zKars

Brilliant solution!!! Great to hear you found a fix. You have to find out what that acid is. Extremely useful stuff. Won't use it often, but when you need it, you need it!!!! This makes me think of applications like melting a broken off steel exhaust manifold stud out of an aluminum head... Probably overkill, but any chance to work with fire, explosives or dangerous chemicals must not be missed!

Whoa, for a minute there I thought I logged onto zcar.com by mistake this morning....

Whoa! youre assembling. Eithwr you have installed the steering arms upside down or you have the wrong ball joints. Wait! Are we talking tie rod ends or ball joint at the base of the struts? There are differences in the early ones. There is a great thread on here somewhere...

Possible timing issue, then maybe fuel pressure/delivery issue. Factory service manual downloades are here : xenons30.com

First things first. The distributor cap only goes on one way, the spacing between the two mounting screws is NOT the same. If you somehow managed to put it on the wrong way, that would dramatically off-center the cap causing the rotor to hit the inside of the cap when it turns, making it get "knocked around" as you put it. The distributor cap has a "1" embossed on it at plug #1, it points almost straight towards the front of the car. If it is now pointing back towards the intake manifold, you have to backward. Get the factory service manual here http://xenons130.com/reference.html and read the section on timing and the distributor for further clarification. It also has an extensive list of troubleshooting steps for the fuel injection and ECU in the "Fuel and Emissons" section. Study study study..... Do the tests methodically and stop replacing parts until you test all the systems. It only takes a basic ohms/volts test set and a fuel pressure gauge. And clean every connection on every wire on the fuel injection harness, starting with the head temp sensor connector on the plug side in the head close to #5. Good luck. And welcome to Classic Z cars!

Slight, I sent you a private message. Check your "Notifications" up at the top of the window by your user name.

Wow, tough one. I think your only hope is to try to poke the remaining tip out of the hole from the other side. The schematic blowup I have kinda suggests the there may be access from within the main bore directly beneath it, but even so, you'll have to come up with a very small diameter, and very stiff tool, like a 90 degree ended dental pick maybe? to have any hope of pushing it out. What you may be left with though is a hole that may not perform like the original hole if its too deformed. Even if you drill them out with a small wire drill bit, it may require some welding up and re-drilling with the right size, and in just the right spot. At the very very least, you'll have to make all 6 behave the same way! That's step two, after you extract those tips. Good luck

Heat is the secret indeed, that hose will soften up and let you get it out, flange or not. A hair dryer may not be able to heat enough unless you're real patient, and you can only heat a small area at one time. A paint removal heat gun is what I use. Just don't use open flame like a propane torch unless you have that gas tank in another room! That hose is real tough stuff, I've deformed them alot getting 'em in and out. Same for getting it back on the gas tank later. Heat and some lube on the inside of the hose will greatly increase the ease with which it slips back over the tank inlet. Good luck.

Let's not forget our friend the backup light switch, right next to the fill plug, that is usually MUCH easier to get out.

John Coffee I believed mentioned that he used a pnuematic hammer, the biggest one he could buy, with a pinpoint tip, to hammer spindle pins out. He claimed great success. Regarding the use of ACME thread, I would use the finest thread pitch I can find to apply the greatest tension with the least torque. And heat. lots of heat......

jeff In my experience with doing several extractions, the failures were all related to insufficient connection strength where the tool attaches to the 12mm threads of the spindle pin. I mean you either rip the threads right off, or the threadsert threads in the tool gets pulled apart. Its not a matter of pulling power from the threaded rod.

That guy has a career in writing car "for sale" ads. I have absolutely NO interest in that car, but after reading his description, I feel like I just have to have it! Save me!!!

Ok, now THAT'S a write-up. Thank you! Proceedure, part numbers AND full list of suppliers. A check valve in the line before the pump would also have lengthened the time after last start before the line drains and it becomes hard to prime again. The electric pump clearly removes any need for this. Maybe a suggested addition to your plumbing documentation. Part number 253006 on anplumbing.com for the #6 size. A mere $86! A check valve is a very generic and typically cheap thing. Anyone have a supplier for a small one with 1/4 NPT threads?

Blue if you really want a set of flat tops, let me know... Guess what showed up just last weekend. Very low km's....

Well, all the rubbers seem to be in Alberta!

