EScanlon

I'm presuming you've already pressure washed with plain old water to remove the mud, as that is water soluble. That will have removed anything that a good shot of pressure will knock off. Using Dry Ice on the underside would be a tedious and non productive process at this point, from what your picture shows. Have you tried Mineral Spirits...that may go by the name of White Spirit (per Wikipedia) in Europe, or Turpentine. Both of these will dissolve the tar, so be prepared to use copious amounts of blotting agents or put a pan down and wash the underside of the car with it. You'll be down to the next layer (probably the paint or the primer) in a short period of time. You could also try paint stripper, but in my experience stripper won't work well against tar....it takes several coatings before it will remove the stuff. 2¢ E

The Heater Control Panel is. E

I agree with Stephen. It is remarks such as yours that cause a flame war. If that's going to be the extent of your contribution, go someplace else and do it. It would behoove you to do a bit of research before calling people names, especially when others have already posted that it is a known and accepted term. Alan's extent of knowledge is such that he has probably forgotten more than many of us know. I won't berate the obvious observation that applies here. While you may feel you are "quite well read", you may find that you still have a lot more reading to do before you can challenge him. Even if you had been reading since you were in diapers you probably haven't read as much as he has access to, let alone read. Heck, you might be surprised to find out that he may have either written or contributed to some of what you've read. So, when it comes to stepping back and humbling yourself .... don't trip while you tap dance as you remove your foot from your mouth. 2¢, while respectfully bowing to those that know more about the Z than I do... E

I found two other diagrams. I also tried to upload a second example of the 71 that is in two pages, but the Zip file limit is 1MB, which is almost unuseable. (PDF's have 10 MB for a comparison. Hope this helps E

Brian, do YOU know the car? Well enough to make the following statement? If you DO know the car, or the seller, then you ARE entitled to make that remark. If not, then you are doing more than: Actually you are trying to imply his story is unbelievable and doubtful, and that is based not on actual knowledge of the vehicle nor the seller but on what you have perceived as "standard" practice on e-Bay. You've automatically assigned the intent to deceive to what he is doing by NOT dyeing the carpet, or by stating that the car was garage kept. You've never heard of windows in a garage? How about a southern exposure to the garage door and they don't close the door all the time...or how about panoramic panels in the garage doors. I can think of several other reasons why this would happen....NATURALLY... without the seller having a dishonest intent in his statement. Yet you've stated that his description of the carpet didn't match his "story". Another way of describing this is called prejudice. This is the crux of the discussion. You could have made the same statement without the allegation of deceit: "In my experience, that carpet is too faded for it to have been strictly garage kept. It must have been exposed to quite a bit of sunlight to be that faded." 2¢ E

Try giving it a FULL charge before you declare it dead. Beandip taught me this, most batteries when not in use will discharge somewhat. The rate will differ and some will discharge faster than others. Part of the problem is in the basic design of the battery which uses Sulfuric Acid and Lead Plates, they simply loose charge over time. (more info: http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/hweb3.pdf and http://www.vonwentzel.net/Battery/00.Glossary/ ) But as far as batteries, I've always used the Sears Die-Hard. Granted I go in, buy it and install it myself, but still the Die-Hard. FWIW E

Nit picking the car is one thing, presuming nefarious intent by the seller's is what is at issue. Constructive criticism IS acceptable, condemnation and censure based on conjecture and unfounded assumptions is wrong. While opinion is always allowed anywhere, when it runs counter to the general consensus of the group or society you participate in expect to have it brought under scrutiny and challenged. In some countries they simply lock you up and throw away the key, in others they stone you, and yet in others you're allowed to speak...as long as the rest don't drown you out in loud opposition. FWIW E

Martin; Yes, the Hybrid Z guys are known for many upgrades, changes and innovations to their Z's. But don't sell us short, you may find that even some of their members come HERE for answers on the BASICS before they tear into and modify. While they are the knowledgeable ones on V-8 transplants, upgraded disc brake conversions from other models / marques, and how to modify the Z, you'll find that we'll be able to help you decipher much of the mechanical, electrical and basic performance issues with the Z's....aside from the History, Legends, and other information. You have to know how it works before you can re-design and re-engineer it. We're like two sides of a coin. Neither one necessarily being better than the other side. E

Rick: Thanks for the info, was not aware of that. Brian; I agree with your comment regarding "Rare!!!" and "Never Used" hype. Sadly, the sales ability of the average e-Bayer is equivalent to the State Fair Games Shill..."Walk Right Up...Every one's a winner...3 throws for a quarter...Guaranteed to win!!". I don't think that will ever change. It will eventually diminish, somewhat, but only amongst those tenured sellers that know it's unnecessary and superflous. Unfortunately, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease", so it will continue for a long time. But as far as the "denigrating" of the auction, seller or car, it's the implication of doubt or downright scorn of some characteristic of the car or seller behind the words used that generates that label. This is a printed text medium, and as such, the specific use of some words can engender a lot of interpretations, some of which can be negative. FWIW E

