2ManyZs

ATK does a very good crate engine. Find them in the web links section. I believe they do short blocks, long blocks, or just heads. I used one on the street for two years and then raced it in ITS for 5 years without a minutes problems. A little too stock for racing, but a quality job nonetheless. I believe they are in central or northern CA.

First off, yes, you will need two 14mm wrenches to unbolt the u-joint flange. So might as well get them together before you go any further. If you not planning on replacing the bushings on the control arm spindle, don't bother to take it apart as it is a PITA in most cases. If you are just wanting to replace the spring or the strut cartridge you do not have to remove the whole strut assembly to do this. Just unbolt the sway bar (if equipped), unbolt the u-joint flange, and unhook the brake line, and e-brake cable and remove the upper mounting nuts. You will be able to get the entire assembly to clear the fender with a little foot pressure to push down on the brake drum while pulling the strut housing clear of the fender. It will drop low enough that you will be able to pull the top of the strut clear and remove the upper mount and the spring/cartridge assembly. BTW, you will have to unhook the e-brake cable from the mount on the control arm and from the brake cylinder assembly. You will only have to bleed the brakes when you re-assemble it, not a bad idea to bleed them once in a while anyways. If you are planning on replacing the control arm spindle bushings, it will be much easier to do this with the entire control arm/strut assembly off the car. Just unbolt the inner control arm mounts and remove the whole thing. It is a lot easier to work on on a workbench than to try to do it on the car. You will be replacing the inner mount bushings anyways if that is your intention, so you will have everything on the bench you need to work on. The pinch bolt will require a bit of "persuasion" to remove. Just beat it on the nut end of the pin to remove, but be careful not to mess up the threads if you plan to re-use it. You can find quite a few posts in the forum if you use the search function for stubborn spindle pin removal.

Be careful and don't lose the detent balls when you take it apart. They like to fall out when you aren't expecting them, and they like to roll under things and hide. You will find out that the Z trans isn't too complicated unless you find a detent ball after it is all back together.:disappoin I've helped a couple people take them apart in the past, and they can require an extra pair of hands when you are putting them back together lining everything up correctly. If you don't have one already I suggest getting a good diagram out of a service manual to aide you. Hopefully you have access to the bearings in the center plate if you find them to be bad, I read a post recently that they are getting hard to find from the obvious suppliers.

A Z car is worth the time and effort to restore as long as there is not too much chassis rust. If it has a sentimental value such as yours it makes it even more worthy of a little TLC. One of the best sources of restoration parts is Motorsport Auto in Orange, CA. You can request their catalog at www.zcarparts.com. It is full of restoration and performance parts for all year Z cars. Their prices are fair, some may sell for less, but a lot of their competitiors don't offer the large selection they do. You can find many other suppliers in the web links section here also for comparison shopping. One of the other members will have to help you on the mechanic in your area.

Well, if you were to cap off all the lines you would end up with air in the tank. It is possible it will work fine if you were to vent the tank itself to the filler neck like most cars were and still are. I think you will have to make up a hose to make it work as I believe the line that goes to the filler neck comes form the evaporative tank inside the car. If you used one of the hoses near the top of the gas tank and ran it to the filler tube it should work without trouble. Never tried it though, so you may want to wait for someone who has to reply. I'm just trying to apply commen sense to the idea.:stupid:

You should be able to find a decent set of used early carbs either here on this site or one of the "other" Z sites. Possibly on Ebay but you never know what you are really buying from there, I'd rather buy from a Z enthusiast. Prices should be in the 100 to 150 dollars range with linkage and possibly even the earlier intake, which will have less smog ports to plug up.

Should bolt in with no problems. You will have to use the flex-plate from the L-24 and the intake and carbs, but that shouldn't be a problem. I have no experience with the automatics, but it seems to me if the flywheels are interchangeable the flex plate for the autos should be too.

