Tony D

LOL Righteous Chastisement! LOL

SHHHHHHHHHHH! The prices, names, and quantities were changed to protect the guilty! And to give him some insight into good guys that will deal IF you make it worth their while. What may be listed as a 'reserve' may just be there to insure against the .99 cent snipe of a $500 part. And really, I can't blame anybody for doing that---you're selling it to get money for it, not simply give it away. If I'd been up late and bidding...chances are I never would have made the second effort. The way the internet/eby thing works, sniping is about the closest equivalent I can come to compared to making a face-to-face deal. I've been known to walk into a couple of guys arguing over price, blurt out what I'll pay and hand someone a card. Then walk away. Some times, in person, I've had guys stop in mid sentence, go 'seriously'? and the sell me the part FOR LESS MONEY than the guy the were arguing with! They at that point would rather just get the money than haggle over it. Especially if the guy is a bottom-feeder. Not saying I'm not...or that I will make some astoundingly high offer (Eggers & Vicers mechanical FI ITB's notwithstanding)... But when someone WANTS to sell something to clear out his basement. Selling 3 for X and coming away with 3X is MUCH better in their eyes than arguing three times and getting X-$20, X+$50, and X/2 for the last one. If you get the impression I hate drawn out negotiations, you're right. Either I (or you) want it or you don't. It's one of the reasons I don't say much at the Pomona Swapmeet. If I see something, and the guy floats a reasonable tender...I'll buy it. I don't like fishers, and I don't go fishing... most of the time. I won't argue with the guy to support my fishing claim. I can't understand getting upset about being sniped---if your bid wasn't the highest, then you aren't supposed to get the item! just because someone wants an item and puts a bid in higher than yours is no reason to get upset. I see it as bottom-feeders getting what they deserve! If you weren't cheap about it, you would have bid higher and gotten the item. Trying to get something cheap has it's perils. Everybody is trying to undercut the prices to their own benefit, what does that serve but greed? It's the reason many companies don't support the hobby, price shopping and the inability to let somene make a living. It is a double standard. If THEY don't get it as cheaply as possible, it's a Crime. If someone charges more than THEY think they should, it's a Crime. It's like people want subsidized everything. I think a lot of it is due to never having been on the other side of the counter and having to make a living trying to sell stuff at an honest profit to an ungrateful consumer marketplace. My tow rig was a fishing expedition admittedly, but the seller seemed happy to have it out of his yard, and I get something that I 'need' for this or that. And I'm not paying an arm and a leg. But it was the same sort of deal. He'd been offered by separate buyers a total payment about $500 more than I was offering for the total, and showed up with cash because I said I would. That means I'm serious about my offer. Nothing I hate more than someone who makes an offer and then won't back it up with a pruchase if you say 'yes'... They should be beaten. I digress...

Xander, you ricer bastard! Is that an aluminum radiator, or are you running the ricer Nonfunctional-Intercooler with that V8 now??? I know where that hood came from! LOL

Some do it, some don't. The metuallurgy is not exact cam to cam, neither is cam grinder's treatments of the surface nor the aftermarket rockers. While many are fine, many are not. The additive is becoming an industry recommendation because that is the cheapest way to address it and insure good consistent results. Especially if you use different metallurgy. Basically, the zinc makes the metalurgical issues moot as it doens't allow the forces to be present through it's characteristic lubrication. Truthfully, the only real 'cam failures' I heard of on Nissan Cams were from outright spraybar plugging, or someone re-using old rocker arms on a new cam. And even then it was few and far between. I have heard of more cam failures in the last, say four years, than the previous 20 I have been associated with building L-Engines with reground cams. Something changed. And the trail clearly points to Zinc. It's not to say if you have compatible metallurgy that you need zinc. But if you don't, or if you don't know, the chances are that the Zinc in there makes the metalurgical compoatibility of the individual components MUCH LESS FUSSY. Which is what oil is supposed to do. How many guy floated piston pins on bored out rods without a bushing? I did. Steel on steel. No problem. Why bronze? if your oil is doing it's job, the metal you use for your bushing is practically irrelevant as long as it withstands the forces without crumbling. Same situation with cams and rockers: the oil is not longer doing what it once did, and exposing all the bad things that can happen due to stuff that 'in the good old days' was talked about and warned about but in practical application never really ammounted to much.

