Jetaway

Now I'm really confused because my composition was correct but when it posted all the spaces were cleared out, resulting in, well, something that made even less sense, but when I quoted for this reply, it is correct again. Oh, technology! This will probably end up striped of spaces again. But hell, I 'm curious. Chris

Thanks all, Blue's Wiki link explains, or at least I think it explains, why after charging at an ammeter estimated 7-10 amps for an hour, the next morning it would shoot up to a charge level in the mid 20 amp range. The fast charging of the dead battery (the gauge was pretty much pegged to the right) for the first 10 - 15 minutes saturated the interface and led to the drop to a more moderate level of charge (the 7-10 amps). After sitting a night, the charge in the interface diffused, and the battery could take a higher rate of charge. No charger located, but I drove the Z for an hour and a quarter, hour and a half, at around 2500 rpm, twice today. A country drive rather than a commute. Charging rate seems normal now, but the general direction of the posts is with my somewhat pessimistic sentiment. I did things I shall not name by name to the pooch of a battery. Is there a test that an auto parts store would do that could be fairly definitive in a pronouncement of battery death in the short term (say three months) or should I just stay attuned to the usual clues of a dying battery? + + + + + + + + + + + + + ++++++++ <=== Put my head here. Anyone remember ASCII art? Chris

The only thing you have to worry about using the back side speaker mounts is sound that sucks eggs. Since I'm not a fan of cutting up interiors for little reason, I don't get that thrilled about door panel mounts either unless you happen to have eardrums in your ankles. Yes, I plead guilty to being overly picky about sound, but the absolute best way to mount speakers in a 240Z is to build or buy some boxes. You'll lose some cargo space, but, heh if you wanted hauling space, you would have bought a pickup. Buy a good pair of 6*9 coaxials (two-way) speakers. Mount on a piece of 1/2" particleboard not much larger than the speakers, leave maybe 3/4" around the top and bottom and an 1 and 1/4" at the ends. For the side plates, cut at an angle so that the top edge of the plate is 3/4", more or less, shorter than the bottom edge. For the top and bottom, aim for a depth of 9 to 11", with greater depth giving better bass. They will have different depths because the top plate will be shorter than the bottom because you'll want to have the back of the box square to the bottom plate. Cut the back plate to fit. Do the best you can to cut the edges to angles to fit the pieces, but don't sweat too much because you'll be using caulk to seal up all the edges anyway. Drill a hole in the back plate, run the wires through to the driver (speaker). Assemble all but the back plate. If you have some, fill the interior with fiberglass insulation. Don't pack it in, just fill it at its natural fluffiness, making sure that all the interior walls are shielded from the cone by insulation. Did you remember to connect the wire to the speakers? Yes? Put the back plate on. This gives a very compact, not bad sounding set-up. And by "not bad" I mean a set-up that you can spend 1/3rd of the money to get sound as good, likely better, compared with the rear side mountings. If you want more bass, make the enclosure bigger, though you'll have to double the interior size to produce a readily noticeable increase in bass energy. Two "doublings" and its getting to be pretty big, so I think you'd be happy with the original as described. The fiberglass stuffing dupes the enclosure into thinking it's 30%, more or less, larger than it really is. No, I don't know why, but it works. It should be pretty stable without modification, but if you throw the car around, our good friend velcro will keep the speakers in place. As a bonus, if you leave enough slack in the speaker wires, your Z can become an outdoor party machine by moving the speakers outside of the car or (horrors!) putting them on the hood or roof. For even more flexibility, instead of hard-wiring the speakers, use a set of speaker terminals instead. Chris

I think I can borrow a charger from somebody. If not, I guess I'll have to come up with an excuse for a long drive in the Z. Not that briar patch! Thanks. Chris

