Poindexter

When I originally bought my Z, I picked it up in Santa Monica, intending to drive it to Las Vegas to meet the shippers. Needless to say, I never met them and drove all the way to NYC. 15 years ago. I still think of it fondly. Did it alone in 4 days, with no radio or cell phone, and then the fuse box melted in my driveway! Best of luck with your gorgeous new Z! I love silver cars.

Good point. I hope you reported the fitment issues to the vendor. Such a large outfit should want to know about that kind of thing and fix it. If I buy one of these shrouds in a few weeks and it doesn't fit I'm gonna be disappointed. I'm probably going to get one too- passive improvements first, then if I still need more cooling after a shroud, (1) I have more problems, and (2) I can always add a fan later I guess. I have the stock upper fan protector installed, but it's only to protect fingers. Did they ever add a stock full shroud in the 240's?

I just drove almost 500 miles up and through the mountains and back in 2 days- at very high speed on the highway, and on the twisty back roads too - and the temp barely moved. But idling in a parking lot for the amount of time it took to down a milkshake brought the needle up a couple of clicks. Idling and slow-traffic seem to be the only things that have any bad effects.

Thanks for taking the time to document this process. I'm planning on this *exact* project soon- after another rush-hour in local traffic. I'm so paranoid without a precisely calibrated temp gauge, having had 2 vehicles with blown head gaskets! (The early STS Northstar Cadillac doesn't count!) My temp gauge normally reads a couple needle widths to the right of the bottom mark, and I was concerned, so my mechanic used his digital temp reader, as well as a contact thermometer, and took readings all over the engine and radiator- and I never exceeded 178 degrees on the hottest sections and it indicated around 35-40 degrees *less* at the radiator return fitting- which seems like a lot of cooling going on in such a short amount of space. In traffic it goes another 2 deflections towards the hotter, but hasn't gone any further. I have also added Water Wetter too...but unfortunately didn't take accurate measurements before and after- not enough to measure the effectiveness of anything I changed before. What were your observations of your temperature gauge- before and after? I'd love to know roughly what to expect so I can make a decision on a shroud versus adding an electric fan. I bet there are quite a few others facing this choice this summer. Thanks for any light you can shed.

Rebuilding the L-28 engine must have been an experience that you are extremely proud of. One day soon I hope to buy a 240 shell, and fit a turbo (perhaps even a twin turbo?) L-28 into it, to take advantage of the low weight of the 240 body, and the higher power of the turbo'd engine. That car will be the Z I will take onto a track, but not this one. My current sweetie-pie is just too original to stress so much, even though my mechanic- who was an original 1970 Z owner himself, and a mechanic since before that time, has pronounced it as clean an older car as he has ever seen before. I really don't want to take the risk with her, although I might take it onto Lime Rock for a few easy laps. There are things I just won't do on the streets- like drifting. Just before I buy new tires I'll try to rub them smooth at Lime Rock. The Z does drift beautifully, and I have found I can control the path through the corner easily with the throttle alone. As far as the AC, I would love to restore the period-correct, dealer-installed AC, but that is an entire project by itself, one I'm not ready to undertake now. I've driven it on many 90-degree days before, and as long as you're moving well, and the humidity is not stifling, the car is very bearable. And I do have a radio installed, but with *no* door or hatch weatherstripping left, the wind roar drowns out most of the music at highway speeds. I love your sentiment Carl, and I have copied your comments and sent them off to my poor, unfortunate friends who just don't understand what all of the ruckus is about- about old cars in general- with some "friends" pronouncing them all "junkers", and about classic sports cars in particular. I would agree that the Z is one of the finest Grand Touring cars ever built. There are precious few nearly 40-year-old cars that I would ever consider driving over long distances... or on short jaunts either! I agree that the Z possesses that magic combination of elements that make every moment behind the wheel- at least for me- a treasure, but then again I have an unlimited capacity to see the beauty and majesty in nearly all of my surroundings. I just find it easier to live life that way. There will always be enough misery around, so I'm determined to be as positive as I can. Like yourself, I can appreciate the simplest joys in life, as you so eloquently have stated above. The sight of clouds descending slowly over the road I was traveling on, hovering visibly just feet over the car before engulfing my car in wet cotton, bringing the smells of the nearby farms, rivers and lakes from where the moisture originated...to the sights of the rolling hills and mountains of my recent route, from fields full of wild flowers where you can smell honeysuckle and other sweet flowering essences literally for miles to the fresh, tangy slightly "electric" smell of the negative ions flowing from all of the running water rushing over rocks and falls. The toughest part is indeed finding someone to enjoy these sights, sounds and smells along with me as my co-pilot/navigator on what I hope to be many, many more of these road trips- local at first and then hopefully of a much longer duration. Luckily I am well-thought of as a driver by all of my friends- who usually choose me to drive either- in the city, or the highway. My car is only back on the road a little over a month now- after 15 years of slumber (!), so I have a lot of exploring to do in my Z, and perhaps I can slowly change people's perceptions by introducing them to shorter trips at first. So if I can only convince many of them that a small- at least on the outside- tinny sounding (only when they slam the door! ) 38 year-old car can provide a more enjoyable driving experience than all of their Jags and Lexus's combined- not that those marques don't have their better attributes. But, luxury is providing for all of the senses, and IMHO, isolating one's self from the sights, sounds, smells and feelings of the road with electronic suspensions, and extra-thick glass (usually tightly rolled up too) is hardly driving. It may be more comfortable in a way, but is hardly as satisfying...to me at least.

