rossiz

the steering wheel is one of the primary touch points of the car - and it's surprising how many impressions you get from it, both conscious and unconscious. i found a simulated wood 240 wheel and restored it for my 280. i like the classic look (personal preference) and absolutely love the feel - the texture of the grain, the knurls on the backside the thin profile and the large diameter all say "old school" to me and remind me i'm driving a classic sports car. i just don't get that from a thicker, softer wheel. and the large diameter reinforces the non-power steering (which i also love). all personal preference...

love watching your progress - threads like this one shed a lot of light on systems and processes even if you're not specifically discussing them. the pics of the dash out are very helpful for those of us who haven't done it. the break discussion is excellent. thanks for being so generous with your documentation. that's what makes this site really special: helpful discussion and sharing vs. the "look at me" bragging i see on other venues.

finances and a new job have occupied me completely as of late, so i haven't had any time/extra cash to fiddle with the car (much less for a new exhaust system) so i've just been running on my "shade-tree" tune - my O2 sensors at present are comprised of ears, nose & eyes... she's running rich, but not terribly so, and i'm sure when i get the O2 sensors installed i'll have fun dialing in the needles, but for now i'm quite impressed with just how reliable and hassle-free these carbs have been. i know the car isn't tuned to perfection yet, but it's running well, starts easily and the warmup/choke ritual is perfectly predictable.

wow, it does sound fantastic. i recall reading (Honsowetz) that the crossflow head designed for the L6 didn't really do a whole lot in comparison to the cost - am i missing something?

very nice! what pistons are those? they look light...

nice! while the body is off at the blaster you can start cleaning up the engine and get those triples restored. the sheet metal on these cars is pretty thin, so your blaster needs to use care to avoid making a mess of it...

i've also followed the same dream a few times in my younger, more energetic days... the truth is you will undoubtedly spend far more trying to save a rotted out chassis than it's going to be worth - and it won't look or perform as well as one that started in better shape. no matter what you think of the chassis now, you will certainly find more and more rot the more you dig into it. the edges of the cancer will have crept far under the paint/undercoat, and the interior cavities of the rails and rockers will be very difficult to clean and seal well. nothing worse than doing all that work only to have your newly restored/repainted body start to bubble up in 2 years with rust that came back from the inside. it happens more often than you think... not trying to be a naysayer - quite the opposite. i'm rooting for you to build an awesome z-car, and looking forward to the build thread. there are just smarter ways to do it that will get you there much quicker and yield a better car in the end. if you buy a solid chassis for $2,500 you'll be miles ahead and will still have plenty of "project" left to do and learn from (trust me, you can start with a $6,500 car and still have PLENTY of project left...) that said, my 2 cents would be that you have a great opportunity to learn how to weld and do some bodywork without worrying about the results - use the rust bucket as an experimentation/learning cadaver. cut, weld, grind, salvage any bits you can, to help you learn and restore another car, then let go of it. these cars are out there, and you will find one that you can spend your time/$$ more productively - which means getting your project on the road sooner and enjoying the process with less heartache.

sorry to see that - let's hope the insurance takes care of you.

sure looks like it's running rich + getting some oil worn/dried-out valve guide seals will suck oil into the chambers during deceleration (vacuum conditions) causing a surprising amount of oil burn. they are cheap (less than $20 IIRC) and not tough to install. you get a free valve lash adjust out of the deal as well i've replaced a couple sets and the results have been noticeable. everything i've read says not to run an L6 below 2K revs as it will carbon up. i don't believe 4K is "pushing it" - that's a basic shift point. rev it up to 5K regularly, it's meant designed for it. just gotta re-calibrate the brain from old american iron...

lots of work there. consider an adhesive sound mat - i did my 280 with it and was impressed with the difference it made in getting rid of harsh road noise. be sure to include the spare tire well, that thing rings like a drum and the sound mat cuts a good deal of the high frequency sound.

damn - missed it... i ran into a similar ad a while back (i think Blue tipped me off on it) which was posted for a similar amount but it was a typo - missing a zero.

driving it bone stock (or close) is a great way to learn the car so you can make careful mods that will matter. the other nice part is you'll be so happy to have it on the road, it will be christmas day for a few months, then when you do each mod you get another exciting upgrade every time. spreads out the joy and you'll really appreciate the difference each mod makes.

dontcha just love all the space around these motors? it always makes me happy to look down and see grass on both sides of the block - unlike anything newer where god forbid you drop a tool in the bay cause you'll never find it again... looks great - fun thread to follow!

