WHat is the worst problem you have ever had with your Z?

Rather than try to read the minds of all of our members ,I grouped the problems, and even gave an out if your problems isn't really included in my choices. Be sure to elaborate, we want the whole story of what was wrong, and what you did about it-even the attempts that sounded good at the time but made things worse-like using a bigger hammer to try to remove a spindle pin and then moving on to the other side when it wouldn't comeout after beating the crap out of one end....

So, about a year and a half ago my Z started making a strange banging noise in the right front. I jacked her up, went over everything (so I thought) and not finding anything loose, bent, broke or missing I went on my merry way. Well the noise would come and go. Since its not driven much, sometimes I'd drive it and not hear the bang. The next time the bang would occur over even the smallest imperfection in the road.

So this year I jacked her up again. Took the tire off and worked my way from the cotter pin in. Checked bearings, repacked them, checked caliper mounting. Checked ball joint, compression rod, control arm, sway bar, front valance, hood hinges, motor mounts. You name it I checked, again so I thought. Just as I was getting the tire to put it on, I noticed the gland nut on the strut. Seemed like it was showing a lot of thread below the hex and above the top of the strut housing. And bingo, there it was. The cartridge was banging up and down because the gland nut was loose. So I removed the whole strut assembly, checked it for damage. Had to get new front struts as it beat the cartridge up pretty badly. Did both sides as it seemed wrong to just do one strut. And with a weekend shot to heck, no more bang! Blue loctite on the nuts this time!!!!

Chris A.

About 20 years ago, I had a 1976 280Z, 4 speed. The car had very mild surface rust, but the underbody appeared to be sound.

One rainy day driving home from college, the car slid into a curb pretty hard. From that point until I got home, the car was pulling hard to the side I hit. I jacked up the car and discovered that the frame rail (which was rusted through) had broken off - essentially the wheel/suspension assy. was no longer attached to the frame.

That was the end of that car. I sold it to a junkyard for $50.00 or so...I was heartbroken. Worst problem I've ever had and a lesson on how badly rust can wreak havoc on a car.

Mine was complete and basically running when I bought it. Other than paint, tune up type stuff, and finding a couple of parts, the worst problem I had with my Z was bad a/c hoses. Being an MVAC tech and having my own hose crimper, that really wasn't much of a problem.

My biggest time sinks in the Z so far is to track down that faulty voltmeter as the cause of the electrical short that's plagued the car since I got it. The "other" is that I had to replace the rear wheel bearings cause they had rust in them. That required quite a bit of work in finding appropriate tools (large die cutter) and spending good money on the torque wrench. Spent lots of time getting that rust out of the hub too. Also needed to replace the fan clutch, oil temp gauge, install a rear bumper.

Now the car's in to get the 4 speed trans cleaned out, clutch replaced, BCDD fixed, among other things.

Cheers!

My Z had a blown head gasket a little while after it had been given to me. The engine still ran great, but water would mist into my 4th cylinder. I decided to tear the head off and replace the head gasket, but that's when problems got worse. We put the head back on with a new gasket, and we thought that it was fixed. For some reason, we discovered that after taking the head off, the engine now mixed water and oil. I ended up with a spun rod bearing as a result, seizing my motor. After that, my Z sat for almost a year, until I was able to find another block. The block was given to me, and the guy who had it before said that it was a great block, didn't smoke, use oil, anything. After swapping blocks (but using the same head), my engine kept mixing water and oil. I decided to get the head pressure tested and shaved (after the 4th time of tearing the head off, new gaskets, about $600 worth of gaskets, parts etc.). The head tested fine and it was shaved, but the engine still mixed water and oil. Finally, after the 6th time ripping the head off and replacing the gaskets, discovered that my head had a hairline crack on the 3rd and 4th cylinder combustion chambers, that was so small that it would only be evident when the engine came up to operating temp. I spent $350 on a rebuilt e88 on the internet, and bolted that onto my block. The engine ran great, no water and oil mix, didn't overheat, but I noticed that it used oil very fast. I at first figured that the problem was the valve stem seals, but they were replaced, so that couldn't be the problem. I narrowed the problem down, and I believe that my block has either stuck or extremely worn oil rings, which sucks oil in past the compression ring into the cylinder. Now I'm just deciding if I want to use my stock block, replace the crank and connecting rods, but use the pistons mated to the block to retain numbers matching, or if I just want to rebuild the block that's in the Z now.

Electrical - no doubt. This earlier thread on my issues tells it all.

http://classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19793

I can summarize in a few words:

Performing the PERIODIC maintenance that had NOT been done for the past 30 years, and repairing the ensuing problems.

E

Yep,

I should have put in an "All of the above" choice as well!

Will

My biggest problem is that everytime I do anything on the car I end up finding 5 other things that either "need to be done" or that I "want to do". And I'm not talking about mods here, just things that need to be done in order to complete another job I am working on or things that I notice which need attention.

Wasn't there another thread on this topic a while back? Oh yes, the WIAT syndrome.

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20113&highlight=WIAT

or things that I notice which need attention.

I hear you there brother!!

Chris A.

Rust/Body work:

- Bottoms of both fenders were completely rusted out, and I didn't have the funds to buy new ones, so I had to create the bottoms out of fiberglass.

- Had to replace both doors and hatch.

- Had to replace rear passenger quarter panel and inner wheel well.

- Had to replace part of the passenger door jam.

- Had to replace the rear decklid in the hatch.

- Shaved the antenna, and all of the emblems.

- Had to do bondo in the same spots quite a few times.

- I'm currently scraping off some skimming putty because I didn't use quite enough hardener, but it should be re-skimmed and wet sanded this evening.

Its just been a long hard road, its not fixed the way I'd like it to be, but its the way it had to be done due to financial issues.