5 Star Rising

First I know that I should throw these Flat Top carbs in the Garbage Can and get some Round tops but I only want to get this car started enough to move it around in my yard instead of pushing it. 1973 240z with auto trans all original. Hasn't ran in 20 years. Gas tank is cleaned out, new fuel filter, new fuel lines, put a new set of dual points on the distributor, new cap and rotor, new spark plugs and wires. Both site windows of the flat tops show fuel inside 3/4s of the way up.. I CAN GET THE CAR TO RUN ON STARTING FLUID. but it will die out once the fluid is out. Looks to have fuel pumping out of both lines at the carbs. Has factory electric fuel pump AND mechanical pump on this late 73. Blew out fuel lines with compressed air. I have not checked fuel pressure yet or timing. But car runs on starting fluid. Also thought maybe too many vacuum lines are unhooked and dont have vacuum in the carbs. Any advice to get this car to just idle and maybe drive around the yard using the factory components? I should also mention I ADDED a throttle spring in a odd spot as once the gas pedal was pushed in it would not retract, it works well now.

Yeah I'm going to flip this 280z and thought while I have it, I (Could) do the swap, but it sounds like it's not worth the hassle. I dont plan on changing out the original L24 in my 71 only adding triple webbers..Should be fine, and yeah more weight would not help any. I didnt realize I needed to change the mustache bar and all that. I do like the idea of the limited slip from a LSD. But for now think I will just keep the original rear end. Thanks fellas.

I have a early 71 240z that is a little modded. Triple webber carbs, 280z 5 speed tranny, coil overs, toyota upgrade calipers ect, rear Bre spoiler, front air dam, the rest of the car is all stock, these are things I could put back to stock if I ever wanted to do a stock series 1 rebuild. The other day I picked up a 77 280z with 4 speed tranny. I was thinking about swapping the rear end into my 240.. Questions, do I need to keep this series 1 rear end with my car or is it just a standard 240z rear end that I could get later if I ever wanted to go back to 100% stock? Is it worth it to do this swap? I think the R200 is a bit more stout and has a lower gear ratio than the 70-71 rear ends but not much. What is needed to do the swap?, driveline, different axles? Brackets, hoses, straps? Or is it a direct easy swap?. I already re-did my rear brakes on the 240z. I'm sure there is info on here on the swap but thought I would ask about my particular situation. Thanks in advance.

Yeah, if it was a flat panel I think I could get away with bending a offset flange and sliding the panel behind, but because the panel has a moulded grove in it, it makes it almost impossible to flange it with that tool. The best approach might be to place some material behind the new panel like you suggested and the video suggests and butt weld it. I had a body shop guy come to my house and suggest overlapping but it doesn't make much sense to me doing it that way if nothing lines up correctly.

Hey thanks, I just ordered some of those 01991 discs, looks like alot of people use them for that and like them..thanks. I was a little worried about a few things.. the pitch/angle of the new panel being that it is tucked behind the body, feels like there could be a weird section in the middle, like I might need a little too much mud to make it true? Not too fond of that.. The other worry is that the aftermarket panel is longer than the original and I need to make a precise cut with my die grinder of about a inch or so to keep the factory look crease/gap where the panel under the door meets the new quarter. This is my first time working with automotive panels like this and ofcourse I would be learning on my beloved series 1.. Haha, oh well I guess it could be fixed if I messed it up but at the expense of my wallet in a over priced body shop, here goes nothing..

How do you guys install these lower quarter panels? I still haven't welded mine on yet, afraid I'm going to screw it up haha.

Just now getting around to this area of the car again... I bought the replacement lower quarter panels. They seem a bit bigger than the stock section, I had to cut the top of the new panel down and it looks like I will have to cut the front of the new panel also as it over laps the body line crease under the door. Shit! I hope i don't screw this up. Taking my time. Already had to fabricate a bottom section that faces the wheel well as it was rotted out. I hit everything with rust stop Ospho metal treatment as far as I could spray up there and everywhere, then hit it with rust stop paint. Excepting pointers on mounting these new lower quarters if I haven't already screwed it up..

Is this the jacking point section you are talking about? Its rotted a bit..

Found a few vids on YouTube about these little bastards. One said you needed a different throttle rod for the linkage to work with the stock components.

