FastWoman

Well, do you know whether you have the internally regulated 60A alternator on your car? (I don't know the identirying features.) Dave ("ZsOndabrain") knows a lot about these conversions, so he's probably the one to help you. I've never done an alternator retrofit. However, I suspect the power is backfeeding from your alternator, through the voltage regulator, to the ignition circuit, thereby keeping your car running. This is often solved with a diode, but I would think it could also be eliminated by removing the (pointless) voltage regulator. Right? (Dave???)

Hmmmm... Well, my fuel injected '78 was running quite lean when I got it, and the mix burned poorly enough that I saw a lot of soot on my plugs and around the tail pipe. It was confusing, because the plug appearance suggested rich running. However, I suppose if the mix gets lean enough, all bets are off on plug appearance. My exhaust blew very hard, with occasional hard puffs. I had lots of steam and moisture as well. Engine vacuum was quite low -- around 14 in Hg. When I richened the mix, the idle picked up quite a lot, as did the engine vacuum. After I adjusted down the idle, the engine ran smoothly. Exhaust wasn't nearly so labored and was very smooth. Moreover, plug appearance returned to normal (well, after replacing the fouled plugs). So maybe your engine has an extremely lean condition. One test would be to take off your air cleaner and manually lift the SU pistons just a bit to see if the RPMs pick up (PRETTY sure about this). That would richen the mix. You might also pull off a vacuum line somewhere to see if RPMs drop (leaner = worse, or so the theory would go). Lean running could be from fuel starvation (e.g. insufficient pump, clogged filter, clogged float valve) or maladjustment. Dunno... I really don't know carb stuff very well. They're magical thingies!

Well, the white smoke is probably steam (normal). Do your plugs look oily at all? (I suspect not, but if so...) You're probably just running (way) too rich. The fact that 4-6 look different from 1-3 suggests they're also out of balance. Unfortunately carbs aren't my thing, so that's about all I can say with an ounce of intelligence.

Per my service notes for my '78 (12/77): "Replaced EGR control valve (14710-N7600) with aftermarket part. Installed #34 orifice washer." I think I got the aftermarket EGR valve from Black Dragon, but I'm not positive. As I recall, something about the cross-reference process was clear as mud, but after several phone calls, I did manage to get a definitive answer -- definitely #34.

What do your plugs look like? I bet they're fouling. Maybe you're running too rich? Are you blowing smoke (not steam) out the exhaust, and if so, what color is it?

I don't think you're going to find a stainless set put together specifically for the Z anymore. I had searched for that myself and concluded the person who had put those together was no longer doing it. However I recently bought some SS assortments from www.boltdepot.com (sets #7538, 7537, and 7540), and they worked fine for most of what I was doing. The bolts on the valve cover were a bit long, so nothing I had in my boxed assortments was appropriate. I just derusted and painted what came on the engine. Here's another company that sells SS fasteners: http://www.totallystainless.com/ Again, I haven't searched specifically for the longer screws for the covers.

KJ, when I refilled my R200 diff oil, I was able to squirt the oil successfully to its target with very little mess. As I recall I had to squirt over the top of the moustache bar and into the hole! Just a series of long, steady squeezes.

Another benefit to a tip sticking out is that the exhaust won't corrode your bumper!

Me too. Old age is a b**ch!

You can also bend/distort covers (e.g. oil pan, valve cover) if you overtighten them, causing them to leak. You can torque roughly to specs with a normal ratchet on those occasional bolts that are lacking in access. Just think in terms of forces you know. If your ratchet handle is a foot long, and you have to torque to 30 ft lb, just pull on the handle roughly half as hard as the weight of a fully loaded (60 lb) suitcase. If the bolt/nut in question is the same as another that you're able to tighten with the torque wrench, just apply your ratchet to the already-torqued bolt/nut and twist until it just budges. That's how hard you have to twist on the less accessible bolt/nut to torque it to specs.

... well, except for noise suppression. If your tach is like a 280's, a noise suppression cap might be easier on it. I think if it's like the 240's tach, it might not make much difference. You also might get more radio/stereo noise without it.

Salt all over the roadways and a thick blanket of snow on my Z. Otherwise it's been good. We've mostly put mileage on my stepdaughter's rental car.

Cookie, as Arne wisely pointed out, standards for acceleration/power have increased substantively over the decades. Before you get into this project any deeper, you should ask yourself what you want the car to be and what your budget is. If the body style and heart-pounding acceleration are both important to you, you'll have a lot of work and expense ahead, in the form of engine mods and/or swaps. If you just want a fast car, I'd suggest starting out with a more modern one. When I bought my '78, several of my stepson's friends commented that the car was probably really fast. I responded that theirs are probably even faster, but that mine is really cool! That's the context in which I drive and enjoy my car.

Burito, I think you've resurrected another old thread! That said, I agree that the manual steering is fine. It's a bit tough at a standstill, but not something an average strength person can't manage -- even women.

Cool! But if you were getting fumes from the engine compartment, does that mean you have an exhaust leak? FAIW, I had a big, gaping hole in my firewall, as the rubber boot around the accelerator linkage had completely crumbled. I also had a small exhaust leak at the manifold/head junction -- small enough to evade detection when the car was inspected, but definitely there. Even that wasn't enough to put noticeable fumes into the cabin, even through that hole that was about the size of a quarter. Just sayin' Season's Greetings back at ya! (We're snowed in! Wow!)

First step: Make certain your distributor's breaker plate isn't frozen up. Most are. Remove the distributor cap and rotor, and try rotating the breaker plate back and forth by hand. It should move freely, and it should be under spring tension. You should also be able to move the breaker plate by sucking really hard on a hose connected to the distributor's vacuum advance. If the breaker plate is stuck, as most are, you'll need to fix it. You can get a rebuilt one from your local auto parts store for maybe $125. Second step: Put your engine at top dead center via the notch on the crank pulley, and make sure that really is TDC. (Sometimes the crank pulley can be off, I suppose because the woodruff key becomes dislodged.) To confirm that the engine is at TDC on the correct mark, see here: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/tdc/index.html Third step: Make sure the cam is in the correct alignment. The cam turns once for every two rotations of the crank. You're at TDC when the crank's timing mark is at the 0 deg mark and when the two forward-most cam lobes are pointing up, rather than down. (Look through the oil filler hole.) If the lobes are pointing down, give the engine one complete turn. Fourth step: Make sure the distributor is aligned correctly. The rotor should be pointed to the #1 post, and the plug wires should be aligned as follows: All this should get you somewhere in the correct ballpark.

Eric, there's such a thing as vinyl spray paint used for shoe repair that you might be able to use to freshen the color of the door panels. I don't know if it's wear-proof enough for the seats, though. (Maybe worth a try?) I've used the stuff before, with some success.

"Know this - this is an easy job and when you develop the "feel" for it, it's actually fun. You'll probably do the first few valves over when you finish the job because by the 12th valve you'll have the drill down." I completely agree. It's a pretty part of the engine, the parts are not difficult to work on, and it's indeed sort of fun. When you're done with it, you'll smile broadly and think, "Gee, I did that!" (Guaranteed.) One of the big disappointments of the DOHC '92 Saturn I bought to replace my beloved '75 Z from many years ago was that the hydraulic lifters (correct term?) required no adjustment. One of the pleasures of my "new" '78 Z was that after all these years, I got to crack open the valve cover and adjust some valves again. Weird, eh?

Dunno... I'm not anti-carb, but just not particularly thrilled by them. I've had lots of carbs of various types, two L-Jet Z's, and a few more modern lambda-type hot-wire EFI vehicles. Although the L-Jet Z's are less reliable and more finicky than the modern EFI systems, they've still been more reliable and better performing systems than any carb I've used. My '75 was my daily driver for over a decade, and the EFI never let me down. I admit I don't have much time/use on my '78 EFI yet, after having straightened it out, but it's running beautifully -- instant starts, even in the bitter cold. By comparison, I've had carbs by Datsun (210), Mazda (RX-7), Toyota (Celica), Chrysler (Fury III), Olds (Cutlass), Holley, and Edelbrock -- and probably others that I've forgotten. In all fairness, the manual-choke Mazda 4bbl carb was pretty well tempered, but I didn't own it very long, and I bought the car new. The 1 bbl carb on my John Deere tractor comes closer than any of these to being trouble-free (and it's really not). I admit I've never owned an SU, though. Seems like a good design. Sledge, if you do go with a carb system, I'd avoid the Holley conversion. I just finished rebuilding the Holley on my boat, and I'm not at all impressed with the design or build. It's cheap, though. I'll give it that.

Well, to check for an intake leak, you might pull off your AFM and plug the AFM-to-throttle boot with a yogurt cup. Pull off the brake booster line, and connect a clean hose to it. Blow air into the intake manifold (by mouth), and you should feel it holding pressure, at least for a little while. You can see how fast air leaks from a known leak by disconnecting the adjacent HVAC control vacuum line (the smaller hose). A leak of that size will alter the running of the engine a bit, but not radically. I determined on my own engine that the sum of all leaks (including around valves, past rings, etc.) was much, much smaller than the leakage would be through that one fitting, so I was satisfied my engine was tight enough that its functioning wouldn't be compromised by vacuum leakage. If I had determined there was a leak, I might have found it by blowing air into the intake, while feeling for escaping air in suspect areas. You could also shoot a bit of starter fluid in the intake, put just a tiny bit of pressure behind it, and sniff around for escaping ether. If totally stumped, you could probably "sniff" the leaking starter fluid with one of those freon sniffers, that you could borrow/rent from an auto parts store. I hope it's not your intake gasket. That's a bugger to replace (assuming you have seized studs, which you probably do). However, if you have a big leak there, that could certainly make your engine run like @$%!.

I was out driving one day, feeling good about finally getting my Z back on the road, when a gorgeous lime 60's jag E-type hardtop came down the road the other way. With a big smile on my face, I waved, because the E-types are so seldom seen and do make me happy. The other driver lifted his nose a bit and drove on past. Geesh... I agree with Bruce. A car is no fun if you're terrified about getting it scratched. The Z is about right for my comfort level. I'd have been terrified to drive the lime Jag.

Hey, congrats on getting the thing running (sort of)! What did you do to get it to fire up? When you lightly press the gas, the throttle position sensor (TPS) is actuated, and the idle enrichment is lost. That's probably enough to change the mix enough to kill the engine. You do need to go through the basic EFI troubleshooting in the FSM, as Cozye suggests. My guess is that you have at least several problems going on. It's VERY, VERY important, before you get too wrapped up in EFI diagnosis, to make sure you don't have any vacuum leaks. I'd bet money that you do, at least if you haven't gone through and replaced all your vacuum hoses. In my own case, there was a huge vacuum leak between the intake manifold and the head. It was even drawing in leaking exhaust -- a super-EGR sort of thing going on! Chris' suggestion of dual SU carbs is a reasonable, time-honored approach. However, a properly running EFI engine is soooooooo much more reliable. It's just getting to that point that's the bear!

Yeah, I'd just leave the plugs in. I'm medium-strong ("sturdy") and don't really have any trouble. As long as you turn the engine slowly, the gasses will move around for you. (I turn the engine with the cam nut too.) However, if you want to remove the plugs, just remove them with the engine cold, lube the threads with antisieze, and put the plugs back in just a bit loosely (i.e. with a light twist of the wrench). That's adequate for running the engine to warm it up, and it shouldn't be so tight as to gall your threads when the engine is hot. Save the final torquing of your spark plugs for after your engine has cooled! Starting cold and moving to hot sounds like a reasonable plan. It would give you the opportunity to loosen all the lock nuts beforehand, so the hot adjustment will go faster. When retightening the cold nuts, I'd do it somewhat loosely to start with. They'll hold their positions just fine for the short time you'll be running your engine. When you're doing your hot adjustments, go ahead and tighten the lock nuts back up while the engine is still hot. Galling isn't as likely an issue when aluminum isn't involved.

I'm guessing the alternator or voltage regulator was bad, so it/they let your battery drain to nothing, which damaged it. If your system voltage is around 14.5V with the engine running, then the regulator and alternator are doing their job.

I think for the dealer AC, the air handler would be of the heat-only variety, as shown in your FSM. I remember having the very same AC in my '75, and there are no vacuum controls necessary to blow cold air. Be sure the distributor is for a '76!