Here comes trouble

You want that heat range dial as Jon pointed out.

http://www.heldmotorsports.com/........ This is a website for kit car/Pontiac Fiero suspensions. which requires the 2.170" inside diameter threaded adjusting coilover sleeve that the late 260 and 280 Z strut tube requires. The sleeves rhat Lee Heldmiller stocks are 5 inch in length at $16.95 each. The longer length is great for switching between 10 and 12 inch springs... I ordered 4 sleeves this morning.This 2.170" inside diameter sleeve isvery difficult to find if you are piecing your own colilover kit together as I do (for about 1/2 price) ...........EDIT.I have been wrongly reporting the 2.170 sleeves are 6.5 inches in length which may place them at the OEM lower perch mount on the strut tube's weld bead

I am planning to fab up a "ala Terry adjuster" placing the sway bar in the rear or behind the diff. One thought was to obtain a small diameter (3/4 or 1 inch) splined 37 1/2 inch long sway bar with the removable sway bar arms that Stock cars use. From what I have seen, sway bars mounted in front of the diff on a severe lowered Z rub everything in close proximity. I guess I will find out if 37 1/2 inches will work back there. With progressive springs a smal diameter sway bar would be apropriate and easily changeable along with high rate regular coil overs.

The late 260 and 280 Z first generation require an inside diameter of 2.170 " Lee Waldmiller http://www.heldmotorsports.com/ has these 2.170" threded coilover adjusting sleeves in 5" length for $16.95. He makes suspensions for the Pontiac Fiero kit cars. I ordered 4 sleeves this morning Contact: Lee Waldmiller Email: leewald@comcast.net Phone: 616-893-1433 Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan

Mike you may want to mount two swithes: one where the driver has access and one where the folks (in the grandstands) could get to it. Now I have "experience" in cutoff switches since I bought a half dozen plastic ones at Harbout Freight on sale with my maxed Master card. On my wifes car. I hooked it right up next to the battery and on the negative cable This works great for a battery saver until some electrical part gets grounded !!!!!!!!!!!!! (and things start getting out of control). I do apreciate your efforts and work in keeping this board civil and professional without the riff-raff. Merry X mas and the New Year finds you packing your consultant fees home in wheel borrow or packsack.

SCCA Mike has a good deal on coilovers in Hybrd classifieds For 10 inch springs, he once recomended the OEM spring perch location for the 10 inchers coilovers new spring perch.... I have 12 inch progressive coilovers for 250 GTO with camber plates which I should place a new perch 1/2 inch under the OEM spring perch weld bead. If I use 6 1/2 inch threaded tubes... I could get away with the spring perch 2 inches below the OEM spring perch weld bead........ I sectioned the 280 tubes 2 inches for my 350 V8 Tomahawk (165 front 180 rear springs)( 6 inch sleeves). The 2 inch section was taken from one inch below and one inch above the OEM spring perch weld bead and I placed the new spring perch washer right above the joined section cut incorporating the new weld with new perch and cut for a strong weld. I can adjust the springs where the front cross member is about 4 inches off the ground or adjust the height clearance up for some speed bump assault free maneuvers What Mike K was pointing out that there is a lot of factors to consider in placing the spring perch and when you weld that perch in place.. you better be sure where...........use a hose clamp to temporarlly hold the unwelded sprong pech in place...... Mock it up fully loaded. If I get the 6 1/2 inch sleeves, they will be positioned tightly under the unsectioned strut tube gland nut and the spring perch will be welded under the threaded sleeve so when I fully tighten the gland nut, the threaded sleeve is locked in place without silicone. This makes for a very tidy coilover.... and as confident as I am concerning that new spring perch location I WILL MOCK IT UP FIRST fully loaded and make changes if needed before any welding. I have no clear idea where those 12 inch progressive coilovers and camber plates will place the ride height and hopefuuly over 6 inch of sleeve will give me some options.

You can have a machinist bore the 2 inch threded sleevess out to 2.170 inch for the 280 Z strut tube. A1 Racing had this 280 threaded sleeve but sold all 100 to some fellow that I am tying to reach....... e-mail me for details. You can also buy big washers for spring perches and easily grind them with a Harbour Freight drum sander and file to fit.A1 Racing has a 2.100 sleeve and it may be possible to easily enlarge the I.D. by .70 with the sanding drum or a cylinder hone. http://www.a1racing.com/index.asp?PageAction=ADVSEARCH&Page=1&txtSearchAllWords=&txtSearchExactPhrase=coil+over+sleeve&txtSearchWithOneOfTheWords=&txtSearchWithoutTheWords=&lngLookinCategoryID=0&txtSortOrder=1&intResults=50&btnSearch=Search&AdvSearchAction=GOFETCH

