Captain Obvious

Nice cars! You got one of these?

Excellent! Now go do some smoky burnouts!

I'm no suspension guy, but I believe the PU bushings were designed that way to prevent metal-to-metal contact. There is no direct metal-to-metal contact between the strut housing and the control arm (with either the stock rubber bushing, or the PU aftermarket replacements). If you cut off that PU flange and replace with metal washers, you'll end up with metal-to-metal. You need something to keep the strut housing from sliding fore and aft between the ears on the control arm, but you don't want it to be metal. Needs be strong enough to support the forces at work though.

Uhhhhhh.... Yeah, that aint right. If it springs back slightly, I'm guessing that it's rusty cruddy and virtually locked up. I was just messing with one similar a few days ago. Weights and springs had rusted to the pins they are supposed to pivot on. Maybe you threw a spring too, but I bet it's just wear and crud. The one I was messing with also had wear marks on the sliding components. So now it moves easy, but it's still notch because of the wear.

Flat tops FTW. By the way... You got a boat?

Not exactly sure what you mean about the notch, but that's what makes it have a front and a back. The notch is not in the middle of the spindle pin. If you put it in wrong, you'll have too much threads sticking out one end and not enough on the other. And yes... You should be able to push the pin (slightly greased) in one side using two fingers until the threads pop out the other side. And then you should be able to use two fingers to pull it all the way through. There should be no wedging at all. The only wedging occurs as a result of the wedge shaped locking pin.

Good man. The problem would be it would be hard to get the pin in, but you wouldn't know why. Is it a misalignment issue, or a burr issue? Now at least you'll know. Haha!! Also a good idea to test fit the locking pin now to make sure it inserts fully without problems. Oh yeah, and you do know that the spindle pins are no symmetric, right? There's a front end and a back end.

Man that thing is hammered! Literally!! Have you made sure the spindle pin slips cleanly through the strut body?* With that amount of deformation, It's likely that some material has mushroomed into the hole. I can't tell from the pic if it's been filed back out enough to get the pin in. Easiest to check it now before you squeeze the strut body into place. * If you've never messed with them before... The spindle pin should be a slip fit in the housing. Two fingers should be able to spin it all the way through the strut body. In one side, and all the way out the other. If you can't do that, there's a burr inside the hole causing interference.

Thanks Jim! I've never had the opportunity to examine them side by side. Thanks for the details. So then the answer to the "what's with the nubbies?" might be as simple as "We wanted a way to keep them from getting mixed up at the factory."

Failing all else.... Destroy the control arms to save the frame. Control arms are replaceable.

I don't think it's a leverage issue. The bolt head moves, it just turns the inner bushing sleeve along with it. In other words, when you put the wrench on it and turn the bolt head, it'll move easy, but then spring back because you're rotating the inner bushing sleeve inside the control arm bushing. You're just torqueing up the rubber in the bushing. I think if you put the breaker bar on it and just kept spinning and spinning it, all you would do is shear the vulcanized rubber joint and separate the inner tube from the outer tube. Still wouldn't help get the bolt out of the inner tube. Ideas on solutions? If there is enough room to get in there with the recip saw (without hitting the frame member or the control arms) and cut it off at the sides. Or if there isn't enough room, cut the head and threaded stub off and spread the frame member a little to give you clearance to pry the remainder out Or if you can't spread the frame enough, drill shallow holes into the bolt shank until you have opened it up to the point where there's no metal left and it should fall out.

LOL! I thought that might be the case. They needed to haul the heavier 2+2 around! Haha!!!!

I did the exact same thing just the other day! We actually got two days in a row where it did NOT rain, and I took my Z out for a bit. On the good side, it started right up and ran exactly the same as it did when I put it away last fall. On the bad side, all of the unfinished winter projects are still un-finished.

Sorry. Can't help you with that one. No idea!

And anyone know why they put those little nibbies on the back of the 2+2 taillight panels? Do they serve any functional purpose? From what I can tell, the panels are identical except for that feature. Seems weird to spend the money to have two different molded parts for no functional reason?

What about rich Corinthian leather?

Yeah, I'll continue to do it the "right" way, but I'm not sure it functionally matters. About the only thing I can come up with is the center of mass is closer to the centerline of the car when they are installed the right way. Sure does look funny in there the wrong way though! Haha!!

I didn't either until I started frequenting this place.

So about the half shafts... Functionally, does it really matter which way they go on? I mean, they've got U-joints at both ends, and the elongation/compression joint shouldn't care. I'm going to keep putting them on the right way, but is there are reason it really matters?

Nope. Both rear arms are made the same. On one side, the channels face up and on the other side, they face down.

Excellent! Glad to help, and hope the rest of it goes smooth!

@BlueZee, Thanks for the excellent pics and the video. Another Z mystery solved. Thanks again!! SurferD, What that orifice does is bleeds the vacuum out of the diaphragm canister that pulls on the throttle after the throttle opener has been actuated. Goes like this... When vacuum goes really high (like when decelerating with foot completely off the gas), the vacuum control valve will open and allow vacuum to be applied to the servo diaphragm. When that vacuum is applied to the servo diaphragm, it pulls on the throttle linkage and holds the carbs open a tiny bit to limit the intake manifold vacuum. Once the intake manifold vacuum drops below a certain point (adjustable with a screw), the control valve will close and additional vacuum will not be applied to the servo. But the cavity inside the servo still holds vacuum, and that little bleed hole's job is to let that vacuum bleed off so the servo diaphragm can relax and stop pulling on the throttle linkage.

@BlueZee, Thanks for that pic! Kinda hard to tell for sure, but yes, that may be a bleed hole. if it is, it would be an answer to something that has bothered me for years. Does that hole actually go anywhere, or is it just a dent from the locking setscrew? Can you pass air through that hole?

I'm not currently running flat tops on my car, but I do know a little about them. I'll do what I can to help.

Naaaa... Most times I just make stuff up and usually people don't bother to check it. !!