TomoHawk

BTW- this year's Spike TV BullRun Rally is on (May 11 - 18) The course is from Montreal to Key West. there was one lucky entrant picked from CarDomain, with a totally paid ride.

Dude, not a race! It was a rally & competition. if Morgen would go to weightwatchers, she could be really hot looking. I wonder what they'll do with their winnings. It would be nice to see them do a follow up with the last few teams.

You can watch thhe episodes via Internet: http://www.spiketv.com/shows/bullrun/fullepisodes/

David- They have a number of chase cars to follow the competitors, one or two helicopters, a Noble (M12 3R) for a 'pace car' and a 2004 SSC for a challenge car. I'll bet there are a few semi's to move the canopies & tents (the HQ) and all the lightbulbs used for the challenges. they must be leapfrogging from one day to the other to have enough time to set up the camps and the challenges. Mr. Goldberg himself has an RV to take him places. I'll bet that he's not always the first guy to get to the next checkpoint, but there are enough support people to take care of things. thx

Get yerself a bag of soda cans, and learn to beat the metal yerself!

The vacuum tube that connects to the F.I.CD. comes frome one of the vacuum solenoids. All that stuff is activated via the a/c relay from the microswitch inside the car on the vent selector lever. See your air conditioning FSM.

It's a vacuum canister for the heater system. Mine was down by the frame rail tho.

thx mate. Yeah, the heater illumination light works, but now the electric antenna has no power. I'll try your idea too. I' ll even check the fuses...

Those old vac tubes were splitting which is why I was replacing them. AFAIKT, there are only nipples on the bottom of the selector, and having replaced all the tubes I could, there is still a hiss, and since I know the water valve is behind there somewhere, it could be that. BTW- now the fan won't run. The switch has been buggy for a year or so. Switching on full-speed somehow disables the switch temporaily- I think the brushes inside were loose. I opened up the fan speed switch, and cleaned off the green crud from the brass contacts (steel wool & DeOxit 100) and the fan still doesn't go. I will see if I can put power direct to the motor & test that.

I don't think you could get the rust buildup out of the cooling passages without some kind of drastic treatment, like an engine overhaul. Maybe one day somebody will come up with something to clean the cooling passages while at the service center ( a rust converter & filter system.) Having both iron and aluminum parts on your engine and the coolant washing over both can cause problems.

What can cause the engine block to rust on the inside?

I used 'thick brown mud' as an exaggeration, of course. IIRC, I flushed my cooling system 2 or 3 years ago, and I think that since the car sits more than runs (only about 1000 miles a year,) it has had an effect. Maybe a preservative & maintenence additive is in order? thx

That's the one I saw in the FSM. It's possible that the hissing that's confusing me is a leak in the selector control. thx

I had my cooling system in my 280Z flushed out well today. I had it in for the Spring oil change, and the guy noticed the coolant through the radiator cap was a little on the brown side. It's been two years, so I told him to flush it. The tech guy did it once, and there was only a little change. So he flushed a second time. Then he added a cleaner chemical, and I drive around for about 10 minutes (I needed gas any way.) After about the 4th flush, the coolant came out nice & green. so I paid him the $65 for the flush and went away somewhat satisfied. I drove some suburban streets, stopping at some traffic lights, and seeing how the engine was going now, and I noticed that it was pulling much better! :cheeky: Before it would accelerate OK, but not too well. Now you could feel yourself sinking into the seat- and I wasn't even shifting; I left it in D. Even the exhaust sounded better- crisper, like a lean-running engine. I even tried it with shifting, and a few powered corners with similar good results. I think the flush probably cleaned off the gunk from the temp. sensor, and now the ECU was getting a better fuel mix, so I could get those extra horses. Actually, I had a date with a lady I met through emails. By the time I got back to tell the guy he did good, the shop was closed. I was going to ask if there is a maintenence chemical I might add later to improve or maintain the cooling system yet. So, not only clean your injectors and spark plugs, check for vacuum leaks, and have a clean air filter- make sure you have clean coolant! Your engine will run better, not having to circulate thick brown mud through the engine, the engine block and heater core will will be less rusty and be happy, and you'll be just a few dollars shorter, but what the heck- maintain your car. So, now I will put a flush on my annual Spring checklist, UFN. thx

I made up this pic of what I noticed on my car. In the drawing, S and D2 are in the back ( nearest the firewall, and S toward the driver door) and D1 and I away from the firewall (I toward the pass. door.) BTW, just having one ofthose little vacuum tubes open caused the idle to change, so make sure you get all tyose pesky vacuum leakes fixed! thx

Does anyone have a diagram of the bottom of the heater selector valve (280Z with air) as seen looking under the dash? I'm pretty sure the PO got my stuff mixed up and I'm not getting vacuum to the right nipples. I get warm air blowing on every setting, but from different vents. It seems the intake door tube was hooked up to the vacuum **** port? I made up a logic diagram for the nipples from the FSM, but I don't think the vac valve nipples are laid out the same as the FSM drawing. thx a lot.

I have seen the ?Rustoleum rust converter stuf in the rattle can at the DIY store, and I've used it on the kid's wagon, but I wonder about using that on my car... OTOH, at the auto parts store, in the paint isle, there was a Permatex product, but I have never tried that. thx

A heat gun and a plastic or wooden scraper works well to get the undercoating off. Then a little solvent to make it pretty.

Didn't they mention the movie was supposed tobe more about the charactersthan the racing?

I measured the back of my car, and i think a net of about 36x36 would work, and would give you enough lift to fit some luggage to (duh) But for my car, I'll have to make some metal straps to mount some D-rings to the deck panels. Then just a few short bungees. thx

Will, Did you ever finish your cargo net idea? I think I can rivet on some D rings, andthen clip on a cargo net. That should take care of the "missing luggage straps" problem and maybe even hold down some loose stuff back there. But what net to use? There are some for Motorcycles, that will stretch to about 30x30 inches, whichwould just cover the spare tire. I think the back is about 45 inches across & 45 inches long? thx

Do your rear calipers have enough meat on them to do a little shaving? You might increase your clearance with some careful filing or machining

I've never had anyone ask me what I wanted for my car, but I've had a number of people stop on the street in from of my house to get out & ask me if I wanted to by a 260 ( I own a 280Z) or a 280ZX. One Z is enough for me. thx

That's a pretty big thank you, John!

that last choice was about right, but the first thing I thought of when I read the topic idea was of "Fix Or Repair Daily..." :lick: I still have yet to find a twisty road that you can have a spirited drive on. The nearest popular one (OH-555, in southern Ohio) is called the "little Dragon Tail," and iis a couple hours away, or about 45 minutes in the Z. :nervous: thx