Captain Obvious

Wow. That thing looks great. For three months of work and you've got something to that point already. That's fantastic. BTW - Those anti-squeal shims look just like all the ones I've ever seen. You've never seen that style before? That's the only style I've ever seen. All my hands on experience is with 260s and later. Maybe that's a later design?

The sound of one carb leaking.

The work you did on the throttle plate looks great. Well done! So you think the edge taper angle on the replacement was different than the original? Workmanship... Glad you went back to the original.

Haha!! Oh well. Can't blame me for trying!! I'm glad you're getting such good results. Hope it continues!

Yeah, really! Those things look great! Can I send you my parts too?!! If I brought a box to Zcon, would you have enough time to turn them around for me before I left?

I disagree with that 1000%. The only significant differences between what you have here and the 73-74 carbs is the integral float bowl and the inclusion of a REAL choke. Other than that, those 38mm flat tops are conceptually identical to the Z flat tops. So for all the folks who poo-poo the Z flat tops, but are drooling all over these things..... I got one word. "Hypocrite!"

Oh yeah there are. Maybe the earlier years are worse, but the 280's are not immune. On the other hand, maybe they're just not as bad because of the fuel injection being better than carbs?

Yuck. Sorry for your loss. Did the fire start in the engine compartment? Is that why the corners are pried up? To stick the extinguisher in there?

Story of my life. But we digress. Significantly.

Haha!! Nice! I see what you did there!

Well I wouldn't necessarily give up on the replacement and go back to trying to fix the old drilled one. My biggest issue with the replacement is the burrs. I'm worried that they will gouge the aluminum casting inside the carb throat. But it's not hard to fix. You should be able to dress the burrs off easily with a piece of sandpaper on a hard surface. Couple swipes and they should be cleaned off. Just make sure you don't get too aggressive and remove good material. Keep the corners sharp, but not burred. The rest of the workmanship stuff is annoying, but won't affect performance. Except...... Have you verified that the edges are bevel cut and not straight cut? Can you see the bevel on the original plate?

Nice work! If I were to take all the stuff I thought I would need on the moon, the rocket would never be able to get off the ground.

I'm with Zed Head... I only see one listing in the FSM for an alternator. What am I missing? were there different options for 77's somehow? I know it doesn't really matter, but I'm just curious.

Nice rims. I'm not looking, but I can help prevent you from having to deal with the pisssed off purchaser who bought them expecting six inches... They're five inch rims. You measure the width between the inside tire bead seating surfaces.

In Nevada, one of the definitions of a "Rebuilt vehicle" is one that has had one or more listed major components replaced. NRS 482.098 “Rebuilt vehicle” defined. 1. “Rebuilt vehicle” means a vehicle: (a) That is a salvage vehicle as that term is defined in NRS 487.770, excluding a nonrepairable vehicle; or (b) One or more major components of which have been replaced as set forth in this subsection.......... snip Might not be the way they do it in other states, but that's how they roll in NV.

In Nevada if you mix and match parts from different vehicles, the title should be permanently branded as rebuilt, reconstructed, or specially constructed: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-482.html And when you sell a vehicle like that, you are required to disclose the modifications: http://dmvnv.com/pdfforms/vp064.pdf http://www.dmvnv.com/pdfforms/vp104.pdf It's fine as long as you brand the title accordingly. NRS 482.098  “Rebuilt vehicle” defined. 1.  “Rebuilt vehicle” means a vehicle: (a) That is a salvage vehicle as that term is defined in NRS 487.770, excluding a nonrepairable vehicle; or (b) One or more major components of which have been replaced as set forth in this subsection. For the purposes of this subsection, the requisite major components of a vehicle which must be replaced for a vehicle to be considered rebuilt are the: (1) Cowl assembly; (2) Rear clip assembly; (3) Roof assembly; (4) Floor pan assembly; (5) Conventional frame coupled with one additional major component; or (6) Complete front inner structure for a unibody. 2.  The term does not include a vehicle for which the only change is the installation of a truck cab assembly. 3.  For the purposes of this section, “replaced” means the substitution, or change in whole, of a new, used or after-market part of a vehicle. NRS 482.100  “Reconstructed vehicle” defined.  “Reconstructed vehicle” means any vehicle which shall have been assembled or constructed largely by means of essential parts, new or used, derived from other vehicles or makes of vehicles of various names, models or types, or which, if originally otherwise constructed, shall have been materially altered by the removal of essential parts or by the addition or substitution of essential parts, new or used, derived from other vehicles or makes of vehicles. NRS 482.120  “Specially constructed vehicle” defined.  “Specially constructed vehicle” means any vehicle which shall not have been originally constructed under a distinctive name, make, model or type by a generally recognized manufacturer of vehicles.

