Captain Obvious

Also, I don't believe you ever mentioned the year of the car, but I'm guessing 73 or 74 and it appears to have had a flat-top to round-top modification. And with that in mind, your throttle linkage between the two round top carbs is not correct and does not fit right. It's too short. Note how the ball is almost completely slipping out of the rear carb linkage in your pic. That's because the linkage between the two carbs is too short.

I figured out what's the deal with the damper stalks. The "normal looking" one is from your typical 240 round top carb. The other "top hat shaped" one (with the protuberance) is from a 73or 74 flat top carb that your PO has "repurposed" to use in one of your round tops. Problem with this plan however, is the damper stalks or the flat top carbs are longer than the ones for the round tops and will bottom out if you try to do this. So your PO punched the damper rod out the top of the cap to shorten the effective length and be able to use it on the round top carb. Then it appears he applied epoxy to attempt to seal the rod and lock it in place. So, the cap has been punched through, but what I said before about it happening accidently was incorrect. It appears to be an INTENTIONAL misuse. Mother of invention and all that... Also explains the different fill level markings.

Funky different caps. Is the lower one glued together from multiple pieces? Are they both plastic?

I don't have a lot of input that would be valuable, but want to wish you luck with this project. I don't think I ever even tested my defroster, but I assume it doesn't work. My relay clicks. but I assume all or most of my traces have gone open circuit. Anyway, about the only thing I could add is I have worked quite a bit with membrane keyboards in the past (as a user) and they use lots of silver conductive ink keyboard applications. Silkscreened and cured (either heat or UV cured) after screening. It's durable enough that the keyboards don't smear the material around in the contact area.

It's a plan!

Calibrated builder's eyes!

That's a cool idea. I remember we talked about activated charcoal and it's application in the plating realm, but I never thought it could be a simple as a fridge filter!

I have some input. First, a little more detail about the PCV tube... One of the PCV valve's jobs is to meter the amount of air being pulled out of the crankcase, so it's not unmetered. It's reversed direction from the way it came from the factory, but only time will tell if that's acceptable or not. The wire tie on the throttle linkage is necessary because a PO has removed the "throttle opener" device. It's an emissions thing that reduces emissions during deceleration by holding the throttle open a tiny amount. With that device removed, the linkage connection point for it is loose and flopping around on the linkage. That wire just keeps it from flopping loose. It's ugly, but doesn't really cause a problem. The "right" way to fix it would be to reinstall a throttle opener system. As for the rod sticking out of the damper knob on the front carb? My guess is that's the end of the rod that is supposed to be pressed into the plastic on the underside of the cap. I suspect it has punctured all the way through and is now sticking out the top of the plastic cap. "How does such a thing happen?" You might ask... It can happen with a front fire rapidly causing a high pressure inside the intake manifold (probably caused by a lean running condition). That high pressure burst tries to rapidly push the suction piston up, but (just like they're supposed to do) the jiggly bits on the damper stalk try to slow the piston's upward rise. However, in this case, the explosion wins, the damper can't get out of the way fast enough, and the stalk blows out the top of the plastic cap.

Cool! The valve looks great. Don't forget to do a safety margin pull test on it. And can I borrow that fixture when you're done with it?

I was just into this area of my 77 (same as 78), and after being in there... I would say "Yes, but I think it will be a pain in the butt". Getting to the hardware is possible, but finicky. And I worry about damaging the springy horn contact. With pulling the steering wheel being so easy, I would just remove it. It's just so much easier.

And don't forget... Speaking of cars, of course:

Hi Kats, Does the plastic reservoir bottle accept the same kind of cap? I saw pictures with a white plastic cap, but I didn't see anything with a metal pressure relief cap installed on the plastic bottle. And also, have you confirmed that the plastic reservoir bottle was designed to contain the pressure involved?

CO2 is a clear colorless gas.

Wait... Nothing stupid?? Nothing? Am I supposed to live in a plastic bubble of good judgment for the next month?? I was supposed to go for a run with scissors today. Well that narrows it down some. I put Fiero seats in mine and it wasn't easy. I didn't have to bash the hump on the floor (BTW - it's for the catalytic converter on such equipped models), but I had all the same mounting issues. Not an easy project.

Looking forward to it greatly!!! Can't wait Bud!

Of course, that was when he let me get into his car and took me on a tour of the local brewpubs...

I've personally witnessed questionable judgment on his part.

Do you know your last name is almost an adverb?

So, I know it was Porsche, but what model? I've got a Boxster in the garage and I've already measured the seats. Boy... Would SWMBO sure be surprised if she went out one day and found her seats weren't in her car anymore!! PS - Sorry, OP for the thread jack. I think we're almost done.

It's bearing bronze, not brass. Still not as hard as steel, but you just don't want dust or grit in there mixing with the grease becoming a lapping paste. Who knows... All that steering on the twisty roads in the mountains of SC? Couple years and you'll have no rack left.

Nice freehand work on that lube groove! Make triple sure you get all the burrs rounded off and get all the swarf out.

Thread jack alert... Pics or it didn't happen. PS - Glad you're still around and it's good to hear from you!!

Sweet! My first car was a beat up Falcon with a 170 and 3 on the tree. Unsynchronized first gear. I learned a lot about transmissions with that car. A whole lot...

It should be pretty easy to determine what size bolts are supposed to be used there. If I had to guess, I would say they should all be M12. There was a drawing floating around here somewhere that called out all the sizes for the suspension bolts. Have you seen that?

You are correct. Those pins go nowhere. Even though the connector is populated, those pins are no-connects. I'm thinking that they may have just received a shipment from Amp (the connector manufacturer) of connectors that had all the positions loaded instead of the partially populated versions they had used in the past. Reason being... I've got pics from later built ECUs that went back to the partially populated connector. Seems the fully populated ones were a temporary thing? That sort of thing is a pretty common occurrence in manufacturing. The buyer places an order and the vendor asks if they can substitute a different (but compatible) part instead. Usually because of lead time. If it's acceptable with the buyer, they get the substitute. May be what happened here. Reason I say this... Here's an ECU which I believe is built later than the one you posted above and it's got the partially loaded connector. I believe the later construction date based on three things... The ID numbers on the boards are higher. The plastic encapsulated capacitors in some locations (newer style), and the different heat sink style on the IC's. I bought this ECU used as a spare, and I was told it was for 77. I really have no way to verify that though. It may have actually came out of a 78. Anyway, all this is academic... Use the ECU that works. The number of pins populated really doesn't matter much.