Congrats man glad to see you finally found a Z!! She purrrrdy

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1984 Z31 Turbo

Thanks Justin!!

Almost forgot...

My brother, that car is FAR too sexy for you.

Don't you feel guilty??

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1970 240Z

This is just the beginning..

Just found out the PO didn't actually change the Timing Belt...guess what just became my #1 priority as soon as I get out of school in April?

Until then, I'll be sourcing a belt, new water pump, and some other odds and ends to switch out while I've got it dismantled.

P.S. I finally got around to looking at YOU ~ nice shirt!

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1970 240Z

I figured putting it first would "give a face to the name"...

Looks like I've managed to "give a car to the name"..

When the Zs first came out, undercoating was not a factory option, so you had to get it done either at your dealer or from Ziebart or some similar company where you lived. Zs used for performance contests didn't want that of course, because it added a lot of weight to the car and covered over some important nuts and bolts which needed occasional wrenching.

My 240 had a good Ziebart undercoating when I first got it, which might be why it has lasted this long. Lucky #13, on the other hand, appears never to have been 'coated, and is in better condition than any other 240Z survivor I've ever seen. Go figure.

Anyway, my point is that your excellent undercoating application has WITHOUT A DOUBT saved your ZXT from the Tinworm. It should last you many years into the future.

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1970 240Z

Thanks Frank!

My original thoughts before purchasing the car included getting it re-undercoated. But after seeing the condition of it and realizing there are better ways to spend the money, that's going to wait.

Does anyone know how/where the water gets in to the spare wheel well?

More than likely worn hatch seals, that's where I would check first.

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John Taddonio
1970 240Z
1977 530Z
1984 300ZXT
zcarnut@hotmail.com
FB: Zccr zcarclubofrochester

FWIW, after a 1.5 hour drive in the pouring rain the only area that was moist was the actual well.

If the hatch seals were worn wouldn't that create for wet carpets and more than likely rust on the corners of the hatch?

Where would you check second?

I'm trying to picture where the spare tire well is, in relation to the rear wheel. If it's directly behind it, my guess would be roadspray from the wheel. That little rubber hockey puck plug in the bottom of the well might not be sealing completely. Your spare might give you a clue ~ if its only wet on the bottom, I'd bet on the rubber plug. If it shows signs of 'dribble' from above, I'd look elsewhere.

Water, mice and ants are insidious. They'll get in anywhere, sometimes no matter what you try.

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1970 240Z

Frank, my gut is telling me you're right...again. We're sharing common thoughts on this one.

Spare is directly behind the rear. It's got rust residue on the bottom. By the time that I "found" the well, it either had dried up or was never wet in the first place. The plug has a slight tear in it, and this might well be it.

Just wanted to make sure I was covering my bases.

Not big enough for mice, yes for ants though.

When we painted the well with rust over paint we painted right over the plug, when I come home for easter we plan to put the rubber undercoating and paint it.

Try resealing the tail lights and quarter windows. It's a common problem and causes most of the rust back there. Gotta do mine as well.

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1984 Z31 Turbo