Folks, Car is 1972 240Z with stock alternator and voltage regulator (mechanical). Yesterday morning I knew the only hope I had of finding a parking spot was in the semi-reserved faculty lot on the top of a ghastly, horribly obsolete, parking garage. Since this involved four complete circumnavigations of the active parking areas with 100s of stressed -out hormonally charged neophyte drivers, I decided to turn on my headlights for safety. It worked, and worked well as when I returned to my car 11 hours later it was dent-free. Not enough juice left in the battery to light up the LED dome light, but at least it didn't get a dent. Got a jump and headed home. As expected, the ammeter pegged out at the right side for the first couple miles, then settled down to a position indicating, if the gauge is linear, charging at about 15 amp hours. (Normal position given the electrical load is one pointer width on the positive side.) So far, so good. It stayed in that position all the way home, 70 miles, with the RPMs hanging right around 3000. The ammeter was in the same, or damn close to, position when I got home. I had hoped for a return to the more normal level, but, hell, I had drained that battery pretty good. This morning, about 11 hours later, I start up the car and start on some errands. The ammeter went all the way to +45 then quickly settled down to its normal position at idle. However, once the engine gets above 1500 rpm or so, the pointer swings to the right and stays up in the 30 -- 45 amp hour range until a return to idle. A couple of questions: Theoretically, if I had a battery rated at 400 amp / hours and charged it at a rate of 10 amps / hour, it would take 40 hours for a full charge. True? I can understand why even an hour of freeway driving wouldn't be enough to fully charge a depleted battery, but why would the charging fall to the 10-15 amp/hour range last night but increase to 30 - 40 amp/hours this morning? Did I do something bad, really bad, to the battery by draining damn near all the charge out of it, and then recharging it by driving? Chris

Folks, Strictly speaking, this was two days ago. I snapped off the driver's side rear view mirror. No particular reason for it, just snapped it right off. Luckily I had a left side mirror and a good right side base and by putting them together, got one whole spare. Doesn't everyone have a spare (or two) rear view mirror around? The replacement doesn't match the passenger side, but neither did the other one, so no loss there. Chris

Yeah, Blue, that is one crazy video. You can tell that the engine is under load too, not just revving up in neutral. On the road or a dyno? Chris

Me? Yes, on the pins. Along with the pins and springs was a purplish pillow of Ceramlub 2800 (degree) F. I'm pretty sure this was a store-made kit. Two thousand eight hundred degrees? Isn't that Space Shuttle tile reentry temperatures? Don't think this stuff will break down under heavy breaking. At least not before the rest of the assembly has been reduced to its constituent elements. Chris

Earlier this year I replaced the front pads with cheap generic pads. The "anti-squeal shims" were twisted and wrecked and have not been replaced since. They started to squeal, moreso once they had a few stops on them, so I used a "stop squeal" product, which worked for two or three days. Got really bad, so I used the same product again and scrupiously followed the instructions for use. Quiet for a week, then started again. Another two weeks later it was so damn embarrassing (hot or cold, light, heavy or medium pressure) that I replaced the pins and spring. Just as bad. Bought a pair of PBR ULT pads for $29.95 (I suspect on clearance by a local store). They are ceramic aftermarket pads. Ummmmm... WOW! First off, the pedal feel was 400% better, and remember this isn't a comparision with worn-out pads, but relatively new, albeit inexpensive pads. Second, no squeal. Well, no squeal for the first month and a slight, intermittent squealing since, without using the aforementioned "stop squeal" product. In practical terms, no squealing. The company compares their pads on about a dozen dimensions at http://www.pbrbrakes.com/ then click on Aftermarket Parts in the side bar. Relatively speaking these will chew through my rotors (also slotted and cross-drilled) faster and are dustier than their other pads. I don't have enough miles to remark on rotor wear but they are much dustier than the old pads or the new generic pads I installed. Cleans off with slightly less difficulty than the dust produced by my 2001 Aztek with stock pads. If you've read other of my recent posts on Drum ID please, if you suspect I have about 3 wheels of braking power, you are probably right, but with these ULTs I seriously doubt that maximum braking performance is much worse as is than with generic new pads _and_ new drums and shoes. In short, I love'em. Chris

