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My Matsuo-san story dates back to the 2015 ZCON in Memphis, my first such convention. It was the wash day morning and Matsuo was strolling around the parking lot observing all the cars getting cleaned. He stopped by my car as I was desperately trying to get it dried before water spots could take a set. He began sharing the story of the origins of the hatch strut. He said they took the concept from the canopy strut of the elegant French Mirage aircarft but it was a relatively expensive piece to build. As a designer they had to fight the accountants to move forward with the part. When they suggested the car would benefit from two struts, the bean counters made it clear they would make do with one! He also spoke briefly about the inclusion of carpets for the US market, stating that although they might be able get away with rubber mats in Japan that would not be the case for the US-bound cars and even then they had to settle for less costly looped-style carpet over a higher cost cut pile product. He chuckled about the ongoing battles with the bean counters throughout the entire design and build process. He was indeed a wonderful and entertaining personality and we are all so very fortunate to have had him in our Z car history.

Yea, sorry to be the bearer. From what I saw on Facebook, he just celebrated his birthday. I recall sitting in a bar with him at a ZCON in Long Beach. I enjoyed a certain sort of connection with him, designer to designer, when he took out a pen and started sketching. I still have some some of his sketches.

Yes, that was him. He got even more laughs in 2018 when he was explaining the unusual number of car seats breaking in America due to Americans having sex in the cars.

My seats held up!

Brake pad shims

Do it in a DATSUN? Done it in a DATSUN!

This may be of some help. I've never seen that before myself. Here's a bunch of threads on those shafts... https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-americamovil-us-revc&ei=S44PX-W8LsuOggebw6ngCA&q=bent+su+butterfly+shaft+classiczcars.com&oq=bent+su+butterfly+shaft+classiczcars.com&gs_lcp=ChNtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1zZXJwEANQAFgAYJ41aABwAHgAgAHdAYgB3QGSAQMyLTGYAQA&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-serp

I think I found the problem. Butterfly had ZERO play and the shaft holding it looks bent...

+1 - Don't over torque the bolts. Chances are someone already did. If so, it may leave the flange distorted at some or all of the bolt holes. Check the top surface and make sure it's flat. The metal is fairly soft and if it has been over torqued, the top may be mushroomed up a bit at some or all of the bolt holes. If it's not flat, tap the bolt holes down lightly with a hammer to get the top surface as even as you can. (rest the flange on the edge of your work bench and tap lightly - work your way around each side)

Is he the guy that spoke at the awards dinner in Memphis? I think Eiji translated for him. I remember some good laughs from the crowd as he spoke and a lot of clapping when he left the podium.

This is always good, in general. Put everything back to where it "drove perfectly". The fact that the idle screw adjustment has no affect is a big clue. Almost sounds like the AFM vane is stuck or something else is blacking the intake system. Air flow is what controls engine speed. Are you missing any shop rags?

Going to swap the front carb with my other one at this point to see if the issue continues.

How incredibly sad ?. He will be greatly missed. Always enjoyed my conversations and time with him. Just one story: It always amused me that at the ZCON judged shows (and other car shows) he would walk around and touch parts, open doors, turn lights off and on, etc. Nobody else could get away with that but him. In fact most consider it an honor that he handled the cars.

By the way @zclocks, I showed Matsuo-san your website when I was helping him with preparation for his tech talk in 2018, and the subject came up about the rally clocks IIRC. He was pleasantly surprised with your work, and he asked me to make a print-out of your website for him.

I had the privilege of helping him create the slide deck he used for his talk at ZCON 2018. He could certainly tell some good stories.

That is very sad news. He really enjoyed coming to the US for ZCON. I was talking with Eiji Hosami prior to Matsuosan's tech talk at ZCON 2018. Eiji told me that over in Japan, Matsuosan is just another grandfather, but when he comes over here, he is a rock star.

Also, the new NAFTA 2.0 just kicked in so no duty is paid on orders under $150 CND.

Shouldn't the choke cable be all the way down? Looks like yours is up.

Ah, I think my picture just wasn't clear. I updated the drawing to make it more apparent that the measurements are from the fork surface of the ears to the edge of the throwout bearing surface (see red markup). Unless I'm still having trouble getting this concept through my thick skull, I think these are the relevant numbers. Yeah that makes sense, I'm betting zcarsource just sent me a 75-83 Z/ZX plate, as it measures ~44mm from the bench to the springs. According to my chart below, my best bet is the corresponding 75-83 Z/ZX collar which should get me up to 44 (plate) + 42 (collar) = 86mm. It's not quite 92, but add a few mm for the extra bit of bearing that sticks over and a few mm for my sloppy image measurements, and I think it may just work.

both times i've ordered the "competition" gasket from msa - it's synthetic (not cork) and a little thicker than the stock one, i think around $15 or so. both times (two different engines) it sealed perfectly with no leaks. the first engine was still in the car, so i cleaned best i could with a rag and solvent, but not perfect (the pan was cleaned and straightened) the second was a rebuild on a stand so much cleaner. not sure if i'm just lucky or if this gasket is the ticket, but so far so good.