TomoHawk

I don't have a fuse link on the starter. There is the heavy battery wire, and a skinny wire that connects to a flat terminal on the solenoid. I was interested in knowing how much current is on that thin wire. when you energize the starter.

I have the body panels left from my parts car (a 1978) and I won't be needing them, along with all the lights and some other things. Since there is basically no way for the ordinary person to box and ship things like wings and bonnets, I thought that I could take all but the bonnet to a reseller for a bit of cash. Otherwise, it's only worth the price of scrap steel. Besides an automotive reseller, is there any other place that might accept good-condition Zed sheetmetal?

Has anyone measured the current draw on the starter SOLENOID wire while starting? It might be a good place to add a switch or remote relay.

I dunno exactly what you mean by that, unless you mean to replace one or both fusible links with special shunts that go to a switch of some sort. One idea would be a latching relay, like this one on eBay.But still, if you disconnected one or both of those fusible links, would the engine run at all?

I'd say it would run even less, or not at all, coming from first-hand experience. I had mine apart to clean it, then didn't get it solidly back together, and the engine wouldn't start later at a party. Fortunately, there was a guy with good eyes to spot the parted connector.Plus, with all those wires in that area, it would be easy to hide.

if you cut the power to the ECU, will the engine run?

Krylon has a nice flat black too; it's a a formula for plastic which is basically what a vinyl dash covering is, or even a plastic dash cap.

Bedliner paints usually have a satin shine. My rear deck is painted with that.

Please explain more about gloss and flat oil?

Mine was almost like a charcoal color, but now it has a lot of fingerprints.

What do you guys think about using a black latex paint? Can you get it mixed with a flattening agent? It'll be flexible, and usually it hold up to fingerprints and household chemicals or waxes... Darn, I drove by TWO NAPA stores today.

I made a test panel using Rustoleum High Heat BBQ Black. It dried quickly and had a non-glare finish. It was called "BBQ Black" but it's not even close to black! It's not even close to charcoal. It was like a dark grey primer. I'm not sure I will use it on the entire dash, because I was getting fingerprints when handling the test panel, and fingerprints are bad, especially in a car you'll be using during the hot& sweaty summer, and some bozo may even try wiping the thing with ArmorAll, thinking he's helping you get more points for a show. If the Trim paint can hold up to fingerprints, like a vinyl paint, and some light scuffing, like from a GPS setup or a computer mount, then it'll be worth the $13 a can. Vinyl paint also do that, but you can't get it in flat black. And it seems that every black automotive paint is made with gloss...

Regarding the Topic, I will be using the Royal Purple ICE this summer. I did some reading about it and Water Wetter, and the Water Wetter lacked any anti-corrosion or water pump lubricants which ICE is supposed to have. The only bad thing about the Ice is that it requires about double the amount when mixing it with water-only, compared to Water Wetter.

Obviously, we really don't want to do that to a Zed, but on a MX5.... Following up on the suggestion of a Bluetooth-operated immobilizer, here is a writeup of one that is wireless, and practical. This item is an alternative wireless device. Both could easily be used as a way to disable an electric fuel pump. Sorry, but for you owners of the early models, you'll have to disable the ignition, unless you can get an electric fuel cut off valve.

You can get wireless relays via eBay...

A small latching or snap switch on the water temp sensor wire would make breaking that line an easy thing.

The problem with that is, any place where you can easily reach (find) a toggle switch is a place where a thief can also find it. You ought to put it in a more difficult place to find, and, if someone is watching, you may have to wait for him to leave to start the car.

That's fine, as long as you don't lose your matching Molex 'Key'

A 30A relay in the back, (some have the fuse incorporated into the relay) and any small switch, will be simple and fairly compact. In case the relay fails, the use of certain connector terminals would make it so you could bypass the relay, it it fails. Removing the fusible link will work, but those darned plastic covers break or become loose after you take them off so many times.

I wish I had known about the Trim black long ago, but the store I was shopping didn't have it or anything similar- just Duplicolor products. the doors on my city car had back windowframes, but now they're almost grey. But no worries. I'm getting a new car very soon. No it's not a Datsun. The SEM product information says it comes in satin, so I'll take that as non gloss satin, and probably less glossy than what's already on the thing.... I'll browse through the other local stores, such as NAPA and Oreilly's to see what they have, and maybe the Home Depot.

Charcoal is the color closest to black that is appropriate for vintage cars.

I tried searching, because I presumed this should have been discussed several times. I tried a test panel with some BBQ grill paint, but that soaks up oil from your fingers and would look really bad in a car. Is there such a thing for a vinyl dash in black? I want it to be absolutely flat, without any sheen at all. I suppose the Florida or Arizona owners would know this well. The local AP stores only have VHT in "wrinkle" which is still a satin finish, or they have no idea what a flat anti-glare paint is.

You could easily add a length of ordinary hose to the front, near the turn indicators, or use a different path for the throttle intake, which frees the round opening. The latter would sallow you to get a cooler supply of air, and at a greater pressure.

If you really wanted to, and you had the fender off, would be to hook up a show vac with a small hose, and blow air INTO the lower vent to see where it comes out. I tried it on mine recently, and it doesn't come out in the wiper linkage area, so you'd have to go further forward to find where the air is exiting. It may even come out of those round holes in radiator support, because you'll notice that the radiator support is two pieces (front & back) with some space between them.

I beliebve Mr. SBlake has the complete intake filter box with the duct, so maybe he will post a photo for reference.