Alan pops in and out of here as well. In a nutshell, if your content with your car in the OEM configuration, as opposed to V-8 transplants, then yes, this site is better suited for information than Hybrid Z. As their name implies, they've modified their Z's for higher performance. While we also have a cadre of modified vehicles, most of ours are "stock". But welcome and please post pics. You might also share a bit of South Africa with the rest of us so that we're not so uninformed. Enrique

The nap on the carpet in the rear looks more like a shag carpet than an OEM one. But that's the problem with pictures that aren't contrasted by other shots. However, if you look close at the "Seat" shots, you notice the same carpet fade on the sides of the transmission tunnel. The original owner may have put the shag carpet simply to pad, or because he didn't want to mar the carpet below. Sound insulation also comes to mind. Then again, the sun fade is possible, but that's pretty intense to have faded that much without the straps fading as well. Then again, it could be a simple case of very faded carpet. As far as e-Bay being mentioned often, it IS a site that can be accessed readily without much effort. Granted Craig's list can be accessed also, but without a specific link you have to sift through the individual cities, etc. to find what you're looking for. You can even look in Australia's, Japan's or Europe's e-Bay simply by clicking on links. I don't know if there are many other (if any) sites where you can do that. Especially on a multi-national forum as this is. However, your point about the nit-picking is spot on. As mentioned on another thread, to identify the flaws, or "nits" is one thing, to assign dubious seller intent...that's another. 2¢ E

Bold mine. Rick, you are using the term .... v e r y, v e r y, l o o s e l y...... And as far as the Aussie Slang...he was actually cloned.... E

Tim; It seems you did see the answer on the other duplicate thread you posted. But, for future reference, since new posts appear on the front page as well as on the "Current" or "Latest", duplicate threads don't serve any purpose other than to split answers. There are times you would loose good responses due to duplicate threads. FWIW E

Dave's post about looking for possible causes and remedies to the problem is spot on. As an alternative way for #4, since sometimes the spark can be very hard to see, I would suggest putting a small bulb in series with the Negative post. An 1156 or smaller, with the body of the base inside the battery clamp, and the solder ball resting on the battery will glow if there is any current flowing through the system. No glow...no current, or so small as to require a meter. While using the Positive pole is also good, the problem with the Z's is that oftentimes, over the years, the battery gets replaced not with a reversed pole battery, which would have the Positive pole towards the engine and farthest from the firewall, but with a standard size 34 battery and a riser than the 24R size (IIRC) it should take. Reversed Pole batteries are often NOT stocked by smaller shops or service stations. As a result, due to the customer's insistence on a battery today (because theirs is bad) they opt for the standard battery with the poles inverted to the way the car should have them. As a result, the Positive terminal ends up underneath the fender past the access flap door. This may be the problem that the Sears mechanic ran into. The salesperson may have sold the correct battery (24R) for the car but Austen's car may have had the battery cables already swapped for a STANDARD battery and NOT a REVERSED POLE Battery. Or the other way around. Austen does not mention if he was told that the correct (24R) battery was not available, or if the salesperson saw "Z" and "24R" and just sold that, because it was in stock, assuming that the car had NOT been changed. Or, that Austen or his Dad insisted on a Battery TODAY and not in 2-3 days time and received a 34 Standard and not a 24 Reversed. In either case, the responsibility of putting in the battery with the pole's reversed does fall upon the mechanic. But, as a side note, most chain type stores often must settle for people willing to work for minimum wage or just a bit over. Then each individual job gets timed. You don't think they would keep a mechanic that took an hour to replace a simple battery, do you? That job is probably down to minutes...15 would be my guess, because he's supposed to be moving efficiently and quickly. The requirements for a mechanic working in the garage surely wouldn't include fluency in English. (I won't delve into the argument of "This is America--speak English", as that is a can of worms not suited for this forum.) But the requirements of the job are to complete as many jobs as possible in the LEAST amount of time. While that does not excuse making the mistake, it is the reason most often given when people make mistakes..."Sorry, I was in a hurry...". Austen's mechanic may have been the victim of a missed communication between the salesperson and the customer, or with the mechanic, and further compounded by the mechanic's assumption and urgency to complete the job. That the mechanic couldn't explain himself to you is only because you stepped into the working area of the garage. There's a reason for the sign that says "Customer's NOT allowed in the service area." Too often they feel they're better mechanics than the ones working there. FWIW E