JLPurcell

A few more patches from that era.

A few vintage racing event patches from Indianapolis Raceway Park from the 70's. WOR was the SCCA club out of Ohio, West Ohio Region SCCA or WOR.

The owner indicates that the 59,000 miles on the odometer is accurate. I will have to take his word for it, there is no supporting documentation, but he has no reason to mislead anyone on that claim. Yes, it ran when parked. As to is "penetrating" lubricant really lubricant, how deep do you want to go into that subject?

No, One of the first things I did when I got the car home was to remove the plugs and put some penetrating lubricant in the cylinders. I did not lube the valve train prior, but now I will do a quick valve adj, and check the compression. I had mentioned this in the original post about this car.

Since first going to take a look at 4575 I assume a few of things one of which was that the engine would be stuck after 34 years of sitting. Last night I had to cut the rear brake drums off with a grinder and sawzall. Tonight, out of curiosity, dropped a battery in it to check out the electrics. The radio works, clock no, lights yes, but the one original headlamp burned out immediately. I decided to try and turn over the engine, first just a hard click of the starter. I was surprised that the starter tried to engage at all, but then the engine began to turn over and build oil pressure. I changed the oil and filter and it is turning over freely. I will try and get a compression check later this week. Not that that matters the engine and carbs will need to be gone through, but I am pleasantly surprised that the engine is free after all of these years.

This Z seems to have the throttle control still intact. The lever is still present on the console and the cable is still attached to the gas pedal assembly. The original owner reports that it came that way, he did not add the system back. Interesting.

I just stuck my phone under the dash and took this photo. The cable and system looks to be intact.

Now my curiosity is getting the best of me.

I have used this process on parts such as the windshield bottle and the lens on the trouble light with good results. The process for re-dying these panels is fairly simple and would give you a consistent color and finish. You just have to clean them really well, spray on a adhesion promoter and then the custom mixed vinyl paint.

Starting a new thread on this car. I am undecided on the thought of restoration. I do believe that it is restore-able and worth restoring, I just am not sure this is the project for me at this time.

I will take a look under the dash when I get a chance and see how it was disabled. Thanks!

I will start another post on 4575, this one has run it's course. I did get the rear brake drums free tonight, or I cut them off with a grinder and sawzall. Glad I have another complete early rear suspension I will need it.

The plastic seems to age and discolor a different rates. I have attached a couple of photos of the rear plastic interior tail light cover and the rear hatch interior trim. Both front and back. The difference is very apparent. The vinyl seems to have an almost ice or metallic look but the back side of the plastic panels are just blue.

Chris, thanks for your information. I talked to the owner today and he said that to his knowledge it came with the hand throttle. He does not recall adding it to the car. I did move it back and forth today and it does not seem to actuate anything, but I do not know how they worked. The choke cables do engage the choke mechanism. I can only rely on the original owner for information on this car.

Mike, I will check with the owner, that is very interesting. If you noticed in the photos, the plastic protection wrap is still on the interior dog legs and I have the dealer inventory sticker that was never put in the window.

I believe that the had throttle was standard on the early models.

The plastic trim pieces are blue. You can go to your local professional paint vendor and they can color match the blue and mix up paint with plastic additive. You would want to match the back side of the trim pieces where the plastic has not been exposed. I will post a photo of a plastic trim piece tomorrow and the back side to give you a good idea of what the color looks like originally. The blue plastic rivets are still available. The dog legs still have the protective plastic covering, never removed from the dealership.

Have removed the seats, old carpets and felt (and mouse nests). Took some photos, it does have a couple of soft spots on the floor and in the spare tire well, but overall the floors are sound. I believe that the car has potential, but I am not sure it is a project that I will complete. The car is complete in all of the hard to find parts and a true one owner example, but it has been neglected for 34 years. I will try and get the engine to turn over and the rear brake drums free, then make a final decision.

PM Sent!

I had a few minutes this evening to do some cleaning and inspecting of the Z. I will try and post some photos Sunday. I removed the passenger seat and crawled up in the rear to work on getting the rear hatch open. Once I did that I clean out the rear and inspected that area. The passenger floor is in great condition from the inside. The rear deck is also in great condition, there are some rust issues in the bottom of the spare tire well two minor places from first look. The rear hatch rear deck has some rust developing on both sides but no rust through. I did remove the rear interior trim piece and the rear hatch interior cover. It is interesting that the interior trim dog legs have never had the plastic protective cover removed. I need to work on the rear brake drums and get the car rolling.

Bump this thread! Still looking!

I met with my body man this afternoon and we took a cursory look at the car. He on first look says that he believes the car is very restore-able. The sold floors and frame rails were the key. I am now looking to see what sheet metal can be found. I need to find a set of rust free front fenders. I had posted in the classified want page a week or so ago with no luck. Anyone out there with a set of New or rust free Used?

Gav, I agree. I cringe at the thought of the Z's that I have had to part out in the past. If after assessment of this car I decide that it is not a project for me I would offer it up for restoration prior to any consideration of parting out. The rarity of a unmolsested one owner low VIN# Z warrants all opportunity at living on.....

I picked up the car this evening, loaded it in a driving rain. Had to remove the front calipers and drag the rear wheels, could not free up either end. I was soaked to the bone. I will post some pictures as soon as possible. I need to assess the overall condition and make decisions on the possibilities. It has all of the original parts down to the original battery cables. I did pull the spark plugs, (positive thinking), and sprayed some BP Blaster down the cylinders and put the plugs back.

bump this thread