tzagi1

"First I want to hear your explanation of how you can "swap a body" on these cars. Swap a body and you've effectively swapped a car." In legal terms, explained and answered. a body is just a car part, no different then a door. (you do know that some manufactures stamp the vin on ALL body panels including the doors....right?)

"You cannot "swap a body" on these cars" According to who??????????????????? because YOU say so? Please quote a law/ refer to a written law by any US state or federal agency that makes such act illegal. Remember, the law structure in the US is quite different then in the old world, what you have is "what is not written as legal is illegal",what we have IS the exact opposite! So unless there is written statute that prohibits such an act.....I'm all ears! I'd love to hear a rebuttal. Again, I'm not trying to fight with you, I'm asking you to understand that "law" is a regional thing, I'm VERY familiar with UK law MOT ect....as flawed as they are, you however quoting them as if they are the 10 commandments. understand, we are NOT subjects, we are US citizens, we have rights, one of them is a right to property, as in, the government has no right to tell us what to do with said property. that includes...changing the body on a 45 year old z car.

" I think you'll find that most first world nations take a dim view of vehicle cloning" You will have to qualify that. Cloning itself has no "dim view" If I wanted (and could afford) to replicate a(say) 1970 Camaro LT1...no one would mind, heck, I'll be praised. The only problem that might arise if I will try to SELL is as a genuine LT1 and not a clone. that would be fraud. I know where you are coming from...Got plenty of friends in Europe that are bound by MOT, TUF ect, however...none of that applies in our case here.

While it's a good idea, I'm not sure it applies in this case as the alternator is grounded to the block via a cast iron mounting bracket so unless the bolt is loose...and it's a possibility. However if all is good no electrolysis "should" occur. My case might be different then most as this car has been parked for 20 years with no coolant, when I drained the system I got less then a gallon of very rusty water.

Let's look at things philosophically, What part of the car if changed, affect the OWNERSHIP/LEGAL STATUS of such vehicle. Assume I have a truck, I get into an accident and the frame is bent, I pick up another frame at a junk yard, private party ect and swap it in. obviously the frame numbers no longer match the vin, is it or should it be illegal? after all the frame was purchased legally, it wasn't stolen. Same argument can be made for the engine , subframes or any other part that can be changed....that includes the cabin. For example: on some trucks there were no numbers stamped anywhere but the frame AND the vin tag/s that were riveted to the dash, door frame ect does changing the frame effects legality? maybe in some other countries but in no state in the US that I'm aware of. how about changing the cab and riveting that vin plates on it? dito! Now back to the case in point: as far as law enforcement is concerned the car's identity comes from the vin tags, the numbers stamped on the cab/frame interest no one, unless they are reported stolen, that will get you in hot water...otherwise...no body cares. Back in the late 90's I moved to Reno from Socal, at the time I had this 79 Toyota pickup 4x4, the cab mounts were all gone(the floor was all rusted out) so it was much easier to swap in another cab, I transferred the dash and vin tags off the old (white) cab to the new (blue) cab, among with everything else such as doors seats ect. In Nevada a vehicle that comes out of state and is to be registered is required to get a "vin check" you take your vehicle into the dmv and an inspector verifies that your vin numbers matches the title ect. When I took it in the inspector commended me on a job well done!, I guess my rivering skills exceeded his expectations... did he care about or ran the vin on the firewall? hell no, imagine a complete white truck with a blue cab....it was obvious what was done here... Some will make the argument of "vin fraud" as a crutch....but lets examine the definition of "fraud": "wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain" As long as one does not lie about the act (swapping a body in our case) there is no fraud. if one has vin tags/firewall for 00015 and transfers it all to a say 10589 (just for an example), then tries to pass it as a 000015 (to increase its value)...now we have a fraud case. its that simple.

Already ordered one online....it's under $18 shipped.

Dave, that is one of the lessons learned early on..in my case 30 years ago. The pump btw is a GMB, how old is it?....not sure yet for sure it was not replaced since the late 80's.

BTW: what is the cavity on the right side (the green area) it was filled with fluorescent green gritty goop, almost plado like..I'm assuming its a combo of rust and coolant..

