Jetaway

I love mine. They are from 70s to about 1990 Jag XJS's. A bit heavy, but the coverage is good, very good. They are the only mirrors that I have had on that, in conjunction with the interior rearview, completely eliminates blindspots. Does give the car a bit of the Third World Dictator look, but I can deal with that. Chris

In November of 2013 I posted the following under Plasti-Dip Longevity Report: === Just thought I'd do a follow up on a post I made a little over two years ago. I wrote about Nevr-Dull and Plasti-Dip: http://www.classiczc...metic-uses.html Two years later, going on three to four years after application, the Plasti-Dip is still a nice, solid black, unfazed by washing or heavy sun exposure. === Another two years has passed since the above and I can now report: Nothing. Absolutely no change in the Plasti-Dip. From the cap on the wheels to the back panel, the metal panel between the dash and windshield to the windshield wipers, still an unfaded, ungreyed black. I salute thee, Plasti-Dip! Chris

Airbags are vastly over-rated as safety devices. The fact is that it is awfully difficult to be killed behind the wheel if you are wearing properly adjusted / fitted 3-point seat belts. So, make sure you always wear your belts. (Aside: I'm so maniacal about clicking up that friends used to give me *hit about putting them on to back out of the garage. Which I would, albeit because it is so automatic.) Going to a full safety harness may or may not attract the type of person to whom you may wish to attract, but increases the safety margin further. If you really want to go all-in, have a roll cage installed. It's not like real people can fit in the +2 part of the Z anyway. Use LEDs for the brake lights. They hit peak brightness faster than incandescents and I've heard that at 60 mph they give the car behind you the equivalent of 15 -- 20 feet "extra" braking time. Every little bit helps. Replace / inspect the windshield. The constant slow-sand scouring that occurs during driving eventually destroys the opacity of the glass, especially noticeable at night. Finally, heed the many and wise posts about the dangers of distracted driving -- both of yourself and others. Chris

You are welcome, hope you find it as useful as I did. Chris

Thanks for the replies. The pipes will be coming out, or at the least, be cut back considerably. I tried, with not much expectation of success, to remove the pipe fittings to make it a clean job. Much to my surprise, the first nut turned without any drama. Having been down similar roads before, rather than removing it, I went to the second nut -- a nut now well on the way to be rounded off nut. Third nut, same as the second. On to Plan B: I used a Dremel-like tool with a cut-off wheel to slice the pipes as close as possible to the manifold proper. I may end up leaving it as is; with the distribution pipe still attached, there is no chance of leaking; but I'll haul it around town and see if I can get a shop to weld the holes shut for me for $20. If so, I'll cut the pipes on the outside for a cleaner look. Thanks again for the advice. Chris

I'm in the process of pulling the head on my '72 240Z and on removing the exhaust manifold found long pipes extending into the head (photo attached). I assume these were for a long-disconnected air pump (it was gone when I bought the car). My question is should I remove them and do one of the hacks found in the topic: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/51171-keep-original-air-port-exhaust-manifold-or-who-cares/ or leave them be? I can't imagine that they are any help to performance, but do they do any harm? I installed a Motorsports premium exhaust system a few years ago, but otherwise run a straight, albeit, smog device removed engine. If, if the cam needs to be replaced, which is possible because the oil tube clogged on me a couple of years ago, I probably go with a Stage I or Stage II cam of some sort. SIDEBAR: [i was lucky that the cam oil failure, good lord was that an absolutely horrible sound, came literally as I was pulling in to park at the end of my journey. The unlucky part was that my journey ended 60 miles from home. We diagnosed the next day and, perhaps with Mr. K watching over me while still on this plane, headed home after slathering STP on the cam. Made a stop when I heard the slightest of noises, slathered more STP, and made it home. Those Nazi-era German scientists knew their stuff for sure.] My options are to be: 1) Do nothing. 2) I don't know how to weld nor do I know anyone with a welder, so I'm leaning against going the welding route. 3) Remove, then tap and install brass plugs. Why brass instead of steel? Better sealing because the brass will deform slightly against the cast iron? 4) Cut the tubes off inside the manifold, but keep the distribution (external) tube. The thought here is that by removing most of the tube it would clean up the exhaust flow and no, or very little harm results from the connection to the distribution tube. The tube would effectively become pressurized with the first exhaust pulse and that in turn would partially block new exhaust pulses from entering the tube. At the least, the energy needed to push back down the tube the previous pulse would be less because the tube itself will be much shorter. Does this make sense or would my labors end up accomplishing exactly the same outcome as 1), doing nothing? Chris P.S. I think I attached the photo, if not, look for a follow-up post with the photo.

Ahhhh! Thank you Zed Head! Chris

Would it be possible to combine all the chapters into a single archive (.zip) for downloading ease? With appropriate warning of a very large file and recognizing it may bump into a system-level file limit for some users. Chris

Attached is the checklist I made for pulling the engine / transmission from my 1972 240Z. It takes you up to removing the engine mount and transmission crossmember bolts. I used the Removal Note column for bolt / nut size (might as well replace them as long as they are out), part bag names, idiosyncratic electrical connections, etc. Hope someone else finds it useful! Chris P.S. Apparently not allowed to upload Excel files, converted to .pdf. Sorry about including 2 blank pages at the end. Engine Removal Checklist.pdf

Absolutely correct. I used 3 in one (black label) and it was obvious that the piston was jumping around way to much. I tried a straight 30 weight (motor) and while it ran reasonably enough, you didn't have to press too far down on the pedal to realize it was doggy. The 3 in one (blue label -- SAE 20) has no power or drivability problems. Jetaway

