2ManyZs

In most cases rust in the rear quarter panels is relatively cheap and easy to repair, not only can you get a full panel but there are also small sections available. Biggest thing to be watching for is evidence the rust may be in more than just the outer quarter panel itself. Look inside the wheel well around the lip and see if it in the inner fender as well, and be sure to check the dog leg in front of the wheel well too. If it is just in the outer panels it's going to be a lot easier than if it has spread to the inner fender or rocker panel area. Inner fender panels are available , but there goes the easy and inexpensive idea.

I believe I remember seeing replacement pads for the seats but can't remember exactly where. Check out the web-links here, I think it may have been Bonzai Motorworks or Too Intense Restorations. I have seen the seat straps and padding so with replacement covers you would have everthing you need to restore the seats. You could also check strictlyz.com.

As far as the your question on the radiator support, there are two places I know of that have the radiator support. They are Victoria British here in the US and Four Ways Engineering in the UK. The radiator support is not going to be inexpensive though, probably 400 dollars or more. It might help to see a pic of yours if possible so that we could form an opinion on what your best course of action might be, repair or replace. A lot depends on exactly where the rusted out area is, and if it may have spread to or from the frame rail. Since there are so few Z's in your country I doubt that finding one in a salvage yard would be likely.

You can use most any sheet steel but don't get a sheet with a coating or alumized (like tail pipe tubing), you should be able to get this a most af the big hardware chains like Lowe's or Home Depot for a 24x 24 inch sheet. As far as the gauge of the panels you will need. I believe there were three thicknesses of metal used on a Z, they were 22,20 and 18 gauge. Shamefully a lot of areas that should have been 18 gauge were the thinner gauge and caused a lot of cars to go the great "parts place" in the sky before they should have. If I'm mistaken on the gauges of the panels someone correct me. And to add to your welding post, I believe a Mig welder is the better choice for novice welders over a TIG, especially when it comes to welding thin body panels. If possible use a MIG with the shielding gas as you will do a lot less grinding and have nicer welds than the flux core wire. TIG is too expensive for the amateur, and if you will only need it once in a while MIG is the way to go. I've had a good bit of welding with my little cheap MIG and have tried to TIG weld, it is not an easy technique to learn.

Backfiring through the carbs is usaully caused by the timing being to far advanced. It is trying to fire while the intake valve is still partially open. This is the one that will cause the most damage to an engine, since you not only have the flash, but some of the compression is being released into the intake and back through the carbs. The old trick of cutting the key off just pumps raw fuel mixture into the exhaust, no ignition, no fire, so it gets exhausted. Then when you re-fire it, it will ignite in the exhaust. Won't cause as much damage, but I have seen mufflers burst their seems if this is done too many times. I ran a straight exhaust on my ITS car, and as fas as I know it didn't throw any fire out, if it had people wouldn't have been trying to push my slow car out of the way so much.:tapemouth

ZMeFly, don't even think about asking me to go to California to pick that one up for you. But then this one might be driveable. Still like the red one better. Alphadog, I'm not even going to make a comment on the purple one. None needed with a price tag like that:tapemouth

IMO I think you might want to either stay with what you have or update to a Zx dist. with the 12-80. It would be cheaper in the long run to just go with a new stock dist. and update to an MSD later on. You would need to get the magnetic trigger adapter to go with the MSD so it will fire the injectors. Nothing really wrong with the stock dist. except that your vacuum advance is supposedly not working. Actually, if the vacuum advance is n't working it should have more effect on the higher RPM's and not under 3K.

Hey Kmack, it's RED!!!!! Now, aren't you glad you did all that sanding? Ok, so it looks better than mine now, are you happy yet?? :tapemouth

Darn good question. I think the front hubs will interchange but not absolutely sure. The only difference I'm aware of in the rear control arm is the sway bar mount. They all use the same bushing, so there is no difference there. I believe the 240's and 280's all had the same rear track dimension so there shouldn't be a problem there. The only difference between the two that I know for sure of is the diameter and length of the strut housing and that has nothing to do with the control arm. I was always under the assumption that the rear control arm was actually one control arm that was just flipped over for the other side. But we all know what the first word in assume is don't we?

Should be a spring that connects to the exhaust heat shield just in front to the rear carb. If you still have the heat shield in place look for the hook on it and that's where to connect your return spring. And a throttle that won't return definately makes it too dangerous to drive.

Just one problem zep, the link won't open. I've seen the 2 vids, wouldn't mind seeing a little more of this car.

