Captain Obvious

If my car were stripped and painted, I would get it done in a color like that.

I know they don't need to match. I'm just coming from the mindset that it's always easier and cheaper to make two of the same thing than two different things. One less CAD file to work the bugs out of. One less dry run walkthrough on the CNC mill. One less prototype part that needs to be made. One less part that needs to be tweaked to work as intended... All of that. I know it's just disposable time and money. More power to you if you have enough of both. As for the mounting bracket holes... Are they deep enough that you could leave a thin wall at the bottom of the hole (so they are blind and vacuum tight) and then pierce through that thin wall in the few locations where you need a vacuum source? You could do that final poke through drilling at home with a hand drill if necessary. Not a precision operation. That could give you best of both worlds? Lastly... If this project actually does come to fruition, please keep rough tabs on the costs? I'd be interested in a final tally to use as a benchmark for a potential project of my own.

Ooooo... Someone has had some CAD training! Nice pics! Are you thinking you'll CNC these out of a chunk of solid material, or are you thinking you'll have something cast? Also, some other thoughts: So is there a really, really good reason for the placement of the throttle shaft bearings and the associated mounting bosses? At quick glance, it appears that you could share the same manifold between front and rear positions if you could standardize the location of the throttle shaft mounting bosses. You really couldn't live with that front throttle shaft cantilevered another inch further forward for the sake of completely getting rid of a unique part? Maybe split the difference in bearing locations between first and third? In other words... I know the center manifold needs to be unique, but it sure looks like you ought to be able to share the same base unit between the other two. Also, are the holes for attaching the mounting bar between the three manifolds... Are they all the way through into the intake tubes? If they are all the way through, you'll need to make sure they are vacuum tight even on the locations for the mounting bracket. If they are blind, you won't have to worry about sealing them. Sorry. Forgot to ask. Is this a design review?

My thoughts are that I don't think you can equate those two things like that. Two completely different factors and not necessarily linear or equivalent. I'm no carb expert, but I would not agree with that theory even a little bit.

So the two prongs on the 78 are supposed to be on-off, and variable resistance. You're saying the 78 style sensor you got from rockauto does not operate like that? There's always the Fiero.

Well it's too late for me now, but if I were still looking, I would certainly take a look at your car. All things considered, it looks like it may be a better starting point to build on than what I ended up with. But that's water over the dam for me... I better stop thinking about it. (So how much rust is there on the wheel arch? Did they miss that area with the rust preventative spray or what?) So I'm absolutely no car buying or selling expert, but when it comes to Z's, it seems there are a couple different camps of buyers. 1) Those who want an early car - Your car cannot ever satisfy that family of buyers with a 280. They want a 240 only, and the earlier the better. 2) Those who don't car much about the year but want something that looks exotic. Customized. Fender flares, wheels, and lots of bling - Your car does not fit this category either. 2a) A sub category of the above would be those who are planning to rip it apart and turn it into something exotic looking. That group would be mostly concerned with price. 3) Those who want a factory stock car - Your car would be closest to this family, but unfortunately most of the buyers in this category are also in category #1 who want an early car. In other words... Everyone wants a factory stock 240. The demand for a factory stock 280 is much less. 4) Those who don't care much about anything except for the fact that they can get in and drive on day one without having to mess with it - Your car may also fit this category. All that said, maybe you're marketing it wrong... I wouldn't talk about the things that are wrong. I would tout the stock originality (original numbers matching and even has the original wheels and shift knob) and the fact that "if you're looking for something you can jump into and drive today, without having to mess with it." I would call it "a survivor". My cut is 5%.

Looks great! And one of the best parts is now that you've done it, you can get a cheap reliable replacement core if necessary! That was my conclusion as well. Trimming and re-beading the tubes makes the hose routing a little more forgiving, but it's not a requirement. Not everyone needs to build themselves a bead forming tool.

Pics or it didn't happen. I wish I had the room for more than one. And I've got so many repairs and customizations/improvements in my car now... I'd hate to have to repeat them all! So, I have a question:

Haha! Ok, so forget that about it being 77-78. It clearly started before that!

