Pilgrim

I recall that the top of the factory glove box may unclip from the sides and drop down. Get a flashlight and take a good look. It comes out through the glove box opening. Very easy!

Those body lines are so typical of the 50's and 60's European sports cars. They had a wonderful, flowing look to them. German, Italian, even British. I am moved to offer an irrelevancy, but one related by styling and period..... My high school graduation present was a 1958 Fiat Spyder (aka: Transformabile) with all of 55 glorious HP from its 1222 CC engine. Not even in the same performance universe, but the body lines are definitely in the same 50's genre...mine was the same white as this one. It had alpine gearing, which gave it actual acceleration but a top speed of about 75 MPH at 5,000 RPM. After 40 years, of which 30 was in storage, I sold it to someone who had the time and resources to restore it. Interesting article about the vehicle here: https://www.sportscarmarket.com/profile/1959-fiat-1200-tv-roadster

One comment about pulling the head - on my 1983 ZX turbo the manifolds had bolts in places that I simply could NOT reach. Also, some bolts spanned a break between intake and exhaust manifolds, and held both of them in place. I spent hours trying to get the manifolds off the head while it was mounted, and simply could not. I had to pull the head to get the manifolds off. I also re-installed the head with the manifolds already in place, and before doing so I replaced the exhaust studs with higher-grade material to prevent them breaking again. Leaving the manifolds on makes the head much heavier, but it's worth it to avoid trying to mount them with the head already installed.

Somehow I have this image of Tut with a NASCAR trucker's hat on, turning a wrench while in his gold robes. That would make a good "video tut."

Good point about the potential for broken studs. The exhaust studs on the Z heads/manifolds are notorious for breaking over time. IMO the most effective way to fix that is to take the head to a machine shop for the broken bolt or stud extractions. I'm not good enough to trust myself trying to drill and tap broken studs when the entire head may be compromised if I screw it up. On my 280ZX head one stud was mechanically removable, but on the rear side of the head required a laser to cut out the old stud.

It was done along with some other work, so unfortunately I couldn't pick it out as a discrete cost. However, taking the timing cover off and having decent access requires pulling the radiator, fan, water pump, and crank pulley. I can't see less than 4 hours of labor there. The challenge is that you have the front of the head gasket at the top of the timing gear cover and the pan gasket at the bottom. Replacing the timing gear cover requires you not only to keep the timing gear gasket in place, but to avoid messing up either the head gasket or pan gasket while putting the cover in place. I tried but could not get all gaskets to seal, and I've been working on cars for a long time. I got lucky and found a gent at a local indy shop who actually worked on Z-cars at a dealership in his early career

There was a recent discussion about this, including photos of the timing chain showing where the tensioner is. When I did the head on my 280ZX, I had no idea where it was and didn't get it secured correctly. It cost hours of extra work, and I never got the timing gear cover to seal when I tried to install it with the head in place. I ended up paying a Z-car mechanic to do it again and get it right.

First thing to do is visit Nicoclub.com and download the factory service manual for the vehicle. You're not going to find a video that tells you all you need to know. If you want help, you should list the vehicle year, any changes to the motor, and you might want to provide info on the facilities you have to do to work in. On my 280ZX, it was much easier to leave the manifolds on the head when removing and re-installing it. Getting the cam and timing chain right is critically important. Important: Look for threads about making and inserting a wedge that holds the timing chain tensioner in place. If you mess that up, you will have to pull the timing chain cover. Getting the timing cover sealed when you re-install it is a bitch if you have the head installed first. Label EVERYTHING. Every bolt and nut goes into a bag and is labeled, Every vacuum line must be labeled, along with the port it goes to. And if it's fuel injected, the fuel feed and return lines should be labeled along with the connections on the fuel rail. Sandwich bags and a Sharpie are your friends, and so is wide blue painter's tape.

Looking at that COVID map, I can't help but notice that most (certainly not all) of the dark colors are in the red states that went Republican. It is a shame that this health and science issue was politicized.

