ive taken the plunge.. im getting alot of new stuff to hopefully get this thing running good and hopefully road worthy..

aside from taking apart and removing alot from the engine bay heres what ive done....

-removal of yucky radiator, taking intown to radiator cleaning place for resto.
-deleted clutch fan, and upgrading to electric
-soaked the block with engine degrease because entire motor is caked with gunk
ive been scrubbing it alot by hand since.. soon as rest of things off firewall i might pressure wash the block after i protect/remove electronics. then por15 the bay and paint the block with silver hi-temp, or clear it depending how it looks after washing
-all a/c stuff was already deleted before i bought car
-got new pertronix electric igintion and nice coil on the way
-mailed out my su carbs to ztherapy so they can give me super nice ones
-considering buying the K&n chrome filters for the su's but want some opinions on if its worth the 200 dollar plunge for those. also want the chrome breathers for the valve cover and pvc. (i figured 4 chrome k&n filters would look badass, but are they worth it?) im looking at those through motorsport auto.
also...they offer cast aluminum bolt on airhorns that are 60 a pop but are compatible with k&n filters...worth it? improve much?
- poly bushing set for front end? i like the sound of it, but is oem better?
-already got new clutch master and slave on the car
- new thermostat, gaskets
-anything connected to the header i wanna delete.. is it better to run with the heat shield? or can i loose that piece too?
-my valve cover cant bolt down good. gasket is squished wierd too.. i think i may have to get longer bolts or clean and rethread all of them.. i just want my valve cover gasket to be seated correctly so it wont leak in the future..

annnnd thats about it for now.. il post pictures asap.

but if anyone has any input on my ideas and parts i wanna get/put on.. thatd be awesome to hear!

thanks

 

I've got headers on my setup too. Decided that I'll keep the heat shield after reading somewhere the SU carbs don't like extra heat. You should ask your folks at Z Therapy, I'm sure they'll have a very informed opinion. I'd like to hear what they say as well.

I purchased the Energy Suspension poly bushing kit and redid the whole car, front, middle and back. Boy those spindle pins in the rear are difficult to work with. Getting in the rear bushings was even more of a pain. Can't tell you how that turned out as the car isn't even close to being back together yet.

 

Im very anxious to hear from ztherapy myself.. theyve had my cores i sent them for almost a week now and havent said anything about the new set, or payment or shipping back. Taking wayy longer than I had hoped for, Ive been able to order 2 different orders, 2 diff times on motorsport auto.. one has arrived, other on way.. so il have everything i need except carbs.

ordered the k&n filters all around, and got poly master bushing set, and pertronix ignition and coil. also steam cleaned and painted radiator and scraped and painted entire engine bay, and powerwashed the engine block...thing are lookin gooood.

if only i could just put it together..

 

OK, good to know about ZTherapy's long turn around time. BTW, have you verified they received your parts?

I like MSA's products. If you call in an order the order takers really know the Z cars and will work with you to get the right stuff and even make suggestions as to possible better alternatives. Also, if you're a member of almost any Z club, let them know, you get a significant discount.

My bay is ready for primer, just waiting on my wife to choose the overall car color as we'll use a similar color the primer in the bay to mask any scratches.

Am thinking about K&N air filters myself. Are you happy with yours? Will they be an easy install?

Keep on workin!

 

Cool!!

yeah, today I got a simple email from ztherapy simply saying they have got my package, but didnt say anything else regarding anything. and I know they got it several days before they emailed me about it because i called them and talked to bruce, I want to say hes the office/ phone guy but im not sure.. anywho, he said they got my package when i called days ago and said they would email me about it.. just kinda wondering whats going on as of now because things are simply not clear to me right now with that situation..

as far as the other goodies, Ive gotten my pertronix ignition and coil, they look sweet, and cant wait to see how it performs.. havent recieved my filters yet, but based on pictures they look the nicest (imo) on carbed z's.

atm im scraping the crud off the bay, and getting ready to hit it with some plastikote truck bed liner.. i sanded down my 78 last year and got it to bare metel, then sprayed napa rust treatment x2 coats, (stops the chemical reaction of rust, and turns bare metal kinda dark/blackish).. then i truck bed lined it lightly x2 coats... it came out great, and has a nice black textured finish thats really tough. I liked how it came out, and I hope it protects the car for least a few decades.

goodluck with your engine bay, and the future paint job.. haha ive yet to even decide what color i want myself.. the thought of a crownroyal purple came to mind, but im not sure if i wanna do that instead of original orange. probly will end up picking one of the 2 color choices.

 

oh yeah, forgot to ask.. what was the difference when you installed headers on your z? .. is your z also a 240 with carbs?... just wondering the performance gain, and how it sounds..

i got new exhaust from my stock headers back.. im thinking il keep it that way for awile as it isnt necessary to replace anything, and since everything else im doing to the car is really hurting my wallet lately..

but yeah, just wondering the difference between what you got, and stock.

also is changing them out a chore? header studs/nuts scare me due to breakage ability. haha

 

Can't help you too much with performance differences as I've never run this car. It's a long story which is detailed in my own thread on this forum. I have heard it run many moons ago and the sound was real throaty but mostly due to the glass pack muffler I believe.

My car is a 260 with the L26 motor. What will be different is I'm using the round top SU carbs from a 240 rather than the flat tops that Z Therapy won't touch.

I'm expecting performance boosts over a stock 260 from the better carbs, the headers and finally the removal of all the smog stuff. Don't know if it will be more than an early 240 but suspect it will be.