JimmyZ

Do you play Halo2?? My gamertag is megadeth240

Applying seam sealer to bare metal is not good practice. This doesn't stop lots of shops from doing it though. If you want the repairs/car to remain rust free then paint first. You can always take a scotch-brite and scuff the notch before applying sealer if there may be an adherence question. If it were me I'd clean and treat the metal then epoxy prime. Sealer goes over the primer which in turn gives some protection in the event of a crack in the sealer. Follow with some color then apply shutz. (3M product) Applying shutz reqires a shutz gun and a can of shtuz totaling $60. It would then look authentic. I beleive that when I striiped my fenderwells this was what I found they had done at the factory POR is extremely tough stuff but make sure that you apply it thick enough. Make sure that the metal is well prepped and NO moisture is in your lines etc when applying it. MHO Jim

Selector forks inside the tranny perhaps. I replaced all ball bearings twice, synchro rigs once in my 2/71 4spd before chucking it a couple years later. (Drove the car really hard) In my experience the early four speeds are garbage. I drove mine hard and it whined since the day I bought it. Annoying. In disassembly of MT's I found that they do have a finite life and once certain tolerances are exceeded it is better to chuck 'em. You can buy some time by replacing the bearings but it's cheaper to get a salvage tranny. The later 5 speed Mt's are soooo much nicer.

Hey!! I just had a thought. Are you absolutley sure it's the tranny? A bad throwout bearing on a misadjusted fork could make a nice screeching noise. You would feel the vibes and it can be very loud. Try pushing the clutch in a few times and listen. If the noise changes when the clutch is in then maybe it's just a T/O bearing. I once drove my Z from FL to Oklahoma. Halfway there I hit a giant truck tire which cracked my speedo line. Speedo worked but I was dripping 90W. (5spd tranny also) In Dallas I noticed the gears were getting hard to shift and 50 miles from the destination it started popping out of gear and whirring really loud. I got in town, called a relative, picked up a J.yard tranny and two hours later had it swapped and was back on the road. Total cost for the detour...$125.00. When the old tranny came out you could hear lots of crunchies inside. The inside smelled really burnt. Go figure... I've had bearings inside the 4spd go out with only a few warnings. Usually the tranny noise was very pronounced before it failed. Fingers crossed.

Zinc phosphate is really a temporary coating for metal and should get primer ASAP. I'm assuming the dipping place uses electolysis in a lye or soda bath. (Could be wrong) If they do then the areas hidden from view aren't getting derusted as well since electrolysis is line of sight and proximity sensitive. It is the best way to strip paint and do some light derusting. I've tried it and been amazed. Does the dipping place offer a primer sealer bath or at least some means of addressing the inside inaccesable areas? (Rocker P's, Pillars, QP's) For visible areas epoxy primer is the best if followed by phosphoric treatment. (ZPhosphate) Epoxy makes the best barrier to keep moisture out during prolonged prep. Most other primers are permeable and can actually hold moisture if topcoated before drying. Zinc Chromate really needs to be topcoated with something impermeable and should not be relied upon for more than a day if you are shooting for 0 sheet rust under your paint. People do get away with less all the time but we are trying to save what precious little thin sheet metal we have left. To my knowlege most primers need to be topcoated within three days for a good chemical bond. In hot climates this time can be shorter. After three days pass the primer needs to be scuffed before other coats follow. Epoxies can stay on for up to a year before they need to be stripped. PPG has great .pdf docs regarding proper use and prep for all their products... http://www.ppg.com/cr-refinish/phase1/frmSiteIndex.asp# I'm no expert but I just stripped and repainted my Z. There was minimal rust underneath the paint which verified that the use of ZP and epoxy during the six month prep period worked. (Paint was 17 years old) My2c http://warbuddies.homestead.com/RestoHelp.html

I agree with you about the new 'Stang! I rented one to journey from Vegas to the Grand Canyon South Rim. From the moment I got in it I felt like I was driving a real car. (As "real" as modern mfg can get) I had just spent a year restoring a friend's 1965 mustang so I really appreciated some of the details used in the new car. Doing mach speed through the AZ desert was much more fun in it than using a Hyundai etc... Just wish they could do the same thing with a retro Z. Unfortunately the Asians like forward moving change and high tech too much to go retro in that fashion. I have several asian friends who like nothing but the latest, newest things so I feel comfortable making that statement. No slur against asians intended I admire the fresh thinking my friends use. Jim

Whining or whirring indicates poor tolerances between the gears and comes with age. Screeching however is NOT good. If coming from the tranny it would indicate a possible locked or skating bearing. Tearing down and changing bearings in these trannys is fairly straightforward. Hope the bearing is only chewing itself and not spinning in the bore that it rides in. IF you have shavings/crunchies running through things all of the ball bearings need to be changed regardless. The bottom countershaft bearing swims in crud and is the weakest link when debris is present. Hope to God the needle bearings that the gears ride on haven't done any skating. I once opened up a dry tranny and found the gears had heated up to a point that they turned blue. Most of the bearings had popped out of their races and the shafts were cocked so that things wouldn't turn. On the bright side you can find used trannys for $100-$200. I'm assuming vise grips can't cut it for this one. As a last resort you can heat the tranny case with a torch which will make it turn easily. Ally will expand a thou or two at 300-400 deg while steel remains almost unchanged. Before torching try whacking the head of the plug hard as this can also loosen things up and also possiblt improve the gripping surface/head. (Hit straight on) I once heard of a crazy guy who took apart cars with a hammer. His principle was to tap the edges of fasteners with the hammer to turn them. You might be able to tap the edges using a screwdriver as your contact point. Heat the case with a propane torch then tap using a screwdriver driven by a hammer. Try the hammer tap trick w/o heating first. One other option is to use a cutoff tool to notch a slot for a flathead screwdriver or piece of plate to nest in. Having a bolt welded to the plug would be the last resort. As soon as the weld cooled the case would be hot/expanded then the bolt could be turned.

I sat in one and didn't like anything about it. To me there really isn't a soul to the car. Every 240 I've met has a presence that can be felt. I know this sounds whacky but it is the best explanation I have. It is an OK car but shouldn't have "Z" as part of it's name. They should have never come out with a convertible Z. It kind of reminds me of Metallica's old music vs new. There is no justification for commercialized crap for the masses unless you are greedy and want to make $$. A true spartan sports car is all that is needed if one truly wants the Z as part of the name.

Bummer. I just tried Nissan and Datsun. It's possible your local paint jobber may have some old books laying around. We are just lucky to have such a broad year range available on the net. Sry Jim