eec564

BRAPP, you say these seals are very easy to mess up. For those of us rebuilding a motor and not using a high lift cam, are the O.E. style seals that much easier to install? That is, enough to warrant using the older, perhaps not quite as good, stock set in favor of a bit more user friendliness?

The transmission in my 300ZX appears to be bad. It drives fine, but makes one mother of a whine while moving. The noise is worse in 5th and reverse, and quieter in 3rd/2nd/1st, not too loud in 4th. It's an 88 non-turbo, with the FS5W71C, and here's everything I've done and been able to figure out. When I got the car, the clutch was bad, so I put a new one in. New clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing, resurfaced flywheel. I was careful to reinstall the shims between the bell housing and block in the original places, and everything was torqued properly. The transmission slid up to the block nice and easily, I didn't have to draw them together with the bolts, a nice easy fitl. I re-filled it with new 80W-90. The car sat for a few months, with only 400 miles on the new setup, and then the other day I went to drive it and found after a few miles it was whining like a belt was loose. Only it only did it while moving, and quickly started to sound more metal-on-metal. Draining the fluid, I found metal shavings on the magnet, and bunch of brass once I let the oil settle. Only thing I could figure out after much searching is perhaps the GL4 from Napa wasn't up to snuff, as it was the generic gallon, since they just happened to be sold out of everything else (small store) the weekend I changed the clutch, and it ate everything brass up. Before I rebuild this thing, does anyone else have any other theories about what happened? Alignment issue? Bad clutch parts? I'd hate to spend a few hundred on bearings and synchros then have it happen again? Does anyone know a good place to buy a rebuild kit? Or better yet, anyone want to sell me a spare FS5W71C? -Eric

If you, or anyone else wants help or advice wiring up a rather anal alarm into their car, I'll help. I've wired up several, including a rather fancy one on my 280ZX. For some reason these cars attract a lot of attention, and a creative alarm install goes a long way towards convincing people they shouldn't touch it. BTW, I liked that S130...bad thing is you can frequently open the locks to our cars and start them with a bobby pin and flathead.

Don't you mean years forward?

Take a sample in to a hardware store and have them make a custom match. It's not that expensive and you'll have the formula to make more easily. Just use an un-sun-damaged piece from a corner or take a faded piece and tweak it in their computer. It's not horrid to reduce regular paint and spray it with a cheap gun.

I found some rustoleum that is an almost perfect match for the tan interior of my 82 ZX. It's in a spray can, part number 7771 SAND. I think I found mine at an Ace Hardware, but any place that carries a good paint selection should stock it, or at least be able to order it.

Just how much engine displacement would it take to produce boost on that? Hmm, my Dad used to have one of those. Of course, it wasn't turbo, and it was white with black top and red interior.

Dang it! That's a good idea. I bet I could have made it happen too, as I know people close to the construction. Still, compared to the old span, I think the new one is ugly as sin. It's like bypassing one of the most beautiful parts of Devil's Slide, the Bay Bridge is the Bay Bridge, it's a beautiful landmark.

My pictures were taking with my Canon S230. Pocket-sized steel-bodied 3.2Mp, CF storage, a cheap point-and-shoot. Those pictures have no post processing at all. I didn't even correct the contrast and brightness for the ones taken against the white fog. I love that camera, if only I could find batteries for it with newly manufactured cells.

I love sailing under that bridge! The approach: And under it: The back side of Alcatraz: And the new bridge construction:

PG&E offers a timed meter that lets you use electricity at a different rate depending on when you use most of your power. It's popular for a lot of clubs that use nearly all of their power in non-peak times and was also installed in the homes of people who leased EV-1s. If you put your charger on a timer so it charges overnight in off-peak times, you can take advantage of off-peak electric rates.

I'd be interested in giving it a good read. How long is it? 50 pages? 200 pages? Perhaps Xenon might be willing to host a nice high quality PDF on one of his usefullness-filled websites.

Doesn't that make it kind of tough to bleed? I'd think so they had only to make one casting, the bleeder valve and brake line would have the same thread so they could just be swapped.

