2ManyZs

You can get the parts with no problem from MSA, VB and numerous other suppliers. The main thing that is needed now, is to find out exactly what is wrong. Sorry, but it may be one small thing, or it may be a major re-build. Of course there is another alternative. If the engine is not the original or originality is not a concern to you, you could always just get a re-manufactured engine and just swap motors. If you have never done any major mechanical work you might end up spending as much to rebuild yours due to the labor costs as what a reman engine would cost to bolt in. MSA sells reman engines from ATK, so do some local parts stores. Or you can check out their web-site listed in the web-links here on the site.

Sorry Dan, I tried to scan mine but it wouldn't come out legible, might be my scanner. The wiring I told you about all goes to the alternator except for the White and Blackw/white. Hope that helps a little more.

If you are talking about the inner wheel well, MSA used to have a repair panel. I know it's in their old catalog, seems like they were about 50 bucks a piece. If you don't have their catalog, go to the web-links and request one on their web-site.

If MSA doesn't have the right drive gear, you could try Courtesy Nissan, seems like they should have one, or at least be able to get one. Red, 20 tooth for the 4.11 Purple 21 tooth for the 4.38

I must be geezing. I drove by the testing station that sits beside 495 outside Wilmington 5 days a week for 3 months and didn't dawn on me till now. I need a vacation. BTW, instead of a resonator you could use a "race muffler" like I just got from Summit Racing. It's a bullet shaped straight thru so it wouldn't take up much room, and it was only 32 bucks. It's made by Dynomax, but not sure how small a pipe it fits, I think the smallest was 2 or 2 1/4. Resonator isn't much different than a muffler anyway, just a few less baffles.

Tom, can you legally remove the smog equipment in DE on a car that is over 25? If you can legally do it, or if you don't have smog checks, that would be the simplest solution to the problem. Not only that, but your car will probably end up running a lot better. Might want to check into it if you haven't already.

No, it's not illegal to change the speedometer. It will be illegal if you try to match the odometer reading from the old one to the new one. All you have to do is if you sell it, you must record it on the title that the odometer does not state the actual mileage. As long as you state that you will be OK, you might also give the next owner the actual mileage total from the original speedometer so that with that they can determine the total number of miles on the car.

Sorry, but it sounds like you have an electrical "gremlin" in there. If it is affecting the oil pressure and the temp gauge it's probably a ground problem. The temp gauge moving is probably the thermostat opening as you think, but the oil pressure being affected make me think it may be electrical, check out the ground on that side of the wiring harness.

That's not very nice Mike, putting a car up for sale like that right when I have no room in the garage!

Looks like I need to race the Big Brown Truck and block him for a while. If you have all the smog equipment, the anti-backfire valve is the first place to look. Here's a quote from an old service manual: This valve is controlled by intake manifold vacuum and is used to prevent exhaust system backfire during deceleration. At that time the mixture in the intake is too rich to burn and ignites when it is combined with injected air (from the smog pump) in the exhaust manifold. The anti-backfire valve is used to provide a supply of air into the intake manifold thereby making the air mixture leaner to prevent backfire. If the valve is not working properly, the fuel mixture will go through the combustion chambers without being ignited, mixing with fresh air and at high temps backfiring will result.

It depends on how intense a backfire it is. Is it just a little popping or is it M-80 loud? Does your car still have the smog pump and emissions "garbage" on it? The anti-backfire valve may need to be replaced. It's the big can behind the front carb that attaches the hose from the smog pump to the exhaust tubes and the intake tube. Have you checked the mixture since you put on the exhaust? You may have to check your plugs and see if it has leaned the mixture out since you opened up the exhaust. Also, if you have a plug wire or plug going bad it could cause the backfiring. If you haven't yet, you could try a fresh set of plugs and then check the mixture after you drive it a bit.

Anybody tried to bend the flange that the stock welting attached to to give a little extra room for the new weatherstripping to compress? It seems like this might be an alternative to cutting the new weatherstripping. A hammer and a block of wood, or maybe a set of body shop vise grips with the wide panel jaws might work.

I don't remember where they used to go, and I also don't remember there being so many. I remember there being only two. Yeah, they need to be plugged, just not sure the best and easiest way. I guess you could try the old JB Weld in them, or tap them out for a small machine screw or use a self tapping screw, but then you might have to take off the carbs to make sure no cuttings get in the intake.

Plug em if you aren't using them. Most if not all can be plugged off with pipe plugs after you remove the hose nipples. Some of them can be a PITA to get out though. If you can't get them out you could try using vaccuum plugs from the auto parts store but it would be better to put pipe plugs in so you don't have any vaccuum leaks. Just go to the hardware store and pick up a couple of each size 3/8 and 1/4 in pipe plugs and plug away.

Well, you have to remove shift knob then the console with the outer shifter boot, remove the screws from the inner boot and remove it, then take a small screwdriver and pop the e-clip loose on the shifter mounting pin (put a finger on it so it doesn't fly away) and lift up on the shifter. It should pop right out and probably bring the lower bushing with it, then just pop out the two halves in the pivot of the shifter and replace the bottom one. Reverse the order and you are done, unless you let the e-clip fly away. Usually takes longer to remove and replace the console than it does to replace the bushings. If your inner shift boot has any holes in it it's not a bad idea to replace it too, lots of air and fumes can come in around there.

So why does the mower operator look so much like you kmack?? There is a resemblance there..........

There are only a small number of things that could cause the knock, most aren't good. Bearings (either rod or main), piston to valve, wrist pin would be the most serious and costly. Your oil pressure sounds right which leads me to believe it may be piston to valve or possibly a wrist pin or rod problem. You really need to check it out thoroughly and soon before it gets any worse and is more costly to repair.

