Bruce Palmer

They will work fine. We have had 2 different Zs with 2.8 engines with our standard production carbs holding hillclimb records locally. If you get 'em on and running and they are lean you might want to throw a set of SM needles at them.....

Just think, one week from today, the autocross will be going on at the fairgrounds.

...and found a company that makes reversible temperature strips. They have one strip with 8 gradients between 160 and 230 F which would be ideal for what we are talking about. If somebody wanted to buy a package of ten and sell 'em here for $5 you could make a little money and 10 guys could see where they are at gauge wise. They are reusable.....

Fuse box bath time. Remove the fuse box and strip it of all fuses. Soak it vinegar for a couple of minutes, rinse, blow dry, reinstall. Load with new fuses and then see what you have. Over time oxidation of the copper contacts build up causing circuits to look for other paths to ground. I have seen this solve many gremlin like issues over the years and it costs nothing to do......

Walter, Do you know what temp your fan turns off at, 180 or something lower?

Matt, The needle will never shut off the flow of fuel as even at the base of the needle it's smaller than the orificie in the nozzle. From what you are describing I can't even venture a guess as toi whether your carbs are way rich or way lean. Take the mixture nuts from where they are to the full up position and count the number of turns. You can always put them back to where they are (as they are perfect) later. I'm just curious as to how far down they are. What are you trying to show/duplicate by putting your hand over the mouth of the carb?

Neil, Welcome to the wonderful world of.... If you want to clear out the old oil from the carb dampers so you can start out knowing what you have in there, just soak the old oil up with rolled up tissue stuffed down in there. We run ATF and have for years. Refill to about a 1/2" from the top of the tube that rises with the piston. Don't worry arout over filling as the excess will just get sucked into the engine and burnt. FYI - being new to the Z, we have a DVD ZTV 01 that covers several L series engine related issues you might want to study. It's all round a pretty good teaching tool for new owners. It also covers so Hitachi (SU) carb issues. Again, welcome to Zs and the board.

There are two steps in taking a radiator cap off, the first one of which brings the cap dogs over to a carch. Twisting the cap to that position will release the pressure in the radiator with no OLD FAITHFUL effect while keeping the cap on the neck. Use a rag to soak up any hot water that might escape and wear a rubber dish washing glove if you are so inclined. DO NOT take the cap completely off until the pressure has been released. The Infra red temp guns sound like a slick way to go as well. How expensive are they? Remember:: It's not the postion of the needle that is worrysome...... It's the temperature of the water. Repeat after me. It's not the position of the ........

I'd think an L-motor would be "happy" in the 185-200 degree range. Water boils at 210 open atmosphere at sea level. Under pressure as in a radiator, it's something higher. So even if the temp reaches 210 it wont be boiling...... I think what we're reading here is guys are unhappy with where the needle is sitting on the gauge without knowing what that position on the gauge represents temerature wise..... I may be wrong.... was one other time..... nyuck nyuck

Rocket Science you say? Well certainly it is that..... Bring the temp up with the cap on. shut it off take the cap off take the temp of the water. Maybe take readings 2 or 3 times on the way up to where you think things are getting "hot". That'll give you some intermediate readings on the way up to operating temp. It's hard to tell which direction you are going with only one stake in the ground.....

Roger, I'm not a painter or a bodyman so wont pass on my take on how things should go other than to suggest you might avail yourself of the DVDs at www.paintucation.com. These are excellent teacking tools and Kevin has a good Q&A board as well where you can get info on specific issues. Good luck. With the water bornes coming on things are changing rapidly......

Have any of you stuck a meat thermometer in the water to see what the temperature actually is at a given spot on the gauge? I used to get all excited about where the needle sat on a linear no-marking scale til I checked the actual water temp and found out the temp was right where an L- motor runs best and it was no where near boiling.....

You might give Awsome Z in Houston a call. 281-219-0015 Nice folks, square shooters. Tell 'em I sent you, they'll talk to you anyway.... nyuck nyuck

Not knowing what "back and forth to work now and then" means, doing a car correctly wont allow much on the road time until it's done, so you can do peacemeal and pray or buy a done car and drive it.

