YoBrother

Really cool Joe! I can tell that this car is going to be awesome with the work you are putting into it.

On the 280Z, dad never got a header for it because he found that the stock exhaust manifold was as good as a header. So he thought, why bother???

Lookin good!

Hey it runs! That's a good sign!

Yeah that what I thought. Maybe this will help to understand what I was getting at:

Maybe so, but it may cruise perfectly with what it has. If you do change out the gears, add a limited slip too. I think that rear end may have been used for may years in many cars. I am thinking Subaru... In the 280Z they made a scarab, and my recollection is that they did not need to change the rear end out even though they used (I think) a Chevy 350. So its strong.

A to Z, I am looking forward to hearing how this works out!

You may be able to make those old wheels look decent. Way back in the 70s I bought those used for an old Toyota. I didn't have much money and they were better than the factory wheels. They were originally a fake wire wheel made by Appliance. Mine had the missing baskets too. So I shined them up with steel wool. Then I bought Appliance centers for them. Ended up looking unique and got lots of compliments. So that's something you can do that won't cost much even if you are planning to change out the wheels later on.