EScanlon

I agree with Stephen. At that point a Dash Cap would be thinner, quicker and probably cheaper as well (they're about $90-100), and definitely less hazzle than trying to put two layers of fiberglass AND have it evenly smooth everywhere.

Yes, the fan/squirrel cage are mounted to the fresh air intake/valve. If you have A/C then usually that mounts in FRONT of that. And now, we're getting past my experiences as I've not removed the A/C plenum from a car in years (and that was a get it out of my way to get to the squirrel cage) and as a result I'm literally ignorant as to what to do to remove it. But it does sound as though something is stopping the lever from traveling back. The only other possibility would be if somehow the cable got bent while the lever was in the middle position and the bend does not allow it to retract into the sheath. Hope this helps E

Shouldn't be, sounds like an adjustment to the cable is in order. However, first a couple of questions: Did this just recently start happening? If so, was it moving all the way to the left OK? If this is the case, it is very probable that the foam/vinyl face gasket on the Fresh Air Flapper Valve has come unglued from the metal and is now obstructing the flap from closing all the way. To fix this requires removing the Fan Housing (not just the fan/squirrel cage), to repair. However, you CAN check if this is the case by removing the Fan/Squirre Cage and looking through to the Fresh Air Valve (as this is what the lever actuates). If it's been this way since a refresh or restore, it's more than likely a poorly adjusted cable. The connection for this cable is the Fresh Air Flap on the Right Rear of the Fresh Air valve. Simply reach back there with a 90° screwdriver, loosen the set screw for the sheath grip, push the lever into proper OFF position and re-tighten. Hope this helps Enrique

Fastest method that shouldn't damage properly applied decals and stripes: Wax and Grease Remover. You should be able to buy it at your local Auto Paint store. A gallon runs approx $35 or so, and a spray can approx $8 or 9. The use is straight from the Karate Kid: "Wax ON-Wax OFF". One hand applies, the other removes. Use a clean rag in both hands initially, eventually substituting the remove rag for the apply rag with a refresh of solvent. Use a clean towel for removal every time. Don't use synthetic cloth, use cotton rags; t-shirts, baby diapers both work great. The other product, is plain old Mineral Spirits. Not as good nor as effective as W&G Remover, but cheap. Like $10-12 for a gallon. Of the two, I like W&G more. Last item, a heavy concentration of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Palmolive works also, or lastly Pine-Sol. All of these have the grease-cutting strength to cut the wax, however, copious rinsing is recommended afterwards. I use this stuff FIRST to remove any oils on the car, then follow up with W&G-R to get to a clean base. FWIW E

IIRC ground the wire that connects to the sensor and turn the key to "ON". The temp sensor should max out. If it does not that may indicate problems with the gauge. But as Stephen has said, it's more than likely the sensor. 2¢ E

Once it's pliable, and be careful doing that, hair dryer ok, heat gun...very iffy, torch definitely out, then the top flange the one in the gas fill area gets pushed IN to the body, and then it gets slipped off the tank neck. Once you slip it off the tank, then you can remove the lower flange that seals the bottom portion. HTH E

Doug; No doubt you've fed the monster plenty, the car looks sharp. IIRC this is the same car that Carl mentioned some months (years?) back. However, don't forget that the monster cares not how recently nor how much it's been fed....wallet on the console equals immediate craving for expense. Heck, I would wager that he would at least need .... I don't know... fuzzy dice? The caution is more to alert Joel than about needing to spend the money. Joel, just remember, do NOT put your wallet or any other money or credit device on the center console. Call it superstition, call it tom-foolery, call it an urban legend, but somehow the car knows and the stories by other members are NOT made up. E

Check an industrial supply house. 2¢ E

Congratulations! You mentioned "jinxing" yourself, so in order to avoid that, please read the following: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22084 Hope this helps; E

Sydney Moon as a navigator, wearing that orange plaid outfit. FWIW E

OR you can do a SEARCH on this site and see just how much information IS out there. I did the same search and found several references that would allow you to deduce what to do. No diagrams, but several point by point descriptions. Use the terms: "Heater and Control and Cable" in the Search window (including the word AND) and you'll get a couple of pages worth of posts. Some of the information will be for the Early and some will be for the Later Z. Not sure if yours is strictly cable controlled or if it also uses the Vacuum system of the later cars. I'm suggesting you do it this way rather than just posting the results of the same search so that you can find out just how MUCH information is in the archives. FWIW E

