Captain Obvious

I didn't go to the invade denver event, but I was at the show on Sat as well. I was asking if you were at the show because I met a guy named Seyler* during my whirlwind trip to Denver/Co. Springs, but I don't remember where. I can't remember if it was at the show on Saturday, or up in Denver on Monday maybe. *although I thought it was spelled "Sailor".

@DC871FCould you please cite your sources for the info above? I'd like to review the data. The reason I'm questioning is that Zed Head's numbers (cited with links from the CDC) do not support your claim and I'm wondering if it's a math mistake or what. According to the estimates cited by ZH, there were a TOTAL of 209 thousand who died in the US from the flu IN THE LAST TEN YEARS, while there were about 500 thousand who died from covid IN JUST LAST YEAR. When I look at that data, my takeaway is "in just 2020 alone, over twice as many people died in the US from covid than the last combined TEN years of the flu." That's what the numbers look like to me. I'm not sure I'm looking at it right... Am I misinterpreting the CDC's numbers?

@DC871F I believe I can usually figure out what people are trying to say when they post stuff, but in this case, I'm sorry but I'm at a loss. What does traffic death statistics have to do with covid? Why are you posting that?

Your diagram looks great. Gave my brain a twist with things in different locations than the original diagrams, but who am I to stand in the way of progress. Are you creating a new diagram because it's going to be different than stock (with things like relays where there originally weren't any)? My go-to diagram for all things Z electrical related is the fantastic color wiring diagram* created by @wal280z. WAL's diagram is for the stock system and I'm guessing yours will be for non-stock? *Yes, it's 77-centric, but I start there first to get my bearings regardless of the year.

LOL. As it should be.

Welcome aboard! Were you at Zcon two weeks ago in Co. Springs?

I added the wire colors to the sketch SteveJ mentioned.

@Pilgrim Next time we need to figure out a way to get more of the forum guys together. If for nothing else, just to put a face with a name!

And jars of Vaseline. https://youtu.be/1yzKmekm80A?t=10

The arcade / museum in Manitou Springs. Lots of machines from decades gone by. Here's the results of Wal280z's grip test. No surprise: And here's my vote for the best pinball machine ever made. Bally's Fireball:

And a great time was had by all!! Here's a couple pics from my collection. Zup, CO, and wal280Z up on the mountain overlooking Colorado Springs. We're on the old Gold Camp Rd. This road used to be a railroad between Cripple Creek and Co. Springs. Since it wasn't used anymore, they took up the rails and turned it into a "road" sorta: There were a couple places along the old train route where it was easier to tunnel through the hills than go around them. Some of these tunnels have completely collapsed and are impassable, but some of them are still in use. Here's tunnel #1: We stopped for a break a little later in the day. This pic needs no explanation: Quick sightseeing stop at Helen Hunt Falls: Quick stop to see Starr Kempf's kinetic sculpture artwork: Bristol Brewing: Cog railway to the top of Pike's Peak: My crappy pics from the top of Pike's Peak don't do it justice at all, but here's what I got:

Thirds that.

Haha! Well that was inconclusive, so who knows? All we know at this point is that while the retaining straps are asymmetric, maybe even Datsun didn't care which way they went in. I mean, with so many people putting them in randomly over the years (because they never knew they were asymmetric), it clearly doesn't matter all that much. Thanks for the measurements!

Also forgot to ask... @CanTechZ, did you check the angles on the cross member as well? Do they reflect the same differences that exist on the retaining straps? If so, that would also help positively determine the correct direction for the straps. I have a cross member here that I could use to check, but I would have to spend some time just getting it clean enough to get good measurements. if yours is already clean enough?

Thanks for putting some quantitative numbers on my "they look different to me". So are you sure the clamps were in the right way before you took them off? In other words... Are you sure about that "56 degree end goes in front and the 50 degree end goes towards the rear"? Has your rack ever been off the cross member before? The rack I was messing with here when I noticed the difference had poly bushings in it, so I know some PO had been in there in the past. In other words... I have very little confidence that the straps were in the same position as when they first left the factory.

