Ricklandia

DONT DO IT!!!!!!! Seriously, if your car is HALF as good looking as the pictures, I wouldn't touch it! It's one thing to fool around with one that's already been altered or molested, but true UN-molested cars of this age are VERY hard to find. If you REALLY want to do one up, get a second car. Better yet, sell me THIS one and get a different one. JMHO

Phil, Any luck on the electical problem? I've been thinking (dangerous, I know) - is it possible that your fuse block is bad? Gotta head out for a function with the wife, but I should be back by 4pm today.

Damn, still not road ready yet. Hopefully for the next one though.

Are those for real? or Hollywood?

Okay, I got a new one for ya... Is a requirement that if you work at a dealer parts counter, you must be surly, unhelpful and generally miserable? I swear, I have yet to meet one that will even crack the faintest of smiles.

Oh. And all this time I just thought it was PMS.

Okay... Why is my wife constantly messing with my head?

I think you're on the right track. I agree with Carl, this sounds like a non-standard altenator. Mine has the two posts, wired as yours, however it only has a two wire plastic connector to the F and N terminals. If you look at the wiring diagram again, notice that the parking lights/turn signals are wired up to this circuit (E post of the altenator). A mis-wiring at this end starts to make sense with your light switches. Is it possible that the altenator in the car (the old one) has a built in regulator?

Excellent write-up. This is the sort of thing we need to include in a ClassicZCar "writ-of-wisdom" CD.

Okay, lets look here first. Is it possible that this white wire has a red stripe on it? If it does, then this wire should be going from the positive terminal on the starter to the altenator. (see the wiring diagram I emailed) On mine (10/72), the only thing connected to the battery pos (+) connector is the main feed to the starter (large cable), so you should be okay there. Do you need to maintain this jump for everything to work? ie. if you remove the jumper, does everything die even if the car is running? That's two good news items. You can have a bad alternator and it wouldn't create these problems, but I'm glad to hear your works. Replacing the ignition switch and it still happens? Well, at least we can now eliminate that item from the list. Part of this makes sense, the other not. The emergency lights always working makes sense, it should be getting power regardless of what state the ignition circuit is in (so you can leave the flashers on without having to leave the key in the car). When you say "...When the car is sitting if I turn on the lights or anything nothing works...", can you get more specific here? Is the car running when this happens? Is the car not running but the key is in the ON postition? When you say "lights or anything", does that mean if you turn on ANY electrical item the car dies (the fan for example?) or only the lighting circuit? Lastly, if you leave the light switch OFF, is power restored? I'm assuming this can only be done using your jumper (from the emerg. light fuse)? Sorry, I'm sure these sound like annoyingly simple questions, but I'm tring to make a mental flow chart of what exactly is happening here.

Hang in there Phil, I can hear lots of head scratching already. It might take a little while but I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out. My manuals are at home, but I'll give it a look when I get there. Dunno if I'll be much help, electrical is not my strong suit, but I'll help if I can. I can appreciate your frustration, this definitely falls into the "majorly fargin weird" catagory, but I'm sure it will make sense in the end.

