motorman7

I saw Diseazd's pics and was quite jealous so I had to take a photo op of my own. It's solo, but that's ok for now. Also, cleaned up the original radiator cap and put it back on. Seems to work OK, but will keep the new one in the glove box just in case. Thanks Arne! Added a link to the song that runs through my head when I work in my car. It's era appropriate .

Finally got the radiator decals on. Checked my old pics to make sure I put them on right. I think in the refresh here, the radiator is the one part that is least original. I had it re-cored with a Modine 3 row core (versus the original 2 row core). When driving over Grants Pass and the Grapevine, the temp got a bit hot and never went down. Dad put an overflow recovery bottle in, but it never really worked. The temp gage would go to about 3/4 near the tops of the mountains and never go back down. I had to stop and refill the system at the bottom of the mountains. Hopefully the 3 core will solve the issue. I also tossed Dad's overflow recovery bottle, it was getting old (although I must say, it was very 'original'). I was able to clean up the air cleaner and fan blades pretty well. They are still the original 39 year old paint. They look pretty good, so no paint is needed. I attached one more pic of the car, under the flourescents with the new Panasports. I love the color of the Panasports. It is very close to the original hubcap center color so I thought it would be appropriate. I need to clean up the battery cables. I am guessing that these are not original. Does anyone know where some "original" or like original can be found? Still need to clean up some of the connectors. I bought some of the 4mm terminals, but they were too big. I am guessing the 3mm's are the one that fit the coil resistor. Also need to clean some of the old multiwire connectors. I thought about Zedyones comment about being an artist. Actually, I just have a beautiful subject and am pretty good at cleaning things up. Thanks for all the support. Rich

Took it out on Harmony Grove Road with the new rims (6 miles of twists, turns and hills with no stop signs) and it handles great, much better than the stock tires. Also, no worries of hubcaps falling off so it was perfect.

Love the parts! They look perfect. The car is coming along great. Very nice to watch the progress, Way cool! Can't wait to see the paint job. Rich

Latest pics with new rims...just for fun

Good Point. Will make sure to always keep an eye on it. Rich

I will most likely get some tires next week. I have some 16X7's and was wanting to go with as tall a tire as possible for two reasons. One; to reduce the 'air gap' in the wheel well. Two; to reduce the RPM's when driving freeway speeds. I will keep the stocks with hubcaps in the garage and save them for the shows. With the panasports I don't need to worry about the hubcaps coming off in corners or people 'procuring' them when it is outside. Rich

Thanks John! It was really a blast doing all the work. I enjoyed it so much that I am actually thinking of getting another Z, '72 or earlier. I think my son enjoyed it just as much, so now he wants one. He really enjoys the cleaning and polishing. That works well with me. We actually went up to LA last Sunday to check out buying another '70, but it had a bit too much rust for my liking. Will keep my eyes and ears open. Best Regards, Rich

Here are the before and after with outoor lighting

Hi John, I will try and get the pics posted this evening. That should give you a better comparison. Rich

I think the flourescent lights in the garage make it look that bright. I will try and take it out tomorrow in sun and get some pics. I have some before pics taken outside, so it should be a better comparison.

Well, she is pretty much finished and up and running! Still a few things I want to do but for the most part the engine bay is done. Remaining items include bead blasting the valve cover, replacing the yellowed electrical terminals, and cleaning up a few hoses, and adding the two Radiator decals. Was very fortunate on the final build up. Car started right up after one small hiccup. Had everything put together, went to start, and only heard the relay click. Since I zinced the back end of the starter, I figured I messed something up there. Took the starter/solenoid assy off and rechecked all the connections. Cleaned the copper contacts inside the solenoid and some of the other elec connections. Did a quick bench test and starter spun. Assembled on the car and turned the key and the car started right up. Not bad. I adjusted the timing (audibly, will need to buy or borrow a light) and reset the carb airflow. Everything is running very nice even at high R's. I did have a small fuel leak on the forward float bowl, but tightening the nut stopped the drip. Below are a couple pics. Some before and some after. Will post finals when the items listed above are done. Man, this was really fun. I want to buy another one so I can do it again. Boy, I am going mental here. Rich

Got the horns cleaned up. Cleaned the rust off the back with a wire wheel and steel wool. Sprayed with clear lacquer. On the front, painted the outer ring but just touched up the center. The color is very close.

Got the Intake manifold, crossover items and carbs assembled. Should get the air galley and radiator on Friday. Might have it running by Sunday. That would be nice. I miss driving it:disappoin I am debating on whether to polish up the carb domes. Not really sure what the originals were like.

Definitely want some of those. They should be nice. If I can re-condition my current braided hoses I should be in good shape.

That is quite a bit cheaper. Securing the ends may be a bit tough though. Maybe use some black silicon

Has anyone checked out this Earl's pro-lite 350 stuff for use in place of the stock cloth tubing? From some of the pics, the braid looks similar to the original. In a bit of a bind here with half of my hoses braided (40 years old) and half not. It looks off. They need to be one or the other. http://www.earls.co.uk/earls/hose/prolite.html

Hi Carl, The car has 96K original miles. I would like to keep it below 100K for as long as possible, and definitely less the 2K a year. Rich

Put some more items on the engine. Added the starter, fuel pump, fan assembly (still original paint), fuel lines, and passenger side hoses. Also put on the thermostat housing and smog pump. The smog pump cleaned up nice, it was looking pretty bad. So, I made a big error. I put the motor mounts on the wrong sides. The long one goes on the drivers side and the short on the passengers. I made the assumption (and didn't check my pics) that the motor sits straight up and down. Such is not the case, it is tilted at a near 10 degree angle. As a result, I had to lift the engine up and swap mounts. The thing that clued me into the problem was that the smog pump was very close to the frame as was the support arm. At this point, I realized something was wrong. I went back and checked my pics and sure enough, the long mount goes on the drivers side. Anyway, problem is corrected and I will continue to assemble. Should get more parts in the next couple days. Rich

Finally got the engine in. Wasn't too bad, just a lot of details to take care of. I had to finish putting in the brake line clips. I cleaned up the steering rack a bit more and did a temporary mounting of the assembly. Will finalize when the second batch of zinc returns with the correct nuts and bolts. I also did another wax on the firewall and a bit more detail cleanup. It was nice to find a red stripe on the flywheel, Crank, and pressure plate to line up the assembly. I am guessing this is balanced due to all the unique holes in the flywheel. I temporarily installed the intake and exhaust manifold just to see how it would look (waiting on the zinced Air Galley). Also attached newly painted exhaust assy. The colors look good. The exhaust paint was near the exact color of the wired and sanded exhaust pipe. That was a nice surprise. Will start to attach all the other engine items as time permits. This seems like it will be a bit of a process as there is still stuff to clean.

For lawn ornaments, some people have Gnomes, others have Fountains; I have decided that the 240Z Exhaust System looks appropriate. We'll see how the wife likes it when she gets home. It's gotta increase the property value! PS: Can't believe how easy this was to take out- 3 bolts and 10 mins.

Thanks David, I'd like to get those from you when I do the front and rear bushings, after the engine refresh. Best Regards, Rich

Hi All, Just thought I'd post the tags and numbers since they were easily accessible (and look cool of course). The head had 2 different size bolts. 5 long that were on the cam towers, the rest were short. Got the T/C bushings replaced. Got the new rack bushings but will need to find a shim material. May send my son down to the tire shop to get the tire weights. It's not to far away. So, back to work here. Should have the motor in today. Will show pics later. Rich

Hi Kats, I like your web site. Those are some sweet cars you have. Yes, odd thing about the engine numbers. It would be interesting to track the pairing of engine S/N with body S/N. I wonder if there is a sequence (backwards in some cases) or it is just random. Also, it is very educational taking these cars apart. The 'non-standard' items are very cool. I lucked out today; looks like Les has the bushings (Rack and T/C) I need. That means I should be able to drop the engine in tomorrow. I have a 3 day weekend so should be able to get a lot done. Best Regards, Rich