Got some grinding noise coming from the front of the engine...pull the belt off, grab the w/p pulley...sure enugh, its as loose as a $20 ho.(figure of speech-I wouldn know) removing the w/p is a simple job..5 bolts right....well not so much, first off the right hand side 8mm bolt will not budge, here comes the fire torch, finally after a few tries without setting the car on fire here it comes, now it all unscrewed yet not loose at all and will not come out.vise grips, hammers, crow bars....nada, it's just sticking out about an inch, k, time for the big guns, removed the rest of the bolts, loosened the pump and used the pump body as a prying point for my 4 foot crowbar. pulled from different angles for about 10 minutes...finally it gave. Moral of the story: always use anti seize! failure to do so will turn a 10 minute job into a 2 hour job...or worst.

So far I'm not very happy with it....in the current day and age. the tires are way too small(in height), the car is way too low, getting a floor jack under it is impossible (need to lift it from the side first) the springs and shocks are too stiff......dodgy electicals.....Back then it all seemed normal....25 years later.....it's a learning experience. One thing for shu, it still goes like a bat out of hell as it always did.

Interior that is.

Its a Socal car...dont forget, 100% rust free, the spare tire well is as virgin as the day it was born, original paint too in perfect condition.

Thanks Greg...time to break out the silicone gun. One thing I didn't mention, at the time I had a had a 16" glass pack finished with a monza tip as the muffler, my brother used to be hassled by LAPD constantly for noise violations so he had some idiot install a turbo muffler with NO tip!, right now the muffler exits Behind the apron....I tend to think that is not helping..

No new gaskets on the tail lights...thanks for the tip, the shifter boot is solid and is siliconed in place due to the 5 speed "mod"

Dave, are you suggesting to silicone all the hose grommets? somehow I think it has to come in thru the hatch seals....its really bad while driving, and no my nose is not that sensitive...had more then a few z's in my youth but I cannot recall anything this bad! I'm thinking I can temporarily duct tape the hatch to see if it makes a difference...

Here is the story...and it's a long one! I bought this 71 back in the late 80's, I think I paid $1000 for it. Naturally it had to be hot rodded, the engine and trans(5 speed were swapped from a 77) still got the original engine and trans in good shape), the head was ported and polished, titanium retainers, the cam came from Ed the armenian (rip) he worked for Smokey Yunick btw, header , dual webers, electronic ignition, ansa exhaust, adjustable Tokicos, suspension techniques springs ...and so on, You get the pic. Got married in 91, had a baby and this thing stopped being practical, my younger brother wanted it so I sold it to him (don't remember for how much, not important) Anyway...he drove it for a couple of years till some kids stole it from his buddies house (how typical), the ignition lock locked up on them and they crashed into a pole, (front right corner), it was taken to a body shop , fixed and painted...all fresh rubber..that was in 94 or 95. he drove it for another year or so, until him and his gf took a weekend trip to Santa Barbara (from Northridge CA), he got 2 speeding tickets over 100 mph, one on the way there, one on the way back....into the garage it went, covered and left for dead. I been hounding him over the years to do something with it but he is a lazy computer engineer driving some fancy Bimmer....so it sat, in spring of 2016 I get a phone call: come and get it. its yours. Trailer hitched I head to Socal to pick it up and home it goes, Parked it in a buddies warehouse and started work, drained the gas, changed fluids...changed fuel pump (dead), one accelerator pump was dead....pour fuel...started on the first crank. since then got a carpet kit, seat skins, fixed the interior, installed aftermarket A/C(not finished yet) rebuilt the carbs (flooded on occasion), tackled the electricals (still moodey) The day has come to get it out of there (my buddies "request") so I pulled it out to the parking lot...crap,no starter (moody) jump started it with a screw driver and took it around the block...its drivable, time to take it home. How was the experience you ask....it's rude its crude it's stiff, steering is hard, getting in and out is a PITA. it hates to be driven civilly. zero sophistication...zero, it stinks of exhaust fumes, it forces one to step on it (and get speeding tickets), pure evil....however, I cannot explain that unwanted grin when pressing down that right foot....it's intoxicating! Now to the final question: how the hell do you get rid of the exhaust fumes?, all the rubbers are new, including the hatch Still have work to do... after the drive discovered the the water pump lost the bearing, temp gauge is dead, starter is still temperamental, I suspect the relay, I can hear it click but no starter. Finish the ac, the valves are noisy.. and so on...it never ends.