Captain Obvious

Yes, I believe we have great corroboration on the theory, but what about the explanation? Clearly those needles can't be used in the typical round tops on the typical Z car, but what gives? Those needles were used for some time with some margin of success. Bruce P refers to them as the smogger needles, so the inplication is that they weren't the best performers out there, but clearly we're missing something. Improperly made needles? Used in conjunction with a nozzle diameter change? Something else? Any idea?

I just pulled an engine and tranny combo a few days ago and attached at the exact same rear point that you did. I was able to connect a chain to that rear point while the engine and trans were still in the car, so you should be able to disconnect. It's a little tight, but it wasn't what I would consider "difficult". Worked for me, but YMMV. What I would worry about the most, however, would be scratching the paint on the firewall with the chain as you're jerking the engine around on final approach. Might want to drape a towel over the cowl and down the firewall while you're messing in there. PS - Your "All's I need..." reminds me of the "Send picture of boat and motor" joke.

I got a chance to measure some M49 and N54 needles today. First, let me describe what I have... A while ago, I bought a NOS aftermarket rebuild kit which includes four needles, two M49's and two N54's. It's not exactly the same box as what Blue posted above, but probably made by the same manufacturer. From that kit, I measured a pair of M49 needles and a pair of N54 needles. The measurements I got indicate that if you install the M49 or N54 needles into your typical round tops using 0.100 nozzles, you will run very rich. Richer than the SM needles. So rich, in fact, that there's got to be something unexplained going on. Either I've got needles that are mistakes or there's another explanation somehow. Since Blue put these needles into his round tops and got corroboration performance, I'm suspecting that my four needles are manufactured "as intended", meaning that there must be another explanation. After all, these needles were supposed to be lower emissions that previous versions? What about a nozzle change? Did they use the same size nozzles in all years 70,71, and 72 or did they reduce the nozzle size somewhere along the way?

Robert, The original bars I've messed with didn't have gaskets between the cam towers and the distribution blocks. I'm thinking that if you do manage to be able to reuse your bar, then putting in some gaskets in the three mounting locations would be a good idea, especially of the surface of the blocks at that location are distorted. Might help keep the oil from coming out of places you don't want. Good luck, and let me know if you need a replacement block!

Thanks everyone for the interest. I've sent PM's out. Started making some chips today! :classic:

Yup. That looks "normal". Are the distribution blocks wallowed out on the surfaces where they contact the cam tower? I've seen some pretty deep erosion in that spot from all the squirming. Can't be good for sealing the oil in at that joint... Sent you a PM.

Seriously? That's the best you can do? That's a great buy compared to others currently listed!! $3500 - http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/3163069385.html LOLLOLLOL

I'm going to make a few more bars... Just sent out a couple PM's to people who have expressed interest. I'm not liking the sound of the C-clamp thing. I straightened mine in a quality bench vice with wide parallel smooth jaws. Tell you what... I've got some spare original blocks left over from bars I've reconstructed. If you crack yours trying to straighten it, I'd be happy to send you a replacement.

Thanks for the offer to take a good look at the 77 doors for me. Let me tell you what I have right now: a) All the hardware in the door jamb (both fore and aft) is hex headed bolts with a Phillips cross in the center. Captive lock and flat washers. You can use a 10mm wrench or socket, or a Phillips screwdriver. The two fasteners behind the door panel are dome topped Phillips screws (I guess I would call them truss heads) with a large head. They must be turned with a screwdriver only as there are no flats on them to use a wrench or socket. I have no idea if they are stock in that location or not. c) No spacers between the sash and the door I was a lot more afraid of the doors before I started working them too. I don't know what earlier years are like, but my 77 isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thanks again, and I'll check into the quarter window mounting.

And BTW... Your descriptions of the original harware and it's locations was excellent.

Thanks very much for the help Jim. Yeah, doors are just so much fun... Nothing like cramped working spaces with razor sharp sheet metal burrs on all sides and complicated adjustment procedures that are difficult to do alone! As with most all of my projects, this one started with working on one thing and has since spiraled wildly. First, you pointed out a huge piece of required info that I did not specify :stupid: The car in question is a 77 (with the weatherstrip along the top of the sash). With the model year in mind, let me tell you a little more info about why I asked about spacers between the sash and the door metal... It appears that all of the bolt holes for the sash mounting are oversized to allow for adjustment of the sash. No problem there. Problem is that when I fully tighten the rear bolt at the upper rear corner of the sash (the one hidden by the door panel when done), the sash is drawn in too far towards the center line of the vehicle and doesn't align neatly with the strip on the rear quarter window. The sash actually passes beyond the strip on the rear quarter window. I don't know if the sash is bent, the quarter window is out too far, or if there is supposed to be a spacer between the sash and the door in that spot. Sounds like spacers aren't the answer... Is it possible that my previous owner somehow managed to install the rear quarter windows further out than they used to be? I know he had them out to paint the car, and I suspect he used new aftermarket rubber when he put them back in.

Not sure if I was clear with my post above about the N54's I measured... I'm not talking "runs rich for a stock motor". I'm talking "Billowing black clouds of smoke and probably completely undrivable in any condition." The measurements I got from my pair of NOS aftermarket N54 needles are richer than the SM's. That's why I'm thinking that there's some kind of mistake being made here. I don't know if the N54's I have are made incorrectly, I'm measuring incorrectly, or if there's some other detail that I'm missing. But there's a problem somewhere. I'll double check my numbers as soon as I get a chance, but I'm thinking there's more than that going on. As for the the length being shorter... If that part of the needle is never pulled to the top of the nozzle, then why do you think it would cause a problem?

