Captain Obvious

Wuss. Post a pic without the hold-down plate installed so we can see if lug nuts were ever torqued down and smeared the paint.

No, no, no... Don't be sorry. We're all good. I'm not denying that it happened to you. I'm just saying that the REASON it happened is different. Next time we get together, I'll draw some pictures on napkins and we'll talk some theory.

I agree about the restrictor washer you mentioned. One of my missions has been to stamp out that no thermostat overheating myth. So, I'm not denying that there are cars out there that overheated after the thermostat was removed, but the reason is definitely not that "the coolant flowed through the block too fast to pick up the heat" or that "the coolant flowed so quickly through the radiator that it didn't have time to cool off." Those are both fundamentally flawed concepts. I would claim that the situations where a car will overheat if the thermostat is removed is because of a second order effect. Stuff like the following: Reduction in block pressure (as you mentioned) which will lower the boiling point of the coolant. Increased flow rate resulting in local loop eddy currents in the block which could cause poor coolant refresh in certain areas. Increased flow rate resulting in cavitation (low pressure) which will lower the boiling point of the coolant. Certainly not because the coolant didn't "have time to do what it was supposed to do". In fact, the exact opposite is true, and is exactly how the thermostat works in the first place!

Haha!! Thank you.Thank you... I'm here all night.

Nuh Uh.

I don't think they're supposed to be at a right angle. It's more like 30 degrees:

For resistance measurements of the temp sensors (both air and water), here's a thread I put together with some detailed info: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/56146-280z-efi-temperature-sensor-vs-resistance-chart/

I've not looked hard, but I'm not aware of anybody selling the air temp sensor separately from the AFM. And I've not heard a lot of people having failures with that component either. So with that in mind... Before you go chasing a replacement are you sure the ATS has a problem? Out in the garage on a cold December day in Harrisburg, your ATS resistance should be up around 5000 Ohms. That high resistance can appear to be open circuit (or "no continuity") to those not expecting it to be that high and not having the meter on a range capable of detecting it. In other words... When you say you have "no continuity", what range is your meter on to make that determination? All that said though, those other AFM measurements don't look so good. Especially the 255 between 7 and 8. Between that and the scraping inside, it makes me wonder if someone hasn't been in there mucking around in the past. If I were you, I would ask around a little on the forum if there is someone who has a spare you can use just to test the system. I'm sorry that I don't have a spare AFM, but I'm sure someone here does.

Yeah, that straightener caught my eye as well. I'm going to have to show that to my Z buddy who was with me at your place. He's approaching that stage on his Z right about now as well. He's got the flaring tool and the roll of tubing and is going to be making lines soon.

Your suppositions so far are correct. The device above the ECU is the fuel injection relay, the item below the brake booster is the dropping resistors, and as site already mentioned, the device with the naked nipple is the throttle let-off dashpot. It doesn't get a hose, but there should be a little filter under that white plastic cap. As for connector cleaning... I've found that the ECU and FI relay are usually OK, but anything in the engine compartment is suspect. However, it never hurts to take a look at any connector just to be sure. And about the vacuum lines, if they split or crack when you take them off, then it was time to replace them anyway.

I have the same problem... Websites are becoming so loaded with "features" to provide a better "user experience" or some bull like that. Problem is the websites that take advantage of those advanced features (like flash, etc) won't even load right without them. So the people who don't want to allow that kind of stuff are scrod. I just want websites to load fast and work. I don't need videos. I don't need hover over. I just want fast, secure, and simple.

"Put this thing together for the show" Duh! Well yeah! Do we need to have an emergency meeting of the ClassicZ club at your place during the show to put that thing back together?? I warn you though... The previous emergency meetings were at the bar.

Greg!!

Good catch!! Just another example of technology being too smart for it's own good. HAL 9000 needs to open the pod bay doors, and S30 needs to let you control your own temperature.

I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. I think the coolant supply is shut off for you when the A/C is enabled. I guess the designers decided that we all weren't smart enough to move the temp slider ourselves.