Nothing! A rare day indeed.') Chris

Tiorber and pwd, I've been letting the brake shoes wear down past usual the usual replacement level for several months now as my drums were past resurfacing specifications anyway, so I couldn't really cause them any damage. Having been looking for resurfacable brake drums for several months now without success, I'm just about having to throw in the towell and pop for some new ones. Thanks for the info. Chris

Did you buy the car I bought? Oh wait, my alternator is an original type, so it couldn't be. If after researching and tracing wiring diagrams everything appears kosher, suspect a crippled tachometer. It's more than even money that the electolytic capacitaor has given up the ghost. In 1970s audio equipment, they are always #1 on the suspect list for poor or nonoperation. Take them out of air conditioned houses, stick them inside an unventilated can where ambient temperatures can easily range from minus 10 to 130, 140 degrees and let them age 40 years and its a miracle that any tach's from a 1972 still functions. With good luck, the cap quietly slipped away and didn't short out a transistor or puke its corrosive electorlytic onto to other components in its death throes. Replace the cap (+- 20% on the uf, voltage rating equal to or higher than original) and see what happens. If it still doesn't work, suspect the transistors and either test or simply replace. The cap shouldn't be more than $2.00, the two transistors, maybe $6.00 -- $7.00 each at brick and mortar retail. Good luck! Chris

Good Evening, The drums on my '72 240Z are worn beyond resurfacing and need to be replaced. I took this out of (not off of) a 240Z in a junk yard last week. (The aluminum drum I spent 45 minutes wrestling off was, alas, about 10 inches inside diameter -- or might as well have been.) The bolt pattern seems to fit and the Max. Dia. statement is the same as on my existing aluminum drums, indeed is in the same typeface as well. I admit utter confusion regarding stock drums. I've heard that stock were cast iron, with aluminum as after-market performance, and that stock was aluminum, and finally that stock was cast iron then switched early on to aluminum. So what am I looking at here? If its not clear, there is a part number (?) stamped 6X07A at 2:00 O'clock on the drum. An original? An after-market replacement? Something for the Mars Lander? If it is for a Z, I have yet more questions. This sucker is heavy, way heavier than the aluminum drums I have. Would using a pair of these increase the unsprung weight to such a degree as to make the car ride or handle noticably worse? How about, maybe this would be just plain stupid, using one cast iron and one aluminum drum? Chris

Thanks! I puttered around for a couple of weeks at higher altitudes after asking about the installation and checking back slipped my mind. Thanks again, I got a visualization on what you did. Chris

It's possible that the knob and shaft have obtained a zen state of oneness after all these years together and, even with the screw in your hand, the knob will crack before returning to this plane. So you may have to obtain a knob, unless you have better luck than I with adhesives. Heck, I'd bet your wife's car has one that would fit. Maybe not a good idea. An electroinics store, maybe even Radio Shack, will have one that fits that you can use until finding an unbroken original or, one marked "Eject" or "Radiation Level" at a garage sale, whichever is your preference. Chris

