Mark Maras

Jai I've found that many gas pump nozzles will over fill? the tank because of the large diameter Z gas cap and hose. You may want to try shutting off the gas before it clicks off. My 71 datsun pick up had a bad hose from the cap to the tank. Everytime I let the pump shut off on its own, I left a puddle of gas on the pavement at the station. I was not very popular until it was repaired. If making snow angels behind and under RedBird is not to your liking, (YouTube $?) you could tape a small mirror to a stick and take a look at the bottom of the tank and the sides if the light is good. Most of the fittings that leak are on the right side. If the wet spot is in the center it will surround the drain plug. Clearly visible in poor light.

Age? I didn't get too close to it. I'd guess a 76. Not only was the shed falling on top of it but the residence looks kinda like it might be a shoot first and ask questions later type of place. Any way, If someone was home I didn't want to pi$$ them of before I had a chance to talk with them. IMO, The place has some bad vibes. I'm not very comfortable even being there but I've been wrong before, so we'll see how the first meeting goes. Hopefully it will be this Saturday. It's been about 24 hrs. since I left the note. No contact yet. In Portland, Google uses a Prius. Easy to spot. I swear one time I saw it, there was no driver. Only got a glance at it but it left me wondering if it truly was driverless or a new senior moment. In my neighborhood, it caught an accident involving a friend of mine. He was able to use a few of the pics to verify his side of the story. I love the old Japanese cars and trucks. Simple to work on. We recently sold my oldest son's 84 Camry college car. Paid $200.00 for it. We put in a clutch and he drove it for years back and forth from Eugene to Portland. About a 100 mile trip, one way. It had 334,000 miles and it still sailed thru DEQ when we sold it.

I found the derelict Z today. No one home at the time. I didn't get a close look at it. Some danger involved in getting close to it. The shed has partially collapsed on the hatch but I think the nose is still uncovered. I suspect that it was protected for many years by the shed until it fell in. Usually when a car sits out in the weather around this part of the country it starts to accumulate moss around the windows. I saw little of that. The little that I could see looked pretty good. It's yellow, the color of my first Z. I left a note asking for some info about it but I think I'll have to go back this weekend and try to find someone home.

MY US Indy center caps were held on with screws.

The way the old US Indy wheels were designed it would be impossible to wear out the lug hole. The lugs were not conical. they were long & straight and fit very snug in the wheel to the point that they were a PITA to R & R. If you need more info on the lugs I have some stashed away with my orig. wheels.

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! THE VOICES HAVE RETURNED. PM me.

Nice job. I like the color. It looks similar to the old VW bug color, polar blue.

I believe all early Zs came with steel wheels and hub caps. In the PacNW nearly all of the Zs had slotted alum. wheels added at the dealer. My 71 had US Indy wheels on it when I bought it in 73. They also had the lug nuts with the non-removable washers. I wonder if all the early Zs had US Indy wheels. Anyone know about early Z wheel supplier contracts?

Excellent advice above. I'd also verify the float level and the needle height are correct. I've never understood why you had the nozzle adjustment so far down. (rich) How does the engine respond to normal mixture adj. 2 1/2 - 3 turns down? Backfire out the carbs?

IMO, Check the drive shaft u-joints first. I've experienced the rattle induced by deceleration in an RX7. It was caused by a front u-joint that had a TINY bit of end play in it. The clunks? A really bad u-joint will do it but trans. and or rear end mounts are probably the culprit. I think if the clunk was coming from the ring and pinion, you'd have worse symptoms than a clunk.

I think I'd put it back in the CLR for a longer soak. I had to soak my fuel tank sending unit 24 hrs to remove the rust on it. I thought the CLR would probably destroy the the very small wires on it. But what the hell, it was unusable as it was. To my surprise, the unit looks fantastic after a 24 hr. soak. No damage to it at all.

I don't remember which thread it was but as I recall the last pump installed was a 4 psi. That's more pressure than needed or advised. Not saying the needle and seat wouldn't handle it, for a while, but why push it?

If it's not under coating and the paint is actually stained, I'd guess brake fluid. Possibly got there during a brake job. You know, master cylinder cap off, push the caliper pistons back, hear something odd. Oh crap! Now there is a mess all over the left side fender well & shock tower. Just a guess.

Bad news and good news. The bad? Worked most of the weekend clearing shop space and dealing with power outages caused by the wind. (Jai (RedBird) has christened the 71 "Parti Girl".) Late Sunday afternoon we finally got the last piece of equipment moved. By then snow and freezing rain had set in. Probably won't get her into the shop until this coming Sunday. It's the only day my friend has off and he has the truck to move the trailer with "PG" on it . The good news. The same friend with the shop has a 120v plasma cutter. He has cut 1/8"+ sheet metal with it. I think it will work just fine. If all goes according to the new plan, I'll start undressing "PG" next week.

