It’s not buyer’s remorse, exactly, but more like buyer’s indifference. I bought this car in March on Bring a Trailer for $29,000, and now I have three classic cars, which is at least one more than necessary, given that I do all my own work. And I have only a two-car garage. I like the Z, and I’ve always wanted one, but I’ve done a lot of work on the others over the years, so it’s harder to let them go.
Here’s the good: Rust-free—really!—except for a little surface rust at the edges of the inner lips of the wheel arches. Compression excellent, at 145-150 for all cylinders. Valves adjusted. New brake master cylinder. I have a fair number of original purchase and service documents from over the years.
Here are the issues, all of which were there when I bought it: It doesn’t run perfectly. When I bought it, the mixture jets were gunky, so they wouldn’t go up when the choke was off, and the plugs were black. I’ve rebuilt the carbs, so that problem is solved, the plugs look good now, and it runs much better, but it’s still not as smooth as I would like when idling at 750 or so in gear. When I bought it, the timing was also way off. I’ve fixed the static timing, but I haven’t worked on the dynamic timing. The distributor is not original, I don’t think—only one set of points—so this is the next thing I’ll take a look at.
After installation of the master cylinder, the brakes seem to be pulsing a little. It appears to be coming from the front, which is a little odd, because it wasn’t there with the old master cylinder, which leaked the fluid from the rear circuit but was fine in the front. Maybe I need to bleed again, but I don’t think of pulsing as a symptom of air in the system. And if the rotors are warped, presumably that’s not new. Weird, but I imagine I'll figure it out.
The heater fan and radio do not work. Again, this was the case when I bought it, though it was not noted in the BaT listing (probably because the seller never checked). It could be just fuses, but I haven’t started checking.
Many pictures and more info on the Bring a Trailer page.
As I said, I’m more or less indifferent about whether I sell it, so I don’t want to take a loss, especially as I think I got a pretty good deal given the great condition of the body. But I’m not looking to make money, either, so I’d sell it for what I have in it, which with the BaT fee and sales tax is $32,500. It’s in Falmouth, Mass.
Mark
![Wheel Tire Automotive parking light Vehicle Land vehicle]()
Here’s the good: Rust-free—really!—except for a little surface rust at the edges of the inner lips of the wheel arches. Compression excellent, at 145-150 for all cylinders. Valves adjusted. New brake master cylinder. I have a fair number of original purchase and service documents from over the years.
Here are the issues, all of which were there when I bought it: It doesn’t run perfectly. When I bought it, the mixture jets were gunky, so they wouldn’t go up when the choke was off, and the plugs were black. I’ve rebuilt the carbs, so that problem is solved, the plugs look good now, and it runs much better, but it’s still not as smooth as I would like when idling at 750 or so in gear. When I bought it, the timing was also way off. I’ve fixed the static timing, but I haven’t worked on the dynamic timing. The distributor is not original, I don’t think—only one set of points—so this is the next thing I’ll take a look at.
After installation of the master cylinder, the brakes seem to be pulsing a little. It appears to be coming from the front, which is a little odd, because it wasn’t there with the old master cylinder, which leaked the fluid from the rear circuit but was fine in the front. Maybe I need to bleed again, but I don’t think of pulsing as a symptom of air in the system. And if the rotors are warped, presumably that’s not new. Weird, but I imagine I'll figure it out.
The heater fan and radio do not work. Again, this was the case when I bought it, though it was not noted in the BaT listing (probably because the seller never checked). It could be just fuses, but I haven’t started checking.
Many pictures and more info on the Bring a Trailer page.
As I said, I’m more or less indifferent about whether I sell it, so I don’t want to take a loss, especially as I think I got a pretty good deal given the great condition of the body. But I’m not looking to make money, either, so I’d sell it for what I have in it, which with the BaT fee and sales tax is $32,500. It’s in Falmouth, Mass.
Mark
