Sirpent

Youre a good man Bro, But for the Melbourne boys, red boat flair taped to the rear bumber bar, remove interior rear trims, get a mate to ride shot gun and watch the rear area, light it up and head down the road, should find the source LOL

If anything this will only increase the problem as what happens is an even lower pressure pocket is created at the tail area due to air disruption over the spoiler, you end up with a very high vacuum effect so any exhaust gases that might be leaching in through any of the unsealed ares around the hatch will increase. Many will have also noticed that their tail lamps seem to fowl up from carbon deposits directly above the tail pipe area, it may not even be the gasket and an inspection of the rust prone area where the upper locking panel meets the tail lamp panel may show a rust hole, remember it doesn't need much of a hole to allow gas into the cabin considering the gas volume produced in the form of exhaust. Another entry point although unlikely may be the hinge boots, as the hinge assy's sit within the turret reinforcement are open to the cabin, if the boots have perished they could allow the flow of gases even if they seem water tight. Exhaust gases in a well fitted exhaust system therefore could only emanate from the tail, the vacuum pocket created by the rear design of the cars acts as a collector of these gasses, so the entry point is most likely in the rear seal joint area's, but as I mentioned before the culprit here is most likely the 1/4 vents which allow for a continuous loss of cabin air and which in turn creates a vacuum effect drawing through any poor seal points.

Rev Good to see you on line and hope all is well. At speed, external air pressure is higher and therefore the internal air is actually sucked out, much like cabin depressurisation in a plane, there is an exhaust of the internal air and contents towards the opening. Therefore, the cabin is leaking fumes at some point into the cabin but moreso when this volumetric air change occurs due to an open window. I think one of the fundamental problems with the Zed's are the 1/4 panel external vents, these were designed to allow air pressure dispersion from the inside of a vehicle when the doors were closed swiftly causing and increase in cabin pressure and working against the closure of the door, in modern cars these vents are usually places in the lower section of the quarter panels behind the bar cover and have a louvered trap allowing air out but not back in. Our vents don't have this feature, so at speed they leach cabin air outwards and in turn this is the reason for the vacuum effect in the rear sucking exhaust gases back in. You have a leak in the rear, where from is the question, but the effects of the open window will cause an increase and if a leak is there it will always seem evident in some way due to the 1/4 vents. Cheers John

Looks tougher less busy, well done Scoota

Hell Im almost 46 ! Ive watched every episode of most 70's shows like Columbo, The Night Stalker, Starsky and Hutch, Black Sheep, Star Trek, Lost in Space, Giligans Isle, Get Smart, The Beverley Hillbillies, Green Acres, The Box, Matlock Police, Pettycoat Junction, Cop Shop, Division 4, Homicide, Solo One, Class of 74, Number 96, Skyways, Bonanza, The Lone Ranger, hell there are so many, lets not even start on the 80's LMAO

Linton 240/260and U.S. 280 "Z" guards are all fundamentally the same, if you meant 280ZX then the answer is no. Cheers John

God speed and hurry back Rev !