It did me too, that's why I had someone that knew what they were doing set mine up. Good luck finding a lower gear than 4:11 for an R-200, they are getting hard to find. There is an alternative, an R-180 out of a 720 4x4 pickup will have a 4.37:1 diff in the front. The years are 6/79 through 12/82. And the 720 longbed 4x4 from 6/79 through 6/80 had an R-180 with a 4.62:1 diff in the front. Of course they may be a little hard to find in a junkyard, but they will be cheaper and lighter than the R-200.

Looks good, if you don't take it let me know where it is in Maryland.

Never know, traffic reports can be helpful at times. :tapemouth

If it isn't warped rotors it may be in the calipers or pads themselves. If it isn't in the brakes (more than likely is) the tension compression rod bushings can also be a major factor. Pull the front pads and look for any signs of odd wear. While you have the pads out have someone very gently apply the brakes (you might want to put a screwdriver or something between the piston and rotor so the piston does not come all the way out) just to be sure you don't have a piston that is sticking. If that looks OK, you might as well pull the rotors and have them turned or replaced. Clean and re-pack the bearings and replace the grease seal and if the problem still is there after all that, it's in the bushings. The lower control arm bushings could also contribute to the problem along with bad T/C bushings. Like Jeremiah said, it could also be in the ball joints, tie rod ends, rack bushings as well. Might as well plan on spending an afternoon checking it all at one time.

That is the one thing I always loved about the old Z's, you can't lock your keys in the car!

Save your money on the Splitfires, I used them and saw absolutely no difference between them and just a set of NGK's. You might want to use a set of the resistor plugs so that you don't have to worry about any radio interference.

Well, Jeff Werth told me after changing the ring and pinion in mine that he would rather do 10 R-180 swaps than to do another R-200. The R-200 uses shims to set the pinion depth and it's a long drawn out process to get it right.

The rod from the inside handle should have an adjustment on it. There is a lock nut on the opposite side from the spring on the inside handle frame, but I can't remember if you can get to it or if you have to unbolt the handle assembly from the door and lay it down inside the door to get to the nut. There is also and adjustment on the vertical rod at the back of the door too, it's a PITA to get in there but it is there. You might try to unclip the handle rod at the back of the door and taking the whole thing out and take some of the slack out that way.

I can answer part of the question. WOT would be wide open throttle. The cold start injector acts as a choke on fuel injected cars. The water and air temp sensors tell the ECU when the engine is cold, and the cold start injector then adds extra fuel just as an electric choke would. I have no experience with the turbo manifolds or engines, but it would seem to me there would be quite a few differences. Prices would probably be determined by whether it's a bare manifold, or if it has the injectors and associated hardware on it. I'd say anywhere from 50 for a bare one up to a couple hundred depending on how much is offered with it.

Hmm, I drive a pick-up and a tractor trailer.

The only thing I did differently when removing the bushings was that I used an air hammer with a chisel bit to remove the outer sleeve. Used a round file to clean up the one or two small nicks from the air hammer and used it to clean out any rust so the new bushings would slide in easier. On the front I also had a problem getting the new bushings to fit into the frame. What I did was to take a piece of 1/2 inch all thread rod with two large flat washers and two nuts and used it as a spreader on the frame. Put the all thread rod thru the mounting holes with the flat washer and nuts on the inside and tighten the nuts against the frame. It didn't take much to spread the frame enough that the control arm slid right in with the thicker urethane bushings, they are just thick enough to make it very difficult to get past the lip on the frame. All in all, good advice XYZ.

Where in Virginia are you moving to and why not bring the car? We need more decent cars on the east coast!!!

Well, here's my 2 cents. Street car only-LSD Street car once in a while autocross-LSD Purpose built autocross/race car-Quaiffe Reason? Quaiffe is a full lockup diff, the LSD will always have a little slip unless you shim the clutch packs. Better to not have a full lock up if you are driving on the street in the rain, the Quaiffe is not like a Detroit locker but it will lock up solid in certain circumstances, the LSD should not. Besides the LSD should be a little cheaper. I just saw on Arizona Z cars site where they were selling R-200 LSD diffs from Japan for 775, that's a couple hundred less than the Quaiffe unit itself.

It will most likely work, but the main question is why? You already have a turbo, so why spend thousands (yep, that's what you'd be looking at) just for a little gain? You'd have to lighten, re-balance, polish the crank, then change pistons to get the compression back down so you don't blow the head off when the boost kicks in. All in all, with the labor involved and the cost, I don't think it would be a worthwhile investment. Better to stick with what you have and maybe invest in an intercooler, and perhaps see how you could turn up the boost a little. Sorry, but IMO it would be a waste of time and money, especially money. Just adding an intercooler (if you don't have one already that is) would boost your performance as much as the stroker crank.