Pop N Wood

Superbirds have nothing on that bad boy. I'll bet THAT wing would even hold my weight. No one will tail gate you with that instrument of death flapping in the wind.

Man, they have made some progress since the last update. Look forward to first impressions!!!

I had a POS car that started momentarily killing the engine when I hit the turn signal switch. Just enough you could feel the car start to decellerate before picking up again. Was convinced the switch was broken and shorting something out. Finally the car got so it wouldn't start without a jump. After the second time, while I was waiting for my buddy to show up with jumper cables, I noticed the dome light getting brighter and dimmer with the bass notes from the radio. That gave me the bright idea to clean the visibly clean battery posts. Problem solved. The turn signals must have momentarily put enough load on the alternator that the voltage drop caused the ignition to drop out (a battery acts like a huge capacitor to smooth these type of transients out). So take a wire brush to every major electrical connector under the hood before you start buying new parts.

The JTR manual says 245's will fit in the rear with coil overs and stock fenders. With flares you could always do like below See the thread http://www.hybridz.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=20987

What did he do with the brake booster?

The MSA heim joint units are also reverse threaded on one side. This allows you to install the bar and turn it to place some preload on the bar. Thus you can draw the tops of the strut towers in or out by tightening or loosening the bar. Not sure why you would want to do this, but that's what they told me when they sold me the bar.

You may want to look through some of the recent postings. A very recent thread discussed this topic and most of the opinions were less than favorable.

Sort of reminds me of a buddy of mine saying he wanted to start working out but didn't want to get as big as Arnold. It is nice to have goals but..... 600-700 HP is insane. 1300 HP is absolutely immortal. Also using the word "streetable" in the above sentence is highly questionable.

Have you checked the price on those? The kit looks like nothing more than the Toyota 4x4 calipers (a bolt on upgrade). I actually emailed MSA one time asking what the difference between their "kit" and the 4x4 calipers was. No response (suprise suprise!) Also save yourself some $$ and buy a drill bit to cross drill your own stock rotors. It looks like that is all MSA did. Cross drilling rotors doesn't improve braking, it only lightens the rotors. And if you are worried about weight then you may want to reconsider the 4x4 calipers since they probably add more than 10 pounds per wheel. Look at the 260z links posted above. Ross C will hook you up for considerably less than the MSA setup.

OK here is what I would check on my 240 with a points type ignition. The starter solenoid has an S terminal that powers the ignition circuit during cranking. On a points car it bypasses the ballast resistor to give full power to the ignition during start up (you probably already know this). Thus if a connection is bad on this alternate power path, then the problem you described could exist. The ignition switch is in the circuit, so a bad key switch could be the source of your problem. Hook a voltmeter up and see if you have power to the ignition module with the key in the run and start positions. Also there is a remote chance that something is shorting out in the cranking ignition circuit. I have had problems in the past with copper dust building up inside the starter solenoid and shorting this terminal to ground. (It was on a Cheby truck but hey, same layout.) If you pull the solenoid off you can easily disassemble the end with the contacts and clean it out. I have no experience with 78 Z's so don't know if the ignition circuit is powered as above, but certainly something to check into. BTW, just noticed your comment about the alternator and battery both failing. Can't rule out a short somewhere causing both problems.

I remember when the superbirds came out. We use to laugh at them. Not many people I knew wanted them. The wing is "functional". Functional should you ever hit the upper side of 100 MPH. BIG does not begin to describe the size of those cars. But I guess the super bird owners are getting the last laugh now. They routinely sell for over $100K at the high end auctions. Shows you what I know. I wonder if a civic with a 5 inch exhaust and park bench wing will ever be worth anything....

If you rebuild the 2.4L make sure you replace the early 240 rod bolts with some better bolts. The 240 rod bolts were dangerously thin. MSA carries upgrade kits. The 2.8L swap is definitely the way to go, but sort of defeats your whole "cost effective" argument in that you could be well on your way to a V8. The differential swap, R200 or R180, is strictly a bolt in affair on a 240 so have to give it an "uncomplicated" rating. The only trick is getting all the parts you need with only a single trip to the wrecking yard. The real early 240's (like mine) had the diff mounted an inch and a half too far forward. This makes the upgrade very worthwhile since it noticeably reduces vibration. I think Nissan fixed this in mid 72 so it may or may not apply to you. The JTR manual has a complete shopping list.

The MSA bars are straight and suppose to fit over the stock L6, but didn't in my case. The MSA bar is a nice solid bar with heim joints. but I have seen nicer on other members cars.

