Pop's Z

Bryan, Here's what I did. I could not find a plug to fit the strange thread/taper in the exhaust manifold so I removed the air gallery and pulled the tubes out of the exhaust manifold, cut them off flush and replaced them( they seal like a flanged fitting inside the manifold). Then I cut the plugs off of the air gallery flush with the tops of the plugs and had them welded shut including the remainder of the tube. Problem solved and they don't leak and will not blow out. Good luck. Mike

FWIW, I took mine to a machine shop. Cost $25. Worth every penny. Also , you can rent a ball joint separater from Autozone...you will, however tear up the boot so get some new ones. Mike

Hi guys, The brackets are very close to the original size. The O.D. is close to the same, however the I.D. is "cut out" to accommodate a larger speaker. To use a 5 1/4 speaker the bracket would have to be modified in some way. I agree on the shallow speaker comment. Mine are right up against the hoses for the vapor recovery tank and there is not much room in there. I wire tied the hoses as far to the outside(away from the speaker) as I could, but it is a tight fit. Mike

FWIW, I installed these brackets and some cheap Pyramid 6 3/4 three way speakers. I did this to avoid changing the appearance of the (mostly) stock car. Be aware that many speakers won't fit the already mounted bolts and you will have to fab some mounting bolts for the right side. If you get speakers with tweeters built in they will be in contact with the plastic panels and will buzz and rattle. I actually cut openings in them around the outline of the little holes as the panels were covered with a velour material(installed by the PO). The sound is ok, certainly better than the stock speaker in the car. I agree that they are not placed for the best sound(facing each other). If I had to do it over(and I just might), I would get or fabricate the speaker box for 6X9s that replaces the rear taillight panel (avaiiable from MSA and some other sources). The $145 price tag is a bit steep and you could fab one up yourself for a lot less. Several people on the site have done so. In short these brackets were a great idea, but one that doesn't work as well as I would have liked....just my opinion. Mike

FWIW, my 73Z came from the dealer in Denver with a white vinyl roof. The PO was very proud of it. I thought it was very disco era and as it was lifting in a few areas, I removed it. It had been applied over the original paint(114 metallic brown) and the paint underneath was in pretty good shape except for a inverted "V" of surface rust from the hatch push-button. Unfortunately the PO had had the car painted and it did not match so it went to the body shop for a paint job. I was fortunate in that the rust was only surface and was easy to repair, AND there was no other rust(lucky me). The holes left by the removal of the chrome strips near the vents were mig welded shut and finished off. You can't tell there was ever a vinyl roof on the car. For me that was a good thing. Others might not feel that way...personal preference.

Excuse me for asking, but what does this topic have to do with classic Zcars? Isn't there enough dissention in our country right now without bringing it to a place where we should be yakking abour our cars. I'm sure our friends in other countries are not too interested in this topic so why don't we move on. Peace, my brothers, Mike ps before you all jump me on this: USMC 1965-1968, Vietnam 1966-1967. I earned my right to disagree with this topic.

Arne, My 73 has the original wheel and tire. The wheel is flat black on the outside and silver on the inside. Get out the spray can. Cheers, Mike

You GO girl!!! Mike

FWIW, I have found a good selection of stainless hardware at(surprisingly enough) my local ACE hardware store. Another place you could try is www.westmarine.com. I used to work for them and because they are a marine parts outfit they have mucho stainless stuff. Look under fasteners. Hope this helps. Mike

Try shox.com. I bought 4 KYB strut inserts w/ boots for my 1973 Z for $242 delivered to my door in 3 days. They weren't too hard to install...check out the "search" feature for help. Cheers, Mike

Mathew, That middle muffler was(note I say was) an 18" glass-pac turned around to "maximize the flow"(so the muffler guy said). I had it put on in the first place as I had read many threads here and on other sites that if I didn't I would have the dreaded resonating boom at 2000-3000 rpm. I had it removed after a week because the system was too quiet. I do not have any resonance and the system is still quiet, but you can tell there is a high-revving six under the hood(and I don't wizz-off me neighbors). Ed gave you really good advice. I asked the local hot rod guys who they took their cars to and went there. Cheers, Mike

Mathew, That system is NLA from MSA. I called about it in May after I had seen and heard it at the MSA show in April. The end pipes are still available in two sizes. FWIW you don't need a header if you're stock. You won't get much out of it and it's much more noisy, and HOT. As far as an exhaust system search under "exhaust system" to see what I did. I went the local muffler shop route and am very happy w/ the outcome. See pics in my gallery. Cheers, Mike

FWIW, for $100 more, ZTherapy carbs are the be-all and end-all. It was one of the best things I did to the car. $600 is a lot of dough, BUT my car was transformed! No stumbles, no hesitation just revs right up to 6500 and I live at 5,000 ft. Steve even changed the jets and needles for my altitude at no extra charge. And they just bolt right up so you can do it yourself. As you can tell, I am a very satisfied customer. Also on a spirited drive last week in the mountains I got 24 mpg, too. You can't go wrong with ZTherapy. Cheers, Mike

Arne, You used the picture of my system that I had installed locally. I started out with a glass-pac in the tunnel, also, but it was too quiet so I had it taken back off. The tone is now fairly quiet with no drone at any rpm, but you know there is a hi-revving 6 under the hood. To sum up: I used a Dynomax#17741 6: ROUND muffler it is 19 1/2" overall and 14" long w/ off-set pipes. My whole system is 2 1/4" and done in aluminized pipe. The whole system was under $200. I also had the muffler shop(Ken's Muffler in Fort Collins, CO[free plug]) weld in a 2 bolt connecter for easier removal of the whole system. I am going to post the pics on my pic site here. Anyone w/ questions can pm me. "Be happy in your work" Cheers, Mike

FWIW, On my stock '73 Z w/ 20+yr. old Michelin XZX 185 SR 14 tires on 14X6 5-slot aluminum wheels, stock springs, KYB GR-2 struts(5/06 install), urethane bushings in front(haven't got around to the rear yet) the measurements are:Left side...rear ww...25 1/2", front ww...27 1/4", rear jack point...7 1/2"...front jp...7 3/4". Right side...rear ww...25 3/4"...front ww... 27", rear jp...7 1/2"...front jp...8". Rear bumper...17", front bumper...18 3/4". Hmmm, 1/4" lower on the left side(w/ the exception of the fww)...driver's big butt? Also the KYBs raised the car 3/4". Cheers, Mike

FWIW, I called American Stitches and their price for a re-do of a 280-Z steering wheel was $297...a lot of dinero in my opinion. I re-did my own wheel for the price of some liquid electrical tape(I know, it sounds bizarre,but I coated the old rubber with it to stabilize and build it up), some black satin spray paint, and a "Wheelskins" leather cover. Result: a new wheel for less than $40. I also had a Grant wheel and I found it too small to use(for me). These cars are heavy steerers at slow speed and that is exacerbated by larger wheels and tires. The wheel was a bit closer to me, but not much, they use a billet adapter that moves the flatter wheel towards you. Cheers, Mike