Eli, I read the other thread and want to throw out the fact that doing biz anywhere carries with it a ton of overhead. By the time you carve out all the overhead costs that go with just being there to talk to you, there isn't much left for old Guido Mechanic or his mechanic to buy groceries. That assumes the shop is billing out a day's worth of flat rate hours every day. If you are challenged by changing spark plugs, I fear you are about to give the term "cash flow" a whole new meaning, before you get everything done to get a 3/4 worn out 280 where it needs to be mechanically. Fixing one thing at a time WILL have you standing beside the road on more than one occasion because the next frail part gave up the ghost before you got to it. This is why some guys find it to make a lot more sense to buy a done car. It really makes more sense if you're paying some one to do all the miriad of things that go into having a done car. At $100 flat rate you'll bury more bucks in that car than it'll ever be worth and wont have it half done. Not bashing any, just seen too many walk down this road only to take a major hit..... after making the investment....

Matt, Is left hand drive critical to the deal? We'll have a 73 in the "come back together stages" by the owner of Z Therapy, hopefully soon. It keeps getting preempted by other projects.

Arne, Is that problem you mention with the head, a common one? I don't think I've ever heard of a problem with the head altering a read out. Mine have either worked or were solidily on the fritz.

Reminds me a little of Charlie Brown's Christmas tree.

Okay, the following has been posted here before but once more should not hurt...... Remove your fuse box and strip it of all fuses. immerse the fuse box in vinegar for a minute or so, remove, rinse, dry and reload with new fuses. This will clean all the contact corrosion buildup and with new fuses have all systems back in battery in relatively short order. If all of you haven't done this and are chasing electrical gremlins, don't say you didn't know about this.

Did you remove it from the door and look it over? Maybe take the other one out and compare the differences. These are pretty bullet proof pieces. I do recall having to replace a spring that had broken once on mine. Look at the two side by side and I'll bet the solution will jump out at you.

Because the car in question was fuel injected and ended up with carbs on it to try and solve the problem, I decided to list this under "misc.". Here's the short version. The fault was traced to a fuel tank that had a layer of brown when-wet / tan when-dry sludge covering the entire interior of the tank. They cut the top out of the tank and there it was, covering the bottom, sides and top of the tank. The owner took it home and cleaned the gunk out with a putty knife and a Dremel in the tight places and brought it back to the shop to be welded back together. The thing that amazed everyone was the fact that the interior of the tank looked brand new. It was bright silver with a tiny bit of a rusty looking discoloration. Even though I did not see this tank when it was opened up, I've seen the sludge in the float bowl of a down draft carb on a 510 wagon and another of our friends fought an accumulation of the stuff after he'd gotten a Roadster back on the road. New fuel filters, according to the owner, are an expensive way to collect this stuff...... My question to all of you is "Have any of you heard of, or seen, any fibrous / silty looking collection in a gas tank"? I keep mentioning to Steve that we should produce a "chase your gamey old fuel system" video for these cars that have sat for extended periods. Just curious what the collective experience is.

Jeff, What are you going to do shipping vs driving it to MA? Cost to get it home?

Would somebody keep an eye on this and let me know what it goes for? We'll be offering a Z hopefully soon with everything done to it and need to know what a car with essentially nothing done to it goes for. Someone up-thread thought for $20K this would make a nice driver. I'm thinking it's-all-36-years-old, except maybe the tires, and would equate to entering your grandmother in roller derby. First time granny hits the boards, CRASH Tinkle tinkle. First time this Z spends a day of spirited driving, Poosh! there goes a 36 year old head gasket, water pump, clutch hydraulics, brake hydraulics, rear end, wheel bearings, etc. etc. etc. A hundred miles a month, 25 miles a week, slice it however you want, this is a trailer queen without some serious work getting done. Not bashing, just saying.

Seems like the last communication I had with them yielded the shut-down idea that Carl mentioned. Have you tried checking on a working phone number?

Just like the instructions at Christmas time say..... Some Assembly Required!! Welcome.