1970 240z what do I do?

[240zNubie]

I am new to 240z's and have a few questions. But first breif story and history of the car,...or U can skip down to the bottom to the questions,

1970-My mom buys her first car, the 240z. Years later (1985 or so) the 240z which is the family's spare car, has mechanical problems, and with little or no money to fix it, the car is left to just "sit-up". As years,...many years go by, it falls into ruin. Until the faithful day(around 1999) my mother get remarries to a man that has a 1972 240z and they move from Misssissippi to Maine. (2002)They make the decision to have his mechanic get my mom's Z into runing condition. With ME weather the way it is, (alot of ice!) my mother doesnt like the fact that she only has a few months out of the year she can drive it, and the rest of the year it just "sits-up" in storage. She had always told me that if I ever wanted it she would gladly give it to me. (2007) She reminds me of this fact! CHa-CHING! With gas prices climbing, this will be great for me, plus she knows it will be run often. So, ( Dec 2008) after a year of trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get it back to MS,(mom and husband going to visit friends and family here in the south, agreed to haul it.-I pay $300 for gas) I am now the (proud) 2nd owner of a white 1970 240z, with 86,694 original miles.

Your Opinion Please:

What should I do with this car? Keep all original? or Minor upgrades(like a nice set of rims, new paint job, handling & engine performance upgrades.)? I prefer not to go completely wild, like dropping a V-8 off in it or anything like that, plus I dont have alot of money.(Being married with two young boys, 4yr old and 2yr old). But would like it to be a a bit more "Peppy", so to speak.

Questions:

1.Mom's husband also has a set of webber carbs, that he may sell me, would this be a good upgrade?are these good carbs?

2.It has a crack/leak in the manifold. What is your opinion on fixing this? JB weld, Replace with a factory manifold, upgrade to the Monza headers from Black Dragon automotive? What is the best combo of headers/muffler you have found to match with Webber Carbs?

3.Rims? I see there is a very limited amount of rims that fit stock stock hubs. I have read a little about 4 lug-5 lug adaptors, but are kinda cautious about them. Which ones are safe(if any)?, which ones do I need to avoid? Do they cause excess stress on parts of the car and if so,what mods would I have to do to strengthen those points? If I can adapt to bigger rims, what size will fit but not rub fender, or scrape when turning(without modification to car.)

4.The engine is completly stock, so, What are good engine performance upgrades (preferably bolt on, but dont have to be) that would make this car more "spicey". Being that this is one of the first of this model, Im sure there are things that the factory found could have been better and changed on later models. What is your opinion, example "I have a 240z and the first thing U need to change/fix is ____ and this made a huge difference in performance and handling."

5.I have noticed that when driving that if I hit a few little bumps that are kinda close together the rearend seems to "jump" to the right. Not quite sure what I need to do to fix it. It's almost like the rear is so light that it just bounces up.

That is it for now, sorry so long, any help giving will be much appreciated.I realize that many of these topics are probably covered some where in this forum, so if you just want to link to it, that would be great. Save me from spending many hours wading thru hundreds of pages.Thank you for your time,Chris

Modified by 240zNubie at 12:41 PM 6/16/2009
Modified by 240zNubie at 12:46 PM 6/16/2009

[evildky]

origional vs stock is a personal preference, unless it's a ow vin (like under 1000) it's just a meatter of what you want

1. webber carbs, are we talking dual DGV's or tripple DCOE's? some like the DGV's but the DCOE's are the bomb, trust me, lots of fun fomr the tripples

2. a quality exhaust header can be had from MSA for a bargain price, avoid monza

3 (Wheels!) the bolt circle and offset of these cars has been popularized by the 240SX, so there are a fair amoutn of options from cheapo sport max's to high end customs 15x7 zero offset fits nicely

4, the enigne is prettu duralb,e if you want more power the best move to to get an L28, no replacemetn for displacement, it's the same external casting and bolts right in

5. you are talking about a nearly 40 year old car, I'm sure allt he buchings are trashed, and the springs might be sagging and the struts are actually oil dampers, modern gas charged inserts are a popular modification, evne on stock cars as you can't see inside the strut without taking it apart

feel free to read a lot and search and ask questions, there is a lto of information here you just have to look for it

[240zNubie]

Thank You so much for the info. She's gonna need some work, but at least it's driveable.

[evildky]

take your time and get to knwo the car, it's been 40 years to get in it's resent condition, you don't have to fix everyhting all at once, you are far better off taking your time and working through each problem one at a time and being sure you get it the way YOU want it