Captain Obvious

Thanks for the info guys. Chuck, I couldn't get to any pics of your car though. FB has tightened up their security in the past few years and I couldn't find anything. Do you have the pics uploaded to a photo acct somewhere?

So about carpets and such... I'm thinking about changing my carpet color to something that was never stock, and I'm thinking that I might want a non-year accurate loop pile in my car (even though my car should have cut pile). Bottom line is that I'm not sure I'll be able to find what I'm looking for from any of the pre-cut commercial suppliers. In other words, I might be looking for custom cut carpet Anyone here done such a thing? Should I be looking for a rug store, or an upholstery shop? I bet I could cut the carpet to the correct basic shape myself, but then I need the edges sewn... Again, anyone have any experience with such an undertaking? PS - Siteunseen, Nice avatar pic. I've noticed that it's been rolling around topically in the past week or two.

Hoping to see your car Bryan. I've always said MEM-fis. I'll try to adjust to MEM PHUS by the time I get there.

Haha! Nice! I wonder of your neighbors saw that movie. We have a pool... And a pond. The pond would be good for you.

"Don't play games with me Ty! Put that steering wheel over here where it belongs and get this outta here!"

HAHA! Well I also thought it was Frank Zappa, so who knows! Charles and Steve, I'll send you guys a message so we can swap contact info.

Madkaw, One of the things that I plan to check out while there is "The Shrine to the Gods of Keepin' 'Em on the Rail" http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/04/shrine-to-the-rail/ You're a train guy, right? I'd be happy to have some company for the excursion. I'm not sure how much real train content there is as part of the sculpture/art, but I'd like to see it.

Thanks Jim for indulging us (me?). I think it's a good idea to discuss things to do and places to meet up while we're there and I've been wanting to get into some of this stuff for a while and just haven't. If you think we should start a new thread for that kind of stuff, just say the word and I'll get on that. In the meantime... Since I'm a Yankee, I'm thinking it might be important to at least familiarize myself with some of the local customs and idiosyncrasies. Just so I don't stand out quite as stark. And as part of that endeavor, I turned up the following: You're so Memphis If: >> http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2011/12/youre-so-memphis-if/ A lof of them are portable to other places, but some of them are very specific and I'm assuming very local. Here's some of my favorites. I have already looked into the story behind some of them, but I haven't researched them all (yet): – When you're 1500 miles away and you still use "Dave Brown" as shorthand for "the weatherman".– You know that the Ford dynasty is not a new model of American car.– You've lived here your whole life and have never seen Graceland in person.– You can finish this sentence: "Get the dope out your veins…"– You hear the number "201" in any context and cringe.– Getting an email from Prince Mongo makes your month.– If you say "might could" or "might should".– If you've ever called JAM-JAM1. Bonus points if you referred to the time zone in Memphis as "Capt. D's Time."

I think that used to be Huggy Bear's car. I never should have called your bluff! I think I can smell the weed from here!

Yeah, Beale Street is on my agenda as well. You're not going to walk around shirtless the whole time we're there, are you? And about dope in you vein... I already knew the answer. It was a test was for you! So is all this chatter considered a derail of the original thread intent? I'm hoping not...

I'll take a look at the Stax later tonight. Thanks for the link. Here's some stuff I found while poking around on-line: 100 things to do in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/05/100-places-to-go-in-memphis/ And 100 things to eat in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/05/100-things-to-eat-in-memphis/ And apparently you should know how to finish the sentence: "Get dope out your vein…"

Sorry to be the outlier with technology. Sounds like I won't be able to do the walkie-talkie thing. However, I got your PM, put your info in my flip-phone classic and sent you PM back!

Oooooh. That's a good point. I guess if you tell me it really happened, I won't call you to see if it's a bluff! I don't remember seeing anything quite that, umm, "striking" when I was at your shop though. I'm sure I would have remembered such a sight.

Nah. Just a resistor in parallel with the coil winding to help reduce the flyback voltage spike when you turn it off. Kinda like the flyback/freewheeling diode, but burns a little bit of current even when the coil is energized. Bad side, burns more power. Good side, cheaper, more reliable, and it doesn't care about coil polarity.

Thanks guys. Sounds like my 77 is supposed to have cut pile, but it also sounds like it's no big deal if I decide I like the loop better. Chuck, "My 1971 Fairlady Z has blue shag with purple velour on everything else." Pics or it didn't happen!