I'm working on my doors to fix a few issues and while I'm in there, I'm putting in Sportage weatherstripping. Couple of questions: 1) The chrome trim up around the top of the window (Nissan calls it the sash)... What hardware is supposed to be used behind the door panel to hold the sash in place? By that, I mean, is it supposed to be a bolt or a screw, and what does it look like? I'm not sure what I have in there is the right piece of hardware. Not the bolts in the door jambs that are visible while the door panel is in place... I'm talking about the ones that are not visible with the door panel in place. 2) Are there supposed to be any spacer between the sash and the inside sheet metal of the door in the locations discussed above? Again, not the bolts in the door jambs, but the ones behind the door panels. Are there spacers used there, or is it sash directly contacting stamped door metal? 3) Was the original weather stripping continuous, or was there a break in it? And if there was a break, where was it located? I was looking at a junk Z yesterday and it appeared that there was a break in the upper 90 degree corner of the window and the weatherstrip was mitered to 45 degrees to fit that corner. But I have no idea if that was stock or replaced some time in the past. The reason I ask is that the Sportage weatherstripping is a little too long to use as is, and has to be cut to remove some length. I figured I would put the break in the same place the factory did, and along the top somewhere makes the most sense to me from a water ingress standpoint.

I took a look at the numbers I got when I measured my N54 needles, and guess what... The N54's I have are way rich for the Z. I had measured the N54's and recorded the numbers months ago, but I never actually took the time to compare those measurements against the other needles I've had success with. Well I just did, and I can see why they would run very rich. Sorry I didn't look at the numbers before... I could have saved you some aggravation. I don't know if you and I both have manufacturing mistakes from the same aftermarket vendor or what, but at least I can give you a reason for your results. It's not the length that's causing you a problem... It's the girth. Five second check of the M49's indicate the same thing. (No surprise there, right?)

Maybe it's time for me to make another one or two spray bars? Are the tubes on yours OK? Yes, the block is cast, but despite that, I was able to bend mine a little and it did not crack. YMMV. I believe all years up until they switched to the internally oiled cam used the same bar. Problem is I suspect that all of them suffer from the same issues and because of that, I'm not sure that a used bar is really a viable alternative. As for having a machine shop make one for you? Ummm... You probably don't want to know. :tapemouth

Bruce, Do you have a pic of that chart with the N54, or can you please list the station measurements? It would be good to know how close to expected numbers I'm getting with my measurements. :bulb: Maybe Santa will bring me an optical comparator for the shop...

I'm from the opposite camp... Get in the ballpark with a dry measurement, but after that, I've always wet set everything. It's been a while since I had the problems, but IIRC, it went like this: Start with a dry bowl with a clear plastic tube on the outlet nipple bent upward and taped up to the side of the bowl. Put fuel into the inlet until the level stops rising. Check the level against a Sharpie mark on the outside of the bowl. It's a little low. Drain the fuel, take off the bowl cover and bend the tang to allow more fuel. Put it back together and repeat: Still a little low. Bend a little more and repeat: Still a little low. Bend a little more and repeat: Level keeps rising and spurts out the vent nipple. :ogre: Repeat for and hour and finally decide that a little low is "good enough".

Haha! The only way I could even tell they had letters on them at all was with an eye loupe! I'll get to measuring the profile on the M49s as soon as I get a few spare minutes. I don't have any SM's to compare them against, but I've done the N27's and can tell you how they stack up against eachother. BTW - Those N54's were strange birds... It seems they have a flat spot at midrange where there is essentially no taper at all. Almost non-monotonic.

I've had problems getting the bowl level correct as well. After an hour or so with what must have been fifty wet-set attempts... All the things I can do, and that seemingly stupid easy task gave me the fits. Glad to hear it's not just me.

Blue, Are you sure they are N49 and not M49. If they are M49, let me know, and I'll profile them for you. I have some of them, as well as the N54. I profiled the N54's but never got to the M49's... I got sidetracked by EFI stuff. As for the length, don't worry about it. Even with the suction piston all the way up, that last station on the stock needles never sees the light of day. In other words, you should be able to lop that last station off the tip and never know the difference. At least unless you try to run ten turns down on your nozzles or something like that. :laugh: One thing about the dampers in that kit... They look like they have the metal top caps. If you keep backfiring your damper rods up through your plastic caps, the metal ones might last longer.

!!ecin yreV

I would assume that the sensor is pipe thread, and I would assume that the hole in the thermostat housing is as well. Note that I didn't verify this in any way, but that would be my guess. If they are both pipe thread, then you should be able to get brass adapters from one of the big box stores or a plumbing supply house.

Nice. Yeah, I know there's no perfect answer. There will always be issues. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46722

Here's the latest... Just doesn't make sense. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40886&page=3&p=404366#post404366 Still can't tell if it's trolling, or thread padding, or just honest first time on a forum. Maybe there needs to be a new administrative rule put into place like "Your first ten posts will be moderated and must be reviewed and approved by a site moderator before they will be allowed to be included on the forum".

It was probably a crusty goober stuck in the hole. I've seen some really crusty spray bars by now! I think that when the oil starts to leak out of the bar from places you DON'T want it to, the decreased flow in the areas you DO want flow causes the oil to bake and gel. That's something I forgot to mention before... Since the tubes thread into the distribution blocks on the redesign, you can take them out to clean them if necessary. I've threadlocked them in place, but I used the non-permanent grade. Thanks Phred! I appreciate it!