The ad has been deleted. Hope it was someone from the forum!

I decided on the Escort core because it was the thinnest, smallest, most generic, cheap core that I could find with tubes that stuck straight out on the same side. No long funky bent tubes. No weird mounting flanges. Generic, small, thin, and cheap because it's from a ubiquitous car and not from a low volume hard to find Ferrari. Now granted, some of this is a crapshoot due to the way they measure the cores... The manufacturers usually measure the "core" part of the core, and don't include things like the end caps and tubes in the dimensions. Or instead, they measure the whole thing tip-to-stern, tubes included. This makes real life comparisons and evaluations difficult, but that Escort core was simple so I was hoping I could make it work. Because of that way the dimensions are made, there's a real chance that there might be something better out there, but in order to know for sure, you would either have to buy a bunch of them and compare on the bench, or work for a company that makes heater cores and have access to better specs or real parts sitting on the shelf.

I'd be honored! Let's just hope I can pull this off.

Zed, I found the same thing. The heat output from the stock core at full flow is way more than I need as well. My "solution" was to put a second valve in the engine compartment in the line leading back to the water pump inlet. It's a small brass ball valve from the big home improvement store. I closed it about halfway and then took the handle off. The handle lives in my center console if I need to adjust it again. With that additional (fixed) restriction in series with the temp control valve, I now use about 3/4 of the adjustment range. In theory, the Escort core will impart a little less heat to the air stream because of the narrower thickness. If I get incredible lucky (doubtful), I might just end up exactly where I want to be! As for heated air out of the vents, I've given that considerable thought as well because I've got circulation issues in my hands and would love to have warm air to blow on them. I think the easiest way to achieve that would be to stuff a small heater core between the blower motor and the air distribution box. Essentially replace the plastic accordion duct with a heater core instead and then remove the original core completely. That way, the airstream would be hot by the time it got to the airbox, and the only thing the box would do would be distribute that already heated air. But... For now, I'd settle for a frikin' heater core, even in the stock location, that doesn't leak.

The plan for the bend in the line is to leave the core as is and make the bend with the rubber coolant hose instead of the metal tube coming out of the core. That's the kind of detail that I won't really be able to finalize until I have the box in the car. I'm pretty sure I can come up with something, especially since I have already relocated my water kock to the engine compartment, but that's exactly why I'm jumping the gun a little with this post. I just figured with the talk about heater cores and someone was getting ready to do theirs, I wanted to get this out there with potentially a better alternative.

I believe that is a capacitor, not a coil .1 micro Farad 50 Volt Film dielectric - probably polyester. Maybe polypropylene depending on where it was in the circuit.

Welcome aboard!! Car looks great! I'm near Philly with my 77. Let me know if you're in the area!

You too, huh? That's why I'm going to have to double check that SWMBO actually get me a round trip ticket!!

Yup, true that. And because I have already removed that rats nest of short hoses under the dash, making the connections to the Escort core should be pretty easy. I'm not sure how easy it would be if you were trying to make connection to the original water kock valve.

Yeah, the prices on this thing were great. And the workmanship looks pretty good too. One thing to watch for though is there are some of these are brass and some are aluminum like I pictured. The first one I got was the slightly smaller brass version and I sent it back to Rock Auto. They sent a second one and it's the one I wanted. I never completely got to the bottom of what happened though. I'm still not positive it was simply misboxed, or a different manufacturer in the Spectra box. I know many of the manufacturers will second source eachother with the intention that the parts are form / fit / and function interchangeable. They accepted the brass one back without a fuss though, and I got the aluminum one as pictured. By your command. The length and width are very similar to the original. The biggest difference is the thickness. The Escort core is thinner: To be honest, with a layer of 1/2 inch thick foam along the perimeter of the Escort core, I think it fits the heater box better than the original. Of course, my "original" is an aftermarket core that came with the car, but I was not impressed with the fit.