Zed Head

Does anybody know who Wob is, more than just meeting him at a show? Is he basically just a car salesman? He's spending a lot of time dispelling and squashing. He should just say "nobody knows what happened to this car before 1981". And this guy seems to be adding museums to the owners list. There was only one, and it's really just one guy buying cars. Didn't even read the BAT listing, apparently. The discussion is as interesting as the car...

The video works now. Wob spends 8+ minutes looking for overspray. I'm just fascinated by the thought of bidding 100's of thousands of dollars for something based on pictures and the internet reputation of somebody called Wob. And there's a new guy, Rodeo, who doesn't get that comments are veiled and innuendo used by the "peanut gallery" because the straightforward ones get flagged as non-constructive. Good entertainment. People with extra money arguing about the quality of an old car. Greggers13 is probably getting nervous.

Some threads are unraveling in the story that's being woven. Wob says he's known the car's history since new. But it was in storage for 21 years. Apparently it's still in the Malamut collection, he has to travel out there to get pictures. Wob seems to be a salesman, an agent for the real "seller". He wants to "squash" dissent quickly. He's probably the one flagging comments as "non-constructive". Doesn't seem right. BAT seems to be turning in to a tool for the high end sales people. Shame. Wob says he posted a video but it's private.

I think the 240Z's, at least this one, has/have moved from 240Z collectors over to the realm of old car collectors. Collecting not because they like Z's but because they're old and "expensive". Doesn't seem like Wob really knows Z's, he has comments about other old cars but misses the point of some of the things that a Z person would know. The heater core bypass is bad for cooling, it's a straight shot from the back of the head to the pump inlet. The coolant just cools picks up heat from the block then goes right back to the pump without seeing the radiator then does it again. He could fix that without disturbing anything. The hose clamps are the kind that everyone hates, boooo. It's not even really a good restoration. It's probably a good base for a restoration though. And it's good entertainment for flaw-finding.

Have you checked the pickup coil in the distributor? The ZX distributors like to break the magnet also, so check that. And the air gap. Otherwise, kind of seems like your ignition module is shorted out. The module grounds through the distributor body and that wire that gets warm would be part of that ground circuit. It will also ground through the distributor mounting points so the wire is not necessary. Set things up so that you can see spark from the center wire from the coil (take the wire out of the distributor cap and place it close to a ground point) and disconnect then reconnect the wire from the coil - post to the C terminal on the module. That should make and break the coil circuit if the module is shorted. If the module is shorted each connection will re-energize the coil, and each disconnection will cause a spark. Do this with the key on, of course. If you don't get a spark take the same wire from the coil negative and tap it to ground. That should create a spark from the coil's center wire. That will confirm that the coil is working correctly.

The Quail 2018. Q? Hmmm... Rarified air. https://www.peninsula.com/en/signature-events/events/motorsports/2018/event-overview https://sportscardigest.com/quail-motorsports-gathering-2018-report-photos/3/?envira_id=282882#envira-gallery-wrap-282882

It's licensed in Nevada as WAY240. But there are no driving or engine running videos. Weird. And the guy with the top bid plans to just store it, apparently. I think this car is like one of those rare stamps or coins, with defects or strange histories. Only valuable because of its weirdness. Like a side-show attraction at a circus. Some of these guys seem to have marital problems also...

I just had the horrible experience of terrible music coming from my computer speakers for no apparent reason. I had to shut open tabs until the awful sound stopped. It stopped when I shut the CZCC tab. @Mike are you aware? I've noticed that the ads autoplay little video scripts, which is annoying. But the sound is too much.

The slot also determines the position of the gear since the gear is off center from the hole it sits in. So if you pushed past the slot the gear could be too deep and on the wrong axis, too far or too close, if the slot is not where the bolt is. Found a cool cutout picture of a gear installed. Different brand, same concept. http://www.gtsparkplugs.com/SpeedoGearCalc.html

Somebody at this place, Malamut Auto Museum, must know something. "Wob" bought it from there, apparently. Odd that it's in Thousand Oaks CA, but the car was titled in Nevada. A way around CA titling problems, probably. The "Museum" (basically just Mike Malamut's huge car collection), has a different 1970 240Z. Maybe the replacement for the one on BAT. Anybody know Mike Malamut? Or Wob? Doesn't really seem like a survivor, more like a reviver. Brought back from the dead. Probably in pretty crusty shape after the first 21 years of storage. http://malamutautomuseumfoundation.org/the-collection/japanese/ http://malamutautomuseumfoundation.org/ https://www.facebook.com/Malamut-Auto-Museum-1122168147860406/

I just see an old low mileage 240Z that was in storage for a really long time. A closer read of the BAT listing shows that it was essentially in "storage" from 1981 to 2017. 36 years. It went to a museum in 2002. They probably did some touchup, you'd think. So, basically, everyone should imagine that it's 1981 and you're looking at a 1971 240Z. A ten year old 240Z with 31,000 miles on the odometer. Ten years to collect some dings and have various repair shops working on it for whatever reason. Seems like the FIVA award and the attention to describing the rusty bolt heads and the paint thickness are having the opposite effect. They're overplaying the rarity. Too much selling. Funnily enough, I just watched some of the Back to the Future movies. Imagine...it's 1981 and you have a chance to buy a low mileage 1971 240Z.

