Leon

I'd be more concerned about ground clearance than anything else.

When I was about 19, I told my dad that I wanted a project car. I really enjoyed working with my hands and cars were always a passion of mine. It runs through my blood, many members of both sides of the family had been machinists and engineers. I had mentioned my notion to my dad casually and really didn't think much of it, not even about what kind of car I'd want. That summer, my dad tells me that he found two Porsche 944's for a good price, $900. I instantly got excited! However, the cars were sold before we had a chance to go out and look for them. For the rest of the summer, I trawled Craigslist for a cheap 944 since my summer job didn't allow for spending much. I loved the look of the car and through my research it seemed to be a fun, light and nimble car. By the end of the summer, I had checked out just one 944 which just didn't work out. I went back to school, fantasizing about 944's of course, until the next summer came around. I was working and saving up so that I would be ready to jump on a 944 as soon as it popped up. Finally, I had found it, a black '87 944 advertised for $900. I offered the guy $700 and he said he'd take it. I told my dad and he was all for it, so we set out for the hour-long trek that weekend to check it out. I called the owner and told him that we are on our way. The excitement was building mightily! We reach the house, and I spot the car with joy in my eyes as we pull into the driveway. We roll our windows down and say hello as the owner approaches. The reply was not what I expected, "hey, I just sold the car. Sorry." I see some guy walking to his truck with the pink slip in hand. As quickly as we pulled in, we pull out of the driveway and drive an hour back home. As upset as I was, my dad helped me understand that it just wasn't meant to be, and as I've come to find out, he was right! After my disappointment, I vowed to expand my search. Having only really looked at one 944 within the last year, I was a bit frustrated. This was partially due to not having a big budget and also my dad not having much time to come out and look at a car with me. So the search expanded, I'd look for 944s, 928s, even browsed the 924 listings from time-to-time, which did nothing but convince me not to get a 924. I thought about what I liked in the Porsches and expanded the search to "something with rear-wheel drive, a manual transmission and preferably with a hatchback". This included mostly MkIII Supras and Z-cars. I noticed a trend in my searches, the Z-cars seemed to be the best car for the money within my criteria. Not knowing much about Z-cars, I didn't discriminate between 240Zs, 280Zs or ZXs, however the possibility of owning a 280Z or ZX was quickly decried by my father who declared them too heavy and a burden to have to smog. Thus my Z-car selection was whittled down to essentially just the 240Z, as I hadn't really known about the 260Z at the time. I'd graze on Craigslist, multiple times a day. It was becoming a hobby, bordering on obsession! Finally, there she was, a blue '71 240Z advertised for $800. I decided to drive down and check it out myself, as to not get held up by my dad. I made the 30 minute trip and met with the owner. He was also a young guy and he had a clean MkIII Supra Turbo in the garage! I checked the car out, it didn't run although it apparently did 6 months ago until "the rear carb started acting up", had a cracked headlight bucket so that the air dam sagged down to the ground, had rust holes in the rocker, dog legs and fender and was covered in dirt and cobwebs. Needless to say, I had second thoughts and decided to go home and sleep on it. My head was clearer the next day, and it just wasn't worth the $800. I decided to throw a number at the owner: $200, although it seemed outrageous even to me to offer that much money for a complete car. I called the owner that evening and explained my concerns to him. He was willing to go to $400 so I retorted with, "okay, sorry about taking your time, but I'm going to have to turn you down". He seemed surprised that I didn't take the offer, but said thanks, and I was back one my way to wandering around on Craislist. I explained my decision to my girlfriend, and she was surprisingly adamant in telling me that "it's just $400, if it doesn't work out it's not a big loss". That girlfriend is now my fiancee . I excitedly called the owner back up and told him, "I'll take it for $400 and will be there shortly!" I drove down with my girlfriend, AAA card in hand, and filled out the paperwork for my first car purchase. The tow truck driver was enthusiastic about towing the Z. He hoisted it up onto his truck and his first question was, "you gonna put a 350 in it?" I quickly hopped in my car and followed him, gazing proudly at my newfound joy. I got home just before the truck and prepared the driveway, making my mom, brother and sister curious. As the Z was being unloaded from the truck, my dad drives up the hill, exclaiming in a tone with a combination of surprise, doubt and excitement, "what the hell are you doing?" Here it is the next morning, after the first wash: That Z is gone now, but many of her parts still lay in my garage waiting to be used!

All US street-legal automotive engines since about 1965 have PCV, whether it's a Honda or a Nissan doesn't matter. That crank-case vent has nothing to do with the smog pump, and should be connected to your intake manifold via PCV valve, as Ross alluded to. Download the FSM at xenons30.com and you should have most of the info you need. The rest is in the archives, so use search tools (I prefer Google) to your advantage.

