Is the L26 easy to work on? Easy to upgrade the power?

Why is the 260z so overshadowed by the 240z? Just because the restrictions due to emissions?

Would this car be good to learn cars with? I've been looking at NB Miatas but have found a 260z for sale just a few streets away.

What's a good price for a decent manual version of these? I'm going to talk to the guy tomorrow hopefully and would like to know some things before I go.

260's are less common than the 240's and 280's. I bought a 280 in drivable condition, fairly straight body for 600$ .

Did they just make less of them? I can't find any production #s.

The Datsun 240z was produced from 1970-1973

The 260Z was a North American car only, and as you mentioned, in stock form was not sought after due to the restrictive carburetors.

That said, the body, aka: S30, is virtually identical from 1970-1978 ending with the 280.

But, as the cars got newer, they also got heavier, and slightly more "luxurious" and began to stray slightly from its straight race car history. They began weighing around only 2300 pounds fully trimmed, and ended up around 2700 or so by 1978. So the weight, coupled with the racing heritage of the 240 makes it more appealing.

Both the 240z and 260z came with Hitachi SU type carburetors. The earlier style of carb is known as a "3 screw" because it has three screws holding the dashpot to the carburetor. The "4 screw" came on the late late 240zs and all 260zs.

The 4 screw carb is a boat anchor, and is known for vapor lock, being restrictive. A really easy and common modification is taking an earlier set of 3 screw SUs and putting them on the l26. It is a direct bolt on replacement.

As I said earlier, the 260 was for North American import only, so this means that some of the electrical components, like light/ combination switches and various senders may prove to be more difficult to find, since technically the 260 is one of the rarest Z cars.



Things to look for/ expect:

- it's a 39 year old car, basically ALL rubber will have to be replaced if it hasn't. Bushings, hoses, tires....

- RUST- most common areas: rear hatch jam, rocker panels, doglegs, frame rails, floors, bottoms of doors, around windshield gaskets.

- Take note of how many screws are on top of the carbs, if it's 3, someone has already swapped to good carbs, if there are 4 screws, assume on replacing those too. If it has triples on it, buy it.


These cars are generally simple to work on, but that said, I've met a LOT of people who don't like overhead cams. Personally, I learned how engines work building my first Datsun, so I can definitely say, that they are a great project to learn on.

But the learning process just takes time, as do most things that are worth doing.


You can expect to pay anwhere from 500-5000 depending on condition.

Restored examples can command triple those numbers, if done properly. And they are only expected to appreciate.

This post was edited by OldAndyAndTheSea on Jul 12 2013 09:14am

What Andy said. He's kind of our local Z authority.

So the 4 screw is the restricted carb? And with a car being so old now, doesn't it have waiver on some things such as emissions? I know my truck does, with it being a 1964 but I guess if it was made with the restriction, chances are they are still required.

just throw a ls into it it will be worth the time

jensen interceptor >

fixed....