FastWoman

Ah, you Canucks are technologically superior to us. Neither Harbor Freight nor Northern Tool have any such thing.

240dkw, where do you get vice grips like those? I've never seen them. Harbor Freight?

Thanks for the advice, guys! Jetaway, I guess you missed that Robftw offered up a new pair of cylinders and set of shoes for my Z. So that takes care of most of the rear end. I'm hoping/assuming the drums aren't too worn to be turned. I'm afraid I'm no longer young/cute enough to pull off the eye batting thing, but Southern gentility is often afforded to sturdy, older gals such as myself, too. I've had the wheels off recently and know that I have most of the pad thickness on both sides. I'm assuming rotor thickness is fine too. I have no idea about drums. I see this as mostly a hydraulics job, but the drums can probably stand a refresh too. (I see no mention of drum work in the service records that were passed along to me.) 30ounce, would the 4-piston kit be compatible with rear drum brakes and the OEM master and proportioning valve? http://www.silverminemotors.com/Front-Big-Brake-Kit-stage-3-Front-Big-Brake-Kit-stage-3.htm That's a nice price, and I wouldn't mind a bit more braking oomph. And Captain Obvious, their steel braided brake lines are DOT approved! Woohoo!

Dave, I remember seeing a pair of Mountain Rotor rotors that were rough beyond belief. The mechanic said they were supposed to be installed that way. They broke in just great. I figure the surface can't be too rough. I usually roughen my rotors (and drums -- which I don't often work on) with nasty, 60 grit sandpaper. I usually get good bite right away, and I've never had squeal problems this way.

Rob, a big rubber mallet is one of my favorite tools!

Thanks to Rob's generosity, I'll be going stock with the rears! Thanks, Rob! Zed, thanks for the heads-up about the fit of the shoes! I remember drums as being a bit of an excercise in frustration. Yeah, removing them is usually a bear, and y'all are starting to scare me about the hydraulic fittings! Thanks for explaining about the braided lines. I'll be sure to remove Earl's cautionary tag.

Rob! THANKS!!! I'll PM you.

Thanks, Leon... No, my car looks pretty stock. Are SS braided brake lines somehow not suited for street use? Are they not allowed in some states? I think I remember installing a set on the '75 Z I had back in the 80's and early 90's, but alas my memory is questionable right now.

I'd never heard that trick! Thanks!

Anyone use MSA's stainless braided hoses? How are they? http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/PBC08/24-5121 ----------------------- Are these MSA 4-piston caliper kits worth considering? http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/PBC07 What sort of car do they come from? ---------------------------- And has anyone used MSA's rear disc conversion kit? Is it worth the money to do this if you're not racing? http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/PBC12/24-5583

Hi all, I guess it's time for the next project on my '78. My brake light kindly came on to let me know that. I checked my reservoirs, and the smaller one was right at the low-mark. I topped it off, and the light went out. However, I know that doesn't fix it. I'm guessing the smaller reservoir is for the rear brakes, right? I haven't done a lick of work to the brakes in the time I've owned the car. Now seems like the time to go through it from front to back, refreshing/refurbing/replacing everything. However, this is my DD, so before I launch into this project, I want to have all supplies on hand. (I do have another car to go to the parts store if necessary.) Can y'all help me refine my shopping list? I don't need new front rotors or brake pads. Those are fine. I don't know the condition of the rear drums and shoes. What would I expect from a 160k Z? Should I order new shoes, or should I just wait and see? I suspect I do need new hydraulic hoses all around -- stainless braided if possible. Any suggested suppliers? I'm guessing I need to either rebuild or replace my rear brake cylinders and my front calipers. In my experience, auto parts store rebuilt brake parts are universally crappy, and it's my preference not to trust my life to them. However, I see that MSA sells remanufactured calipers. How are they? As I recall, the pistons are iridium plated and the plating can often be violated as rust sets in underneath. Are the pistons in the rebuilt calipers iridium plated? MSA's rear brake cylinders are new. Are cylinders not worth rebuilding? Any comment on the quality? Are there any good sources on brake caliper and cylinder rebuilding kits? Finally, I know that the hard fuel lines can have internal rust issues. Is the same true of the hard brake lines? Is it worth replacing them, or should I just stay with what I have? I know these are a lot of questions. I'd love to hear your suggestions on any of them. Thanks, y'all! Peace, Sarah

There's a larger post and a smaller post. At least on my '78, it's impossible to place the smaller wire lug around the larger post. But as you say, maybe the part is incorrectly wired.

Hey, glad to hear the generic check valve works! Way cool! HR369, where'd you find the Volvo part?! I thought those had disappeared. Siteunseen, your FPR is still going to dump fuel through the return line, even if you have the check valve. Maybe the check valve takes a bit of forward pressure to operate, so it might hold a few pounds for you. Dunno.