Spotted this problem with the AC clutch in my 1983 280ZX Turbo while changing the sway bar bushings. Looks like a rivet let go. I removed the AC belt so the compressor won't be spinning at all, but looks like I'll need a clutch. I'll be looking for one!

I like the cinnamon rolls at Johnson's Corner, but the ones at the Silver Grill in Fort Collins are much better. But I have been known to pick up a roll at Johnson's while going home from Denver. Johnson's Corner did a major expansion about 10 years ago - a friend of our was the contractor for the entire project. It's not easy to expand a truck stop that's open 24x7x365.

Loved the Brian Williams piece. Shots of Trump's butt while playing golf under Williams' extolling his "laser-like focus" on fighting the virus are just classic. Last night's 60 Minutes had a very interesting piece on people who have lingering effects of the virus months after having had it. There may very well be potential for lifelong disability and physical limitations if one is in the group that has those effects - and we don't know yet how many there are, as this is something that plays out over time. For that and other obvious reasons, on Thursday we'll make a drive to Denver (60 miles) and drop off packaged smoked turkey and pie to both daughters, who live about 1/2 mile apart. The older one has a fenced back yard, so we'll meet there, sit in lawn chairs and maintain separation, and have a bit of dessert while we chat. Then we'll hop back in the car and head home. One of the daughters manages the dietitians in an eating disorder clinic, so she sees a few people every day. She took a test last week to check her own status.

Well, that explains a lot! Those headlights are excellent. We are very fortunate to have them - I applied 3M headlight film over mine to prevent rock chips or breakage.

I may have to come back to this thread. In my '83 ZXT I am fortunate to have one of the few remaining pairs of Cibie Z-beam headlights, which have a wonderful lens and reflector design. The light is quite good and the distance is excellent with standard halogen lamps. I do note that the lens on my Cibies look almost identical to the lens on the PIAA headlights in post #26. I've always noticed that on high beams, I can actually see the lines on the Cibie lenses projected onto the road ahead. Therefore, I expect that those PIAA lights work very well indeed! It probably would be good for me to do the relay thing with the ZX, but that's future business for now.

My nephew got married in June in Wyoming - deepinahearta no mask country. BUT - they didn't let anyone in the church without a mask. Period. And they spaced out the seating. The reception was outdoors at a ranch nearby, and there was a reasonable amount of spacing going on. It turned out OK.

I think it's good to keep in mind that anything at this stage is vaccine 1.0. There will be 1.1, 1.2, etc. Problems which immediately occurred to me about the first vaccines which are two-dose are: 1. How many people will get dose 1, but never return for dose 2? 2. How many people will get dose 1, but won't get dose 2 at the proper time? 3. How many people will get dose 1, then need dose 2 but can't remember which vaccine it is (and don't have records)? So although I look forward to having vaccines (and expect to take advantage of them), I don't think we really have anything workable for the long haul until we have single-dose vaccines which also have high efficacy.

"Buncha hookers and cocaine..." Well, when asking questions of random dudes in gambling locations, you gotta be ready for the the answer!!

I'm in a similar position at age 70; I think my driving years will end before gas does. I actually listen mostly to FM and even AM radio when I drive!! I hope that my sound deadening project on my '83 ZX works, because I look forward to putting more miles on it in the good weather we currently enjoy here. There's lots of stuff to think about in terms of transportation and where we're going with it. Distance and the difference between living conditions in various areas is very much an issue in the US. I live in Colorado and was in Texas for 13 years before that. Many Texans don't think much of driving 60+ miles each way just to buy groceries, and there are small towns all over the west which simply don't have goods and services available locally. If you haven't lived west of the Mississippi it may be hard to understand just how remote and distantly separated the western US really is. In much of the western US, there is simply no public transportation at all. Bus lines hit only single points in a limited number of communities, and there are no other options. I have felt for years that giving up much of the railroad right of way was a huge mistake, and that in the future we;'ll want our passenger train lines again. The discussion about a passenger line from Fort Collins (60 miles north of Denver) to Pueblo (about 80 miles south of Denver) is heating up because the Interstate is overloaded and has been for a few years. The only capacity Colorado is adding to its highways these days is toll lanes, which aren't a solution to the number of cars moving through the population centers between Fort Collins and Pueblo. It also will be a long time before it makes any sense to install electrical charging stations in those places, so aside from private residence chargers there won't be charging services for decades. And if you have to drive 80 or 100 miles each way to get from Smallsburg to your nearest shipping area and back, you have to think seriously about range and the limited potential for side trips. Thinking a bit more about this, I suspect the only way we'll get a well distributed charging infrastructure is if there's a nationwide government funded project comparable to the creation of the Interstate highway system. The political difficulty of funding such a project is obvious, as least until gas and oil prices move upward significantly.

