Walter Moore

20 Years ago I had a fuel injected Volvo with a bad alternator that I drove for several days before I discovered it had a problem... So 10 or 20 miles should be fine if the battery is fully charged.

So if I put some form of mild soap in my anti-freeze would that be similar? (Not that I have any intention of doing that you understand...)

If you can get a tape measure under the car, check the diagonal measurements in addition to the wheelbase measurement of each side. If the car measures the same side to side and across both diagonals there isn't much chance that the frame is bent too badly. (Of course bent suspension parts can cause the measurements to be out of square, but you really want to know that those are ok as well.)

That is where I bought the "Shocks" (strut inserts) for my car. That was 2 1/2 years ago, but I had no problem with him.

Phred, So you try to get to zero imbalance? What is the resolution of your Stewart Warner balancer? Thanks for the lesson about balancers, but it wasn't needed. I design balancers for a living. No offense intended on my part. I didn't take any offence in your reply. I also know that there is no such thing as zero imbalance. There is just a level at which either the electronics can't detect the forces being generated, or some point at which it no longer makes any sense to try to correct what is left. For example, at a tire shop they add weights to your wheels until the balancer displays 0.0 oz required. But in point of fact all aftermarket tire and wheel balancers sold in North America display zero imbalance as soon as the residual imbalance is less than 3/8 oz per plane. The smallest weight sold for aftermarket use is 1/2 oz, and they aren't very accurate, so once the residual imbalance is less than 3/8 oz there is no point in trying to correct the part further. Thus for a tire and wheel assembly, 3/8 oz at the flange radius is the commonly agreed upon "Standard" for a properly balanced part. I just wanted to know what the comparable limit is for the flywheel/clutch assembly. If you always try to reach zero, then for you it is the resolution, or possibly the repeatability of your measurement system. It looks like the balance holes on the two flywheels that I own are at about a 128mm radius. I guess that I could calculate the mass removed by each of those holes based on the density of cast iron and have some close approximation of the limit. Again, thanks for all your help thus far. I do appreciate it, even if it seems like I am smarting off sometimes. I am sure that Nissan lists the imbalance limit of the flywheel on their part print, but I have no way to get a copy of the print. I doubt that it would be in the factory manuals for the car.

Is the tank on the post 9/74 260Z a different shape than the 240Z tank? That is the only reason that I can think of that would make the earlier sending unit not work. It is just a potentiometer... not rocket science. I doubt that the gage on the dash would know or care which sending unit was installed. But if the float arm is too long for the tank it would certainly cause a problem.

Yep, I confess. That is my car. One day it was sitting along Patterson St with a for sale sign, and idiot that I am, I bought it... for $250. :stupid: At least it has kept me busy and out of trouble for the past 3 1/2 years... Oh, and why yes, I do know Elm Swamp and Elizaville roads... Not as well as some others down by Zionsville, but I have been on them a couple of times.

Phred, What is the recommended allowable imbalance in the flywheel - pressure plate assembly? We don't have any small balancers in the shop at the moment, at least not that could be adapted to this purpose...:cheeky: Where would you recommend that I could get this done? (What sort of shop I mean...) I have had a lot of clutches replaced over the years and have never been charged for balancing. I doubt that many places do this. By the way, I checked the clutch surface with a straight edge, and to the best of my ability to measure, it is flat within .002" so I assume it doesn't need resurfaced. Oh, and the friction disk that I have is clearly NOT the CF-II disk from your post, so I don't know what I have. ZSaint, You seem to be saying the exact opposite of what was said in the earlier thread I referenced above. From what I can see my existing T/O collar is way too short. It looks to me like it will have to move nearly an inch from its extreme returned position just to reach the clutch levers. (I could be wrong...) In any event I have what appears to be the shortest T/O collar ever made for a Z car.

Well, I was just about to put the engine and transmission back in the car last weekend, when I discovered that I need to spend another $100 on parts before I can do that... Oh well, it is only money, and I just keep getting older so why hang on to it? Laugh, or you will cry I guess.

Those look wonderful.

I wasn't planning on having the flywheel resurfaced. It was a little rusty, but had no gouges or groves. I sanded the rust and it seems ok. What indicators would there be if it needed resurfaced? As for balancing, I can see that it would need to be balanced if it was resurfaced, as it appears to be a casting, and is thus likely full of small non-uniform air bubbles. But at the same time, I am sure that Nissan balanced it way back when it was made, and the amount of material that the clutch disks would have removed over the years wouldn't be likely to change the imbalance very much. The pressure plate fits on the studs one, and only one way. I work in the balancing industry, and have heard that racing teams tend to balance things as assemblies, but I doubt that Nissan balanced the flywheel with a pressure plate mounted. Car companies tend to balance the parts, not the assembly. Wouldn't the pressure plate have been balanced when it was made? If you drill holes in the flywheel to correct the imbalance of the assembly with the pressure plate in place doesn't that just guarantee that the next time you replace the pressure plate you will HAVE TO re-balance the assembly? I guess that I will just attach the pressure plate to the original flywheel, buy a new throwout bearing and sleeve, and see what happens...

I would look at the wires that run near the fan housing. My bet is that you got a wire under one of the metal dash parts and when you bolted it back in place it sliced the insulation creating a short.

