Mark Maras

madkaw, Right you are, but why is the compression OK? I don't know how far a valve would have to be open to have a no-fire condition but surely you'd hear it in the intake or exhaust. No mention of that in the history. If it was barely open wouldn't it be the same symptom as a burned valve? Poor combustion & loss of power? Mark in Portland Stanley, I know little about pertronix, Why just two no-fire plugs?

It worked on Iwo Jima, shoot it again.

Tell us what color the spark was & could you hear it. It should be blue, loud [for a spark] & and jump about a 1/2" to ground. If it's lazy and yellow, it won't jump a 1/4". Does the spark look the same on 3 and 5 as the others ? If you have an ohm meter, check the resistance in the wires and cap assembled. They should all be relatively equal. To get it running well, I think you'll have to take a look at both carbs & elec. again but I think this specific problem is electrical, based on the info. Invest in Ztherapy's DVD on SUs[it's worth it & they're in Salem]. Plugs-NGK BP6ES. There has been some nice Z days this winter, at least here in the Pac.NW & you've got fantastic roads close to your home. Keep us posted, we want to see you on the road again too. Mark in Portland

I'm envious. I'd love to have a 510 in the snow. High speed manuevers at slow speeds, What a blast. Enjoy it for the rest of us. Mark in Portland

Yeah, I was wondering what they reminded me of. I wish they would have done a restyle of the 510 instead of a Celica. Mark in Portland

I believe they are the new "510s" Mark in Portland

Wow, This one is going to a be more difficult diagnosis than the average repair. I'm going to have to dwell on this for a while. Anyone out there got any ideas to throw at the wall and see if they stick? I'm baffled. Although, you might try switching sparkplugs to different cylinders and see if the problem is the plugs. Mark in Portland

derbyD It should be easy now to determine the cause. Even a tiny amount of movement in the front u-joint will sound terrible. djwarner has made a good point. Anything wrong in the tail-shaft housing will give you the same symptoms. Have you determined which it is. Is it possible the mech. did the same dumb thing as me and used an old retainer clip allowing a tiny bit of movement? Mark in Portland

After making sure the car is safely supported, with trans. in neutral & the hand brake off, crawl under the car and grab the drive line just behind the front yoke and push & pull on it in all directions, rotate it & do it again. If you see ANY movement other than rotational you're looking at the problem. Example. Changing u-joints, a while back, I lost one of the new c-clips so I used one of the old ones not noticing that it was a bit thinner than the new one.It allowed the u-joint to shift sideways with a barely perceptable movement. I didn't discover this until I took the car for a trial run to admire my expertise. The car felt and sounded like there was an 800 lb. bumblebee in the car. I think that your movement will be more obvious. As far as the mechanic causing it? You know what he worked on. Mark in Portland

Thanks, hr369, I'm going to follow your advise. It makes perfect sense. I'm still in the triage stage with this Z. "So far", I haven't found any body damage, just two rust sections. The back of the right front fender well under the battery & the rear deck sill panel, The fire wall & both frame rails look good, at least on the outside and the other three fender wells look good too. Structurally, I think it's pretty solid and hopefully I'll find that it's also square. Mark in Portland

Yes, It definitely has given "Spike" a whole new meaning, Before he was named, it was an object to be worked on. Now I find that some of the up-coming projects that I was kind of dreading [replacing rusted out panels] I'm now looking forward to. I'm betting every Z out there has a name. An interesting idea for a new thread might be what is your Zs name and why did you select that name. Thanks for your continuing support. Mark in Portland

I doubt that you'll have to resort to this. After breaking the drums loose from the flanges with lots of penetrant and levers, I found the shoes bonded to the drums on the bottom. I released the two springs that hold the shoes to the backing plate from the back. Then I had to remove the wheel studs. After a few good pushes and pulls the shoes and two springs came off with the drum. I didn't see any damage to the adjusters or anything else. Mark in Portland

The tale gets even more warm and fuZZy, I came home early from work that day. We found out that my dad had passed on. 92 years old, What a life. I was sitting around feeling bummed and Alex, my son, insisted we go out and finish trying to get the Z started. An hours worth of tinkering and it was running perfect. Our moods did a 180' as we stood there grinning at each other. At that time I decided the cars name will be Spike. My dads' nickname. Kind of fitting that the day I lost him the Z came back to life. He liked my first Z. Mark in Portland

Hopefully you watched the DVD that Ztherapy offers. There are two different drop tests for the pistons. Both are important. I would pull both tops and pistons and try swapping pistons, On mine, I found they had a much closer fall rate than before. A little buffing on the slow one and they were identical. Screw the nozzles up til snug, Install the pistons springs and tops. When doing the drop test, listen, they should sound exactly the same. Lower the nozzles 2 1/2 turns,fill the carbs with oil and give it another try. Mark in Portland