There is a difference between octane and energy content. Methanol has a very high octane rating but (I think) only something like 3/5 the energy content. Thus you need to burn 5 gallons of Methanol to release the same amount of energy as 3 gallons of gasoline. Or conversely your tank need to be 2/3 larger to get the same number of miles between fill ups. That is why I don't like ethanol blend fuels. They don't have the energy content per gallon of gas, so gas mileage always drops (noticeably too). What I don't know if there is any difference in energy content between regular and premium. In the old leaded gas days I would have said no. But since premium gas is more highly refined regular gas, then I don't know. If there is any difference, I would think it would be very small. The statement that a car designed to run on regular will not get better mileage using premium is true. But the reverse isn't true. If a modern, computer controlled car is built and tuned for premium, then switching to regular could cause a loss in efficiency when the computer retards the timing to compensate for the bad gas. But getting back to the original question. For a car that is not a daily driver, I say build for HP and count on premium gas to do it. BTW, If you get 100,000 miles out of a performance engine, then you are probably not driving it the way it was meant to be driven.

Pull the valve cover and watch the valves. As you come up on TDC both valves will be closed.

The ballast resistor heating up means you have excessive current going through it. Undoubtably means something down stream of the resistor is shorted out to ground. Could be the ignition box is fried, could be a wire has chaffed/melted insulation and is shorting out to ground. This type of thing should be easy to isolate with a simple voltmeter/test lamp. simple I guess if you know what to look for. BTW, ever hear of the smoke theory of electrical equipment? Electronic components are all made with a certain amount of smoke built into them. When something happens to let all the smoke out, then they no longer work. Also be careful installing a new ignition box until you have ensured all of the wiring is in good shape. The old box may have fried because something is shorted out or hooked up incorrectly. Installing a new box without fixing the original problem may result in another fried box. Good luck.

This has come up before. Do a search (I hate saying that but I know this exact problem with a solution has been discussed in depth in the past). I think it has something to do with the alternator charging circuit feeding back keeping the ignition energized. I seem to remember the fix being something as simple as installing a diode in the alternator circuit.

Are you using carbs or FI? Seems like the easiest thing to do is use all the L24 stuff intact. Does the computer drive any of the gages? Why keep it?

Almost criminal to have such an awsome car that can't be driven. Judging from what some of the old Hemi muscle cars are going for, that car is probably worth more than the $100K asking price. I wonder if it had the aluminum 427? BTW, those old vinyl tops were truely hideous!

Why do you need to take the spindle pins out? I did my struts many years ago and I know I have never separated the control arm from the strut assembly.

I had Maryland historic plates on my Z for a few years. The only qualifier was that the car be over 25 years old. The advantage was only $25 a year for the plates. The down side is some people interpret the "(f) As used in this section, a vehicle is of historic interest if it is collected, restored, maintained, and operated by a collector or hobbyist principally for purposes of exhibition and historic vehicle club activities. " as meaning you can't use it to drive to and from work. Only to and from car shows. I have seen other rules saying the car cannot be significantly modified from stock, although the clerk at the MVA only looks at the year of manufacture to determine eligibility. In Maryland you have to have insurance to have plates, so I gave up the plates when I garaged the car for the next couple of years.

You don't really need coil overs for such a car. Some would argue you actually don't want them. For a car that is driven on the street a lot, look into the Nissan Euro springs (from MSA) with some KYB struts, a sway bar kit and full urethane bushing kit. This will give you a very flat handling car that still has adequate ground clearance and ride necessary for a daily driver. If you want to trade some ride quality for a little more performance, then you can adjustable struts and stiffer springs that still mount on the stock perches. Coil overs have several advantages. They have a larger selection of spring rates, are slightly smaller in diameter (which allows slightly wider tires) and allow you to more easily adjust the ride height. Adjustable control arms are nice, but unless you are planning on investing some serious time racing and learning how to set them up, then you probably won't use all the adjustablity they have to offer. Whatever you do, get the urethane bushing kit first. Do a search on this site before you buy because the kits can really vary in price.

Beautiful car. I can only wish to get mine ever looking that clean. I really like the no rear bumper look better than any others I have seen so far. Wonder if I could get away with it here in the states/. Stress cracks are common on the 240's, I have them on my stock engined 240 also. The early ones flex a lot more than the later 280's (not all the weight gain was bumpers). Nothing really to "worry" about, but subframe connectors and/or some type of cage will stiffen everything up. Especially with a V8. I have heard of people complaining their hoods (bonnet) wouldn't close after a couple of hard launches. Once again, nice car. Now all you need to do is move the steering wheel back to the proper side.....

"If you are going through hell, keep on going"

Man, you guys are all missing the point. Forget the laws and forget what you could do to yourself. It is what you could do to some other hapless victim that should prevent you from street racing. On the street, any street, anywhere, in any conditions, there are too many things outside of your control that could ruin someone's life. An animal in the road, a pothole, a blown tire, mechanical failure, a kid running out from behind a bush, the guy in the other lane losing control.... You get the idea. A track is a much more controled situation, and even then chit happens. There is no way to be a "grown up" and street race, no matter what consequences you are willing to accept.