mrcow

a little lube fixed my clock perfectly. I dont know how long it will continue to run but it is working right now. great fix.

Well i now have my camera handy. Its a bad angle but you can see in the last picture what i am talking about. the gap between the evaporator, passenger relays, and the side of the car is tiny. The blue, green, white, and black connectors where physically squeezed between the evaporator and some of the relay plugs. Then i have two pics attached that show my now broken evaporator casing. then the first two pics are for the "whats did the previous owner wire game?" the first pic is the back of the tach. it hasnt worked since i bought the car and had a green and grey wire coming off of the yellow square that went no where. I guess I might need a replacement tach. the second pic is of a cable that was hanging down from the steering column. it is spliced into the black single plug connector from the center console.

well i got it out. I tried to remove the evaporator before i did the first post and it didnt move even with all the bolts out. While i was trying to squeeze my hand / pliers up there to grab the connectors the plastic evaporator shell cracked and then i could easily shift it out of the way. So the dash is out now. I was going to take pictures to post in the forum but i realize i left my camera at the apartment. Now its time to figure out why so many wires have been spliced. While my dash is out, are there any components i should replace? I plan on inspecting the heater core, changing the water control valve and heater hoses. I am thinking about replacing all the light bulbs. In theory, everything electrical worked before i removed the dash but who knows if it any of it will still work once i put the dash back in. ha ha. thanks for the help so far. this is a great forum.

I have a '73 240z with A/C and the previous owner hacked up the wiring to install a sound system, CB, and who knows what else. I am trying to remove the dash and reviewed EScanlon's article, the haynes manual, and FSM before starting. Well now i am stuck. My biggest problem right now is that i cannot get to the body and engine wiring connectors. On the passenger side, squeezed behind the dash, firewall, and evaporator are at least three connectors i cannot get too. One is green, one is blue, and one is white. Is there some secret to disconnect these things? I can touch it with a finger but no way can i grip it. I don't know how anyone could get the dash out in 20-30 mins.

i need to replace the brake booster hoses and MSA says the engine side hose is discontinued. Since a vacuum exists in the hose i do not want the hose to collapse. Would fuel line or heater hose of the appropriate size work? or do i need to try and snag one off ebay. thanks.

Well my 240z is finally running but creates a huge cloud of smoke out of the exhaust. 5 cylinders show 160 compression and 1 cylinder varies between 80-120 depending on what kind of mood it is in. I believe the issue to be in the rings but im not sure what i should do... Should i A. try and replace just the rings and see if it clears up the issue or B. since i will be tearing apart everything to replace the rings, go ahead and do a full rebuild of the head and bottom end. I am leaning towards B since i have the money at this time and that should guarantee smooth sailing for the next 35 years. My real question is this.... (i haven’t tried calling around to engine builders yet, i wanted some recommendations)... but should i try and do most of the work myself or should i have a knowledgeable shop do it for me? I have never rebuilt an engine but I do have some people I could call if I run up against a wall. I believe I could handle the work and I have several Z books on rebuilding engines. Will there be significant savings if I try and do most of the work myself? Does anyone have any spreadsheets or numbers that they came up with for rebuilding themselves vs a shop? Finally does anyone have any recommendations for places in Houston? I browsed z club of Houston and they listed Awesome Z and Z World but I would appreciate it if anyone who has experience with Z engine shops in Houston PM about their experiences. Thanks

i took the bar off and cleaned it up already, but wasnt sure what the "official" fix for the bar would be from the experts here. When i took off the cover the back half of the cam looked dry whereas the front was well oiled. I poured some oil over it and checked the valve lash. All the lobes are still smooth but the back half is discolored.

i recently tried to start my 73 Z for the first time in ten years and some weird metal scratching sounds were coming from the head. i removed the valve cover and noticed the back half of the cam wasnt getting oil. The base of the back spray bar was bent and oil would leak out there instead of being sprayed on the cam. Furthermore, the short spray bar in the very back was loose and almost failing out (as seen in link) http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/data/500/medium/IMG_6174.JPG i have been searching the forum for a long time now and found tourniqet had the same problem but didnt find any posts that explicitly had an answer so, lets settle this topic once and for all. is this a common problem? i used a bench vise to straighten out the base part so now my only problem is how the bar is suppose to be attached? was it brazed in to begin with? how about JB weld to hold it in place? Also, what causes the base part to bend out of shape? i realize the first respond is going to be to buy a new one but for $70 i would rather hold out. i plan on rebuilding the entire head within the year and the performance cams are all internally oiled. so it seems buying a new spray bar is a bit of a waste.

well i hooked up the mechnical gauge and i am getting pressure but not the 14 psi listed in the FSM. while i was at it i did another compression test and the 6 hole was only getting 30 while the other 5 had 150-160. I removed the valve cover and discovered some interesting things. the front half seems to be getting oil properly but the back half of the cam looked slightly rusty and dry (no oil). Also the oil spray bar was lose and it appears there are marks on the last cam tower of where it was banging against it. So i think this solves a few problems, one being the back half of the cam not getting oiled, and finally they metal on metal scratching noise. I guess the oil spray bar could also effect my oil pressure. i uploaded some pics but they havent been approved yet. Is there any tricks to removing the spray bar? i see there are two screws holding on the back cover. well i think i am going to watch the final episode of arrested development and dig into the engine tomorrow. i still need to figure out whats going on with the 6 hole.

well before i started it i did change the oil, i put a little in each cylinder and hand cranked it. A few days later (after rebuilding the carbs) i did a compression test and used the started to turn it over. All the cylinders read 140-150. So i assume that means i dont have a problem with a stuck valve. So i pretty much followed all of your steps except for pouring oil over the cam and lifters. When i did the compression test i didnt pay attention to the oil pressure gauge. When i did start the car i kept a close eye on all of the gauges and the oil pressure was low. Since i had the weird squeaking (definitly not the belts), low oil pressure, and whitish smoke (maybe steam) i shut it down quick. I picked up a mechanical oil pressure gauge today but they didnt have the BSPT adapter and i read thats what type of threads the oil sending unit is. I am a little reluctant to take the valve cover off right now because the bolts holding it down are really rusty looking. i know at some point i am going to have to bite the bullet and try and get them out but i want to hold off as long as possible. i am trying to delay the possibility of stripping or breaking a bolt off in the head. once i get the new gauge hooked up i will hand crank or use the starter and see if it builds up oil pressure without the plugs in. When i try and start it i will pay more attention to if it was truely smoke or steam. At the time it was late and my garage is on the dark side. now that i think about it, the room didnt seem smokey afterwards. im just real excited to have it start and run for a bit.

Several months ago i bought a non running '73 Z with '72 carbs on it. i flushed the radiator and replaced all the hoses. My gas tank was filled with brown slime so i purchased a recently wrecked Zs fuel tank for $50. I replaced all the fuel lines. Compression test (all cylinders 140-150), changed the oil, rebuilt the carbs, fiber glassed a hole under the master cylinder, installed a pertronix ignitor and coil, and finally... turned the key. The car started up real easy and was running strong when i noticed a little stream of fuel running out of the fuel inlet of one carb. I was very excited since i wasnt sure what condition the engine was in. Last night i removed the fuel inlet replaced a washer and screwed it back in. I started the car but this time things got worse. The fuel leak was fixed but the engine was making a weird squeaking noise, it didnt sound like a belt squeak at all. I noticed the oil pressure was only slightly above 0, and then to top it off the head breather hose was puffing out whitish smoke. So now the car has about a total of 1 minutes worth of running time in the last 10 years. I am going to try and pick up a mechanical oil pressure gauge today to verify that the oil pump is pumping.