2ManyZs

I think it might be best to go through the whole procedure again. One adjustment affects the other so to get everything right it probably would be better to start from scratch. Might be part of your backfiring problem too. Just don't "screw it up".

The differences would probably almost hard to tell by the seat of the pants method. The early version had more compression, and smaller valves. The later version had larger valves yet had slightly lower compression. On their respective engines it would be hard to differentiate between the two. The only way to tell would be to put both styles of head on the same short block and test it that way.

You can use a 240 driveshaft with the R-200, as long as the flanges are the same. 280's had a slightly different flange than the 240's. The length is close enough that either should work, and since the 260 was sold for a number of years after they discontinued the 240's the 260 driveshaft should work.

If it does it only after the engine warms up and not when it is cold, I would guess the water control valve is stuck open and over heating the carbs causing vapor lock.

Not sure what the exchange rate is now, so I'm not sure what that converts to in US funds. If the chassis is in really good shape it may be worth the money, but not knowing what a good Z in your area goes for I'm just guessing. What is reasonable in one area isn't always what another person would be willing to pay in another part of the country.

I am quite sure ATK is a Japanese company, but they may have facilities here in the US to save on shipping costs to keep their prices as reasonable as they are. I bought one of their crate engines back in 88 or 89 for my then street 280, and then raced the car in ITS with the engine in it. Never had a minutes problem with the engine in 9 races and through 3 drivers schools. I couldn't run with the 240's because of the weight of the 280, yet there was only one 280 that could beat me. Back then ITS was almost all Z cars so I had plenty of competition. I still have the car, and even after sitting for over 5 years it still started with just a fresh battery, and will usually start on the second time I hit the key. This should give you an indication that the ATK engines are well worth the money. If I were in the market for a remanufactured engine for a Z, ATK would be the only one I would buy.

No offense, but I think you should look at another car. Sounds to me like he is in way over his head and want to dump his problems on someone else. If he has gotten this far into a project and says it will only take a couple hundred to finish and he wants to sell, I believe it will cost you ten times that much at least. You can figure it will kill a couple hundred just to have a driveshaft made up. Not to mention the wiring nightmare he may have on his hands if he is trying to keep the EFI on the 5 litre. I would also check his fabrication skills on such things as motor mounts and transmission mount, good way to see if it's a nightmare waiting to happen, or a job worth finishing. Sorry, but since it's an unfinished project I think the best thing to do would be wait till he gets it in running condition, or else wait till the price is reduced a lot, when he realizes no one wants to finish what might be his nightmare, he may end up selling it for half what he is asking now. Or if the chassis is in really good shape, you might talk him into taking the 5 litre out and re-installing the stock engine and selling it for a more reasonable price. Then you can do as you please once you have the car.

Front drive offset would be positive offset, you want negative offset. I have plenty of 7 inch rims with zero offset and they fit great, you might be able to go another 1/2 to a 4 inch backspacing and still be OK.

Before you drill out the broken bolt and re-thread you could try soaking it with a penetrating oil, and getting a good set of extractors and then drill out the center of the bolt and try to turn it out. Eastwoods has a good set for a decent price. Always easier to try to remove it before you drill and re-tap the threads. Be carful you don't break off an extractor though, they are tough to drill thru if you do end up drilling it out and re-tapping. That's why it's better to spend a little extra on a good set of extractors instead of the cheaper ones that will break with little force. You might want to ask or look in the for sale forum, you might be able to get another set of hinges from a car that's being stripped. I'll have a set later in the summer when I ever get time to start gutting my parts car.

Well, I haven't had it get up as far as the speedometer, but most of the cars I have had leak a lot around the cable where it mounts to the transmission. It probably needs the seal replaced in the end of the cable. You might want to try to remove as much as possible before you replace the seal. You might try to remove the cable from the back of the speedo and spray some brake cleaner into the housing to help get as much grease out of the upper end as possible, while leaving the other end off the trans so that it might drip out on the bottom. You could just remove the cable from the car and try the same thing, might be a little easier not having to work under the dash in a contorted position.

I think it may due to the muffler. The muffler that comes in the kit I have is an offset inlet/offset outlet. The muffler is mounted vertically, with the inlet on top and the outlet on the bottom. Yours looks like a offset inlet/ center outlet, but if you try to turn it so the mufflers flat sides are more vertical it might work. Try loosening the clamps on the mufflet and underneath and turning the muffler. You might get it to line up better if you turn it more vertical thereby raising the inlet slightly and it will pull the rest of the pipe away from the centerline of the car and this may straighten the outlet in the opening. That is if they didn't crimp the pipes so much with the old style clamps so that the pipe won't turn. One reason I love the band clamps, you can loosen them and re-adjust the pipes, and you won't have the crimp in the pipe to make is so hard to pull a pipe off.

It could have gotten some condensation inside the cap, go ahead and try some WD-40, it can't hurt. Take the wires off the cap one at a time and spray a little in there too.

If all you want to do is adjust the door plate, loosen the bolts and then tighten them just enough to make it hard to move the plate. Close the door and re-open it carefully and tighten down the bolts. The idea is to loosen them just enough so that when you close the door it will move into alignment with the door and not move when you re-open the door. When you open the door and re-tighten them they should be lined up right. Of course if the door gaps aren't close to the same around the door, you can use kmacks suggestion to re-align the door in the body. Sometimes the hinges will sag and the door will not be lined up in the door opening. Just take a look around the door when it is shut, the gaps should be close to the same all the way down the front and back edge and along the bottom. Open the door and lift up on the back of the window channel to see if the hinges have any play in them, this can cause a door to be hard to shut if the hinges let the door drop after it is inlatched.

