Ok so I decided to run the float as is and deal with it if it caused me grief. we'll see if I regret this decision but hey, I want to get this thing on the road dammit!

Long story short, my 71' now has a freshly rebuilt L24 with a nice E31 head ( that needs valve guides at some point, but is straight and flat) along the a bitchin A series 5 speed tranny! At some point I'll want to find a 3.90 or 4.11 diff for it too but for now I'm gonna live with the stock diff.

And here we are getting a shiny rebuilt engine, hopefully tomorrow I can have the first fire! And not the kind that i'll need my extinguisher for ;-)

Edited June 9, 201311 yr by er34gtt2000jp

What took you a week took me 2 months. :embarrass:

Fire in the hole!

It lives! Good oil pressure, no leaks, smokes a tad but that could be just from the first start up and the fact that its running super rich. Need to adjust the carbs and figure out the Petronix wiring still. Oh and repair part of the exhaust there is rusted through and broke open during install.

Well I used to have a cool Pertronix ignition setup, now I have a $100.00 piece of garbage....

Guess my MSD coil fried the Pertronix unit in short order, like in less than 10 min :-( Oh well, I threw a set of points in it and wow, fires right up. Well after I readjusted the float levels and set the distributor to the MAX retarded adjustment. Even with it fully retarded I cant get below 15 deg advanced. I think my oil pump drive might be off, here's a couple picks. What do you guys think?

Don't have one of the distributor drive tang but it is pretty much in line with the bolt holes on the distributor mount. Pretty sure that's where is supposed to be according to everyone but my rotor doesn't face the 9 o'clock position it's more like 7:30. Tried two different distributors with the same issue. I know the motor is on TDC with #1 compression stroke, verified by finger over spark plug and cam lobes. Damper hasn't slipped either. Only thing left is the oil pump shaft, maybe ill drop the pump and rotate it a tooth. See if that helps.

In the mean time, I've begun to put the sheet metal back on. Looks good with fenders, even if they are a tad oxidized ;-)

I'll post an update on the timing thing in a couple days, its my anniversary tomorrow so I'll be in trouble if I'm out working on my Z!

What took you a week took me 2 months. :embarrass:

Fire in the hole!

It's my OCD side that lets me get a lot done, I tend to forego other things to my own detriment at times ;-)

Happy Anniversary. OCD & high anxiety gets things done and bills paid on time (gets me out of bed every day) but it can slow me down when I get overly obsessive, I put my pistons in 3 times, dimples up 2nd time then gaps at 10, 2 and 4 o'clock 3rd time. I got excited and couldn't remember or drank too much beer (most likely). I'm my own worst enemy.

My 71' moved to day under its own power tonight for the first time in over 10 years!

Spent the day getting all the little details done, pulled the trans to reset the clutch, replace the release bearing with a longer one, and check the pilot bushing. Replaced the slave cylinder as well. Changed all the gear oils and installed the drive shaft. Bled the brakes and repaired a leak from a bad flare on one of the lines I made.

Sorted out my timing issue too! Dropped the oil pump and sure enough the shaft was a tooth off. Now I have timing set to 5 degrees no problem. Bet I can advance it a good bit more but we are on California crap gas so I'll have to be carful.

Couple issues still, have to align the front end. Tried to adjust the right tie rod but guess I took it a bit too far and now it points off into RH space. That's what I get for adjusting it unladen I guess ;-) Also still have to put the hood and bumper on as well as the grill. Seems to have some electrical gremlins too. Maybe ill replace all the bulbs and see if that helps with my brake light and turn signal issues.

Now the never ending saga of making it better begins! My favorite part! Best part of today was having my son out helping me too! That was pretty awesome, especially when we went for the first drive together

Just before the first drive:

Parked for the night:

It's now taken its rightful place in the garage next to the daily driver instead of behind my race car. Now I can actually get it out of the garage

Woo Hoo!!!

Edited June 16, 201311 yr by er34gtt2000jp

That's great, Woo Hoo x 2!

That's great, Woo Hoo x 2!

Thanks!

Perfect Fathers Day!

Perfect Fathers Day!

Indeed it was! Over all spent about 8 hours with my boy this weekend working on the Z. Fun times! Even when the Z left my boy and I stranded 2 miles form the house last night. Seems I should of rebuilt the rear brakes rather than just clean and inspect them. Got a couple miles down the road and the rear brakes locked up on me. Car wouldn't move. Had to call for a ride home to get tools to pull the rear shoes off and limp the car home without hitting the brakes.

So here she sits back on jack stands awaiting time to go through the brakes again:

On a side note the fenders and hood fit much better now that the car has a straight front end

Cool ! You made some big progress