tanny

That's what she said.

Bounce test: pushing down hard and letting up suddenly on one corner of the car to see if the shock will keep the car from bouncing(rebounding) more than once. If the car reacts like a car with two hot teenagers on lovers lane, then you could have bad shocks. However, I never had a whole lot of confidence in this test. Wouldn't depend on it. Victor.

First thing I would do is fix the bleeder cause you need to bleed the brakes anyway to eliminate that possibility. Just to be clear, I am assuming the car(240z?) only pulls when you apply the hydraulic brakes and there are no suspension problems. If true, the brake shoe or pad on the side opposite the direction it's pulling is not contacting the drum or rotor with as much force as the opposite pads and shoes. So, there could be air in the lines, severely worn pads or shoes(hear any metal on metal?), adjuster not working on one of rear brakes, debris in brake line, crimped brake line, bad wheel cylinder or caliper, grease or brake fluid on pad or shoe, lots of possibilities. One way to check which wheel would be to jack the car up and see if you can turn the wheel by hand while someone applies the brakes. This may not work if the brakes are still applying enough pressure to the bad wheel to keep you from turning it manually, but not enough to keep the car from pulling. Sounds like your theory on the air in the lines is a good possibility(because of the double pump), so I'd follow your plan and fix that bleeder and bleed the brakes. Then if it still pulls, take drums off and visually inspect rear brakes, then take front tires off and visually check. Often something obvious will be staring you in the face. I'm sure other people on this site will be giving you plenty of other suggestions, so your problem should be resolved shortly. Good luck.

Yes, I do need to get a machinists rule. Maybe Sears or the local auto parts might have them. Thanks, Victor.

You probably already know this method, but if you don't have a pilot bushing puller, pack the hole full of grease, find a bolt, rod, or socket that fits fairly tightly inside the pilot bushing, drive it into the grease filled hole and the pressurized grease will push the bushing out from the back side. Works really well. Victor.

I only have to pass about three cars on my way to town, so I guess I can keep on flipping at will with impunity. But then these country folk are ALL armed, and they probably know me(which greatly increases my odds of being shot), sooooo, maybe not. Victor.

Despite your test of the shocks, it still could be bad shocks. Bounce would be exagerated, causing loss of traction. Victor.

That's what I thought. Then my de-smoging at least shouldn't affect the accellerator pump. I hope. I'm not sure what I'll use to measure. I'll have to solve that when I get to it. Thanks, Victor. ps For some reason, these carbs didn't have the individual choke dashpots that they show in the kit manuals. The slotted lever is there on the choke shaft, but nothing connected to it. One less thing to remove.

No, the accellerator pump is what I was interested in because you said it was vacuum operated. I was wondering if I removed the smog stuff this would affect the operation of the accellerator pump in some way by altering it's vacuum supply. I have pulled everything off the manifold(except the egr valve which should stay closed with no vacuum supply) and carbs except the basic carburetor. Obviously I will have to plug some of the vacuum ports and egr openings. The rebuild kits came with the rubber for the accel. pump, gas inlet valve, and various gaskets, but didn't come with any measuring device(cardboard scale or whatever). I did take off the vacuum servo that hooked up to the accellerator linkage. Will be an interesting experiment trying to get these to run if my triple webers fail to improve. Thanks, Victor.

By taking out all the plugs, the engine will turn faster giving quicker read, easier on starter. Not absolutely necessary, but getting engine to operating temp is. Must adjust valve clearances before doing the test. Victor.

Since the e brake adjusts the rear brakes automatically, maybe your adjuster is not working correctly. Which way does the car pull when you apply the emergency brake? Victor.

Beandip, I totally sympathize. I've been rebuilding my 73 since last fall and there really is no end to things to work on with this car, especially if you let yourself get too anal. I think you have to sit down at some point and force yourself to ignore all the things you COULD do to improve the car, and get on with putting it back together and using and enjoying it. There really is no limit to the amount of money and time you can spend on these things if you want to ignore all the other fun stuff you could be doing. Take off the wheel to inspect the inside of the rim for cracks and because you have the wheel off you might as well replace wheel bearings, seals, ball joints, tie rod ends, bushings, put in 4 piston brakes, heavy duty sway bar, adjustible strut cartidges, higher performance springs, new rims, shims, new tires, blah, blah, blah, ad infinitum. Maybe an engine rebuild and a new interior. You think that if you don't do all this, you'll regret it later. I'm retired and I still don't have enough time or money. Put it back together and enjoy driving it. Victor.

Man that picture makes me feel like squat. My silver 73 still has it's totally, deeply oxidized paint(it's actually very dull gray at this point). Need to hurry up on the paint job. Your Z looks nice and shiny. (Something to be said for cosmetics. Even though I have the mechanicals and interior on my Z in pretty much great shape at this point, I still have to look at that nasty old paint). Victor.

