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Can you attach a better looking face to my name?

What is the idle speed of the engine? Engines with performance cams do better with a higher idle RPM.

Reply to Mark in #86 - I meant giving up on looking at all six. That would have made the 3 and 4 problem more clear. Which is why it was asked. Jalex's problem on the forum has always been that he doesn't do what people ask him to do. You asked for the other four and he only gave you one. Should have had a picture of all six in a row two days ago.

You know which is the "right" decision. Four days and nights is a loooooooong time on a small boat under the best conditions. Ask yourself, What could possibly go wrong? Now ask yourself what could possibly go right at ZCON. Looking forward to good conversation with you at ZCON.

looking forward to it, view near Hog Pen Gap, North Ga from last year. Sent from my iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

Alright, so here we go! This is a 1973, HLS30-165462. Purchased by my father brand new in 73 in Rhode Island and traveled with him to Colorado, New Mexico, and finally to Minnesota. He kept decent records of maintenance and mileage, so we know the odometer reading of 65,416 is correct. Original color is 901 Silver. There's still some of it under the hood and in the engine bay, but the outside was peeling in the late 80s so he had it removed and primed, but never decided on a new color, so in primer it remained. Back in my high school days we dropped the gas tank, cleaned it, replaced various hoses and managed to get it running. I had a lot of fun cruising around for a couple summers but moved away for college and then work and never kept up on maintenance after 2006. I’ve been itching to move it down to my house in Wisconsin and return it to its former glory and a few weeks ago it finally happened. The plan right now is just to get it running so I can drive it to winter storage. The long term goal is to strip it down next spring, fix the rust, and get it painted. The typical places all look to be affected. After that, go through and refresh as many original components as I can. I’m not a purist who plans to reuse every nut, bolt, and hose clamp, but I do want to keep the major components in place (flat tops ftw). I will admit that this is a new hobby for me and a bit beyond the work I have done on cars in the past. I don’t plan to learn to weld or paint, but can hopefully do most everything else myself. So I’d like to document this work as a benefit for others as well as myself. I’ve read a lot of past build threads on this forums and you all have a wealth of knowledge that I can hopefully draw upon to not screw this up too badly.

1100 rpms is a nice busy idle. That should help eliminate the plugs loading up. Watch your temp gauge. Things can get hot pretty fast at a busy idle unless your fan-or fans are pulling a lot of air.

I didn't give up on #5. That plug looked pretty darned good, imho, having idled for a long time. I was just glad to see that all the plugs weren't black. It doesn't matter to me if the other five were black. The fact that at least one plug looked good narrows the problem down. Also, the original problem was always isolated to #4 until the dist was removed and reinstalled. Then #5 started doing the same thing as #4 did previously. Seems to me that moving the wires and or disconnecting them and reinstalling them is the cause for the #5 gremlin and probably #4 too. I considered valve seals too but the two dark plugs looked sooty not oily. I'm hoping that re-seating the wires will eliminate the misfire. With Alex removing and reinstalling the wires the misfire may move to another cylinder until all the wire connections are right.

Yes.

Only if they feel loose. I've experienced connections that are too loose as well as connectors that were so tight that they wouldn't slip over the plug connection. Same thing with the dist. cap connectors. You'll have to assess each connection and determine if it's too loose, too tight or just right. I think we could call the just right connection the "Goldilocks Connection.

Brenda and I will be there. So will Carl Beck, Jim Frederick (Z Mecca), Eiji, Woody Staub and a number of others. This one will go in the books as a great Zcon, I can promise you that. Cliff...you need to make it.....Ilsa was asking if you were coming....she was hoping you were coming too MIKE! ?

Haha!!! So it's a shame that some of you guys won't be able to make it. For those of you who are still on the fence, here's to hoping you fall on the Zcon side!

Actually......I'm pretty good with photoshop but I'm not a miracle worker!

I'm in! but only for the last couple of days.? Looking forward to attaching faces to names!

Go to Knoxville where there are a bunch of UT fans wearing an ugly shade of orange, or go to Atlanta a see a bunch of great Z cars. WHY do you suggest there is a decision?

First off, thanks for everyone's input, it all helps. Now to catch up to where I'm at now.... I did order the XTR flywheel from ebay (claimed to be 15lbs.), very nice quality piece. I also ordered an Exedy clutch kit (again from ebay) for the 75-83z 2+2 non turbo, 240mm contact surface. I received both and, the clutch/pressure plate fit perfectly on the RB26 flywheel. But while I was fondling the beautiful flywheel.....feels a little light to me. And it is, weighing in at 9.5-9-6lbs. That's even lighter than the 11lb. Fadenza I wasn't comfortable going with in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I know some of you have been running 10-11lbs. for years and seem to love them. I just felt better at 15lbs, so that's the way I went (or tried to go). Have been in contact with Godzilla Raceworks and he informed me that the spacers for the RB26 flywheels are coming in a little sooner then he expected, like only a week or so out. And he sells the spacer with a 13lb RB26 Chrome-Molybdenum Steel flywheel for $200 (don't quote me on price, just check out the website). So, I'm trying to return the XTR that I got (i know i'm probably being a jackass and overthinking this) and go with the spacer/flywheel kit from Godzilla. How ever you look at it, I really don't think you can put a lightweight flywheel in an S30 for less than $200. (ok, the xtr i got from ebay was like $165, but you still need the spacer from Godzilla (40)to make it work so i figure might as well just place one order).

My first concern would be rust under there causing the cracking. If not it's probably breaking loose from chassis flex

Congratulations on the new job. I hope it's less travel than the old one. Just make sure you build a big enough garage for your Zs at the new homestead.

Looking forward to it

That’s good to know! I’ll search for reviews before I let any shop do this foe me. I’m a complete novice when it comes to the various Z car shops/vendors.

Ok lets try this a different way. Go out to your car and pull all 6 plugs (now) and take a pic of them (now) and then load that/those pics so we can see all six of them (now).

It's a show from the '70s.

From all I've read the SUs are temperature sensitive, they need some heat. My '72 has a winter and summer flap on the snorkel of the air box plus a heat riser connected to the bottom. My 2008 Stihl blower also has a winter and summer setting behind the air filter. There's got to be something to it, something about atomization I believe it's called. If you could source an OE air cleaner you could get all the hoses back where they belong. My $.02.

Sadly Janet and I have to bow out ? New job and we just bought 5 acres in the country for a new home so it is a busy time.

Surgery has killed my chance. Not healing as quick as I thought and I can’t work on my car much right now. I’ve actually hired some help to keep things going. It’s killing me that I can’t go with it this close. Very slight chance I’d drive down in another car, but that wouldn’t be as fun.

My attendance is questionable now that a "bucket list" item has come up. Houseboat trip to Knoxville for Bama vs Vols game. It's a tough decision for because 1. reservations are made already, 2. I want to shake hands with some guys I have great respect for but have yet to meet, 3. three couples on a two bedroom boat for four days (three girls on a boat with one bathroom), 4. three drunk boat pilots. Run during the daylight anchor down at night. Positive side, three drunk best friends going to an Alabama game at Neyland Stadium on a boat. Decisions, decisions! My life is tough.