Off idle synchronisation is a combination of how the barrel is flowing, and mechanical synchronisation of the throttle plates. As stated above a 'slight' slop in the linkage allows minute variations throttle to throttle to be accomodated so all the throttle plates seal as tightly as practical. Then, once they are seated (which should starve the engine or have it operating WELL below target idle speed... some people set them arbitrarily at 0.003" open with a feeler gauge on a bench-setup before installing them---that was a Carburettor specification and can not be applied to EFI. Frank 280ZX tried that with his ITBs and got an engine that was idling at 2500rpms! Since you have a balance log, all air admitted to the engine will (MUST) come from that point, and you can meter the air to each cylinder to get it at equal vacuum and work up to your desired idle speed (say 900rpms). EFI will fire and run this engine at 400rpms, without issue, so you work up from there to first get them all flowing correctly, then equally open them all in little bitty increments to raise the idle speed. Same as setting the idle stop screw on a carburettor when doing synch. If you mechanically set the closed position with the linkages and not a throttle stop on each individual barrel, then from that point mechanical and off-idle synch should take care of itself. Once the throttles are cracked more than maybe 0.030", you are TOTALLY dependent on the angle of the throttle plate for airflow synchronisation. nothing you can do with a bypass will have any great effect. And truthfully, it's FAR more important to have off-idle synch correct, and make sure all the throttles reach full WOT at the same time than having a slight imperfection in idle synch. The power imbalance off-idle is what will cause massive vibrations and break things (or cause cylinders to run rich or lean because of cylinder to cylinder airflow disparities). Really, it takes more time to type this that it does to actually DO it! And once it's set, locktite everything with Wicking Green Loctite Threadlocker for Assembled Fasteners and you're done for the next 20 years of driving. Or until one of those terribly overloaded heim joints starts exhibiting wear and has to be readjusted... Really, you want no throttle opening AT ALL. If you have it on one barrel, it's going to make it difficult to get your idle speed down. This is why I was mentioning the sealant that BMW uses to seal the throttle plates to the bore. This is a very important part of the construction. The IAC, remember is for idle speed corrections. It's not designed as the base-idle maintainer. That is what your bypasses are for. You will set your idle speed to just below target (say 800-850 for a final idle speed warm of 900 rpms) with your bypasses. This will keep you from drop-throttle stalling. Use the IAC and the computer to bring the idle up the final 50 rpms so it always is in it's functional range and operating. This heightens it's response characteristics. As you drop-throttle, the idle bypass will keep enough airflow to keep your engine from stalling while the IAC target idle response works it out to open the thing and admit that last bit of air. It's true the individual bypasses will show very little difference in anything other than idle speed, but on a good gauge you will be able to read the different flows through the cylinders and adjust from there. On our external balance tube, we simply pinch off each of the cylinders from the main tube to check airflow through that runner. Once the synch is set, we re-enable the whole log. On my turbo car, I could feel individual cylinders hit during hard acceleration when I didn't have a balance tube. AFter I installed one, I had some trouble checking synch unless it was disabled, but the power was MUCH smoother under acceleration than it had been with the non-balance tube setup. IAC tuning is more important if you are using accessories like A/C, but I'll stop now...

You're just missing the point is all. I haven't been on E-Bay for months. I just don't want to waste my time. If I go there, I'm looking for something I can't find elsewhere. That means I need it, or want it. As such, I take the steps to accomplish that with as little effort on my part as possible. I don't want to be there any longer than required, and there is no downloading of anything. It's all internet based. The servers they use are usually in close proximity to the E-Bay servers so they can have better chance than I can of getting in without a problem. This is not some sort of search-bot, or anything at all that is resident on your computer. It's just a place that places your bid for you. The program is on their servers, not your computer (at least the one I use, not sure about the others, but I figure it's similar.) Not any different than a Yahoo Mail Account, really. You can choose to have them have your pay information, or not. They don't have mine, I pay myself after notification of winning. The payment is totally separate, and something totally in your control if you so choose. I just like the convienience of not having to be tied to my computer in order to get something I need or want. There is other things I can be doing. Even at 2AM! Sleep, Suds, or Sex come to mind immediately, in any particular order you want to sort them. The question is, 'which would you rather be doing?'

