beandip

Paul, I replaced my floor pan but not the rocker. I lucked out . I have pictures of the floor replacement if this will help. The cowl drain. This is the cause of so much rust and as you said , not a good design. The fix for this is to buy a 1'' PVC 45* elbow. This will just fit into the drain hose where it extends out into the fender cavity. Attach a length of vinyl hose , also from the hard ware store, to the elbow. The correct size will just fit into the opening of the pipe fitting. Run the hose down to where the drain is already at the bottom of the fender cavity. Seal the fitting and hose in place with silicone. Now all the debris and water will go out the bottom and not be deposited on the end of the rocker and rot the metal. As for the rocker damage you are looking at. Use a screw driver and determine if the rocker is rusted to the point of weakness. If salvageable you can reinforce it from inside to a degree by coating it with POR . This will also help to seal off the moisture in the future. Have the rust through in the fender well patched in with sheet metal and welded in. The inside of the rocker can be accessed from inside the cabin of the car. There is a cheap $6.00 siphon ''gun'' that will blow the POR inside the cavity and saturate it. I bought the ''gun'' at Harbor Freight . I'll look and see If I can find the item number if you are interested.

If you have fuel coming out of the float chamber vent, the shutoff has failed. Either the needle and seat is shot or the float could be full of gas and has sunk to the bottom thus holding the shut off wide open . As Bruce said tap on the float chamber cover with a screw driver handle . If this has no effect then the cover must come off and find out what is wrong. Be vary careful with leaking gas because it will be running onto the exhaust manifold. Have a fire extinguisher handy or a water hose charged and ready . I would have one person watching the carb while another is turning the key. Keep us posted. With a flooded float chamber , it will be difficult to start the engine because raw gas will be running into the intake. Gary

By regular hose I pray you didn't use heater hose ! Try Nappa they have the fuel hose . Gary

Dryer sheets ! EXCELLENT IDEA. I never have stored my cars on stands I have been told not to let the suspension just hang for that long a period that it puts a strain on the components. I just put some 1/2'' or 3/4'' plywood squares under the tires. Thicker is better. If you do use stands put them near the wheels on the suspension so the load is more like the tires were on the ground. My garage never goes lower than the 40s F. So freezing for me is not an Issue. However it rains for 6+ months over the winter. Gary

If you seal them in zip lock bags this would keep them clean as well as from further moisture. If you put some of that ''drys-it'' stuff that absorbs moisture they should be fine for years. Bring them inside the house for a day or so then bag them up. The best thing would be to keep them in a warm dry place so that the metal stays at a constant temp .

the only to evaluate the floors is to take off the black stuff. Where it has been chipped off and the metal is visible, it looks rusted . The one Rocker seen from below looks shot. The floor pans look, in the pictures, like they are flat . If this is so , they are not OEM, or Zedd Findings floors. Or someone could have just laid some sheet metal over the old rusted floor and covered it over with the black stuff. There is no telling how much rust or rot is under the black stuff. By all means it should all come off. If not badly rusted out then the floors and any bare metal needs to be treated to prevent rust. I recommend POR for this , however there are several products out there for this. It is obvious that the present black stuff didn't work. By the way the rockers should have large vent holes facing the inside of the car along there length . Yours look like they have been covered . Zedd Findings has the premium products for this . Sorry. Gary:rambo: Any repair in this areas covering large holes need to done properly . No rivets or screws on a rocker at least. tiny holes can be repaired with POR and matting . but remember the floors and rockers are your frame!

Changing the oil and filter is important because you want to do away with any moisture and contaminants in the block and do warm up the engine completely. If in a damp environment or if he car is stored until spring . Pull the plugs and squirt some oil in the cylinders . About a Tsp. full in each hole then with the plugs still out, turn the engine over a few revolutions to spread the oil over the cylinder walls . Install the plugs and that will do it . Every time these engines are shut down there are always 2 valves that are left open. This will allow out side air to enter the cylinders , the oil will protect them from rust. A empty fuel tank or if nearly so, will sweat and condense moisture inside and this will rust the tank. Use a stabilizer and fill the tank to prevent that. I remove my battery and store in on my work bench and charge it about once a month . This saves the battery and it will last much longer. You can leave it in the car but disconnect the positive cable if this is more convenient, but charging never less is needed. Covering the car will help protect the finish, I don't recommend using plastic , because it cannot breathe and will promote rusting. Another good thing is to spray the vinyl interior with Lysol disinfectant this will greatly prevent mildew I used this on my boat with great success. Gary