One more thing to add. Always mark the shaft and yokes before you remove the u-joints. If the yoke and shaft are installed 180` out from the orig. position you may have a balance problem. Especially on the prop. shaft. It spins 3 1/2-4 times faster than the axles.

What a great idea. I don't have a plasma cutter but I think I can borrow one. I've already cut a few spot welds with the H.F. rotary cutter. Works quite well as long as you have access but a plasma cutter would speed the whole process up a bunch. Thanks.

It seems like it's cooling problem is caused by a lack of circulation, a lack of volume and or a lack of heat transfer to the coolant. You've replaced the fan clutch (hopefully it has a lot of resistance) so presumably the fan is pulling enough air at idle to cool and a new water pump to make sure circulation is good. Crud build-up in the block and radiator not only reduce coolant volume but also interfere with heat transfer from the heat source to the coolant be it liquid or air. The heat transfer is increased greatly if the circulating coolant is touching metal. Crud buildup acts as an insulating layer. Cured the problem in mine with two GOOD flushes and sent the rad. out to be re-cored with additional layers to increase the volume. That made it much better. Temp would still rise under extreme conditions. When I eventually replaced the clutch fan (it seized) with a flex fan the engine never overheated again. Although I've not tried it, I think one could pull the manifolds and remove the expansion (freeze) plugs and clean out the block without removing the engine. Tips; If you're stuck in traffic not moving, shut the engine off. Mine always started easily so I wasn't concerned with blocking traffic. It won't create more heat if it's not firing. If you're moving slow, keep the RPMs as low as possible. If it is overheating, increase the heater control to hot and turn the blower on high. Better for me to overheat than the engine.

Yeah, they flex a lot. Almost all Zs show signs of it above the quarter windows. The tell-tale crack in the paint. I did notice in my original that after bolting in a rollbar the rear seemed stiffer. Never did brace the front. That's where it really needed it.

Here's some pics of the dismantle project. 71 HLS30 39360, 8/71 build date. The left door glass, the left rad. support to fender well air duct, lower rad. support and misc. fasteners already have member inquiries. I'll be removing everything from the body first and then taking the body apart ,spot weld by spot weld, with the intent of selling it all. Let me know what you need and I'll check on the quality. If you have a low bucks project like me, offer what you can afford. The only reason I bought it was because it's next journey was going to the crusher. Too much good left in it to see that.

That's weird. I would have expected it to relate to engine speed. It seems to be random. Just to rule one thing out, you don't have a "friend" in the garage who is a practical joker, right? I think you're going to have to trace it by the sound which sucks because you don't know if or how much damage is being done. Maybe a helper on each side to figure out where it's coming from ie; left-right, front-back, top-bottom. I often use a 4' section of garden hose as a stethoscope to reach difficult areas.

Early trans w-ears on both sides, 5th gear ratio is .864/1. About 7/8ths of a turn. The later close ratio, one eared trans, 5th gear ratio is .745/1. About 3/4ths of a turn.

Anyone know what years are the same as a 76?

Brought it to it's new dismantling home this morning. Got lucky. I found the hood being used as an engine cover on the other side of the yard. He threw it in with the rest. Inside the car I found a P79 and an E88 head. Both complete with cams and valves. Interesting car. HLS30 39360. 71. Aug. I think. 72-73 body with vert. def. hatch glass. Appears to original. I'll be taking more pics in the next few days as I clean it out. 240Ziggy That sounds easy enough. I'll let you know what I find below the cowl. Wheeel I'm a little farther than that from Linden, Wash. Where there's a will, there's a way. We've got plenty of will so there has to be a way. Anyone have any experience moving body panels and large parts across the border, legally and cheap? Back in the 70s," it" was done with just a bit of creative thinking and a bit of adrenaline. Pretty sure I'll sleep better than I did back then if it's done legally.

I hadn't thought about the under cowl area. I'll check it out. If my memory is correct both doors looked straight. I think I remember a 1" blister on the paint on one door. The blister is large enough that i'm pretty sure it will have a hole when cleaned. The insides of the doors will tell the story. What is the best way to ship large parts to Canada? Can they go by bus? Mark

I've used Sil-Glyde on mine in the past. I believe it is silicone grease. I got between the overlap of the covers with a cotton swab covered in Sil-Glyde. That is where my creaking was coming from.