First drive in the z in 25 years.....impressions.

[Captain Obvious]

Great story, and it's fantastic that you're back in the seat. I am a little confused by one thing though:

2 hours ago, tzagi1 said:

 they crashed into a pole, (front right corner), it was taken to a body shop , fixed and painted...

 

54 minutes ago, tzagi1 said:

Its a Socal car...dont forget, 100% rust free, the spare tire well is as virgin as the day it was born, original paint too in perfect condition.

[tzagi1]

Interior that is.

[Captain Obvious]

Haha!! Gotcha!

I was out of the first gen seat for a bunch of years, but now that I'm back, I'm lovin' it! Welcome back!

[tzagi1]

So far I'm not very happy with it....in the current day and age. the tires are way too small(in height), the car is way too low, getting a floor jack under it is impossible (need to lift it from the side first) the springs and shocks are too stiff......dodgy electicals.....Back then it all seemed normal....25 years later.....it's a learning experience.

One thing for shu, it still goes like a bat out of hell as it always did.

[madkaw]

Expecting any kind of refinement from an abused 45 year old car is unrealistic . Exhaust smell issues are a problem when not addressed on these cars. There is a ton of info available on this issue.
These cars are easy to work on and have good support and are relatively inexpensive to work on. And as your said, the smile is there when you drive it.
Dodgy electrical is from abuse and age and just takes a little effort to set right- but it’s not an old English car.
There’s hardly a better true classic sports car for the buck these days .
Good luck.
Also make sure the hatch inner vinyl panel is in place and sealed . Exhaust will suck in from there


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[esmit208]

On 11/22/2017 at 7:43 PM, tzagi1 said:

Thanks Greg...time to break out the silicone gun.

One thing I didn't mention, at the time I had a had a 16" glass pack finished with a monza tip as the muffler, my brother used to be hassled by LAPD constantly for noise violations so he had some idiot install a turbo muffler with NO tip!, right now the muffler exits Behind the apron....I tend to think that is not helping..

Many of the seams around the wheel wells did not join well and were filled with the best seam and joint sealer they had at the time. I am currently doing some metalwork on #6333 and found plenty of shrunken and dried seam sealer where the wheel well and the floor meet inside the hatch. Also many of the debris deflector shields were removed from these cars to allow clearance for larger diameter wheels. If they have been taken out from underneath the car then the floor behind the rear wheels got a constant DEBRIS BLASTING which exposed raw metal over time and compromised already dodgy metal joining. Get underneath and try and clean and reseal any spot where perpendicular pieces of metal join. Sealing it back up can be done but you have to be meticulus. Tail light seals, hatch seals and underneath. I spent about 2 months just resealing the floor in mine, what with metal replacement and exposing leaky areas but it will be worth it not to have the exaust smell. BTW sandblasting exposed all the leaky areas.

[ensys]

I believe the biggest problem is the tail pipe. Possible fixes could be an extended tailpipe, one that curves downward, or one that turns to the side. Any of these would direct the exhaust out of the turbulence at the tail.

 

 

[bartsscooterservice]

This fume thing really seems a problem with the early z's, not sure if there are complains from 280Z owners ?

I've replaced everything in mine and sometimes I still smell it..  with the windows closed no smell, but when windows down in the summer there's a light smell ( not Always ). It could come from anywhere I gave up searching, just accept the smell it's not that bad.

[70 Fairlady Z]

On 11/22/2017 at 6:31 PM, tzagi1 said:

Here is the story...and it's a long one!

I bought this 71 back in the late 80's, I think I paid $1000 for it.

Naturally it had to be hot rodded, the engine and trans(5 speed were swapped from a 77) still got the original engine and trans in good shape), the head was ported and polished, titanium retainers, the cam came from Ed the armenian (rip)

he worked for Smokey Yunick btw, header , dual webers, electronic ignition, ansa exhaust, adjustable Tokicos, suspension techniques springs ...and so on,  You get the pic.

Got married in 91, had a baby and this thing stopped being practical, my younger brother wanted it so I sold it to him (don't remember for how much, not important)

Anyway...he drove it for a couple of years till some kids stole it from his buddies house (how typical), the ignition lock locked up on them and they crashed into a pole, (front right corner), it was taken to a body shop , fixed and painted...all fresh rubber..that was in 94 or 95. he drove it for another year or so, until him and his gf took a weekend trip to Santa Barbara (from Northridge CA), he got 2 speeding tickets over 100 mph, one on the way there, one on the way back....into the garage it went, covered and left for dead.

I been hounding him over the years to do something with it but he is a lazy computer engineer driving some fancy Bimmer....so it sat, in spring of 2016 I get a phone call: come and get it. its yours.

Trailer hitched I head to Socal to pick it up and home it goes, Parked it in a buddies warehouse and started work, drained the gas, changed fluids...changed fuel pump (dead), one accelerator pump was dead....pour fuel...started on the first crank.

since then got a carpet kit, seat skins, fixed the interior, installed aftermarket A/C(not finished yet) rebuilt the carbs (flooded on occasion), tackled the electricals (still moodey)

The day has come to get it out of there (my buddies "request")  so I pulled it out to the parking lot...crap,no starter (moody) jump started it with a screw driver and took it around the block...its drivable, time to take it home.

How was the experience you ask....it's rude its crude it's stiff, steering is hard, getting in and out is a PITA. it hates to be driven civilly. zero sophistication...zero, it stinks of exhaust fumes, it forces one to step on it (and get speeding tickets), pure evil....however, I cannot explain that unwanted grin when pressing down that right foot....it's intoxicating!

Now to the final question: how the hell do you get rid of the exhaust fumes?, all the rubbers are new, including the hatch

Still have work to do... after the drive discovered the the water pump lost the bearing, temp gauge is dead, starter is still temperamental, I suspect the relay, I can hear it click but no starter. Finish the ac, the valves are noisy.. and so on...it never ends.

Awesome and still in the family!

[Namerow]

For Series 1/'early' (take your pick) cars with the extractor vents located on the trailing edge of the hatch panel, there's one aspect of the exhaust fumes suck-back problem that I've never heard mentioned before and which might be fundamental to the design.  I'm talking the drain tubes that allow rain/wash water to drain out of the two air plenum chambers (located inside the hatch cavity).  Those drain tubes exit on the underside of the hatch, outboard of the weatherstrip and are therefore nicely exposed to the ambient air (and exhaust fumes) at the rear of the car.  Since the air flow and air pressure back there is, shall we say, 'variable' and because the 'one-way' airflow control flaps (the ones that control airflow from the cabin into the plenums) are less than perfect -- even when new, I suspect -- there are all the ingredients in place to allow backflow into the cabin.  The triggers for that backflow would be: 1) amount of side window opening; 2) air speed over the rear deck, and; c) airflow/air pressure serendipity in the region just under the hatch lip.  I can't think of any easy design solution (putting one-way flaps inside the round drain tubes would be a challenge).

[Captain Obvious]

1 hour ago, bartsscooterservice said:

not sure if there are complains from 280Z owners ?

Oh yeah there are. Maybe the earlier years are worse, but the 280's are not immune.

On the other hand, maybe they're just not as bad because of the fuel injection being better than carbs?    

[bartsscooterservice]

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

Oh yeah there are. Maybe the earlier years are worse, but the 280's are not immune.

On the other hand, maybe they're just not as bad because of the fuel injection being better than carbs?    

Maybe...