240 z Samuri conversions

J

jagbabe

New Forum User
At last I have one! after numerous failed attempts I got my sticky little fingers on a 1973 240 last week...it promptly ran out petrol two miles down the road and all those lovely carbs got clogged up with crap...ignominously the trip ended on the back of a nice AA man's truck at 5.15am yawn!

anyway by next week a replacement fuel tank, new distributer and other associated bits will be fitted and hopefully the webbers will be tuned (which they weren't when I bought it)...

cant wait to do a bit of posing....the car is very nearly mint...no rust, never been welded, still got original paint in the engine bay and sounded great even out of tune..what it will be like next week god knows...but that leads me (eventually) to my query....

it has tripple webbers fitted (and I am told head and cam mods too) plus Janspeed manifold and exhaust but the front brakes seem to be standard....should I be worried that it won't stop when my right foot gets planted?

are the webbers difficult to keep in tune? will I be able to afford the petrol (though couldn't ever be as thirsty as my V12 XJS)? adn how do I stop some scum bag from nicking it?

any other info on Samuri's would also be greatfully appreciated...

hopefully when I figure out how to put pictures up (it took an hour to work out how to place a message) I will!

I do go on a bit but hope this is the right place to post such a message?

:) luv and kisses

jababe
 
Congrats

Congratulations jagbabe on your acquisition I look forward to seeing some pictures.

Normally you would get a reply from someone who knows their stuff, but their all fairly old, bad tempered and go to bed early.

Triples eh -- lovely, I moved up from SU's about 7 months ago and haven’t looked back, the induction sound is great and on a motor that been "tweeked" with headers and cam, work very well indeed.

Any carb as you know is a sensitive, precise measuring and metering device, non-more so than the ubiquitous DCOE.

Triples live and die
A. by their condition (a clean weber is a happy weber)
B. by the linkage mechanism that connects them,
C. by their connection to the manifold
finally the quality of the fuel supply filtered, regulated, constant flow at around 3 psi or so (I run 3.5 via a regulator delivered from a facet red top pump)

I like to think of them as a feature of the engine so I try keep mine in the best possible condition -- however some don’t and things go down hill from there.

A quality cable linkage well set up and you have every chance of things working out

A quality solid linkage in good nick, with quality drop links can work well but will need to be kept an eye on

A Poor quality (stamped metal twisty bendy rod from canon etc) is going to cause you a whole world of pain, throw it away and phone Mr F or the Z farm up straight away for some pain relief

Quality air filtering like ITG foam filters etc are a good investment

Make sure that there are no air leaks, carb to manifold/manifold to head but at the same time over tightening the stud nuts can result in too rigid a connection which will transmit vibration to the fuel bowl and foam the petrol so rubber cup washers and nylon insulators are used -- make sure they are in place

You mentioned that you felt they were out of tune, I would strongly recommend seeking professional tuning advice as to tune a weber (after idle) may require jet, choke and needle swapping -- best done on a rolling road.

After that occasionally check balance with a quality carb syncrometer (not the crap Halfords sell with a floppy tube)

On the brakes front, in good condition the standard set-up will work "OK" for the road, giving a firm pedal and will stop you on a dry road fairly quickly without drama, but driven hard ie lots of big braking, and they will fade fast (take a change of underwear along)
Stainless braided lines front and back with quality pads help somewhat

A common mod is to fit the 4 pot callipers and vented disk from a Toyota (just the 4 pots on their own will give you better braking force but wont necessarily help with that appalling fade)

Security - get a thatcham approved immobiliser/alarm fitted (Clifford or Sigma etc)

Fuel economy - with triples on an L24 I get about 22 to the gallon where as I was getting about 25 to the gallon with my SU's

Good luck, keep us informed, who knows maybe see you at Billing in July
 
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Hi Jagbabe, the front calipers off a 86-to 89 Toyota 4 by 4 will bolt right on to your front struts. It is a cheap up grade for your braking. If like to up grade your rear braking to disc brakes there is a company in the southern California that sells a kit !!!
 
Thanks chaps!

have found a tuner in daventry who sounds like he knows his stuff!

like the sound of a cheap brake upgrade too...

should be at Billing all things being equal...so loo out for a red '73' 240 and an old bird driving it!!

luv and kissess

jagbabe
 
HI I alos run triple webers and have found them to be no probs just require a balance every now and again I run the Toyota brakes on standard solid discs which are great for eveyday driving but soon fade off when the heat is on I'm looking at every option to fit vented discs and the later vented Toyota Calipers but the discs from a 300zx z31 84 year model never came out over hear so is a bit of a hassle trying to get hold of these to modify and fit to the standard 240 hubs. Deos anyone know what was involved in the Rangerover Vented Disc upgrade?
Welcome to 240z ownership.

:)
 
Originally posted by jagbabe
At last I have one! after numerous failed attempts I got my sticky little fingers on a 1973 240 last week...

it has tripple webbers fitted (and I am told head and cam mods too) plus Janspeed manifold and exhaust but the front brakes seem to be standard....should I be worried that it won't stop when my right foot gets planted?
are the webbers difficult to keep in tune? will I be able to afford the petrol (though couldn't ever be as thirsty as my V12 XJS)? adn how do I stop some scum bag from nicking it?
any other info on Samuri's would also be greatfully appreciated...
jababe
Click to expand...

is/was this the red one that was being sold on e-bay recently ?

if so ...i e-mailed the seller with a number of questions relating to Samuri spec-d cars
...got no response
was slightly suspicious as he/she'd spelt Samuri incorrectly....and if you have one, the least you would know is the spelling IMHO
also, the spec was incomplete ....apart from the carbs etc etc

sincerely hope that you've got a genuine car
and if so...nice one & enjoy
:D
 
Malcolm Yule, the Z club press officer also maintains a Samuri Register of authenticated cars. It might be worth contacting him for some info.
I too saw the car on Ebay. Wasnt in "Samuri " colours.
Wot about the springs? Are they lowered?
 
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