Captain Obvious

@Mike

Well I'm no brake expert, but I certainly appreciate the callout. With that in mind, here's my read. I agree with Zed Head that since the bore and stroke is the same, everything would be the pretty much identical when you pressed the pedal DOWN. However, I'm less confident that everything would be OK when you let the pedal back UP. There are check valves built onto the pistons inside the master cylinder and there are also check valves screwed into the outlet ports of the master where the brake lines exit. I haven't studied any of it in great depth, but there is no guarantee that the characteristics of each pair of check valves are the same. You need to make sure that when you RELEASE the pedal, you never create enough of a vacuum out at the ends of the system such that you would pull air backwards past the wheel cylinder or caliper seals into the brake system. Those check valves are all a balancing act between the return forces at the destination ends and the vacuum created inside the master cylinder chambers when you let up on the pedal. And since one chamber is filling large calipers that don't have any return springs while the other chamber is filling small wheel cylinders that DO have return springs, I could be easily convinced that the smart people who designed the master cylinder knew that and designed different check valves for each circuit. So, what could go wrong? When you let off the pedal, you could suck air in backwards past your corner seals (wheel cylinder or caliper). This could make it hard to bleed the system, or even worse, it could cause spongy brakes if it happens under normal use. Or it could all work out just fine.

I got no input into what went wrong, but just wanted to tell you that I feel for ya. Sorry it didn't go as planned.

I was thinking the same thing, but the glass isn't broken. Maybe they shot it and THEN put the windows down?

Agreed. And wow... I never thought I would ever see a Z more disgusting than that rusty junk falling off the underside cars that Beverly Hills has on ebay. Unfortunately I was wrong. I think I'm gonna hurl.

Glad to help. And since that helped, I can add a little more info. The early heads (up to and including 74) were drilled and tapped for the carb intake manifolds. They did not drill and tap the center hole. The later heads (75 and up), however, were drilled and tapped for BOTH the carb manifolds AND the fuel injection intake manifolds. Point is... If you're putting that triples manifold onto your original 280 head, your head will have drilled and tapped bolt holes in all three positions. For mechanical purposes, you won't NEED all three at each end, but if there's enough space between the heads of the bolts, you should put something into all the holes just to keep the critters out.

If I'm understanding the question correctly... You're asking about the three holes in the mounting flange of the intake manifold? All three of those holes are for mounting manifolds of different designs. The intake manifolds used on cars that came with carbs use the two smaller holes that border the larger one in the center. And the cars that came with fuel injection used the one larger hole in the center. I'm guessing that the people who made that custom intake manifold put all three holes in it so it would bolt up correctly to either an older (carbs) or newer (FI) head.

Lol. Good point!! In any event, I'm glad you survived!

One could suggest that this explains a lot... Hahaha!!

Yeah, as SteveJ suggested, the difficulty level of the job is subjective. Things that make the job easier: Spindle pins that are nice and clean and easy to remove. Having a spring compressor so you don't have to mess around using the weight of the car to deal with the springs. Having a wrench big enough to fit the large gland nut on the top of the strut housings. Strut inserts that are not frozen rusted inside the strut tubes. Not snapping off a brake line where they mount to the strut bodies. etc... IMHO the two biggest things that really can make this job a PITA are the spindle pins and not being able to get the old inserts out of the strut tubes.

Not that it matters now since you're going to get them off rockauto, but the answer to your original question is... The first link you posted above is the correct parts for your 78 while the second link is for the ZX starting in 79.

Forget about the old saying. Just picture it with GRAND MASTER Z under your name!!! It would be glorious. And obnoxious!

@Mike, so here's a possibly related question... So in the old days (like maybe two weeks ago before this last software update), you used to have the ability to enter a creative little quip "slogan thingie" that would appear between your user name and your avatar pic. Mine used to read "I'm a member of this forum" as I figured that was completely appropriate note for Captain Obvious. Well... I went to change my slogan to "GRAND MASTER Z" and that line does not appear anymore. So two questions... 1) What the heck?, and 2) What the heck?

Haha! Last thing you thought was going to come out of this thread... Work for you!

Woo Hoo!!! I just got my "dedicated" badge! Patcon still didn't get his "well followed" though. @Mike What's the deal???

Great idea! Do you think it matters what kind of spoon to use, or is any ol' spoon just as good?

Yup. That's a 77-78 tank. And as for the mounting holes for the taillight trim panel, I don't have good enough pics to tell for sure. This is the best thing I have for the sloped rear deck and I can't tell if there are holes for the little screws or not. Should be easy for you to just check your car though.

One of those thread (the one about the spare tire) has all kinds of dead photobucket sucks links in it. If there's something you want to see, just let me know. So I think the biggest thing about the sloped rear deck vs. the flat version is how they handled the taillight trim panels. Do you have a plastic panel back there or does the sloped wood cover the taillights and associated wiring? Do you even have the mounting hole provisions if you wanted to put a plastic panel back there?

Haha! Well I read those words! And enjoyed them!

Jeff... I cry foul. You added waaaaaay too much real info to an otherwise throwaway* just for fun non-Z specific thread. What were you thinking man!!??? * Never meant to imply that a thread started by any GRAND MASTER was ever "throwaway".

Exactly. I normally do the same thing. I lurk anonymously unless I've got something to say and then I log in. I've been letting badge points on the table! Haha!!

Ferg, from the pic you posted... Your 77 was designed with the shallow "space saver" spare. They started that design in 77 and ran like that for 77 and 78. The cargo compartment lids were used from 70 through 74 and they stopped in 75 when they started adding the false floor in the back. Here's some details of when I added the cargo compartment lids to my car: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/62698-spare-tire-well/#comment-582414 And here's a couple other threads with some good pics of the rear deck area: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/51367-project-boondoggle-or-so-i-went-and-bought-a-z/?page=9#comment-495703 And here's one that shows one of the things I did when I lowered my wooden false floor: https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/64856-280z-double-floor-removal/

That was my favorite too!!

Go ahead GRAND MASTER Cliff. Blame it on the flip phone. That works for me!!

And I thought it was "DANCES with wolves" and sleeping with cougars. Did I miss a memo?