JimmyZ

That is a big gripe! Should have thought of that one.

Water pump is a well known weak spot. Bearings needed to be beefier especially with original all steel fan. Melt sheet applied over floorpans was applied over bare metal. Any chip in the melt sheet results in rapid spreading of rust underneath. Body design (rear) creates vortex which encourages exhaust to enter hatchback. All of this aside it is an awsome car.

As a quick experiment you could get some 2"wide masking tape and tape off the entire hatch area. (Autobody tape not other types) Get the tape off quickly so it doesn't bite into your new paint. If the hatch isn't it then try taping elsewhere. Is your hood to cowl seal in place?? The fresh air intake is under the grille. Check the exhaust system for leaks too. Is your flange gasket leaking? Are your air injection ports on the exhaust plugged correctly? I'm assuming that your car isn't using the smog pump anymore. You could also try using tape and carboard to create a division between the luggage compartment and the pass compartment. Clear the air in both and have someone start the car while you are in the luggage compartment then do the same for the pass cpmt. Just a few things to try. MY2c Jim

Sorry to hear about the accident. I had a bettery explode and do the same thing to me. It just took a little longer to eat through the inner fenderwell/frame rail. I've seen a temporary repair for this sort of thing. My frame rail was worse and I drove it for a few years despite the incredible slop. It is dangerous though and should be addressed. The quick, temporary fix is to weld a piece of 1/4x 2" steel strap between the T/C housing and the center of the crossmember. (The part which spans underneath engine between the strut housings.) While this repair won't completely eliminate movement it will restrict movement and reduce the number of cycles it is exposed to. (Reduction in fatigue cycles) This will buy you some time to save for the repairs and get the frame rail. A proper repair requires that the engine come out. Might as well strip and repaint the engine compartment while it's all out. You could probably have the part stretched back and some patch sheet welded in but this area on the Z's is usually rotted and needs replacing as a7dz mentioned. Such a patch repair could also buy a few years. Here are some pics of mine. A large section of the innerfenderwell and battery tray needed to be replaced. The firewall metal was thinned out and needed to be replaced. My frame rail T/C area had collapsed and begun to fold. It whipped about at certain speeds. Things got to a point where I didn't feel safe so I took her off the road and replaced everything. The Z's feeling much better now. Yours will too.

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