GLWS. Looks like a good example of a well maintained stock vehicle and I hope you find it a good home. Kinda surprised it hasn't been snatched up. How long ago was it painted? Did you do that or did it come to you like that?

Instead of a destination country thing, I could easily be convinced it's a model year thing for 77-78. As previously mentioned, the 77-78 look they look pretty much the same (from the topside) as the previous years, but in reality they are almost a different car. Completely different main body shell stampings.

I haven't checked my car, but my assumption is that it's not a Canadian thing and my car has one as well. Smells like maple syrup maybe?

Its not cosmetic or fumes. (It's not sealed, and you can't see it normally). I'm guessing some sort of safety agency requirement. Something like "there must be a metal layer between anything containing fuel or vapor and the occupant interior." maybe? Only other guess would be noise reduction?

That rubber cap simply covers the adjustment screw for the throttle opener regulator. On the radiator end of that device there is an adjustment screw* to control the setpoint at what differential vacuum (manifold - atmospheric) the throttle opener pulls on the throttle linkage. * At least there is on later years... I don't know if such an adjustment was brought out to the user on such an early car.

If everything is working properly, the pistons should be hard to lift with a finger, but should fall easily. So the one that lifts easy has a problem. Something is wrong with the check valve jiggly bits on the end of the screwed-in stalk. Also, I'm not sure what you meant when you said that the rear carb has a return spring... If you are talking about the spring pushing the piston down, then they should BOTH have springs under the dome. Other thoughts? I don't like the looks of at least one of your needles. It looks like it's installed too deep into the piston, and it also looks chewed up and worn some at the hilt where it has probably been rubbing against the nozzle. The nozzle looks to be worn oval as well due to that contact. Dome/Piston/Needle/Nozzle alignment is very important, and the three screw round tops can be a problem if someone has cut off or dug out the dome alignment nubs (as has been done to yours). @Bruce Palmer Can describe the process necessary to align the domes (and hence the needles to the nozzles), but remember that each and every time you loosen or remove a dome, you must go through the same alignment procedure again. Here's your pic with the needle that looks worn: And here's your pic with what looks like a non-round nozzle hole that has been worn by contact with the needle:

Agreed. The most difficult part of the whole thing would be material selection and heat treat spec. The shims pictured were cut off as disks and then the groove in the bottom was cut in with an end mill, not ground. You can see the tool swirl marks and the line near the middle from the two pass process to remove the bulk material. My assumption is... Cut off raw material to rough length. Mill groove. Heat treat. Grind flat side to final thickness. Laser etch the thickness marking. Coat if necessary.

The Four Seasons 74604 is vacuum controlled. Normally closed. Here's a snippet from the Four Seasons catalog:

Fantastic job with the autopsy! So if that plunger and lower seal cannot be pushed out the bottom, then I'm not sure about the assembly process either! It's certainly possible that they soldered the assy together after putting the plunger and seal inside, but I consider that unlikely. Next time I have that box in hand, I'm gonna see if I can find my old valve. Maybe the plunger just needs a little persuasion to be pushed out the bottom?

Yeah, that's a really slick setup that Mike put together. But I think the brass bodied valve would be the only part I would look into doing different. The new all plastic ball valve types (like the Acura, Honda, Toyota stuff) just moves so easily, doesn't use a rubber seal to block flow, and will never corrode. If I were going to put a valve under the dash (where it wasn't easy to get to in the future), I would really try to use one of the all plastic varieties. That Four Seasons valve is nice because it has the cable anchoring point built in, but that is a surmountable issue. Heck... In fact, those plastic valves move so easily, if it were that close to the control lever, I might even be willing to try no second anchoring point at the valve at all. With that short of a cable, just the one anchor at the head unit might be enough.

