cj71z

Man I can't believe all the responses...Thanks for everyones help. "IMHO, if you're taking everything off anyway, spend the $100 or so and replace the whole timing kit, chain, tensioner, guides etc." Mcl240z, this is what I was concerned about. My car has 120K on it, all from my parents, though it's been sitting for 10 years. I'm not sure of the condition of the chain now, it has never been driven very hard. Ed, thanks for your how-to, that sounds like what I read before. I don't have a shop manual, just a chiltons. Will I need a more detailed one? Cremmenga, I originally wanted to do this, but since the bolt is threaded about 3-4 inches behind the timing cover it seems like it would be hard to do it right. The bolt is broken in the block, when I measured the two side by side the broken one is now about 1 inch shorter. WIAI sydrome=$$$$ in the engine department. I'm gonna save it for a F54 w/ my N42 head

50/50 isn't good enough for me, so I guess I'm going to take off the cover. Is it possible to remove the cover without taking off the head? I thought I read about this somewhere, but now I can't find the thread. I think it said something about getting to TDC, and keeping everything lined up because you have to remove the oil pump and the shaft connecting it to the distributor. Then by removing the oil pan, I can take off the timing cover. Does this sound right? Also while I'm in there should I replace anything line my chain tensioner etc.

Hey thanks for the responses. Curtis, I had the same thought about how thick the timing cover was. If it's too thin then tapping threads may puncture a hole causing an oil leak. Hey Ed, I broke the 12mm bolt in the 7 o'clock position. How well will the pump remained sealed without it? By the position of it I'm assuming it serves as a major contributor to the pump remaining sealed correctly. If I do remove the timing cover, should I change anything while I'm in there? Thanks, Chris

Yeah it doesn't sound like fun...Do you think I can tap threads into the timing cover and use a shorter, larger diameter bolt. Thanks for the help

Hey guys I tried to replace my water pump today and the long 12mm bolt at around 7 o'clock, looking from the front, broke off deep inside. I found some posts about this subject, but most dealt with the long 10mm bolt. I was wondering if I could tap some threads into the timing cover and use a slightly larger bolt in the meantime. Thanks for the help.

Hey Ken great advice... I went out and sure enough by back carbs butterfly wasn't opening enough. I bent the bar and she came back to life. She seems really stinky though, so I was wondering if opening the butterfly's more would lean out the mixture enough and let it choke properly. Thanks for the help Chris

Both of them work properly, and I recently adjusted them to both pull the same amount when opened. I should've stated this earlier, thanks for the response. Those links have lots of good info. Chris

I got this wierd issue with my su's during warm up. With the choke on and the car started my front carb has excessive vacuum while the rear has none at all. Car runs like crap till it warms up then everything is fine. Both carbs are sync'd and pull the same amount of air when at operating temp. Anyone had this issue before? Thanks for the help.

Hey thanks for the responses. I was thinking about crud in there so I checked the fuel filter again and it was gunked up. I cleaned it out and ran it again and it did the same thing. I then looked inside the float bowl and I found some sediment like fine dust. Would particles that small continually give me problems? I also ran another test where I checked the volume of fuel being delivered from the fuel rail to the carbs. I cranked the motor and the back carb ended up with twice the amount of fuel going to it. Could this be a natural case because of increased pressure at the end of the fuel rail being caused by a smaller hole as it enters the fuel return area of the line? The people who owned it before me said they had the tank boiled and relined. When I got it the tank was nearly empty, maybe it rusted again? Beandip: the floats move freely up and down when I turn the float cover upside down. My floats are the originals, I tested them by seeing if they'd still float in fuel or sink, they floated. Arne: when I set my floats lower they seems to run out of fuel under acceleration. I'm concerned with the fact that I put 1/4 in. fuel line to the carbs. I think I had 5/8 in. before, but not sure since they were all rotted away. Possibly the smaller size is limiting the flow of fuel to the carbs? Chris

