Jeff G 78

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.

Anybody here have an active Carfax account? I'd like to check out a Toyota 4Runner. Thanks.

Al, I think I've got what I need. In October, I tried the slotted hole six-spoke wheels during practice and they held torque. I also raced for 25.5 hours on the rim with the slightly damaged lug holes and it held fine as well. The main thing I learned is that shank style lugnuts from auto parts stores are not made well enough for severe use such as racing. I noticed that we had to keep retorquing several of the wheels early in the race and when I inspected the nuts, I found that the nuts themselves were wearing badly where they interface with the washers. I used a different set of nuts (with shorter shanks) that I bought off ebay on the damaged wheel and that was the only one that held torque throughout the race. After 25.5 hours and 1400 race miles, the ebay nuts looked like new and the Autozone nuts were in lousy shape.

They should be Weber DGV 32/36 carbs. I am not a DGV expert by any means, but that is the typical Weber down drought carb for the Z.

Looks like Weber DGV's to me.

My first car was a Z and I'm still here alive and well. Z's are fun cars, but they aren't particularly quick, so they really aren't bad starter cars. If he learns to do everything himself, he will have a better appreciation for what it takes to own a car and make it nice. Make him pay his own insurance. That too will make him understand the importance of safe driving. One mistake and his rates will likely park his Z.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but do ALL of the '75 - '78 Z's have a crooked LH turn signal? Look at the picture of the front of the ebay car and the front of mine. My 260 also looks the same, but I don't have a clear picture of it. I have noticed this for years and don't ever remember anybody bringing it up.

Well, the spreader plates have to be .125 for the racing I do (CCWS and LeMons), so right there, the HH140 is nearly maxed out. Otherwise, yes, the 110V MIG can weld a cage, but the duty cycle isn't nearly as good compared to a 220V MIG. The HH140 is only a 20% duty cycle at 90A compared to 30% at 130A for the HH180. BTW, CCWS and LeMons require 1.75" x .095" OR 1.5" x .120". We use 1.75" x .095" DOM. Don't get me wrong, I love the HH140, but there are times I'd like to have one that will do 1/4 material with shielding gas.

I bought a Hobart 140 110V MIG from Amazon last year. It is a great unit, but I'm wishing I would have gotten the Hobart 180 220V MIG. The 110V unit will weld everything that came stock on the car, but there are times when I need to weld roll cage parts on the race car or angle iron and other stuff around the house. Simple adds or repairs can be done on a cage, but the 110V welders are pretty much maxed out just below typical 1/4" thick steel. Building a roll cage from scratch should be done with a 220V MIG. People have done it with 110V, but it's not a good idea.

+1 on the Porterfield R4. Not sure why the Toy 4x4 pads are so expensive though. I only pay $78 a set for R4-E (endurance) pads for my stock Z calipers. They are bigger, but 3x the cost?

I found that a Wasp and Hornet spray can lid was a perfect fit for the filler neck and I cut some sheet metal discs for the sender hole. I used some hose with bolts in the ends for the nipples. The spray can lid was great because it went on and off easily to allow quick drainage and refill.

Beautiful artsy photography. I love the rustling leaves in photo #6.

Fixed that for you

Great pics Michael. Thanks for sharing them.

Looking fantastic Lee. Thanks for sharing the pics.