If you own a first generation Z (S30, 1970-1978) at this point your car is 40+ years old, with the earliest 240Zs rapidly approaching the 50-year mark.
 |
| The early Z benefits from regular use |
Your Z's maintenance and care may not have been such a big issue back in 1972, because by 1972 standards the Z was fairly well engineered and built to be reliable. Daily use would benefit the Z and any problems that cropped up with mechanical components would be addressed as they happened.
Vintage cars are fighting two battles: first they are old, which means that many of the original components and systems may be old and subject to failure, for example, a 40-year old wiring harness. Second, vintage cars are typically driven very few miles and can sit for extended periods of time (including winter storage) and lack of use and storage causes multiple problems. These two battles exist regardless if your car is original or restored, as a restored car will begin to deteriorate over time, and restorations always vary in quality and extensiveness.
At this point, if you have an early Z, you now have an investment that could be worth $15-50k and its a wise decision to protect your investment. Here are some things that you can do:
1. Look at the owners manual and the factory service recommendations and try to follow them. When your Z is no longer your primary vehicle, it is easy to over look simple maintenance items because the thought train is that "I'm not putting many miles on this car, so it doesn't need much attention." Many service items will specify mileage OR age, which means that you need to replace your antifreeze at 24,000 miles OR two years, which ever comes first. It's not likely you will drive 24,000 miles, so pay more attention now to the time intervals.
2. Your Z has grease fittings- use them! At the time you do an oil change, this is the time to inject grease into the grease fittings on the front end and rear axles. You should cover the front ball joints, tie rod ends and rack and pinion grease ports. At the rear of the car, the 4 universal joints. Note that for the U-joints, a needle type grease fitting will be much easier to use than the nipple type. If your tie rods don't have grease ports, you can still inject grease under the boot with a special needle injector.
3. Bleed your brakes and clutch, at least every 2 years. Brakes are a major system on the Z and you will have nothing but problems with your hydraulic system if you leave old brake fluid in for too long. Standard glycol brake fluid absorbs moisture and will eventually damage the master cylinder, calipers and wheel cylinders. If your Z is driven very little and stored frequently consider using DOT5 silicone fluid, which is a better choice for show cars.
4. Upgrade your alternator and install headlight relays. The stock alternator on the Z was relatively low output (45A) and also used an external (technical) voltage regulator. You will notice on early Z's that the headlights may dim at idle and get brighter as rpm go up. You can actually run down the battery running the blower motor at full speed, with the headlamps on. If you've added a newer car stereo that will draw more power, as will any halogen headlamps. I can't promise this will happen to you, but at one point my very old voltage regulator stuck causing very high voltage surge which blew out almost every bulb on the car. This included both headlights, marker lamps, tail lights etc. The worst of this was the instrument lamps. If you've ever replaced the instrument lamps on a 240, you will know what I mean. Do yourself a favor, upgrade to a 60A alternator with an internal voltage regulator. Adding headlight relays will also save your headlight switch and fuse box from damaging heat and current. These are relatively inexpensive upgrades that will protect your electrical system from future havoc.
5. Fix little problems before they become big ones. That small oil or coolant leak won't get better on its own. If the car is losing coolant, you risk overheating and warping the cylinder head. Similarly make sure your sending units (temp. and oil pressure) are operating properly and remember to scan them when you're driving.
6. Replace in pairs. For items that have a left and right, when one unit fails the other is not far behind. If your LH front caliper goes bad, you should replace both the left and the right. Always do struts in pairs, although you don't need to do the front and rear at the same time, you can space these out over a year or two if you wish.
7. Replace items at the end of their lifespan or before. If you know a certain component has a limited lifespan, for example a radiator hose, don't wait for it to fail. Just replace it by virtue of the fact that it is old. The same goes for fuel tank hoses, and any fuel hoses under the hood, which are subject to more heat.
8. Replace or restore multiple systems together if it saves you time vs. doing them independently. For example, if you need to replace your header or exhaust manifold, that is a great time to rebuild your carbs. Or if you need to rebuild the carbs, and your headers are old, it will be much more work to do them later. When it comes time to do rear struts, that is a great time to also do the stub axle bearings, and rear control arm bushings. By combining these jobs you will save time and money in the long run and have better reliability.
9. Refinish assemblies when they are out. Because your Z has gone up so much in value, and isn't being driven that much, it's a great idea to refinish components (either by power coating, or using POR) on suspension components, subframe assemblies etc. This is more work, time and money but you will be preserving your car for years to come by refinishing these components.
10. Get your Z up on a lift. This should be done regularly, at least annually to inspect all systems from under the car- exhaust, engine, trans. , differential carrier, brakes etc. You will see hidden problems before they leave you on the side of the road.
11. Drive your car! Your car will go bad from sitting too much. Fuel turns to varnish. Seals dry out. My '71 was barely driven 1,000 miles in 10 years. Here is what went bad: distributor (lack of regular oiling caused worn shaft bushings), brakes (wheel cylinders, calipers, master cylinder), fuel hoses (dry rot), carbs (gummed up), water pump failed (gasket dried out), oil pan leak. Tires can also develop flat spots and will go bad just from age. Try to drive your Z 2,000-5,000 miles a year. I realize that mileage can affect value, but if you let your car sit, you've spent money on something that you don't use, and it's systems will deteriorate further reducing your value!
12. Keep a maintenance journal. Keeping a record of what you have replaced or serviced will help you remember what to do in the future. You should also make notes of known problems that you plan to fix later on, so that you don't forget about them.
