New project-72

[madkaw]

Rear suspension is done and I drive her down the highway yesterday !!

Despite no door seals , hatch seals and a leaking muffler - it was a bit of a victory drive. Fumed out a bit from the lack of seals and a rich mixture didn't wipe the smile of my face at 65 mph  

More tuning to do and some temporary seals will make the ride even better. The engine ran very strong though it's lack of maintenance should say other wise . The last original engine component - water pump- gave out shortly after the highway run. Too much rust to injest and it threw it all up in my garage over night, Hopefully the rust treatment for the block got most of the nasty stuff out . Time to drain and put antifreeze in. 

Transmission shifts hard from 1st to 2nd gear, but  I guess that's better than slipping into gear. Other than that the auto box works pretty damn well. Might need to take it for a fluid change and band adjustment - even that can be done on the Jatco.

[madkaw]

[madkaw]

Well not a great day for Bo's ride. It started out innocent enough to replace the water pump that have out. Rust bolts were expected , but the corrosion on the timing cover wasn't so much. When I pulled the pump off I could see that the years of water had ate away at the pump cavity. Almost ate all the way thru near a bolt hole . It was a matter of time before it leaked or worse. I told Bo I was pulling it since I already had everything drained. 

Went to pull of the harmonic balancer and it came off in 2 pieces. This is the one Damper Doctor just rebuilt. 

I actually got the cover off without much fuss and didn't tear up any gaskets . Only to find the timing chain issue. 

In the end though, if the pump hadn't gave out I wouldn't have found these other issues that would have detonated at 60mph on a back road leaving him stranded- so a silver lining . 

Ordered a new chain kit and damper got sent back to the Doc. He seemed to know exactly what he did wrong when I talked to him briefly. He apologized for the issue

Edited September 1, 2016 by madkaw

[Mark Maras]

 A while back we ran water pump corrosion up the flag pole. As I recall we didn't come up with a consensus of opinion but the question was posed about the Z alternator being grounded through the adjuster into a water pump bolt. Over many years corrosion in the bolt threads prevents a good connection and it goes looking for an easier path through the water pump. Anyone think a dedicated ground wire for the alternator might alleviate the water pump corrosion? Well, that and regular maintenance to the cooling system. I took a pump off my 260 that had holes eaten into it so big that you could stick your fingertip into them. It must be a fairly common problem. Thoughts?

[Namerow]

11 hours ago, madkaw said:

damper got sent back to the Doc. He seemed to know exactly what he did wrong when I talked to him briefly. He apologized for the issue

That's a little worrisome, considering the cost of the original job and the potential damage that could result from an in-service failure.  Hope he's paying for the return shipping costs, if not refunding you for at least part of the original charge.

[siteunseen]

Dad gum Steve, that R&R job has gotten pretty deep.  He's a lucky man you have the car, if you do something you do it right or not at all.  I like that.  That's the reason I've pulled and rebuilt the engines on my two favorite Zs, after getting them running good enough to leave me stranded somewhere.  I know what I have now, I put it together.

[Zed Head]

17 hours ago, Mark Maras said:

Anyone think a dedicated ground wire for the alternator might alleviate the water pump corrosion? 

The 280Z's do have a dedicated ground wire.  I thought all of the Z's did, but maybe not.  People often don't check their ground circuits though.  

madkaw, how did the pump impeller look?  Just curious.  And did the Damper Doctor say what he thought he did wrong?  Bad batch of silicone, didn't prime the metal,...?  Kind of concerning.  I wouldn't send him anything until I heard the story.  Just me.

[madkaw]

The impeller looked okay. It was not original since it was a stamped steel one.
Damper Doc did the one on my car and it hasn't flown apart yet. Going to give him a chance to see it before I ask why.


Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club

[madkaw]

Cliff,

any deeper and pistons are coming out, but I hope he gets a few mile out of it first. At least everything else will done if I have to rebuild the engine itself. 

Most of the items I reworked or replaced was out of sheer necessity , nothing subjective here. I do believe in doing it right for sure. Don't want to have to double back because I let something go. 

[madkaw]

Sorry for the delayed updates , I've been having issues with the menu bar on the site. 

Any how, I got the car back together and put her thru her paces out on the road . It's a bit noisy with no door seals but she has new life with a timing chain that isn't ready to fly off. 

The car is actually in the owners hands presently driving the back roads of Indiana. It's probably a little bit of a let down dealing with all the noises of no seals , carpet , rattles. He said he is enjoying it and is planning the next stage . Paint.

Bo said it burned quite a bit of oil at first but seems to be getting better. I don't believe this car has seen much mileage in recent years- just abuse. We are looking at a possible rebuild during the paint tear down anyway. 

Bo has decided to go with the white interior if we can get Les to cooperate . Bo is learning the in and outs of dealing with small vendors of classic cars. 

[grannyknot]

Just nocticing  the panel fitment on your red Z, looks perfect.

[madkaw]

I wish- .
I spent a lot of time panel blocking this car and they are flat. My wiper valence panel is pretty bad and I should have replaced instead of trying to fix . It throws off the gaps pretty bad up top. My car was also hit up front before I owned it and makes it tough getting good lines right. Of course being the owner I see everything


Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club