Georgia Flash

Guys out of all the hard jobs that I have tackled replacing the fuel lines on my new 76 Z has to be the worst of them all! First off let me start by saying I do not know how I made in home from Cumming GA to Rome on the day of purchase. The next day when I was able to give the car a good once over in my garage with my shop light I was horrified to find the top fuel line inside the bundle of three inside the engine bay was rusted completly through! Yup there was a big hole in it. Apparently the battery dripping on this spot over the years caused it. Now I knew that line was the vent tank line (no fuel inside) that goes to the canister. However the other two fuel lines under the vent line had serious rust on them as well and they did carry fuel! I replaced them with the old lines out of my 75 and man has this been a tough job. For starters the right front brake line in the engine compartment had to be removed as well as the right rear brake line near the junction box. The exhaust system had to be lowered and the rear sway bar dropped down. The hydraulic clutch line also had to be removed in order to snake the lines into place. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to remove them from the 75 and that car has no engine or exhaust system in the way. It took me all day Friday and part of the day Saturday to get them in the 76. Man my arms and knuckles are cut and sore. I drove the car tonight and the brake warning light is glowing. I guess I will have to re bleed the brakes to correct this problem. This rust problem has never been discussed on the board before at least I don't think it has. Guys take a close look at your fuel lines in the old Z when you get the chance. This could have caused a horrific fire in the engine bay that would have destroyed the entire car and maybe even roasted me in the process. :flamedevil:

Dealer usually means $$$$$ however, those that were on ebay were not cheap either.

Davy, Again it has nothing to do with the spacers or set back plates at all. The actual Chevy Motor mount is what hits the steering shaft.

Negative, I can tell you from experience that the motor mount will touch the steering shaft on some cars. Mine did the same thing on my old 75 Z and no one seemed to know what I was talking about. The spacers and set back plates have nothing to do with the mount touching because the mount bolts up to the cross member then the set back plates and spacers bolt up to them. I have since done away with the JTR set up and went with the MSA set up. No problems now.

Man I know exactly what bolts you are talking about. And yes they are all over the Z and ZX. I saw a set once on ebay and I made a couple of bids on them but lost. There is a web site somewhere where you can go and buy a brand new stainless set of bolts I can't remember what it is off the top of my head but if I run across it I will give you a hollar.

After a little investigation on my part today I discovered that the rod that runs from the outside handle down to the locking mech was severely bent. I took the one from my other Z and put it into place. The door still has to be slammed to be shut but not quite as hard as before and it is still a little hard to open from the outside but not nearly as hard as it was! I think that when the rubber gets used to the door being snug against it maybe it will flatten out a little. BTW the driver's door on this particular Z had problems before I installed the new rubber. I am thinking that I may replace it with the door from the 75. Another thing I discovered by taking apart the door was that it has been replaced over time. My car is blue and the door that is on the driver's side is that crab apple green underneath the interior trim.

Been a while since this post floated around so I went and did a search and found it. I recently purchased a 76 280. The previous owner had bought a weather stripping kit from Vic British but had not installed it yet. The other day I replaced the driver's door weather stripping and like some of you have said in this post I now have to slam the door to close it! I have adjusted the locking latch mech on the door post but it still will not close unless you slam it. The worst thing is that the door can't be opened from the outside only the inside handle. Did any of you ever figure this problem out? If so help.

Man I remember that cadillac red Z when it was on the site as the monthly winner! I even copied a pic of it as that is what I was going to do to my Z. Nice car.

Try living in YOUR free country without the police and see how you manage.

Yep we have that same thing hanging on a buliten board in our police station. Yes cops have a sense of humor too.

Well I'm sure he was trying to learn! That is one reason why I do not buy a motorcycle. I figure that I am 38 now and I would like to live to see 39. I have also "frozen up" and couldn't let off the throttle on a couple of occaisions just like that guy. SO lets not be to harsh on the poor sucker.

All that sounds like a good thing to me. As for the large crash bumpers they are history. Replaced with fiber glass pieces from MSA. The factory hood is gone too, replaced by a light weight fiber glass cowl induction model. When I am done I will have my Z-8 weighed and then maybe we can see that the weight diff between the 240 and my Z-8 will not be an issue. Besides the 280 has to weigh a whole lot less than a 67-68 Camaro and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one of those babies. The weight differences is way over rated in my opinion.

