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Okay, so yesterday apparently went well. Greg was on hand as was Tony, a friend from the Georgia Z Club. Tony and Greg looked over the car, and then we got it up on ramps. (I can't say enough good things about Race Ramps.) Tony shot underneath and started draining the tank with some assistance from me while Greg worked on the temperature sender and sensor. After the tank was drained as much as we could, Tony was working on the lines in and out of the tank while I removed the trim work to get to the vent hoses on top. Tony got the straps loose and dropped the tank. We poured it out and saw some rust. Then we used some gasoline to slosh around the tank to get out any other loose rust we could. We didn't use anything to try to break it up because I didn't want to remove the sender out of fear of damaging the O ring or retaining ring. The couple of rinses with gas seemed to get some more rust out. We heard something rattling in the tank. I put a strong magnet near the drain hole to capture the rattling object, hoping it was ferrous. We lucked out. Tony plucked out a couple of links of some sort by using a magnetic reach. Greg realized he had some other parts at home that would prove useful to the cause and drove back to get them, stopping to pick us up some lunch on his way back. (Thanks, Greg. I normally don't stop to eat, so the burger was appreciated.) We got the tank back in, and Greg finished the under hood work. (Greg feel free to post details. I was so busy with the tank that I wasn't paying attention to what you were doing.) Among the parts Greg replaced were the PCV valve, connector for the temperature sensor, plenty of vacuum hose, filter on the carbon canister...What did I miss, Greg? We got everything buttoned up, and ready to run. The car refused to start and just backfired out the intake. After going over potential problems, we finally pulled the distributor, and turned it 180 degrees. The Z fired right up. Greg noticed some leaks around the thermostat, so he took it apart again to check assembly and torque. He got it buttoned up, and we got the Z running again. I constricted the return line some and noticed the car ran stronger. I dumped a full container of fuel injector cleaner into the tank, and the car seemed to start running a little bit better. Jai and I took it for a short test run, and we made it back fine. I suggested that the drive to church would be more of an acid test. It sounds like it passed that test today. If the injectors were gummed up some, maybe the fuel injection needed more pressure to get enough volume through the injectors. I'm hoping we made real progress.

Steve, Greg, and Tony really went far and above expectation working on RedBird yesterday. I really want to thank these fine gentlemen for putting such effort and time into her for me. I think it was 7:30-8:00 when they finally quit. It was amazing to watch, all those hands doing their choice of jobs. At one point the back end almost looked like a tornado hit her. Gas tank gone, the deck area was torn up with the inner parts laying in a pile inside her. Be still my heart I thought, they will return her to her glory again. And they did. Hahaha As of today, this is my experience with her. Steve will write what they all did, I kept track, writing it all down. So you will get the whole picture later on. This morning when I went to church, RB got me there. But she was not doing super well. Doing small loping, and would not go over 45 mph. No matter how much gas I gave her. The knock in the back was knocking so fast it was like a machine gun. Fooey, I thought. As I was starting out to come home, it was not so severe. Then, just as if I HAD FLIPPED A SWITCH, it instantly stopped AND DROVE NORMAL. I could not hardly believe it. Like when I first got her. So I drove on towards Eton, turned around and started from a dead stop. Revved her a bit, did a fast start, and got to 65 before going into 4th gear. She took all the load as a matter of fact, no problem. It was like something had been blocking her from getting fuel, and suddenly it cleared! Poof, all over she said, let's go! So I will be taking her on short trips like Steve mentioned to test her further. But I am much more at ease with her now than before, even when we drove down the drive. Tomorrow I plan to go 10 miles round trip, to Chatsworth (to get chicken feed, they are out). After this morning I do not expect any problems. Oh, when she was snuggled into her carport, I revved her a bit, while listening and sniffing. She gave a SMALL poooof backfire each time I revved. So quiet I had to listed hard to hear it. That's All Folks... Jai

PrayerZ answered!

As madkaw said, forget about the bright links. If you can't see the corresponding link on the crankshaft gear, it's meaningless. If you turn the engine one revolution the link will be somewhere else. So you have a sprocket that was designed to be set up one time, with a new chain and never adjusted. Because there's no easy way to tell if chain/sprocket wear has occurred. I've also read on the old interweb that Cloyes started adding notches to the later sprockets, and only the old ones are notchless. Regardless, you have no way to confirm proper valve events unless you add a degree wheel to the damper and measure valve lift. Kind of a dilemma. Might be easiest to assume the PO knew what he was doing and work on everything else until cam timing is the last possibility. Or replace that sprocket with one that has the notch.

Another Atlanta 260Z? Send me a PM to let me know where you are in the area. We have a pretty good early Z community around here.

Another thought on cam timing - since your sprocket has been replaced that means someone has been wrenching there. It's been known to happen that the cam shaft dowels have sheared, so even though in theory the worst the timing could be is at spec., or 8 degrees advanced, it's possible that things are totally screwed up. Still, simple stuff first, especially since it runs and the pressure numbers look good. Although, removing the sprocket nut is easy and will tell you if the sprocket is loose on the dowel, without actually having to remove it. You might do that first. No need to lock the chain, just make sure the sprocket doesn't fall off. Actually, lock the chain anyway, just for insurance. You really don't want to tear off the front cover if you don't have to, unless you're looking for a bigger project.

I like the way they bring back memories for folks in their 40s and over. Everyday last week somebody, from salesman to delivery guys, had a story to tell about a Z in their past. You could see a sparkle in their eyes and a smile every time. One story from a delivery guy ended with Quaaludes and a totaled Z.

Thank you very much for your info! I would like to buy this magazine if I could figure out the title and year/issue. I really like to find the car too! It would be our Phantom Z Sport Wagon's relative!

The oil pump and pan are done, I didn't think it would take 2 months but there it is. All the baffles/windage are welded in as is the new dip stick holder. Glued some 80 grit emery cloth to the steel plate and removed the high spots. If you look carefully on the lip of the pan you can see the shiny areas that are freshly ground,( this pic is halfway through the grinding process) seems as if both ends of the pan curled up. The new sheet aluminum must expand and contract more than the cast aluminum. The last pic is my rust free M6 heading off to the metal recyclers , I don't have the heart to post it on bimmerforums. Tomorrow I get to start designing the engine and transmission mounts, this I have looking forward to. Chris

Blue, Can you elaborate or add pictures so I can ID the idiosyncrasies of these parts. I may have some of this...

A couple of collectors ask me about that FB Battery when the car was up for auction. The one zed2 pictured came originally in the 72 Models that I sold. It was one noticable change among several that the 72's came though with. It looks the same as the one that came in my Blue 72 for that matter. It's doubtful - but I'll Poll the original owners to see if any of them have pictures of their engine compartments when their cars were new - you never know. FWIW, Carl B.