jerry5453

Thanks for the replys gema & ZmeFly. I did search for like problems and found bottom end interference problems but no top end. But, most of the headers seem to be 6 to 1 and not the 3 to 2. So my choices are 1) Get money back & buy a different header; 2) Get that header back from MS and see if it makes the heat problem worse; 3) Replace my stock manifold(cracked) & downpipe (warped flange). hmmmmmmmmmm jerry5453

Anybody have problems with carb clearance on a MSA header ? I bought a MSA 3-2 coated header for my 260 and have since sent it back to them. I believe it's badly manufactured since on bolting it up the carbs(early SU's) are essentially touching the second pipe. There's plenty of room for routing it so there'd be much more clearance, like the other five pipes. MSA says it's bolted up on their showroom floor and has an 1/8" clearance with same early carbs and E88 head. I've never dealt with a header before, but considering the heat issues with the car I think I'd be insane to have so little space there. Has anybody run into this issue before with this header ? Has anybody seen that little clearance before and not had problems ? Any suggestions for alternatives ? Thanks, jerry5453

Anybody have problems with an MSA header ? I bought a MSA 3-2 coated header for my 260 and have since sent it back to them. I believe it's badly manufactured since on bolting it up the carbs(early SU's) are essentially touching the second pipe. There's plenty of room for routing it so there'd be much more clearance, like the other five pipes. MSA says it's bolted up on their showroom floor and has an 1/8" clearance with both same early carbs and an E88 head. I've never dealt with a header before, but considering the heat issues with the car I think I'd be insane to have so little space there. Has anybody run into this issue before with this header ? Has anybody seen that little clearance before and not had problems ? Finally, what alternative headers are out there ? It's either gonna get on the road or sold this year Thanks, jerry5453

The fuel, water temp, and oil pressure gauges on my '74 260 fluctuate essentially as a group. What I mean by that is that they become powered and read, and then lose power. They get progressively worse with time till they don't read at all. The power to both gauges are common and fluctuates 11-13V but doesn't fail, and I've tried an alternate ground which didn't help. Inside each gauge is what appears to be a bi-metallic switch that has a heating coil of wire around it. These switches control the power to the gauge so I'm pretty sure they are the culprit for removing power. My belief is that the regulated voltage to the gauges is too high and these internal switches protect the gauges and are cutting out. I've done the regulator check in the manual, which apperars ok. The only thing I can think to go is replace the regulator. Anyone run into something like this ? Any suggestions ?

Carl, Thanks for the reply ! Let's see - yes stock valence; yes all spin balancing, yes done front/rear swapping and little/no difference. I think I know what you mean by high speed 'wandering' and I wouldn't call this that. It still tracks straight, the steering wheel just vibrates horribly above 55-60, below that speed feels solid and normal. I called a few places looking for static or balancing on the car. I didn't find anyone who did either. Do you have any problems with the standard spin balancing (seems like mostly Coates(?) machines) gotten at the standard tire places ? Hmmmmm ..... the inner tie-rods is an interesting idea. How would I test/check that ? Just play in the rack ? The first thing I had done was an alignment. Is that a checked item ? I'm just trying to get a feel for the 'amplification' effect of the PU bushings. If somebody says "No problems before, put on PU bushings then had terrible vibration" that would say maybe going back to rubber might be get rid of it since I don't believe I had this before. The fact that front/rear tire/wheel changes doesn't seem to make a whole lot of difference leads me to believe its PU bushing amplifying what was always damped by the rubber or something else totally. But, the symptom is exactly as I remember it from tire balancing problems each time I changed tires so many years ago. A large part of my problem is the time interval(15y) between usages. If I had driven it and had a good feel for things and then did the re-build, I could make some guesses. But with tire, suspension, bushing changes all at once with only old memories, it leaves me a little bewildered (not helped by age either I'm sure .) Thanks again Carl

I brought my '74 260 2+2 out of a 15year hibernation last year, going essentially through all the mechanicals, specifically for this problem - struts, urethane bushing all around, and new tires(alignment done also). Well, I remember that it always took two balancing's to get the shimmy out of the front end on each tire change when it was running in the '80s. But I've been through 3 balancings so far with 2 different places and still have a horrible shimmy above 60mph with no change after each balance. I did cheap out and get some high speed General tires, something that I now totally regret, adding to the injury of taking off the essentially brand new Michelin XZX that I had put on 15years ago. So the questions/things I've been told are - 1) I took off essentially flat spotted tires and put on genetically out of round tires. 2) Newer tire balancing machines are not as good as of old - newer cars are more tolerant - if so what does everyone else do ? 3) Do the urethane bushings make that much difference on coupling and should I go back to rubber for the rack and the steering coupling ? 4) Do I just need to go to a Michelin/Pirelli/???? for a higher quality tire ? 5) There are mechanical alignment adjusting devices that can be added to the strut tower tops for more/finer adjustments - would they help ? 6) Wheels possibly a problem ? I don't remember any problems when I put it up, and I really doubt I would have allowed new tires to be put on without getting the shimmy out, so it wasn't exhibiting this then - leading me to believe its a change I've done. I'm at a loss in general here, any suggestions/data would be appreciated. I'd love to find another Z car guy in Indianapolis who would swap some front wheels that don't shimmy on his car for a test drive on mine to try and maybe narrow it down. Thanks in advance, Jerry