After much searching, I found it just under the table for combinations of squirts vs number of cylinders table about 1/5 to 1/6 down the page. http://www.megamanual.com/v22manual/mtune.htm Injector Opening Time (ms) is the amount of time required for the injector to go from a fully closed state to a fully opened state when a 13.2 volt signal is applied. Since fuel injectors are electro-mechanical devices with mass, they have latency between the time a signal is applied and the time they are in steady-state spraying mode. Typically, this value is very close to 1.0 milliseconds. The current MegaSquirt® controller code assumes that NO fuel is injected during the opening (and closing) phases. However, it is very likely that a small amount actually is injected. Thus making this value larger will enrich the mix and will have a much greater effect at low pulse widths. MegaSquirt® also uses this value as an additive constant in pulse width calculation, thus making this the lower limit for pulse width. I swear, Megasquirt has the LONGEST manual I've ever read that's COMPLETELY FULL of USEFUL information.

It's easy to see how Z-ya's "To open" times look a lot like Megasquirt's "Injector opening" times, but the distinction is there. I never really thought about it before, but I remember reading in Megamanual the definition of opening time being something along the lines of "How long it takes for an appreciable amount of fuel to begin flowing. Megasquirt assumes no fuel flows during opening time." Z-ya's times are quite definitely to full open, looking back at his graphs again. I'd imagine fuel pressure would make a difference. Depending on the design of the injector I suppose fuel pressure could either help hold the injector shut or help push it open a bit. I'd suppose fuel pressure could effect closing time more dramatically, since that's trying to plug a hole with pressurized fuel flowing through it. I've never taken apart an injector, so I'm not sure of their exact internal layout.

Z-ya did his testing with a nice 'scope and amp probe, so his testing was done on the coil inside the injector. Once the injector is fully open and the valve quits moving, the coil begins to saturate. Fully open in this case is where the valve has moved fully inside the housing. Max flow, or even 75% flow is bound to occur before that. Z-ya's settings are good for properly configuring PWM on the Megasquirt so the injector fully opens and does not get burned out. Megasquirt assumes that no fuel flows during the injector opening time but injectors are not perfect on-off devices so setting the injector opening time to the amount of time between the injector receiving a signal and appreciable flow occurring is ideal. The settings for opening times for fuel delivery and coil saturation times seem to be different here, which is very possible and makes sense. When changing your opening times, were you also changing your PWM times? Z-ya's PWM settings look about as ideal as one can get. For your injectors, 3/4 ms could be just about right for fuel to start flowing. Do you have a wide band? At idle (running in open-loop mode) if you change the number of pulses how much does your afr change? That would be a good way to check for opening time settings.

The Model T from The Absent Minded Professor? KITT? Would The Mystery Machine count?

As long as you're willing to forgo the 'classic' old boat look, you should be able to do very well. Fiberglass is the way I'd go with a boat. Wood requires a TON of maintenance, mostly in labor. Fiberglass is sturdy, light, easy/cheap to repair and quite strong. My 36' is fiberglass, and the feel/flex of the hull is nicely predictable making for sailing you can feel, without the weight of wood or expense of carbon fiber. Keep them clean, and they look quite sharp. That 22' looks quite nice. With the 7'9" beam, it should be very nice to sail. Not a speed demon, but lots of fun on the water. I've always figured sailing should be fun first, relaxing second, and work third, but only if you're racing. The swing keel will let you trailer it very nicely, and including an outboard motor seriously sweetens the deal, a new outboard could easily cost what they're asking for the entire package. Check local laws to see if the outboard they have is allowed on the lake. Some places do not allow older 2-stroke motors or motors that haven't passed a certain EPA standard on the water. You'd want to examine the sails they listed as 'new' pretty closely, they should be extremely smooth and have plenty of rigidity left in them. A clean and sturdy set of sail bags are a must as well. Note that after sailing, if the sails got even the slightest bit wet, you will need to wash them and let them completely dry spread out in the sun. Lawn works great, if you house has any. Even at a bit over $3,000, I'd seriously consider getting a survey done. Just for safety. Call a local surveyor, see what they'd charge to have it looked at, on the trailer, if you brought it to them. In lew of that, have someone who REALLY knows boats, boat repair, does ALL their own stuff, and that you trust poke into ALL the littlest holes. You don't want anything breaking while you're out on the water. And it WILL break at the EXACT worst possible time. That's not just Murphy's law, but actually predicable. When that sudden storm comes up, the boat will be stressed the most, and any weaknesses will show themselves. I've been in some crappy situations, and knowing for a fact that I could rely on my equipment, and I was prepared for the worst made it so it wasn't luck that got me through. Sorry to be a bit of a downer, but the water can be dangerous, and get that way VERY quickly, long before you can make it back to shore, even with a motor. Go take a good look at that boat. Take a flashlight, and look under all the cushions, in the bilge, everywhere. Spin the winches to see if they're smooth, check for corrosion anywhere on the mast, look for worn lines, check the trailer for rust. Be prepared to spend another 500$ on safety gear once you buy a boat. Figure on 8-10% of the brand new replacement cost of that boat per year to maintain it. You can do nearly all the work yourself with a boat that size, especially since you can get it out of the water without going to a boat yard, but even then, stainless steel parts are expensive. And these are hunks of the stuff, nothing like the little pieces we use in our exhausts. Once again, don't mean to get you down, but a properly taken care of boat takes a lot. Be fully prepared for the worst, and then go out and enjoy the best. Now go take a look at that 22'. -Eric