WAG: Crud inside the tank clogging the pick-up tube / in-tank screen? E

Mat: You'll get more and better information on that at http://hybridz.org/ where they have a wealth of information and lots of people who've both done it AND raced it. Here, we do have a couple, but they're in the minority (and not because they're not welcome). Hopefully they'll chime in, but I'll bet they second my suggestion. E

Tim: You've asked this question in 4 different ways and posts now. While everyone has been polite in telling you their reasons for the answers they've given, and the consensus is to not waste time, money and effort by trying to rig something up, but to simply find an OEM piece that works and fits for your year of car. You've been ignoring that and hoping for a different answer. Well, here goes. Hopefully you will not be offended but will instead, understand that we're trying to help you. You keep asking: do I have to replace it with the OEM valve or can I do it a different way. Well the answer is simple, do it whatever way YOU can figure out. However, if that is NOT the answer you wanted to hear, then read on. Yes, you can replace it with a manual control valve. Which one, where to obtain it, how it mounts, how much it will cost, how will you operate it, what other modifications will you have to do in order to make it work.....ALL of the answers to those questions are unknown to the majority of us here. The reason is simple, we've not done it that way. If you wanted to really go cheap just replace the valve and the firewall "thingy" with some heater hose and a pair of Vice-Grips. Then just squirt some of that construction type foam insulation around the hole in the firewall to close off the engine smell and possible exhaust fumes from the cabin. Granted, it will be a complete nuisance to have to adjust the Vice-Grips before you get the amount of heat you want, but it is a workable 'MacGyver" solution. Not pretty, but functional. Don't like that one? Well, why not simply bypass the heater plenum and just route the heater hoses BACK to the engine and disconnect the heater entirely. A bit of duct tape on the firewall opening and Presto=Zesto! you've "fixed" it. No, there won't be any heat in the car, but surely that's a luxury you can do without. After all, we're looking at doing this on the "cheap". Still don't like that answer? How about looking up the various boneyards across the country and querying them as to the availability and $ for that part. Let me warn you that 1) the part may be one that the boneyards do not consider salvageable for a reasonable amount of $; and 2) they MAY salvage it, but the price is high...high enough that a NEW piece is suddenly a viable option. Lastly, don't forget that you'll be getting another 30 year old part, unless it was replaced by a prior owner of the car in the boneyard. To that end, have you checked with the boneyards that specialize in Z parts? Danny's Datsuns is down in Oregon, but he may have gone out of business, at least he was intending to. Have you posted a "Wanted" classified in the various Z forums and clubs? Have you done any of the leg work to find any of this information or are you hoping someone here will do that for you? How much are you willing to pay for that service? TANSTAAFL What's that? None of these options are what you want? You want it to be as original as possible? Well then it seems as though the only option for you is to either obtain a used part or buy a new one. I've given you the basic outline of what you need to do. There's a wonderful feature on this site called "Search". There is a LOT of information there for the wonderful price of....your effort to find it. Heck, you may even find that someone posted a viable work-around some time past. But the bottom line is this: There are only 2 solutions here, one is to buy an exact replacement part or not. We've consistently told you that the OEM part is the way to go, you've insisted on asking it again and again, hoping for a different answer. The solution to your question is for you to go out, research it, and then POST your findings and work-around. That is how the majority of us here have helped the other members with their cars. Look up Cowl Drain, Fuel Vent Line Replacement, Headlight Harness, Alternator Adapter to name just some of the different ways that we've found work arounds and improvements. Now, before you consider this a flame or a scolding, it's just the plain unvarnished facts and truth as I see it. You're welcome to not like it, you're welcome to ignore it, I'm not trying to p!ss in your Wheaties. Take it as a bit of friendly advice and help. FWIW E

I used Wick Humble's "dum-dum", i.e. strip caulk. Since my fenders matched fairly well and I was more interested in sealing the exterior from interior wheel well splash that fit my purpose. 2¢ E

Mikel Just how much Duct Tape / Bailing Wire and Bondo / Chicken Wire were you planning on using? Sorry, but you'd be better off selling the parts from that car and then looking for a better shell. You'd likely get your money back and a bit more, which would then allow you to do the job properly. While you may feel that I'm ridiculing you or that everyone is trying to discourage you, what we're all trying to say is that unless you have or are planning on spending $2k or more just on the sheet metal and welding you will need (those floors are just waiting for you to hit a pot hole to fall out), you would just be throwing away your time and effort and money. Sell the parts, use the money to find a better suited candidate for refreshing / repairs and go at it, but this one, sadly, appears beyond hope... regardless on how strong the engine may sound. Or save the parts and your money and buy a better candidate when you can afford it. Remember, those of us on this board have seen many cars with this amount of rust on the surface.... that turn out to be rust bombs just waiting to implode. The amount of rust that you do NOT see is what will kill this project. Rocker Panels are structural especially with the T-top, and with both frame rails and floor pans rusted out, they're bound to be equally bad. Which means that the only thing holding the front end to the rear end may be the T portion of the roof and the transmission tunnel. 2¢ E

