'. I also have some 44 solexes to go with it. Intention is to purchase a set of the Stewart Wilkins headers at some point however not in the budget just yet.

Aside from the that, the last few years have really been spent just enjoying and maintaining the car. Oh and spending lots of money collecting parts. I've also disassembled and cleaned the contact points of my right turn signal switch at least 5-6 times. Every 6 months or so the right turn signal stops working and I still can't quite work out why. The car had 43,000 miles when I bought it and now it is up to 62,000. I was overseas for 1 year out of my current 4 years of ownership, so it sees about 10,000km of travel per year. A few big trips in there too, including a 2,500km long weekend in 2015 to Bateman's Bay and the Blue Mountains. I walk to work however it is the only car I own so for all intensive purposes it is the 'daily' driver.

This week I finally pulled the pin and fitted a set of RS Watanabes I'd had sitting in my room for a good 6 months. I was a little nervous about what to expect to be honest, as I went with a 14 inch option. It's almost impossible to find any examples of good wheel and tyre sizing in the 14s as everyone typically goes to 15s. Couldn't be happier with the outcome however and I feel like I've fallen in love with the car all over again. Sizing is 14x7J+3 A-type (front) / 14x7.5J+1.5 B-type (rear), which is the recommended 14 inch sizing from Watanabe. Tyres are 195/65R14 (Dunlop LM704). It actually sits nicely with stock suspension however ideally a slight drop would be better. Next purchase will be some 30mm low king springs, if anyone has a set available.

Oh, and the name Cecil. My housemate started calling it this out of the blue recently and it stuck. I think its a boy however she says its a girl, but that's ok in our new progressive Australia!

[600Z]

Hi Alexander,

Nice intro and Cecil looks like a nice 240. I’m thinking that after you get that E88 head done up and the new carbs on it would even be better. I look forward to seeing some more pictures in time, I do like the silver

Cheers,

Justin

[24 Dat]

Nice looking car and great write up. I hope to see it around the brisvegas area soon

[PB260Z]

Hi

Welcome Alexander, that is a nice looking Z.

10,000kms a year, that has got to be one of the most driven Z’s around these days.

I am tempted to start a thread about ”How miles does your Z do” but it would deprress me - mine only does a couple of thousand  every year.

Cheers

PB 

[RAP260]

Welcome Alexander 

10000 kms a year!. Glad to see "her" being enjoyed. Keep up the good work 

Cheers, 

Rob 

 

[WA240Z]

Very nice looking car, I realy like the 14 inch watanabe and tyre combo, very period. I think you will be happy with the closed chamber e88 and tripple 44 combo on the L24, great fun to drive.

Billy.

[260z blues]

Very nice ride man

[theremm]

Thanks everyone for the responses and warm welcome. E88 head was just collected by the courier this morning and now on its way to MIA Engines. Looking forward to updating this thread as the car progresses. 

[manyu]

Great looking car mate! Is that the factory 901 silver?

[theremm]

I'm not sure to be honest mate. It was repainted by the previous owner however not sure which colour exactly was used. It does look quite close though, perhaps a little darker than 901 just judging by photographs. I don't know what the original colour is meant to be either.

[Cozza]

12 hours ago, theremm said:

Thanks everyone for the responses and warm welcome. E88 head was just collected by the courier this morning and now on its way to MIA Engines. Looking forward to updating this thread as the car progresses. 

MIA, good choice. You’ll be streets ahead with James and Brett on the case

[theremm]

Yikes, almost a year. I received the cylinder head back from MIA and had a chance to swap it onto the car over the christmas holidays. James and Brett were hesitant when I said I would be doing the work myself, particularly as I'd never dialled in a camshaft before. But this is what I love most about the project - challenging yourself and learning new skills along the way. Collecting new tools is also very satisfying, as I had to buy a degree wheel, dial gauge and a few other goodies.

First up was to remove the old head. As you can see she was very sooty inside and slightly oil in a few chambers. Guessing the valve seals must have been worn? I didn't touch the bottom end however there has never been any smoke blowing from the exhaust at all. My previous stock camshaft had extreme wear on some of the lobes when I bought the car, i suspect due to over tightening of the valves, poor oiling, or both. Didn't snap a photo however there was a visible  0.5-1mm groove on some lobes. Inspected the bores and there were no signs of damage, Bores measured right on 83mm too.

The new head from MIA came up a treat. I had a basic recondition done with parts replaced as required. Head was already in great condition with almost no corrosion. Had a regrind Clive/Wade camshaft fitted with specs as per the cam card. MIA also fitted thicker lash pads to suit. Kicking myself now however I forgot to ask them to cc the chambers. From what I have read these have ~39cc chambers, can anyone confirm? Its an E88 efi head from the MR30 L24e. That would put me at around ~10:1 compression approx.

The part I enjoyed most was dialling in the cam. MIA was very helpful over the phone to explain how to do this, and there are many great sources online too.  I purchased a Kameari adjustable cam sprocket, along with a new timing chain/tensioner kit. Carefully cleaned the carbon build up from the top of the pistons and scraped the deck surface cleaning before fitting the new gasket and head.

Lastly, decided to replace the sump gasket while I had the timing cover off. Managed to do this without lifting the motor at all! Lots of patience and small tools required, but its doable. I also snapped a bolt in the front of the timing cover from over tightening and this added a few more days to the whole project... thankfully Dad always knows how to fix any problem and was able to drill it out of for me

All in all, extremely happy with the upgrade. Car is sooo much more responsive now and you get a lot more out of the motor without having to use as much throttle.