xray

Well, you and Mr Krauthammer are like-minded.... http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZGI0MDdiZDQ3MGI1ZGYzNWZkZTcwZWM5YzI2MWI5N2U= "Two decades ago, however, socialism and communism died rudely, then were buried forever by the empirical demonstration of the superiority of market capitalism everywhere from Thatcher’s England to Deng’s China, where just the partial abolition of socialism lifted more people out of poverty more rapidly than ever in human history. Just as the ash heap of history beckoned, the intellectual Left was handed the ultimate salvation: environmentalism. Now the experts will regulate your life not in the name of the proletariat or Fabian socialism but — even better — in the name of Earth itself. Environmentalists are Gaia’s priests, instructing us in her proper service and casting out those who refuse to genuflect. (See Newsweek above.) And having proclaimed the ultimate commandment — carbon chastity — they are preparing the supporting canonical legislation that will tell you how much you can travel, what kind of light you will read by, and at what temperature you may set your bedroom thermostat. ...There’s no greater social power than the power to ration. And, other than rationing food, there is no greater instrument of social control than rationing energy, the currency of just about everything one does and uses in an advanced society" Fairly well-stated.

Couple thoughts: 1) Corn prices definitely increased when demand for ethanol production increased, first noted way back in 2007 http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=biofuels&id=18173&a= and... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/14/AR2007061402008.html To say that increasing demand of a product with limited upside supply potential won't increase its price is a bit uninformed. To somehwat blunt this impact, companies are using a wider variety of materials to generated ethanol. Oh, and the Brazil argument is interesting since the growers there are tearing down rainforest to grow more corn and soybeans. greenies seem conveniently OK with this coincidence at the moment.... http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0516-ethanol_amazon.html http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725975,00.html 2) E10 and E15 does not have much effect on corroding engine parts. Some say E85 will corrode aluminum and make rubber parts brittle, but I've seen evidence of the former only from oil companies and evidence for the latter only from enviro-greenies. Obviously, bias is on both sides of this issue. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/business/27ethanol.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85_in_standard_engines http://ethanol.org/video/ 3) The energy consumption vs energy to produce debate is interesting. most folks who claim it takes too much energy use older research... http://healthandenergy.com/ethanol.htm But, as is the great thing about minimally-regulated capitalism, we're getting better and better at it..... http://coskataenergy.com/process.html As the need persists, our skills and technology will make it a more viable alternative or complimentary source of fuel going forward. I doubt it will be the cure-all, and hopefully it's overall environmental impact (crop/food prices, deforestation etc) will be minimized. But, with global warming maybe Alaskan tundra will make good farmland, right?

IIRC, that the car sat for 45 minutes contributes to the VL phenomenon, as underhood temps continue to rise with (a) hot ambient temps and ( hot engine temps not being ventilated by the fan or outside air, causing some of the fuel in the rail to vaporize and pose as a blockage. As a test, some propose popping the hood to allow engine heat to dissipate, then attempting to start the car. Putting an electric fuel pump on helps in that there is added mechanical force to overcome the vapor blockage (may be why I've not experienced it as I put a new one on during the resto). Good luck, and stay cool (102 here again today--yuk!)

If that's your goal then your choice here is a good candidate for learning. Can't do much harm to the car, and you didn't pay that much to get into it (under $500, hopefully). Most of us come from the perspective of "I'm gonna make this a show car" mentality--but yours is more like "I want a cheap project and I don't care if it looks super shiny etc." If I'm interpreting you correctly, that is.... As per roadworthiness, once you get it driveable, unless the floors and frame are rusted out you shouldn't fold in two after hitting a pothole. It's always nice to be able to stop, so be sure brakes have been tended to. I'd check closely the firewall near the battery, as that looks suspicious on the pics and tends to be an important area for structural rigidity. But, you wanted to learn to weld, right? Search for Mull's prject car on the forum. Great detailed photos of his shop's resto with lots of welding panels etc. Good luck,

Yep. Money well spent. Get the sound deadener off the floorpans ASAP and assess whether it's bad scaling or rusted through. That battery tray looks very manageable. Fenders are replaceable, probably should be by the looks of that last pic. Good choice. I'd say well bought! Welcome to the club!

