Could use some help/advice with the Z!

[z28man]

Hey guys, I wish my first post was on a more optomistic note, but oh well. I could really use some help with the Z. I drive a 97' 30th anniversery z28, white with orange stripes, kind of hard to miss. My mechanic lives in Panama City and recently replaced my rear main seal and told me both head gaskets were blown also. Well, at the time I didnt have the money or time to get it fixed. So he told me Id be ok for another month or two and to just come back in town when I could and hed fix it for $600-650 parts and labor. A month or two on blown head gaskets?!?!?! I had no choice but to drive it back to Tally. Now it runs like shit. Everytime I drive it stumbles horribly at idle and part throttle. I dont know of any good mechanics around here so I was hoping you guys had some suggestions/recommendations. Also, should I just not drive it till its time to get fixed. Guess I could just ride the bus to campus. Anyway, I just didnt think it was a good idea to continue driving her with blown head gaskets, dispite what my mechanic says. The odd thing is, before I took it in, it was leaking oil but running just fine!

[brandboZ28]

Alright, another LTWinner.

Hmmm, Is there water in yout oil? Is there white smoke coming out of the tailpipes? Are you losing water out of the radiator? If I were you, I would go to AutoZone and rent a coolant compression tester(cost $75 to rent but you get that back) and just make sure you have the blown head gaskets. Also a regular compression tester wouldnt hurt either to see if its only one side thats messed up. If it is infact the head gaskets, there are a few of us here that could do the work for alot cheaper than any shop in town. Most of us just charge pizza and beer:lol: If you can, you should get your codes run and see if the car has thrown any. I dont know how many miles is on that opti of yours but thats kinda what it sounds like what mine was doing. But whenever you get ready to get it fixed, let us know, Im sure a few of us would be more than willing to help instead of you having to go to a shop. Lata

Oh, by the way, welcome aboard.

EDIT-Driving it will only make things worse so if you could, just park it until you can get it fixed.

[Highway Hero]

7mgtes (my motor)are king of the blown head gasket...Do like bo says and try not to drive it.600 for labor is pretty steep if he is only taking off the heads and slapping a oem on on there.For my car a good metal head gasket cost less than 150 and im sure that the ones for the z28 cost much less due to the fact that more were produced so the product can be sold in larger batches for less... There is a machine shop in town i think its called buddys. If you did manage to warp your heads or block you might need them decked.All in all it should be less than 400 with better than stock parts if you or the guys in the club do the labor. You might even be able to lower or raise your compression while your at it by head gasket size/ how much you get machined off if you need it. Hope this helps.

Eric

[z28man]

Yes, you guys have definetly helped. Thanks for the support. Once my loans come in, I would definetly make it worth some of you guys while to help me out. I havnet noticed any white smoke as of yet but I really havent looked for it. Im not losing water out of the radiator, but the low coolant light stays on constantly like I am. When I had it in the shop the guy said he scanned it and only came up with an O2 code for my exhaust(I knew that would be there). But that was before it was running this way so it probably would be beneficial to do again. Ya, I was thinking about running the thinner Impala head gaskets for better quench and a little more compression along with maybe a 3-angle valve job. Id ofcourse need some new head bolts as well, correct? So, Buddy's is a good machine shop? I'll call tomorrow and see what theyd be willing to do for me. Whats a good shop for the labor, just in case we couldnt get together and try to tackle the job. Again, thanks for the help and advice guys. It just blows cause this is the first week of school!

[Davidz28]

z28man, are you justin? cause if it is this is dave, andrea's friend. Sorry to here about the car. I'm down for helping you work on it when you're ready to.

[z28man]

Dave! Whats up man? Ya, can you believe this shit. Hows your Z running. Thanks for offering to help. I dont have a garage or anything and Ive got a real choppy school schedule, so I might just have to find a good mechanic to do the labor. If its at all possible, I'll definetly take you guys up on the offer for us to do it though. I could really use a ride to campus though. Whats your class schedule look like?:lol: So how is Boobs Mcgee(aka Andrea) doing anyway?

[Highway Hero]

im not sure how good buddys is but i was told that they do good work. Let me know what they tell you as far as cost...Some time in the next few months i will need to put in a mhg and some arp head studs. Good luck with getting it fixed.

Eric

[z28man]

Hell, thats more than I know about any other shop around here. I'll call tomorrow and let you know what they say. Do they only do machining at Buddys? Would I need to get the heads pulled and put back somewhere else?

[XS CASH]

There is a machine shop off of Max Dr. I think it still goes by the name of N&E Machine Shop. The last thing I took to Buddy's was a numbers matching motor, 427ci, out of an original '69 Vette. They dropped a bolt down in it before putting the heads back on and didn't get it out. However the Vette pounded it out the side of the block!!!

