70,71,77,83- projects - the studio is full

[Captain Obvious]

2 hours ago, madkaw said:

I think it’s just neglect. The car sat outside in the elements for decades in the hot Nevada sun.

Yeah, that's completely conceivable. Everything up top all baked and stuff while the stuff in the shade should look a lot better.

Good luck with it. If I had more room, I'd have more Z's. (And a whole lot of other stuff.) 

[madkaw]

23 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Yeah, that's completely conceivable. Everything up top all baked and stuff while the stuff in the shade should look a lot better.

Good luck with it. If I had more room, I'd have more Z's. (And a whole lot of other stuff.) 

Stuck in Philly with no room! 

My daughter and her husband just bought a house in Ardmore. I swore I’d never live on the east coast again and my daughter ends up there - lol. 

[Captain Obvious]

It's SWOMBO's fault... She decided she needed a fun car for herself and is taking up the other garage bay. I used to have full run of the garage, but not anymore.

There are two bays and her stupid Boxster taking up half of it.  LOL.  

[madkaw]

Parts are still coming off, and still amazes me how these west cars clean up. Got the rear brakes done. The brakes had been done recently( mileage wise) , the only thing bad was the brake hoses and wheel cylinder . The car sat so long , moisture finally pitted the wheel cylinder bore , but just barely . No reason to try and save USA made wheel cylinders . The front brakes were the same way. Brake hoses cracked , brake lines had old fluid, the calipers had minor pitting and the dust seals were all crusty. The rotors might have cleaned up by just driving it around , but when it comes to brakes , I don’t skimp . So new calipers, rotors, hoses .

The car sat square on all its corners , so I’ll be interested to see how the shocks feel. The springs and shocks look so clean and the rubber boots ( I guess that’s what you call them)are all in tact .

I’m Doing the front steering as I’m doing the brakes . The boots were gone on the tie rod and ball joint, but fortunetly the PO greased the hell out of everything . There was a huge protective layer of grease that kept the elements out. Bearings cleaned up as new . All the zinc is still shining really well. The sway bar bushing were shot front and back, but I had extra urethane ones sitting around. I was actually able to salvage the original end links , the nuts just came loose!

Got lucky on the steering rack boots and half shaft boots , no tears or cracking. 

 

 

[madkaw]

So the owner came by last night to check progress. The story goes that the owners grandmother was the original purchaser. The son received the car from her and when the son had to leave the country , the brother got it. Then the brother willed the car to his niece. Now the niece( 30 years old maybe) is chatting with the dad who would like the car back if she doesn’t want it- WOW! 

I was able to get a shine out of the paint somehow - on a small spot. They couldn’t believe it. I think there was so much oxidation it actually protected the paint , but I know it probably won’t last. I guess this car would fit the true survivor category .

Spent most of the day trying to get the EFI plumbing back to snuff. The 76-77 had too many clamps with its piece mealed trumbone of a fuel rail- PITA. 40 new clamps and new hoses later I’m getting close. Old clamps weren’t trust worthy since the braided hose diameter and modern fuel line differed so much. 

Probably another day or so to hear this thing fire for the first time in 20 years!

[madkaw]

So close to getting this thing started . As beautiful as the fuel pump looked on the outside, the inside was not so good. I’ve never taken apart one and not sure they are made to be rebuilt. You can see the crusty mess inside that froze the motor up from spinning. I cleaned it easily with lacquer thinner, but I don’t have the O rings to replace on the pump assembly. It went back together okay, but alas, I couldn’t make more than 18lbs of pressure. So I bought a used one and I need to install it. I am going to try and find the correct O rings to salvage the original motor

Oil pressure was also an issue. Sitting this long cavitated the pump so I had to remove the oil pump and prime the engine . It took a second to pump thru the crusty oil and come out thru the cam lobes, but it did. 

Distributor wires were cut for some reason , so I had to mend them. Note the blue overspray on the back of the dizzy . I guess they painted the motor with it installed?

 

[Zed Head]

Remove the breaker plate from that distributor and check the ball bearings for rust.  They're probably stuck to the rolling surface.  If you take it apart and clean it out now you might be able to save the bearing cage that typically breaks when vacuum is applied after sitting and rusting.  It's a three-handed job to get the little wire clip on and off but it's doable.  Take pictures or make a diagram I've taken a few apart that were reassembled wrongly.  It's a puzzle.

[madkaw]

Good point- but hate the thought of disassembling the dizzy. I’ve been into one of them before and it’s not pretty . 

[Zed Head]

The breaker plate is easy to get off, it's just two screws and it pulls right off the top, after you pry the reluctor wheel off with a big screwdriver..  You don't even have to remove the pickup coil.  then you can look through the gap at the bearings.  If they 're not bad some oil and easy working by hand might break them free.

246 Blue atlanticz had a writeup  for a ZX that shows some similar parts- http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/distributorrebuild/index.html

If the ball bearings are iffy they can get stuck when they move and your timing will get weird. It could stay advanced.  Of course, you could just leave the vac advance hose off.

[madkaw]

Well I didn’t take the dizzy apart, but cleaned it the best I could by spraying it down .

New/used fuel pump pressure checked good.

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!

This engine starts better than my Megasquirt motor! Sounds smooth and healthy . Can’t wait to drive it around. 

[kevinsr98]

Glad to hear you got her running! Wish I had been there, you were fighting the fuel rail last I remember....

[madkaw]

1 hour ago, kevinsr98 said:

Glad to hear you got her running! Wish I had been there, you were fighting the fuel rail last I remember....

Jim came over to help bleed brakes. He was jealous of how well the engine sounded . 30k miles - so it’s not broke in yet