Good for you. Thank you for sharing the experience. Gary

NO , After POR paint , if prepared properly , cures. Regular paint or anything else will not adhere. POR is fantastic for your floors and undercarriage and panel's that are not to be finished . It seals the metal and will stop the rust. but only if you follow the directions exactly. Mariene Clean followed with Metal ready. Then POR paint. You can paint over the POR , if you do so while it is still tacky to the touch. Other than that either sand it or prime with Ti coat primer. Then you are good to go. POR paint cures so hard it is difficult to sand and is like sanding porcelain . Use it for rust repair . On the exterior of the car , sand off the surface to clean metal and prime with epoxy self etching primer then primer and paint. Bondo Is NOT a rust preventive. It is porous and will allow moisture to continue to rust the metal. Gary

Dont Hi-jack the thread . Pose your own .

OK and then?

Are you sure that they are red ? And not red with a black stripe? red with a black stripe is the backup light wires.

When the glass is down it is supposed to rest on a rubber block that is about a inch and a half wide and two and a half long and one inch thick. Also the track that holds the glass in place when it is in the down position could be shot or missing. The window channels and fuzzy strip is available through JC Whitney for not too much money. I don't know of a place for the squeegee. Gary Also look for the roller that clips on the door and presses on the glass . Sometimes they brake and will cause the glass to rattle.

I just looked up the ratios and I don't have them for a '80 zx for some reason. '75-'79 have 3.54s '81-83 turbo 3.54s and '81-83 non turbo 3.90s Gary

Cutless , bigoak nailed it . You said the frame is straight . the rotten floor and rockers is the frame . sounds at best a parts car. Replacing the rockers and floor pans is a lot of work. From your description , there maybe some salvageable parts, if you have the place to disassemble and store the stuff. What sort of carburetor ''up grade'' ? If the engine is sound and if he has installed a 5 speed tranny there could be some value. If the engine needs any work pass on the whole free deal. Unless you just want a project to play with.

Well what is the outcome? Is the car in good shape, damaged or What? :rambo:

Pull the choke lever back and off, then press on the nozzle and see if it snaps up. If it is sticking down the carb will run vary rich. Also check the little fuel line for stiffness. If the fuel line is hardened from the heat , it can cause the nozzle to bind and stick down. Gary

Other than my friends or at Club meetings , I haven't seen another 240Z in a year. I do see a few 280s from time to time , but most of them look like drivers that need work. The same at the Wednesday cruse in at Portland Raceway. There are 4 of us with 240s and only once in a while another will show up. This is mostly a Hot Rod / Custom car affair. But there are on average 600+ cars and some times over 1000. The same with Datsun Roadsters , even less of them. Gary

Great news . I am happy it was found, and hopefully she is not molested . Did they tell you anything about the car and or charges against it from the impound . Those guys can rape you with trumped up costs. Been there . Gary:rambo:

Welcome Brooks from Med. Good to see you found a good Z. Maybe we will meet on a cruse one of these times. There is a few of us here in Or. that keep in touch via email and some times we find parts for one another. Arne , a fellow member is in Springfield down your way. Please feel free to ask for any info you need and again welcome to the club. Gary

Just one more voice of experience. If the tar-mat was gone and if you didn't replace it . A perspective buyer would be impressed if the floors were not rusty and it would be a big plus. Don't do any more sewing some off the wall stuff on any carpet or anything. It just will draw attention to a amateurish attempt to conceal something. Even if it wasn't the intent. Just clean off the dirt and grease from the engine and the engine compartment. Clean the glass and buy some Mcguires detail spray and do the dash and seats and all the vinyl . Polish the paint and wheels. You should be good to go. The engine should run and idle smooth and change the oil and filter. Shows the car was well taken care of. Black oil is a big turn off. Especially with a educated buyer of a Z. They will be looking for rust first and foremost, and any cover up of it, then the rest of the car. I know you said that the car is a California car, this dosn't make any difference if water was left on soaked carpet. Could be from rain or just washing the Z, As Carl said the floors can rust a way in a few months and how old did you say the car is. I have a '73 240 and I know about rust. 2 cts. Gary:rambo:

I will be on the watch up here in Portland. Not a likely run if the engine is sour but it could show up for sale. Post the last four numbers of the Vin. It might help. Good luck. Hope you get her back. Gary:ermm:

Ha ha , good one.

We have 4 and our youngest just had his 39 birthday. He is our baby. Gary

that just shows that you can put anything on EBay and ask way more than it is worth in hopes that some doofus will come along that hasn't a clue. I haven't yet heard of anyone pleased with a Z that they bought on EBay. Everyone has been vary disappointed and that they were told that the condition or originality wasn't as advertised. Gary:cross-eye