[z28man]

Damn, thats insane. But so are there prices. They want more than double what my mechanic in Panama City wants! Sorry to hear that happened and thanks for the warning. Im taking it to Parkway Car Care Center tomorrow as per recommendation by a friend of the family. The guy I talked to at Parkway doesnt think its the head gaskets, I told him I was just going on what the last mechanic that looked at it said. Maybe its not, that would be great. But somethings definetly fucked and seems pretty major. I did notice some oil drops in the water/coolant. And my oil pressure is reading much lower than usual. Im crossing my fingers and praying its something minor and they'll get it done for me without making me bend over and grab my ankles!

[z28man]

So I took it to Parkway and they said I have an intake leak, not head gaskets. They want $800 something to replace the gasket, clean a bunch of shit out, and do all this other stuff that sounds unnecesary. That seems like a lot, what do you guys think?

[brandboZ28]

I have my intake leak 3 times, well I fixed it the last time :lol: and I wouldnt let anyone else do it, especially for $800. If you want to, I can help you do it, we'll have it done in a day, well, you have to let the RTV set overnight but the work will be done in no time. I can have the intake manifold off in 45 minutes. Just let me know if you wanna dive in yourself and Ill help if Im not working or in class.

[z28man]

I was actually just about to ask you if you'd help, lol! I did some searching on camaroz28.com to see how hard it would be to do and found a post of you asking about doing the intake manifold leak fix so I figured you had some experience with it. I printed out a couple sets of instructions and it doesnt look to bad. I was thinking about starting this weekend some time since weve got Monday off. Let me know when a good time for you would be. Im also gonna see if Davez28 is down to lend a hand, said he wouldnt mind. So Im callin you out on your offer to help Dave :lol: Definetly relieved its something I can do and Im not at the mercy of a mechanic.

[brandboZ28]

Yea, I think I have to work on Monday but it wont be much past like 3. The meeting at Hooters is Monday but I dont have to go to that. Just let me know when is good for you. Ill talk to Greg and it might even be cool to do it in our garage if you dont mind leaving it outside there overnight.

[z28man]

Ya, that sounds good to me. Ive got nothing but time, no job and just 5 classes. How about Saturday or Sunday? Its Labor Day weekend, so if youd rather wait till Monday or next week thats totally understandable. I was gonna come up to you guys meeting on Friday night also so I can meet some of you guys and we can talk about it. Just let me know what kind of reimbursment youd like. Some money, pizza and bur, whatever.;)

[brandboZ28]

I have to see what my schedule looks like for this weekend. I will be sure to let you know. You should post your number in the phone number section if you havent already and I can just give you a shout. See ya.:D

[z28man]

Couldnt find where to put phone #'s so here is my cell. (850)-832-0744.

[Davidz28]

hey justin, i'll be gone on saturday but i'll be back on suday afternoon. So whenever ya'll want to get to it on sunday or monday just let me know and i'll do what i can to help. Just call my cell and let me know. Also, since we'll be working on your car i've got a few things i need to do to my Z, i have to put the purge kit in, i got some ASP pullies i need to put on also, and some new front rotors. Also i need some help with the wiring on my bottle heater cause its not working right. So just holla at me when you're ready to work on the cars.

[z28man]

Thats cool. I wanted to clean my MAF and descreen it as well. Has to be dirty as a mofo at 76k miles and never cleaned. David, you still going up there Friday night?

[brandboZ28]

Originally posted by z28man
Couldnt find where to put phone #'s so here is my cell. (850)-832-0744.

Cool, Ill give you a call when I find out whats going on. My cell # is (770) 364-7599 just if you need it. We'll get your leak fixed this weekend no problem. I would go ahead and go to Advance Auto Parts and get a Felpro gasket kit. I have plenty of RTV so dont sweat that. Looks like Im getting dirty this weekend:twisted:

[brandboZ28]

Hey man, Im in class but Im planning on working on my car a little this afternoon. My girl is working so I have nothing to do tonight. I dont know when you get out of class but we could throw down on it tonight if you dont have any plans. Like I said before, it wont take too long, couple of hours.:D

[Davidz28]

sorry man, i'm leaving town fri after work around 6. But i'll be back sunday afternoon.

[z28man]

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Ive had class from basically 2-8pm, then I had to go pick up my car from Parkway after class. I havent got around to getting the gasket kit yet or the other parts I'll need, but Im gonna round all that up tomorrow. Its 9:00pm now, so its probably to late to get it started. Wish I could take advantage of the opportunity though. Hopefully we can still get to it this weekend, Monday, whenever you want. Just let me know when you want to start it and I'll plan on it.

[brandboZ28]

Cool, Moday afternoon sounds good to me.

[z28man]

OK, Monday will remain wide open for me then. Also, what time are you guys meeting at that lot tomorrow night?

[brandboZ28]

10 oclock tonight:D

[pendrgn]

we need little cards saying that we canpass out to people we see with v8s to get more poeple out there... just a thought

[z28man]

Ya, no doubt. I wouldnt of even know about you guys had I not known David. Im sure theres plenty of folks around the FSU area that would be interested if they knew about it.

[brandboZ28]

Originally posted by pendrgn
we need little cards saying that we canpass out to people we see with v8s to get more poeple out there... just a thought I have a stack that Jon printed up. Ive given out a couple but they never show up. LOSERS!!!:mad: