Pomorza

That looks rather interesting. Do you know what shape the tranny is in? Jan

Happened to be at Borders earlier and read this article. Apparently both of the Z's had troubles on the track when they ran. The 240 finished only a second or so slower than the 370. (found that funny) Jan

I'm going to have to partly agree with Zedyone kenobi here on this one. Here is why. A 35+ year old car will have something wrong with it no matter how well it runs. My 280z (1976) runs great, hell it gets 30+ mpg on the freeway but there are plenty of things on it that are not functioning exactly the way they should. Even if the car was your daily driver before this incident it is possible that there were things in need of replacement before the headers were installed and they fell apart during assembly. Here is my advise, I have three mechanics that I use on my Z and I've done this a number of times when it needed to be fixed. First call up the mechanic(s) that worked on your car. Ask them specifically if they know (or have ever worked on) Z's. These cars aren't exactly the hardest things to work on but there are some tricks and things that a normal mechanic would not know. Secondly, talk to the manager or the owner or someone that is higher up. Explain exactly what happened. If the car came there with no huge problems and left with them something had to happen in between. See what exactly they can do. Thirdly, if you don't believe they can fix it and you don't believe you can take it to a Z expert. I've done that before when my mechanic had no idea how to fix something. He literally said "I've never dealt with that problem," and he didn't feel confident that he could fix it. I'm sure that there are places in your area that work on Zs or people in your area that can help you. It is a matter of figuring out what is wrong and fixing it incrementally. Hope that helps Jan

That's why I want them. I need to get heat out of my engine bay as living in Arizona (with 100+ summers) the engine (injectors especially) gets a bit warm. By the pictures they look functional which is really what I am after. I'll take your advise and go to hybrid and see what I can read. If anyone has any other vents on their Z (other than the stock ones) please let me know where you got them and how they work. Jan

Hey guys. Found this online earlier tonight and I'm wondering if you guys have an opinion on it. By the looks of it I could in theory just cut out the needed holes and place the vents in. Has anyone used or had any experience with these? Jan

Ah that 0 looked a lot like a 6 from very far away. Thanks. That is a great find mate. I've always wanted a RHD Z. Jan

I maybe blind but by the looks of it that engine pictures looks like a L26 to me that someone then converted into an FI car. Again I could be wrong but that's what I'm seeing. The electric windows and mirrors are pretty awesome. I wish I had those stock that would be great. Jan

Well mates thanks for all the advise. I ended up parking the parking the car at my friends home. It is in a fenced in lot and is sitting on a flat spot of his yard. I covered the car with a complete car cover and took the battery out. I would have parked it in a storage unit but at the moment funds are a bit short after I did the tires and fixed a number of other things on the car. Thanks again Jan

With enough time and money any car can be restored. That ones is in rather bad shape but with a some new sheet metal and some TLC that Z could be on the road.

Did you pull the distributor when you were rebuilding? Jan

Hi guys. I've asked this before but for the some reason cannot find the post. I'm leaving my Z parked as I go on vacation for a month. Other than pull the battery and cover the car with a cover is there anything else I should do? Jan

I'm going to take it up to some Z expert(s) to ask their opinion. I've heard from a number of sources that bad bushing can cause that type of issue though. Thanks Jan

If the noise I'm getting isn't from the bearing, wouldn't I get it on both sides and not just one if the bushings are all worn out? The exact phrase I was told was that rear right tire has movement (that is when it is in the air he can move it around by pulling and pushing on it). Jan

Well if the transverse link are the rather large A looking parts of the rear suspension(that hold the wheels to the frame) then I don't think the word "worn" gives justice to what I have left. On all eight I have maybe an inch or two of "bushings" left. These "bushings" are broken, cracked and torn all over. Could having bad rear bushing really cause 5/8ths of an inch of toe in? To be more specific, pretty much all the rear bushings on my car are shot. The mustache bar bushings are gone so when I shift I get the dreaded "thud". The drivers side strut is leaking oil. Hope that sheds light on my Z. Its not exactly "perfect" but what can I expect for a care that wasn't really taken care of properly. Jan

A bit of an update and I hope you all can help here: I took the Z to my other mechanic to get the alignment done. In the process he found that there is movement in the rear right wheel (the one that makes the noise) and advised me that the bearing is bad. (loose). He reconfirmed that the rear struts are worn to bits and they need replacement. Secondly we found that the rear end wheels have a 5/8" toe in on both sides. As these are non adjustable does anyone know what could cause them to do this? I took two pictures so you all can see what I'm dealing with. On a side note, the front tires also had toe in of 5degrees (roughly) on both sides. That was fixed but the rears are still a bit odd. Any help would be great Jan

The noise does not differ from the method of driving I have. I put it in neutral, or keep in gear or hit the brakes the noise remains constant. When I drive and do not put load on the rear end (that is I'm no accelerating) the noise is there very loud. When I put a load on it it diminishes in volume but it's still there but harder to hear. Jan

Apparently the rims were not the problem. I did do the test you asked with the parking brake on and off. With it on the car did not move period. When you take it off it would move but there was no sounds at all that I could tell. Any other ideas mates? I took it to my other mechanic to get an alignment and asked him to take a look at the suspension to see if he can figure it out.

Guys you are going to fall over this. Apparently my mechanic, who I've been going to for years, was no aware (or forgot) that I have staggered rims. (that is one is 1" wider than the other). Well to my amazement (and fright) I found that the rear has one thin rim (driver side) and one wide rim (passenger side) on. The tires are the same size (215/70/R14) but the rims are not. Assuming that the wider rim is heavier (which it is) I found the problem. I'm going to avoid driving at all costs until this can be fixed as a weight difference can really mess with the diffy and really pretty much everything else back there. Thanks guys for all your help Jan

Thanks for the advise. I went out for another drive today to see if the sound was there. It was but only after a few minutes of driving over 35mph. I took a look at the tires and suspension and I'm in dire need of new struts in the rear. They are in horrid shape. By u joints on the rear axle I'm assume you mean the half shaft u joints? The drive shaft has brand spanking new u-joins (actually the whole thing is new). Thanks again guys Jan

Thanks guys for all your input. I drove on the tires for a good hour last night to wear them in a bit. The noise only occurs when I decelerate or brake so I'm leaning more towards the suspension or lugs rather than a bad tire. (as wouldn't the sound be continuous if there belt was bad inside?). I sadly can't stop driving the car as it is my daily driver. I try not to drive it much as the suspension is in dire need of repair but when I have to I really have no other choice. Thanks again Jan

Hey guys Today I invested in a set of new tires. 215/70R14 in the rear and the stock 195/70R14s in the front. Car drives great but I've noticed that when I decelerate I get a thud thud thud sound from the rear passenger's side. The best way I can describe it is it sounds like I'm crossing a bridge. (and hitting the spacers on the bridge once in a while). The tires don't rub. Three things that I've thought of at the moment. One, for some reason they used different lugs on the one tire. don't know why, but it could maybe make a difference. Secondly, the struts on the rear are gone, literally I don't think they "absorb" any kind of impact anymore. They are leaking fairly badly and make noise. Thirdly, the rear tires are misalligned. They are pointed inwards towards the front of the car. If you look at them from the top, they are about 2-5 degrees pointed inwards. Any ideas. Thanks greatly Jan Happy 4th to everyone.

My first conclusion last night (at 3 am) was that the catalytic converter on my 280z was dying. I've had the same smell on my 96' Grand Cherokee when it cat was about to give. I'm pretty sure that the catalytic converter on my car is more than likely at least 10 years old if not older as its pretty much rusted to the rest of the exhaust. I'll check the battery in a second but the volt gauge never exceeded the normal range when I drove. The car didn't run any different or any richer that I could tell but then again it was late so it is possible. I only drove about 2 miles and the engine temp just hit the normal temp when I got home if that makes a difference. Thanks all Jan

Hey guys. This evening when I was back home and got out of the ol' gal I started smelling a rather potent smell of sulfur (rotten egg type smell). Any ideas? Jan

I've used sta-bil in my dads boat as it had that same problem in hot weather. We ended up having to clean the carbies first as there was tons of gunk in there. But ever since that day we've used sta-bil and it seems to help. Jan

By the looks of your picture you have no A/C belt. From what you stated above (or what I got out of it anyway) is that when your car is cold and you start it it makes a squeeling noise. If you seem to be loosing power it could be that either your water pump and/or the alternator bearing is seizing. This is my way of figuring it out. If Z's are anything like all the other cars I've worked on you should be able to run your car without the belt for a few minutes. (or seconds as that's how long you said it lasted). See if you hear the sound with no belt. Jan