Zed Head

Aren't there garage-fulls of L24's out there, from L28 swaps? Seems like you could get an old engine pretty easily.

You mean the DEA mounts only, right? Not all aftermarket. Beck Arnley is pretty clearly nutless, from their pictures I missed your post about the DEA mounts. Their pictures on the web are crap. From your post #24 it looks like the DEA quality is generally bad. And you had to buy new bolts anyway. The Anchor product is "out of stock", but I'm almost positive the OReilly mounts I got a couple of years ago were Anchor brand and nutless. Their picture may not represent the product either. Still no aftermarket winners... These pictures are all from Rockauto.

280Z nutted mounts are still out there - http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/311661274446?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

I learned today. You're right. They added the nuts after Nov. 74. But Rockauto and others are selling them nutless for all years.

Even the Beck Arnley's are missing the tacked-on nuts. Wouldn't be surprised if these are all the same parts, rebranded. It's the world we live in, brand names are sold and the quality left behind.

I wonder if the PO was using that plate as a clamp for the upholstery? Doesn't seem to serve a purpose. Have you decided on struts? There seem to be three options available - Tokico, KYB, and Stagg. Tokico might still be hard to get though.

Actually, in the picture, the stock linkage does look a bit contorted, from the firewall to the carbs. Does it move freely like that?

You can filter results on the Summit Racing sit. Check the boxes. - https://www.summitracing.com/search?N=4294947842%2B4294948048%2B4294826538%2B4294617503%2B4294927144%2B4294674392%2B4294674390&SortBy=BestKeywordMatch&SortOrder=Ascending&keyword=electric fuel pumps Looks like MSD bought Mallory and is milking all that they can out of the MSD brand name. Not uncommon.

Those gray colors used to be called "Primer Gray". "Gray" is the American spelling.

One man's "severe" is another man's "no problem". "Underneath" covers a lot of area. "Should" is subjective. Not enough here to give an opinion. Do you have a camera?

I've seen those types of discussions, that's why I brought it up. Just wanted to be sure you knew what you were getting in to. Each simple extra operation required to get the crank in and working right adds a few more dollars to the overall cost. Then when it blows up you have to do it all over again.

Deeeewwwwwddd....are you really sure you want to follow this path? The cost/benefit ratio is huge. You really don't get a whole lot for the cost of that extra stroke. You'd probably get more benefit from paying to have a head ported by a guy who knows his stuff. Seems like it's wroth considering if the crank is cheap but paying big dollars for it doesn't add up. Your money though.

Can you update your location? Just to shrink the member map? Welcome back. Urethane on the back puts a strong side load on the rod tip as the suspension moves. Probably why the factory rubber has the odd mushroom shape, it serves a purpose. Many T/C rods have broken after fatiguing (my opinion, mine did) with urethane on the back. New rubber on both sides would probably give a fine ride. Many of us are probably going too far in replacing 30 year old rubber with urethane.

I forgot about the FSM recommendation to remove the spindle pin. You don't have to do that. Remove the control arm with the strut instead, leave the spindle pin intact. Four bolts.per side. Take the whole thing out, replace the struts, leave everything else alone. The flop it out method would probably work, except that your strut is over-extended. The other side might flop out while on the car though. It's been described.

BGM was probably on it then. I don't know how the extension stops work inside the shock but yours looks way over-extended. Might be damaged in other ways also. Should be okay to drive but don't catch any air. Copied a picture of what grannyknot was talking about. That's not good.

Are those pictures with the car on jacks or with weight sitting on the wheel? You can remove the strut without removing the spring. Disconnect the brake parts and the halfshaft. Described in the Rear Axle chapter of the FSM.

The reality of the way the hood opens on the Z's makes any fire-fighting effort risky. You have to lean over the gap/opening that will be created when you pop the latch from inside. Smoke will probably be coming out as you lean over. As soon as release the second latch and the hood rises more smoke and flame will be emitting across your upper body and in your face. Not a good scene, besides the fact that opening the hood allows more oxygen in to feed the flames. If you've known any burn victims you'll probably be like me and just spray the extinguisher in to any gaps/openings you can find. Behind the tires, through the radiator, wherever you can get a spray in. If fuel is leaking you can spray under the car to try and stop the back half from burning. It's a good discussion but when you go through the scenarios in your head, it seems like stand back and spray is the way to go. The main point is gloves, but if you're wearing polyester or a tank top or thin cotton you could easily get some serious flash burns or even have your clothes catch on fire. The best result of this discussion might be to just have a plan in your head. That includes "don't even try to open the hood from outside" if the smoke is heavy. Another thought might be "why would I have a fire"? I changed all of my old rubber fuel hoses after one sprung a tiny pin hole leak and shot gasoline across the sidewalk when I opened the hood, after I smelled gas while driving. I broke a sweat just looking at that thin stream of fuel squirting across my still-running engine. It was scary.

Just saw this part. If you're looking at the studs on the top, the rip has happened below, tearing the studs from the rest of the rubber, in the strut.fender well.

Looks like the rubber insulator at the top of the strut broke, letting the wheel drop. You can probably see the remains above the tire with a light. There's room to get your head in there now. The dropped wheel is causing the u-joints in the halfshaft to bind, that's where the bumpy rotation comes from.

The plate is clamped between the engine and transmission. Coatings tend to creep or flow over time. Better doublecheck transmission bolt tightness over time after installing. Generally, metal mating surfaces should not be painted. It it were mine, I'd scrape all of the coating off where the two surfaces mate. Besides that,why would you powdercoat a part that's buried from sight. Just seems odd. Oh well. Seems to fit the seller's MO though.

Removing the gas cap unseals the tank.

I'd be interested but I don't want to go through the hassle of removing the filler neck. I'd guess that many others are avoiding it also. I even spent time devising a way to add a narrow unleaded filler neck inside my existing filler neck so that I wouldn't have to remove it. Fuel tank work is a major pain.

Pretty sure it's in here. Didn't go through it but I remember discussing it.

The mousetrap springs put a small amount of pressure on the cam lobe circle, the part of the lobe that should have lash (a gap). But if you're seeing extensive wear the lash might have decreased to zero. This can happen when valve seats wear. The simple thing to do is to measure lash, using feeler gauges. That will tell you if you have a big problem. Always a good idea to check lash on a regular basis anyway. But, the gold coloration could just be oil residue left over because lash is correct and there is no wear to rub it off. As it should be. If it's oil residue you'll be able to polish it off easily.

The engine bay is also exposed from underneath. Behind the wheels for sure, everywhere if the splash pan is removed. I'd spray there first.