Captain Obvious

Cool Got any pics of what you nabbed at the yard? Your intention is to swap them out for the original roundish headlight connectors? I toyed with the idea of getting rid of those roundish connectors completely and hardwiring the headlight connector pigtails right to the main harness. I was trying to minimize voltage drop and power losses in my headlight circuit and any connector is a source of some drop. The fewer connectors the better. In the end I kept them, but can get rid of them in the future if I change my mind.

Congrats! And those numbers look fantastic! I saw your other thread where you throttle position switch was out of adjustment. Glad that was the only serious issue. That was an easy one! So now that you got the WOT switch working properly, can your nose tell a difference? Is it less stinky?

No they don't. The later roundish style headlight connectors are actually FOUR cavity connector shells which only have three positions populated. And to make matters worse, two of the cavities accept a smaller crimp on contact, while the other two accept a larger contact. Cycle terminal does not offer that style, and I've not found it anywhere. The only thing I HAVE found (new) for sale is the smaller of the two crimp contacts. I got a couple spares of each (male and female) from Cycle Terminal a little while ago, but I've not turned up a source for the larger contact. I did buy some easily available larger contacts from Digi-key and while they might work in a pinch, they're not quite right. I can get them to click in and hold into the old contact shells, but they're not as good a fit as the original Yazaki contacts. Anyway, get the info out of me now because I just did a whole headlight relay and harness upgrade, so before I forget the details! When I get some time to breathe, I'll make up a thread about it, but I can't do that right now.

Are the two mounting ears necessary? I (thankfully?) have never yet had to mess with the the tail lamps. Anyway, if the two mounting ears aren't important, it looks like Cycle Terminal has something close. http://www.cycleterminal.com/250-connectors.html

Well, here's some carb trivia that I just learned... They changed those clips somewhere along the way. Earlier round tops used a different clamping scheme. Here's what the older version looks like. This is what I was thinking of when you said you needed a clip: However, your carbs don't use that scheme. But here's the thing... I knew I had seen cable clamps like the one you need, and then it struck me... Flat tops! Here's a cable clamp from a 74 flat top that looks like it would work perfect and it's yours if you would like: Assuming the size is about the same, the only significant difference is that the later versions are slotted where the screw mounts. This allows for more adjustability for variations in cable sheath thickness. I can send two of the slotted versions if you want both sides to match. Send me PM for shipping details?

Have you got a pic of what it looks like? I'm sure I could find a pic with some searching, but you're the one looking, so you get the honors.

I got one. You just need the question mark part, right? You have the plate it screws to, right? Post a pic of exactly which part it is that you need and I'll get it to you.

I think someone had been mixing parts before you got the carbs/intake combo. The carbs are definitely 72. I can tell because of the water passageways at the bottom of the face that mates with the intake manifolds. Only round top year they did that. And the N33 manifolds are from 73 which originally had flat top carbs on it. 74 used N36 intake manifolds. So I'm guessing that someone had a 73 car with flat top on it and they pulled them off to install some 72 round top carbs instead. Then at some later date, the whole intake tract got pulled off and sold.

Yeah, I don't know what made them draw the relay the way they did, but they certainly could have done a better job with that part. Like the fusible links... They spent a lot of effort trying to make the components on the wiring diagram somewhat match the physical location of the devices on the car. And then they screwed up the fusible links when it would have been easy to draw them "right". Unfortunately, they're NOT drawn where they actually appear on the car. Haha. Maybe you're right. "It's too complicated for you... You shouldn't work on it yourself. Take it to the dealer."

Those intake manifolds are from something that used to run flat top carbs. Either 73 or 74. Don't remember the numbers... Four of the holes (two on each manifold) are blind and were used to mount the idle mixture tube. The two nipples (on the front manifold) were used for some of the extra vacuum plumbing that went with the flat top system.

Tamo, Your schematic for the ignition relay looks correct to me. By the way... Every time I look at the ignition relay on the factory wiring diagrams I ask myself "Could they possibly have drawn that thing in a more convoluted way?" It's like they TRIED to make if confusing!

Yup. Hope it works! I don't remember the comparison between the SM's and the stock needles, but I do believe the SM's are richer across the board. Even if you would be running a little lean with the stock needles, the SM's wouldn't be as much of an issue. And again, the farther you are from idle, the less of a contribution those fillets would add.

