Montana Z

I did run my nail across the lobes and couldn't feel any type of groove or ridge. Tomorrow I'll try a little oil in the #4 cylinder to see if I get a different number. Any recommendation on oil weight?

As requested here are some pictures of the cam. At this point I think I will button everything up and tackle repairs in the spring. My storage unit is not climate controlled and I don't want to leave any critical parts exposed to the elements.

I'll post some pictures of the cam lobes later today, but I'm not sure they will show much. To my untrained eye everything looks pretty normal.

I did not check the valve lash when I replaced the oiler because I thought I had found an easy solution (silly me). My plan is to pull the head, have the car towed over to storage (winters here in Montana are not Z car friendly), and spend the next couple of months rebuilding the head. Once the head is off I figure I'll be able to do a visual check of the pistons which might give me a little more information. I also plan to install a new timing chain and a more aggressive cam in the process. Thank you again for all the feedback. It's nice to have a community of knowledgeable people.

Thank you both for getting back to me. The rear section of the Cam oiler came off and fell out when I removed the valve cover. This all started after a 300 mile interstate trip at a consistently high speed (80-90 mph). The other issue that I failed to mention before was smoke coming from the valve cover breather. I'm not sure if the issues are related. The engine stable at the same time as the sound in the head so I'm leaning towards a valve issue of some kind. The sound is pretty intermittent/ almost non existent at idle. If it was a tight rocker wouldn't it be more consistent? This is all a little frustrating because in the 19 years I've owned it it was running the best I can recall

Hello all, My engine was running good, but developed an intermittent metallic sound in the head. I removed the valve cover and discover that the cam oiler had failed. I replaced that with high hopes all would be well only to discover the mystery sound remained. So I did a compression test and got the following numbers: #1=123 PSI #2=115 PSI #3=123 PSI #4=40 PSI #5=138 PSI #6= 145 PSI Now obviously there is a problem with my #4 cylinder. My question is why are the first 3 cylinders all consistently lower than the back 3? I have dual SU's and thought it may be that the front carburetor was partially restricted. However, I fully opened the dash pots and throttle and got the same results. For the record the engine was cold with all spark plugs removed and I did not put any oil in the cylinders. My car is and early 72 (11/71 build) and the engine and head are original. Thank you for any feed back. Cheers, Scot

I have thought about insulating the garage. It is a pretty sad affair though. Built in 1927 for a Model T, hanging insulation would result in the loss of all the between stud space I use for hanging tools:( On a different note I'm bummed to hear your rubber hoses failed so fast... thats what I bought from MSA.

I have my cracked dash out while I replace my heater core. In my basement I have an uncracked dash. The problem is that my garage is not insulated or heated so I'm a little concerned about wrecking the good dash. Please let me know what you think. On a side note I found some interesting repairs done prior to my getting the car 18 years ago, Cheers, Scot

Wow! That soundalike an exciting ride. So do you think the braided line was rubbing during suspension travel?

I would be interested in the heater core if you don't mind checking. Cheers, Scot

I had the same problem with my 72 240z. The fix I found was to put a couple of washers between the bell housing and the starter. It went from grinding every start to never grinding. That was 3 years ago and everything is still good.

Metalman, I would like to weigh in and say I hope you succeed with this. I think there are quite a few of us that drive our cars and accept that due to past work they will never be "exactly" original. I would love to have an option other than the (in my opinion) cheep looking headlight covers with rubber trim. Good luck! Cheers, Scot

If you can free up the funds a de-humidifier would be a good investment. The guy I purchased my car from had not driven it in 12 years. He had it up on blocks, but took the time to start it every couple of months and let it run up to operating temperatures. He told me it was to keep everything lubricated. Not sure if it makes a difference, but I can tell you I put wheels on it and drove it out of his garage. 17 years later it is still running just fine