WA240Z

Hello Gents, What brand, and supplier, is the best inlet/exhaust manifold gasket? Engine is an L24, so no injector port notches. Thanks in advance.lads. Billy.

Very nice car that white one. Just noticing how different the floor stamping and rear frames are from 240/260

Just a heads up the Datsun 240Z-260Z Register of WA are holding their Z Day on Sunday 15th of October. Our friends from the Perth Datsun Club will be joining us again this year. We have made a change from our usual Belmont location, this year we have secured a wonderful spot on the Shelley foreshore, cnr Riverton Drive Nth and Corbel Street Shelley. More details to follow.

Very nice left hand drive '73 240Z just made 34,500 pound, about $60k AUS at the Goodwood Revival Auction. http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24122/lot/266/?category=list&length=100&page=3 Also, I see that ex Australian, ex Classic Throttle Shop, 907 green 240Z currently with Hairpin in the UK made the front cover of Classic and Sports Car with a 6 page article inside. Its the first time I have seen a zed make the front cover, since the early '70s, of a major classic car mag.

Yep, exactly what I used when I did the cut & shut on the two air boxes for the mikunis. Clark Rubber has a great selection.

I have so much admiration for you gents who undertake ground up restorations in your own garage/shed. Your dedication and commitment to the finished product is very inspiring. The longest I have had my car off the road was when I had the engine rebuilt and the engine bay blasted and resprayed. All up that was about 10 weeks from pull the engine to back on the road. And that was about as long as a project I would want to be committed to. I love cars, but for me my love is all about the driving. For those who enjoy working on cars I find there is more than enough maintenance and tinkering on road going classic cars. I recon I spend on average 10 hours or so every couple of months just maintaining the car, improvement here-improvement there. I really feel for those who have no other option than enter the early z market through a car requiring a complete restoration, add to that the length of time they miss out on enjoying a great drivers car (when well sorted). If it was me and I could only afford $10k I would grab me something like a series one MX5 etc, and leave my weekends for driving. To put into context, if I could afford a basket case Ferrari 250 GT SWB (my all time favorite) only to spend the next 10 years slaving away restoring it I would have my driveable Z in preference for the simple fact I can enjoy it now.

My passions are classic cars, yacht racing and quality horses. Am I out of touch with modern reality? Maybe I was just born 20 years too late. One of my work colleagues and I were only discussing the "electric self driving car" thing yesterday. I for one hate the idea of technology creating "dumb ass cant be bothered to drive properly and safely" generation. Personally I think we currently live in a wonderful time, where my elk are satisfied being able to still fully enjoy the analogue era, while there is also real excitement for those into new age technology indulgence. I am sure self drive is around the corner, but I personally think that corner is a big one. Look at air travel, lets be honest nothing has really changed in 40 odd years. As for electric cars, it will all come down to what the market wants, not what is driven by government legislation. Australia, given our passions for outdoor activities, still gets excited by grunty type stuff I am sure many markets though that are adopting technology and instant communication at a galactic rate, Asia, India, and to some extent Europe could not care one bit about loosing the internal combustion engine. I agree with Gav that battery life, storage capacity, efficient delivery/transmission of power will improve expediently while price drops at a similar rate. Lets face it, hybrid is where all the hype is these days when it comes to super cars. Electric driven propulsion just makes so much sense. So while the electric car era is knocking on our door I will choice to, for now at least, admire the engineering and development from the side lines while enjoying my 20th century passions in all of their analogue glory.

Have you recently changed to electronic ignition? If so the old system doesn't work too well with electronic ignitions. You may need to have the old circuitry inside the tacho swapped for a digital one, its quite straight forward and relatively inexpensive. A decent gauge shop will do it in a few days. If there has been no changes make sure you have a good 12V supply and the signal wire from the coil and resister are in tact. I can scan a copy of the wiring diagram I use one Monday when back at work if it may help.

