well, after 14 months and 3 unsucessful attempts, my Z is running again. I found out the head on my Z was warped, so I went on a mission to find one, but ended up getting my original head milled instead. After I did that, I bought a new radiator, and reassembled the motor from the block up. The Z runs, and it runs well, but I've got a few kinks in the chain (figuratively) to work out.

1. Where is the normal operating temperature for the Z? With my new 3 core radiator, it got up to mid of the M on temp, and didn't go any farther. It'd sit there for a few, and then the thermostat would open, and it would cool down fast. Where should it sit, and where is the danger zone?
2. My Z has always had an overcharging problem, but today it was even worse. The volt meter inside the Z was bouncing all over the place, where it'd be all the way to the right, then dip over into negative volts. I popped the hood to inspect the vehicle, and I found out that the positive terminal on the alternator wasn't all the way tightened down, so I tightened that, but the terminal itself was spinning along with the bolt. After doing that and messing with it for a little bit, the alternator decided not to charge anymore. Is it possible to fry the alternator? I got a new voltage regulator just in case, and it didn't do anything. I have another alternator that works, so I'm going to swap that in and see what happens.
3. I sense a slight vibration coming from the block. This vibration is only apparent when the vehicle is at an idle speed. As soon as throttle is applied, the vibration goes away. I had to set my timing by feel since I don't have a light, so could the vibration be incorrect detonation due to advanced/retarded timing?
4. When I first tried to turn the Z over, I noticed that there was water leaking from the little hole in the front of my water pump. When the Z turned over, I heard a loud rattling noise, like a bearing moving around, and then a loud click. After that happened, the water pump stopped leaking water. What happened with the pump? Is there actually a bearing there to keep water from leaving, but for purging air?

I've got a few things to work out, as you can see, but if they get done, the Z should be better than the day that I got her.

 

well, today, I drove the Z around all over the place, and I ended up replacing my fan clutch, because it was running hot, and the fan clutch was the culprit. For some reason though, the Z is misfiring every so often, and backfiring out of the carburetors. It gets so bad at times that I can't leave from a stoplight because it won't take a load. What could this be? I went to set my timing today, but I think either I don't know how to do it, or I did something wrong when setting up the timing chain. I followed the instructions in my haynes manual, so I think I'm right, but I could be wrong. Any ideas?