THanx 73 Turbo for the visual aid. The clutch fork has a 'dimple" that the pushrod sets in .......... a long nut for adjusting can also be rounded on one end to mate to the clutch fork's dimple for a better fit. Put the headless bolt in the drill press with the long nut locked in place by another nut and put the file to it.... Threaded stock can be used as a push tod but I prefer a grade 8 bolt....What I have found in adjusting the clutch with the threaded push rod is to have a little slop in the clutch fork. The spring is not really required unless needed in an extreme case. And for the members who cannot see a need for this "hands on visual adjustor" at the clutch fork..... You are welcome to perform this adjustment proceedure in a remote location under the dash...LOL. I get confused easly when my undersized brain is placed upside down in a confined area with all my blood rushing to my over-sized butt which is left grinning from ear to ear. . and sometimes that 30 year old "OEM" threadless push rod's length is incompatiable with replacement exchange clutch parts. as 260DET aptly observes. We are talking fine tuning here. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/detail?.dir=/8223&.dnm=b5c1.jpg&.src=ph

I may have one under my 620 pick-up but do not recall replacing clutch. I put a tranny in the black Z and it may have this modification. I'll look. http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/detail?.dir=/8223&.dnm=b5c1.jpg&.src=ph

you can make the clutch adjustable at the operating cylinder with a modified grade eight bolt to replace the non-adjusting push rod. Find a bolt an inch or so longer and about the same diameter as the push rod with about 2 inches of thread at the end. Drill a hole in the throw out lever indent (where the push rod end resides) to allow the bolt to slde thru snugly. The hole in the throw out lever has to be drilled on a drill press since the lever is hardened. Don't even bother if the lever is already mounted in the bellhousing because King Kong ain't got the strength to push that drill thru with a hand drill... cut the bolt head off and round the end like the OEM pushrod with a file. You can do this with the bolt mounted in the drill press chuck and also make the center groove on the new push rod mounted in a drill press with a file (hill billy mini lathe) this center groove is for the rubber nipple seal located on the end of the operating cylinder that the pushrod moves thru. Get 4 nuts place two on the operating cylinder side and two on the outside of the throw out lever The nuts on each side of the lever are adjusters and the outside nuts are lockers. Datsun used to make these adjustable push rods years ago. To get my but up higher with my head upside down in a tiny floor compartment is vulnerability bordering on vulgarity,.....and it becomes very confusing to adjust a clutch f/*** backwards upside-down in the northern hemisphere. I have been making these adjustable pushrods for years everytime I change a clutch .............OEM threaded adjustable push rod photo http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/detail?.dir=/8223&.dnm=b5c1.jpg&.src=ph

I have a Craftsman that is crap with only a high and low heat range that I have learned to get around it's limotations. Some day a used Miller or Hobart will show up. My Lincoln was stolen so lonf age it is a dim memory but it welded great. The duty cycle on this HF sounds short-lived or inadequete .............As for buying Tim's LOL I do not know if he would sell to me unless I lived next door to him.He is a great guy in my book! ...............My friend Ocbaar is to get back with an appraisal on this welder. He is picking up a HF $2.98 (originally $9.95) multi tester for me

it appears that the white with black stripe wire goes to a 10 Amp fuse (Ignition interlock) in the fuse block and then to a seat belt buzzer. I could be wrong on this but used my 78 factory manual to trace the wire to the best of my "ability"

Anyone know about this welder ?????? A bargain or another piece of crap??? It is on sale for $249.00.. Looks like it has one dial for heat or speed. 10% duty cycle . The picture is an e-mail ad, which you copy and take to a Harbour Freight store to get the sale price. A current H F circular ad has a 120 volt mig welder for the same sale price.......

Experiment and try welding the seam first. Usually the light rust comes off. You will know right away if there is any rust getting in the weld.Looks like minimal rust to me on a northwest car. My Tomahawk project had Zero rust with a little corrosion under the battery box and the 250 GTO had surface rust on the rear tailight panel and the outside of the radiator support. I lived in Iowa 2 years and was told if you get it sealed from air the rust is slow to spread............................................................................. LOL I just remembered. I started with a wire brush and was not making much progress as the evening ended, so I squirted Osphos over the rust. The next day, I rinsed it off with water and the rust was gone. I hit it with a wire brush attached to the Makita to clean up a few flakey spots of the converted rust. It is probaly going to be more difficult to remove the temporary green garage sale rattle can paint at primer time

You may have a 280 without the long wrap around bumpers, the less bulky bumpers came in 75 and 76... The black Z is a 77 and the blue Z is a 75 noticr the bumpers http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/detail?.dir=/392a&.dnm=5fca.jpg&.src=ph

Jon... I have been using my left over POR 15 "osphos" which goes a long way and does rapid rust conversion. The "osphos" is avaiable at most paint stores at less cost than the POr 15 variety. IN a spray bottle this rust converter will penetrate better than Naval Jelly which has probably the same chemical but in Jelly form.One problem is that the rust conversion require thorough water rinsing as does the naval jelly. POR 15 paint is crap but not their rust converter.Seam welding may seal the rust below and help preventing it's spread. "Osphos" is my way of identifing the rust converter for lack of a better word that I can't remember