Sounds to me like what most people describe when they get vapor lock. I couldn't stomach the thought of driving in 100+ degree heat without air, so I've not yet experienced the phenomenon myself. As a SWAG to the second question, if it's vapor lock causing the first situation, driving with the choke on may allow for a higher proportion of liquid gas to make it into the carbs which is why it ran when only choked. I forget--do you have an electric pump at the tank or only the mechanical?

Good luck, Jim! Hope it turns out well. Would be nice to have another freshly painted shiny radiology Z on the forum! Looking forward to the pics....

without pics of the floors, wheelwells, battery tray, doglegs, hatch etc I wouldn't pay more than $1500 (sounds like the doglegs and floors need replacing at a minimum.) What you see is usually 10-20% of what actually exists when it comes to Z car rustiness... With all the documentation you may be tempted to go with a full restoration than resto-mod or some combination, so keep that in mind too. Full resto would probably take longer and may be more costly....Probably not a great preservation candidate, but would need to see pics.

It's going to be the mid 90s all week, so it's twilight drives for me (maybe early morning since I'm on overnight call Saturday night)... I like how The Z is rough, light, loud and unkempt. I don't perceive getting any attention when I'm on the road, which is fine. I'm pretty much lost in the noise, the steering feel, the road feel and remembering exactly how I've been over every square inch of this car.....Then, I start listing what I still need to work on....So it provides a good way to ignore the pressures of work and family life.

(as an aside).... Montana and the Dakotas are feeling pretty good right now, and the governor of MT (inlcuding residents of the local city) WANTS a refinery there... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=home&sid=ayj1uo_gdNI4 http://www.nypost.com/seven/05292008/business/montana_governor_is_sitting_on_an_oil_mi_113005.htm I'm interested in seeing how the Greenies will shoot this down...

I love how the greenies promote wind and corn/ethanol as better alternatives. Then, they fail to mention how the windmills kill migratory or endangered birds, and how corn demand for ethanol exacerbates poverty as well as encourages Amazon deforestation (clear more acreage for more soybean farms so US farmers can farm corn)... The only current viable alternative is nuclear, but conveniently the Greenies won't discuss that.

Looks really sharp, Randy....It'll look even better when the stripes are back on. What's the situation with the wheelwell? Is that the "hole" you mentioned? BTW, when you gonna sell me your TR6?

I really like the overall look.....But the size of the disc brake makes the 17" rim look disproportional. The whole point of having bigger wheels was to fit a larger diameter brake rotor, so it may not look right unless you've got bigger disks. I think it might not look right with the rear drum set-up, too. Too bad they don't have them in 16s or 15s. Those sizes would like better with the stock brake configuration. But, if you're looking for an excuse for bigger brakes......

Carl, You're spot on about "people mpg" instead of mpg. I go at it every so often with my Prius-driving business partner who drives 80 miles round trip from Chapel Hill and subsequently gets on me when I defend the Expedition owner who (a) hauls heavy stuff and ( carries 5-7 people in it most of the other time... Indian and Chinese gov'ts subsidize the cost of gas, leading to their respective economic expansions. I think (can't link a source at the moment) they are receiving heavy int'l pressure to stop subsidizing so heavily...This will make the new "middle class" not use their TaTas as much. (I mean, the CAR called the TaTa. Sheesh!) Whether you subscribe to Peak Oil Theory or Abiotic Theory, the fact remains that much undiscovered/undrilled oil remains. ANWR, Brazilian Atlantic fields, Gulf Coast etc has profitable accessible fields even before prices hit $100/barrel....now they are even more profitable at $130. AND, at $130/barrel other fields previously too expensive to access/process/refine come into play as well. I'll go on record saying that current price levels are a bubble. The market price curve looks just like tech stocks in the late 90s, and speculation is driving prices more than increased demand. Makes sense---investors get burned by volatile stocks, flee to real estate. That market bubbles up with easy credit and speculators and has now burst. So, with dollar falling and weak housing, people flee to gold, commodities etc...I suspect prices will settle back into the $70-90 level, and we'll be stuck with $2.50 gas for awhile. $10/barrel prices are gone...long gone...

Glad to see it looking so good! Hope the nice weather keeps you "fresh" in getting it reassembled and back on the road. I have to say, though...with the exterior paint looking so nice, it makes me really want to get in the engine bay and front rad support and clean that up, too....then again, I haven't had my OCD medications yet this morning either...