I shouldn't have been pretty sure. I wouldn't think running the hose straight through the firewall was a good idea. At least I qualified my thought. Good that they figured out a better way by the 260Z. Nonetheless. If those are original hoses they're ready to blow. So, at least, something to consider if the hoses are ever changed.

I think that the heater core has two male fittings that poke through the firewall. Might not be obvious but pretty sure the 240Z's are the same as the 280Z's.

If that stuff is old sealant then you're right to be careful. Some sealers have a curing reaction that happens after the solvent is gone. That will make it more difficult for new sealant to stick to it. But, Red-Kote is apparently completely soluble. So it can be stripped out if there's a problem.

Edit - Dang it, how can a whole hour go by then two people post at exactly the same time? I was replying below to siteunseen's post. I'm saying just replace the two pieces of hose with the Y connection in the middle with one piece of hose. The Y doesn't serve a purpose anymore. Unless you want to keep it for the extra port in to the cooling system. And to be clear I used "penis" as another word for ****. Instead of rooster. Just to be ridiculous.

I get the urge to make what you have work. But, the "other" solution is a long piece of hose and use the guides/holders that a 280Z uses. Removes many potential leak areas. On the other hand, a person could put a valve/stop penis on the Y port and use it for flushing the cooling system. Stole this from the internet to show the 280Z hose.

I like to do easy experiments before big jobs, if I can. You might take that rod you used, tie a rag or something to the end of it, put a blob of Red-Kote on it and plant it on the metal that you can see. If it peels right off after it dries you might have a problem. If it sticks hard you'll know you're good. Or just drop a blob of Red-Kote down there and see if you can peel it off with that metal rod after it dries. Just an idea. I like the sealer concept for pinholes, not so sure on a pinhole-free but rusty surface. Just me though. Seems like you can take a tank that works and create one that doesn't, if things go wrong. With pinholes you have a tank that doesn't work and you just end up with the same thing.

This is just me, but if there are no pinholes I would run it as it is. Make sure you have a good cap to keep the moisture out and maybe add a prefilter on the tank outlet. Most people with Z's that don't have fueling problems probably don't realize how rusty the inside of their tank is. No offense to those that don't know. Go look and post a picture. One of the keys to using Red-Kote is to make sure it's dried/cured before adding fuel. Also notice that they do not say that all rust has to be gone. Just most of it. http://damonq.com/red-kote.html http://damonq.com/TechSheets/Red-Kote.pdf

Stick a metal rod down there and see if that stuff is loose and breakable or tough and bonded to the surface. Give it a good scrape and see what happens. The tank sealer just needs a good solid clean surface to stick to.

Kind of looks like he might have been stiffening up the body for drag racing. How does the engine bay look? Are the factory L28 engine mounts in place? Looks like quite a project. Keep an eye out for a wrecked 280Z for interior parts. They're hard to find.

This is a weird thing, the welded hole. Even the automatic needs that. Some sort of hydraulically actuated thing? What's the back story on the car?

The typical wear parts really don't show much wear. Unless the original owner took really long trips.

Are these guys in on it? Love a good mystery. https://fiva.org/en/awards/fiva-awards/#:~:text=The FIVA preservation award recognises,under the patronage of UNESCO.

Seems like the guys writing the BAT words weren't sure about the 31,000 miles either. They say "shows" 31k, not has. Interesting though, the service records indicate not many miles at all from 1981, the 30,000 plus is all pre-storage. I pulled a few dates and mileages from the receipts. Too bad there's not more before 1979. 30,000 miles in 8 years is 3,750 / year. Weekend cruiser numbers. 15,000 / year is daily driver numbers and gets 120,000 total. So those 79 odometer numbers could be rollover numbers. Are the numbers all wonky, the rollover clue? July 28 1979 30,191 July 16 1981 30,395 July 17 2017 30625 August 1 2017 30626 Haven't seen an unrolled odometer so can't judge. Wear on other parts would be a sign also. Gears, throttle linkage, stuff like that.