First off, a couple of prefatory comments: A) Engine RPM is much more useful for a diagnosis. I mean, if you are having hesitation problems at 35 mph in 1st (assuming a manual), I'd say, shift to 2nd! My carbs could use a professional going over. I'm sure whatever performance improvement as a result would be 1/3rd of the reduction in time and PIA I spend tuning my carbs. That said: I've gotten pretty good at balancing and synchronizing the carbs. Fuel- mixture is still an iterative process. If tried every method I've come across, from turning both knobs an eighth of a turn to obtain the "smoothest and fastest idle" to the "lift to die" method and more than a few in between. My basic approach is as follows: 1) Idle at slowest RPM possible to prevent a death-spiral. On my 1972, that's 700 plus/minus a hair. This, if not apparent, is done after balance and synchro but with mixture unadjusted from previously. 2) Knobs to full lean, back off two and a half turns (as you did). 3) Tweak by 1/8ths, making it richer. Once two successive turns results in no change, go back 1/8th. 4) Lift the, uh damn, whatever its called, on one of the carbs as you did. I've been able to dial the functioning carb practically back to full lean before the engine dies, which has proven not to be all that useful on the road. Instead, and I'm sorry I can't give you anything black and white, I adjust the mixture until one foot is in the grave. I suspect this point varies by car and interpretation. 5) Drive: a) If Smiling Jack feels as if it could kick the a*! out of cars that it realistically could not, which is a good thing, but goes through 5 gallons of gas in 60 miles, I'm running too rich. Lean'em an 1/4th of a turn and return to 5) above. Note, out of deference to 200,000+ miles on the engine, my hard redline is 6500. Also, the gearing is on the tall side with an early 280ZX tranny and the presumably original 4-spd differential. If SJ feels frisky, find a place that can be reasonably expected to be unmolested by Johnny L. and: run in 1st at 4500-5000 for a few seconds, floor it, shift to 2nd and keep pouring it on to 6500, shift to 3rd and keep the power on to 6500. If you can't make 6500 because of a urhh, urhh, coughing you are too lean. Roughly speaking, and possibly strictly applicable only to my car, its running 1/8 turn lean for every 500 rpms short of 6500. So, for example, if its screaming up 5500 in 3rd but then starts to cough, I'll stop and enrich by 1/4 turn. Then: return to 5) above. If it runs strong to 6500, happy motoring! c) If you can't complete the this test, either you are way, way lean, or have a fuel supply problem or problems unrelated to to the fuel system. I'm not a professional mechanic, hell, I don't even consider myself a highly skilled amateur, but I think this test is useful because: a) the 1st gear rev and hold and the 2nd gear run checks for fuel bowl depletion caused by a weak pump, clogged filters, incorrect float level, etc. the 1st gear run and, more demandingly, the winding out in 2nd is a check on the electrical system. My opinion is, and god knows it could be wrong, 6000 rpm is 6000 rpm to the electrical side and if its not up to snuff, it will misfire given no, light, or a heavy load. So, if everything is kosher through 2nd gear, but problems develop in third, it's _not_ because the bowls are dry and not because of bad timing / weak spark, but the heavier load caused by being in 3rd brings out a sub-optimal fuel / air mixture. As a bit of a post-script, I recently read in an older Road and Track (early to mid 1960s) that the stochastic ideal isn't, under all conditions, exactly correct and that a gasoline engine under load performs better with a slightly richer than stochastic and the inverse, that under a light load (say, maintaing 60 mph on a level load) a slighly leaner than stochatic mixture is not damaging and improves fuel mileage. Chris

The P.U. had a completely different hazard light than my Z. As a general rule, we think alike on this and as I've grown more familiar with easy vs. difficult or impossible to obtain parts, I'm constantly on the lookout for an odd or an end that while not needed at the moment and with luck may not ever be needed, would be a PIA to obtain on short notice. Chris

I never got around to trying the heat shield extension because I couldn't figure out how to do it. The heat shield, or what I think is the heat shield is a piece of fairly heavy sheet metal attached to the motor via four bolts on the intake manifold, extends down about 8 inches at it's deepest, is shaped to shield the engine compartment from radiant heat and also is the anchor point for the throttle return springs. So I think. I don't see how the insulation you linked would be reliably attached to this thing. Drilling holes and bolting it in wouldn't seem to be that stable because of the construction of the insulation. Glue of some sort? Or am I looking at the wrong part? Chris

Thanks all! I'll be puttering, not storming (as I keep telling myself, we'll see how it goes) so I'll have plenty of time to feel and smell the fuel mixture. When it looks as if I'll be above 4000 for a day or two, I'll take Bruce's suggestion and lean out 1/2 a turn and leave it at that unless it really starts screaming for something else. No sense filling the noggin up with fractional additions while on vacation and I can certainly remember 1/2 turn on the return to my little burg. Village, hrmph. We got a Target _and_ a Best Buy. And a Wal-Mart. Village ... Thanks again, and who knows, maybe a wrong turn at Albuquerque will put me through Salem. Chris