I appreciate what you're saying, and agree with general sentiments about buying classics, but there are a number of errors in your thinking (Briefly) Porsche, as a marque, is part of a larger, growing conglomerate that includes (among others) Audi and Volkswagen. Emissions CAFE standards are a fleet-wide average of all passenger vehicles, not simply "Your 911 must get 35mpg." So, enter the Golf TDI, the Rabbit and other fuel-sipper/hybrid/econo-diesels to raise the average fleet-wide fuel economy numbers. http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080325/FREE/148127493/1023/rss01&rssfeed=rss01 (2) Most classics do go through cycles of value. There was a boom period in the early-90s that busted around the same time as the dot coms. Read up on Sports Car Market and you'll see. Or, wait the next 10 years and watch the muscle car craze fade into the distance as Boomers get too old to enjoy their Hemis. (Of course, some exceptions will persist at high value, but the market average will go down.) (3) Maintaining valuable collector cars is not easy, and not inexpensive. In the shallower end of the pool, where Zs, 510s, TR6s and 914s hang out that may be the case. (Or maybe not as one buddy of mine just paid 5k for the overhaul of his Spitfire engine...that's like $80/hp!) But for valuable cars, expect to pay a specialized mechanic or shop to maintain your car if you want to retain the car's value. Oh, yeah...and don't drive it. Your 911s example is interesting in that parts for that car are obscenely expensive, and unless you've done a bunch of air-cooled Porsche engine overhauls, a pro will lighten your wallet in no time. With your example, I'd rather have a 1988 930 or 1992 964 than an early 911s. Same price, better performance and Most of the devaluation has already occurred (4) This is by far not the end of the sportscar. Most 8mpg cars wil probably get sidelined, maybe some gas hogs will still be around, but expect to see plenty of supercars, sportscars, sports/GTs, droptop roadsters in the future. They may not be all gas-based, but they'll be there. Eagerly awaiting the opening of my local Tesla dealership,

(Just curious) I've seen these claims before, but are they dyno proven? If so, where's the source?

Rear wheels are not alignable unless you have custom control arms or camber plates/adjusters. Front end alignment is basically a toe adjustment, and if other specs are out of line, then some damage may have occurred to the suspension pieces, bushings or frame. Steering wheel bounce? Not sure what that means, but if you've driven on front tires for awhile with bad toe, a wear pattern could have been created that now causes a bounce/wobble/shimmy once the problem was corrected. What was examined on the steering system by the mechanic that could've been loosened during his eval?

That's big news, Carl. It's not Pebble Beachyet, but coupled with the Amelia Island Concours showing it looks like a growing acceptance of Japanese imports at the top end of the car show circuit. Bodes well for all of us. Uncork the Queens!

What? Cars getting bigger and heavier as they age? Well, (smacks self in the forehead) I never HEARD of such a thing. SURELY that wouldn't happen (cough, S130) to the (cough cough Z31) beloved Z, now would it??? Kidding of course. That's why the S30, the E30 M3 and most 1st gen sports cars are looked at as the "essence" of the designer's intent before marketing got a hold of it. Then they add bells and whistles to widen the appeal, then more power to offset the weight gain, etc etc. I kind of like the flared rear fenders and the S30-esque quarter window, and the engine sounds like it's got a lot of potential too. (just trying to find something positive)

edit: duh. AFR goes to 10:1, gets rich not lean. oops.:tapemouth

Tom, Just saw your dyno sheet...Nice gains, but it leans out pretty well in the 3500-4000 range...maybe get that fixed before changing cam? I bet that loss of torque and power are noticeable http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=28252

Hi Brian, Only three of the five mounting points lined up well--the bottom middle one, and the two on the top upper corners. Even those two required some tweaking. The bottom outer two mount points weren't even close. But, when it's all installed it's nearly impossible to tell unless you're obsessive or within a foot of it, so it's not a big deal. What are you using to buff/polish after your wetsanding?

Keep them both. I have the same JDM-style grill on mine, but keep the original stored away with my other original parts so I can sell it in stock trim (if I ever get desperate enough)

Nothing builds confidence like willing brakes! Glad it's fixed.