Captain Obvious

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. !!

Thank you kindly! Looks great!

Hope the rest of the project goes well.

They started with that upper part in 73. Prior years didn't have that. It's a solenoid valve that they use to disable the opener system when the car isn't moving. In other words... When you blip the throttle at idle sitting still, it won't let the opener pull on the linkage.

I can't make out both butterflies, but the one I CAN see is not what I would call "closed". Different cars need different amounts, but IMHO, that's open much further than idle. And some other weirdness, although I'm not sure it's related: 1) It looks like you're using 72 spacer blocks between the carbs and the intake manifolds, and they are upside down. I'm not sure that's causing you a vacuum leak or what, but if you're sucking air in there and then opening the butterflies to "compensate" maybe? 2) The linkage between the two carbs looks a little too short. Looks like the ball on the left side in the pic (front carb) is close to falling out of the receiving hole on the carb. I'm not sure what all the years parts you're working with here, but that's a problem that often occurs when there are 73 or 74 parts involved. I don't think you've got that, so I can't explain the issue there.