Zedrally and/or 2manyzs: I am rebuilding my flat tops at the moment and was wondering if you guys had any tricks or advice on making these run well. I am desmogging these carbs and was wondering about the vacuum operated accelerator pump. I don't really have any info on how this pump works. Does the vacuum come strictly from the venturi effect in the carb or is there some vacuum line that I need to leave attached to the carb that is the vacuum source for the accelerator pump? I'm removing all water lines and servos etc. and want to be sure not to remove anything that is necessary to the basic operation of the carb. Hopefully you can understand my ramblings, and this info may also help alordzot. Thanks, Victor.

I was ordering Two KYB front cartridges from tire rack(they were the cheapest for KYB that I found) and decided just to get four of them from there. They're $10 apiece. Victor.

Yes, the screw in type is much easier and you can test the compression without a helper. Victor. Be sure to warm up the engine before you test and take out all the plugs.

I just received a set of old stock springs for the 240 and the right spring is definitely longer than the left. I also noticed that my new springs both have a blue paint mark on them and the old right front spring has a blue paint mark and the old left front spring(the shorter one) has a reddish brown paint mark. I think what I got on Ebay was two right front springs. Does anyone know if it would cause any problems to use the two right front springs on the front? Would the car sit wrong and have alignment problems or would the difference really be insignificant? I could use the new right front and the old left front, but obviously I'd like to use both new ones if I can. Thanks, Victor.

Yes, the groove looked clean and the leak is definitely coming from the seal. I'm wondering if maybe the groove on the fuel sensor might be warped, I didn't really inspect it that closely. Or maybe the hold down tangs that the retainer turns into are not tight enough. As soon as I get below 1/2 tank I'll rip it out and take a better look. Thanks, Victor.

Carl, Thanks for the reply. I ordered four cartridge boots with the bump stops attached for the KYB cartridges. Hopefully those will work. Victor.

I replaced the fuel tank sending unit o-ring and it still seeps gasoline. Any suggestions on how to seal better? Is there some type of sealer that I could apply to the o-ring that might help with the sealing but not bond the sending unit in place? Wishful thinking probably. Thanks, Victor.

I have a similar question. There is an upper strut bearing on the front struts and a spring spacer on the rear struts. Should these automatically be replaced when you put in new cartridges, or are they usually durable enough to reuse? Also, in the pictures these parts look similar. Do they perform the same function? Is the only function of the bump stops to prevent hard bottoming out of the cartridge? I also found a bunch of crumbled plastic like chunks(hardened, brittle rubber?) of material at the bottom of the springs. What is that? Thanks, Victor. Don't mean to steal this thread, just thought this was closely related.

I took a chance and bought a couple of supposedly new OEM front springs for the 240(they were advertised as for the 240 only) on Ebay, but when I measured them they were the right number of turns(10) and spring thickness, but the free length was 15.5 inches on both. The factory specs say they should be 14.1 inches on left, 15.1 inches on right. I'm a little suspicious they may be 260z springs, because 260z factory specs say 15.5 inches for both fronts. But the number of turns on the 260 springs should be 10.75 and the spring wire should be thicker. Seem to be some hybrid springs. Won't be the first time I got zapped on Ebay. Would these springs still be usable for the front or not? Unfortunately they don't have any part number tags, but the seller was going to try to find out from the guy he purchased them from. We'll see. Thanks, Victor.

Thanks you guys. I just didn't want to break anything by forcing it, but it looks like I will need to apply more force and penetrating oil. Victor.

I asked this on a previous thread but no response: When I remove the retainer and try to remove the speedometer pinion assembly from the tranny, it is stuck. I don't know if there is something I am not doing correctly, or could the assembly be corroded in place and I just need to apply more force. Does it pull straight out or do I twist and pull? Anyone with this experience? Thanks, Victor.

240z, That's fine if you already know where the break is, otherwise you might have to paint the whole grid if you do it randomly, and trying to paint a decent looking straight, thin line(even with the tape or the cardboard template method) with the metallic paint was tough for my mediocre skills. Actually it looked kind of crappy also because the paint was clearly a different color than the original grid. Being fairly anal here. If you really want to be a pea brain, go out and buy one of those little 12 volt space heaters(supposed to warm up the car: not a remote chance here in Colorado, as you would know) in the hope that it will defrost your window(I wouldn't have ever been that stupid). Well anyway, good luck. After all this babble, I would think that whether the defroster grid works well or not would have a large influence on the hatch value. I know I would not want a hatch that had no heat. You can probably get an idea of used prices from ebay, as they are sold there fairly often.