Hey guys I'm reviving my post cause I'm having another problem again. I replaced my needles and can't get my car running right. I ended up getting a wierd bug in my back carb. I replaced my needles, needle valves, and put new 1/4 in fuel line from rail to each carb. I blew out all my lines again with pressurized air and also replaced my fuel filter again. I have my carbs balanced and when it's completely warm I get the mixture settings right and she purrs at 700 RPM. When I pop the throttle the car returns to idle, but now runs a little rough. I lower the mixture nut and the idle comes back up. I immediately think stuck needle valve so I tap it with a screwdriver and now it dumps gas all over. I rechecked the float levels and they're both shutting off at 3/8 from the float cover. I put it back together and start it up, now my car idles good. I pop the throttle and now it runs rough, this time my back carb is dry when I open it up. What's going on here, could it be a bad float? I just replaced my mech fuel pump a month ago and it was running great before the new needles.

Hey I was wondering what pre-ignition smells like. I seem to get a slight pinging around 3k or so, and my timing is about 10 degrees BTDC. After driving for awhile I get a smell in the car like when you weld or grind metal. Is that the smell of pre-ignition? Thanks guys Chris

I agree with Mortenson. For the body arc welding could easily burn holes in it causing more work. I think arc welding would be good for exhaust or structural/frame repairs. I bought a mig kit from Home Depot to do major rust repair on an old Toyota Pickup. Even with the mig I burned a couple holes at first so I had to turn it down low. Then I was able to take my time and make good welds. I too taught myself how to weld on this project and my friend who took bodyworking classes was impressed, it just takes time to perfect.

I found some at the local parts store, apparently new Hondas are using it. 0w-20. It was kinda expensive because it's synthetic. I went back to 30wt since it's getting cold, my acceleration seems a little better now.

Hey thanks for all the info. That link with all the SU needle info is great. Looks like I got another project for the winter. I ordered a set of 54's from ZT so I'll post any changes. From the looks of it the 54's should lean out my idle, but give me more in the mid to top end. I'll see if these work, I'm also gonna invest in a cheap O2 sensor and make a mixture analyzer. Hey vagus where did you install both sensors? I got a nice new header that I don't want to drill, I'm thinking about putting one just past the collector. Thanks Chris

Hey Dogma thanks for the reply. I've done plenty of research on the SU's. I bought the kit from Z therapy and rebuilt them myself. I know that working on these cars is part of owning them, but I'm just curious how come I can't get the mixture correct according to the colortune. I know that my throttle shafts are leaking(front a little more than the back) wouldn't that make me run lean though? When I tune them according to what I think is the way to do it then it seems to run fine, just a little stinky at the exhaust. Plugs are a nice tan color, not real black. What got me wondering is when I tried the colortune and it said I was running rich. When I screwed the nozzle all the way up I totally disabled that carb so obviously my floats arn't set too high which would make it rich all the time. I know I'm lacking on the comp test readings, I gotta buy a guage. I got a couple other questions for you. While tuning your carbs when lifting the piston to disable that carb how much should the idle drop. I've read that if the idle stays the same then it's too rich, if it dies then it's too lean. I'm guessing a happy medium is what we're looking for? One more question, I went to adjust my valves the other day and I couldn't get any open end wrenches to fit the adjusting nut. I know this sounds stupid, but what do you use? Thanks Chris

The motor is original, it has 125K on it. I haven't done a comp check though so I don't know about the rings. Could a rich condition cause this smoke? I'm not sure how it was before because it's been sitting for 10 years before I rebuilt the carbs. It only seems to happen when I accelerate or when I pop the throttle when tinkering with the carbs. The colortune seems to be a good tool. During all my adjustments the color never turner blue, only stayed yellow/orange. Even though according to the instructions I'm running rich the car seems to run good. So I can't tell yet if it works, but I've read other stories of people who use it and like it. Chris