I Was talking about the floats themselves, not the float bowls. Sounds like you've already tried a different set of floats. Note that the the static fuel level is due to gravity. The level in the bowl should be equal to the level in the fuel nozzle. Kinda hard to defy gravity so something is definitely wrong. I wonder if someone swapped in a set of float bowls from another model SU? Perhaps some good pics of the carbs are in order at this point. Top, front, side, whatever you can get without having to remove them again.

Long shot since both carbs are doing it but if the air inlet tubes are plugged, the floats will not fill up

another 2 cents

Frankie

Thanks guys, well I'm at school 1000 miles away from the Z, so the troubleshooting will have to wait till next break. Thanks again for the help!

Maybe you aren't getting enough fuel flow from the pump. Remove one bowl and and crank the engine to check flow with the float in the down position. Put something under it to catch the gas so uou can measure the volume. Make sure the float is actually pulling the jet open when it drops.