Wondering what I did while the forums were down? No? ... Oh, okay...

Well... regardless of whether or not you wondered what I've been up to, I have been working on the Z! Two restless days and nights of cussing, bleeding, bruising, and blistering (but mostly cussing).

The pictures truly tell the story here, and I will narrate each one with glee! (feel free to look at them first, then scroll back up to read what I had to say)

#1-3: The sea of parts I began with... I've been accumulating this stuff all summer, and one final trip to the auto parts store gave me everything I needed... in case you can't see it all, here's what I have in that picture...

1 - Chrome Accel Super-Stock Ignition Coil

1 - Niehoff Fuel-Pressure Regulator

1 - GP Sorenson Coolant Temp. Sensor

6 - Freshly Rebuilt fuel-injectors (all bench-tested and operating perfectly)

1 - Quart of Castrol (for lubricating the injector installation)

7 - New Bosch-style injector connectors

2 - Strips of new fuel-injector hose (rated to 50 psi, such is life)

8 - Fuel-injector hose clamps

1 - Spectre 45-degree air-intake elbow

1 - Spectre 60-degree air-intake elbow

1 - Spectre 3" to 2.5" air-elbow joint thing

2 - Spectre 3" elbow connectors

2 - Plastic electrical 'ducting' tubes... whatever it is... conduit?

100 - Zip-ties

#4: This is a reference picture I took before I tore apart the fuel rail... just in case I got lost in reassembly... I didn't, but it never hurts to play it safe. This also serves as a good 'before' pic.

#5, #8: 'After' pics. Doesn't my engine look a lot prettier now?

#6: The 'custom' setup I have thanks to those universal Spectre components from Checker. I really had to cut that stuff down (like, a lot) to make it fit in between the throttle and the AFM, but it's there now, and it looks great IMHO! ... and since it's all plastic, no more awkward cracks or sealing issues hopefully!

#7 A Close-up shot of that new regulator sittin' pretty in the middle of the fuel-rail. Lookin' sharp boss!

After all was said and done and put back together, soldered and what have you ... all I can say is 'wow' ... A big chunk of my stumbling idle has completely disappeared. She's smoking a lot less than she used to (I was under the belief that my old injectors were leaking while the car was off, and so far from what I've seen with new ones, this suspicion is being confirmed), and really pulls hard in high RPM's ... She's so smooth at high-RPM now it's ridiculous... I didn't even notice that I was taking her past 6-grand!

Two days, and several hundred dollars worth of stuff later... all I can say is... hells yeah baby!! This car!!

2 - Plastic electrical 'ducting' tubes... whatever it is... conduit?

us in the industry refer to it as split loom tubing

looking effin sweet my man!

Looks like you left the engine cleaner at the store!

Imagine your before and afters(not to mention hands, shirt, bumps and bruises) had you not!

Even so, she looks better...

Will

Looks like you left the engine cleaner at the store!

Imagine your before and afters(not to mention hands, shirt, bumps and bruises) had you not!

Even so, she looks better...

Will

Oh no Will, trust me, I spent some time cleaning the engine.

I didn't use a 'degreaser' ... I actually used a wet rag with a bit of bathroom/oven cleaner on it. You can't really see from the pics (lo res) but the difference in cleanliness on the valve cover alone is like night and day!

I suppose though, since I already spent $x00 dollars on this project... what's a couple more bucks for proper degreaser, eh? :stupid:

Very nice! I had a friend with a 280 whose hoses (yes plural) sprung fuel leaks. With the engine running he popped the hood and asked me "hey, what do you think is wrong here?"

"Ahhhhh! Cut it OFF"! I said! We were/he was lucky not to have gone up in a ball of flames!

At least you won't have to worry about that now. Looks very nice. Z running perfect=satisfaction

Jim

Good for you (and Lindsey)!

It's amazing how daunting a project can seem, until you dig into it. It's good that you waited to start until you had all the things you need, rather than piecemail it like I tend to do...

Great work man!!

It's always a great feeling after getting those great results after your hard work!

JimmyZ, mine had that same problem... the hoses themselves were bulging and I knew they had to go!

Good for you (and Lindsey)!

It's amazing how daunting a project can seem, until you dig into it...

Funny thing about this EFI business, is that after you pull away all of the wiring it suddenly looks really easy! ... key word: looks ...

'76 I'm right there with you, Silver 76 Power!

The one thing I've noticed though, is that she's still running a bit rich... a far cry from what she used to do, but nonetheless there's still gray smoke. I'm thinking of popping open the AFM to see if there's been any kind of molestation there (there's a few globs of glue around the edge... maybe a sign) ... is there any kind of special glue that I should use for sealing it back up? ... JW :bandit: ... because at this point I don't think there are many components left that deal with the fuel mixture that haven't been replaced... Maaan I'm so close!

She's even more beautiful than she was before...

is there any kind of special glue that I should use for sealing it back up?

Silicone should work.

Looks better...keep working at it an it will eventually look similar to:

Looks better...keep working at it an it will eventually look similar to:

Oh man, what the ****

Me = Ruined. :sick:

:tapemouth:tapemouth:tapemouth