Captain Obvious

It's about an inch diameter. Are you a mold maker?

Thanks again guys. Some follow-up questions... motorman7 and Zup, Does that $140-$150 per batch at Sav-On cover both colors of chromate dip, or are the two different colors considered two different batches? The reason I ask is that I was figuring I would only do one color chromate (yellow this time), but if I've got the option to do different colors without affecting the cost, I would include some clear chromate parts as well (like the ashtray). duffymahoney, Would you share some more info about the shop you are using currently? I like the sounds of the cost and the batch size, but can you put a little more definition around what constitutes a small batch? And what about different chromate dip colors? Do different colors add to the cost? jfa.series1, How does your plater stack up cost-wise to the other options above? And does it have to be an in-person transaction? zspert , How does your plater stack up cost-wise as well. And as Zup mentioned above, I'm in the Philadelphia area, so something south of the city would be possible to do drop off and pick-up instead of shipping. I could spend shipping money on gas for the car instead.

Possibly... Just turning the wood part? Send me a PM and we can chat.

I just do them by eye and check them with calipers. "Custom Hand Crafted" And, like so many of my projects, that's why it's hard to charge what they're really worth. If someone is looking for a concourse quality repro that even at relatively close examination is indistinguishable from a stock original, then I have painstakingly made a couple of those. But there's no way I could ever make any money doing it. I just don't think pockets are that deep! Haha!!

I like this kind of replacement part stuff, especially if you can find something that's cheap and easy to obtain and hidden (so it still looks stock from the outside). If it weren't so cold, I'd be out at the junkyard pulling VVT oil filters out of heads and measuring them. But it's just too cold for my fingers. I got issues...

Thanks for the info so far guys. I don't expect to have a full box either. Maybe there's another owner out there thinking the same thing that would like to share an order? So, if you don't mind me asking... How much was it for each batch?

That banjo bolt is a cheap and simple way to check the levels, but it only works on the bowls with the drain hole. If you don't have that hole, you still need to splice into the hose between the bowl and the nozzle. Same for this device:

Chunks of rubber that have deteriorated and come off the inside of the fuel line? Rusty dust from inside the fuel rail? Pieces of the fuel pump diaphragm? Small rocks? To be honest, I was running a quality paper filter on the passenger side of the engine compartment and no filters in the carbs. I could sleep at night. At this point for me, it's just the challenge to get something that fits and works that has me spending cycles on it.

For you guys having parts plated... Are you shipping them, or is it always a personal drop-off ordeal? I'm thinking... If you ship them boxes of parts, then maybe I could do the same. But if you are dropping them off in person, then I would have to be in the same location as you. I would like to have some parts plated, but I don't even know where to start. Looking to the collective for ideas.

I believe there are other factors at play as well, but as long as the problem is gone, it's hard to argue with success. I think I have a pair of RH needles if you would like to give them a try. PM me?

Yeah, it's a much cheaper and more forgiving than the original "crush to fit" Nissan style filter. I was poking around on ebay a little today and here's the parallel filter for Toyota's valve timing system. This one has fingers on the interior end that could be cut off if desired: And another shot of the Hyundai part. This one has that nice tapered seat at the interior end: The point is... The threaded hex caps are relatively easy to make. If you can find a filter with the open end that's the correct diameter to seal on the face down inside the carb body, you could have a cap made for the other end to account for a slightly different length. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't something out there that's close to what you need.

Gotcha. I am a little worried about vibration and the mounting scheme however. Do those bottom six holes mount to the engine at all, or are the only attachment points to the engine the three small tabs along the top that catch valve cover bolts? I'm EE and not ME, but I'm concerned that vibration will crack those three little tabs on the top and you'll have coils flying all over the place. I'm sure you have more experience in such things though. What are your thoughts?

Definitely try to press or tap it out. Maybe you'll get lucky and have it come loose pretty easy. I've made my mounts out of aluminum. Stainless would certainly be stronger and would probably hold a polish longer, but the aluminum is so much easier to work with and it polishes up nice enough for me. Here's an aluminum part before polishing. Stock plastic on top and my version on the bottom with surfaces as machined: And here's a part after a little polishing. As good if not better than the original:

Well I understand that the function is much more important than form here. I was just thinking you might be able to find something that didn't cantilever out so far from the block. I took a thirty second look on ebay, and it seems that 99% of the COP stuff is of similar form to what you already have. Designed for getting down between the cams of a DOHC head. Here's about the only one I found that was NOT like that. I think it's for a Lexus. Ebay item number 323710944016: One other thought... Since the long stalk on all of those DOHC designed COP modules is just an insulator so it doesn't spark to the inside of the tube... How about the prospects of cutting it down and shortening it? It's probably just Bakelite or something similar. And inside is some kind of spring or other conductor. You might be able to modify what you have to cut down the length? I've got that style on my Highlander and I've had them out of the engine a couple times. I even bench tested them, but never dissected one to that level.

Oh. Sorry. No disrespect intended then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmEV1d7RPvg Is it as simple as needing something (anything) designed for COP? Or does Haltech give you dwell specs that you have to match to their coil driver? Completely unrelated to this, I've been casually poking around with ignition stuff lately. Not sure I'm going to make any moves, but at this time, I've got more questions than answers.

Haha! I think it depends on your definition of "normal". If you mean "Do they all do that?", then the answer is "Yes." If you mean "Is it really supposed to do that?" then the answer is "No." It would be abnormal if yours didn't fall apart. Up for philosophical debate if the corollary to that means yours is normal. Anyway, jokes aside, that's the whole reason you're replacing yours with the newer design.

Wait... Was this a joke that I just fell for?

Naaa. Too long. You can find something shorter, can't you? Something from a not DOHC head?

I've not had good luck getting the plastic chromed mount out. I had one original knob where the glue joint failed and that one was easy, but if you can't simply knock it out easy, then I don't have any suggestions. I've not been able to salvage both the plastic and the wood on the knobs and one or the other had to be sacrificed to save the other. Here's one where I saved the plastic: Sorry... That's all I got.

Cheaper AND some adjustment features. Nice!

That 2X speed is really unnerving. Sounds great though! Sounds angry! I suspect your Z is like most of the other 280Z's out there with a multitude of little issues that add up until it becomes a big enough of an issue to cause a problem. Things like dirty/worn/damaged/broken electrical connectors, vacuum leaks, previous owner's modifications, etc. And most of the electrical connection issues can be intermittent and come back at the most inopportune time. All that wiggling you did to the wires leading to the thermostat housing... None of that wiggling should have any effect. And if there IS an effect, you have questionable connections that need to be addressed. There should be no effect caused by wiggling anything going to the thermostat housing, the AFM, any of the injectors, or the fusible links. Here's hoping you put a nail in it, but just remember... If you have time to work on the car, clean or replace some connectors.

Forgot to mention... I took a couple minutes to look into the possibility of modifying the hex cap to be able to use injector filters instead of the original carb filter, and I came to the conclusion that it's not feasible. Using a custom cap with a recessed area to accept the closed end of the filter seems like it would work, but the problem is the other end. There diameter of the injector filter is just too small and interferes with the raised lip down inside the carb body that's supposed to align the non-cap end of the filter.

Beautiful work. It's so fun to be putting together clean shiny parts! Didn't want to clutter up that other thread, but thought you might like a pic of the last shift knob I made:

You are not alone... Last time I did that I sounded like Ralphie's Dad from A Christmas Story when he was working on the furnace.

Ahoy Dr. Dave! Makes perfect sense to me! I know your car is nowhere near stock. I was just curious if you thought there was some performance benefit to the changes above. I never even thought that beautiful fancy cross member might be cheaper than a stock replacement. Looks great!