I've added several more nice clips. The simplest way to access them is to use this link to jump directly to my video page- http://video.cardomain.com/Poindexter333. Thanks everyone for commenting and looking. Unfortunately most of my friends are not car people and think that this amount of focus on something as "stupid" as cars is foolish. It's a shame, considering how much fun they're missing. At least you all understand.

Darrel, I've driven to California from NY, and to Florida from Massachusetts before, once in a 1968 Z-28, and once in a Mercedes 6.9, but my Z had been stored for almost 15 years, and while I had done thousands of dollars worth of work, replacing almost every wear part under the car, and every piece of engine rubber belts and hoses, as well as switching to all new high-quality fluids (i.e. Red Line trans lube, Royal Purple engine oil, RL Water Wetter etc...) I was concerned about doing so much high-speed distance driving, although I had tested her pretty thoroughly locally. I should not have worried. My mechanic had prepared the car perfectly, and the trip was 100% fun, with not one concern or problem during the entire trip. I do need to replace all of the weatherstripping, so there's less wind noise in the cockpit,(yikes, forget about listening to any music) but that's all. I would not hesitate for one second to take her 1,000 or even 2,000 miles away now! There's plenty of room for baggage, and plenty of room up front, and it's such a pleasure to drive a fantastic car that handles almost by sheer thought. And, oh those engine sounds!!! I only have the "middle" muffler, so when she approaches the top of the hp/torque curves, say above 4,000 revs, she really roars! Just what a Grand Touring car is supposed to be all about.

Yeah, CarDomain sort of hides the videos. Thanks ggarrard, for finding the direct links. It appears that the direct link to my video page is- http://video.cardomain.com/Poindexter333 Otherwise you have to click on the link to my Member ID on the upper left of the home page, and it will then display a new page, where you can then click the link for "View Poindexter333's Video's". Not the most direct way to the videos. Of course it looks different when you're logged in, too. I'll be adding a few more slightly longer videos later too. CarDomain seems like a decent site, where you can build anything from a simple to a more detailed website for your vehicles- all for free, which is nice.

After consulting with my fantastic mechanic- who told me to "Go drive that f****r already!" I set off last week on a road-trip to the Catskills and back from NJ. I covered 460 miles in 2 days. I drove almost non-stop in each direction- about 4 hours each session. The car ran *flawlessly* every second of the way! The sheer mileage I traversed, comprised of equal measures of both high-speed highway and unbelievably twisty back roads, all with constant changes in camber and altitude- measured in the hundreds of feet- was one of the most amazing adventures I have ever experienced. Blasting higher and higher through the clouds, at one point you can actually see the aero effect of the air deflecting up off the windshield actually pushing the cloud layer upwards right ahead of me as I approached, while driving higher and higher through a scenic mountain pass. And the endlessly twisty, almost totally deserted back-country lanes kept begging for more and more of the go-fast pedal. It was sheer heaven to blast along, with safe (very long) sight-lines of the road ahead, as well as having many extremely long stretches of road with no homes, literally stretching for miles, so apexing at high-speed was the norm. I'll start off with one or 2 now, and add more later. I hope you can enjoy them, as low-res and noisy as they are. Next trip I'll use a much better fixed-mount video camera with several external microphones to pick up the engine sounds- not mostly the wind. Pix are here, and the videos are on my CarDomain page.

