=Enigma=

I hope your son was wearing a good mask while doing all that wire wheeling, That zinc dust is some nasty stuff and not very good for you. I spent two days doing this before I realized the mistake I was making and ended up wiht a hacking cough for a few days. Hopefully I didn't do any permanent damage...

I think it's a nice improvement to a great and now even better looking car.

I actually considered Vinylex until I learned it contained silicone which I'm not entirely comfortable with at this point for long term dash treatment, however they certainly have a good reputation with their leather products. Thanks for sharing your experience with this product.

Why not just spray the POR 15 after properly thining it according to the directions? This is actually what I was suggesting. I've not tried this but perhaps someone has and can comment.

Not in my mind but to each his own. Time=Money. Personlly, I'd rather spend $20 than take of the wheels and lug them to the station, only to have to put them back on. And this is without having to deal with locking lug nuts without a key. The air pump will always come in handy again, but if you don't have the $$$$ you have to make due with what you have. Been there, done that. I look forward to the pics. Be sure to take lots of pics of the frame rails (inside & outside the engine compartment) and underneath, under the battery, dog legs, floor pans, lower radiator support, rear hatch ledge, etc.

Body men certainly aren't photographers.

Congrats on making it home and for finally getting to drive your new (to you) car. Bruce already covered the surging, which is likely due to the carbs being out of tune among other things. These can be partially rebuilt and Bruce has a kit available with the special pliable hose you'll need for the fuel nozzle, but if the butterfly valve shaft bushings are worn excessivley it will be very difficult to sync the carbs properly, and getting the right air/fuel mix will be impossible. Ztherapy has rebuilt carbs available if needed. The excessive fuel usage may be stuck nozzles, floats, an improper tune, worn, cracked or leaking parts, and can definitely be corrected. A properly running L24 should get around 18-22 mpg depending on condition, mods and driving style. The coolant leak on your floor is from the heater core, one of the hoses, or the heater control valve itself. All are still available from various sources. On the tranny the push/pull you felt is likely related to the surging carbs, or worn, cracked or shot engine, tranny, or differential mounting isolators. Again, all are available in stock or poly from various sources. There are lots of engines that can be swapped into the Z due to the large amount of space up front, however most of us on this site have chosen to stick with the original L6 block in stock or modified versions. Anything else is typically considered a hybrid and there is a seperate site devoted mainly to that among other things. Obviously the choice is yours, but I encourage you to get your existing motor running correctly and enjoy the car for a while until you decide what to do. Check the following part sources: www.courtesyparts.com www.ztherapy.com www.zcarparts.com www.blackdragonauto.com

I'm considering trying Zymol's vinyl conditioner. Does anyone have any experience with this product? It's pricey but contains no silicone or solvents.

POR 15 is your friend. If I were living in an environemtn like that, I would strip everything I could and POR as much as possible.

Yeah, he's my fisrt ignore in 5 or more years on the site as well. Kinda surprising actually. I saw no point in PMing him. Hopefully he'll get banned or move on.

Why not buy an electric (110AC or 12VDC) air pump and save yourself the hassle? If this is not an option, buy a 5 gal air tank and fill that up at the gas station, then use that to fill the tires. $20-25 Last option, buy a 4-way lug wrench, and take a set of 1/2" sockets, a 1/2" breaker bar, and a BFH in case there are locking nuts on the wheels. If so, find a socket a little smaller than the outer diametre of the locknut and hammer it on tight enough that you can then wrench the locknut off with the breaker bar.

Very cool. I love the original MR2, although I think the 2nd gen is the sexiest.

