Mark Maras

Be careful in the bake cycle!

I prefer the body color. Black is a bear to keep clean. The texture of the bed liner would be a real dirt collector. And besides, you can't wax bed liner like you can a painted drive shaft.

Has anyone run 4 screw carbs on the later manifold? The answer may help point a finger at the probable culprit. Never had "the problem" with a mechanical fuel pump. Here's another puzzle piece to throw into the pile. What about a poor fan clutch? It would contribute to heat build-up sitting in traffic, not when the engine is off. Years ago I swapped the stock metal fan for a flex fan. The flex fan pulled more air at an idle than the original fan.

My early 71 started with a click of the key. If there was ever a problem with heat, the only thing I noticed was it took a couple of revolutions for the engine to start. No problems running at all. That minor change may have been heat soak, to a minor degree.

What carbs and manifolds did you use on the 72 motor? Cliff brings up another possible piece to the puzzle. I've been wondering if the problem lies in the 4 screw (early) carbs and the later 3 screw carbs. We'll leave flat-tops out for now. It's been reported that blocking the coolant flow to the later carbs makes little to no difference. I've not worked on 3 screw carbs. Is the coolant passage the only major difference between the two?

I'm hoping that @kats will translate it. Esso, actually, but they didn't need an answer man, they had a tiger tail one could attach to one's car. Precursor of the Union 76 antenna orange ball.1965, I was 16 years old, $0.30 gas, new cars were less than $3000.00. Good times except for Nam.

I'd guess, "Put a tiger in your tank, but that would date me.

Along with rerouting the fuel line you might want to try insulating your heat shield. Post #29 has Steve's source for it.

I think your first customer is in Panama.

Jarvo2, Yeah, that cam has always been kind of lurking in the back ground. It can't be helping the situation, that's for sure. jalex, Do you know anyone else in Panama that has a Z. I'm curious if anyone else there is fighting or has solved the problem?

No need to re-balance the carbs. Idle speed is your choice. The color of your spark plugs will tell you what to do with the mixture screws.

Good looking heat shield. Do I see a future garage business in the works? A bolt on answer to the heat soak problem would be a valuable addition to the owners who haven'r solved it yet..

Non-fiction-The Technique of Motor Racing, Piero Taruffi Fiction-The Red Car, Don Stanford

If you don't have a large budget, the ZX's and ZX parts are going to be the cheapest. IMO, all Z's are reliable after you spend some time and money on them. Which one is better, is a tough call. Personally, I like the early 240's. Not a lot of frills and creature comforts but that's the reason I like them. Others, however, value comfort. Start shopping and asking questions. You'll soon have a good idea of what's available. Regardless of the year, YOUR FIRST PRIORITY SHOULD BE BODY CONDITION. Everything else is easy to repair.

I'll bet there are some good? stories about passing emission tests. We had a real challenge with an 81 RX7. Not known to be a clean burning engine even when new. It took eleven tries (thanks to some creativity and the smog pump) but we finally got it thru. The crew at the DEQ Station were all rooting for the car to pass as the emissions dropped with each test. There were high fives by everyone when it passed.

Did you ever get around to unwrapping the steel fuel lines or better yet bypassing them?

That degree of improvement is very impressive. What insulation did you use? I'd like to see a few pics of the finished shield.

1. Any spot between the carbs and the and the filter. (if there is one between the pump and carbs) should be fine. 2. 4.3 is probably at the upper pressure limits of the needle and seat (fuel valve) in the float bowl. 3 - 3.5 would be better IMO. (Back in the day, we only ran 3 lbs. of pressure in a small block Chevy dragster.) 3. If the excess pressure isn't over powering the needle and seat valve, you're probably OK for now. The excessive pressure shouldn't affect the float level setting but it could cause premature failure of the needle and seat. A potentially disastrous scenario. Remember, the carbs are placed over the hot exhaust manifold.

Keep it. Think of it as a 401Z retirement plan. Where else can you double your money in a year of two? Clean 280's prices are on the way up.

Improved performance by adding choke indicates a lean mixture at the RPM that the engine was turning AT THAT TIME. I'd check fuel pressure and volume first, just to eliminate that as a possibility. Then I'd look at the carbs. Have you been using tech. info for Hitachi SU's or British SU's? HS6's were used on TR6's, among others. They had a similar engine size so I'm assuming they would be suitable for a Z. Re-check the float level. Fifteen flats down sounds about right for Hitachi's but I don't know the spec for British SU's. The new jets and needles could also be causing the lean condition if they have a different configuration than original. A comparison of the old needles and jets and the new ones may be a good idea. Did you have any trouble tuning and balancing them previously? Any of you electrical Guru's want to comment on the tach operating differently under load? That's a new one for me.

It's been theorized that wrapping the factory fuel line will aggravate the problem by trapping heat in the metal lines that may be coming from the mounting points on the engine. My own experience with SU's at higher elevation was a slight miss until I leaned them out 1/2 turn. Let us know what you find.

With the engine up to temp, while you're accelerating in third or fourth gear, gradually pull the choke on. If it pulls better with a little choke, the mixture is lean. It's an easy way to check for a lean mixture under load. How many turns down are the nozzle mixture screws?

Sad news. Jai's (RedBird) beloved friend Deanna passed on today after a brave fight with kidney failure. She was a dear family member and loved to "go for a ride" in RedBird. The looks from other motorists when they saw her must have been priceless. Mark

Oh, I recognized it as Puget Sound Patina. I grew up? in Enumclaw.

I thought that deep rich red patina was from salt water. You just can't get that special texture and variegated maroon color from rain.