I'd love to have a quad-Weber V8 underhood! My triples haven't given me much trouble, I haven't really touched them for over a year.

I believe all pipe threads on a stock Z-car are BSPT, but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I love it!

Not a fan either, I prefer the clean look of the black intake and valve covers. But if you like it, then go for it! You can always build a second Z with quad-Webers...

Perform the tests clearly outlined in the FSM.

Connect the control arm to the strut first, and then connect the control arm to the cross-member. The spring is unloaded, which is why the control arm is at a higher angle. Also, attach the TC rod with the wheels on the ground, it's much easier that way. There is no need to use a spring compressor nor a jack under a control arm here.

Bingo!

Dan is right, but there is a lot of info here on how to get your swap CARB certified. If you want to keep the '77 and do a swap, do some searching and you should find some very thorough information. Good luck!

Sounds like fun! Hope you don't have any neighbors within earshot...

I would test the ignition switch per the FSM. Also, you'll get more and better help if you attempt using good punctuation. Poorly punctuated, long paragraphs don't get much attention. Take your time, phrase the thoughts in your head carefully and it will be easier to help you.

I think you may be mixing up my replies to you and SleeperZ? I understand that you don't feel that EGR is useless, but I also never mentioned EGR as being some solution for getting better gas mileage. My whole point throughout this entire thread is that EGR and vapor recovery system do in fact serve a function, which may have merit to some and be meaningless to others. SleeperZ made a sweeping generalization so I provided extra information so that we don't keep getting people that trash emission control systems for no other reason than pure ignorance. Gaining an understanding of what one is working on is paramount to making good decisions. Ultimately, I hope this will help the OP in taking a more educated approach after realizing the function of the components he's trying to ditch (original point of this thread). Well said Ron.

I understand the point of this thread and am not debating it. What I'm debating are your contentions about EGR not affecting performance. Even if you don't see or feel a difference, it doesn't mean it's not there. Whether that's of consequence to you is another matter altogether. Just because it's irrelevant to you doesn't make it so to everyone else. Most of what you say makes sense, besides what I've highlighted in bold. EGR does in fact give you better mpg, the explanation is given in the thread I linked. You have to compare apples to apples. Comparing aftermarket and OEM EFI is completely useless, they are vastly different both physically (no AFM restriction along with other possible modifications) as well as in their design intent (you can lean out aftermarket EFI way more than factory does out of concern for the catalytic converter).

Well in that case, I have no clue how you're defining "operational consequences". I take "operational consequences" to mean the result of an action onto the operation of the vehicle. Neither the age of the car in question nor the emissions requirements of said car has anything to do with the effects of removing equipment. Are you saying that the EGR and the vapor recovery systems don't do anything? Just because your car "passed" some emissions test doesn't mean that nothing changed. Do you have printouts showing the numbers from tailpipe and evap testing before and after removal? How about a log of average mpg before and after? A properly working EGR system will give you better gas mileage and decrease NOX emissions. A working vapor recovery system will release less HC into the atmosphere by way of gas fumes. I would think anyone would welcome that, especially if you park your Z in the garage, considering that you'd be the one breathing in all those fumes. Frankly, saying that there are no "operational consequences" (call them what you want) for deleting these things is just plain ignorant.

Deleting these definitely does have "operational consequences", both performance and emissions related. Both of these are described in the FSM. The benefits of the vapor canister should be pretty clear, but I'll add a pertinent link about EGR. EGR discussion

Keep in mind that the stock wheel has some dish to it, maybe 2" or so. My Momo wheel is the same distance away from me as the stock wheel was. Depending on the dish of the wheel you're using, the quick release may add only 1-2".

Holy crap, I did not realize how much of a PITA it is to replace the clutch master. How small did Nissan think a typical hand is? Last week, I was driving the Z and the clutch pedal got softer and softer, as the engagement point got lower and lower. Tell-tale sign of a dying clutch master, especially since I replaced a dying clutch slave a few months prior. Hence the reason for the clutch master replacement. I guess they really do go in pairs. I haven't updated much mostly because of doing home renovations, buying another car, blah blah blah... Besides the clutch master and little things here and there, I haven't made much "progress", but instead have just been driving.

You need to search around a bit, as this has all been discussed in detail. The information you need is out there and not all that hard to find. I much prefer to use google as my sole search engine. Just type in site:hybridz.org and the keyword. You can do this for any website.

AFAIK, the so-called "Series-I" Z-cars were built from late '69 to early '71, up to a serial number of around 21000. Therefore, I'd say there were more than 20,000 "Series-I" 240Zs.

Dave is on here as well: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/user/1483-hls30-08077/

Out of curiosity, what's the highest temperature you've measured?

The S30 suspension is all steel, BTW.