Captain Obvious

That tube is simply a vent from the float chamber to atmosphere. And I know you already know this, but there's no way there should ever be fuel coming out of that vent tube. So, you're positive that your fuel pressure is in spec? And you're double dog sure your float levels are correct? With a good flashlight and a small inspection mirror, it is possible to see the sight glass levels even with the motor running. Have you confirmed that it isn't, in fact, a transient level issue? If you're float level is correct and you're not intermittently overwhelming your needle valve with an overly high fuel pressure from your pump, then maybe you are in fact percolating the fuel in the bowl. Do you have the original heat shields attached to the underside of the float bowls? When you say the bowls feel cooler than the rest of the carbs, are you feeling the bowl cover itself, or the heat shield that is (supposed to be) bolted to it. Are all other heat shielding entities still in place? Do you have the coolant tubes to the carbs hooked up, or have they been disabled? I know it's hot there, and even hotter under your hood, but still...

Here's a couple pics I whipped up a while ago that explain how the stock bushings work. Here's the rear outers: And even though we are talking about rears, here's the front inners. Even though it's the front, the concept is identical:

I have a 77 280 that came with the collapsible inflatable accordion spare and I recently completed a project to replace that collapsible spare with an always inflated newer "donut" mini spare. I bought a T115/70/14 donut spare tire and wheel from a junkyard. It had the correct lug pattern, but the inside diameter was too small to fit over the front brake calipers. It fit OK on the rear over the drums, but wouldn't work in the fronts. I came up with two options. 1) use that donut spare as is and if I ever had a flat on the front, I could put that spare on the rear and move my rear tire to the front, or 2) I could remount that donut spare tire onto an old Datsun wheel that would clear the front calipers. I chose the latter. There is some related discussion about wheel widths in this thread here: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/49310-narrowest-stock-wheel/#comment-450080 Here's some pics of the project. Spare as it came from the junkyard: Then I bought a narrow older Datsun wheel. The one I picked up is a four inch wide wheel off a roadster. You could use a 4 1/2 early Z wheel, or even a 5 inch wide, but I wanted as narrow as possible. Here's the roadster wheel sand blasted: Markings inside the wheel. 4 x 14 and apparently from May 1965: Roadster wheel all cleaned up and POR-15 coated. Moved the tire from the original wheel to my new spare wheel. Here's my new spare with to the original accordion spare and at the top is the original wheel from the junkyard that the spare tire came on: You can see that the donut is a little bit larger in diameter than the uninflated accordion, but it fits into the spare well: Here's my new spare in it's home: T115/70 D 14 mounted on 4 inch wide Roadster wheel: I had to put the spare on the car and drive it a little just to make sure everything worked out according to plan. So I mounted the spare on the car and drove over to a local park as a test. Steering wheel didn't sit straight, and it drove a little wonky because of the large mismatch on sizes between corners, but it worked just fine for emergencies. And even though it's a little embarrassing looking, here's a pic for proof:

Well when I say should never be, what I mean is "if there is ever metal to metal, it's not normal and there's a problem somewhere that needs investigating". Worn out soft bushings, something not tightened properly, bent/cracked parts somewhere. I haven't analyzed the geometry to the depth that I could put numbers on it, but ballpark thinking about the geometry of the parts... Just imagine how much of an angle would be required on the rear wheel in order to compress that rubber to the point that you get metal to metal contact. Three degrees of toe? Five? Ten? I don't know what the real value would be, but I suspect that if you're rear corner is ever being twisted that far, then you've got a serious problem somewhere. Even if it's a transient. Like I said, I'm not a suspension guy, but it just seems unlikely. Have you seen this with a good condition, properly installed stock setup? Clean rub marks where metal to metal contact has occurred? I don't know what's going on with people using a 5/8 bolt instead of a real spindle pin, but I suspect (didn't measure it) the original spindle pin is 16mm diameter and a 5/8 bolt is a little smaller than that. If that's the case, then who knows what that extra slop inside the knuckle is doing. I think it's a bad idea.

Excellent. Last time I messed with that stuff, I bought the generic non-stainless stuff and cut to length. What you did looks like a much better solution!

Agreed. Those look very nice.

I consider my narrow always inflated spare is a decent compromise of reliability, convenience, safety, and available room back in the hatch area. I think I have some pics, but have never documented the details. I'll put together a thread about it so we don't sidetrack this thread too much. On edit: Here's a new thread for my mini-donut spare: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/55424-always-inflated-mini-donut-spare-for-7778/

I also think you're on the wrong track thinking the smog pump will fix the issues you're having. I don't know what's going on, but I sure don't think a smog pump will fix it. In general, the problem you're describing here where raw gas bubbles (boils) in the bowl and spills up into the carb throat is called "percolation", not vapor lock. Just like a coffee maker... You boil the liquid in the bowl and it runs up a tube an spills over into another area of the device, Just like a old percolation style coffee maker. So you're saying that it will actually vurp gas out of the carb mouth while the engine is running??? And this is a late 260Z... You running the original flat top carbs, or have you swapped them out for a set of round tops?