I was able to give the Z a stress run yesterday. Pulled nicely, if a bit sluggishly, w/o pinging up a stiff foothill grade in 4th from 2800 rpm. A new problem, went from slight to worse upon my return, however. While no symptoms while moving, the idle went from a slight chop to very rough on my return. Pulled the plugs, #6 was wet, all the others looked pretty good. Pulled the cap and discovered that the rotor had been busy carving out paths through the contacts. Gave the distributor shaft a wiggle and it did -- probably more wiggle than in the old distributor which I replaced less than 1000 miles ago! So, the immediate task will be to pull the distributor, take it back to the store, and get a replacement for the "rebuilt" that I bought less than two months ago. Madkaw -- You're running what I did before I replaced the distributor (the old vacuum advance never worked on the original). I was happy with it, you are happy with it, so when I get the new distributor I think I'll just ignore the vacuum advance and go with aggressive static and let the centrifugal do its thing my itself. Chris

Dan, welcome to the club! I doubt there is a standard list of kinks to work out. 40+- year old cars have developed their own personalities, or to be more precise, have their own usage and repair histories. Maybe electrical problems, especially with the headlights. I know they are a problem with the 240s, but not sure about the 280s. A common preventive is to use a relay system to take the big electrical load off of the switch. Beyond that … nope, got nothing. For sound, I think you'll just have to poke around and experiment. Worn or damaged window / door seals can contribute to the noise level even without readily apparent wind leaks. Older tires with hard rubber are noisier than new tires and new tires have considerable variation by brand and type themselves. Looks for holes, either by P.O.s or from the factory but now filled with non-factory installations in the firewall. Finally, consider multi-purpose heat and sound insulation (I bought the stuff from Black Dragon Automotive, I'm sure other suppliers have the same). Pulled up the new carpeting and laid it underneath. Covered the firewall as best I could with it underneath the carpeting. I also put it on the inside of the door sheet metal and under the carpeting in the storage compartment. I used aluminum tape and 3M Super 77 spray adhesive to secure it. It has made a noticeable difference in lowering the overall sound level. Chris

Ahhhh, crap! When I set the needle flush I set it with the trough, not the base. So, it was right before. Dang it! If I didn't want to pull the needle again, would the following do as a work-around? I figure I managed to set the needle too far into the piston by a guesstimated 1.5 mm. Assuming that is correct, would I be able to compensate by "leaning" (i.e. raising or turning clockwise when looked at from underneath) that carb out by 1 and 1/2 turns of the mixture knob? Chris

I checked the rear carb fuel level and it was as I remember setting it, 21 mm below the outside top of the float chamber. I'm not entirely sure if measuring from the top outside is what the ubiquitous "float level drawing" means by 23 mm. I then take 2 mm off of that because of the different setting for rear carbs on 72s. Before taking him out for a run, I brought the mixture nuts all the way to the bottom then moved them a half turn up. In the coolish morning air, that seemed to solve the missing problem though I _think_ it might be running out of power in the high 5000s. Could be my imagination, however. I want to give it a run this afternoon with expected highs in the mid-90s, but for some unexpected reason, we have a bit of cloud cover, keeping the temp down. It doesn't smell rich, but I'll be keeping my eye on fuel consumption. In addition, it did nothing to address my puzzle over why disabling the rear carb improves running at idle speed. Upon returning from my run I went over the timing. I've been running at 10 degrees static when between 500 and 600 rpm and vacuum disconnected. Because of the non-stock distributor and so much variation in ZX distributors I attempted to ascertain the contribution of centrifugal and vacuum advances. I first estimated and marked with paint 40 degrees BTDC on the crank. First thing I discovered was the most I could retard the timing was to 6 or 7 degrees BTDC. I then obtained the following measures, as closely as I could estimate: Centrifugal Only: 25 Total Advance Centrifugal and Vacuum: 60 Total Advance. Using 6 degrees as the base, that works out to 19 degrees of centrifugal and (60 - 19 - 6 = 35) for vacuum. Looking at the "Datsun Z Car Distributor Timing Curves" chart (sorry, I don't remember who made it) and assuming that; a) it hadn't been rebuilt with American-spec 240Z or 260Z springs and that: these are real seat of the pants estimates, I'm guessing that I have a "red zone" distributor with 17 degrees of centrifugal and 25 or 30 degrees of vacuum advance. If I go back to my setting of 10 degrees static and assume the maximum vacuum advance module of 30 degrees, I have a theoretical peak of 57 BTDC. That sounds like it could be trouble but: a) at least so far I haven't detected any symptoms of pre-ignition (which I assume would be similar to very early ignition) and; I had to work the throttle to get the big vacuum advance figure and I wonder if under a real world load it hits the maximum vacuum advance at the same time as the centrifugal has fully kicked in. OTOH, it hasn't had a real stress test with these settings and parts -- he hasn't been out doing 70 - 75 mph in near or in triple digit heat for a couple of hours followed by a delightful slog over city streets. So, as always, any suggestions are welcome. In particular, any ideas on why disabling the rear carb appears to improve running at idle speed and, in addition, what should I be watching for regarding engine timing. For obvious reasons, I prefer to be aggressive, but what would tell me that I've gone to far advanced? Chris

Another straight 20 weight, no additives or detergent oil is "3 In One" _Motor Oil_. Not the stuff in the white and black cans, er, bottles found in every home in America, but an oil for larger electric motors. Comes in a blue and white container. Chris