2ManyZs

I think it may due to the muffler. The muffler that comes in the kit I have is an offset inlet/offset outlet. The muffler is mounted vertically, with the inlet on top and the outlet on the bottom. Yours looks like a offset inlet/ center outlet, but if you try to turn it so the mufflers flat sides are more vertical it might work. Try loosening the clamps on the mufflet and underneath and turning the muffler. You might get it to line up better if you turn it more vertical thereby raising the inlet slightly and it will pull the rest of the pipe away from the centerline of the car and this may straighten the outlet in the opening. That is if they didn't crimp the pipes so much with the old style clamps so that the pipe won't turn. One reason I love the band clamps, you can loosen them and re-adjust the pipes, and you won't have the crimp in the pipe to make is so hard to pull a pipe off.

It could have gotten some condensation inside the cap, go ahead and try some WD-40, it can't hurt. Take the wires off the cap one at a time and spray a little in there too.

If all you want to do is adjust the door plate, loosen the bolts and then tighten them just enough to make it hard to move the plate. Close the door and re-open it carefully and tighten down the bolts. The idea is to loosen them just enough so that when you close the door it will move into alignment with the door and not move when you re-open the door. When you open the door and re-tighten them they should be lined up right. Of course if the door gaps aren't close to the same around the door, you can use kmacks suggestion to re-align the door in the body. Sometimes the hinges will sag and the door will not be lined up in the door opening. Just take a look around the door when it is shut, the gaps should be close to the same all the way down the front and back edge and along the bottom. Open the door and lift up on the back of the window channel to see if the hinges have any play in them, this can cause a door to be hard to shut if the hinges let the door drop after it is inlatched.

I think you would probably want a 15x7 wheel with a zero offset. Gets the tire in close on the inside and will give you plenty of fender room. I don't have mine mounted yet for my car so I can't give an accurate asessment on how they look or fit. I have 15x7's with 225/50 15's and the wheels are zero offset.

I've had two cars with the MSA 2 1/2 inch exhaust and never had any trouble either, but, I had mine hooked to a header so there may have been a slight difference. Sounds to me though they may have done it "bass-ackwards". They should have mounted the muffler first then tinkered with the pipes to line up the muffler right and get it right in front. If I remember right the intermediate pipe by the trans had a slight bend in it, maybe they have that wrong, if you can loosen it up and turn it, it may help line everything up. BTW, I know they are expensive at about $8.50 each, but the stainless band clamps are really the way to go. They don't crimp the pipe like old style muffler clamps, so taking apart an exhaust or just loosening it up for alignment problems is just a matter of loosening 2 bolts. No more crimped pipes that have to be hammered, cussed at, cut up if you need to make a small change like changing a muffler later.

If the car is in imacculate shape as you describe, it could be worth the 5K, BUT, I would make your friend get the car in road ready condition so that you could drive it before you put any money in his hands. If not, then I would drop to 3750 and dicker with him as much as possible. If it still has the flat top carbs tell him that's 500 bucks off the price to begin with, who knows you might end up being able to drive the car home for under 5K. Take a magnet to the car to check for bondo in the usual areas ( never know what some "body men" will pass off as body repairs) unless your friend did all the work. Check for any signs of chassis rust, it may have been in great shape when parked, but the "rust monster" never sleeps. When haggling over the price, think with your head and not your heart, even a beautiful car can hide a headache which only appears later when the paper work is done. Good luck!

zztom, by your description you have an early car with the later B model transmission. There should be a two piece bushing in the shifter where the pin holds it in place. There should also be a bushing on the bottom where the ball on the end of the shifter goes into the shift rail. MDyer, the buzzing sound could be caused by bad bushings (metal to metal) or it would be a signal you have a bearing going bad and transmitting vibration thru the shift rail and into the shifter. If I were you I would drain the transmission and check for metal shavings, there should be a pretty good sized gob of mush on the magnet of the drain plug, but if it's bigger than a grape and shows a lot of large, coarse shavings you may have a center bearing going bad. You could try a set of bushings, but I think if you have a noise coming through the shifter you may have an internal problem that should be at least investigated a little further to prevent a bigger problem later. Sorry, but the shifter is normally pretty quiet, so it may be something internal. Hopefully it's something simple like a center bearing, not a gear or synchro going bad.

