AK260

That down hill test is a great idea. @jalexquijano on my old oil burning engine - when coming downhill and off the gas, I found that at the bottom of the hill when I went back onto the power, a puff of blue smoke came out. This signifies leaking oil from the head generally. When we cracked the engine open, I found that a UK Specialist who had rebuilt the head for me, had cross threaded one of the head bolts and it wasn't fully down, letting in oil into (coincidentally) cyl 4 😄 and cyl 3. So that test had proven the oil was coming in from the head. Try it. It's easy and free to do!

Well, if you’ve driven since march 5th then yes you should - lots could have changed! It takes no real time to do it and puts your mind at rest. If the compression numbers vastly vary then you can suspect your head gasket and pull the head to see what is happening. If not, then you can focus on electrics / ignition before moving onto other things. If after 8 years and all the experimentation you haven’t found causes outside the engine, then perhaps it’s time to do something different and look inside the engine? Just a thought.

That’s a great question on balance tubes - not sure. I know Coventry engines used them in multiples and mainly in racing but I found no tech info on balance tubes etc. Interestingly, a member on the TR Register recently had them professionally fitted to his TR 4 (in multiple form) and found 8bhp more at the wheels compared to DCOEs. But again no useful info was divulged. The trouble with most engines these were fitted to (as far as I’ve read) was that they were smaller engines that didn’t produce enough vacuum to lift the pistons sufficiently. Hence why they had a reputation for only operating properly at over 4k rpm - in racing applications. I think we should all just get ITBs + stand-alone ECU and get on with our lives :p - did I just swear?

Having researched it a bit more - it seems that they were used mainly for racing and on the Coventry Climax engines (in twin format). Lotus had also used them (as they used the Coventry engines) but very shortly - they ditched them for DCOEs. Apparently they work well over 4k rpm and had quite an on/off characteristic. But as DCOEs came into popularity and were more flexible / easier to set up, the twin choke SUs were left on the shelf. Folklore says around 80 were ever made. A UK based company is reproducing them again at a juicy price. So, that itch no longer needs scratching, back to school fees. ;)

Thought this may make a good theoretical discussion. While I have far to little time to do the inordinately long list of jobs on my Z (and with school fees ramping up spare cash is drying up fast), I just can’t help think one day I really want to do a triple DU6 conversion!! Just imagine having the only z in the world with these puppies on!!! How cool would that look when you pop the bonnet!? It will need a LARGE balance tube to even out the pulses (which somewhat negates benefits of individual throttles). My only thought is that the best way to feed the vacuum signal to all carbs but without causing cross carb fuelling is to feed manifold vacuum in at the top of each dome. Just daydream engineering! ;)

That’s a good point, my widenand sensor transformed my life! In fact I now need to get a life [emoji1787]

You cracked me up with that - because it’s so true!!! On my old engine, the pan leaks were a self sustaining mechanism for stopping things rusting under the car :p The oil pans are notorious for leaking and that part of it in particular, as Jeff said is very prone to leaking. How much oil are you loosing when the car is flat? Is it the odd dime sized patch under the car after a day or is it spoonfuls? Scientific measures I know! If it’s main seal failure, I would get it done rather than live with it as it will only get worse with time / miles and potentially make a mess of other things in the bell housing. Again, as mentioned already, I found my trans oil smelled a bit like raw fish or gone off salmon - hope that helps?

I think you are right - when I was new to Zs and bought my ZT carbs I just bolted them up and they were great. The MOT man said they were a tad rich but that’s the SM needles for you, so we dialled them back 1/6 of a turn to pass. But you always need to balance them as a minimum. I agree with Jeff above - they are so simple to set up when you understand what the screws do and have an airflow synch tool. This is the one many of us use. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294818904813? At OP …. Is your engine totally stock? If yes ignore the rest. If not, you may find that you are setting up perfect tune on the driveway for idle and fast idle but at WOT it may be too lean - in that scenario with a modified engine you need different or custom needles. But in general if stock cam etc (or mildly modified with headers etc), the needle profiles will be appropriate for the variation in the demands of the engine when set up for idle and fast idle. FYI - The stock 240Zs carbs use slightly different (usually N27 or N54) needle profiles to the SM needles which come with ZT carbs - so some people complain about SM being too rich on their engines.

We’ll gang, happy to report the test drive with the new rad installed is showing a marked improvement. Like for like conditions but without the constantly variable electric fans installed (which I had on the old rad) temps are 15°-20°c lower than with the old rad - and that’s purely with the mech fan. The twin electric fans run off a second thermostat in the housing that signals a PWM driver - which varies their duty cycle from 20% to 85% depending on how hot the car is. That way the fans don’t just kick in when it’s too late but rather constantly adjust to help the car cool as the heat builds but without constantly sucking big juice out of the alternator. I also have an off position that does 7% duty cycle to keep them spinning so as to not be a blocker to the mech fan. I also have a 100% position on the switch for emergency cooling. The fans also work on a delay off timer that keeps them on for 5 mins after the car is turned off. The switch fits perfectly here! I have to make a new bracket to fit the elec fans to the rad panel as previously they were on the rad core and I never like that for obvious reasons. Especially bad on an alu rad! Why am I running two fans? Because they are high quality, came from a UK club member for peanuts and I like the fact that if one fails, the other will likely continue working. Paranoid, maybe definitely!

