Ed

Instead of replacing the entire floor pan why don't you just cut out the rusted part and replace it with some 18 guage sheet metal. You will retain the structural integrity and it will look better. If you do most of the work yourself you will pay a welder for only one maybe two hours of labor. Start by stripping the undercoating and removing the carpets. Cut out the rusted metal with a skill saw or sawzall. Clean the area around the cut, remove all the paint and under coating so it won't burn when welded (about 2" worth, a grinder with a 80 grit abrasive pad works great). Now cut a patch that will fit perfect. Cut the patch a little large, by about 1/8 inch. Then grind to fit. You don't want a gap anywhere around the patch. Some people will tell you that overlapping the edges is easier, and it is, but it will also provide a space for rust to develop. Take it to your welder and have him butt weld the patch and grind smooth. Now you can do the POR-15 to finish.

Nice job on those Kenny, I must say you have inspired me. Did you do anything to polish up the metal part of the emblems?

No kidding, that is a sweet ride. I was there with you for a moment on that ride. Take some more pictures for us. I am also jealous.

Phred, I want to take you up on this offer of figuring out the compression ratio. I just finished cc'ing my head and these are the #'s I came up with: #1- 38.8, #2- 38.6, #3- 39.2, #4- 39.4, #5- 38.6, #6- 38.2 The block is a '81 F54 with the stock flat top pistons. And I'm using a Felpro head gasket. Also I have a .020 head gasket shim by Felpro but I'm not sure if I'm going to use it. I guess it all depends on what my compression ratio comes out to. Thanks

Take the entire engine to get worked. Have them rebuild the whole thing. New bearings, rings and gaskets for the block. The head I guess depends on how bad it looks. New valve stem seals for sure. New grind on the valves. I don't know how far the AU dollar can stretch but It shouldn't cost more than 1,000. For the rest of your budget you should do the brakes and have the bushings inspected. Save the rest for those surprises. Enjoy!

If I remember correctly, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) I'm going by memory here . The E88 and the N42 have similar chamber CC's I think there is 2-3 cc's differance. But the advantage of a N42 over the E88 is the larger valve's in the N42.

I noticed that my 72 had a 7 blade cooling fan and my 73 had 8 blades. Does anyone know the reason for this? And which would provide better cooling?

I don't know if she will be complete by spring. I guess it depends on me getting some heat into the garage. Winters are brutal up here!!!!!!!!! I will atleast have the suspension and other undercarrage components on there.

Here is another spook I think looks very good. http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=10179&sort=1&cat=500&page=2

I picked one up from Autozone for $40.00 a while back. Not sure if they still have them but they are not expensive.

Someone took advantage of the "buy it now" and she's gone.

Looks used.

Thanks Carl.

Carl, what is that access panel made out of? Mine is missing and was wondering about a replacement.

Funny thing, were on opposite sides of the world and doing the same thing. I'm also painting my fuel / brake lines. The little brackets I had replated.

Jeff, You are correct. Probably a faulty hose. The only way to know for sure is to remove the interior trim panel and inspect the hoses. The panel is the big plastic piece on your right side if you look in from the hatch area. To remove the rivets without breaking them take a small nail or a punch and push the center of the rivet through. Unfortunately some of these center posts will end up lost. Then using a flat screw driver you can remove the rivet. The panel comes out with a little gentle persuasion. Good luck Oh yea, don't smoke :classic:

Welcome to the club! It sounds like your valve stem seals are shot. What happens is while the car is sitting there doing nothing oil seeps down the valves stem into the combustion chamber. When you start it up the white smoke is the oil burning up. It won't be as noticable if you drive the car every day. But let it sit for a couple of days and you will get the smoke. To change your seals isn't really that hard or expensive if you know how to do it yourself. I would suggest you get a shop manual and read up on what is involved. Then you can decide if you want to tackle this job yourself or pay someone else. Good luck.

What do you guys use to clean, detail and preserve the black rubber trim on your bumpers?

Your best bet is to go back to midas or another muffler shop and to have them replace your stock exhaust with the same diameter pipe and a quality muffler. Get the aluminized steel it will last a lot longer.

That Z has definately had a lot of work done to it. What kind of engine does it have? Are you going to fix her up yourself? The side windows and the windshield should be easy to come by, don't know about the back. Since she has been open to the elements you need to pull up the floor matts and the carpet and inspect the floor boards. The Z's worst enemy is rust and sitting like that would make her a likely candidate. Try and get underneath also inspect the frame rails for rust. Inspect and poke with a screwdriver BEFORE you buy. She might look to be in decent shape from the outside but you could have a rotten apple underneath. Good Luck.

When I did mine. It all went together pretty smooth. After I torqed it to spec it still moved freely. Maybe one of your bearings isn't seated all the way.

What size rims do you have?

I'm not sure exactly what they are called but they are the metal sleeve's that retain the brake line to the body and the hub. They slide over a bracket then the brake line goes through it and then you secure it with a "U" shaped clip. I need two of them. Can someone help a Z brother out? Attached is a picture of what I need.