Yes Arne. The 4-ear caps are getting *very* rare according to the proprietor, so I'm buying a few sets to be safe, in case I scrape a curb or something. Not only that but they had some gorgeous acorn-style chromed lug nuts with the essential 1-inch shanks for the Cal 500's, some original stock to 1970's McGard lockers, and believe it or not, 2 ear spinner/knock-off hubs in metal!!! I'm gonna try them out to see if they'll make the car look stupid or not. I enlarged a photo of them and taped it on the wheel, and they looked great-to my eye at least. I hope my Z doesn't look like an orange (OK, Safari Gold) chariot. BTW, I'm not connected to them in any way, but they were absolutely among the most knowledgeable, delightful and accommodating people I've ever dealt with, even with my relatively small order. Been in business for around 50 years I believe.

Wow Mike, thank you! I have my original dealer-installed Cal 500 5-slots on my 2/71 and- as with all of the parts on my car- I like having documentation on everything. I just called Shelby *last week* looking for info! I was looking for new period-correct replacement caps to install, before the original Cobra logos were obliterated, and was steered (sorry for the pun ) to Massey on eBay, and they had everything for those wheels- in case anyone else is searching.

I tighten down the seat belts, making me feel like a fighter pilot strapping his ship on rather than simply climbing into a car. Everything falls right into my hand- except the radio controls...but I won't be using the radio this trip. The engine provides the only music I need to listen to. Even twisting the key feels different in this car, more technical, "clicky", and more serious, again like cockpit switching in an airplane. If she's already warm, I've never known another car to start as quickly. Broooom. A little blip of the throttle with the side of my foot as I snick the lever into first (I wish! ) More like a thunk as I start to accelerate. First goes by quickly, and as second gear reaches towards 3 grand the noises start coming, and if I'm on my "private course" I've already hit a corner, or level change, so the wheel is tugging back at me, telling me exactly what I need to know about the road under me. 5,000 and another shift into 3rd gear, and the engine is singing that sound that only straight pipes can give....a melody of mechanical gear, cam tappet and valve noises, tires squealing slightly through one of the 90-degree bends, off camber, then on, apexing every corner, sometimes starting the turn in the oncoming lane when I have clear visibility ahead. It's great when stone walls appear along the left side of the road because the sweet, raspy exhaust notes bounce back at me, reinforcing the fantastic engine sounds. I rev so high that sometimes I worry about the engine, almost 40 years old now, how can something so intricate still hold together after all these years and miles, but it does, again and again as I run up and down the gears, tossing the car around like a dog with a favorite chew-toy, hoping that I've removed everything from the hatch area because if I haven't, it will certainly end up bouncing all around the car. Ratchet set cases hurt when they come flying into your side in a hard, right corner! If I turn just right, I can make the tires squeal just a bit even at slow speeds, making it feel like I'm going 80 when I'm only at 35. And that's part of the magic of the Z car, the feedback comes into you from all angles, sight, sound, touch, the incredible burbling of the exhaust note as you engine break before a down-shift, and of course- the smell, just a hint through the open window (I can dream, can't I?) I love the feeling of the bolsters as you go through tight ess-turns, and the pull of the steering wheel as the car rolls slightly from side to side, adding a bit of power to make the tail come around a bit faster in the tighter turns. There are several steep dips, where the elevation changes a hundred feet or more, and you accelerate quickly, reminding you of a roller-coaster ride- which of course, it really is! Then back up again, only to turn into a blind hard corner, the sunlight dappling the road, going from warmth to cold and back again as you cut into and out of the sunlight and deep shadows. And all too soon the red light of the bridge ahead tells you that the ride is over, thank you for riding "Air Z", and why not turn around and do it again? Which of course means *another* trip will have to be made coming back! Who needs a radio?

It's so great following along with the progress...it reminds me of going through many of the same growing pains- but please remember the rewards of all of that work- and all of that waiting- are so gratifying when it all finally comes together! I just didn't have enough time (or experience) to dedicate to doing much of my engine work, although I am working on every other system on the car. And thank god I finally found my dream mechanic- which made a world of difference. Perhaps the best mechanic of any kind I've ever encountered. He solved around 6 nasty little overlapping problems in one swell foop, taught me more about Datsuns and S30's than I ever knew, but needed to, and fully answered every single question I had without making me feel like I was ever wasting his time, and finally, put such a miracle tune on it so that a month later I'm still firewalling it, and hitting what amounts to my own "semi-private" 5-mile Gymkhana course several times a day into and out of my town! Please let us know how you're progressing. I am *so* enjoying reading about it, especially following along with the ebbs and flows of the process, reminding me how I felt at the same steps in my restoration.