I will be needing this stuff too as all of mine is currently gone! Boy the things I have learned on this project. #1 Never strip a car down to the bare essentuals unless you know what you are doing and what you are getting into! I thought it would be best to do this so I went about tearing out the interior and all the old rubber. The only prblem is now I have to put it all back together and that means buying new rubber. Which now I am starting to see that it will not be as simple as I first thought. Advise to newbies, start slow and keep the car intact! Replace things as need be and when the time comes to do so. Do not under any circumstances rip everything out and expect to have it back together any time soon!

I tried a different 14" wheel today, the first one was a factory rim, and the thing did fit. However, as soon as I spun the wheel it scraped all the pretty blue paint from the top of my caliper Again! So I don't think that you can get by on the 14's. Oh well time to mask and paint some more.

Hey Ross, I am still waiting on the panasports to arrive Everytime that I call them they give me a new "they will be in on such and such date speech." There is no rush though because the car doesn't move right now anyway. I also need to get that 20" piece of line fabbed so I have some time for that.

I have this front piece and also the rear and side skirts. I haven't put the front on yet so I can not tell you how easily it installs but I can tell you that it isn't an inch thick. The rear went on pretty easily but there are gaps that will have to be filled in.

The 14's will not fit! In fact I couldn't get a 15"er to fit either. I'm waiting on my 16x7 Panasports to arrive as we speak. The 15's scrubbed the top of the caliper. The 14's wouldn't even go on. So I do not believe you can use the 14's, try and see, it will not fit.

Nope, its not vandalism if her name is on the title. Boy I'm glad that I am 38 and don't have to worry about this kinda stuff. Good luck my man.

Rear

Yep if I had it to do over again I would have dropped 700 to a 1000 on a good car that would have helped out tremendously in the long run.

I'm no purist by no means but I would have to say if somebody took one of those babies and cut anything on them I believe I would have to hunt them down and shoot them

It also helps if you have some friends that are knowledgeable or some Hybrid Zers that are close to you to help. I have none of that. Therefore I am left on my own except what I get off of this site and an occasional heping hand from the wife. Also if you work like I do, it leaves little time for the project. As far as the cost goes, I can not fab anything, Period! So having the car done for under 3 grand makes me laugh. There is no way in gods name that you can do a V-8 conversion like the one I have started and do it for under 3 grand. Like I said I have to buy all the parts I need so no fabbing going on over here.

I almost wet my pants looking at these two rare beauties! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2421433152&category=6187 Those things look as if they came out of a time capsule.

The cost never ends! The only advise I can give is from a frustrated first time project builders point of view. Do not do what I did. Wait, let me make it clearer to you by saying it louder, DO NOT DO IT THE WAY I HAVE DONE IT!! I purchased my none running Z for a mere $100 bucks, all of you who have heard this sob story can stop reading now. I figured what a bargain! It soon turns out that I have spent about 5,000 on the 100 dollar car and it has yet to see the pavement. That's right I said 5 Grand! I still have to get the engine rebuilt, buy a transmission, a carb, drive shaft, and many other things like weatherstripping and gages. Keep it simple to start with and if your Z can move on its own power right now with the inliner, keep it that way untill you have the brakes and suspension done. If I had to start again it would be with a Z in good running condition already. Hell I have even thought about buying another Z and junking my hulk of metal tHat I have been busting my knuckles on over the last 4 years! Yes I said that right 4 years and 5 grand and still no go! Of course if I did junk the project money pit I would have to transfer all the goodies such as the Modernmotorsports rear disk conversion and hyperflex bushings to the new project money pit Good luck brother!

I am thinking about taking my engine to the shop and have it rebuilt before I stick it in the Z. I have a couple of questions. I want the engine to be a little stronger than stock so it will really get up and go but I need it to behave much like a daily driver. The car will not be raced but it needs to have that mean sound to it if you know what I mean. What should I tell the engine shop to do? Do you guys have any reccomendatios on what parts to use or what set up I should run? Thanks in advance for any input