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@Captain Obvious Thank you, I appreciate the kind words and your love for the diagram.

I'll be there...

What he really needs is a competent mechanic, as he does not posses and has not learned the skills himself! There have been so many issues with this car the owner could , by now, have paid a Z specialist an all expenses paid vacation to Panama for a month to work on the car and he would come out $$$$$ ahead. Especially if you make any accounting at all for aggravation. My trusted mechanic, Jose, is from Honduras and cut his automotive teeth as a child learning firsthand from his grandfather and dad what it took to keep cars and tractors running dependably and indefinitely. They were extremely poor by U.S. standards and there was no running off to the dealer or parts shop for anything but the most vital of components. They ingeniously made do with what was on hand. I am constantly amazed at Jose's ability to read complex technical information in ENGLISH and comprehend what needs to be done, step by step, to effect a proper repair. He does not assume, jump to conclusions, or deviate from his methodical approach. Mechanical devices don't run on "maybe", hope, and wishful thinking. The Moderators have my permission to flag this rant as "Not Constructive".

I installed the new unit. The old one tested fine the next day but I figured it cut out on me twice, it will do it again. I noticed that there are manufacturing date on stickers on the new and old units. The old unit was manufactured in December 2013. These things don't last very long do they? BTW: I gave up on the tow after they contacted me and was unable to give a revised ETA. I ended up with another towing service the following morning that arrived within 30 minutes with a flatbed. BTW 2: The Dunkin' people sent me home with a dozen donuts ; ) Must be my good looks.

I had high hopes of documenting step by step the restoration of my 72 but life got in the way. I am going to post on this thread going forward and turn back the clock a few months. Car was a good clean California car almost rust free car but needed love just about everywhere. Paint is driver quality so my plan is to do what I can to make it a nice driver with intentions to paint later.

Same here, I love that diagram, I'm in the midst of overhauling the wiring harness right now on my 77 280 and it is the real deal. Thanks for all that hard work.

So I really wanted to protect the studs on the booster before I reassembled it. I have both halves of the case finish painted. So I plated them in place. I wired them up and suspended them in the tank This is how the other half turned out Now I'm working on plating the MC push rod. I'm working on removing the pitting from the rod.

Tried to plate last weekend but my tank heater was dead. So I got another one and did some plating this weekend. One thing I did was plate some studs on a booster. This part is fully painted except for the studs Wired up Suspended right at the top of the tank Turned out pretty decent. I am unsure why the ends of the studs didn't really plate. It will be ok, since these studs are under the dash

Yes.. Focus on eliminating one factor at a time. Dennis

@Captain Obvious @GGRIII Meet you flattoppers in Atlanta-----might be the largest gathering of us ever at a ZCON! C.O and Gary---sure hope that your fuel issue is resolved and is not complicated by the loan to me C.O. made of the fuel nozzle gauge and removal tool. I will return them in person with many thanks and hopes that they are not too late! My fuel and resultant drivability issue revolved around a NOS Nissan/Datsun power valve that was assembled incorrectly from the factory. One of the diaphragms was bunched up and perforated as a screw hole was missed!! Never would have thought it. Wrong, right out of the box. Jose, my mechanic, and I never could get the idle adjusted rock steady and the car would hesitate and lose power at inappropriate times--- especially at low speeds. (sharp low speed cornering and acceleration from stoplights) Inspection of the plugs fed from the rear carb indicated an over-rich condition that could not be compensated. I'm confident now that these flattops are performing the way they were intended by the designers. The throttle positioner works properly and the EGR functions as it should. Coolant temperature sender and thermostatic valves all work as intended. It has taken 2 years, but In a nutshell, the engine has never run this well before---smooth as glass---I never knew what I was missing and cannot wait for the drive to Atlanta! Safe travels! See y'all there!

MSA exhaust system went on today, fits like a glove. Headlight covers now going on.

More suspension pics

So jealous.... it’s been a real crappy summer and non existent fall. Temps around 34F for the last four weeks it seems. Not good driving weather at all. Our car club cancelled the fall cruise due to snow.... Hope everyone has a great time! Wish I was there with you all!

Got a new pump. It goes in the cabinet. It’s called a trash pump. It does a much better job of keeping the slurry mixed. It’s designed to pump up to 50% solids and can pump sand and silt. Works awesome. Only issue is it’s not as powerful. So I turned the air up slightly. Honestly man hands like the less pressure. Before vapor blasting for an hour and my hands would be very sore. M brass comes out perfect with vapor.

Looks like I'll get to Zcon on Thursday thru Sat. Time to polish!

So trying to pull this back on target... Assuming we can shake down the bugs in our intended 260 ride and make it to the event without having to push the car, I'd be happy to demonstrate a set of flat tops on a stock 260 engine. The doubters can sit in the passenger seat with a big grin on their faces. This car was pulled off the road maybe twenty years ago, and has since been the subject to a significant tear down and rebuild of pretty much everything but the engine. It's seen maybe a hundred miles since being put back on the road. So what's the smart course of action? Jump in in and drive 2000 miles round trip, of course!!

You weren't the only one thinking that. So much for not going off the rails.

A few more from along the way. Hope to have the engine fired in another 3-4 weeks.