I just added a short video to my CarDomain page. While the sound is below par, and the camera-work a bit jerky- I did take it with one hand and drove with the other- for a first try the result still has some impact. You get the idea. Just a jaunt on beautiful road through a gorgeous neighborhood, sunlight dappling the trees, some sweet engine sounds and just a hint of classic rock songs in the background... I'm going to go back with a better camera with much higher resolution, on a solid, shock-reducing mount, with several accessory microphones feeding into an outboard mixer to capture and add-in hopefully well-recorded exhaust and engine sounds, and maybe a musical soundtrack too. Better production values next time.

After running nothing but 93 since getting her on the road- I felt the need to mess with perfection and tried a couple of gallons of 89- and kept some octane-boost handy. Well, the pre-detonation was so intense that the exhaust pipe was banging into the wheel well- I have the "slipstream positioned" pipe tip coming out behind the LR tire. I immediately pulled over and added the booster. Later I filled up with 93 and added half a can of Seafoam to the gas tank to clean it out- and she ran like a champ again. I will NEVER do that again. I believe that I might have blown the engine or at least a piston or two from excessive pre-detonation, according to several horror stories I've read around here. All this from a numbers-matching 2/71 L-24 engine with a stock compression ratio of supposedly 9.0- I would have thought the reaction would not have been so violent. I wish Sunoco had their 94 around- that always gave me the best performance on all of my older cars. I used to have a Mercedes 6.9- which was a 1970's vintage 450SEL with a 7-liter racing engine and adjustable suspension, and it loved the 94 too.

It's so fantastic to read comments from other people who also madly love their Z cars and are not afraid to express it. It makes me feel *normal* even, as most of my friends are pretty sick of hearing about my car already, and tired of getting picture messages of my Z in front of this place or that. I think it's their loss to NOT have as much passion for what they drive as we do. Except for my friend with a Cayenne S- he enjoys his car a lot. I've just past my first complete month using it as my DD and I love it more every day- even in the heat. BTW, Danglybanger, I have to mention that one of my dream cars is the turbo Esprit- which I've never gotten to drive- and to be considered among its' competition is amazing- and for the Z to surpass the Lotus in your experience is awesome. I could never have bought the Lotus though, as I'm 6'3" and I've been told that me and my size 13's would never have fit in the car- or the pedal box. When you consider the hours and hours people spend in transit, how great it is for us to literally enjoy all of that time, every hop we take, every off-ramp, and every twisty back road! I have a road near me that I drive at least twice every day just because it's so much fun, and totally gorgeous too. It's a 5-mile long, very twisty and up & down road that follows along a river, and is tree-shaded for much of its length- and I just love sun-dappled roads for some reason. Plus there is no shoulder anywhere, hence no local cherry-tops to interfere with my fun. (Speeds only range to 50 so I'm not an unsafe maniac.) I'm going to make a short video of the run this summer, and score it with suitable music too, (and post it) although the engine sounds do a pretty good on that part. To love a car is one thing- lots of people love their cars- but to really be able examine it objectively as well, to have done the work and spent the time driving many other marques so as to be able to actually make balanced comparisons versus the other sports/GT cars and still have it come out on top is even more amazing- after nearly 40 years! And now I'm off for this weekend on an 400-mile, each way, road trip to the mountains around Woodstock NY. PS- I would like to make the shifter a little more precise though- perhaps a bit more "clicky" but that's all.

I love that color, alternatively described as bright chromium yellow. Much better than the "Babysh*t brown" my 920 Gold has been described as occasionally! I prefer Safari Gold if you please. :cheeky: PS- Aren't cats actually color blind?

Depending on what I'm driving- or almost any time I have passengers- I'm usually a mellow driver too. But luckily I found my dream Z-specialist mechanic- a former 1970 240 owner himself, and he got my car in such excellent shape that I can hardly stop from putting my foot through the firewall at some point in the day. Or all day. PO had evidently had the fume problem- which was mostly caused by that right-rear vent pipe thing, (which I learned about from here and solved- kudos to all on that one!) but he must have thought it was exhaust- so he re-routed the exhaust pipe 90 degrees (and also removed the aft "muffler-like" thing) and turned the pipe out behind the left-rear wheel into the slipstream. This puts the tip just a few feet from my ears- perfectly situated to make for the most perfect acoustics! Especially when running up the local state highways which usually have a concrete barrier between the different directions of travel. The resultant echo coming back into the driver's window is so amazing that even though I barely have a fume problem, I still retain the tip and the sub-standard exhaust just so I can listen to the music coming from the engine. That sound just feeds my right foot and I make nearly every off-ramp or back road into the Mille Miglia or the Nürburgring. I pick my spots and I'm safe but hardly mellow much anymore.