I think you would probably want a 15x7 wheel with a zero offset. Gets the tire in close on the inside and will give you plenty of fender room. I don't have mine mounted yet for my car so I can't give an accurate asessment on how they look or fit. I have 15x7's with 225/50 15's and the wheels are zero offset.

I've had two cars with the MSA 2 1/2 inch exhaust and never had any trouble either, but, I had mine hooked to a header so there may have been a slight difference. Sounds to me though they may have done it "bass-ackwards". They should have mounted the muffler first then tinkered with the pipes to line up the muffler right and get it right in front. If I remember right the intermediate pipe by the trans had a slight bend in it, maybe they have that wrong, if you can loosen it up and turn it, it may help line everything up. BTW, I know they are expensive at about $8.50 each, but the stainless band clamps are really the way to go. They don't crimp the pipe like old style muffler clamps, so taking apart an exhaust or just loosening it up for alignment problems is just a matter of loosening 2 bolts. No more crimped pipes that have to be hammered, cussed at, cut up if you need to make a small change like changing a muffler later.

Looks like someone forgot to tell her how to target certain muscle groups while lifting "weights". The ones in her hands silly......

If the car is in imacculate shape as you describe, it could be worth the 5K, BUT, I would make your friend get the car in road ready condition so that you could drive it before you put any money in his hands. If not, then I would drop to 3750 and dicker with him as much as possible. If it still has the flat top carbs tell him that's 500 bucks off the price to begin with, who knows you might end up being able to drive the car home for under 5K. Take a magnet to the car to check for bondo in the usual areas ( never know what some "body men" will pass off as body repairs) unless your friend did all the work. Check for any signs of chassis rust, it may have been in great shape when parked, but the "rust monster" never sleeps. When haggling over the price, think with your head and not your heart, even a beautiful car can hide a headache which only appears later when the paper work is done. Good luck!

zztom, by your description you have an early car with the later B model transmission. There should be a two piece bushing in the shifter where the pin holds it in place. There should also be a bushing on the bottom where the ball on the end of the shifter goes into the shift rail. MDyer, the buzzing sound could be caused by bad bushings (metal to metal) or it would be a signal you have a bearing going bad and transmitting vibration thru the shift rail and into the shifter. If I were you I would drain the transmission and check for metal shavings, there should be a pretty good sized gob of mush on the magnet of the drain plug, but if it's bigger than a grape and shows a lot of large, coarse shavings you may have a center bearing going bad. You could try a set of bushings, but I think if you have a noise coming through the shifter you may have an internal problem that should be at least investigated a little further to prevent a bigger problem later. Sorry, but the shifter is normally pretty quiet, so it may be something internal. Hopefully it's something simple like a center bearing, not a gear or synchro going bad.

Yes, there were two versions of the E-88 head. I believe you will find all the answers on heads on the Z gararge web-site in the links. Brian does an excellent job of covering the different heads and giving the pro's and con's of each one.

Good question. Are you sure the tank is venting? When you put 5 gallons in, is the tank full (does the pump cut off) and if the tank is not completely full, how far have you tried to drive it with what is in the tank. The fuel gauge could be wrong, or the tank is not venting correctly and will not allow the trapped air to escape and allow you to fill the tank. A rear swaybar is not a necessity, but it will improve your handling depending on how you drive. A later 240 bar will work, it all depends on if your car has the swaybar mount brackets in front of the rear suspension or not. If they are there you will need a later model bar, if not you may need to use an early style bar that mounts behind the suspension on the rear crossmember.

With your regular insurance company you are paying for what might happen, you are judged by all other drivers and you pay for the privelage of having insurance through a company that charges all its customers based on all other policy holders and their claims records. Drive a sports car? They charge not only by the replacement value of the car, and the cost of repairing it, but you are judged by the statistical probability that you will drive like an idiot because they already have paid out numerous claims for just that reason. They use accident statistics based on age, sex, type of car, region you live in, theft rates for the model car, repair costs for that brand or model, etc, etc, etc. Basically you are paying for others mistakes. With a collector car insurance company you are paying for what your car is really worth. They only insure people with older, more collectible cars. They know you aren't going to drive a lot, and you will more than likely be a safer and better driver because of what you are driving. It's nice to be charged for what you drive, and by your driving record, not by being compared to all the other drivers on the road, past and present.

Like Jeremiah said, check the taillight gaskets first. They are usually dry rotted and falling apart on most older Z's. Is your hatch sealing? Just because the gaskets look OK, doesn't mean the hatch is sealing tight enough. Try adjusting the latch a little bit and see if that helps. Also, check for any exhaust leaks, you might have a very small leak under the car somewhere or in the engine compartment. BTW, check your firewall grommets while you are in there. If there is a slight leak under the hood it will draw right in around any leaking grommets. Also check the grommets around the gas tank vent lines when you pull the rear interior panel to check the taillight gaskets, it may have a grommet missing on the line that runs up through the floor. FWIW, I have never had a car with the exhaust more than a couple inches past the rear panel, if the taillight gaskets and hatch are sealing it shouldn't be necessary.

Well, you can get new bushings for both the early style and the later style, type A or B transmissions, not sure by your Vin but you should have the later B style. The early A model transmission is known for it's sloppy shifter. The later B model is much improved, any car begining with the 72's has the same style shifter. There is a bushings that goes on the end of the shifter into the shift rail, and a bushing on the pivot. You shouldn't need to bend anything, unless you think it is already bent.

All good suggestions, I'll add one more. Check the electrical connection and operation of the thermo time switch. It is lockated next to the water temperature sensor. Without this operating the fuel injection will not go into cold start mode thereby affecting the cold start valve etc.

And when you are done drooling over that pic, take an hour or two to look at the rest of the Z pics on the site. Plenty of sweet rides, just get a towel first so you won't have to clean up afterwards!:tapemouth