Jeff G 78

Looking great Brandon! Keep the pics coming.

Looks great Brandon!

You are likely right Jim. I was only going by what I read online about the large diameter hose and even if I did find out it was available, I wasn't about to spend $101 for a vent hose when I bought my whole race car for $350. I restoration project is a different story though and $101 might be a bargain for originality.

I don't have near the stiffness John does, but my inside front gets light as well. This is with cut springs and aftermarket bars. This is my $500 crapcan racer.

Dammit, I typed out a nice, long response and my computer decided to reboot. Dropping the tank isn't terribly difficult, but be warned that the "While I'm At It" syndrome will take over. The tank drop will be easy if the strap threads and nuts are not rusty. It they are, soak them for several days before you begin. The biggest thing you will find is old, dry vent hoses which, while you're in there, should be replaced. This requires the interior trim panels to be removed and some fabrication work since the large vent hose in the back of the tank is NLA. It has a 180° bend molded in, so bulk hose cannot be used without additional hardware. You can find a how-to online to make a copper fitting to replace the 180 in the hose. This is easy, but I would recommend incorporating beads on the ends of the copper to keep the hoses in place. I didn't do this and had the hose pop off. I had to drain and drop the tank at the race track which cost me a lot of time and aggravation. When you replace the hoses, be sure to use fuel-rated vent hose and not heater hose. I had to special order the 5/8" fuel hose as it's not very common. Chances are very good that all of your hoses are way overdue for replacement anyways, so use the opportunity to do it right. Be sure to seal the hoses where they go through the floor. You are probably getting exhaust fumes sucked in through the old grommets.

Careful, I might not leave!

The next time I'm your way, I WILL stop and see your amazing collection in person.

I agree Guy, but he should probably keep working to improve before restoring his own Z. Brandon is more than welcome to hone his painting skills on my Z.

Take a white or yellow paint pen and draw a line across both pulleys. That way, if they don't stay lined-up, you will know it slipped. I do this even on good dampers.

I have watched quite a bit of BJ this year as well as many BJ's in the past. The prices overall are WAY down this year. Cars that used to bring great money are now bringing far less than what it costs to restore them. One example was a '65 Vette with a 00005 VIN. The car was beautiful inside and out and it brought something like $40,000. A few years ago it would have easily been a $100k car. That car's selling price was very typical of the cars I watched go across the blocks. There was a numbers matching '69 Mopar 440 convertible that sold for $30k. A friend of mine sold his '69 Road Runner 383 in decent driver condition for over $30k about 7 years ago. The BJ car would probably appraise for close to double what my friend's is worth.

Do you have the wrong pulley/pointer, or is your damper torn and rotating? If the damper is ripped, you need to replace it right away. Not only can you not use a timing light, but you can break a crank. My race car damper ripped and was so bad that I could spin the fan with the engine off. Another member was kind enough to give me a good damper and I'm back in business.

Did you buy the ex-Bondurant car when they switched to using GM products? I know that there were some great deals on cars that were brand new. The old pre-'99 cars were pretty used up. They are super easy to drive and are very durable if taken care of.

My Z looks way worse than it really is because I don't have the money to hire the body and paint work and I have zero bodywork skills. I do everything myself on my cars and house, but auto body just isn't my thing. I have tried it and I suck at it. It's awesome to see others do it so well! Keep the pics coming.

Very cool Brandon!

Why would being lowered scare you? It's probably one of the most common mods to a Z.

The gear reduction starter is a bit lighter and will take less battery power to crank the car over, but otherwise, both will work fine. Only upgrade when the old one dies.

Don't make a decision without posting detailed pics of the car(s) you are interested in. We will look at the pics and give you a much better idea of what it's worth. You are right. The body is WAY more important than the mechanicals. A rusty Z will cost you FAR more than a clean Z no matter how cheap it is when you buy it.

The standard answer is that the cam became internally oiled with the introduction of the N47 head in the '77 model year, but this isn't completely true. I happen to have a N47 head that came from Nissan with a spray bar and a solid cam. I'm not 100% sure the head was ever part of a production Z though. I bought the head about 10 years ago from a guy who claimed it was owned by a Z race team and the head was taken off a production L28 when the car was new and had been on a shelf ever since 1977. I couldn't find any evidence to dispute the seller's claims. It looked like a brand new head with no wear pattern on the rockers or cam, and it didn't even show signs of having been run. It was also obvious that it had never been cleaned or bead blasted. I replaced the valve seals and have been running it ever since.

Taking the seats out of a 2+2 doesn't make it a coupe. It makes it a 2+2 with missing parts. I'm not sure, but 2+2 interior parts might be getting hard to find. Since that interior is trashed, finding door panels and other plastic trim might be hard and pricey. When I said it was a good deal, I had only looked at the first 2 pics you posted and didn't see that it was a 2+2. I'd keep looking.

I didn't even notice that since his side view pic wouldn't expand. The 2+2 certainly reduces the desirability of the car (for me), but I'm not sure it changes the value of a $600 car much. If the OP plans to do a full restoration and spend many thousands on it, it could come into play. Then again, we are all very aware that Z cars are not investments and most of the money we spend on them will never be recovered when we sell them. To the OP, if you WANT a 2+2, great, but if you don't know much about Z cars, you might want to decide now if you want/need the extra size.

Looks like a solid deal to me. Rust is your only real enemy with Z cars. Crawl under the car and look at it closely. Do a search here for common rust areas and you should find lots of help in knowing where to look for rust. If you can't find the answer, post again and I'll walk you through the rust-prone spots. The broken door handle is a free repair. Just swap the RH and LH handles and both sides will work fine. If the body is as good as it looks, the car is worth $600 even if the motor is shot. Be prepared to go through the FI system and probably the fuel tank if it hasn't run in a while. Also search for Z clubs in your area. Chances are good, you can get a local Z expert to go with you and inspect the car. Most of us Z nuts are happy to help out if we can. EDIT: Be sure to find the VIN stamp on the firewall and compare it to the dash VIN and title. Also be sure to get a signed bill of sale and be sure the signature matches the one on the title. When you buy it, take a picture of the seller standing next to the car so you can ID him to the authorities just in case something is fishy.

Welcome to the forum Wick. Good luck with your search and your new build. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your book when I bought it 15+ (maybe closer to 20?) years ago.

Looks awesome Guy. It's a great addition to your garage (like your garage isn't already cool enough)

Another Zombie thread?

I've cut up plenty of Z cars. Once they have rotted beyond repair, they are more useful as parts cars to keep other Z cars on the road.