Mark Maras

Ah, The Chevelle. It came with the Muncy (rock crusher) 4 speed. There were many things I liked about that car but in 1973 the gas crunch dropped the value of low mileage cars. I sold it in 74 for $800.00. Saw an identical one sell for $67,000 on Barrett-Jackson a few years ago. That said, after buying the Z, I was done with the Chevelle. I fell in love with sports cars at an early age. Thanks to the book "The Red Car", my insatiable mechanical curiosity, my sister's 58 MGA (which I used to hotwire and drive at the age of 15), it was only a matter of time before I ended up with a sports car.

If my memory is still working, that's the month. Definitely a Series 1. Dug out some old paperwork on "Hiro". April 1st, 1972. (I forgot it was April fools day.) I do remember driving by Gran Prix Motors in my 69 SS 396 Chevelle and seeing my soon to be stunning yellow Z. It was a spur of the moment decision. A short drive later and I deposited $15.00 with Joe Black to hold it until I got back from the bank with the sum of $3695.00.

My original Z is #08750. Series 1. Registered as a 71

No need to remove the ball if it's in usable condition. Save any good pieces of the linkage for repairs in years to come.

I can hear it now. "Back in the day, you could pick up a good rolling shell for $1000. I remember one in Raleigh. I had enough parts to finish it too".

You won't find big ego's here. Our love of Zs drives us to want the best for all of them and do all we can to keep 'em on the road. The friendships that develop, on the way, are frosting on the cake.

I like the OCD discussions about details. It's the Hoover in me.

I ran out of likes for the day. Great news.

The front cup holder is installed wrong.

Sorry, no pics. It was long ago. Admittedly, the solder repair wasn't pretty, but it sealed and was hidden from prying eyes. If I had to do it again, I'd research epoxies.

Have you tried to clean it? I had success soaking mine in lacquer thinner and plowing it out with compressed air. It took three cycles of solvent and air to get it clean but the key to getting it to spray properly was cleaning the spray holes with a torch tip cleaner. The old spray bars work quite well if they're clean. Frequently the soldered joints fail but that's an easy fix.

Correct. Unscrew it from the rod. The threads can be cleaned with a fine wire brush.

That was my first impression but I found that difficult to believe. Does anyone have an idea of how the bushings are oriented on other makes of cars?

I can't figure out the bushing orientation in the pic.

Measure your old one first. Disassemble both and use the best pieces from each one to assemble a good one. Adjust the new one to the original's length. I'd start with steel wool if that doesn't work, fine sandpaper.

I like the sea of 510s sitting behind the two US land yachts.

I've never seen a blond wheel shown in the early ads nor the deeper red (maroon) sported by the almost NOS wheel being held for ransom. IMO it's been refurbished.

Use 4' piece of garden hose as a stethoscope to pinpoint the noise while starting the engine.

How old are the spark plugs? The only time my Z misfired above 4000 RPMs was a track day. (Murphy's Law) The old plugs looked pretty good, but a new set cleared up the problem.

I'd look into shoulder bolts. They're made to have a bearing ride on them. You may get lucky and find one that will work or make it work by modifying it.

Advanced ignition timing can cause broken rings and in severe cases holed piston tops. The first symptom is engine knock when going uphill. The knock is caused by the fuel-air igniting in the combustion chamber while the piston is still rising. (BTC) I know little to nothing about the 123 system so I have a question. Does this system control ignition advance to individual cylinders or does it advance all six with one function? Another way of putting it is could the system provide too much advance to one cylinder and not the others?

Take a peek into #4 with a borescope before you tear it down.

I'd use the 2.5 psi - 4.5 psi pump for Weber DGVs.

Your choice as to which surfaces get the dressing. A thin coating is all you need. Any more than will result in dressing squeeze out. I've installed pumps with no dressing, just a bit of grease on the gaskets and had no leaks. No need to lube the pump.

I believe the bucking is caused by a lean mixture. Too rich would just result in a lack of power but not bucking. The float levels are the primary mixture adjustment. The mixture screws are the fine tune secondary adjustment. I'd pull the floats and check the float adjustment and or the fuel level. How many turns down are the mixture screws when it bucks?