Captain Obvious

If you can lift the wheel into the correct position manually with your hands, then the problem is in the strut mount at the top, not inside the strut body. Why do I say that? I say that because if the strut internals had overextended then you would still have to compress the spring in order to lift the wheel, and there's no way you're doing that with bare hands. Looking at your pics, the top spring end still looks to be properly seated in the upper soring perch. And if that's the case, you're not going to compress it without mechanical advantage. I think the problem is at the top of the strut assy.

I'm not positive about the seat internals themselves, but I do know that 77 and 78 had a different design mounting point scheme on the floors and different seat rails accordingly. Because of that, the 77-78 rails cannot be used on the earlier cars, and vice versa. I do believe that the mounting points where the rails attach to the seats are in the same positions for all years, so I think if you use the appropriate rails, you can put any year seat in any Z.

I'm not sure if this is the accepted answer or not, but if I were doing that, I would adjust the rear gap so it is the same as the front gap. Split the difference so it looks even?

Honestly, I did it that way because John Mortensen said so. I'm not a suspension guy, but I believe the theory is that you can still get some of the "crispness" benefits of the poly bushing but you don't snap your T/C rods off like some of the folks running full poly on the rods. And except when you're in reverse, I don't think there is any advantage to rubber up front and poly in the back. (Remember to consider the lack of my credentials however.) I know it's subjective, but I do not find my ride harsh in any way. My PO put poly everywhere and I've taken most of it out. All of the moving suspension components (with the exception of the front bushing on the T/C rods) are now rubber. I've still got poly on the steering rack, on the rear trans mount cross member, and on the mustache bar. I've got KYB strut inserts all around. Maybe it's just that I compare my car now to how it was when I bought it. It was a disaster when I first got it. It's light years better now than it was. I'm running stock size and profile tires and also have comfy Fiero seats... Might be contributors as well? I think you should pop on over and take my car out for a drive and see what you think.

For closure, here's some fresh pics of the tension rod bushings showing how the bushings should be installed. Thicker rubber sides outwards, and the washers concave in pushing towards the rubber. Smaller support washers on first and last: Here's how it should look if you're doing half-n-half with rubber and poly. Poly in the front, rubber in the back: And here's a shot of mine on the car:

OK, Here's some fresh pics of the tension rod bushings. I opened one of my new spare packs for the pics. Here's how the bushings should be installed. Thicker rubber sides outwards, and the washers concave in pushing towards the rubber. Smaller support washers on first and last: Here's how it should look if you're doing half-n-half with rubber and poly. Poly in the front, rubber in the back: And here's a shot of mine on the car. Best I could do half blind sticking an arm under there. Wildly snapped ten pics and got one that worked out OK:

With how much harder the poly is, I'm not surprised the poly tube is longer than the one for the rubber bushings. I hope you like that Delco kit as much as I did. Hoping I didn't steer you wrong. Pun intended. So, are you planning to half-n-half the bushings poly/rubber? That's what I did. And I'll snap a couple fresh pics showing the correct orientation of everything.

Yes, it's a recent purchase. I just bought a pair about a month ago. The photo is wrong, but the parts are right. Buy AC Delco P/N 45G25036 {#88913234} and you will receive the kit in my picture, regardless of what is in the pics on other websites. That's why it's our little secret.

Yup. Getting all the hardware with that kit was the main reason I took a chance on it the first time. And then I was so impressed with the quality, I bought two more to put on the shelf for the next time. The bits fit right, the large washers are very stout, the small washers are the right size ID. You might even consider buying two of those kits just for the hardware? I'm not sure you could find all the right parts without the bushings any cheaper (currently under $10 per side). Important note... The pic on RockAuto's site doesn't show the correct kit anymore. The part number is still there and when you order that part number, you get the right kit, but the pic is just the rubber bushings. Good way to keep the good kits available to those "in the know" and not bought up by all the masses.

Blue, Sending you PM.

Bump. (I'm such the conformist.)

I'm not sure I would trust that the length of spacer tube they use for the poly bushings is the same length as the ones that come with the rubber. I measured the length of the tube in this AC Delco kit to be 1.813 inches (46mm) long. You can compare that to the tube from your poly bushings: And by the way, this Delco kit is still available from Rock Auto, and I think it's very high quality for an excellent price.

Nice. Great simple mod to get away from hard to find parts. I love that kind of change.

That's really interesting. I guess it could come down to the pump's internal design. So was the new pump the same brand and style as the old one? Good sleuthing!

Glad to help. Just remember that this is a sample size of exactly one gauge so far. No guarantees that others will be exactly the same. I'm not going to pull my fuel gauge out of my dash to do the same measurements, but I should be able to power it up through the dash connectors above the passenger's knee. I'll do that one when I get a chance to see how similar it is to the one on my bench. My fuel gauge in the car isn't accurate, but I haven't even determined yet if the issue is in the dash or in the tank.

Dave, I took some sender resistance vs needle position measurements off a spare fuel gauge I just picked up. Granted, this is a sample size of one, but here's; what I got. Here's "running on fumes" empty at 100 Ohms: Here's "just topped off" full at 10 Ohms: And here's a whole bunch of points along the scale:

So is he skittish about getting involved with another Z guy after getting stiffed on that 76?

Thanks for the additional pics. Still thinking those intake runners would really look sweet on an L6 engine. Maybe you can do some show-n-tell of the BMW stuff when I'm in the area for Zcon?

Sounds like it's something to do with the bulbs that are dimmed with the knob. One of the dash illumination bulbs shorted inside? One of the sockets shorted inside? Wiring fault? Pinched green/white somewhere to ground? What year are we talking here?

Nice pool pic. Can you spot "your" chaise lounge from there? You know... The one you got stuck to all day Saturday and burned to a crisp?

Great. Thanks for the fuel rail pics. Looking at the intake manifold runners, they didn't do any Siameseing of the cylinders like they did with the Z, did they? They didn't have to because it's a flow through DOHC head instead of having both intake and exhaust on the same side? And that tank looks great.

One of my best as well!! Was that really a year ago??

Wait, I have another idea. Maybe the problem isn't the valve cover at all. Maybe it's the motor mounts. I'm thinking if you put the mounts on the other way to rotate the whole thing 180 degrees and use a dry sump oil system? That... just... might... work! OK, I'm done now. CapO out.

Haha! All seven isn't necessary. One will suffice. I promise it'll run better. So, is that seriously how someone put that thing together? As a joke, or do you think they really didn't know better? Or do you think they were just looking for a place to hold the carbs so they weren't flopping around during transit?