As long as it passes this year, you can have till Christmas to get all the parts together to do the early carbs swap. Sounds good to me. Before you make an offer on the car, be sure to check for any hidden rust problems under the car or for any rust repairs that weren't done correctly. Be sure to look under the battery, in the front fender wells near the frame, and check out the floor pans and rails thoroughly. Outer body panels are still available if you find a bit of rust so that is not as much problem like certain chassis areas.

Well, this is only my opinion, but if a three row is better than a two row, then a four row is the best of all of them. Since you can get a four row, I'd shell out the extra 50 bucks over the price of the three row and have a little more safety margin. All it takes is one time overheating and it's time for head work. The aluminum heads have little tolerance for too much heat. I have always run the four row radiators just for the extra piece of mind. Besides, if it is overheating with the four row, you know it's time to find out why.

Had heard a rumor that they were selling some of their body molds, didn't know the whole she-bang was up for sale.:tapemouth

They have some really nice looking parts and kits. A little on the pricey side, but if the quality is good they are probably worth it. I've been considering their convertible kit for years, just don't have a car to do it to yet.

Actually, from all I've read the air horns on the stock backing plate of the air cleaner flow as well as most any air horns. Perhaps an easy way to try it would be to use the stock air cleaner with a K&N filter in it. Then use light gauge tubing to run up to the radiator support where you already have a large round hole, then connect it to the stock air cleaner intake. Or take off the "snout" on the stock air cleaner and connect a larger one to the air cleaner housing and then plumb that into the tubing. If you can find an extra air cleaner and a little bit of tubing and a piece of hose to connect them, it would be a cheap mod and might actually help increase the hp, maybe not enough to feel in the "seat-of-the-pants" but every little bit helps.

I wouldn't drill any extra holes in the drum unless you are planning to replace it. You will certainly weaken it to the point of it being unuseable. If you have unhooked the emergency brake cable and backed off the brake adjuster as far as it will go and it still won't move, there is one other thing to try first before you destroy the drum. Try using a narrow flat file along the edge of the hub in the center of the drum. Sometimes this will get swaged to the point that it will be very difficult to mount or dismount the drum. There should be a very small lip there you could run the file around if the drum is completely seated against the hub. This will get rid of any lip the drum could be hanging up on and may possibly let the penetrating oil get in behind the drum to loosen it. Also, you can use a wire brush or one on a drill to remove any rust from around the wheel studs on the front side of the drum. Sometimes the studs will have a large amount of rust build up at their base where they meet the drum. Getting this off will allow the penetrating oil to get in around the studs and will aid in removing the drum. Good luck.

Sounds like there is a wire not connected somewhere if the injectors are not firing. Perhaps somewhere near the distributor or coil, the injectors get their signal from there so that would be the first place to look. I don't have any experience with an EFI installation in an early car, so the only thing I can think of would be to thoroughly retrace all the wiring connections between the computer and the fueil injection itself. Also might want to double check your ground connections while you are at it. BTW, at least the Buick is a classic musclecar. Some of us still have a fondness for old Detroit iron even if we don't like what they put out on the street now!:sick:

Ram air was something everyone wanted to do in ITS years ago, so they wouldn't be using the hot underhood air. Too bad it's not a legal modification huh?:devious:

A Ram Air system uses a hood scoop or just an extension of the air cleaner that gathers outside air and forces it into the intake. It can work with the SU air cleaner if you extended it ahead of the radiator support to gather as much cool, outside air as possible. The premise is, the faster the car is traveling, the more air is being forced into the intake. It might increase hp a bit. How much depends on the engine itself and if the air is being taken from a high pressure area and being forced into the air cleaner. It wouldn't hurt to try, just to see how much could be gained. Just take a length of tubing from ahead of the radiator support to the air cleaner, but you will need to remember to use a high flow air filter like a K&N or you will be trying to cram air through a filter that will restrict the air flow. I think the Firebird and Camaro's with the Ram Air system typically are rated at 15-25hp more than without, of course they usually had other mods so the actual gain would likely be less. You would also need to address the exhaust at the same time, more air in needs a better way out.