Looks good from the outside, but on these cars it's what's underneath that counts most. Normally, the fact that none of the comon rust areas are shown would count as a negative, however commercial dealers typically only display the show pics, or don't know enough about the cars to show the right areas. The more thorough will at least show some shots of the underbody and engine compartment for good measure and full disclosure. Be sure to check all the common rust areas including but not limited to the following: under battery tray, frame rails inside and outside the engine compartment from front to rear, especially where they meet the firewall, lower radiator support, frame rails underneath the car, rocker panels, floor pans including where they meet the rocker panels, dog legs, rear fenders around the lip, rear hatch ledge near the corners, the hatch hinge area, and all the other common vehicle rust areas. Take a weak refrigerator magnet with you to check suspect areas that are freshly painted to see if there is excess bondo or filler indicating a poor repair job or missing metal. Don't be afraid to ask questions or ask to talk to the previous owner. Listen carefully to all answers and watch for eye contact or lack thereof. Paranoid perhaps, but I've caught a few liars in my time this way. If you aren't sure the answer was completely truthful, ask again or ask a different way. Better to take the risk of making the seller a little uncomfortable than get ripped off by a scammer. If they're being honest, they won't be uncomfortable answering your questions as long as you're polite. After inspecting the car, and before starting the haggling process, decide what is the most you are willing to pay for the car, and don't be swayed from this price unless you learn something else along the way that changes the game. Don't feel bad starting out with a reasonable but lowball offer to gauge where the seller's real price point is. And don't step up halfway between your initial offer and the asking price the first time. After making a counter offer or two, discuss the items that concern you and make another offer. How much to haggle is up to you and the seller. I have little patience for this process but usually make an initial offer, counter and final if needed. Final is final. Good luck.

I'm glad the video didn't end with you modifying the rear wall of the garage, although that would have been pretty entertaining as well.

If your coolant lines to the carb/manifold are disconnected, you might try hooking them back up to maintain an even temp. This will help carry the excess heat away from the carbs. Many people disconnected them perhaps thinking it was an emissions thing including the PO of my car. This is on my list of things to do.

That's what I figured. I like the innovation assuming it's possible to exclude the posts from the aforementioned forums. Keep up the good work and I'll send some positive thoughts your way to help out.

Looks like a new feature, perhaps an RSS tie-in, but it sucks for those of use who use the New Posts link or the Active Threads section. IMHO

I believe there are two versions of the S12 & S12W caliper that can be used on the front of the Z. Both have a narrow and wide version for use with a vented and non-vented rotor. The ones from the 79-84/5 Toyota 4x4 Pickup are the narrow version and are a direct bolt on using the stock S30 rotor, and the S12W from a Toyota 89-95 4WD Pickups and 4/89-91 4Runner work with an 84' 300ZX non-turbo vented rotor. I believe the wide versions of the S12 and S12W came on the 6cyl 4X4 models, and the narrow versions on the 4cyl 4X4 models. Using the wide version with vented rotors requires a half inch spacer between the hub and the rotor. I believe there is also an S12+8 which is a direct bolt on with the stock rotors. The differece between the S12+8 and the S12(W) is that the S12+8 has one large piston and one small, and the S12(W) has two large pistons. These also came in narrow and wide versions but I don't know the years for these. They are also a little lighter and smaller that the S12 and S12W. Check the following links for more info as this has been covered ad-nauseum in previous threads. There is also info on what to do about the rears if you;re looking to upgrade there as well. Finally, check the Modern Motorsports site for upgrade kits and the spacer for the vented setup. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=104735 http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=103767 http://www.modern-motorsports.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=48 Finally note that any change to the brakes like this may require adding a manual proportioning valve, since the stock one was specifically designed for the stock setup. This also means that you lose the failsafe mechanism built into the stock porportioning valve. Some say the using the S12+8 narrow caliper with the stock front rotor does not requires this change, but anything else will. I'm playing ti safe and adding a manual proportioning valve. The upside there is that it's adjustable if you plan on doing any track time, but again, you lose the failsafe mechanism.

Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the site! Let the work begin!

Sorry Jared. I guess I read too much into the association between his behavior and fitting in at Hybridz. From a mod perspective, he'll definintely fit right in. My bad.

Jared, I'm not sure that he'll be welcome there either with this attitude, and I don't feel that your statement is all that fair to the Hybridz guys. There's plenty of good people and information over there and I disagree with the us and them posture some members take. I'm just sayin'.

I'm not sure what you're current setup is but the stock setup included a return line in the stock fuel rail, and piping to the rear of the car and the tank. If this has been removed, it shouldn't be too hard to add back in. If the piping is still in place, you should be able to find the engine side of the piping on the right frame rail near the lower radiator mount.

Dood, why are you wasting our time with your juvenile attitude and posts. Go find another forum to annoy and stop wasting bits on our site. What part of ClassicZcar do you not understand. You are now oficially ignored and will likely be banned shortly.

Nope. I shaved the caliper and have no clearance problems now. I'll know for sure once I get it back on the road but since the caliper is stationary I don't expect any problems.

The off white stuff is most likely an epoxy primer. I found the same thing when I stripped the tar undercoating and paint off the bottom of my 73. Be glad it's there. You can see it in the following shot by the edge of the paint.