I haven't had the level of experience with mikunis as many others on here have, but speaking about my own setup I could not be happier with the triple Mikunis. The progression from idle through cruise to WOT is wonderful. Not sure what your engine size is and spec, but for a L24 I would recommend 44's work beautifully, though I have not run 40's to compare against. I can compare against original twin 240Z Hitachi's though that were in excellent tune. (Keep in mind an engine, and drive line for that matter, is a holistic thing. What works on my set up may differ to your setup. Engine specs, combustion chamber, compression, cam, ignition, exhaust etc. all play a big part) The 44 mikunis offer better starting, due to the accelerator pumps, better throttle response, greater mid range torque, and substantial top end improvement (over 5,500rpm). The idle does not move from the 900rpm I have it set at, doesn't matter if I have been pottering around in a bit of traffic with traffic lights or really getting up it. Mine were refurbished before I installed them onto the engine, and then I completely over hauled my throttle linkage setup, new bushes, new ball and sockets etc, I even turned up a new shaft that runs parallel to the fire wall. My throttle shaft that runs through the manifold stand offs also has fixed arms, so there is no chance of adjustment getting out. The carbs have been installed on the engine for about 18 months now, and after initial setup, and then dyno tune I have not needed to touch them. One more item to be mindful of is the type of inlet manifold you purchase needs to work with the exhaust. Not all inlet manifolds will suit all types of exhaust extractors. I needed to file the cross bracing of the inlet manifold to allow for the exhaust headers to not fowl. This is best done outside the engine bay so you can really make sure you you have no issues. I set mine up on a spare head on the work bench. I sourced mine through Dave at Wolf Creek Racing in the US. I found Dave to be very helpful and professional. Cheers, Billy.

Hi Gav, White with red trace is the main supply from the alternator, so basically powers everything other than the starter motor, hence carries all the current. The melted insulation is just a clear sign of over current load, most likely from a bad connection. If the insulation is only melted either side of the plug in the photo but is fine a 100mm or so after the connector then I would say its just a poor connection in the connector causing the high current. Just cut the connector out and solder in cable to replace the connector. The other problem could be a bad connection else where causing a voltage drop in that wire, once again elevating the current and the plug is the weak link. The cause to all this is two things, one its a 45 year old wiring loam that has had every man and his dog have a go at electrical work on it, the second its a 45 year old wiring loam. Hope this helps mate. Billy.

Looks like a twin sister of mine before I removed the black sills and big black mirrors, very LJ Torana-ish. 50% appreciation in 12 months, I know 240Z's are popular at the moment but that is one hell of an investment. The car really does look good inside though. If you are spraying the engine bay why would you not tape the strut thread and nuts?

I am quite sure these will actualy be 15x7 with 0 offset if they are Konig Rewinds, not 15x6. I have them on my car. Great fit with plenty of clearence at the spring perch,rear gaurds my require a slight trim if suspension is lowered. I am using 205 60 15 tyres.

Dynamat, have only done this in the foot well floors when I had the rails replaced, the rear area still has the original tar deadening. Then under all carpet Dynaliner stuck to the bottom, finally had the carpet loop edge bound to look original. This has given me a good result. Photos are of a test section I did for the passenger side with some house carpet.

Z Day is this Sunday, the weather look perfect. See you all there.

Have really enjoyed reading your progress, well done. I bet you cant wait to get the engine back in and hit the road. Just one comment if I may, your harness bar, I am not an automotive engineer but to me the rhs/shs section looks too small for the load that may be subjected to it in an acident. I very much reconmend you spending $600-800 with a roll cage fabricator to produce a harness bar for you. Anyway I look forward to your updates. Billy.

Absolutly, just turn up on the day around midday. No need to book ahead, its all quite informal and very friendly. We usualy have around 20-25 zeds on the day. We are normally wrapped up around 3.30pm Look forward to seeing you there. Billy.

Bump, only two weeks away.

Hi Guys, does any one have two spare tail/brake light bulb holders I can purchase?

Car looks great, well done. Enjoy driving her after all your hard work. BTW, the diamond stitch looks really good.

Hi Retro Z, did you have any luck locating a couple of spares? Billy

You sir are a genious. Yes the brake/tail light bulb holder/bayonet fits the purpose perfectly. Do you or any others have 2 spares I could purchase? Billy.

Thanks for having a look Alan.

Hello All, I am after 2 x twin filament bulb holders/bayonet to suit the early 240Z blinker/park light assembly. Only require the bulb holders/bayonet. Can any body help me out? Cheers, Billy.

Hi Adam, One thought is the tacho is quite sensitive to fluctuating supply voltage, given you have covered a lot of bases with the (+) positive side of the supply, I would be checking the quality of your (-) ground connections. Try taking the negative supply to the tacho direct with a new wire to a nice clean ground point. Poor ground connections unfortunately dont raise there ugly head until there is load on the circuit making tracing a real pain in the neck. Hope this helps, and good luck. Billy

Lovely looking car you have just acquired, congratulations. SA Datsun day in October you say, best I arrange a work trip to coincide for look see. I am in SA every 2-3 weeks. Billy