If you are going to put a header on, I would suggest a 2 1/2 inch exhaust and a turbo muffler. I had the twice pipes on a stock manifold and they did get a bit too loud. I think with a header they would even be louder. You shouldn't have to do anything to the engine with just a header and better exhaust. Only thing might be to put a K&N air filter in it, so that it will breathe a bit easier. You'll be "passing gas" better with the header and exhaust, so it stands to reason you should try to increase the amount of air into the engine. The FI should compensate for the mods on it's own, better than carbs at least where you might have to change the mixture to compensate for the leaner combustion caused by a larger volume of air passing through the engine. More air with the same amount of fuel would lean it out, so with the FI you should have "No worries, Mate"

Well, if the rust is only on the inside you might try to have it re-sealed before you go to the trouble of putting another tank on it. There is a company that does this, or you could try a kit from Eastwoods and do it yourself. I think the web-site is www.gastankrenu.com. There is no guarantee another tank from a car a couple years younger than yours is going to be in any better shape inside to be truthful. As long as yours is in good shape on the outside with no bad case of rust or dents, you might want to try repairing yours. Not sure what they charge to do it, but the kit from Eastwoods is not too expensive. And of course, while you have the tank off for repairs or replacement, don't forget to replace the vent hoses while you have it off if they haven't been done already.

Yes, the glass tends to not last very long in the twice pipes. When they burn out, it is loud. Too loud for me, I had to take mine off since the neighbors called the cops on me, plus got pulled over two or three times, and after a while I couldn't stand the noise. Funny, how these Harley riders can run a straight pipe and no one seems to care. Let a car have a burned out set of glass packs on it and you would think even though it is perfectly legal, you ought to be able to run them. NOT! Sounds great if you get on it, but after a while it is very tiresome. BTW, the twice pipes use a 1 3/4 inch or so diameter pipe, so the small diameter of the pipes adds to the "scream" of the L in "anger".

Hmm, or to keep him in till he is properly "punished"! That is a very nice courtyard, too bad it's an "excercise yard" for Steve.:cheeky: Bet if he used a wide angle lens you would see a gun tower off to one side, I notice there is a spotlight in the background!:stupid:

Only one question pops into my mind. Why do you live behind "bars"? Are they to keep you in or out?:devious:

I do know the 280 tanks are larger by almost a full gallon. Not sure about the 260 tanks, the late 260 may have had the same tank as the 280 and the early 260 may be the same as the 240. When they went to FI they may have substituted the larger tank. Any tank from 73 or before should fit your 71 with no problem. Early tanks are 16 gallons, and I believe the 280 tanks are 16.8.

If it isn't electrical in nature, the only other thing it could be is that the float has loosened on the shaft and slid. This would be the only other thing that would give a false reading. Clean the electrical contacts, and if it doesn't help, pulling the sending unit might be the only other alternative. BTW, all the tanks I have seen have had a lot of rust, or the tank was sprayed with undercoating. Either way, it would be a major culprit in the electrical problems if there are any.

In addition to the bolts in the front, there are bolts on either side near the ends. Finding them can be tough if there is a lot of built up dirt and debris built up over the years. They are below the marker light, close to the seam where the headlight bucket attaches to the fender. If you have a 240, you can unbolt the bumper mount itself from the inner body under the hood hinges, or you can unbolt the mount from the bumper itself. It's a bit easier to take the bolts from the mounting bracket on the frame, the ones behind the bumper can be a pain if they are rusted badly.

Thought I had your answer in my parts car. I knew it was all stock, perhaps too original. The coil is so rusted, can't read anything on it. Only got a tag on the bottom that says Made in Japan. Maybe with a little scotch brite I can see if anything is imprinted on the housing. I'll try, but no guarantees.:cross-eye