All these z's and none with a dang fender off... The biggest grommets I have laying around look right, they fit 50mm holes. Need some?

The only place for slop in the system is either VERY worn gear on the crank and/or spindle, or something broken in the oil pump that has allowed the end of the drive to fall slightly back into the pump, allowing it to disengage the spindle when the gears mesh and the spindle rises, or a combo of the above. Just can't imagine there is enough room for movement anywhere in the system to allow this, but its the only thing I can think of...

Try these guys: vintagerubber.com

yep, it will be just fine. Same same. Yours can be disassembled and cleaned if worse comes to worse, depends on how much corrosion there is as to whether it is worth it.

Totally custom. And beautifully done. That is very hard to do well. Nice.

Oh, thanks a lot. Now how the heck am I supposed to get any work done with that sweet sound in my head??

Partschick: You're right, this is the wrong way. Well partly, your story about restoration issues fits ok, but you should start a new thread related to your issue about whether a 260 bumper is a reasonable replacement for your 71. Please research the forums to understand which sub-forum would be appropriate for a thread about bumpers. Oh and welcome to classiczcars! Folks here will be real helpful about issues related to your project. Jim

See, I knew there would be MANY similiar stories, thanks for sharing. I may just have the highest concentration of crazy issues one one car that I've ever seen. I'll share them as I have time. Oh heck, here is the one about the down pipe studs. Ok, its leaking, on inspection the rear stud is gone, I can't feel the nut. I take off the other two nuts, remove the down pipe, and take the exhaust manifold off. I drill and tap the broken bolt, and put a new stud in. I reassemble the exhaust manifold onto the head an try to put the down pipe back on. Its the MSA replacement, the one with the complete flanged exhaust system. Anyway, the dowpipe won't go back on, my new stud won't go through the flange. What the heck now?!?! Well as most things go on this car, this one has an answer you could not imagine. "They" had MIG welded the flange stud hole closed at the broken stud location! Did they think the flange would leak through that hole because the stud was missing or what? ARGHHHHH!!!!

Just had to share this. I'm working on a friend's 72 at the moment. Several issues have cropped up after a recent "restoration" (I use the term lightly...) and I was asked to resolve them. The list is long, but many of the problems I have found are just down right shocking. This is the story of the latest discovery that is my favorite so far.... Yesterday I took the SU's and intake off to do a repair on a busted exhaust manifold down-pipe stud causing a leak. No biggy. I'm leaning over the fender at one point laboriously removing a nut a little at time, and my eyes start to wander over the exposed engine block. I spot what looks like a black battery cable. "Now what is that doing over here on this side", I ask myself? I put down my wrench and grab the wire. Sure enough, its a #4 battery cable. The ring lug on the end is bolted down to the upper right air pump mounting boss on the block (no air pump, its long gone). "Oh, its just a ground strap", I say to myself. But now I have to know where the other end goes. My curiosity must be satisfied. I start following it. It goes forward, and through the lower hole in the rad support, where the coil harness passes. Ok....... From there I follow it forward where it disappears down under the rad support, kinda where the headlight wiring goes and seems to go backwards again. I have the driver side tire off, so I peak into the dark wheel well with a trouble light. Yup, there it is, running BACK toward the strut... And guess where it ends??? They've used one the two K-member mounting bolts as the termination point. Well, yes, it is the only large bolt in the area other than what is on the strut, so I guess its a logical choice . I remove the cable. Its five feet long. There is, after all, no shorter path between the block and the k member bolt, now is there? Not only that, the K member bolt they used for the lug is barely tight..... That is just a taste of the several dozen "issues" that I've found with this car. I'll be sure to share more. This car is the source of an entire season worth of episodes of "things you must never do to a car" sit-com. Maybe Adam Corolla could use it to make his show more interesting. There is a great story about the broken down-pipe stud I was fixing when I found the mystery ground strap, and another about the broken off engine mounting bolt (the lower one on the block) that will make for good reading later. Oh and the drivers seat held down with a couple of #10 machine screws (they were loose too), oh and the ..... Now, back to work....

Does the oil pressure vary directly and perfectly with engine RPM? ie does it read like a tach? If so, you may have a stuck relief valve in the oil pump. Likely just gummed up, or the spring broke. Good thing the oil pump is on the outside!