Its got to be rust here.

Turn 2 tire wall at Phoenix International Raceway.

After getting mine out from storage after twenty years and giving it it's first good washing in that time, the smell was unbelieveable. Found that mice had lived in it for years and there was probably 10 pounds of mouse crap just under the cowl. Took months to find all of the crap and nests, quite a discouraging mess and smell...

there was probably 10 pounds of mouse crap just under the cowl. Took months to find all of the crap and nests, quite a discouraging mess and smell...

Ok, that's just disgusting and wrong. I can imagine how much damage did all that acidic material did to the car. Hopefully you have gotten past the smell, the rust, and are fully recovered from therapy by now.

At least yours was in storage when this happened. Twice now on Pimp my Ride I have seen mice and rats living in vehicles that are used on a daily basis. One was even used as an ice cream vending truck. I'm glad my kids weren't buying ice cream from that guy.

my car has stranded me once.

i had installed a new gas guage and it read backwards. yes, i often disqualify this incident as the car stranding me because you would think i could recognize gas does not grow in the tank. with the car being a daily driver for 3 plus years and that the only time i could not drive her. i'd say she has always been there for me.

all in all at the end of the day after all my busted knuckles and suprises; the bottom line is that it is all the best of fun for me. fixing and or improving the car is part of why i own and drive her. so if i were offered a perfect 1971 example with 10 miles on it and a warranty, it would stand very small next to the value i have for my car. i simply love the problems as they turn into a long history of improvments and hard fought battles where we both win...

cdave

No time to work on it. Decided to pull it apart for a quick restoration. Got a fulltime job, and a girlfriend, 6 months after tearing it apart, and 3 years later, its still in a million pieces.

I think I can cope with rust and body problems as that is something I accept as a being part of owning a 30+ year old car that is prone to rust as much as we know the Zed can be. However, for the degree of frustration in problems those in the electrical category have no equal for me.

My latest was to do with a battery /alternator problem where I had a battery replaced but then found myself again with a flat battery. I took it to a local country auto electrician to be told my flat battery was caused by an alternator problem. Made the appointment to have the alternator reconditioned, returned to town (90 kilometres round trip) to have the work done, drove home to find that I had a flat battery again. Again, 90 kilometres return trip to town, have the alternator checked where they found and repaired a fault in the alternator. Drove around for a while and then again, flat battery. Took it to someone different who this time diagnosed a faulty battery.

Who knows what the real sequence of the events was above. I know zilch about auto electrics and do not mind paying good qualified people to do such work. My only grief is the amount of travel and time I spent making repeated trips to town and then waiting in town for the work to be done.

I have many more electrical stories to tell but trust me, you do not have the time to hear them.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent.

All of the problems I've encountered have been pretty straightforward and have provided me with a self study course in the black arts of restoration/repair. There are two nagging problems that have persisted through my relationship with this wonderful little car. The first is the combination switch. My right signals sometimes work and sometimes don't. I'm pretty sure that I could fix the problem by just getting a new switch, but at this point I can't let go of the two year battle with the original switch and associated wiring. The second is a quarter sized area on the right front fender that refuses to allow paint to adhere. I've stripped, prepped, and painted the fender twice and this little bubble pops in three months or so. I'd think about changing the fender, but I'd be afraid that this miniature Bermuda Triangle of space-time would continue on the fresh metal. All in all, its been nothing but fun.

It will be four years in October since I got my Z car. It still doesn't run.

My biggest problem is that every time I take one thing apart to repair it I find several OTHER major problems that have to be fixed before I can complete the repair that I started.

This has gone on for so long that I no longer allow myself to think about WHEN I will be done... only IF I will ever finish.

BTW, I need to update my personal icon, because the car has been primer gray for nearly a year now... Maybe I will buy myself a digital camera for my birthday.

(That would be a nice change, from constantly buying Z parts.)

Electrical being #1 on my list giving me EFI and AC problems from day one to present. I can now remove the dash in about a half hour ,stare at the wires for 2 hrs waiting for one wire to admit it's the problem then put it back together.

...stare at the wires for 2 hrs waiting for one wire to admit it's the problem then put it back together.

It is good to know I am not the only one...

Will

some will say the bad one is painless and the good one is painfull.

cdave