Yes, there were two versions of the E-88 head. I believe you will find all the answers on heads on the Z gararge web-site in the links. Brian does an excellent job of covering the different heads and giving the pro's and con's of each one.

Good question. Are you sure the tank is venting? When you put 5 gallons in, is the tank full (does the pump cut off) and if the tank is not completely full, how far have you tried to drive it with what is in the tank. The fuel gauge could be wrong, or the tank is not venting correctly and will not allow the trapped air to escape and allow you to fill the tank. A rear swaybar is not a necessity, but it will improve your handling depending on how you drive. A later 240 bar will work, it all depends on if your car has the swaybar mount brackets in front of the rear suspension or not. If they are there you will need a later model bar, if not you may need to use an early style bar that mounts behind the suspension on the rear crossmember.

With your regular insurance company you are paying for what might happen, you are judged by all other drivers and you pay for the privelage of having insurance through a company that charges all its customers based on all other policy holders and their claims records. Drive a sports car? They charge not only by the replacement value of the car, and the cost of repairing it, but you are judged by the statistical probability that you will drive like an idiot because they already have paid out numerous claims for just that reason. They use accident statistics based on age, sex, type of car, region you live in, theft rates for the model car, repair costs for that brand or model, etc, etc, etc. Basically you are paying for others mistakes. With a collector car insurance company you are paying for what your car is really worth. They only insure people with older, more collectible cars. They know you aren't going to drive a lot, and you will more than likely be a safer and better driver because of what you are driving. It's nice to be charged for what you drive, and by your driving record, not by being compared to all the other drivers on the road, past and present.

Like Jeremiah said, check the taillight gaskets first. They are usually dry rotted and falling apart on most older Z's. Is your hatch sealing? Just because the gaskets look OK, doesn't mean the hatch is sealing tight enough. Try adjusting the latch a little bit and see if that helps. Also, check for any exhaust leaks, you might have a very small leak under the car somewhere or in the engine compartment. BTW, check your firewall grommets while you are in there. If there is a slight leak under the hood it will draw right in around any leaking grommets. Also check the grommets around the gas tank vent lines when you pull the rear interior panel to check the taillight gaskets, it may have a grommet missing on the line that runs up through the floor. FWIW, I have never had a car with the exhaust more than a couple inches past the rear panel, if the taillight gaskets and hatch are sealing it shouldn't be necessary.

Well, you can get new bushings for both the early style and the later style, type A or B transmissions, not sure by your Vin but you should have the later B style. The early A model transmission is known for it's sloppy shifter. The later B model is much improved, any car begining with the 72's has the same style shifter. There is a bushings that goes on the end of the shifter into the shift rail, and a bushing on the pivot. You shouldn't need to bend anything, unless you think it is already bent.

All good suggestions, I'll add one more. Check the electrical connection and operation of the thermo time switch. It is lockated next to the water temperature sensor. Without this operating the fuel injection will not go into cold start mode thereby affecting the cold start valve etc.

And when you are done drooling over that pic, take an hour or two to look at the rest of the Z pics on the site. Plenty of sweet rides, just get a towel first so you won't have to clean up afterwards!:tapemouth

In most cases rust in the rear quarter panels is relatively cheap and easy to repair, not only can you get a full panel but there are also small sections available. Biggest thing to be watching for is evidence the rust may be in more than just the outer quarter panel itself. Look inside the wheel well around the lip and see if it in the inner fender as well, and be sure to check the dog leg in front of the wheel well too. If it is just in the outer panels it's going to be a lot easier than if it has spread to the inner fender or rocker panel area. Inner fender panels are available , but there goes the easy and inexpensive idea.

