Captain Obvious

Haha! Nice! I wonder of your neighbors saw that movie. We have a pool... And a pond. The pond would be good for you.

"Don't play games with me Ty! Put that steering wheel over here where it belongs and get this outta here!"

HAHA! Well I also thought it was Frank Zappa, so who knows! Charles and Steve, I'll send you guys a message so we can swap contact info.

Madkaw, One of the things that I plan to check out while there is "The Shrine to the Gods of Keepin' 'Em on the Rail" http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/04/shrine-to-the-rail/ You're a train guy, right? I'd be happy to have some company for the excursion. I'm not sure how much real train content there is as part of the sculpture/art, but I'd like to see it.

Thanks Jim for indulging us (me?). I think it's a good idea to discuss things to do and places to meet up while we're there and I've been wanting to get into some of this stuff for a while and just haven't. If you think we should start a new thread for that kind of stuff, just say the word and I'll get on that. In the meantime... Since I'm a Yankee, I'm thinking it might be important to at least familiarize myself with some of the local customs and idiosyncrasies. Just so I don't stand out quite as stark. And as part of that endeavor, I turned up the following: You're so Memphis If: >> http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2011/12/youre-so-memphis-if/ A lof of them are portable to other places, but some of them are very specific and I'm assuming very local. Here's some of my favorites. I have already looked into the story behind some of them, but I haven't researched them all (yet): – When you're 1500 miles away and you still use "Dave Brown" as shorthand for "the weatherman".– You know that the Ford dynasty is not a new model of American car.– You've lived here your whole life and have never seen Graceland in person.– You can finish this sentence: "Get the dope out your veins…"– You hear the number "201" in any context and cringe.– Getting an email from Prince Mongo makes your month.– If you say "might could" or "might should".– If you've ever called JAM-JAM1. Bonus points if you referred to the time zone in Memphis as "Capt. D's Time."

I think that used to be Huggy Bear's car. I never should have called your bluff! I think I can smell the weed from here!

Yeah, Beale Street is on my agenda as well. You're not going to walk around shirtless the whole time we're there, are you? And about dope in you vein... I already knew the answer. It was a test was for you! So is all this chatter considered a derail of the original thread intent? I'm hoping not...

I'll take a look at the Stax later tonight. Thanks for the link. Here's some stuff I found while poking around on-line: 100 things to do in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/05/100-places-to-go-in-memphis/ And 100 things to eat in Memphis: http://www.ilovememphisblog.com/2012/05/100-things-to-eat-in-memphis/ And apparently you should know how to finish the sentence: "Get dope out your vein…"

Sorry to be the outlier with technology. Sounds like I won't be able to do the walkie-talkie thing. However, I got your PM, put your info in my flip-phone classic and sent you PM back!

Oooooh. That's a good point. I guess if you tell me it really happened, I won't call you to see if it's a bluff! I don't remember seeing anything quite that, umm, "striking" when I was at your shop though. I'm sure I would have remembered such a sight.

Nah. Just a resistor in parallel with the coil winding to help reduce the flyback voltage spike when you turn it off. Kinda like the flyback/freewheeling diode, but burns a little bit of current even when the coil is energized. Bad side, burns more power. Good side, cheaper, more reliable, and it doesn't care about coil polarity.

Thanks guys. Sounds like my 77 is supposed to have cut pile, but it also sounds like it's no big deal if I decide I like the loop better. Chuck, "My 1971 Fairlady Z has blue shag with purple velour on everything else." Pics or it didn't happen!

I'm supposed to get in on Thursday at about 4PM. I haven't arranged any transportation from the airport to the hotel, but I'm hoping the hotel offers a shuttle. Cliff (or anyone else interested), Do you want me to wait for you before I start any sort of brewery crawl? I'll need something interesting to do on Thursday eve, but I could probably find something that doesn't include a brewery if I thought about it real hard. Some other ideas? I've never been to Graceland. Is it something I really need to see while in the area or can I leave it off my bucket list? I'm thinking I could do without, but if it's really really something that everyone should visit if they get that close... then I'll reconsider. How about a driving tour to see the"Birthplace Of The American Blues?" Legend has it that the American blues was born when Robert Johnson met the devil at "the crossroads" and sold his soul in exchange for phenomenal guitar prowess. There's apparently controversy and contention over the exact location of the crossroads at which this event supposedly took place, but all of them are within a 100 mile drive of Memphis. Would be cool to have some pics of each of the possible locations. Would be even cooler if there was a Z in the background.

When did they change from the loop pile to the cut pile? I've got cut pile in my 77 but I don't think it's original. I think a PO put it in and it's just OK. I'd like something better. I like the look and durability of the loop pile though as opposed to the cut. Anyone think it would be a huge mistake to use loop pile in my car (that I'm assuming is supposed to have cut)?

Exactly. Been there. Done that. Loved it. Sold it. Bought a 77.

I'd be hard pressed to believe that a backfire could cause fuel to shoot out of the banjo connection. I don't understand the path of pressure that could possibly make that possible. If you've got atmosphere venting nipples on the fuel bowl lids, it's impossible to build any significant pressure in the bowls. And even if you did, how would that pressure get backwards through the needle valve to the banjo connection? How far is this fuel shooting, and are you sure it's got anything to do with the backfiring?

