8 hours ago, SpeedRoo said:

@Captain Obvious Just had a look on my October 1970 240Z that hasn't been touched since built. It has the flat side up.

Roo, Awesome. Thanks for checking, and I'm pleased that it is flat side up. I've tried both, and it fit's better flat side up. So despite the fact that it may "look better" with the rounded side up, I'm happy that it's actually supposed to be the other way..

Thanks again!!

I hit 70 mph today. Seemed to like it just fine. Not sure how it would like it for ten hours, but it seemed to like it for five minutes.

Temps started creeping up a little, which is somewhat disconcerting since it was a cool evening. I have previously been through a (critter induced) radiator calamity, but was hoping it was mitigated to the point of being OK. Maybe I still need to do more...

Running out of time!!!

I have a 280 radiator in mine with a full ZX shroud. Works great except it sits lower but the crossmember sits just as low. Took the drain valve off and put a bolt in. So far so good and that was around 2015. Bought it at Advance for $139 IIRC?

What is that, coffee beans and a racoon's condom?

Edited 21 hours ago21 hr by siteunseen

6 hours ago, siteunseen said:

What is that, coffee beans and a racoon's condom?

It's a pumpkin (or some kind of squash) seed and a bunch of other small seeds. Apparently that can happen when you store your car for years with the radiator cap off. I don't know what was living in there, but it had quite a comfortable home.

Here's some background history... I saw critter evidence junk in the radiator. Flushed out as much as I could with a hose.

Drove the car. and the temps started out fine, but started to creep up the longer I drove. Drained the radiator looked in the top, and there was junk in it again. Apparently some debris was now circulating around the cooling system.

So I pulled the radiator and dug/flushed/picked out as much debris as I could and put it back in. This time, however,,, No messing around. I installed a "filter" between the head outlet and the inlet of the radiator with the hope that it would catch debris coming out of the block before it got into the radiator.

The filter was a metal screen sock that's used on your washing machine outlet so you don't dump lint into your plumbing. And it just so happens it fit's well into the radiator hose. Looks like this:

Chain mail condom:

Stuff it into the top radiator hose:

Drive around for a couple minutes and I catch this debris before it gets back into the radiator:

Rinse and repeat. This is the third time I cleaned out the filter. Probably an hour of engine run time. The amount of debris getting caught is decreasing:

I've since pulled it a couple more times and it's almost clean. I can probably remove the filter at this point.

I drove out to a buddy's place today. I've got about 300 miles on him so far.

Day five is behind me:

I need one hatch vent. One of these:

Anyone got an old one they could part with. I don't care if the mounting pins on the back are intact or not. I'll just glue it on at this point! ☺️

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

I've got about 300 miles on him so far.

I don't want to be a buzzkill or a distraction or stir up a controvery if it's controversial - but why are you calling your car "him". I've noticed its use in some other places but I don't know where it came from. Is there a backstory? Seriously, I don't know, but it looks odd. I grew up with "her" or "she", which is probably not PC today, but "it" seems like the natural default.

Anyway, good luck on the trip and the event. Should have made a "will it run and drive" video. There's still time for the "will it make it" part. A barn find with the dust still on it will probably draw more attention than the resto's.

8 hours ago, Zed Head said:

why are you calling your car "him".

It just happens. Some cars are her, and some are him. This one happens to be a him. The OG would sound funny to me being a her. ☺️

I've cleaned off most of the dust, but the "will it make it" part of the journey won't be over until I get there!! Hahahaha!!! Jury is clearly still out!

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

It just happens. Some cars are her, and some are him. This one happens to be a him. The OG would sound funny to me being a her. ☺️

I've cleaned off most of the dust, but the "will it make it" part of the journey won't be over until I get there!! Hahahaha!!! Jury is clearly still out!

Maybe you're worried about making it because you know too much. Back in 2015, I drove the 260Z to Memphis with carburetors that were too lean, an exhaust leak near the muffler and badly worn out rear bushings. I didn't know about the problems, so I didn't worry. 😁

I made it there and back just fine. If I had the carburetors richer, I might have hit triple digits on the front straight during the parade laps. My biggest worry then was I knew who did the brakes and how much he paid for them. That just proves my point. You worry about what you know.

@Captain Obvious I wouldn't worry about the OG making it as you know how to fix it whatever goes wrong. You're not some rank amateur setting out blindly on a journey naively hoping all will be well. You know your car inside and out and and have so much experience with Z cars I reckon you could rebuild a seized engine on a remote Tibetan pass.

My beach bomb 240Z is called Louey and definitely a "him". I've never thought of cars as females.

Bruce, good luck on your trip! Looking forward to some pictures from the event.