!. Got out my catalogs and logged on to Wilwood's website and seached for the parts numbers given at the beginning of this thread. It aint easy to find the parts even on the Wilwood website and suspect sourcing the parts even worse 2. I read Jon M's F and A on brakes (found at the bottom of this thread) and paid close attention to Mike K's comments on brakes during this thread (these 2 members have forgot more than most folks will ever learn about the Z) Availibility, "Serviceabilty" and Longevity are an important factor when considering brake options which would place the Wilwood option at the bottom of the list for most stree/race options. The Cobra brake option would be at the top 3. V80Z sez tweaking the stock brakes is adequete for most racing which is a reasonable assunption given his experience 4. Racing with 15 inch wheels maybe the advantage of the "all" Wilwood set up and street use would be compromised by the lack of dust shields and the potential of rebuilds . 5. Prior to reading this thread, I knew lttle about Wilwood but now know "enuff" to avoid this modification for my application and applaud "Cobra" for bringing this brake option to everyone's attention and for those who will benefit from this all Wilwood application which requires little modifications

Mike, have you ever considered the rear view mirrors that bicyclists' wear on their head ? My vision is becoming so flawed, I may have to resort to this type of "hindsight". I am attempting to equip my wife but meeting with resistance.

Can you drill your own inspection hole in a place to better access the rust below the seam. You could later plug the hole with a rubber grommet like Datsun used to plug drain holes. If you could gain access at a better location, you cold "osphos" the rust followed by a good water rinse and paint it. The "osphos" requires a thourogh rinsing as you know. EDITIF I am OFF on the photo.....soak the seam with Osphos and then water. A little soap if compatiable with the "osphos" woll penetrate better . Fireman use "wetter water" that contains soap for better penetration

I placed 3 wanted ads on the Eugene, Oregon Craig's List. The e-mails are dribbling in.................78 z- Cottage Grove, 76 Z- Damascus, 1983 Turbo ZX in Lebanon for $400.00...if interested email and I will forward email addresses. I plan to continue this prectice of placing "wanteds" on Craig's List.

The old silver Z has a clock that keeps perfect time .... and about the only mechanical that still works

Alex... I need info.......the top ten free porno sites, internet firearm dealers that require no paperwork, and any atomic bomb plans that you might have and willing to share. Also a cheap source of viagra ( in bulk/50 gallon barrels)

Phil...... rumor has it that your FI was the last working FI without trouble. Olie does not know but his RFI stock unit prior to his ownership was repaired by Ocbaar of Oregon ....LOL fellas a lttle humor here ....why do you consider used carbs for a Z require a bank loan ?

Prissian Blue is a machinist lay out dye (lacquer) and goes by the name of Dyekem Blue.($5.00 a bottle and you will need it to lap) Get your self some lapping compound in a sticky cream form that will help prevent the lapping compound from seeping into the vave guides .(big NO-NO). Equip and improvise a forward reverse hand drill with a suction cup a little smaller than the valve heads. Swab the valve and seat with Dyekem Blue and let it dry.... Put a light coat of lapping compound only on the machined ring surface of the valve and it will transfer itself to the valve seat..... Place the valve in the guide hole and position the suction cup on the top of the valve. Run drill forward and reverse with frequent inspections of the valve and seat to check lapping action in removing scratches and the spread of the lapping compound towards valve guides. Re-apply lapping compound and dye as needed. The Dyekem Blue will eventaully wear off except in the scratched valve seats. By this time you should be able to tell the extent of the scratches in the valve seats and if the lapping will remove them and also what effect the lapping is doing to the machined ring of the valve. If you are successful at this... you can re-install the valves with springs... To check seal of valves turn the cylinder head upside down and level. Fill the combustion chamber with some solvent to see if the valves leak to determine which valves are sealing and which valves need more lapping. I have done this on budget heads and eventually got all the valves to hold the solvent for over 24 hours without leakage or replacing valve seats but I replaced a lot of valves with other used ones before I got a satisfactory seal with a lot of time consuming lapping and INSPECTION of seat and valve. This is a budget repair not a race three grind valve modification to assault the track record

JSK fuel rails still show up on e-Bay under auto-truck parts-Datsun-fuel delivery. Pal Net is a member here and deserves our support. Crue Z I bookmarked your website for your innovative modifications. I have the JSK fuel rail with a fuel pressure gauge... The gauge is what I consider a very important item to aid in the repair of these aging Z fuel injection systems which collectively have chosen failure in the last couple years across the entire USA. I heard there was a remaining 76 Z in Maine near the Canada border that still has an operating stock fuel injection system (LOL)...... but the body is totally rusted.