I have rebuilt my round top SUs, but never opened up webers, I'm a little intimidated that springs and ball bearings might come flying out Haha j/k. Is there any good info in tearing these down? And are the jets and tubes numbered? Thanks

Sold a car for part cash part trade for a set of Italian triple webers with linkage and a Cannon intake. They will be going on my series 1... I don't know alot about these carbs but I know alot of guys use these. I asked the guy about the history of them and he said they came off a running car, I asked if there was anything wrong with them and he said rebuild kits are cheap lol, so either there is something wrong with them or he honestly thinks they are good and maybe they are.. I'm guessing it's a little more than just bolting them up and seeing if they are good to go or not. Would you guys rebuild them first and not mess around putting them on the car till then? Also is there info on how to properly tune and set them up? I have a Air flow meter that I use for my SUs.. And lastly, what do you guys use for air filters on these things, they didnt come with any. I like the chrome air horns but don't know how they would keep from sucking in bad shit into the motor, do the little screens actually work vs like a k&n set up? Thanks

Well wasted part of a Saturday. This new motor from the high priced junk yard is a POS. I told the guy to give me a good motor and check it good because I didn't want to waste each others time bringing it back. "We checked it out it's a great motor, there ain't nothin wrong with this motor". So I get it home and decide to change the rear main seal when I start looking closer and see that this $550 used junk yard motor has been cracked and repaired/welded and painted around the bell housing area. The guy told me that the fly wheel was damaged but the motor was good, I got to thinking why was the fly wheel was damaged at the time but he assured me just to use my flywheel and I would be fine. If you look at the dates circled in the bell housing it says 4/2018 and its crossed out then 4 months later it says 8/2018 in the same area. Thats telling me that the PO had to bring this thing into the shop twice for the same problem, next the car is found in the junk yard and it's not wrecked. Something probably not lining up correctly after the case damage, a crank problem or the way everything mounts up could be off center. I already wasted a few hours getting this new motor ready, bought another $75 in gaskets and seals (luckily didn't install them)...I dont want to spend hours putting this damn thing together and back in my car only to have to pull it out again. Its loaded in my truck and ready to go back to the junk yard Monday morning. The receipt says they charge a 25% restocking fee to get a refund, we will see about that..Back to square one.

So I finally i picked up that motor from the local junk yard, they told me it's a good running motor with good compression and it comes with a warranty. I'm getting ready to start swapping parts on it. I had already purchased a timing belt and water pump, a head gasket kit, and head bolts for the other engine when I thought I was only doing a head gasket job. I could now return most of these parts for a refund but i do know I'm going to change the timing belt and water pump on the new motor. Then I got to thinking about the head gasket. If you guys were in this situation would you crack open the head and change the head gasket on the new motor even though it doesn't need it? Or just install the motor that runs with 188k miles on it? I worry about warping the head when taking it off, or having a bolt break, but at the same time the motor is out and I have the parts to change the head gasket if I wanted. I will probably use most of the parts that came in that head gasket kit for like the valve cover gasket and seals, but then not use the headgasket. What do you think on fixing something that's not broke? Guess it would be for maintenance purposes since my head gasket blew at the same exact miles that this new motor has. But then again my car could have had cooling system issues that caused it to blow.

I will be using this car to commute to work every day on the freeway and I want it to be reliable, if I was to try and weld it I would always be thinking about that thing giving out, being stranded and being back in square one. I was looking on the internet for motors and they were about $750 and up and freight is a pain where I live. So I called the local and ONLY wrecking yard where I live and he has a car with a vtech motor. My car has 188k miles and so does this junk yard car.. it's a gamble to put another 188k stock motor back in my car but at least it doesn't have a blown head gasket "yet" that I can see and it comes with a 90 day warranty. I paid $540 for it out the door. They will be pulling the good motor out of the junk yard car for me. The car wasnt wrecked which kind of freaked me out but it did have a broken flywheel so I'm hoping that was the main issue the PO gave up on the car since they couldn't start it. Better off with a different motor, not sure what the hell I was thinking about welding the damn thing. I have (3) 240zs, a 300zx TT, and a 71 Chevelle to work on , but I'm spending alot of time on this little Honda bastard. Hope it runs good.

Unless you guys still think I can fix it by welding. I have a small Lincoln Mig welder. The main area where the head gasket blew was right in that area..

