DCZ

Thanks for the ideas guys. Clifton, I hear you on the flowmaster. Never liked the sound of that muffler much but it was on the car when I bought it so I've kept it so far. OK at WOT but very boomy otherwise. I figured since it was so loud it must not be restrictive. First order of business is to figure out the timing and see what the butt dyno says.

Yes, stock cam, whatever was stock on an 82 ZX. Previous owner said he only trued the head surface, so I imagine compression is close to stock. Exhaust is 2.5 inch with a bullet in the tranny tunnel and a flowmaster muffler. I need to spend a little time and figure out a good way to read my timing accurately. And I wouldn't mind throwing my little woodpecker fuel pump in the trash. Any suggestions for a good low pressure, low $$ fuel pump?

Our local Z club (Triangle Z Club, North Carolina) had a dyno day last sat and this is a scan of my baseline runs. This is a F54/P79, stock rebuilt about 10K miles ago. ZTherapy carbs with SM needles, K&N air filters. I'm pretty happy with it but of course I wouldn't mind squeezing a few HP out. Torque seems to drop off after 4500 rpm, limiting peak HP. I wasn't able to stay around and tweak anything. What do you guys think I might try as far as tuning? How does the A/F look to you? Base timing is approx 10 degrees. I have, I think, an L24 harmonic damper with an L28 timing indicator and they don't line up well, so I haven't gotten a good handle on the timing. I noticed that my fuel pressure went from 4 psi down to ~1 at high rpms, yet the A/F doesn't show any leaning. I guess the float bowls still had gas? Might this be a problem for a longer WOT run? Thanks for any comments.

In my experience, you can't trust Carfax. I bought a car that I KNEW had a salvage title - the seller told me all about it and was completely honest. I ran a Carfax just for "fun" and it came back completely clean Just for "fun" again, I tried to take Carfax up on their "Guarantee". I forget what it was, but it was something like they would pay you $$$ if they screwed up. Well, what do you know, they have enough fine print buried within their multiple web pages that their "Guarantee" is virtually impossible to collect. Who woulda guessed!?! Immediately after I contacted Carfax, the info on this car mysteriously changed to a salvage title. Hmmmm . . . FWIW, you can get the same (and more) info from the state DMV for a lot cheaper (in NC, it is $5 or so), it just takes a little longer, a few days or a week. So with Carfax, as with most anything else, BUYER BEWARE

Actually, most of those quote came from none other than . . . Dan Quayle http://www.snopes.com

Wow, Austin glad you are OK. Your car is really sweet. Seeing it last year in Charlotte was some inspiration for me to get working on a turbo swap of my own. As others have said, make sure you get to keep all the goodies on your car, I know you'll be able to build another one. Good Luck!

Thanks for the info. I am much more concerned with safety than I am with weight. I just happened to find this piece of aluminum in my junk pile and thought it might work. Steel it is!

Would aluminum be a poor choice for an adapter bracket to mount a different seat in my 240z? It would be a flat plate about 3/16 inch thick with the plate bolted to the existing bracket and the seat bolted to the other end of the plate. I don't know anything about the piece of aluminum that I have, other than it is about 3/16 inch thick and . . . well . . . silver colored Any ideas welcome!

Me (returning truck): When I filled up the truck, a lot of gas dripped out somewhere underneath the truck. You might want to take a look at it. CounterGuy: Oh, they all do that. It'll stop in a little while.

Hey Jeremy, There is a Fastenal place on Geer St 682-1408. They weren't very helpful when I was looking for something awhile back but you might have better luck. Have you tried Public Hardware on Mangum St? They might be able to order it or maybe the machine shop at the auto parts store next door to them.

Miles, Try a new spark plug in cyl #3, or switch spark plugs with another cylinder and see if the miss follows the plug. You can do the same thing with the plug wire. Pull the distributor cap and inspect the contact for the #3 cylinder. Also, pull off the valve cover and re-check your valve clearances on cyl #3. If the keeper nut wasn't torqued enough they may have wandered. If those checks don't reveal anything, I would do a compression test or leakdown test to see if cyl #3 is out of whack. Good Luck

I had an engine shipped to me two years ago using American Freightways. Seller had to crate it, drain all fluids and get it to the terminal, I had to pick it up at the terminal, which was only about 20 mins from my house. They have (had) a special "first time shipper" deal that saved me about 40% or so, it cost me about $150 to ship it from Delaware to North Carolina. It was a heavy Ford 300 I6. Just checked the web to see if I could find their website and it looks like they have been assimilated into the Borg (Fedex)! http://www.fedexfreight.fedex.com/

Hi Tht1KSguy, I recommend skipping the Columbia/Myrtle Beach SC detour. IMO, Columbia is a pit and MB is a big stupid tourist trap. Leave the extra time for the Outer Banks because they are beautiful and what a beach should be. Try to take a ferry ride as part of your trip. There is a short one from Wilmington to Fort Fisher or a longer one from Cedar Island to Ocracoke. There are several others. Go to: http://www.ncferry.org/ If you come through Durham NC send me an email and maybe we can meet.