I can think of quite a few cars that might give up their seats to a Z. Miata, Sentra, 280 Zx, 300 ZX(?). I guess it all depends on what you can find, what feels good to your "framework", and what will fit in the Z. Take a measurement of the bottom cushions overall width and go scour the junkyards. Most of the time the interferance is the bottom cushion width not fitting down into the tunnel area, and lining up with the stock seat mounts. You will probably have to do a little modification to the seat tracks to bolt them up or make up some brackets to make them fit. I seem to remember a discussion about the late model Miata seats fitting, and they have stereo speakers in the headrest, one less thing to tinker with.

Well, the only way I know how to check the valve to piston clearance is to remove the head, place something like plumbers putty on top of the piston, replace the head, and crank it over by hand. When you put the head on be sure to use the same thickness of head gasket you are planning on using and torque the head to the proper specs. Then remove the head, peel the putty off the top of the piston and measure the thickness at the thinnest place. This will give you the valve to piston clearance. I beleive there is probably a special putty for this but don't know the correct name for it. They need to know the valve to piston clearance after any head work is done. If the head is shaved it reduces the clearance and they are trying to determine if the cam lift will cause the valve to hit the top of the piston. When the head is shaved you will also need to shim the cam towers the same amount that the head is shaved to correct the cam timing. Since you say you are going to have the compression ration changed with head work, this will mean shaving the head. BTW, if the head is straight you could save yourself a little money by using a thinner head gasket instead of paying for the machine work to shave the head. There are two different thicknesses available besides the stock thickness. MSA has them. With the E-31 on the L-24 you should have about 9 or 9.5:1 so in order to keep from having detonation problems you should try to keep the compression ratio at 10.5:1 or a little lower, you should come close to this with just the thinner gasket, but to be sure I'd have to look in the engine calculator to see what it would turn out to be. A lot depends on the overbore (if any) and if you are using the stock flat top L-24 pistons. If you haven't looked you can download the L engine calculator from the Downloads section here on the site and do a little experimentation on your own before you start forking over any money.

Is this why men would rather have sons instead of daughters?? Next stop, auto mechanics school.

You need to hammer on whichever side has the nut. The control arm has a machined area where the nut mounts flat to the control arm. If you notice the control arms are the same right to left except one side is upside down. It goes all the way through the control arm, perhaps it was pulled down so tight the other end is even with the control arm. If it was that may be why it is being so hard to get loose. It should not pull down even with the control arm and is probably wedged in very tight.

Try not to move the spindle pin that connects the control arm to the strut. It has a taper that the locking pin slides into so you may make it even tighter by tapping the spindle pin bolt back ond forth. About the only way to get the lock pin out is to get a punch or brass drift and beat it out. You may end up ruining it as it is a bit on the soft side. You can get just the lockbolt new from MSA (part #23-4241 11.00 or so) so if you have to beat it to death to get it out you can get a replacement. You may end up mushrooming the threaded end so that it won't come out, but you could just use a cut-off wheel to grind it off so that it will come out. You are trying to beat it out from the nut end right? Not being a smart a** but it could be confusing looking at it since it is the same size on either end, it comes out by knocking it upward from the nut end. It has very little taper where it goes into the control arm, the taper is where it locks into the spindle pin itself. The spindle pin is also available so you can replace all of the bolts for around 34 each side. BTW, when you are done replacing the bushings try not to force the lock pin in too hard or you will mushroom the top and it will not want to go in far enough to start the nut on the bottom. If it doesn't go in quite easily try moving the spindle pin slightly as the tapers are no lining up. And take note as to how the spindle pin comes out as it will only line up one way.

If you have some tools and some mechanical abilities try a couple things before you spend any more money. Have you put an electric fuel pump on the car? It should have had one as a factory recall. If it doesn't have one, get one and take the mechanical pump off. You will need a block off plate for the head, but it's quite cheap. Can you or have you removed the smog pump and it's related plumbing? If you can this will make an fairly significant improvement. If it is legal to do so in Utah on this year car do it. Disconnect the coolant hoses to the carbs/intake and plug them off. This will make the car quite a bit more cold blooded, but if you don't drive it in winter you shouldn't notice much difference. I had a 73 for my first car, and after a while (and removing some junk) I got it to run darn near as good with the flat tops as a buddies car with the round top early carbs. It was a bit of a pain in the winter since it was my only car at the time, but the improvement was well worth it. Of course the other alternative is finding a set of early carbs to replace the flat tops. In the end you may have saved a few bucks. But if you don't mind getting your hands dirty you might save even more by just getting under the hood and trying a few things before you start throwing money at your local Z guru. Even those of us who have tinkered on these cars for years learn something new everyday on this site.

I've heard quite a few people say the same thing after replacing the weatherstripping. I think you may have to adjust the door striker until the weatherstripping starts to compress and conform to the door. It may have been re-adjusted to compensate for the old rubber that was getting kinda flattened and is now way too far out of adjustment to let it latch.

Well, there are kits available to make a Z a convertible, but most now only offer a removable hardtop usually made out of fiberglass. I have read about manual folding tops being used but I think they were modified Triumph or MG tops. Most kits come with reinforcement for the chassis and/or a roll bar too. Take a look at www.reactionresearch.com and then click on automobiles then look for the Z Spyder. Not a bad kit, but no folding top. There are a couple other places that advertise a convertible kit but not sure their URL's. ZTherapy also has a video on how to do it yourself with a video about making a folding top I believe.