When you get a chance, are those reflectors on the back lower portion of the rear fenders? E

Nice find! They ARE a lot of fun, and quite an experience in refreshing them. While there are similarities to the Z, there are also several "bonehead" problems that you'll encounter that I've not seen in over 2 dozen different vehicles. But they are addicting. I'm currently working to finish the refresh on my 67 1600 and have a 68-2000 in the wings waiting it's turn. E

This actually sounds like your Hazard Light Flasher, although it could also be the Turn Signal Flasher. (There are two.) E

Have someone press down on the hatch as you actuate the latch, that should allow it to release the catch. Removing the lock won't get you better access, although you could then press down on the hatch AND press down on the latch mechanism yourself. Don't know how you would pull off the entire tail assembly without damaging the car or the panels as the rivets that hold the tail-light finishers are covered by the hatch. If you can remove the screws holding the latch catch to the body, you can then open the hatch and R&R the latch mechanism. A good shot of WD-40 may help also, it sounds as though it's sticking due to old grease. FWIW E

Congratulations on your new contact breaker plate....did that fix the problem? E

The Sports Roadster 1600 L16 engine has the thermostat mounted at the water tower which is the highest point in the cooling system. This may seem totally unrelated, but one major problem with the L16 engine overheating is due to the thermostat having been mounted up-side down. (By the way, one hint given to Roadster owners is to drill a small 1/8" hole in the thermostat to allow for air to "burp" thorugh. Normal "burping" procedure is to insert a screwdriver and push down on the thermostat spring, which is when owners usually first discover an inverted thermostat.) Why would this matter? Well, since it is the SPRING in the thermostat that actually contracts and then allows water to flow, if it is on the "wrong" side of the water tower, it will take longer to heat up to opening temperature, and therefore will allow the engine to heat up beyond what the thermostat is designed for. Not sure if this is the case with the L24/26/28 engine, but if it is.... FWIW E

Have you tried opening the Fresh Air Vents on either side of the dash? E

On your 72, you'll need to remove the plastic inner panel protecting 1) the tail-lights, 2) the dome light and 3) the one on the Right hand side of the hatch area. To do this, locate all the plastic rivets holding each panel in place and push IN the center pin. Yes, this will cause them to fall out the back of the rivet. You can usually retrieve them using a ladies nylon knee-high taped to the end of your vacuum cleaner hose, to act as a screen. You'll also pick up bunches of crud back there, but in the long run it will help to get the car clean. If you don't want to worry about the pins, you can sometimes find black Styrene Rod at your local hobby store and cut your own. Remove the panel carefully, as it will undoubtedly be prone to cracking or breaking. You'll not be able to remove the side panel until you've removed both the tail and dome light panels. Depending on how the hatch weather strip was put on, you may have to temporarily remove that as well. Once all that plastic is out of the way, you will have direct access to the Evaporation Tank and the Fuel Filler Hose as well as the vent hoses to the evap tank. Now, since you are in NM, you may want to re-think removing the evap tank. The evap tank is specifically to recover the gas vapors that warm gasoline is prone to give off. With the temperatures in NM sometimes ranging into the upper 90+ (and higher), you'll literally be PRESSURIZING your fuel system. Since there is a return line from the carburators to the gas tank, and the only other vent is AT the carburators, there is a good possibility of pushing gas past the float bowl. I'm sure others will chime in, as my knowledge of this is not as extensive as theirs. However, I hope they note of where you live and make their recommendations based on that. FWIW E

I'm not familiar with the 76 HCP, but in the Series I and II (pre-260) there was no way of getting heated air out of the center or the eyeball vents unless it was very VERY hot outside or the car had been in the sun all day. Both the Center and Eyeball vents were for fresh air only. Heated air from the Heater Core was only available through the Defrost Vents or to the "Room" flaps on the side of the plenum. It may be that the later style 76 or even 260 + changed that, but someone needs to verify that. 2¢ E