I believe I remember seeing replacement pads for the seats but can't remember exactly where. Check out the web-links here, I think it may have been Bonzai Motorworks or Too Intense Restorations. I have seen the seat straps and padding so with replacement covers you would have everthing you need to restore the seats. You could also check strictlyz.com.

As far as the your question on the radiator support, there are two places I know of that have the radiator support. They are Victoria British here in the US and Four Ways Engineering in the UK. The radiator support is not going to be inexpensive though, probably 400 dollars or more. It might help to see a pic of yours if possible so that we could form an opinion on what your best course of action might be, repair or replace. A lot depends on exactly where the rusted out area is, and if it may have spread to or from the frame rail. Since there are so few Z's in your country I doubt that finding one in a salvage yard would be likely.

You can use most any sheet steel but don't get a sheet with a coating or alumized (like tail pipe tubing), you should be able to get this a most af the big hardware chains like Lowe's or Home Depot for a 24x 24 inch sheet. As far as the gauge of the panels you will need. I believe there were three thicknesses of metal used on a Z, they were 22,20 and 18 gauge. Shamefully a lot of areas that should have been 18 gauge were the thinner gauge and caused a lot of cars to go the great "parts place" in the sky before they should have. If I'm mistaken on the gauges of the panels someone correct me. And to add to your welding post, I believe a Mig welder is the better choice for novice welders over a TIG, especially when it comes to welding thin body panels. If possible use a MIG with the shielding gas as you will do a lot less grinding and have nicer welds than the flux core wire. TIG is too expensive for the amateur, and if you will only need it once in a while MIG is the way to go. I've had a good bit of welding with my little cheap MIG and have tried to TIG weld, it is not an easy technique to learn.

Backfiring through the carbs is usaully caused by the timing being to far advanced. It is trying to fire while the intake valve is still partially open. This is the one that will cause the most damage to an engine, since you not only have the flash, but some of the compression is being released into the intake and back through the carbs. The old trick of cutting the key off just pumps raw fuel mixture into the exhaust, no ignition, no fire, so it gets exhausted. Then when you re-fire it, it will ignite in the exhaust. Won't cause as much damage, but I have seen mufflers burst their seems if this is done too many times. I ran a straight exhaust on my ITS car, and as fas as I know it didn't throw any fire out, if it had people wouldn't have been trying to push my slow car out of the way so much.:tapemouth

ZMeFly, don't even think about asking me to go to California to pick that one up for you. But then this one might be driveable. Still like the red one better. Alphadog, I'm not even going to make a comment on the purple one. None needed with a price tag like that:tapemouth

IMO I think you might want to either stay with what you have or update to a Zx dist. with the 12-80. It would be cheaper in the long run to just go with a new stock dist. and update to an MSD later on. You would need to get the magnetic trigger adapter to go with the MSD so it will fire the injectors. Nothing really wrong with the stock dist. except that your vacuum advance is supposedly not working. Actually, if the vacuum advance is n't working it should have more effect on the higher RPM's and not under 3K.

Hey Kmack, it's RED!!!!! Now, aren't you glad you did all that sanding? Ok, so it looks better than mine now, are you happy yet?? :tapemouth

Darn good question. I think the front hubs will interchange but not absolutely sure. The only difference I'm aware of in the rear control arm is the sway bar mount. They all use the same bushing, so there is no difference there. I believe the 240's and 280's all had the same rear track dimension so there shouldn't be a problem there. The only difference between the two that I know for sure of is the diameter and length of the strut housing and that has nothing to do with the control arm. I was always under the assumption that the rear control arm was actually one control arm that was just flipped over for the other side. But we all know what the first word in assume is don't we?

Should be a spring that connects to the exhaust heat shield just in front to the rear carb. If you still have the heat shield in place look for the hook on it and that's where to connect your return spring. And a throttle that won't return definately makes it too dangerous to drive.

Just one problem zep, the link won't open. I've seen the 2 vids, wouldn't mind seeing a little more of this car.