Agreed, the thing regulating oil usage will be price, and the time is in view when that will happen. The problem occurs if the price doesn't rise consistently and gradually enough to prompt and fund development of other energy sources *and* the infrastructure to distribute them, as well as shift the design of the automotive fleet. IMO it's a big mistake of the US not to have taxes which create oil prices similar to those in Europe, but of course we know why that hasn't happened. Gas prices are artificially depressed to keep the population happy, and I admit I'm one of those who benefit. If gas was $5 a gallon (it's currently averaging $5.79 a gallon in Great Britain) there would be a shift in driving habits immediately. The additional billions could be put to work developing those alternative energy sources and distribution infrastructure. That's not going to happen in the US for political reasons until we're up against the wall. Whether that will be in time to shift the infrastructure and vehicles is open to question.

If you cross the border into Canada, it's two weeks' quarantine, no exceptions, no excuses. I don't see WA getting much compliance with the governor's request for two reasons: 1) there is no compliance mechanism, and 2) from what I've read, the folks who don't wear masks consider the WA governor to be a liberal extremist, so they tend to resist anything he says.

In the meantime, I need to finish the sound deadening in my 280ZX while the weather permits driving!! 😎

Well, I can comment about this, but it will sound like the setup for a dystopian novel. So here goes..... There are people who think oil will last forever; I have spoken to them and marveled at how resistant to reality they are. The fact is, oil is a finite resource. I've often wondered if the US really, truly wants to hurry and deplete its oil supply, because when oil starts to run out, I expect a major world war to be fought over the remaining oil. (Very dystopian, right??) At that point, it would be a lot better for the US to have the remaining supply than to be one of the outsiders trying to get at it. But no, we need to tap our oil as fast and as thoroughly as possible, which at some remote time will leave us totally dependent on other countries for oil, IF (and this is a big IF) oil is still the most standard energy source at that time. It sure would make more sense for us to transition away from oil well before that happens. The bad news is that there's a basic truth: oil will run out IF we keep using it. So if you don't want to have a dystopian novel on your hands, it makes perfect sense to pursue electricity, solar, hydrogen, fusion energy, and wireless transmission of energy through the radio spectrum. Part II (or alternative scenario) of that little situation springs from the scarcity of rare metals and their critical use in all kinds of electrical battery packs. (This is real, and is A Thing even today!) Just as an aside, the US has very few of the rare metals that are needed for those batteries that we currently use in cell phones and other portable devices. I could easily set up a different dystopian novel around the fight for access to the rare metals needed to support the use of electronic devices and transportation, and that novel could be set in the next 30 years. Now that I've ruined your day with the setup for two dystopian novels about prophesized world war, I'll go have my second cup of coffee. Maybe that will cheer me up.

@Brunodoggy, I just want to note how much I have enjoyed your story and comments throughout the thread. You were thoughtful and polite, gave us tons of great info, were courteous to the doubters and naysayers, and overall had a class approach to this really interesting and unique opportunity. I'm glad it has turned out so well for you, and I hope you have a set of memories that will last a lifetime.

Agreed, classic and collectible cars are not significant contributors to climate issues. There aren't enough of them to matter, and they aren't being driven 10-20,000 miles per year. The availability and price of gas is much more likely to become an issue. As with most things, gas is only going to get more expensive. However, there's such a large installed base of gasoline-based vehicles that I don't foresee a supply problem in the next decade or two. The faster electric vehicles come on, the sooner gas production will become an issue.