See my post "My new 71 240Z toy". I flew into Knoxville TN Friday to pick up my car. Other than a few minor imperfections I was well pleased with the purchase. Driving a Z for the first time was incredible to say the least. This car ready moves and pulls strong even in fifth gear. Saturday morning I head out onto I-40 for the trip home to Virginia. Winding through the Smokey Mountains, I took advantage of both lanes as I careened into one corner after another. East of the Smokies I came up on a Porsche 928 who decided to run me. We were up to 120 side by side as I slowly pulled away from him. We backed down and exchanged thumbs up for the stupidity of such an act. Two hours into the trip I am into Statesville NC when an sudden vibration is met with a violent separation of tread from carcass of the right rear tire. I made it to the roadside without an accident and step out of the car. The Pirelli P77 came apart and part of the tread wrapped around the spinner of the American sandstone wheel. Like a chain and mace the lower rear panel was beaten up clear back to the rear valance. The lower lip at the front of the wheelwell was literally torn. Son of a bitch!!! I call AAA for a rollback fearful of the other tires giving way. Two hours and $400 later I have a full set of BFGoodrich T/A tires on the car. I head back out onto the highway with a looming dread of what else might befall me on the rest of my journey. As I finally make my destination the engine refuses to idle down and holds at around 2500 rpm's at every stoplight...and I catch ever freaking stoplight!!! I pull into a parking lot and get the engine stopped. Checking under the hood I can find nothing obvious and my knowledge of SU's is in its earliest stages. Restarting the car finds it settling down to a managable idle again. The lifters are chattering quite a bit but don't sound horrid. I know horrid from my old Land Rover and Camaros (with mechanical lifters). I'm at work this morning and unable to go over the Z until later in the afternoon. I'll check the oil level in the carbs and give the linkage a once over in proper daylight. The biggest dilemma is not knowing who to take this car to for bodywork. There are so many shops and I've seen too many slapstick repairs to trust anyone. Does anybody here know of a very good shop in the SE area of Virginia? Where can I find a lower section of the right rear quarter panel as the original metal is literally folded under and up against itself. How about the front edge of the wheelwell opening? Would it behoove me to get a whole quarter panel and section the needed material from that? Thanks for any sympathy and support during these trying times.

You JUST bought the car and were racing it around without thorough inspection first? Tsk tsk... As for body work, I can only reccomend places in Annapolis, MD if you feel like driving.

I had looked over and under the car throughly. Everything critical was in excellent condition. The only obvious problem underneath was a very small puncture hole in the LH tierod boot (apparently from contact with a smal branch or other debri on the road). The tires had ample tread and no noticable checking from age. Tire pressure was checked as were lugnut torque prior to leaving. There was no reason to assume anything was iffy or questionable. Had it been so, I'd have put tires on the car before pulling out. Looking back on it I can only be grateful that it didn't occur at high speeds or cruizing through the mountain passes. It isn't likely that I'd be hear to tell the tale otherwise. :dead:

I travel to Annapolis to meet my girlfriend (out of Philly) often. What shop(s) would you recommend?

Boy that was quite ahh, brave? Racing you new car on her maiden voyage. Wouldn't catch me doing that. Anyway enjoy your new car. :classic:

On your body panel, check with Victoria British. In there catalog they list a few body panels. Either that or find a body shop that can work the sheet metal.

I had looked over and under the car throughly.

Did you just "look" over the car or did you actually feel, push, pull and adjust? Looking at a car doesn't show any potential problems. Before you go out for any type of hard driving, especially on a newly purchased old Z that you know nothing about structure wise, you should always make sure things are sound. You took your life in your hands my friend and I'm glad you are OK.

Enjoy the Z and don't baby it but do make sure things are in primo shape if you want to do 120 on public streets :classic:

Just my opinion so please don't take offense.

Vicky

http://www.tabcobodyparts.com/html/table_of_contents.htm

that is definitely frightening regarding the tires. I wonder if anyone here knows some obvious signs to look for as far as tires go. You say the looked ok, but i wonder if there are some things the average joe can check? I know I often hit the backroads at speed and it would be nice to have an inkling there was a problem.

Tires can dry rot, even from the inside. If I buy a vehicle that has been sitting for a long period of time, one of the first things to be replaced is the tires, no matter how good they look. They may have been repaired or full of slime/seal-n-air, etc. It's just not worth the hassle.

Old tires heated up the street can cause tread separation, no? If there were any minor cracks, could that not lead to a failure of the tire after such extreme driving?

The purchase of the BF Goodrich T/A Radials was a great choice ezzzzzzz!

Vicky

Thanks for the lead, JMARK. Yeah, it was VERY stupid of me to put the car (and my welfare plus those around me) to such a test. The entire body is rock solid...very rare to find it in such condition. There were also photos of the car taken by the prior and present owners showing the overall condition of the vehicle. I climbed under and over the car prior to taken delivery and undertaking a 500 mile road trip. I would have replaced the tires anyhow but they did look good and after a hundred miles I'd looked them over as well as checking under the car for leaks, etc. Outside of the blowout the car performed flawlessly (well, except for the high idle rpm's which appears to be a sticky SU). I have a set of Wanli 215\45R17's mounted on Racing Hart C3's to go on the car when I've purchased my wheel adapters. There's also the Dellorto tripples to compliment the Crane cam and 2.5" exhaust. I'll drive it like this for a while then maybe consider a LS1 conversion. I've already got one of these going into my 71 88"wb Land Rover. I'll finish that before I consider another major project.

Eplusalottaz's,

In Annapolis, I'd reccomend Uni-Tech body shop, then Jeff's. You said you're in Philly, or your girlfriend is? I'm in Center City, just off Ben Franklin Parkway. Meet up sometime and talk Z?

I spoke with a few people locally that have show quality cars for a body shop worthy of repairing the Z. The overwhelming response was Knox Automotive near Suffolk, Virginia. I spoke with the service manager, Rob Moore, who estimated proper repairs at $752.00. The repairs will be done with hammer and dolly to save the original sheetmetal. There is some minor welding required where the front lip was actually torn. He was involved heavily in Z's in their hey day and knows them intimately. I can't turn the car over to the shop until Nov 8th because of scheduled work and his vacation. He doesn't want the car touched until he's available to personally supervise it's repair.

Good deal, It's always comforting to know your car will be in good hands.