The first step on rust repair – and repairs to the Z in general – is to remove the engine and transmission. Removing the engine and transmission provides access to the engine bay and transmission tunnel.
Beyond this it removes 700-800 pounds of weight from the car (which is only 2800 pounds to start with). I’m concerned about the body warping when I start cutting out and replacing rusted areas. Any warping can affect door fit and suspension alignment. Removing the engine greatly lowers stress on the body and minimizes potential warping.
If you followed the Imperial build you know the drill: Disconnect everything from the engine. Wires, hoses, vacuum lines, throttle linkage, speedometer cable, and AC lines. With the car up on the lift you have good access to the alternator and AC compressor, so remove those. And the starter while at it. Have I mentioned recently how much I appreciate the lift?
The bottom of the engine is caked with dirt/oil/sludge. Much of it can be scraped off directly into a container. The rest will require extensive cleaning once the engine is on the engine stand.
The electrical connectors on the Z are really brittle. I managed to damage a number of them – yet another problem for future me.
At this point call a friend, play shop tetris until the engine hoist is exposed, and yoink the engine out. As usual, once the prep work is done actually pulling the engine is quick and easy.
The engine compartment of a Z is painted body color from the factory. Since it is painted black it suggests that the engine was out at some point. The brown paint on the outside of the inner fender wells indicates that the front fenders were off when this factory green car was painted brown.