i am bringing this z back to life and i finally got my engine back together after getting the headwork done, this motor hasent been started for 3-5 years, anyways i got it to run somewhat but it keeps misifiring and backfiring thru the carbs after a couple seconds of running then will eventually die, i took off the smog pump and plugged everything off i dunno if that has anything to do with it but i think its my timing off? any help would be appreciated, thanks

Double check that the plug wires are in the right order and the distributor is in time. Other than that, you could possibly try to advance the timing a bit to see if it will at least idle long enough to get a timing light on it.

Remember the firing order on the distributor is counter clockwise.

you also might want to check to make sure your carbs are baseline tuned also.

also check the gapping on your plugs

Since the car hasn't run in a while, you might check the Vacuum Advance plate inside the distributor.

These are notorious for drying out, cracking and dropping the ball bearings inside the dizzy. The end result is that the dizzy won't stay on time. When you adjust it you might be adjusting with the vacuum plate off center, then when the vacuum does kick in it moves it out etc etc. This plate sits below the point table in the dizzy.

My car had a backfiring problem, when I took it in to the mechanic to be tuned up, he pointed this part as being the culprit.

2¢

Remember to look at the firing order picture close - two

of the wires cross - that had me for a time. - same symtoms

as yours. Let us know what you found.

-Jeff