Hi, all. 1972 240Z, electric fuel pump, 280ZX Dizzy, otherwise dead stock on the "go" side. My little town sits about 30 feet above sea level. In a couple of weeks I plan on heading up into the Sierras for a driving around vacation. I suspect I won't be below 3000 feet most of the trip and will quite likely get up well over a mile above sea level. I seem to remember from back in the pre fuel-injection days that high altitude adjustments were necessary, or at least desirable for performance and drivability. Just using the mixture knob, what sort of adjustments should I make? A ballpark suggestion is all I'm looking for, I'm not so OCD as to retune for every 1000 foot change in elevation. Chris

Dang it! I had a couple of square feet of HVAC air vent wrap laying around for half a year after installing a new furnace / ac unit until a week ago when, having removed the passenger door panel to work on window issues, decided to install it as a sound deadener / heat insulator on the passenger door. I'll definitely give this a shot. We had a freak June cold / rain front come through yesterday which will keep the high under 80 degrees today. The weather boffins are saying add 10 for Thursday, another 10 for Friday, and throw in some change for the weekend, so I should be able to tell pretty quick if this solves the problem. Chris

This will keep me busy for awhile. The only one I'm confident about is carb functioning, the rest should be checked, if only on general principles. I do know that no oil in the carbs makes it run like crap, but I haven't tried anything other than 20 wt. oil. I've heard that ATF is 7 wt. (all of the different flavors?) and a straight 30 wt. is easy enough to find. Do I need to clean out the old oil or just let it run down and out and put the new stuff in? Chris

I was hoping that you'd have a more definitive answer as I have similar symptoms, which become more prominent as the weather warms up. Like yours, its a 240Z and idles nicely at 600-700 rpm when just warmed up (thermostat). Continued driving keeps the thermostat at the same level, but heat soaking creates an erratic idle. Sometimes -- 600 / 700 rpm, sometimes gets hung up around 1100 rpm, other times settles in at 400-500 rpm which is too low and will often fall further and stall out. I don't have the heat pipe hooked up and have by-passed the intake manifold coolant circuit. Still, I can't but help think that it has something to do with excessive heat in the fuel system. I don't think its the throttle opener circuit. Course, could be as mine is a touchy little SOB. It didn't function at all until I opened it up and cleaned and lubed it (a foam ring, maybe, foam of some sort had dissolved from age inside it). Turn it up too far and it will loop in a positive feedback loop accelerating the engine until I pull the line on it. A little less and it still grips the throttle strongly and creates a hmmmwrrrp ... hmmmwrrrp ... hmmmmwrrrp sound as it drops the rpm maybe 200 per hmmmwrrrp. Not too much further and it has no effect at all. Anyway, currently if it is functioning, its grip is very weak and allows the rpm to drop far enough to make smooth acceleration through the gears difficult. And even if it did wake up, that wouldn't explain the drop to 400 / 500 rpm. Any suggestions? Chris

Can't offer an opinion on a power or mileage difference, but I just checked the K&N I installed 13 months ago and its still good to go without a cleaning. Prior to the K&N I'd be putting in the third paper filter about now. Well worth the higher up-front cost, in my book. Chris

Part of your mental checklist when getting in the car is: "Did anything fall off last time?" In my case, today, the answer was yes. The evening before, while out for a drive, I flipped the driver's sun visor from over the door to over the windshield. Well that was my intent. The visor came off -- smoothly and with no fuss whatsoever -- in my hand. I was turning to head east so it was no big deal and I just tossed it onto the passenger seat. Cursed mildly though, figuring something snapped/split/otherwise broke. Apparently not. Removed the mounting bracket (2 screws) and gathered a screw and a spring from the backside. The screw went into the visor and the spring betwixt the two. Nothing seemed to be broken, nothing seemed to be missing, I guess it just came loose after 38 and 1/2 years. Chris