Ive got a Dwyer Slack Tube Manometer I can use for four cylinders---I just attach each end of the tube to the vacuum port on each carburettor---it's not like you can adjust cylinder pair balance on a Mikuini.... The guys that have seen me do that tell me I'm using it wrong...but hooking up each end shows you differential between the carbs---same thing as hooking up an individual stack to their own individual manometer without the hassle of having the levels and scales calibrated beforehand. The manometers are fine for stationary shops, but travelling with them is a royal PITA. For that matter, Omega makes a nice digital Manometer that is pretty slick! I've used one of those as well. That Scheyler is handy to have laying around, especially for the cost!

The SCCA has restrictions about connecting the hoop to the chassis on the roof section, from what I understand. It's more 'fit this template as a universal' for a lot of this stuff. There should be a universal standard. I'd be inclined to go 'FIA Lite' for club events and Gymkhana. But I'm betting there is an FIA Spec close for that kind of event as well. I know that 240! LOL The Red one awaits similar treatment...

That will only match idle synchronisation. And all the throttles need to be connected to speed up the process. When you open one cylidner, they all get a higher vacuum. Having all six on a manifold 't'd' into his manifold block would be the way to set idle. With the over the horn gauge, you can quickly jump from each barrel to the next quickly checking where they all are and make the idle adjustments. You can get the off-idle done while the engine is warming up, and have it damned close by the time it's at operating temp to do the idle synch with the manifold needle valves.

http://classicdatsun.com/ Numbers on his homepage. Check out his site, there is stuff there you will undoubtedly be interested in...

Yeah, Ocho de Mayo is not celebrated. Cinco is, but Ocho was the result. Gives credence to 'win the battle, loose the war'...same engagement after regrouping. It was an Alamo-Style Rout, instigated to teach a lesson for the sneak attack of the fifth and as that link reminded us, instilled Maximillian as Emperor. It's one of those times the French Endeared themselves using the Foreign Leigon to extend their 'diplomatic goals'... And I just realized above I said 'spanish colonial oppressors' when I meant to say French! Big D'Oh for my mis-speak. Doesn't change nuthin! I'm a-pokin' th' bear here! I'm pokin' th' bear! 'Sides, just cause I lives in th' Southern State of Californiee don't mean I'm from here! I was on the winning side of that war. Michigan. "Last one out of the state, remember to turn out the lights!" And them Homers... They's everywhere. Wan't "Brokeback Mountian" about some cowpokes on the drivin' trail outta Texas to Dodge? Cows wan't th' only thing they was drivin'! "WE DIGRESS!" LOL

It's not a question of "Rabidity" at all. It's a matter of how you value your time. I literally can't afford to wake up and B.S. around at 2AM for an auction ending then. I know what I want to bid, and no sense telegraphing that I'm interested until the very last second. It's far easier for me to see it, enter it, and forget about it till it notifies me I have to pay for it. I pay for it, I await delivery. I take delivery, it's mine. No drama, no associated crap to worry about. Either you want it or you don't. I don't have the time or inclination to watch the bidding process. What does 'manual bidding' do to forward your goal of gaining the item. If it can be done automatically, why not? Less chance of malfunctions, missed keys, slow connections, any number of reasons to AVOID manual entry. Why NOT go with the most efficient way to bid? Manual Bidders? Those that do are the ones I would consider 'rabid'---there is something there that they need to have satiated. Too much drama for me. I want it, I set my bid, and if I get it, fine. If not, oh well. nothing Rabid about it at all. Just don't have the time to waste.

I was inside track back in the late 80's early 90's. You get a different catalog with a lot of their refurb stuff at a discounted price. unless you are buying a lot of stuff, careful shopping on the catalogs and website can net you similar savings. I have noticed items with the same SKU on the cover at one price, and the same SKU with a different suffix inside the catalog for 2X as much! It pays to read carefully...

