Giving my throttle the boot

The throttle linkage boot had disintegrated on the 280z, so I decided to not only replace the boot but also clean up and regrease the entire throttle linkage assembly.  The first step was to remove the linkage.  This was accomplished by simply (and carefully) prying upwards on the ends.  I was concerned about cracking the plastic, but the ends were pretty tough.

Although I had read that this linkage needed to be removed from under the dash, I was able to remove the linkage attached to the throttle pedal from the firewall side.  I removed both linkages and the pivot assembly.  This included two plastic bushings.

After soaking the parts in a mixture of Simple Green and cleaning them with a wire brush, I greased all pivoting parts with a plastic-safe white lithium grease. To install the boot, I had to remove the ball socket; only one end is removable on each linkage.  In this case the removable end was the end directly connected to the throttle pedal assembly.

I put the new boot into place, returned the ball socket (ensuring the linkage was the same length) and snapped the throttle linkage back onto the throttle pedal assembly (again from the firewall side).

I then worked the groove in the throttle boot into place on the firewall and returned the remaining linkages into place.  After testing the linkage a few times without the engine running I took the car for a test drive to validate that everything was in working order.