I haven't held those retaining straps against the rack since I took them off. If I get a chance today, I'll do that and snap some pics. Back when I first noticed the seeming asymmetry, I'm sure I tried that, but I don't remember how it turned out. And yes, they're rusty. Not "bottom of the sea boat anchor" rusty, but typical "fifty year old east coast car" rusty.

Doubtful but possible? The gusseting on the curves should make that relatively difficult. I think you could bend an ear down, but I'm seeing differences further up the radius.

The threadlock stuff is probably something like "90% strength after 24 hours, but could take up to a week to reach full strength". That's the typical ambiguous CYA cure statements they usually use. I think the CA based stuff requires steel ions and either moisture or lack of air to activate or something like that. There's a chance that the zinc plating on the hardware could slow it down some. In any event, I would be willing to give it a twist after it sat for 24 hours and see what happens. I also know that tight fitting threads would hold better. Some of the hardware store stuff is so sloppy that you're asking the threadlock to fill too large of a gap. Here's hoping you're good!

As far as I know, the bushings don't have a front or a back. Of course, the later years have a left and a right, but I've never seen any mention or heard any chatter about a front and a back. There's no mention in the FSM's that I could find. I was surprised to see what I (think I) saw. Makes me wonder if they really intended there to be an F/R and just didn't put that detail into the manuals. And it's not like I've ever heard anyone talk about problems there. "Yeah, I got some weird steering play that I can't figure out. I wonder if I got my retainer brackets on backwards." said nobody ever.

Since this topic is about steering racks... A little while ago I was messing with a donor steering rack and I noticed that the rack retaining straps appeared to be asymmetric. I've never ever seen any chatter about it, but it appears to me that these straps have a "front and a back"? The difference is subtle... I've included a sketch I whipped up to exaggerate and highlight the difference: The jury is still out on which way the straps should be installed, but here's what I found. I think the more gradual end goes towards the front of the car, but since I've never been in possession of a rack that hasn't been worked on in the past, I can't be sure: Thoughts from the collective? (This started on a different thread, but I thought it might be good to collect steering rack specific stuff here as well.)

Just another tricky day for you.

Here's some pics of the rack retaining straps that try to show the asymmetry I noticed. I've never ever seen any chatter about it, but it appears to me that these straps have a "front and a back"? The difference is subtle... I've included a sketch I whipped up to exaggerate and highlight the difference: The jury is still out on which way the straps should be installed, but here's what I found. I think the more gradual end goes towards the front of the car, but since I've never been in possession of a rack that hasn't been worked on in the past, I can't be sure: Thoughts from the collective?

Looking at the burrs and shiny spots on the end of the shell... Do you think they already cut down the length of a longer bushing? I also find it interesting that there's a mark on the outside diameter that reflects the location of the lube groove on the inside. I'm guessing that thing was cast bronze and the groove was cast in and not machined in?

I would try loctite red to glue wingnuts to the ends of two of the threaded rods. Makes quick and dirty "long length wing-bolts". Since they are just hand tightened, loctite red might be strong enough. If not something else like solder, braze, or weld if the loctite won't hold. Been a while since I looked at them in detail. but I think the originals are brazed. And for the receiving end, do what you had before... Stud threaded into the carbs and coupler on the other end to accept the newly created wing-bolts. Flat and rubber washers under the wingnuts. Cup washers optional.

As CanTechZ mentioned above, you need to put the air cleaner into the cover section before you slide the cover into place. The trick is that the M8 bolts that clamp everything together are "long wing bolts", not wingnuts onto a threaded shaft. That way, the bolts are not in the way when you slip the cover into place... They are kinda half hanging out of the cover portion. Slip the cover/air cleaner combination into place, and then twist the long wing bolts to hold tight. I thought someone fabricated their own version of those wing bolts? @zKars maybe? Seems like the crafty kind of thing he would do.