I support Simon 100% on this matter ! And with all respect to Gav the creator of the site, I have to say it again for what ever it is worth. This forum in many respects oustrips a lot of the other Z forums on the WWW as far as damn good informative innovative technical information and support, where it lacks however is in the way that some of this information particularly in visual terms is free source. Go join Hybrid Z, or MBWorld.org where I am also a member and try and access my posts, unless you are a member and enjoy trying to decipher reams of text I can guarantee you will become bored very quickly. On other sites, access to even posted technical attachments cannot be accessed. This simple machines platform is pretty versatile for smaller forums, but what is accumulating here as far as technical matter is going beyond its versatility, I owned a SC400 Lexus/Soarer and was a member on PlanetSoarer some years ago, their technical threads and archives are brilliant and something that would work great for this membership. BUT, this all costs money and as I have said before, if a member logs on here once and looks for answers or approaches another member for assistance the value could run into $100's, I get numerous PM's on body questions and would hope that the advice I have given has paid off to those members who have registered and been able to PM me, and if any of you are reading this maybe you could back up this argument. Peter, Lurch, David, NZ Mike, Dimitri, My Bro Loui !, Mick from SA, Rev, Benny, Simon 1 and Simon 2, hell the list goes on have all shared not only their knowledge with me but also been there on a personal level on countless occasions, and I was once a newbie also but was welcomed and hopefully added to the experience here as much as I have gained from it. Its not about locking ppl out of the forum, its about taking it to the next stage, a stage it deserves but also protecting the intellectual knowledge and investment people give this site every day and the personal risks they may face as a consequence of that, Peter's situation is a prime example. If everyone wants this to just serve as a social chat forum, that's fine, if ppl want to help build one of the best Z sites world wide then its time we all stood up dipped our hands in our pockets on an annual basis and give Gav the chance to take it to a new platform with realistic features so that the input on the site continues not just to better it and our experience but also archive our achievements and knowledge for the next generation. Last year my son almost died, the outpouring of support from individuals here was overwhelming and it touched me in a way that one night I cried while sitting next to my comatose son in intensive care while surfing the forum on my mobile, point is he pulled out of it and the car will be his one day, I hope that he will continue my legacy with the car in 30 years from now when the rest of us are sitting in a retirement home toothless and wheel chair bound reminiscing about the days when a litre of fuel was $4.00. That my wish for this site, my car and my son. Nuf said.

+1 Simon D Hinch Im sure Peter will enlighten us as to how and from where this scum monitored things later tonight, should make for interesting reading. Cheers John

This should be easy, now we have an all points bulliten on the car and driver, start collecting rego's people.

Its was his private residence And on the rest of your points, I beg to differ and its not a personal thing, we all have a right to our opinions.

Pics are a must Graig, Well done look forward to seeing the mods. Cheers John

OK, I'm going out on a limb here, and its not to bash you statement blue and black but rather look at the facts here, let me play Columbo for a minute. A: Peter lives some 100 km's outside of Metro Melbourne B: He has never had a break in C: He had a family emergency with his daughter the night / day in question D: Anyone even dreaming of breaking in to Peters place while he was asleep would have to be nuts considering Pete's sporting background. E: It comes right after Roberto's motor is finished and Dyno'd F: I doubt someone would have driven all the way out to Pete's place and staked the place out. G: The parts stolen where random, Yes albeit for a L series they grabbed what was available. Would you risk breaking in for a lucky dip scenario or would you bee looking at a bigger prize for the effort ? In all likelyhood the parts stolen where as a consequence of Roberto's motor not being there, they are too distinct to be used as we all agree and would stand out a mile, if Roberto's motor had gone however, that would be a different case because apart from the ancillary gear hanging off it, who could pick it by the block rocker cover etc? I doubt anyone will see these parts on a car period, maybe way down the track they may attempt to sell them off somehow, realistically someone was following the progress on Roberto's motor and saw a chance to strike but ended up with consolation prizes instead. But Pete's drama is not the only one, in the last year, how many fly by nighters have rattled members cages with crude remarks, parts sales, etc etc etc. People membership is a privilege not a right, and protection of valued members is paramount be it their intellectual or contributory input.

Well said Simon, I concur with you, I have found while even attempting to do research on non Z sites that in order to see pics at the very least you must be an active registered member. If nothing else at least that feature would deter would-be guests from visually seeing the work that's out there and force people to register. Also with all respect to Gav, and appreciating the cost of running this site, I don't think the platform is the best, and should there be a chance to upgrade it I am 100% certain that the majority of members would contribute to an annual forum membership fee. My 5 cents worth. Cheers John

+1 Simon We can beat our heads against the wall and argue this point over and over and over again ending up in diplomacyabout the forum being open to all. Spoke to Peter tonight on the phone, this was a well planned or should I say well timed break in, as I said earlier most probably a forum reader involved, well if you are reading this you sorry excuse for scum, it will come back to bite you and those aint big words behind a firewall over the net eaither. Go on bring it on, register using some false id's and come speak to us F*CKWIT.