We has a little white diesel in our sailboat. White DOES get nasty looking after a while, even when the owner tries very hard to keep it bright and clean looking. Deep blue paint hides flaws very well, as we have very few blue cones in our visual systems to resolve the details. Try reading blue text on a black screen. It will give you a headache. Furthermore, our color discrimination suffers on that end of the color spectrum, so we're less likely to see staining and fading. That's why most machinery tends to be painted some form of blue. It looks cleaner only because our eyes can't see the flaws.

Well, sure, the model evolved, and there's no doubt nobody was thinking about a 280 when the 240 was released. I think we realize this is a family of models, hence my reference specifically to the 280. Or perhaps I don't get your point.

More investment in better wiring. A seat/wheel/pedal relationship built for a full range of people of typical proportions. They apparently had a pretty weird notion of how Americans are built. (I'm slightly tall for a woman and can only reach the pedals with the seat all the way forward.) Power steering in the 280 for us GT lovers. Some way to tune the AFR in the 280 without modifying the EFI. Bigger and more functional hood vents. But hey, no car is perfect. The 280 is as perfect a car (for me) as I've found.

Zedyone, if you like to re-use the old clamps, pour some EvapoRust into a jar, throw in the clamps, and let them de-rust. Remove your bright/shiny clamps somewhere between an hour and a day later, depending on degree of rust. Rinse very well, dry, and spray down with WD-40. It's a nice product for small bits and pieces.

Healey, in SOME places it would be very hard to FIND 10 rust-free Z's, let alone find them for sale! Slight, you should probably start out looking at a couple of Z's that need quite a lot of TLC. Don't fall in love with them, and don't buy them. Consider this sort of like the blow-off job interview that gets you warmed up. Study how/where they've rusted and how they're falling apart. Then you'll have a better idea what to look out for in a more decent Z. Then watch and wait.

I have the cable from the battery to the starter, and then another large cable from the starter to a couple of MaxiFuse blocks, from which I tap my heavier loads. The maxifuses run up to around 100A, as I recall, so there should be no problem running your inverter from there.

Yeah, Datsun isn't even on Leno's radar. He's mostly into American cars, some European, and some modern Japanese (I suppose as daily driver cars -- like Miatas and such). He has an impressive Duesenberg collection, BTW! :-) All in all, he only has about 100 cars -- a large collection by any measure, but certainly not a large enough collection to buy up everyone's Scarab, Shelby Cobra, yada, yada.

Too funny! It seems a bit of insurance, a trailer, and a few expenses would be a lot cheaper. (BTW, I don't think I would want that Maaco paint job on my Z, unless it were pretty rough looking anyway. Been there, done that, never again!)

Interesting. I think the main hazard is that you liberate so much sludge (with a very dirty engine) that you clog up the filter, blow the bypass, and then clog up the oil passages. I think the rationale behind the Gunk flush instructions is that there's not too much agitation, flow, or pressure at an idle, and the gunk dissolves about all it can hold in 5 min. Whenever I do a flush, I keep my eye trained on both the oil pressure and temp gauges. If oil pressure were even to flinch (which it never has), my immediate response would be to shut down the motor. I've done maybe a couple dozen flushes in my life, with no incident. I know the Magic Mystery Oil recommendations are to run the stuff long-ish-term, like you do with the SeaFoam. Supposedly the high volatiles dissolve out the crud and suspend it in the oil, and then they eventually burn off, leaving just the motor oil. Maybe that's what happens with the SeaFoam. Another treatment, popular with the Miata crowd, is to run a quart of ATF in the motor oil for about 100 mi. Apparently ATF is super-high in detergent.

Well, at least he has better photos now. I had emailed him, telling him the CL photos of our '87 Ford Crown Victoria station wagon (with a huge dent in one fender) looked better than the photos of his Scarab. I suggested he should hire a pro photographer. With lightning speed, he wrote back a few weeks later with "no thanks." I had no idea what the email was about at first. The photos still aren't of a professional quality, but at least they're better. At least you can see the paint is shiny.

Are you supposed to run SeaFoam that long? With the Gunk flush (probably not that different from the SeaFoam), you're supposed to idle the engine 5 min and then change the oil.

FSM = Factory Service Manual It's available also at www.xenons30.com. You'll find complete debugging procedures and data there. Possible problems might include: -- no power to ECU -- no signal from ignition coil's (-) terminal to ECU's #1 terminal -- bad drop resistor assembly (or connections). The drop resistors are located beneath the brake and clutch masters. It's probably easier -- or at least much cheaper -- to repair your harness than to buy a new one. I don't even know whether new ones are available. You can buy new Bosch-style 2-conductor connectors here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/injector-connector-kit-6pc-datsun-280z-280zx-300zx-/290452375892?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43a04f8954 (vender's name is f0rrest). You'll need 10 of them. There are a few other connectors, but that's most of them. The wires themselves will probably be fine.