Gift or Burden - We shall see....

[Jeff G 78]

Hee hee. Glad I could "help". I'm like the schoolyard crack dealer giving away free samples. Now that you have some spare parts, you're hooked like the rest of us.

[d240zx2]

You really need to take snaps of various stuff as you take things apart, Free. I'm old, and pics sure do have the ability to stimulate dead memory cells, especially if there are a lot of similar parts/pieces.

[Free280Z]

I have finally gotten rid of the parts car. This weekend I will put a battery in "Nadeen" and start fixing the damage from the battery being put in backwards (PO). I will post pics of the parts car tomorrow. (stripped and flipped, much like I like my women)

[Free280Z]

d240zx2: I have pics of the intricate stuff. When I started I thought I would post a complete pictography, it takes a lot of time to take pictures while taking a car apart. If I need a part from the bin it should be a game of "match and go".

[Shade133]

This is the 1977, the last pic is the rusty hatch I cut my head on. It hurt like a hctib.

that rust bucket really looks like it sat at the bottom of a lake.. ive never seen rust soooo bad. (and im from california where i 4x4'ed in the ocean on a regular basis )

[Free280Z]

I can dig 4x4ing in the ocean. Here are some pics of the parts car at the end of its life. Also one of the shunt unit. I had to really clean it up.

[Free280Z]

I haven't posted in a while so to bring every one up to speed. . . .

The parts car has been gone for about three weeks now. Thank God. I have been getting the '75 working bit by bit. The car had no power any where. I located all the fusses and cleaned contacts and ground points. Test stuff and what not. I borrowed my brother's Power Probe, it makes it much easier. So anyway. I worked on that thing for two weekends and was getting now where fast. My brother (mechanic for about 20 years) came down and in about an hour and fifteen minutes we got the engine turning over, ignition working (I did the old hit the starter when he had his hand where he could get shocked, its still funny), lights (not head lights yet, but can make them come on by jumping at the fuse block) and indicators, no brake lights yet either. We started tracking down the fuel issue and verified the injection relay was working. I haven't had time/weather to take the fuel pump out and try to get it working. That's the nice thing about a Power Probe, you can put power on stuff. The pump isn't running.

It is very inspiring to hear it turn over on its own.

I am an absolute newbie to Z cars. If anyone is reading this is a newbie also. Listen to the "Old Hands" and

a) Get A Field Serve Manual - indispensable.

Get A Wiring Diagram - very illustrative.

c) If You See A Connection Point, Clean It.

A buddy of mine gave me a car cover. Those are nice things to have also.

Much of the time when I wasn't making progress on the electrics I stared kind of cleaning the old girl up. That makes it easier to stay motivated. I think I may be able to drive it before October gets here.

[d240zx2]

45 days? Cool.

[Free280Z]

So, last Saturday I took the fuel pump out and and soaked it in a 50/50 mixture of Sea Foam and gas, disassembled of course, for about 3 hours in a disposable bread baking pan. Cleaned up every thing and the pump runs. Unbelievable. It had what looked like tar in it. I tried cranking it after I put it back in and replaced SOME of the fuel lines and didn't get anywhere. Hopeful try. I took the intake hose from the pump and put it in the lawn mower gas can and turned it over until clean gas exited from the disconnected line in the engine bay. Cool. Then I removed the return at the engine and did the same. I discovered the return is clogged somewhere from the engine bay to the tank (probably at the old line going back into the tank) but I tried to start it anyway. It was trying to start! I went back to the pump area to make sure things where OK. I had a massive fuel leak in the dampener to hard line hose.I mentioned I only changed SOME of the hoses right? Welllll, I was sick of smelling 14 year old gas and me smelling like old gas so I "buttoned it up" (connected pump to tank, put lawn mower gas back, etc.) and was going to have a shower when I remembered that I had seen pecans in the intake tube of the air box. Yes, pecans.... and some acorns. So I took the filter out, with the pecans and other stuff and tried it again. It actually hit solid (remember the pump is hooked back to the gas tank that doesn't seem to be passing fuel at this stage)! It REALLY sounded like it wanted to start. I know what I am going to do next weekend.

Sooo, what is the tar-like stuff. I think its degraded fuel line. Does anyone have any experience here?

[Free280Z]

Ola Amigos, I know its been a while since I rapped at 'ya.

Well. . . .

Over the Labor Day weekend my friend and I got out there and completed the changing of the hoses. We were purging the fuel system and IT FIRED UP!, accidentally. Rough idle. Runs good over 3800 rpm. I haven't had time to work on it. Last week I put a salvage tire on the left rear so I could push it around. I got to looking. . . these things are notorious for being sensitive to vacuum leaks. Well under the hood its all vacuum leak. I have been changing hoses ( fuel and vacuum ) , this weekend I will fire it up and see if it runs better. I had been thinking that may be I have a stuck injector or two, but with all the vacuum leaks I found I think I may try it again. ( The line to the distributor advance was hanging loose) I hope that vacuum leaks were making it run poorly at idle/low rpm.

[kenz240z]

Cool, glad you are making good progress!

[Free280Z]

Thanks Kenz240z

Today is November 13th. I am off next week, so is my wife. If you knew her you would be jealous, she is very good help. Tomorrow, Saturday, I will hook up the injectors but not connect them to the engine so I can see if the are firing. I have been able to save up some money, I should be able to replace them all if need be. . . ( I have removed th injectors and soaked them). It is late on Friday night, or more appropriately Saturday morning. . I do fear that I have been bitten by the Z bug. I have a lot of work to do the car but I am driven. Once I have it idling properly I can move on to bigger things. I do appreciate any one responding to my posts.

If I get it running good enough on Saturday, I will drive it through town using only the hand brake

I will let you know how it goes.