The best way is to let idle synch be handled by your IAC on the log. After that, have a throttle stop to open you throttles slightly (1500 to 2500 rpms) and use something like the EMPI UNIVERSAL PRO-SYNC to set throttle opened synch. http://www.dansperformanceparts.com/buggy/intake/intakeacc.htm This does not depend on the flow restriction to get a reading like the Uni-Synch does, so you can keep the engine at a set speed and adjust each linkage to get the same off-idle flow through each barrel. Then set your limit stop on the linkage to prevent overtravel during WOT. The idle snaps shut to fully closed with idle airflow coming through the IAC and your Manifold Logs. This is how we set up the TWM setup on the Bonneville Car. I hate the UniSynch because of the way it works. I prefer the Weber Tool, or the equvalent sold through JC Whitney (Scheyler Carb Synchroniser). http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Product/Pr-p_Product.CATENTRY_ID:2008076/c-10101/Nty-1/p-2008076/Ntx-mode+matchallpartial/N-10101/tf-Browse/s-10101/Ntk-AllTextSearchGroup?Ntt=Weber+Carb+Synchronizer (For the Record, when I bought this EXACT same tool from JCW in 1985, I paid as much as they say 'you save' on their current price! And the second review of hte product is priceless---35 years of ownership!?!?!, I'm thinking I may get the same paranoia myself! I thought I had mine for a while!!! I knew they were availabe in the catalog for A WHILE before I bought mine.) You 'could' do it with a Uni-Synch, Far easier at idle than off-idle. The ability to check off-idle synch and adjust linkage length to equalize flow with the Weber Style is awesome. Quick, too! And if you didn't notice, you could buy two or three of these for the cost of a single manometer style. Check Demon Tweeks in Wrexham Wales for a Gunson or equivalent plastic manometer carb synchroniser. I bought one there last pilgrimage to their store, ran across it in my 'track case' while cleaning last week! I don't think it was 57 Pounds Sterling! The manometers are nice for idle flow, you can actually make one with six tubes as easily as you buy one that you will have to fudge. Or buy two of the four cylinder models and manifold them into one tool. That way when you make your setup for the SBC replacement after the tragic explosion following over-rev of your L-Series, you already have the tool to synch it's custom-cast ITB setup... Not the one I got, but leave it to Demon Tweeks to have absolutely EVERYTHING in the store you could possibly want. Check the "options" tab, they have 'six carb' click on it! Only 123.31 pounds sterling. A mere pittance more compared to the 99 pounds asked by those other ruffians. Mere farthings, sir. Mere Farthings! http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=MCYCLE&pcode=DAV62006

The oil IS an issue. EVERYBODY is experiencing it both import and domestics. To the question of 'is there such a thing as 'too much zinc'? Absolutely. Hence the change in formulation for MODERN cars. The zinc poisioned catalysts. The Mobil Blackstar had a lot of Zing and Phosphorous. For a car with no catalyst on it...no MODERN catalyst (the older catalysts were working on different things and didn't 'have' to last 100K miles, though many do well more than that) then the point where spark plug deposits become an issue is a point where 'there is too much additive'... Those of us old enough to remember working on engines run forever on Leaded Gasoline will remember religiously cleaning spark plugs from deposits in the oil and gasoline. Lead Fouling on the plug would bridge the gap and misfire the cylinder. Bad ring seal caused oil deposits from unburned leftovers... Unless you dope to that high a level (and have bad ring seal to boot) I doubt you will run into a 'too much' situation. Frankly, the more relevant question to me would be 'how much do I need'---to the point, what level of expensive aftermarket additive to I need to add to modern oils to provide the same level of protection that was provided by the previous generation of non-zinc-depleted oils. To batch the oil to that level, AND NOT FURTHER is likely the most economical way to do it. I doubt MORE will increase your protection, likely it will just cause other problems. The key is to add 'just enough and not any more' so you get the protection you need.

"Dammint Hank! Take me to go git Santy-Anny's wooden leg!" "Remember the Alamo"---It's like Cinco De Mayo for Mexicans: The celebration of a great DEFEAT against their 'colonial opressors' the Spanish. A battle they ultimately won. You Texans aren't so much different than your brothers to the South in that Respect. Perhaps that is why they call it 'Tex-Mex'!