I'm supposed to get in on Thursday at about 4PM. I haven't arranged any transportation from the airport to the hotel, but I'm hoping the hotel offers a shuttle. Cliff (or anyone else interested), Do you want me to wait for you before I start any sort of brewery crawl? I'll need something interesting to do on Thursday eve, but I could probably find something that doesn't include a brewery if I thought about it real hard. Some other ideas? I've never been to Graceland. Is it something I really need to see while in the area or can I leave it off my bucket list? I'm thinking I could do without, but if it's really really something that everyone should visit if they get that close... then I'll reconsider. How about a driving tour to see the"Birthplace Of The American Blues?" Legend has it that the American blues was born when Robert Johnson met the devil at "the crossroads" and sold his soul in exchange for phenomenal guitar prowess. There's apparently controversy and contention over the exact location of the crossroads at which this event supposedly took place, but all of them are within a 100 mile drive of Memphis. Would be cool to have some pics of each of the possible locations. Would be even cooler if there was a Z in the background.

When did they change from the loop pile to the cut pile? I've got cut pile in my 77 but I don't think it's original. I think a PO put it in and it's just OK. I'd like something better. I like the look and durability of the loop pile though as opposed to the cut. Anyone think it would be a huge mistake to use loop pile in my car (that I'm assuming is supposed to have cut)?

Exactly. Been there. Done that. Loved it. Sold it. Bought a 77.

I'd be hard pressed to believe that a backfire could cause fuel to shoot out of the banjo connection. I don't understand the path of pressure that could possibly make that possible. If you've got atmosphere venting nipples on the fuel bowl lids, it's impossible to build any significant pressure in the bowls. And even if you did, how would that pressure get backwards through the needle valve to the banjo connection? How far is this fuel shooting, and are you sure it's got anything to do with the backfiring?

Awwww crap. I thought you were taking the lead on arranging escorts for the show or something. I completely support the concept of meeting and being able to get in touch, but I don't have a smart phone. Will this system work for me on my Neolithic flip phone? I was thinking we could just exchange phone numbers or set up arrangements to meet at one of the local brew pubs. I've been known to make an effort to visit all of the local breweries in any new town I visit. I sure hope there aren't twenty of them...

And here's another complication to the whole spring conundrum... Say you have a couple (of what you assume are) stock springs, but none of them are the same length. The only reasonable assumption is that a previous owner has tweaked some or all of them in some misguided attempt to increase power or something? But here's the thing... The beauty of measuring and or calculating the spring constant in the proper way is that (within reason) the tweaking doesn't matter. Unless they really really screwed up the spring, you should still have a range somewhere in the middle of travel where the spring constant is still relatively linear, and it should still be pretty much the same as it was before the spring was tweaked. So even though the springs I have may have been stretched when compared to their original length, I stand by my number of 1.76 oz per inch. And that's the big problem with the way the catalog lists the color coded springs "4.5 oz @ 2.635". It doesn't have portable meaning. In other words, even if the stock springs I have USED to provide 4.5 oz of force when compressed to a length of 2.635 inches, they won't do that anymore after being stretched by a previous owner. On the other hand, "k" is portable, so assuming a new spring you would buy is the correct length when purchased, you could easily pick the appropriate spring if they were listed by spring constant. I don't remember where I dug up a copy of that old pdf, but I have that one, and I've never looked into purchasing stock spring replacements from Nissan. I have no idea if they are NLA. About other needle alternatives... I dug through the tables a while ago and turned up what I thought would be the closest replacement for the stock N-27 needle. I took a quick look through my notes and didn't turn up the number, but when I get a chance, I'll look some more. IIRC, it was a two letter designation, not three. I'll try to see if I can find that info.

I haven't tried that Eastwood paint, but I have to tell you that you make that outfit look good! Party on, my friend!

The temperature threshold for the cold start valve actuation is pretty low (below about 70F). If the engine bay is hot, the cold start wouldn't be expected to actuate anyway. In other words, once the engine is warm, there's no difference between having it electrically connected or completely disconnected.

Well I'm not expecting that you'll find anything wrong with the cold start injector, but it is "possible". Prudent to check, but I'm not expecting a revelation. So what else.. Injector that sticks open some when cold? Again, it's possible, but I wouldn't put any money on it. Have you checked the validity of the signal coming from the incoming air temp sensor? Been a while since I went through the theory, but IIRC, the air temp sensor has less of an impact than the water temp sensor, but could still be causing some kind of issue if it's not accurate. To check it, keep in mind that the temp-resistance curves for both the water and air temp sensors are the same, so when the engine is cold (and the coolant is the same temp as the surrounding air) you should get about the same resistances from both of them. Maybe you've got something wrong with the fuel pressure regulator that gets better when the engine warms up. For example, a leak in the vacuum control hose to the regulator could cause fuel pressure to be too high. And if that leak somehow minimizes as the engine warms up... Like I said, just tossing stuff out there for discussion.

I'm assuming you had little footies on the bottom to keep the sand out of your toesies? Hahaha!! You had to know you were going to regret that!