First drive in the z in 25 years.....impressions.

[tzagi1]

Here is the story...and it's a long one!

I bought this 71 back in the late 80's, I think I paid $1000 for it.

Naturally it had to be hot rodded, the engine and trans(5 speed were swapped from a 77) still got the original engine and trans in good shape), the head was ported and polished, titanium retainers, the cam came from Ed the armenian (rip)

he worked for Smokey Yunick btw, header , dual webers, electronic ignition, ansa exhaust, adjustable Tokicos, suspension techniques springs ...and so on,  You get the pic.

Got married in 91, had a baby and this thing stopped being practical, my younger brother wanted it so I sold it to him (don't remember for how much, not important)

Anyway...he drove it for a couple of years till some kids stole it from his buddies house (how typical), the ignition lock locked up on them and they crashed into a pole, (front right corner), it was taken to a body shop , fixed and painted...all fresh rubber..that was in 94 or 95. he drove it for another year or so, until him and his gf took a weekend trip to Santa Barbara (from Northridge CA), he got 2 speeding tickets over 100 mph, one on the way there, one on the way back....into the garage it went, covered and left for dead.

I been hounding him over the years to do something with it but he is a lazy computer engineer driving some fancy Bimmer....so it sat, in spring of 2016 I get a phone call: come and get it. its yours.

Trailer hitched I head to Socal to pick it up and home it goes, Parked it in a buddies warehouse and started work, drained the gas, changed fluids...changed fuel pump (dead), one accelerator pump was dead....pour fuel...started on the first crank.

since then got a carpet kit, seat skins, fixed the interior, installed aftermarket A/C(not finished yet) rebuilt the carbs (flooded on occasion), tackled the electricals (still moodey)

The day has come to get it out of there (my buddies "request")  so I pulled it out to the parking lot...crap,no starter (moody) jump started it with a screw driver and took it around the block...its drivable, time to take it home.

How was the experience you ask....it's rude its crude it's stiff, steering is hard, getting in and out is a PITA. it hates to be driven civilly. zero sophistication...zero, it stinks of exhaust fumes, it forces one to step on it (and get speeding tickets), pure evil....however, I cannot explain that unwanted grin when pressing down that right foot....it's intoxicating!

Now to the final question: how the hell do you get rid of the exhaust fumes?, all the rubbers are new, including the hatch

Still have work to do... after the drive discovered the the water pump lost the bearing, temp gauge is dead, starter is still temperamental, I suspect the relay, I can hear it click but no starter. Finish the ac, the valves are noisy.. and so on...it never ends.

[Dave WM]

you get used to it. if you have a delicate nose I suppose you could try smoking them out with some kind of smoke generator, look for leaks, like around the tank hoses that share the inside of the car and go thru grommets to the outside world.

[tzagi1]

Dave, are you suggesting to silicone all the hose grommets? somehow I think it has to come in thru the hatch seals....its really bad while driving, and no my nose is not that sensitive...had more then a few z's in my youth but I cannot recall anything this bad!

I'm thinking I can temporarily duct tape the hatch to see if it makes a difference... 

[gwri8]

You said all new gaskets,  did that include tail light gaskets also?  And what about  the inner rubber boot around the shifter?

Edited November 23, 2017 by gwri8

[tzagi1]

No new gaskets on the tail lights...thanks for the tip, the shifter boot is solid and is siliconed in place due to the 5 speed "mod"

[gwri8]

Yep, those gaskets around the tail lights go unseen and un-noticed until you start to smell exhaust.  Mine were flat, hard and painted over when I got my car.  Didn't really notice it though because it had no inner shift boot and I had a rather nice air flow in my face on a hot Atlanta day,  kinda like a kerosine jet heater......  That was the beginning of my Z discoveries. 

[siteunseen]

Those are still available from nissan dealers.  I'll post the part numbers in the morning.  Takes just a few days to get them.  Waaaay better than the foam two sided tape ones you get with aftermarket lights.

[Dave WM]

think you just need to chase them all down, gaskets/grommets if its that bad I would think it should be obvious when you start pulling panels off and examine. I have always wanted to do the box fan taped into the window pulling air out of the car then get a smoke and walk around to see if you can find where the leak is.

[tzagi1]

Thanks Greg...time to break out the silicone gun.

One thing I didn't mention, at the time I had a had a 16" glass pack finished with a monza tip as the muffler, my brother used to be hassled by LAPD constantly for noise violations so he had some idiot install a turbo muffler with NO tip!, right now the muffler exits Behind the apron....I tend to think that is not helping..

Edited November 23, 2017 by tzagi1

[gwri8]

Before you start to glue everything, take Dave's advice and find where it's leaking first.  Replacement of defective grommets/gaskets is a better way IMO.  When you inspect your rear tail light gaskets also look for any rust in that area.  It's not uncommon for rust to happen underneath the slam panel in the rear hatch and even in the spare tire well.  

Edited November 23, 2017 by gwri8

[tzagi1]

Its a Socal car...dont forget, 100% rust free, the spare tire well is as virgin as the day it was born, original paint too in perfect condition.

[siteunseen]

The too short tip fix will help dramatically IMO.  The air flow off the hatch isn't pulling it away like it should.