I have a Catalina 36 and simply LOVE it. Too large to trailer (without a bigrig) , but amazing creature comforts and very easy to handle. In your size range I'd keep several things in mind. You're going to have to step the mast to trailer it around. That's a fair amount of work on anything over 20', just from the weight of the thing, and should really be done with two people. Any boat with a keel rather than a board sits surprisingly high off the road on that trailer. I figure a Cal 20 needs at least ten feet vertical clearance to move around. Keep that in mind if you have any low hanging branches in your yard. I actually would recommend a Cal 20. Not exactly what you're looking for, in terms of 'classic' look, but can be outfitted very nicely. With a nice keel their very stable and you can take four or five people out at a time. Their not quite ocean material (while possible, not terribly comfortable) but work fabulous on lakes. Here's a nice deal, if it's accurately listed, although way out of your area. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/boa/581142855.html The transferable slip is a major selling point around here. I stay docked on the coast, Pillar Point Harbor, Princeton By The Sea (El Granada/Half Moon Bay). Add (or make) a trailer and you'd be set. If you trailer the boat yourself you could actually do the bottom job for not all that much, although there are many merits to having it done by a boat yard. Mostly because bottom paint is quite toxic. Done that way to stuff doesn't grow on it. Well, as much, stuff still finds a way, but it makes PPG look friendly. If you really want to build one, keep in mind four years is a lot of time you could be sailing, would you want to go four years without a Z? Shipbuilding also has a VERY steep learning curve. I'd go with a nice used boat sold ready to go, or a great deal on one not needing much work, AFTER I had paid for MY OWN professional to do a survey of it. That is, if you're going to invest more than a few hundred. You will need the boat hauled out to have the survey done. Not really needed on really small stuff (22 and under) but I'd do it religiously on anything where the survey costs came out to be 15% or less of the purchase price. Just think about buying a car, be sure of what you're buying. Double so with a boat, you can't pull over and call for help. Quadruple so on a plane... -Eric

For being a fair amount off, how bad was the balance on your re-grind compared to a stock L6 or RB cam?

The price will vary by market, PartsAmerica sets their own prices. They're only partnered with Checker/Schucks/Kragen to provide online sales and a way to buy online and pickup in store for certain items. You should be able to take a print out of that page with you into the store and they can order you that exact starter for that price. That way, you can save on shipping, as CSK dosen't charge freight for orders picked up in store. They won't be able to price match to that for any of the Autolite or OE Quality brand starters they have in stock, it can only be done for the exact same part # as shown online.

Yea, I'm going to (somewhere) for laughing too hard at that one. And to say I've had many people look at me weird, comment or question my habit of washing my hands before going to the bathroom. I just give them something to think about by telling them people's hands are dirtier then their stuff. I think that's about all I learned back in highschool chemistry.

Kit. It would be nice for my car to tell me what's wrong with it for once. Wire or wooden shelves in the garage?

Huh? I-- I don't know that. Auuuuuuuugh! Large bag full of quarters or large bag full of dimes?

It's to make that damn air go where you want it to!