Nice work Mike! Still a rats nest under there, but at least it's now a completely new rats nest. Should last quite some time! I had mentioned before that I was positive there was a way to do the Escort core and still keep the valve inside, and thanks for the confirmation. And I like your metal patches on the heater core cover. I just used hockey stick tape. If I go in there again, I may do something a little more elegant in the future.

There's simply no way that little girl looked like that just four years later. No way.

I'm looking forward to the autopsy. I love that sort of thing. As for what valve you find at the wreckers... Now that I've been through it once, I don't think you need to narrow your scope to that fine of a net. The 'best" option would be one that flows in the designed direction while having the control lever on the comfortable side and having the action in the proper direction. But since they are pretty much just ball valves inside, I'm really not sure how much the flow direction really matters. I'm thinking if you can find one with the control lever and actuation direction on the correct side, I wouldn't worry too much about the flow direction arrow. I don't remember the flow direction, but all the 96-2000 civics used a similar valve. And it wouldn't be a wrecking yard without having at least ten of those. Also, the mid-nineties Corolla (and Geo Prizm) used a right angle valve if you want to mess around with one of those as well. I didn't try one, but you might find it makes the plumbing easier.

When mine died, it did the same thing... Hot at all times. When you pushed your plunger way in and it finally sealed... It's not simply a problem with rubber that isn't flexible enough. I took mine apart too, and I went a little further than you did. Unbend the clips and the top plate comes off: Take off the cotter pin and brass support hat and the top seal will come off.: With that top seal off, it looks like this: And that's as far as I went. Now it's been several years since I was in this valve and I don't remember the details, but I'm positive... If it was easy to go further than this, I certainly would have. So my assumption is that it was NOT easy and I tossed it into a box in the garage somewhere and forgot about it. At that point, it was clear it was going to be easier to just move to something completely different than try to fix that one, so I bailed. I'm assuming there's a rubber seal on the bottom end of that rod that pushes against a machined seat down inside the valve in order to close the valve off. I also assume that rubber seal is completely turned to dust and doesn't seal anymore and that's why it flows at all times. Lastly, I assume from the fact that I didn't go any further than the above, that the assy has been pressed or brazed together making that seat impossible to get to without a torch or a saw. I'm sure someone has cut one completely open, or if not, I'd be happy to do it if I can find my original.

I reloaded the pics in the heater valve relocation thread. I'm sure there are easier ways to get a new valve in there, but here's what I did: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/44009-heater-water-****-valve-relocation-project/

Reloaded pics: The heater in my 77 always blew hot regardless of where I put the temperature slider and I tracked the problem down to a faulty water cokk valve under the dash. I had the capillary style valve (http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread46448.html) and spent a little time looking into a direct replacement, but after spending that kind of "quality time" working under the dash, I decided that I never wanted to go through that again. So I changed over to a ubiquitous newer style water control valve which I relocated up in the engine compartment instead of under the dash. I grabbed a bunch of different valves from the junkyard from various Honda and Toyota products, trying to find one that had the correct flow direction, had the lever on the proper side, and opened when the cable "pushed" instead of "pulled". I kinda lost track of which was which, but I believe the one I finally used was from a 2000 Acura TL. Here's the valve I used. Flow direction is left to right when lever is on the side pictured, and it's CW to open again with lever as pictured. That means I can mount it on the return line from the heater core and it's push to open. Note that I also had to make a new control arm for the valve to get the ratios correct between between the travel distance of the control slider and the travel distance of the new valve: I'm sure there are much simpler ways to mount a valve and connect to it but here's what I did. I made a mounting bracket for the valve which also included the provision for attaching the cable control: Here's the whole thing painted, mounted, and plumbed in the engine compartment. I attached it to the mounting bracket for the brake lines and fed the control cable through an existing hole in the firewall. I believe this hole is where the vacuum line goes for the HVAC system on cars with A/C. The hole location was a little higher than optimum, but since I don't have A/C, this hole was unused which saved me the trouble of drilling a new hole only to find out that the whole project was a mistake: It wasn't a mistake! It works great and will be a breeze to work on in the future if necessary.