95Neoner's '71 Z

[95neoner]

I bought this car ~3-4 months ago. I've had it up here for the last month. I actually bought this car closer to home, so I was forced to wait a couple months before getting to go on leave and seeing it in person myself. I got my dad to look at it for me after I found it on Craigslist and figured out I was looking at a "Series I." I took his word when he said it was a pretty rust-free car except a bit at the bottom of the fenders and a bit of surface rust under the car. He'd also said the interior was in great shape with the exception of the driver's seat just starting to separate inboard of the bolster. The other small issues were that the brakes vibrated a bit, the clutch could use replacing, and the signal lights weren't working. It had a Mallory coil installed, as well as pod filters on the SU carbs, and a full exhaust.

A little bit of use has cleared up the vibration from the front rotors although they're not particularly healthy looking, so I do have spares standing by waiting to go on, and I'm still babying the clutch and it's working fine. I've done some research into the lights and it turns out it's a common point of wiring failure so I'm looking at getting a new upgraded harness soon. We've still got to do some poking around at the rust, nothing major has surfaced yet and I plan to take care of getting the seat repaired a little later down the road when I get myself settled back into Ohio.

When I found the car on Craigslist and for the following couple of months, this is a little of what I had to go off of:

It took a couple months, but I finally made it to Ohio and was able to bring the car back here and not long after got a few pictures of my own.

The first round of parts came in and the first thing to get changed were the old plugs and wires. Since they were the easiest thing to swap, I got them done that night.

The car had a power steering pump hanging off the side of the motor and nothing else from the system so I've pulled the pump. The car is light enough to not need it anyway.

Next to go was the oil. Replaced it with Royal Purple HPS. Not sure who originally made the Nissan oil filters, looks like an STP blue. Guess that doesn't really mean much though.

This weekend I've installed a coolant overflow and did a bit of polishing one of the rear wheels (rain showed up and brought that to a stop) and continued cleaning in the engine bay. This is how everything sits as of now.

Also found out this car's in need of an ignition tune-up too, so that's been added to the list.

[psdenno]

Welcome to the group! What's the build date on your '71?

Dennis

[hls30.com]

Great looking Z! Looks like the PO was sad to see her go!

[95neoner]

Welcome to the group! What's the build date on your '71?

Dennis

It's a 1/71.

Thanks to both of you.

[an_unusual_eye]

welcome... nice work so far.

[psdenno]

Time to start learning about Zs. The part you removed and called a power steering pump was most likely the SMOG pump - unless you took off the alternator or an A/C compressor. Get a Haynes manual for the Z. It seems like you may be in over your head with your new 42 year old car.

Dennis

[95neoner]

Time to start learning about Zs. The part you removed and called a power steering pump was most likely the SMOG pump - unless you took off the alternator or an A/C compressor. Get a Haynes manual for the Z. It seems like you may be in over your head with your new 42 year old car.

Dennis

I do have a shop manual, and was the smog pump belt driven?

It's under the front air filter in this shot:

under the coil here:

Edit: It's definitely not the A/C compressor or alternator. Those are on the other side. You still solved one of the questions that had me scratching my head. (see below) Thanks.

Edited November 11, 2013 by 95neoner

[Dr. 240Z]

Hi,

Welcome and thanks for showing off your Z. It looks like its had loving owner(s)....nice shape.

Just curious: What's the VIN number? My Z is a 1/71 and, as such, I'm always looking to see where Z's of that production date are located.

George

[Zed Head]

I do have a shop manual, and was the smog pump belt driven?

[/ATTACH]

The Factory Service Manual (FSM) calls it an air pump. The drawing is of high quality.

[95neoner]

Hi,

Welcome and thanks for showing off your Z. It looks like its had loving owner(s)....nice shape.

Just curious: What's the VIN number? My Z is a 1/71 and, as such, I'm always looking to see where Z's of that production date are located.

George

That should answer your question. Saw your sig pic... the previous owners left me with a box full of paperwork as well, including that warranty booklet. This car's currently in CT, but December of next year I'm looking forward to moving it back down to Ohio again. I think the fact that the chassis only has 129k on it helps it's state quite a bit. It was garaged for the last 4-5 years. Guy bought it off his son because the son needed the money and was going to buy it back off him. Apparently that never happened and somehow managed to find it's way into my hands.

[95neoner]

The Factory Service Manual (FSM) calls it an air pump. The drawing is of high quality.

I'll have to take a look. I'll be the first to admit I get lost rather easily with older cars, I didn't have my '76 Celica up here long enough to really get into it... nor do I think it had any smog equipment on it when I got it. That started in '69 right? Kind of hard to tell when it's not connected to anything I guess. I did find it rather odd that it seemed like there were no provisions for lines to go into the rack, although I'd assumed someone must have swapped in a manual rack. Wouldn't be the first time anyone had swapped racks. Oh well. So that just means it's completely useless to me then.

Edited November 11, 2013 by 95neoner

[Dr. 240Z]

Thanks....Our Z's were made on the same day or within a day or two of one another!!

I hope that you will enjoy this site.

George