I know several times I have had my snipe 'bumped' to an odd figure (well below my max) by someone trying to 'cheap snipe' in the last 5 seconds. Coming back and watching it all end is a PITA. Several times I've been the 'highest bidder' but still below reserve, and I've contacted the seller with a 'buy it now' offer for multiple parts where they give them all to me well below their individual reserves, near what I originally was 'high bid below reserve'. I couldn't get, say, an 8# HKS Flywheel for $250 because reserve or Buy it Now was 350, but I did get THREE of them for $750. That, obviously stated, is if you have the $750 to spend on three flywheels you know will sit for some years to come because you only really need one... THIS is why I bought 40 Foot Locking Sea Containers for my property! LOL

I believe the SR20 Swaps the guys are doing include the transmission. The packages are available for the 240SX guys cheap enough. Like I said, Les can talk about this stuff half in the bag and swilling a beer hanging upside down from the two-post lift in his shop and do it from memory. He's got a veritable Roadster Factory down there. If it can be stuffed in a Roadster, he knows about it!

To be honest, the guy I talked to back east told me to check out the TECHNICIAN OPERATING THE MACHINE more than the doctor! He rather frankly said " I just make sure your a good canidate, the guy operating the machine and the software is what will do the work! " Basically they are along for the ride...the man posting above is the guy who actually DOES the work...and even then...it's the machine doing the work for the most part. I'm sure he can go into the tehcnical details about targeting adn setting up the patient, etc... But I agree, if there are issues DON'T WAIT! And basically that was what the Doc back east said: "I'm there if there's a problem, that's when you need the doctor. And that's where tens of thousands of eyes done comes into play. The more he does, the more complications he's seen, and the better off he will be to handle them in the best way." Don't wait, get to the doctor---early treatment gets things from getting worse. If you think there is an issue, and likely you may have one, get to the doctor ASAP. Don't wait for a perdetermined interval. Which is one of the things the doc that screened me told me as well---if you think you have a problem, come see us right away. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to correct if something has gone wrong. Good Luck!

Yep, them are those! LOL

The rockers for a 2+2 would be the same die, only extended the requisite ammount. Discount tool and die setting... Actually, now that I think about it, most 2+2's only rot in the back and front of the rocker. I've never done it, I've always done the whole panel, but technically you could cut up the ends of a coupe rocker and repair the ends of a damaged 2+2 rocker and have it cost nothing more in materials than the whole rocker. Come to think on it, my 75 2+2 could use that treatment.... it's a US spec model so the repairs on it to be 'historically correct' are not so strenuous. I guess something good came of this discussion after all! i'd not considered going that route till just this second...

Because the hole is in a different place on a 70 260Z than in a 74 260Z , plus the shifter rod is not straight, but curved.

"I have people, in places, who know things!" LOL That, aside from the fact that I have the original production floor inspection drawings for the pressure-cast 2001 Skyline wheels sitting in my stash of stuff. I snagged them while working at the place and recognizing the wheels as they were passing me coming out of the powder coater oven. Some's firsthand, somes from trusted sources. I don't think the procedure has changed in only 15 or so years. In fact, it's probably gotten worse since they have boondoggled on a couple that showed where enthusiasts loved the car, but they missed their mark in the target marketing. "Oops!"

Crow has been eaten by her at times as well: "You can't bring any more cars into this yard unless one leaves!" Several months later, sheepishly she approaches me: "Er, someone wants to give us a Fairlady ZX, and I kind of want it as a driver..." Well, what happened to 'one comes in one leaves'? "Er...well, we will have to suspend that rule because I found this one!" Oh, Ho! So it's different when it's your found-for-free Z that you want to 'clutter up the back yard' with, is it? I think at that point she made the female equivalent of Homer Simpson's "D'OH!" and I continued: Hey, have them take some pictures and send them to me, I don't really want a ZX around wasting space if I'm not going to get any parts off it. I need to see it before I'll go get it. (I feigned reluctance pretty well, but truth was I really didn't want it around. It's still a distraction. Meh!)

Kicking? Nah! Plugging them up and tossing them in a closed car to torture the occupants: ABSOLUTELY!