[tylerdhurst]

yo. I owned a 40th anniversary Z. Later, I realized my grandfathers car he kept covered in the garage for my entire life was a 240Z. I bought my late grandfathers 240Z after he passed away unexpectedly from my grandmother for a couple k. All I remember when I was younger was a car covered in the garage when I was like 5. I'm over 40 now and rolled it out to give it a wash a few years back. I have it and hope I can get it running to give my grandmother a ride in it before she passes. The Z likely doesn't run but it's in surprisingly great shape.

I have next to zero time to work on the car raising a near 2 year old and another due in Feb. with my full time job but I've been around other forums before and find a lot of inspiration in posts.

I'm slowly buying up part goodies but time I cannot buy. Currently I live through the guys/gals here that actually have time and money to restore their Z properly. I just now decided to make an account. I'm mechanically inclined but am not a mechanic as a profession. I'll stop there. You'll likely hear from me asking for advice or what to do next after I soak in all the "how to restore" threads already posted.

Having said that I'm going back and forth from rebuilding the engine and just running it like that or throwing it something vanilla like a "LS swap" I keep hearing suggestions from others that I should do.

Wish me luck guys! Take care out there.

TTYL

 

[kickstand80]

Fix only the things that are broken. Get it running and enjoy it. Grandma deserves one last ride.

 

[pilgrim]

Fix only the things that are broken. Get it running and enjoy it. Grandma deserves one last ride.

Don't make work for yourself. Chances are 99 out of 100 that the engine is good and will run fine. I'd probably pour a couple tablespoons of Seafoam in each cylinder and let it sit for a few weeks, then change the oil and filter, drape a cloth over open spark plug holes and rotate the engine to clear out any Seafoam that didn't leak through into the oil.

Then the engine should be done.

I'd pull the radiator and have a shop clean it out. The original radiators are quality and can be cleaned. Chances are it's full of antifreeze crystals...and the engine will need a cooling system flush.

Chances are that you won't have to do much more to the car to make it run other than (1) clean out the fuel tank and fuel system, including the carb and (2) go through the braking system, changing fluid and making sure each brake works. You may have to replace some wheel cylinders. Once it runs you'll want to replace the gear oil in the transmission and rear end.

I may have missed some things but there is stuff there you can do yourself in an hour, like pulling and re-installing the radiator, and the oil change and cylinder treatment to free up rings.

 

[tylerdhurst]

Thanks guys! Posts like these just make me want to get after it!

 

[pilgrim]

One thing you'll need to watch - the condition of the water pump. It is probably OK, but keep an eye on the temp.

If the Z seems like an elephant, remember that the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Break out the items I mentioned and give them an hour at a time. You'll make progress quickly.

Save sandwich bags, and bag and tag EVERY bolt and screw. When you spread out a project, you will forget where they go.

And use this approach too....

 

[CezarDT]

Hope to see that back to life! Good luck and enjoy