:cheeky: I could stand to lose a few pounds myself... But serioiusly, I mentioned to my 300 pound 18 year old son one day that the two of us couldn't ride in the 240Z at the same time because the weight capacity of the car is listed as 420 lbs. His 300+ and my 200+ add to WAY more than 420 lbs... In go-cart racing this is a major factor, because the minimum weight includes the driver... The less the driver weights, the more cool stuff you can add to the cart! Some of us would make the car faster if we just went on a diet. (I am talking about me primarily...)

Yes, I noticed that the pressure plate looks like the picture of the dual friction unit, but the friction disk is clearly not the same. Thanks for the suggestion about contacting Centerforce, I hadn't thought about that.

Well, how much money do you intend to spend? If you don't want to replace the bumper with an air dam, you will have to replace the bumper. I bought one on Ebay a while back... Don't remember what I spent on it... Seems like it was around $200 but I could be wrong. Or if you want to go high dollar: http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/z/0024.html Alternately MSA makes a fiberglass bumper: http://www.zcarparts.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=50-1750 Or else get your existing bumper repaired? I am sure others have ideas...

Just for future reference, where did you get that done. (In spite of my claiming to be from Indy, I live just down the road.) I spent closer to $200 on my tank. Of course when they pulled mine out of the cleaning tank it looked more like a tea strainer than a gas tank, if you get my meaning... :stupid:

On My L24, the front "pully" is actually two separate pieces. the front piece has only one belt grove, and is trapped under the main bolt. It has two holes in it that line up with socket head cap screws that serve as alignment studs. The front piece should just pull off with a screw driver, or even by hand. I mention this, because if you try to use a wheel puller with that part still attached the result is just frustration...

I bought this clutch setup a couple of years ago on Ebay. The seller called it a Centerforce, but did not say if it was a I or II series. The label, which I could not get to photograph, just says Centerforce. It was used, but as you can see not very used because there is still lettering on the friction disk. Anyway, I was planning on installing my engine and transmission back into the car yesterday when I noticed that the transmission isolator is torn, so as long as I am opening my wallet again I decided to search the forums to make sure that the rest of the parts here were ok... I discovered this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17781&highlight=centerforce which indicates that with a Centerforce II you need the throwout bearing sleeve from a 280Z... So I checked my throwout bearing sleeve and based on the measurements, and the information at this link: http://www.zparts.com/zptech/articles/trans_swap%20parts/4tobear_specs1.html it appears that I have the sleeve from a "type A 4 speed" transmission. Which is all well and good, except that the transmission is clearly a "type B 4 speed"!!! :sick: (I know this because of the shifter linkage, and the fact that the PO had to cut the transmission tunnel to clear the shift lever...) So, I mocked up a simulated installation using a straight-edge and my calipers. It looks to me that at the maximum movement of the pressure plate release levers my existing sleeve might slide beyond the end of the transmission's bearing surface, and get stuck... Not a good thing in my opinon. Of the five different T/O bearing sleeves that the parts CD shows, Courtesy Parts lists only the 30501-N1600, which is for the 75 and later cars. Is this the correct sleeve for the Centerforce II? The Centerforce clutch arrived from the Ebay seller with a re-surfaced flywheel. I wasn't planning on using the "new" flywheel, because I noticed that it doesn't have dowel pins to locate the pressure plate, whereas the original one does. (The Centerforce pressure plate mates with the dowels on the old flywheel just fine.) So my questions are: 1. Is this a Centerforce I, or a Centerforce II? How can I tell? 2. Given that I apparently have the wrong T/O bearing sleeve, Which one do I need? 3. Am I correct in assuming that the dowel pins are important? (Or were they omitted from the later cars for some reason?)

The sad thing is that it looks better than mine did when I started.

Oops, Sory JZM! I hadn't read your post before I replied. REALLY, I meant no disrespect! But as you say, the starter will take the bolt out. Not elegant but effective.

Then there is the Redneck way... With a rachet that you don't care about on the bolt head, brace the wrench against a board that is securely braced on the frame, and hit the starter a couple of times... Hey! I didn't say it was a GOOD idea, but know people who have removed front pulleys on other cars that way. I just use my electric impact wrench. I bought it at a Sears many years ago specifically to remove the front pulley on an old Ford I was trying to repair. Now that I have it, I wonder how I ever got along without one!

You know... I had been wondering where to put my speakers.....

I agree, why isn't Basement an option in the survey? That is where my transmission and most of the other large parts are stored. Or is having a basement one of those midwest U.S. sort of things?

And don't forget the whole "lug bolt" issue with most German cars... I never cursed so much in my whole life as the time that I broke a lug bolt off in the hub on a early 90's VW... that will ruin your whole week trying to drill one of those out. For those who don't know, most German cars don't have wheel studs, they have threaded holes in the hub into which you thread lug bolts. I know that VW, Audi, and BMW have this oddity, but no one has been able to explain WHY. It seems like a really minor issue, but after trying to change a wheel a couple of times it really began to bother me. That and the fact that the lug bolts tend to rust into the hub... well never mind.

I assume that the State Police inspection was to get the antique plate. I assume that because my Z has been plated for 3 1/2 years now, and as never been operational. Indiana is one of those states where as long as you pay the road use taxes they just don't care... I am in the final lap of making my car street worthy. With any luck I will actually be driving before I get to 4 years...