(cue beavis voice:) uh... he said jiggly bits... huh-huh-huh...

you will be happy knowing the floor pans are sealed up well when you're done. sound mat makes a huge difference in ride noise. i did the entire passenger compartment and was quite happy - then 6 months later i did the back hatch area and was really surprised how much quieter it was after i did the area in the spare tire well - that panel seemed to ring from reflected noise off the rear tires before. the sound mat was like turning off the treble on an am radio - not silent, but the harsh road noise is gone and it's much more pleasant to drive, especially on the highway (i commute daily in mine).

ouch. well, at least you've got a better idea of your starting point - better to do the rebuild yourself and know every inch of that motor than be left wondering. these blocks are tough, so depending on the depth of the scoring you may be able to do a bore/resurface, new bearings and off to the races.

a rebuild kit from ztherapy is cheap and well worth it. the floats are the most critical initial adjustment, as they set the fuel level at the nozzles. the float needle valves can be finicky so replacement is the ticket - they come w/the kit. you'll be taking the float chamber tops off a bunch of times to get them adjusted - stick the float chamber gaskets to the lids w/some gasket cement so they don't pringle and become impossible to align

wow, fun project! patience coupled with boundless energy (and some $$) will get you there. if you're going to do a full body resto, pulling the engine & drive train now is the thing to do - especially if you're going to be chasing rust/rot around the car. if you haven't yet, invest in many boxes of ziploc bags and a few pads of sticky notes - label every nut and bolt you pull and group in separate bags and sharpie what they are on a sticky note in the bag (just about any ink comes off the outside of the bag when handled w/greasy hands). and take lots of pics as you go along - you will thank yourself later... surprising amount of parts available for these cars, but don't ruin anything in a hurry expecting to just buy another - some funny little bits are silly expensive/hard to find so it's worth the time to try and save what you can. when in doubt, do a purchase search first to see what you're up against. looking forward to seeing the project unfold!

some folks on here have used dry ice to freeze up and embrittle the "tar" on the pans/tunnel and it apparently comes off much easier. perhaps a search will yield more info or others might chime in. i read about this AFTER spending hours with various mechanical methods and a lot of sweat/cussing...

not weighing in on whether this is the right thing to do - out of my league here... but if your home oven won't work, most foundries have heat treating ovens that are large, very accurate and set up for large parts and long, constant bake cycles. not an expensive proposition if you have your head set up, mounted/shimmed/etc. and they just take it and bake it.

i put an aftermarket single-row pulley on my re-build. it's a smaller diameter than what was replaced, so the tab wound up an inch away and was useless. so i made my own tdc marker with a piece of sst - actually just fabbed from a section of sst hose clamp. you can print a paper degree wheel (tons available online) and tape it to your pulley, use it and a piston stop to set tdc accurately and you're good to go. unless you're going for "all original" it's more important to simply mark tdc than it is to source the exact tab.

excellent move - you will be happy and sleep better knowing what is/isn't floating around inside...

i love the gtv - a friend has one that is pristine and it just screams italian style and all the cool that goes along. but... the z is still amazingly accessible in terms of cost of ownership that i can happily drive it to work every single day and park it in the supermarket without hiring a bodyguard. not a day goes by that i don't get a smile and "...my buddy had one of those in high school" which usually starts a nice chat. i've even had folks roll down the window at stoplights to have that conversation. not sure that would be the same with something a little more exotic...

if it runs fine now, and it's a "disposable" then why mess with it? the head & gasket, if necessary, are a lot less work than rings. if you want to rebuild an engine for fun, how 'bout an L6, then you get something fun when you're done!

it still amazes me how inexpensive parts are for these cars - a set of friction plates (JUST the friction plates, which you can hold in one hand) for my ducati run over $200, and a lightweight basket kit will set you back $1,500. crazy.