Ha! Not sure!? :s Funny thing is, after emptying mine and leaving it for a couple of days I literally dropped a head torch in there for better light and the lense started to react with the fumes left in there!

I’m in the drain and fill fresh, or dilute it as much as you can, camp. Old fuel isn’t going to kill it but won’t be great to run it down. You have no idea how much crud could be settled at the bottom of that tank / around the pick-up and you maybe asking for trouble running it down! If it was mine, I would pull the tank, flush it through and even drop an endoscope (or point an iPhone camera) in there. You can also check hose conditions etc at the same time. That’s my 2 cents at least ;)

Duplicated post by crapatalk!

Spot the long shadows!! Winter is in the post!

Not sure if this is available where you are but I’ve used this often … https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-205685-millers-oils-classic-pistoneeze-10w-40-engine-oil.aspx Other classic owners I know use this … https://www.westwayoils.co.uk/products/10w40-mineral-classic-oil-high-zinc-zddp

If your rubber is giving off black residue, then it’s pretty dry / has had UV reactions etc. I would consider something like this: https://www.theleathercolourdoctor.co.uk/car-rubber-seal-reviving-kit-contains-cleaner-and-conditioner-classic-vintage/ But there are a tonne of rubber dressings out there. I use them on the Audis - while we don’t get very cold winters in the Uk we do get some super freezing mornings a few days a year and I’ve found rubber seals freeze to each other unable to open the door - so it’s worth considering them on your more modern cars too.

It’s a VW colour, code LD5Q (P1P1) Shadow Blau. In early 2000s it was a rare colour reserved for the high end models but now it’s very readily available on much of the VW line up. The previous owner sprayed it and I have to say, the car does look great in this shade. It really brings out the lines and the bright work. But being a darker colour, it’s a total PITA for showing any small scratch or dink or dust particle ;) Looking forward to seeing the finished product in your car!

OK don't hate me, but cheapo ebay one for £129GBP - had other UK club members have good experiences with them so for the price it was worth a try as the original 2 row rad had started weeping. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394847457594 (Price has gone up since I bought it, but not by much) Two of the 4 holes didn't quite line up so I had to gently modify them on the rad to fit. The fan shroud is a standard one, but again, I had to modify the mounting points for it to fit. In fact, I drilled and tapped the tabs where the shroud hangs so that I could screw the shroud on at those points. I'll log on from my phone in a moment and upload some photos. As with any job on the Z, the moment you take something off, you have a) better access to something else to deal with, find surface rust to treat, c) start re-doing all sorts of other stuff and before you know it your 1 hour job turned into 9.5 hours! So I gave it a quick test in the driveway with a 10 mins fast idle at 2.5K rpm with ambient temps of somewhere between 20-25 degrees C and bonnet shut. With mech fan only, the temps only went ever so slightly over halfway. Proper test run this weekend once I re-wrap the loom I unwrapped to do neatly (because that was vital to my cooling project, right?). Hole mods - see sharpie marking before I drilled / filed it. Modifying rad and fan shroud Had to protect the fins during install as they are more delicate than the copper / Nickel ones on the original rad

Fitted a monster 4 core radiator!!

LOVE this video!! Nicely done sir!

Great list!! I used the same green LEDs for the gauges and found the see through front was creating bright / hotspots on the gauges and had to rough it up with some 800 grit for better light dispersion. Did you find the same issue?

Loving this thread!!!! It’s inspired me to re-start the work on my horn.

Maybe like the boobs one there’s another X-rated thread to be had here? “Original Naked Hostility Thread”!! Mr Sitester can start the ball rolling - if it offends, then don’t open the thread! :p On topic - I’m with Mr Jfa - when I took my switch apart in the kitchen, it shot lots of small things across the room and I spent an hour on a search and rescue mission!! I never got it back together in a working state again as the tabs i bent back broke off the second time I tried to reassemble it. You have one shot at this from what I experienced. Have you measured the resistance when you turn it on? Check and let us know. You may find that it’s high enough to heat it when 10A+ is going through it with the lights connected “naked” to it. But when attired with a relay drawing 0.1-0.2A it would be like the Fonz - cool and happy! (Showing my age, I know). Why not test it with a relay and potentially save yourself the hassle of having to open it up? I don’t like electrical contact resistance ANYWHERE, but IMHO at 200mA, you’re highly unlikely to see a problem there again.

Yeah, I hear that loudly! On that note some US based muscle car fora I used to read became inaccessible post GDPR but work again! :D The ONLY benefit!

Oooh really love the expanding the spring idea !!! In my experience the lemon juice only fails if your parts are covered in grease - so I tend to bathe the greasy stuff in thinners first. The horn didn’t need it though - but the hand brake mechanism did!!

Hello chap! I don’t have an exact formula for it but suffice it to say I use a half a table spoon of salt per 1 litre. The key is to wash out the lemon juice straight away with water and dry off completely as it rusts almost immediately when it hits oxygen!! Here is what I ended up with the next day after soaking. Then I clear coated the inside to make sure it doesn’t rust. The horn does make a louder noise but as you said it needs adjusting. I need to do the 1000 grit negative connectors clean up next to ensure a decent connection. For info and interest the coil measures 1.6ohms. Which means 7.5A before contacts break and assuming a perfect square wave when it operates means it’s taking an average of c.3.25 amps. I also put the horn onto gasket paper and scalpeled out my own gasket before reassembly. Haven’t sealed it yet for obvious reasons.