I've done a couple installs and I just don't have the mojo. I tried an add-on amp thinking that my head unit just didn't have the nuts. I tried a subwoofer thinking that my speakers just didn't have the lower end. I tried a whole bunch of stuff with mediocre results. I either need to fully embrace the study and dedicate the time required to teach myself how to do it right, or have someone else take the lead. I know I CAN do it. I just need to learn HOW to do it right. It just hasn't been high enough on my priority list yet. I know people are willing to give up their spare, but I'm still holding out. I've built myself a custom always inflated, narrow, space saver spare that fits in the small 77/78 spare well. So at least I don't have to rely on the questionable original spare and inflator bottle, but I'm not ready to cut the cord to a spare completely. My new spare is narrower than the stock spare, and the plan was to lower that rear deck accordingly. I also am planning to install earlier year storage doors on the openings right behind the seats and get rid of the raised deck completely in that area.

I'm no suspension expert, but I got a couple comments. There should never be moving metal to metal contact with the stock bushings. The inner sleeve is longer than the outer sleeve, and that keeps the bottom of the knuckle centered between the two outboard prongs of the control arm. The only points of contact are supposed to be the outer sleeves pressed immovably into the control arm, and the inner sleeves pinched immovably tight to the bottom of the knuckle by the spindle pin and nut. You could, in theory, strain the rubber so much with enough force that you actually move the knuckle fore or aft to the point where the outer sleeve would make contact with the knuckle casting (metal to metal), but in actual operation that's not supposed to happen. The urethane is a whole different animal... There NEEDS to be urethane compressed between the knuckle and the arm in order to keep the arm centered between the two prongs. If you simply can't get those bushings squeezed into place, you could probably remove some material from them, but keep in mind that it's supposed to be a tight fit. Question is "how tight?" and I don't have that answer. Maybe they're just TOO thick in that location, but keep in mind that there needs to be plastic to metal compression sliding contact in that location, as well as the tube through the center of the urethane. And yes... That sliding is why they can squeak. The urethane and stock bushings operate on different principals. The stock bushings torsion, the urethane bushings slide.

Audio gear was also part of what I was messing around with. I made a replacement piece for in front of the strut towers (so I didn't have to chop holes in my original one) and put a pair of 6x9's in there. Glued on some cheap under-covering to try to deaden the boom. Sounds like arse. I have kung-fu in some areas, but fidelity isn't one of them. Instead, now I'm currently running a pair of pre-packaged tuned port speakers that originally came from a small home stereo system. Not great, but better than what I made myself. I'm the guy who puts your amp back together after you blow it up, but someone else does the installs.

Onions. Old Z cars are like onions. Peel them back in layers. So why is it that you're making a new rear deck? Did you not have one before? I'm currently messing around with some changes to mine. I've decided that I want to reclaim some of the wasted space back there.

There's a big difference between mostly done and all done. Mostly done is slightly un-done.

" after i get done with the z car " Huh? That doesn't make any sense at all...

To back up a little and add to Zed Head's info above... It's likely that it's got nothing at all to do with the throw out bearing. Any time the engine is running and your foot does NOT have the clutch pedal pressed in, the input shaft as well as the countershaft of the transmission are spinning. Point is... When your not pushing the clutch in, those two shafts are spinning and it's likely that the whining you're hearing is from the input shaft bearing, or the countershaft bearing, not the throw out bearing.

Makes perfect sense. Now go replace the rest of your droopy filaments. I am Carnac the Magnificent, and I approve this message.

Yeah, the AGC series will be perfect. So if I take a guess as to why you were looking for SFE10's in the first place, I would surmise that you pulled the old fuses out of the fuse block and found a lot of SFE20's in there. Thinking that the SFE series was the correct fuse series, you then went looking for SFE10's to replace some of the lower value positions? If that's the case, then you got caught by that simple trick that at the 20A rating, the SFE and the AGC series are the same length. Where's my dead horse....

Here's some info from Littelfuse: http://www.littelfuse.com/~/media/automotive/datasheets/fuses/automotive-aftermarket/glass-fuses/littelfuse_aftermarket_glass.pdf

Is the original recommended fuse really from the SFE series? The reason I ask is that the thing that makes the SFE series interesting is that the fuse lengths increase as the amperage rating goes up. I haven't researched it, but my assumption is that it's a safety thing with the intent that you can't fit a higher amp fuse into a spot where a lower one belongs because the body will be too long. So what's the point? The point is that I thought all the Z fuses were the same length, and if they're using the SFE series, then they will all be different lengths. At 20A, the SFE series and the AGC series are the same length meaning that an SFE20 and an AGC20 are the same length. And the AGC series doesn't do the same thing with the lengths that the SFE series does. An AGC20 is the same length as an AGC10.

I haven't made any reservations yet, but I'm intending to make it. Hoping to have my car there as well, although I'm not planning to enter it into any of the show portion. I hope we can get a gaggle together of people like we did in Memphis. That was a great time.

Cool. Another crisis averted. I have so little faith in the rebuilt stuff these days. How does something like you had get out of the rebuilder's shop? Should never happen.

That's not ground on the F connection. That's ground on one of the bolts that hold the two halves of the alternator together. The "F" label refers to the connection in the T connector, not that bolt head. They just put the label very close to the bolt head so you're thinking it' related. It' not. That bolt head is ground, but ground should really be connected to the "E" screw though.

Do you have any pics of how you did the butt section heater?

Well I'm no expert on the used wheel market, but since nobody else chimed in, I'll relay my experience. I frequently see five slot wheels like that for maybe $200 or less for a set of four. Once or twice as low as $100 for a set. So it might be regional, but I think you could find (or sell) a decent (missing center caps, but no curb rash) set for around $200?

Those seats look awesome. So are there seat heaters in the butt portion too, or just the back?