Captain Obvious

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?

Worst one I've seen is behind the rear interior panels over by the fuel expansion tank and the other side by the speaker. The pee from the little bastages rotted out the wheel arches in my ol' 260.

Haha! Yeah, I know. LIttle embarrassing. I try to help out on stuff, and the only pics I have are how NOT to do it. I should be able to put a "don't do this" on the pics... Give me a little bit.

Hi Mike, Unfortunately, I don't have the pics to re-create it. The only pics I have are of the INCORRECT orientation. By the time I figured out the correct details I was in too much of a hurry to get my car back together to take pics. I've got pics of the Delco kit, but the only pics I have of the bushings installed on a rod are the wrong way. so I can recreate the rest of it, but not the installed pics.

Exactly. If your C-7 and/or C-8 were green with corrosion, then that can certainly cause the problems you're having. I cleaned both of mine up really well, added some contact cleaner/lube, tightened up the contacts a tiny bit, and I've been happy since. I've made mention about it before, but here's a basic Classic Z Car repair axiom... "You get a spare moment, clean some connectors."