A few questions; Are mounting points right? Is it at least as thick as your old one? Does it completely cover the opening it is bolted to? and will your fan shroud work? If so, go for it. Keep us posted. Mark in Portland

My son, 23, is a great partner to work with. He currently loves driving his 1981 RX7 but I recognize the look in his eyes when he sits in the 260. He knows that we have a lot of work to do and keeps me on track. I suspect we will be doing all this again after we are done with this one. I've driven both cars and much prefer the Z and I think when he drives this one, he'll be hooked. Like father like son. Mark in Portland

Beautiful Z. love the color,

I want to thank everyone for the info that made it possible to bring another Z[s30] back from the grave. The previous owner bought it as a project and coud not get it running, so he sold it. Thanks to this forum here's what I found before I turned the key; missing cam oiler, oil pump & distributor-180' out, rusty float pins, valve adj.- some were set to 1/16", Thanks to ZTherapy for the kit and CD, When I finished with the carbs I was confident that they would work. My son and I went through the list and fixed everything. Compression- between 155 - 160. We crank it over, plugs out, to see if it is oiling the cam. Looks good. Install the plugs, say a quick prayer and turn the key. OOPS, It does need a coil wire, OK, Try again, Much to our surprise and delight it springs to life and it sounds absolutely perfect, This is before balancing the carbs. I can't stop grinning. My son says it's time to start on the brakes but for now I'm content to just start it and hear it purr. Oh yeah and maybe I'll grab a lottery ticket while my luck is running good. Thanks to everyone, we couldn't have done it without you. Mark in Portland

Next time, warm it up and try giving it some choke as you put the engine under a load. That will tell you if the mixture is too lean. Some additional info is needed; Was the engine warmed up? How many turns down are your nozzle screws? Color of the plugs? What was your reason for the carb kits? Did it run poorly before? Did you work on anything else when the carbs were off? Given the info at hand, my first choice is it's too lean. Check; fuel filters, fuel pressure & volume, float level. Mark in Portland

Thanks for bringing this subject up. Many of our members have done extensive restoration on Z bodies, including frame rails & shock towers. Does anyone have a drawing or description with measurements and reference points to find out if a Z has been twisted, stretched or shrunk? I assume when the frame rails are replaced you're making absolutely sure they're in exactly the same location as before, but did you have any doubts about the original measurements? I think this would be extremely helpful, not only in repairing a Z but also in buying a Z. I'm seriously considering fabricating braces to triangulate the the tip of the front frame rail to the top of the shock tower as well as a lateral brace from tower to tower. Anybody out there want to share some pics or ideas about this subject. When I finally get around to this addition, I want everything to be right before I start welding. Thanks Mark in Portland

Funny thing, You put a downdraft on a Z and it's instantly the red-headed step child, still part of the family but,,,Well,,,,You know. Very few of the Zs on the street are 100% original, Most of us are trying to "improve" our Zs so we can enjoy them. If you're more comfortable with a Holley, do it, I think it would be a great conversation starter. Most people more curious than judgmental. Mark in Portland

My first experience with domestic downdrafts on foreign in-line engine. 1969. An old drag racer I knew "fixed" his son in law's XK120 Jag, carb. problems, in an afternoon. He fabricated the flanges, found some exhaust bends, fitted & welded everything up, mounted a used two barrel carb. from a Ford engine of about the same cubic inches as the Jag and fired it up. Everyone loved the conversion. It's your Z, go for it. If you build the manifold it will be that much cheaper & a source of pride. We want photos. Mark in Portland

If you are looking for any comfort in the ride, use progressive wound springs. I installed Mulholland[sp.] race springs and Bilnstein shocks on my Series 1 years ago. The ride was a lot stiffer than most of my passengers cared for. I, however, loved it even though periodically I had to scoop all the misc. screws and hardware out of the bottom of the doors and reinstall them. It was a firm ride to say the least. Mark in Portland

I'm not familiar with an electronic flex fan but when my fan clutch seized back in the late 70s I installed a standard[at least back then] flex fan on my Series 1 and drove it for another 15+years with no issues. It functioned perfectly in all conditions from below freezing to above 100 F. My impression back then was the flex fan robbed less horsepower than the original fan. If I had it to do over again I would make the same choice as before. Just some food for thought. Mark in Portland

It's perfect, I'll take you up on your generous offer, Thanks. I had given up on the dumb idea of drilling & tapping the cover. This tab makes it easier than notching the pulley. I'll be in touch. Thanks again Mark in Portland