beandip

I also want to welcome you to this Z infected bunch of us. Your statement in the beginning stated that you want to restore this car. Restoration of this car would be a extremly costly process. If you ment that you want a daily driver and not a show car , this is another matter. With the availability of Zs in your area I would think you could find a car with far less problems. I just replaced the floor pan on one side of my Z and did all the prep and removed the old damaged one .I fitted in the new one and got a good price for the tig welding. There was some small repair to the driver side floor and a little on the battery area. I am into just this repair for almost $1000. I have no other rust that is in need of repairs only prevention. The one thing that you show in the picture will require you to most likely buy another car for parts, and then you will need to remove a major part of the frame and on both cars then have some one fit and weld in the parts . This will likely run 3K. or close to it. What does the doglegs look like and the other frame rail . We havent addressed the rear hatch . For a restoration the roof must be brought back to stock. Or replaced . $$$ The car will need to be painted , another grand do you see where were going here. I am just being the devel's advocate here . But these are the facts you may have a parts car and be money ahead to find rust free car to work with. If you can do the welding your self and have plenty of space and time this is a different matter or if you have vary deep pockets . There is no doubt it can be done . Be careful you can end up with ten thousand it a five thousand dollar car.

I paid $500.00 for a 82ZX non turbo complete with headers and alternater , no dist. It has a aftermarket cam and headwork and 35,000 miles on the rebuild. I dident want the injection and gave it away as well as the cluch and pressure plate to a local Z driver. This was about a year ago . I dont know what a turbo is worth but if it is good and the engine is sound , it sounds about right. Did you look at the oil on the dip stick to see if it was tar or clean were you able to hear it run or take a compression check ? :classic:

that isn't supprising for a stock L-24 with miles on it . Has the engine ever been rebuilt? Has the head ever been off and had the valves done ? Dont look at the HP figures on the tag in the engine bay , they are gross HP not either of what you measured. They were taken on a dyno with nothing connected to it to sap the HP . No alternater , or fan I think they even removed the water pump. and remember this was a new engine in the best tune. Not reality. So what you have at the flywheel really is not bad.

the sun roof is NOT a stock item. What are you thinking you are going to use this car for ? 200 lbs is nothing for a driver. If you want a car for the drag strip that is another thing. You better check on the state regs before you start striping the smog stuff.

I bought mine from Charlie O and they were less than $300. incl. the freight Gary

Brandon , welcome aboard, I agree check the ujoints , some times it is hard to tell on the half shafts but get the rear end in the air and check for any play . While you are at it when you lift the rear end do it from the differential and see if it moves upward . There should be no slack there if so yes the mount is shot. Does the car clunk when you shift . Do check the drive shaft ujoints as well . There are some years of Zs that the drive shaft ujoints cannot be replaced but I cant remember which years that is. Some one here will let us know . The diff mount isn't a big job , something to do on a weekend .All the best form Oregon , Gary by the way what is a DSM??

Rust is the #1 factor and the most costly to repair. You are correct the sun roof does take away some value . However if you are wanting a driver pick the one with the fewer repairs that are needed . As Zrush said check the roof for leaks , What are your plans for the secound car , use it for parts ? :classic:

Sorry , I cannot help you . I know nothing about injection and turbos . I am sure there are members that can help. SanDiego beautiful place been there many times. Gary:classic:

The days of being able to easly and cheeply "redoing " not restoring these cars has passed, pritty much. Three to four years ago yes. Parts have gotten spendy. Door gaskets and windshield and hatch will run about $200. The little stuff will eat your bank account alive. If prepaired to deal with this , welcome to the infected among us. My advise is to find the most rust free and complete car you can find . You will pay more for it but in the long run believe me you will be money ahead. Now parts cars are going for what a driver sold for 3 yrs ago. :classic:

Charlie , if the car is to be stored inside this is one thing, if out side that is another. 5 months is not that long. When I winterise my inboard V-8 I fill the fuel tank, this keeps the tank from moisture. I change the oil and change the filter after running the engine to normal driving temp. I then start it again and run it to lube all the bearings with the fresh oil , shut it off , pull the coil wire , pull the plugs and squirt some oil in the plug holes and reinstall the plugs . with the coil wire still disconnected turn the engine over a few times. This will coat the cylinders with oil. pull the battery and wash it down with water and bakeing soda to remove any dirt and crud. This stuff will discharge the batt. then charge the battery and store it in a cool place , I just put mine on the work bench . If you want you can put some stabelizer in the fuel , but 5 mo is really not that long. A year that is a different matter. Putting a rag in the exhaust pipe wont hurt also in the intake of the filter box . If you have a cover that is good as well , keeps the dust off the paint. Now this is for inside a garage.

I doubt that I will see it in Portland , but I will be on the look out . I certainly hope you find her and in good condition. The arse h)&^ most likely were after a sterio or a joy ride . All the best and good luck with the car . let us know when you recover the car. Gary:cry:

Tripples do look cool . There is a guy , Norm that runs 107MPH at 12.8 on pump gas and street tires with a pair of SUs. On a stroker .

If the ground on the battery is cleaned and it still has the problem look at the switch for croaded contacts

2 things , you are talking in code. Please include your location on the profile. I can deal with the english , thats no problem. Have you checked the fuel filters ? Are you running SUs or injection ? Is the car equiped with electric fuel pump and mechanical as well ? The "smoke " coming from the carbs could be from a lean condition caused by the filters being clogged . If when started the float bowls were full of fuel the engine might be able to run for a couple of min. before dieing. Gary:classic:

If the seats have good foam , to recover them less than $200.00 . Carpet kit about the same as with the interior + door pannels and head liner. Paint will run to four figures if you want a good job and have all the work done , providing there is no body damage. lack of rust is the important thing here . As for the auto-trans , that is a matter of openion . One thing it seems that the cars with them are the ones that are being found to be in the best shape , because they were not as abused in the past. The '73 has the B tranny and is rebuildable and strong , for a driver. If you have asperations of driving on the track , different story. Gary:classic:

I ate some horse meat , when I was young and we were poor.

before you start parting out the '72 because of rusted floor pans, how bad are they and are the rockers and below the battery eaten up ? Floor pans can be fixed and it isn't that hard. Gary:classic:

Yes especially when the air is cold and at sea level . The air has more mass and the fan blades get a better bite. The blades are made of plastic so they can flex if the air get too dense.

civ104 that is what I was getting to . chill

Is this for real? I have been on that main hiway and it is like the auto bon in germany , SORT OF, but this is scarry having driven there. If it hits a ox cart at speed it will end up looking like a ball of foil.

I am sorry , you havent given enough information. If you are spinning the engine untill it feel like it is " choking" then 1 you are WAY beyound red line or 2 the engine needs a good tune up. Before you turn the engine into a gernade fix the tach. and take it easy . If the speed- O - meter works shift by that . what speed in what gear ? This will give us a clue. :stupid:

How many miles on the rebuilt engine ? If under 1000 miles you should keep the RPM limit to 3 to3500 . After that you should be ok to push it. Just watch the engine temp while break in , at least to 500 miles. Shouldent be a problem after that. This all depends on how tight the engine was set up . I would change the oil after the first 500 miles, filter too. As for any smoke upon decel. , give the engine a chance to brake in and the rings to seat . The worse thing you can do is to run a new engine at high revs if it is tight. Cool your jets a little and enjoy the ride. Both you and your car will live longer.

I just pulled the engine and trans as a unit . then you can do the engine bay while the mill is out. You can clean and paint the rad and the engine. All will be fresh and looking good. :classic: