FastWoman

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!

Jenny, my 1975 (from long ago) didn't have an EGR, and I guess the '76 is very similar. On my '78, the HVAC vacuum line fitting is very small diameter and is closer to the brake booster vacuum line than anything else. Look at my engine picture in post #41. The HVAC vacuum line is the small red line in the lower right of the picture. From there, the line travels along the firewall, across to the opposite side of the engine compartment, to a vacuum valve assembly. It's quite likely you don't have these magnet valves. One of them feeds a high idle acutator on the throttle assembly (that returning yellow line, next to the outgoing red one). Instead, I bet the vacuum line goes through your firewall through a grommet. It would feed to the heat/vent mode switch above your center console. I suppose it's possible it's not vacuum actuated. Check your FSM. Anyway, the vacuum would be used to open and close air handler doors to divert airflow here and there -- but that could also be done with cables and levers. Try moving the mode selector back and forth without the engine running. If you hear/feel doors opening and closing, your air handler probably isn't vacuum controlled. If you don't feel/hear much of anything except the sliding/clicking of the switch mechanism, it's probably vacuum controlled. Someone else here should be able to tell you whether you've got a vacuum controlled air handler. (Someone else????)

Very cool! I checked your profile to see if you're a graphic artist of some sort, and you're NOT! (That's a compliment.)

Zedyone, I had a '66 Mustang with perfect paint. I can assure you it wasn't a fun car to own for that very reason. A ding in the hood or a tiny rust spot at the bottom of a door makes the car a whole lot more fun to own. It is a gift and a blessing, and we should regard such minor imperfections as beauty marks! Congratulations, and Merry Christmas!

Oddly, the aforementioned bimmer was only serviced by the dealer before I bought it. Whenever the "check engine" light went on, it went to the dealer. I think the nearly $1000 in new tires (to pass inspection) was the straw that broke the camel's back for my neighbors. So I got the car in approximately decent shape, except for a few little engine problems that had to be diagnosed -- probably from setting up so long. I also had to clean a lot of varnish out of the engine and fix the leaky top. On another thread, someone mentions $150 in oil change parts/supplies for a bimmer M. Wow! (I bought aftermarket filters, which were still quite expensive.) He also mentions always lubing up really well before going to the dealer, because he knows what's coming. Yeah, I can imagine. Even Volkswagen owners complain about expensive parts, which are markedly cheaper than the Porsche parts, even when they are the same part under a different label/number. I'm sorry, but precious, antique, almost NLA, genuine Nissan parts are way cheaper than recent-production bimmer parts. No contest.

Arne, my neighbors sold me their BMW because they could no longer afford the maintenance. Literally, it had been sitting in their garage for a year because they could not afford the necessary repairs to get it through inspection. I bought it rather cheaply with the idea of fixing, driving for a while, and flipping. Sticker shock started with the tires, which were designed specifically for THAT car. No garden variety tires would fit. They were something like $200 each, and they were expected to have a service life of something like 15,000 miles. Then the temp sensor, which was about $70, being integral with the plastic thermostat housing. Then a hardtop... I picked up a used one cheap, but the dealer install price would have been $3000. Then an intake boot -- about $150, as I recall. Fuel filter $70. Crazy prices for tiny plastic pieces -- for instance over a buck each for tiny plastic caps that covered interior screw heads (which were almost always destroyed upon removal). These are all parts prices. I did have to take my car to the dealer to fix one very expensive problem (for free, because it was a liability issue) that I'm not allowed to discuss (because I signed an agreement). While the car was in their posession, the steering angle sensor died. They wanted $700 to replace it. After a protracted battle, I got them to fix it for free, as I think they broke it, and they had a hard time denying that. All this would have cost me another $3000 if I had paid for it. I finally sold the car for about what I had in it. It seems to fall in the "toy car" category, and its worth had dropped rather dramatically with the economic downturn. Anyway, total maintenance over the three year period between when the car was retired to my neighbor's garage and when I sold it would have been about $6000, or about $2000 a year if I had gone to the dealer for service. This would include staying on top of numerous water leaks in the top. This greatly eclipses everything I've spent on my 280Z and is roughly equal to the combined lifetime maintenance on my 1992 Saturn, including one engine and clutch rebuild, one rear-end collision, one sandwich collision, one deer collision, a $150 alternator, brake pads, an R134a compresser, and oil/filter changes. Yeah, expensive.