On my (long gone) '73 the A/C compressor mounted on the passenger side, with the bracket basically surrounding the mechanical fuel pump. Made for lots of heat soak when you ran the A/C. The compressor in your picture looks like the one I had, but I don't remember what the bracket looked like. Hope that helps some.

I've done it on my L28 in a '73 240Z. I remember that I had to rotate the pan when getting it out/in. Wasn't real easy but definitely do-able. I'm no mechanical wonder-boy I have read on some forum that the orientation of the crank can cause problems, depending upon which piston happens to be in the "down" position. I had not thought of that but it sounds reasonable. Something to remember if you get stuck!

Doug, When Hurricane Fran came through here a few years ago, I parked my cars in a big parking garage at a local mall. Pick a place well in the interior on the second level or higher. Disable the engine (for theives) and you are set to go! I might do it again for Isabel. Good Luck and hang on tight!

Good, I feel better now The outer "race" is really no more than a bushing, all the contact points are new. I scratched the old "race" a bit trying to get it out, but I don't think I made it un-useable. The new bearing went in tight and straight so I think I'll be OK. Crossing my fingers!

Hey Denny, I looked at the new bearing and noticed that the inner section could be pressed out easily. I did that and tapped it into the old bushing that was still stuck in the flywheel. It went in tight and seems to be OK. Do you think I'll have trouble with it? Phil - I tried the grease trick - didn't work for me Jon - I was leaning toward the dremel, but I'm dangerous with power tools. Hopefully I can get away with replacing the needle-bearing only. Thanks for the input guys, let me know if I'm about to f*ck up!

Hi all, I'm trying to replace the pilot bearing before putting a new clutch on my 70 Ford F100 ('78 or so 300 I6 engine, T-18 four speed tranny). So I got the little tool from AutoZone that is supposed to grip the back of the bearing, then you put the slide hammer on it and knock it out. Two minute job, right? WRONG! I managed to pull out the center part of the bearing, about 3/4 inch in diameter. The new bearing is about 1 1/4 inch in diameter and there was a similar sized ring left in the back of the crankshaft, so I put the tool back on that part and commenced to slammin'. It doesn't want to budge. All I managed to do was gouge it all up on the inside and then the (cheap, powder metal Made-in-Taiwan POS) puller tool broke. Any ideas what to do? I was tempted to put the old center section back in, but I kinda tore it up taking it out. Is it possible that the pilot bearing is the smaller 3/4 inch part, and the larger ring is not supposed to come out, and the new bearing is the wrong one? Do I just have to get medieval on that sucker? Any and all ideas welcome! I miss driving my Z parts hauler! (Z content)

Anyone know anything about the PT Cruiser GT (turbo)? My bro is trying to decide between auto and manual tranny. Anyone got any info on this car? Can you put a V8 in it

I'm in Durham, hour and a half in the other, other direction. Ditto on the rust free cars. You going to Ft. Bragg? Not the worst place, just the worst in NC! ha ha j/k.

Yes, you can adjust the chokes. These are round top carbs, right? Undo the choke cable where it attaches to the lever on the carb. Watch what happens as you pull up on the carb lever. First, the fuel jet gets pulled down (richens fuel mixture). When you get to the last part of the lever travel, it pushes on another lever that cracks open the throttle butterfly a bit. You want to adjust each carb so that you get the full range of choke lever travel by pulling on the lever on the console. All I have ever had to do was loosen the cable, with the jet all the way up into the carb body, remove any slack from the lever and tighten it back up. Make sure both jet tubes get pulled out the same distance when you pull the choke lever. I think you can bend the little bar on the side of the carbs to adjust. Get the ZTherapy video if you don't have it already. Hope that was clear. Damian

Your brake fluid is most likely puddled in the vacuum booster This will deteriorate the seals in the booster so you should probably replace both m/c and booster if this is the case.

Hi Jero, Have you figured out the wires yet? I have an extra ig switch that you can borrow or you can come by my house and take a look at the known good one in my z - it is up on blocks right now for brake work. Email me at damian.craig@duke.edu if you want to meet. Damian