Jeff G 78

How about posting a picture?

What is the build date on the door jam?

Please post what year car you have. The tank changed at least four times over the years, maybe five.

If you have a late 260, it will look like my avatar. The front bumper will be big and the turn signals will be in the grill. The early 260 has the turn signals under the bumper in the valence.

Sounds like a good idea to me. I used POR-15 on the outside and applied 3-4 coats. Won't help with dent resistance, but it is a very hard, strong coating.

The good news is that the car is in AZ (assuming it's near you) where moisture is at a minimum. That will make your life much easier. Fuel tanks, sensors and connectors in most Z cars that have been sitting are usually in very bad shape due to corrosion. Low moisture storage might make your life easier. The gas tank is going to be the biggest challenge though. If gas was left in the tank when it was parked, the gas would have evaporated over time, leaving a nasty sludge in the bottom of the tank. Don't even think about trying to start the car until you drop the tank and look inside it. Once it's out of the car, you can shine a flashlight in the sender hole and look through the fill neck. Unless it's spotless, you can't use it as-is. The bad news is that AZ is the worst place for rubber fuel hoses, so plan on replacing every hose when you drop the tank. You might be able to save the filler hose, but the small ones will be rotten and need to be replaced. Post lots of pics an we can give you a better idea of what you have to work with.

Nice job Rod! It's a big job, but it's worth it.

I'm guessing it wasn't bone dry and the residual moisture was your downfall. When I did mine, I had to work really hard to get the tank completely dry. I used a heat gun on and off for several hours while continually rotating the tank different ways to help get the moisture out. Once I was sure it was dry, I left the tank inside for several days just to be sure. I then used the heat gun one more time before I added the sealer to the tank.

Hmmm. I've owned 10 S30's and I've never had a trans go bad even after racing abuse. Buy a $150 JY 5-speed and install it. Worst case is that you have to return it and install another one. I can R&R a trans in a few hours without a hoist, so the risk is rather low.

Sorry to hear about your tank, but there is no way you followed the directions EXACTLY. I have done two tanks with POR-15 and both times, it took three full days to complete the job. You MUST follow the directions to the letter. There is virtually no chance it could be done properly in one day. Now that you have a mess, call POR-15 and see what they recommend. I recall reading something on their site about how to remove their sealer if needed.

Looks great cegrover

Start with a very large flat blade screwdriver and compress the spring to see if the valve moves freely. slide the blade under the cam away from a lobe and put the tip on the spring cap. Pry up on the handle to compress the spring and open the valve. If the valve stem moves freely with the spring, you should be fine and just tossed a keeper and lash pad. If the stem stays and only the spring compresses, you might have a bent or stuck valve. If it moves freely, get yourself a KD3087 valve spring compressor to reinstall the keeper. To install the keeper, remove the spark plug, turn the motor over by hand until the piston just starts to come up and then stuff several feet of 3/8" rope into the spark plug hole, leaving the rest hanging out. Continue to turn the motor over by hand until the piston stops tight against the rope. At that point, you can use the KD3087 tool and compress the spring and install the keeper(s), lash pad, and rocker. You might have had very loose valves or you might have floated the valve either with a missed shift, or by running the engine at too high an RPM.

No problem Zed. Actually my paint is terrible. The car is 99% rust-free, but the paint needs to be stripped and the body needs some minor work to fix little dents and waves. It sat in my dad's garage for 10+ years when I moved for my career and had no place to work on it. While in his garage, it suffered a bunch of scuffs an scratches. Someday, I will finish the car. I've been through the chassis and powertrain but not the body. To answer your other question, I have Illuminas and they are fine. Any less damping and they wouldn't be matched to the springs. I keep them at 1 and 3 for the street. Any less than 3 in the back and it wallows over dips and big bumps. I'd probably use 4 and 5 on the track. I have KYB GR2's on my 260 and they are about the same, or even a bit stiffer than the Illuminas on 3. The bushings do more to kill the ride than the spring and dampers. Poly is pretty unforgiving.

OK, sorry about the crappy pics. I had to scan a 22 year old photo from the day I bought my '78. Here it is before and after lowering and then with my new wheels installed. I measured before and after and it was exactly 1" down between the fender lip and the centerline of the wheel.

Beautiful car Frank! Since it's already been modded a bit, are you going to continue to make powertrain and chassis mods? Do you know yet if your motor was damaged in the wreck? Are the carbs OK?

I can't wait to see the pics. Congrats Frank!

OK, slightly tougher than I thought. I no longer have the before pics. Once I fired up the old computer and looked for the pics, I realized they were lost a few years ago when the hard drive crashed. The good news is that they were film pics that were scanned, so I can scan them again and post them. I'm busy tonight, but I can scan them tomorrow night and post them.

The height is perfect. It's hard to say how the ride is, however, because I did the springs, dampers, MSA bars and full poly bushings all together. The ride is terrible over sharp impacts like frost heaves and concrete slab joints that have shifted a bit (our SE Michigan roads are the worst in the country). It feels like the car is going to break. On decent roads, it is totally acceptable with great body control and handling. If I had it to do over again, I would do the same springs, dampers, and bars, but I would go with either a combination of rubber and poly or I would use Techno Toy Tuning TC rods and rear LCAs. I have too much rear toe in, so the TTT arms would allow for rear alignment changes. I will look through the old computer shortly and post the before and after pics.

The OEM Kia weatherstrip fits better than the aftermarket weatherstrip.

I installed them on my '78 and it dropped exactly 1". I have pics from before and after on an old computer at home. I'll try to find them and post them.

$2500 sounds very reasonable considering that the engine, trans, diff, brakes, etc are likely fine. It sucks to lose the car, but at least part of it can live on as part of your next S30. It's amazing what you can salvage. Be sure to remove and save EVERY nut, bolt, clip, etc. Rust free fasteners will come in very handy in the future. I have about five S30's worth of fasteners all sorted by size and type and I use them constantly.

Glad to hear it Frank!

Hey Frank, without saying what they gave you, can you buy/build another car with what you got for yours? As much as it sucks, I hope you can at least get into a similar Z without money out of your pocket.

Wait, what? Did Frank's car get sold at auction? I thought he was working on a buy back price from Hagerty.

Just guessing, but it looks like it might have been a wild ride that didn't result in serious injury. It didn't appear to take one big hit, but rather enough moderate ones that the driver's body could tolerate. It's the quick stops that kill.