This is what concerns me about forums, I know that 99.9% are enthusiasts, but you have to wonder what idea's unscrupulous guests get when they see some of the work and assets owned by members. I would have to say that because Pete is so prominent on this forum, the possibility exists that the F*CKERS read about his work and goods on here. A sad day if it is the case, that's why I suggest that if you buy or selling on here from other members, don't post your address in public. Cheers John

Pete Not a flipent comment, but when you find out give me a call, I feel like taking a drive !

Good call peter He actually mentions adding dampening to one end (Rear in my scenario) while hard mounting the other (Front in my scenario) http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/detailfs?userid={7DC317B0-8EDB-4B2E-A837-F708D07C9769}&ndx=4&slideshow=0&AlbumId={309A8989-EFAC-4199-BC0D-20A43798D8B5}&GroupId=&screenheight=1024 Makes perfect sense, I should have thought about it in unisen as opposed to just the rear cradle, as he states, the solid mounted end actually absorbs the stresses and of course this translates to movement, that movement eventually leads to fatigue of the mounts and eventual failure, simple engineering. Even though the front mounts will be dampened to an extent due to the control arm pivot bushes, the mount does nevertheless hard mount to the chassis, it is only the compressed bushes that dampen the arms torsional stresses, therefore even if the rear carrier was dampened at the bolt points, this would still add stress to the forward mount and most probably lead to bolt fatigue and failure. Think this has been done to death now and I will just go solid rear mount. That cradle is along the lines of what Im thinking for the lower section but is obviously a cut and shut of the orifginal components, good indicator however. Thanks for all the input guys, well done. Cheers John

I'd say its Hi-Fill Mick if it went over etch But its grey which made me ask, do you guys use Dupont? I know they have a grey Hi-Fill.

Damn David, Burst my balloon again, I thought this was an original idea !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What are your thoughts on the the latest assumption about not dampening the carrier?

Nice Mick ! New shiny bits and a smooth body to boot ! What is the material he sprayed on? Just a regualr hi-fill? Cheers John

Valid point. The carrier would act no differently from what a front engine cross member would and adding dampening to the hang points would be a waste of time as the diff and control arms would be insulated using poly dampeners/bushes. Cheers John

Fine Fine, OK Boys then I will have to see what I can design just don't want that beam becoming too active as it will be dealing with suspension and differentail forces at the same time. I will let one of you test drive it and the other ride shotgun on the test run while I watch for the arse end to fall out and the obligatory trail of sparks as it drags along the tarmac LOL

Not going to waffle on, one word covers it all INSANE !

Thanks Guys The thumbnail sketch is just that and did a lot of measurements today of the original Z components so as to start a CAD file of the assy. At this stage an exhaust notch has to be added, also as mentioned, and the rear carrier will have to include a centralised "Kick Out" on the upper beam to facilitate the rear diff mounting point. I can now see that this entire unit will be in 2 sections the lower boxed frame supporting the control arms and the rear carrier. Some design changes will mean that the lower control arm pivot depressions will be built into the carrier and the cross beam will also have these so as to dispense with singular clamps. I did stuff up as I drew the front carrier upsaid down showing 2 separate clamps when in fact the body has the pivot depressions build into them meaning the front beam will be a single unit with a mirror image. All in all however clearances look very good and it may allow me to incorporate diagonal supports also running from the upper carrier down to the lower front beam, this triangulation should make it a more robust assy, but will see as I get closer with the CAD drawings. My only thoughts now are about the rear carrier mount points, the old moustache par pivots will work well but I'm also going to see if I can incorporate the remaining redundant hanger bolt points also, this will give me a 6 bolt point assy for the carrier, question is solid mount or incorporate a thin poly washer at each bolt point? Any suggestions? Cheers John