Awwww crap. I thought you were taking the lead on arranging escorts for the show or something. I completely support the concept of meeting and being able to get in touch, but I don't have a smart phone. Will this system work for me on my Neolithic flip phone? I was thinking we could just exchange phone numbers or set up arrangements to meet at one of the local brew pubs. I've been known to make an effort to visit all of the local breweries in any new town I visit. I sure hope there aren't twenty of them...

And here's another complication to the whole spring conundrum... Say you have a couple (of what you assume are) stock springs, but none of them are the same length. The only reasonable assumption is that a previous owner has tweaked some or all of them in some misguided attempt to increase power or something? But here's the thing... The beauty of measuring and or calculating the spring constant in the proper way is that (within reason) the tweaking doesn't matter. Unless they really really screwed up the spring, you should still have a range somewhere in the middle of travel where the spring constant is still relatively linear, and it should still be pretty much the same as it was before the spring was tweaked. So even though the springs I have may have been stretched when compared to their original length, I stand by my number of 1.76 oz per inch. And that's the big problem with the way the catalog lists the color coded springs "4.5 oz @ 2.635". It doesn't have portable meaning. In other words, even if the stock springs I have USED to provide 4.5 oz of force when compressed to a length of 2.635 inches, they won't do that anymore after being stretched by a previous owner. On the other hand, "k" is portable, so assuming a new spring you would buy is the correct length when purchased, you could easily pick the appropriate spring if they were listed by spring constant. I don't remember where I dug up a copy of that old pdf, but I have that one, and I've never looked into purchasing stock spring replacements from Nissan. I have no idea if they are NLA. About other needle alternatives... I dug through the tables a while ago and turned up what I thought would be the closest replacement for the stock N-27 needle. I took a quick look through my notes and didn't turn up the number, but when I get a chance, I'll look some more. IIRC, it was a two letter designation, not three. I'll try to see if I can find that info.

I haven't tried that Eastwood paint, but I have to tell you that you make that outfit look good! Party on, my friend!

The temperature threshold for the cold start valve actuation is pretty low (below about 70F). If the engine bay is hot, the cold start wouldn't be expected to actuate anyway. In other words, once the engine is warm, there's no difference between having it electrically connected or completely disconnected.

Well I'm not expecting that you'll find anything wrong with the cold start injector, but it is "possible". Prudent to check, but I'm not expecting a revelation. So what else.. Injector that sticks open some when cold? Again, it's possible, but I wouldn't put any money on it. Have you checked the validity of the signal coming from the incoming air temp sensor? Been a while since I went through the theory, but IIRC, the air temp sensor has less of an impact than the water temp sensor, but could still be causing some kind of issue if it's not accurate. To check it, keep in mind that the temp-resistance curves for both the water and air temp sensors are the same, so when the engine is cold (and the coolant is the same temp as the surrounding air) you should get about the same resistances from both of them. Maybe you've got something wrong with the fuel pressure regulator that gets better when the engine warms up. For example, a leak in the vacuum control hose to the regulator could cause fuel pressure to be too high. And if that leak somehow minimizes as the engine warms up... Like I said, just tossing stuff out there for discussion.

I'm assuming you had little footies on the bottom to keep the sand out of your toesies? Hahaha!! You had to know you were going to regret that!

I got nothing that wouldn't still be an issue after it warms up. CTS and AFM issues wouldn't go away once warm. Cold start valve could be leaking even though it's electrically disconnected, but that wouldn't go away once warm either. AAR valve never does anything to affect mixture, it's idle speed only. Maybe the richness curve vs temp is just steeper than you're used to on newer vehicles? I mean, it certainly isn't as well controlled was it can be with todays vehicles. Maybe it's operating as intended and you're just expecting different? Maybe it IS still running rich after it warms up, but you don't notice it as much because it does a better job of completely burning the charge? Just tossing out ideas...

Unfortunately there's no guarantee that you can take the 4.5 oz @ 2.635 inches and simply divide it to a result of 1.71 oz/inch. However, if I needed to buy springs and that's all the info I had, I would do the same thing and start where you suggested with the "red" coded ones and hope for the best. AUC 4387 - Red Piston Spring. Load at length 4.5 oz @ 2.635 in. Suitable for Normal Suction Chambers. In order to really compare the two, you would need to: a) compress a stock spring to the length they listed and measure the force to do so, or 2) apply the same force they did to a stock spring and measure the length, or c) determine the spring constant of the aftermarket spring by measuring the change in force required for a change in deflection, or d) calculate and predict k. But in order to do that you have to know a lot more about the springs in question:

I did some investigation into the springs a while ago and as part of that, I determined the spring constant of the stock springs through experimental measurement: and also verified the validity of my measured results using theoretical calculations: In the end, I come up with approx 0.110 pounds/inch (or about 1.76 oz/inch). As for which spring would make for a suitable replacement, I don't know. The spring force rating system you described above that lists a force (like 2.5 oz. for example) is based on a compressed length and without knowing that compressed length is, there's no way to compare it to the stock spring. So while I can tell you that k = 0.110 lb/in for the stock springs, I don't know what the spring constants are for the aftermarket replacement.