Just some quick thoughts. Beater anything cars are going to break down. Period. That is the definition of a beater, isn't it? On the positive side, a Z, or any other car of it's age, has the distinct advantage in that it's simple. Simply built, simple to work on, simple to diagnose when something goes wrong. There's very little on these cars you can't fix with simple hand tools and elbow grease. Parts are still available as they were made in pretty significant numbers, and should you suffer a catastrophic failure (blown engine), entire engines can be found relatively easily as it was in production for quite a long time. Unless you're looking at a beater Honda that is 15+ years old, you're going to run into situations where you might need a computer to diagnose when something is wrong. If you want a true positive, think of this: A first gen Z is only going to go UP in value the longer you have it. Sure, it may never be a prize winning show car, but every year that goes by, assuming you take car of it, it will go up in value. Okay, now you have to be honest and look at the downside. If you truely want an inexpensive yet dependable car... head down to the local Hyundia Dealership and get yourself a 100K warranty new car. If you're going to buy a used car, any used car with over ~50K miles, you're going to have to expect things to fail. It's a trade off; pay every month for reliability, or pay every once in a while as things wear out. With Z's, it's pretty well noted (here and other places) it's shortcomings. Rust is probably the number one issue, and it can be more than just a "beauty" issue. I'm talking potentially serious rust issues, enough to comprimise the vehicles safety. Z's with this much rust can be very expensive to repair. If you're talking about using this car as a daily driver in the south or southwest, you're probably going to be okay. But if you expect to drive this thing up north, where roads are regularly salted during winter, bad things are going to happen... fast. Some parts on these things can get expensive simply because they are no longer made. Most of them are on the cosmetic side, but others not. You'll find yourself junkyard searching and eBay shopping as time goes by. If that's not your thing, then a Z might not be the best choice for you. That being said, there are an amazing number of parts that can be ordered via catalog. If you want an idea, order a Victoria British catalog (free) or MSA catalog ($5) and you'll get a good idea of what's available and what's not. To wrap things up, I cant tell you yes or no. I don't think anyone here can. You are talking to a very biased crowd! Of my first 4 cars, all were older than I was. Sure, they had problems but I've always enjoyed fixing them. Now that I'm older, I still enjoy fixing my cars, but I have the old car to fix when I want to, not as my daily driver. Do you have tools? Do you have a place you can work on the car (garage)? In some neighborhoods, working on your own car is verboten. Sad, isn't it? I'm sure this rambling didn't help much, but hopefully it will give you some food for thought. My last thought (promise) is that you only go around once in this life. If you buy something because it's practical... will you regret it later? Be young, be stupid... follow your heart and not your head. At least you'll have an excuse; "Hey, I was young and stupid!"

JMHO, but I would be REALLY leary of anyone who would refuse to take more photos, ESPECIALLY if they didn't allow anyone to see the car. Sounds like he's sucker shopping on eBay.

Have you determined a price?

Could we possibly convince you to post a few pictures, and maybe even do a little write up for those of us here that do not get SportZMagazine? Would love to see and read a little about it.

I'd be in for a pair ('73). Personally, having the grain would be nice but I'd be satisfied with smooth if it kept the cost down.

thx boyz. The PO definitely hacked the console but good. Not only are the two tabs gone, but the center support structure (that sits under the radio) is gone as well. Not a biggie, I suppose I can whip up some home made tabs for a hinge. All low priority.

Thx Carl. As the sleeve piece is so thin, I wasnt sure it was "threaded" or not. At first sight it doesnt appear to be, or if it is, it's only going to grab one set of threads on that screw. But then again, I suppose it doesn't need alot, just to stay in place. Might be a little tougher to find though. I'm gonna email the guys at ZTherapy again and see if I get a response this time.

Hmmm... okay, well then the PO definitely cut out some of the center console as I have no hinge anything. I suppose I can make a hinge though. No hurry, but if you happen to think of it next time you have the camera in the car, a pic would be great.

My parts would be 109 and 119, parts 115 & 116 should be the fast idle stop screw and spring which I also dont have. Are the bolt and screw 117 &118 what you are referring to? If that's all it needs, I should be able to use any ample sized bolt and nut, correct?

DUMAS question #2 for today: For those who don't recognize these, they are the throttle linkage pin (one with the forked end) and the sleeve which are mounted within the two lobes on the intake manifold crossover tube. What I do not know is, it appears as though these two holes align when fitted. To secure the sleeves position (keep it from slipping) is a bolt passed through this hole? A pin with "C" or "E" clamp? Cotter pin? I am trying to restore the original linkage which is missing a few parts. I tried emailing ZTherapy for help on this but got no reply.

Okay, another small question. This is the mod my PO made: Best I can tell, he cut some material from the end (dash side) of the Fuse cover panel. It also appears that he trimmed part of the center console in order to get the EQ (kids, remember them?) unit to fit. I'd like to dump the EQ unit (sounds like junk and is a wiring mess), but what I dont know is this: (1973) Did the original cover go all the way up to the dash (ie, under the radio bottom lip)? How was this cover secured? Hinged? Clipped? If it was secured or did not go all the way to the dash I'll forget trying to locate a replacement panel and concentrate on making up a panel insert, maybe strick a switch or two in to make it look more functional. If anyone has a closeup shot of this console area and/or how this panel is secured, I would greatly appreciate it!

Damn, I only wish my floorpans looked that good! :squareeye