Well the machine shop guy was honest. Said he wouldn't do any head work after seeing these pictures up close. If you look close enough, part of the cylinder walls have deep grooves on the tops not just the cast section in the middle.

Thanks for the info. On my way to the machine shop before they close. What about some JB Weld just for the heck of it to fill that small area?

The spot where the head gasket completely blew apart in the middle is the exact spot where the divot in the block is. Should all the valves be seated in the head when the cam gear is set to TDC? There is a few popping out slightly. The PO said the car used to run rough before the head gasket blew, that could have been that issue. He also said he remembers seeing a brand new head gaskets on the car when he bought it used, as if this is the 2nd blown head gasket. Motor has 188k miles. I bought the car for $700 cause it has a new paint job and new tires, interior is nice, but thought it would just be a head gasket. I called around for motors and one place quoted me $950 delivered, which is more than I want to pay for this commuter car. My time is in fact valuable.. seems like I have a million things going on. I thought about repairing it, but then thought about the valve issues and also the fact that the repair could fail. I have this thing taken apart in my driveway in which should have been a week turn around now I'm looking at complete motors and would be waiting for them to arrive on top of spending hundreds more than I thought. What kind of metal is the block in the center, can I weld it with my mig welder? Lol.

So I know I'm on a Z forum and I got a few Zs but this question is about a 2001 Honda Civic Vtec. I bought the car for cheap to use it as a commuter car. It had a blown head gasket and chocolate milk for oil. When I pulled the head I was obviously expecting a blown head gasket in which it was, but it also has a damaged block with missing material between the cylinders. Can this be repaired or should I get one of those jdm motors pulled from japan that is supposed to have low miles for like $600... Looks like I have a few stuck valves too. Shitty night finding this. Just looking for second opinions.

Ok got everything together and it works great. Maybe this wasn't the best approach but I didn't have to cut the console. Seattle you are correct about the cup binding but the new angle works. I removed the plastic cup on the tip of the shifter and packed the pivot point area with marine grease. Everything shifts fine with out the plastic cup on the tip, it does not pop out of the grove. I also made my own rubber shift boot retaining ring out of a piece of 16 gauge sheet metal from Ace hardware for $7.. not the prettiest thing but it works and you dont see it as it's under the console. Again maybe not the best approach but it works and hope this post can help somebody else dealing with the same issue.... Happy days.. Issue solved..

Funny you mention a plasma cutter I was just thinking about that like an hour ago, my buddy has one at his work and he's always making random designs out of metal with that thing. I'm going to ask him if he can make me one. But I'm waiting on the boot to arrive to trace it.. Unless there is a template online somewhere that has the measurements I could give him

No I dont Dennis, I thought about using some fender washers and sheet metal screws. I wish I had a retaining ring.

So I heated and bent the shifter at the top and bottom of the pivot point as well as bent the top part of the shaft upwards more. It seems to be alot better, but I have a newer style 72-78 rubber shift boot on it's way as my car has the early style boot on it that is extremely stiff and bulky in the section that hits the console... I also justified spending $40 on a new boot because mine has 2 large rips in it. I'm hoping after I install the later style boot that the problem will be solved. I will follow up once I get everything thing installed and bolted up to see how it worked.

The PO already hacked the sheet metal in the tunnel and i'm not too big on hacking my series 1 console if I don't have to. Almost inclined to try heating and bending the shifter back at the base and then upwards but then i dont want to screw it up and make it worse.

I have a early 71 240z with a 5 speed 280z transmission installed by the PO. The tunnel has been trimmed but the shifter still hits the console and pops out of gear when shifting to 1st, 3rd, and 5th it actually lifts up the console when shifting and has caused a small crack in the console. It has a rubber shift boot that could been contributing to the bind. Right now I have a 280z shifter in place as it has a bend in it, the 4 speed shifter is straight. I have searched the forum and found a thread or 2 on this but never got a definite fix for the issue. The PO had cut what looked to be a 280z shifter and made a short shifter but I believe it still hit the console, I installed a factory 280z shifter 2 years ago and have yet to drive the car yet as it's still be restored but getting close to hitting the pavement in a few months.. Today I noticed this issue while sitting in the drivers seat "pretend shifting" ha! I can see this being and issue when this car hits the road. I'm sure some of you have run into this issue, it seems pretty common to swap in a 5 speed. What are the fixes for this? Heat up the shift rod and try to bend it a certain way? Thanks in advance