Oh, and I forgot about the water hardening series as well. Here's a page from McMaster with a little info on some of the more common grades of tool steel: http://www.mcmaster.com/#tool-steel/=x8iikp And I still have no idea if any of those grades are commonly used for spring applications. I don't do much of that and what I do-do (doodoo?) usually starts with an existing spring with modifications to something that already exists. And one more thing... I purchased some anti-scale coating compound after the last time I did some home hardening. I haven't use it yet as the need hasn't come up, but the next time I'm going to give it a shot. I have a jar of this stuff sitting on the shelf: http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/metal-prep-coloring/heat-treating-accessories/non-scaling-compound-prod1122.aspx

Drill bits produce a hole larger in diameter than the bit itself. And the worse the drill is produced, the more poorly the two cutting lips mismatch, the larger the hole (within limits) it produces. Those drills that measured undersize when static may actually produce the advertised correct size hole! Only real way to know for sure is to use the bit to drill a hole and then use pin gauges to check the hole size.

There are quite a few different compositions of tool steel designed to be hardenable. Some are designed for an oil quench and some are designed for an air quench. Steel hardening is a complex science. Not easily done right in the home shop. I've done some and have had "reasonable" results. The most difficult hurdle I've had is oxidation while hot. Unless you're using an inert atmosphere or coating the parts with a compound designed for heat treat, the parts get an oxidized scale of material on the outside. If the part is very thin (like a small spring), by the time you oxidize that outer portion, there isn't much left. Most of what I've done has been using O-1 (oil quench 1), but next time the need arises, I'm going to try A-2 (air quench 2) because I believe it machines easier. I'm not sure if either of those grades are suitable for spring making.

Nice polish job! I have a concern on the suction pistons though... On the pistons, you removed material around the entire bottom corner of the piston and I'm worried that you have created two small pathways for air to go around the venturi instead of over it. The original sharp corners around the sides of the pistons provide somewhat of a seal to encourage air to flow through the center (recessed) area of the piston where the nozzle is. When you rounded that corner all the way around, you provided two additional parallel paths for air to flow past the piston without passing over the nozzle venturl. I'm no expert, but I'm concerned that you might run lean at low throttle positions because the airspeed at the nozzle will be reduced. At higher flow rates when the piston is pulled higher it will be less of a contribution, but at very low flow rates you might see an effect. Let's hope I'm just a worry wart.

Tamo, The 77 diagram looks good.

Oh yeah... I don't do bodywork. You're on your own with that!

I'm about an hour south of you. Maybe a little more? I'm no expert, but I know some stuff. If you get stuck, let me know.

Woof. 0 for 2. Sucks. So how bad was the first head? You sure it can't be cut to take care of the warping?

You should be able to tell if it's internally regulated or not by measuring Ohms from the two small "T" connections to the case (ground) of the alternator body. If it's externally regulated, one of those two connections should read a low resistance to the body. About 5 Ohms. (Page EE-14 of the 77 manual). But if it's internally regulated, neither of those connections will have a low resistance to the body. In other words, if it's externally regulated, you should find that one of the small connections has a low resistance to ground, but if it's internally regulated, you won't. Note that I haven't actually tried this, but looking at the schematics of the alternators it should be an easy way to tell.

Hi Tamo, Looks better. Two small issues on the 77 diagram: 1) The white wire going to the ignition relay should be white/red instead of just white. 2) The black/blue wire you have going to the coil doesn't go directly to the coil. It goes to the ballast resistor. Other than those, the 77 version looks good. I didn't review the 75 version.

I was talking to a local buddy who put LEDs in his dash gauges and he says the dimmer works fine for him. I looked at him like he was nuts, but he swears it's true. I'll verify with my own two beady eyes when I get a chance. I don't know what lights he used, but maybe some of them are dimmable? Failing that, I think one of the PWM dimmers we were talking about before in your ding-dong thread ought to work. Let me get some details from my local guy first. If he's got a dimmable option, that would certainly be the easiest.

That's crazy talk!!

That would be awesome. I'm not sure what time I'll get there or have to leave, but if we can swing it, trading seats for few minutes would be great. I've got a recently refreshed suspension as well and would love to compare. Mine feels good to me, but I've got nothing to compare it to.