Gotcha. Looking at the designs, I can come up with one quick reason the later version is probably better... On the spring version, every time you let up on the pedal, the springs will re-center the piston and the light will go out. This means that every time you hit the brakes, you will have to waste fluid volume to push the piston to end of travel before you build pressure in the good side of the system. This is probably the explanation for the horrible pedal feel. On the newer design, If I'm understanding the design correctly, the piston is centered hydraulically and will not re-center until the problem is resolved. In theory, this would result in one bad pedal push towards the floor, but after that, it should engage further up. All in theory, of course. However, all that said, I'm starting to agree with the above which questions the need at all. I mean... I don't need a bright red light on the dash to tell me that my brakes have failed. I'll have a brown stain on my seat that will make the situation perfectly clear. A bright red light might even be a distraction at a time when I should be concentrating on other things, like plotting my escape strategy from impending doom in front of me.

Yeah, I'm sorry. Unless I'm willing to put up, I should keep quiet. If that throttle plate doesn't work out, let me know and I'll try to make you one. I've never tried, but with an example in hand I think I could make that.

My car is not rusty, but it is painted. My only problem with the welded in stuff is I know I'll have to sacrifice paint. So, if one were to use a pair of these per side as lift points, how far fore and aft would one put them? Center them on the original jack notches? Put them as far fore and aft as possible? The farther apart they are, the more stable, but I don't wonder if the rockers are stronger at the notches. I also wouldn't want to interfere with the front fenders in the event that they ever had to come off.

Hahaha!! Chuck, I was waiting for that! I knew that would strike a chord with you!

I know I had checked out earlier, but I've still got an outstanding question that may clear this whole thing up... I understand that you didn't get any title with the purchase. So what documentation DO you have to prove that you even own the vehicle in the first place? A notarized bill of sale? A non-notarized bill of sale? Anything? And what information is on that documentation to indicate that it pertains to that specific car? Is there VIN listed on that documentation? If so, which VIN? The one from the firewall, or the one from everywhere else? The reason I ask is because if your documentation is notarized and includes the VIN from the firewall, then we're all going on about nothing. Take off the removable VIN tags and throw them out. Problem solved. If you're energetic, buy yourself some replacement nameplates that match the firewall. But if you don't have any documentation, or if that documentation isn't notarized and/or doesn't include the firewall VIN, then I believe the prospect of ever getting that car legitimately titled is doubtful. At least, I hope so. "Don't worry about the number engraved into the firewall of the car. For the title, we'll just use this other one stamped into this easily removable nameplate." Said no DMV official, ever.

The early design centers itself with springs. The later design centers itself hydraulically. I didn't know there was question about how the early design centered or I would have jumped in earlier. I'm no expert, but I could have helped there. One question though... My engineering sense tells me the springs in the early design should be different on the two sides because of the proportioning valve. Are the two springs identical, or is one of them wound with thicker wire or have one more turn or something?

Wait... That shiny throttle plate on the right side is the NEW one??? Color me not impressed in the workmanship! Make sure you get those brass burrs off the edges before they chew up your carb bores when they dig into the aluminum. And 240260280 mentioned the edge angle above, Is there even an angle cut on the edge, or is it straight cut? And what's with the scraping marks? It probably doesn't affect operation, but there's no reason a brand new part should be marked up like that! And then there's the oversized tri-lobular holes. Like they drilled them at the wrong speed with the wrong drill bit and didn't ream the final hole to size. Again doesn't affect operation, but it's just poor workmanship. Sorry to poo-poo your brand new part. I know it was cheap, but what the heck?? Maybe I should go into the carb business...

Problem with Zcon is those who drive to the event in a Z are limited in what they can bring and what they can take back because of space and how dirty / sloppy the parts are. Other problem is that I don't want to load up the car with a whole bunch of parts, only to bring the same parts home again. It would be great if there was a "needs" list or something. A thread started with the intention of arranging swap details? Like "I'm going to Zcon... Who needs what parts?" or something.

I understand completely. Most times I worry about me too. Thanks for the additional description. I guess the part I wasn't getting is that the solid bar stock is simply a spacer to fill the gap between the plate ans the floor. Got it.