Gary in NJ

What's your fuel pressure? You could be draining the float bowls on hard acceleration. It could also be as simple as a clogged fuel filter or the last-chance filters that attach to the fuel bowls.

Here's a thought...get a non-locking cap.

I always use the "dark-test" to determine the condition of my wires. I put the car in the garage, open the hood and turn off the lights. After my eyes adjust to the dark, if I see a spark show across the ignition wires, it's time for new wires.

Flame Bait

Outstanding customer service. Great website. Fair pricing. That's a good business model.

So what happens to the RSX seats?

It's been a while since I was under the Z so it's time to get under there and pull/push on things. With that said, the rubber bushings failed on this damper and caused it to simply slide off its mounts. It will stay off the car since I can't detect its purpose, although I should probably do a high-speed run to be sure (high-speed in my Z is 60-70 mph). I find it odd that I can't find a reference to such a part in any of the usual Z catalogs.

No, it was installed before it was uninstalled. When I first got the car and did my inspection I came across this damper attached as described. I definitely feel off my car. I could probably repair the worn bushings and reinstall it, but I don't seem to need it.

My wife and I decided to enjoy a perfect autumn day yesterday and we drove the 240Z down to New Hope PA for lunch. As I was pulling into a parking lot I heard something hit the ground and drag. As I turned the wheel in the opposite to get into a parking spot I heard a loud THUNK. I knew something just broke. Sure enough, when my wife got out of the car she said, "I think you lost a shock". "Not possible" I told her. And when I looked at the ground behind the car I found this: I saw this attached to the car when I first got it and tried to research it's origins. I can't find it in the FSM, as an accessory or on the Fiche. It appeared to be a steering damper, attached to the frame and right side steering arm. In any event, we drove home the 50 mile distance and I never missed the part that was now behind my seat. The car handled perfectly, didn't have any wheel shake...nothing. It's possible that this was installed 30-40 years ago to address a problem that no longer exists. Does anyone know what this is?

Nice looking 240. Not to sound like a smart a$$, but how are you going to turn left and right? The wheels are above the arches.

What did you rescue those from?

Is the car a Series I? If so there is a hinged plastic cover that hides all of those goodies.

Do you have photos of the Miata seats?

Photo's are always helpful. If you can get a photo looking down at the needle, and advise how many turns you're at, we may get some good info.

Some questions: 1) Are you sure that you are adjusting the float height correctly? 2) What needle(s) are you using? 3) Are you using the stock/OEM intake? 4) Any (real) modifications to the engine? 5) How does the car run?

The domes don't tell all, it's just one tool. First make sure that your floats are at the correct height. Then set the mixture to a reference position (2-1/2 turns). Then sync the carbs with the unisync. From there you will fine-tune the mixture knobs to achieve the best mixture. This can be done by raising the domes, however the best test is to take the car for a drive a judge the throttle response. A good plug reading should follow. After you have a setting that you like, do a final carb sync.

By way of example: My son purchased his first car, a 2001 Dodge Stratus Coupe R/T (twin to the Eclipse). When he purchased it we knew it needed a clutch. He paid $1,600 for the car and spent $800 on the clutch. The car had 110K and was in good condition. Has all of the options too. Apparently the previous owners weren't big on maintenance, so in the months following the purchase he put an additional $600 into the car (and a lot of my time) for brakes, ignition, battery and some odds-n-ends. So for $3,000 he has a really nice car that should go another 50 to 100K miles. He wont own it that long, but the point is the car is reliable, was inexpensive to purchase and is somewhat economical (about 28 mpg with a V6). That's a smart car purchase. If something unexpected happens to the car it shouldn't be too expensive to fix. And in the event it is expensive, he doesn't have too much invested that it would be heart breaking to part company. Would he ave liked a new car or a near-new car. Of course he would. By why in the world would he want to purchase something that will compete with his (very) limited resources.

I would suggest a "newer" used car. From my experience the age of a car has more to do with its overall condition then mileage. A 2 to 4 year old car with highway miles is almost completely deprecated. A Genesis Coupe would fit your price range, is a good looking comfortable car and they get almost 30 mpg on the highway. As mentioned above, you can never go wrong with a Civic.

I had the same car. Loved driving it, hated owning it. It was in the shop every 6-8 weeks for yet another check engine light. Ate tires for breakfast. Luckily I had two-years of free maintenance. The very day it turned two it was traded for an A4.

Good suggestion. Check out Factory Five's soon to be released 818 design. A mid-engine flat-four turbo (from a Subaru WRX). It's on my list.

I say the same thing about my first Z which I also sold 25 years ago (Oakdale NY). I wish I at least had the VIN because it was an early Series I. Like most Z's, I'm sure it's long gone; lost to a youthful owner, damage and ultimately a junk-yard queen. My current Z is a much better car, but it isn't my first.

A good place to start is 2.5 turns. From there you can fine-tune as required. Do you own a unisync?

I like this concept from 2008: http://www.autoblog.com/2008/08/20/design-study-nissan-240-fairlady-z-successor/

Not really. A "tweek" here or there, nothing that actually effects performance. The carbs are always well sync'ed. I do enjoy a good sync'ing

I was at the local hobby shop the other day and walked past a display of various clay products and remembered this thread. After looking at and trying to decipher the different "properties" of the products I settled on DAS modeling clay in white. I chose white so I could see when the clay was dirty. I had two test subjects for the clay experiment; my 2007 Audi A4 daily driver that has only been washed at a car wash about 10-15 times since new and has never been waxed, and my son's 2001 Eclipse that was just flat out dirty with very dry looking paint. Both cars were washed well. The water in the buckets turned black and had to be replenished half-way for both cars. After the cars were cleaned we broke open the package of modeling clay. I used a Meguiars spay wax/cleaner as a lubricant on my surface and Connor used a bottle of soapy water. The process was fairly straight forward; spay the surface and then rub the bar on the surface. Connor used up-n-down followed by left-n-right motions while I used random motions (to determine if one style was better then the other). We couldn't determine if there was any difference in the motion. The DAS clay was quite soft and easy to work with. When a section was done we'd hand rub the surface and then hose down the section to remove the clay. It's worth noting that this was a wet process. At no time did we allow the clay to get hard or dry on the surface. From time to time there were clumps of clay that had to be hit with a good stream of water. I saw on Youtube that some allowed the clay to dry on the surface and then buff the surface. I saw this as more of a wet polish process. I'd be interested to hear from those that allow the clay to dry. Half-way through the process we decided to exchange spay bottles. I found that the difference between the wax/wash and water/soap was negligible. Connor said the same. I wouldn't spend the money on a cleaner. After the cars were done we did a final rinse while hand rubbing. When it was all said and done, the cars were clean and smooth. That was the point. Both cars received a coat of wax and were buffed to perfection. I did note that the wax (I use NuFinish liquid) went on much smoother then a surface that is simply cleaned with soap and water. So I believe that the clay bar process did in fact remove more dirt then just washing. Given the poor condition of the surface of each car I think this was a worthwhile effort. I would do it again. Cost: the package of clay was $6 and we could easily get three cars out of a single package. Like I said above, I wouldn't spend the money on a spay wax as it didn't produce a superior result nor did it speed the process. All in all, I think the generic approach works well. $2 per cleaning vs. $20 for the Meguiars kit. One final thought, for those that said that they are getting color or paint in the clay, you have a paint problem. The clay glides on top of the surface and just removes dirt. It is not a rubbing compound. It is incapable of removing scratches and swirls. It's just a cleaner...that is all. It isn't the end-all be-all magic surface prep tool.