MikeW

How are your seats? I noticed a more comfortable ride after redoing my seats with new foam inserts and new seat covers. I'm not convinced that a change in the tires would make a big difference in the ride as there are many other factors that contribute: springs, struts, bushings, etc.

When I was looking for paint and body work I went to the local store that sells automotive paint and asked them for recommendations. They probably know everyone in the business in your area. One point that they made was that you should look around at local cars shows and when you see a nice restoration job ask the owner who did it. Word of mouth is really the way to go. Find someone who's happy with the work that was done for them.

I'm guessing that guy was me at the meeting last week. Welcome to the club. Obviously a lot has been written about this swap and apparently different people have tried motors from both Civics and Preludes. Let me know how it goes because I'll probably do mine at some point.

They should just pull out. I'd try a thin piece of plastic as a wedge to avoid damaging the paint.

The tool in question is not an air tool. When you hit it with a hammer it twists the screw clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on how you set it. I can't remember if I had to use mine on my seats but I bought it at Sears: http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=00947641000

Is there any chance this will make it onto the TV show and if so, is there a way to figure out the time slot?

I use a remote starter for this. I can't remember where I bought mine but here's a link to a similar product: http://www.iequus.com/item.asp?cid=40&pid=3630

Even if they were completely clogged the float bowls should not overflow because the floats would rise and cut off the supply.

Welcome. You might want to update your profile to include this location. Also, you have someone nearby who can provide body parts to you: http://www.datsunzparts.com/

"The vehicle ran until a ground wire shorted." Gee, I wonder how long ago that was.

Hmm, I didn't get a PM. Are you sure you sent it to me?

According to Scott Bruning (the original ZTherapy guy) the factory solution of having the fuel go through the rubber hoses to the air cleaner isn't really any better. It ends up pooling at the back of the air cleaner and still drips onto the exhaust manifold. I did use the term "check valve" just to differentiate from the needle inside the carb itself. I believe "needle valve" is actually correct. Another thing Scott recommended to fix this problem is called a "grosse jet" to replace the needle valve. I don't think they're available any more, however.

That's an indication that the check valves in the carb bowls are stuck in the open position. This can happen when debris gets in there. Just in case it's not obvious, the idea is to maintain a constant level of fuel in the float bowls. When the level drops the float drops and the valve opens, allowing more fuel to come it. When the float rises it presses on the valve and cuts off the supply. If the valve sticks fuel will come out.

I'm sorry if my post wasn't clear. I was just trying to back up what you posted earlier about the differences between L20As. The only thing that surprised me was that the 8.6:1 seemed fairly close to the 9.0:1 that you had mentioned and that 9.0:1 doesn't seem "high" to me. Is that term just used to differentiate the two?

I'd certainly avoid trying to make use of the 100mph sticker that was placed on the km/h speedometer.

My 1972 FSM lists the L20A in addition to the L24. It shows a compression ratio for the L20A of 8.6:1. The models given are the (L)230Q(U) "Datsun 200C" and the L230QT "Deluxe". It does later show the L20A as having a single carb. The standard piston diameter for the L20A is listed as 77.92-77.97mm versus 82.99-83.04mm for the L24.

Get yourself one of the clear aftermarket fuel filters. You'll immediately be able to see when there's any debris coming through and can replace the filter element on the side of the road if you have to.

It took me a couple of hours to get it out but I was in a hurry. It took much longer to get back in since I didn't follow the other good advice above regarding labeling everything carefully and keeping good track of the fasteners. I did buy a pack of narrow electrical tape in multiple colors and used this to mark connectors on each side. In other words, the green male connector goes with the nearest green female connector that happens to fit. That may be quicker than having to label everything by name (assuming you even know the name for a particular connector) since you don't have to read your labels. I need to pull my dash back out at some point to fix a few things (blower motor, dust in instruments, etc.) so I'll be more careful. I did leave all the colored tape in place so that part will be easier.

Charlie does not show 2+2 pans which is the problem: http://www.datsunzparts.com/NewParts/summary.htm My guess is that 2+2's were made in relatively small numbers compared to 2 seaters making it a difficult market to create parts for.

If it really is a ZX then it is a '79 or later and the floor pans are not the same.

It's quite obvious that DeltaDawn is just another alias for ZMeFly. Go back and look at "her" edit to post #15 in this thread. I'll paste a copy here before it changes again: Oh...I can almost feel the love!! You are all such a big group of smucks! Bite Me! Last edited by DeltaDawn : 06-09-2005 at 08:45 PM.

Oh, sorry, I didn't realize. I use FireFox with the BugMeNot extension. Whenever you hit a site that makes you register it looks up a valid login and fills it in for you. Try this one: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/16/national/main1409832.shtml If that still doesn't work go to http://news.google.com and search for "ferrari"

Try this one: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-ferrari16mar16,1,5902890.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

Perhaps tension is the wrong word then. I'm guess thinking of it in static terms. If there is slack on the straight side due to stretch then changing the locator hole eliminates that slack which in my mind is the same as pulling on the chain a bit which is why I called it tension. I agree that it's different than the tension on the chain while it's moving. On the straight side the tension is caused by the crankshaft sprocket pulling down against the resistance on the camshaft sprocket. On the other side the tension comes from the tensioner. In any case I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying; I suppose I'm more trying to get it clear in my mind how it all works.

I think we're really saying the same thing. Clearly the 3 locator holes are provided to compensate for timing chain stretch. If the stretch is not compensated for indeed the valve timing would be off. The point that I was trying to make is that the stretch only is a problem on the side of the chain that is straight and under tension. It's that side of the chain that's actually doing the work. The other side of the chain is getting a free ride back via the tensioner side - you can't push on a chain. You could "stretch" the chain by adding a new link and that wouldn't really hurt anything as long as the tensioner can compensate. If the side under tension is actually stretched (where individual links become slightly longer) the angular relationship between the two sprockets is affected.