Does anyone else wonder whether some people should drive these cars?

(Not OP, but the ignorance about how this stuff works by some others... :shakes head:)

I would see if someone can check the valves (not sure if it's a different can of worms on this motor).

Any misfires? Extra valve chatter? CEL?

I've not long lived in the US and still getting used to shifting with my right hand. I almost did it once trying to shift down from quickly from 5-4, and since then I've decided to give it a couple months of gentle, slow shifts to fully get accustomed to right-hand shifting before I start throwing the gears around again.

ouch. Thats a big punch to your engine. Im sure its gonna be okay but miss shifting in high rpm is crucial

your post reminded me of high school. A friend of mine had 12 in glass packs on a 84 chevy pick up. That is how he would rack off is pipes.3-2 at the top of 3 some times 4-2 most of the way through 4th. If he couldn't pull it into gear. He would stand up put both hands on the gear shift and drop on it so cram it in. He did this into reverse from 35mph. Only he stabbed the gas. The rear wheels slid for about 20 ft then bunny hopped for another 20ft. changed direction and roasted the off to get back to were he passed me on the side of the road.All of this with out lifting off the throttle. I was walking when he noticed me. That was the quickest way to give me a lift.

Oh to be young and dumb. That was a seriously tough truck. chevy 305 bone stock except for dual exhaust and a 4 speed with granny gear. They don't make 'em like that anymore.

:ugh2:

I did that a few times until I learned how to shift a 6-speed with a factory shifter the right way. I always invert my hand on the 2-4 shift and that keeps you from pulling towards your body and hitting 2nd. I did it in a car with pushrods. Nothing bent and it was fine. If you had truly screwed the shift bad, you would have broken the rear-tires loose and made comment about barely keeping it out of the ditch--or not.

That being said...

The wheel bearings and axles did go out on that car, and the pinion-bearing spun. This happened 5-10K miles after the missed shift. Did it cause it? Maybe, maybe not. It sure didn't help the situation.

Only time will tell. I do think it may have shocked/misaligned the pinion bearing and led to the failure over time. Just my personal guess.

You should be happy that you didn't hear a boom from the engine bay.

You are probably ok if you were only going 70. You were likely not over-revving it by all that much. By my calculations it should have only been about 8166 RPM.

That's a quick way to kill the engine. The limiter doesn't work in this case if you mechanically over rev.

:confused:

The Z can heal itself over time. Just give it some time.

:confused:

I never understood the meaning of this bunny with dorayaki on its head....