Officially a Z owner.

[Six_Shooter]

Well I finally took delivery of my 1973 240Z this morning. It arrived at work at about 11 AM.

 

Here it is coming off the truck, all covered in road dirt and snow.

 

 

After this I took a look at a few things on the car, that I didn't notice previously.

 

It has an under hood light, I don't know if this is common or not, but it has it and it works. I also had one in the hatch, that the seller must have thrown in. There was actually quite a few extra parts in the hatch that I didn't expect, like the 280 dash, while in poor condition is kinda neat to have. I only really paid for the gauges, since I wanted spares, and to convert the Amp gauge to a volt meter and the tach from voltage triggered to points triggered. As a bonus, the 280 Speedo has exactly what I was going to do to a 260 speedo I recently received from another member here, metric graduations! I don't recall this ever being mentioned that from the factory that the 280 has Metric graduations for speed on the speedo. I'll just swap that face in, instead of screwing around with the other speedos.

 

Another VERY nice discovery is that that the engine is not the original engine, I know, you're scoffing right now. "But that's not a good thing, the numbers don't match....." Yep, it's an L28, with a P90 head. From what I've been able to find out, that's an L28 from an '81 to '82 280ZX, turbo. That's perfect, because I have a turbo exhaust manifold coming for it, I think this was meant to be.

 

The L28 in 1973 L24 trim:

 

The interior is rough, but I plan to update that quite a bit anyway, so as long as I have the basic parts, that's all that matters.

 

Ugly interior:

 

Passenger side (yeah it's still dirty, at least I cleaned the windows.) :

 

Driver side:

 

And some spare parts that came with it (yes, that is a 280 5-speed):

 

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Congrats! I know you've been looking and waiting some time now. I know how it feels to finally get one!

[m4xwellmurd3r]

can I have that 280z dash o_o that thing's nicer than mine (but mine looks like it was inside the san andreas fault)

 

the underhood light, there is an engine inspecion light on the driver side fender if that's the one your'e talking about. That is stock. Doesn't work that great though unless it's supposed to be removeable (from the looks of it it twists apart. Mine is stuck)

[Challenger]

Looks great! So what will you be doing with the headlight buckets?

[Six_Shooter]

can I have that 280z dash o_o that thing's nicer than mine (but mine looks like it was inside the san andreas fault)

 

the underhood light, there is an engine inspecion light on the driver side fender if that's the one your'e talking about. That is stock. Doesn't work that great though unless it's supposed to be removeable (from the looks of it it twists apart. Mine is stuck)

 

Yeah, that is the one.

 

And yes it does twist apart. I have a spare if you want it.

 

I didn't think it was anything real special, I just thought it was interesting, I've never noticed one before.

 

Challenger;

I want to retro fit some other headlights in, something more modern and sleek, and would like to use those scoops that I got from you, that BTW also arrived today, to make new scoops.

 

TR;

 

Yeah it's been a while waiting (im) paitiently for it to get here. Once I got the call from the driver last night, I knew I was going to have a hard time sleeping, and I did.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Do I see an extra shift knob in there you might be able to send me...

I'd even take a 4spd, it'd confuse anybody who tries to drive it, lol.

[Six_Shooter]

Do I see an extra shift knob in there you might be able to send me...

I'd even take a 4spd, it'd confuse anybody who tries to drive it, lol.

 

Nope, no extra shift knobs, just the one attached to the 280 5-speed in the hatch that is being swapped in place of the automatic.

[Challenger]

Glad you got them ok.

 

You could probably make a fg part that is the same shape as a headlight covers and then make multiple headlights fit in the headlight bucket. Ive seen a picture of something similar but dont have it.

[phil280zxt]

Not only does the inspection light twist off but its got enough wire to move around the engine compartment and along the sides of the Z to illuminate late night tire changes.

[Six_Shooter]

Glad you got them ok.

 

You could probably make a fg part that is the same shape as a headlight covers and then make multiple headlights fit in the headlight bucket. Ive seen a picture of something similar but dont have it.

 

I have thought about making 'glass candy scoops, and may do that to find what looks best, but in the end I will form new metal candy scoops, that keep the original look, but with the new headlights, what ever I end up using.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

Hah, I should make a sticker for the top of mine that says

Fast

^

|

V

Faster

[Six_Shooter]

Hah, I should make a sticker for the top of mine that says

Fast

^

|

V

Faster

 

I've been trying to figure this out, I don't get it.

 

Anyway, it seems that the engine has flat tops, so it is a 280ZX N/A engine, F54 block, P90 head, with the '73 induction. It looks like the 280ZX exhaust manifold has been retained though, as I noticed tonight that the exhaust manifold has pipe plugs in each "primary", that I could only see being used for AIR injection, which the '73 didn't have.

 

I also pulled out the choke cables tonight, one was broke before I pulled it out, the other was fatigued and then broke when I was putting it in the parts box.

 

It needs a tune up desperatly, I'll probably change the oil tomorrow night, take a look at the plugs and check the timing if I can get my hands on a timing light.

 

The tranny fluid is red and looks great. So if I drive on the auto for a bit I have no worries about it.

 

It seems that the manual tranny I bought with the car may be a 4 speed, since I can't seem to find a 5th gear when shifting through the gears.

 

I let it get to operating temp tonight and adjusted the carbs some, it's running better, but the gas is old, I can smell that, may even be 10 years old, as that's the last time it was registered. I'll be putting some fresh fuel in soon with some octane booster, as good measure.

 

I can't wait for some other parts to get here, I have a turbo manifold on the way that I hope to have installed before summer, just depends on how my other projects go along.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

If you can't figure it out, on ratchet style shifters, push up and it downshifts, pull back and it upshifts. Even on the H pattern it works. 1st is fast, 2nd is faster 3rd is fast, but 4th is faster Haha.

When I first got my Z I had trouble finding reverse. I'm used to reverse being Left and down. on a Z it's right and down. 5th is right above reverse, so if you can't find it it probably isn't there.

[Challenger]

Anyone ever done a Fast and the Furious and shifted into reverse because your in 5th gear and your still accelerating? I thought that part was so funny.

 

All he did was spin out and drive away... yeah.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

Haha, nope, because My reverse would EXPLODE if it ever managed to get into it. I have gone from 1st to Reverse in my bug. The reverse lockout plate wasn't quite right and I ground into reverse pretty bad. Not a pretty sound hearing grinding gears haha. Can't say I've ever mis-shifted in my Z yet. Actually, besides the one time I accidentally hit reverse in my bug, I've never mis-shifted. Wow.

[Six_Shooter]

If you can't figure it out, on ratchet style shifters, push up and it downshifts, pull back and it upshifts. Even on the H pattern it works. 1st is fast, 2nd is faster 3rd is fast, but 4th is faster Haha.

When I first got my Z I had trouble finding reverse. I'm used to reverse being Left and down. on a Z it's right and down. 5th is right above reverse, so if you can't find it it probably isn't there.

 

I know about rachet shifters, but where did that come from to begin with?

 

Yeah I know the shift pattern, same as all other 5-speeds I've owned. The only ones that I've driven that were different was VW, reverse to the right and forward, basically beside 1st.

The tranny that I bought should have been a 5-speed, as I was told the 280 that it came from was a later one, IIRC he said '78.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

I know about rachet shifters, but where did that come from to begin with?

 

Yeah I know the shift pattern, same as all other 5-speeds I've owned. The only ones that I've driven that were different was VW, reverse to the right and forward, basically beside 1st.

The tranny that I bought should have been a 5-speed, as I was told the 280 that it came from was a later one, IIRC he said '78.

 

it came from someone wanting to put a 4 speed knob on a 5 speed earlier or something but I didn't quote.

If it came out of a 78 then yeah, I'm pretty sure the 5 speed was standard in those, but who knows eh?

[jerryb]

Congrats on your Z Chris. Better start working on her....I smell spring! Looks like you have many extra parts to go with it as well.

 

Dont hesitate to contact me if you are trying to find something...the OZC network is tight! Mark the swap meet on you calender!

[jerryb]

BTW...I think I have a bunch of 280Z turbo stuff you can have. Manifold and such....I will need to double check and see what I have!

[Six_Shooter]

BTW...I think I have a bunch of 280Z turbo stuff you can have. Manifold and such....I will need to double check and see what I have!

 

That would be awesome!

 

Let me know what you have, and we'll make arrangments.

 

If you happen to have an L-series 5-speed I'd be interested in that too, since it looks like the one I bought with the car is a 4-speed.

 

I was thinking about making a post on the OZC site to see what people may have. Right now I only need a few items to get it going. I'm going to be checking the brakes next week, to see what I need there. I know the rear brakes need a lot of work, since well, they don't.