Just beautiful Arne! What a looker. Except around here we call that color "Arrest Me" Red.

It really makes you wonder how a company can just outright *lie* about critical issues- like splicing or "plug-n-play". As much as I'm trying to keep my gal perfectly "as delivered" stock as possible, with regard to what are considered "permanently-installed" parts, there are still those rare, few parts that *must* be considered, IMHO, for 2 reasons- 1) An aftermarket part that is so vastly superior to the stock design and execution- especially where safety may be an issue. 2) Supporting a smaller vendor who not only makes a part that answers such a significant need, but one who freely and routinely offers his experience to other Z-car aficianados, out of sheer good-naturedness. A person like this must be supported, again, in my opinion, especially against a faceless mongo-corporation. I remember the local hardware store, with the guys in shop-coats, guys that were at the store for 20-30 years, and who knew enough about almost everything. Stores where you could almost always find what you needed, or they would get it for you. Today it all seems to be about saving a few cents. Homeless Depot and Wal-Mart are taking over and as much as I can, I try to give my money to a local outfit, or vendor. Otherwise I feel we're gonna end up with a future like that shown in the 70's movie "Rollerball". "Now please stand for your corporate anthem..."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I had a meeting with an amazing mechanic today- the answer to my dreams actually. He was mentioned on a few of the Z forums, so I set up a meeting with him. One of his primary comments was specifically aimed at my concern over bushing health- and it turned out that I was wrong about needing new bushings. I never professed any great mechanical experience with the Z's systems- especially regarding a seemingly simple, yet at the same time, complicated inter-relationships of machinery. I just settled for a solution that seemed to fit. This guy actually told me to save my money in this area- for now, that my stiff ride was the result of a factory option rear sway-bar- which he showed me, and a slightly stiffer "stock" alternate strut- OEM branded Nissan. Apparently many of the earlier Z's came with extremely soft suspension, and this was one of the first factory tries to deal with people wanting more sporty handling. I could have changed the bushings to cream cheese for all the good it would have done me! So if I were to do any bushing changing now, it would strictly be to deal with future aging by putting in newer materials earlier. *Then* the questions about the elemental makeup of the bushings would come into play- but I would still have to address so many other factors. The synergy,the end result, involves so many more discrete contributions from more parts than I was aware of, something I would never have surmised without benefit of many years of experience in this type. He told me to first concern myself with getting the carbs perfect, the click in a rocker arm adjusted out, correcting the botched front caliper job and changing out the bearings just because nobody could remember when they were last dealt with, which could mean 20+ years(!) and so on, to spend my money on the most important things first before I went after messing with the ride- which involves changing and adjusting several components. So I still have to wonder about putting rubber in some places, and urethane in others, but unless I consider the effect of each move, before changing out many of the other related parts in the chain, I'm almost wasting my time. I bet this mechanic will have an opinion on this subject based on nearly 40 years of working on these cars. So I'm just guilty of WIAI at its' most prominent. I guess the long-winded point I was trying to make is that I learned that it's almost never easier to alter one thing because "I felt like it", "I like the blue color!", or "I'm in there already, so I might as well..." without that piece being a part of a much larger and well-considered plan to deal with the relationships between all of the parts too. I guess that's why they call it "geometry".

So- has anyone actually tried to mix rubber and urethane in different locations? Rubber where it primarily affects ride comfort, and urethane where it can tighten up handling without making the ride much harder? I have to make a move soon on my bushings- I looked into the left rear wheel well and I think I'm actually *missing* a bushing where two of the parts meet- exactly which one's I'm trying to find out- but I can see that their meeting faces appear to be covered in small knobs that look like they'd keep a bushing from moving around. Sorry for the lack of terminology, I am waiting for my FSM, Clymer and Haynes manuals to come any day now- I know this is critical! I'm trying to make all of these numerous decisions virtually in the dark, so I'm relying on all of you for your years of experience on the precise cause and effect of each change I'm plotting, that way I don't have to rely on so much trial and error. I just hate wasting money on doing things more than once if I don't have to. That's money I could spend on other parts!