Captain Obvious

So you don't even have the fourth bushing or washer on and it looks like that? Yeah, something's not right. About the possibility that you mixed up front and rear... You could just compare bolt and spacer lengths from the two baggies. Maybe they got the wrong parts in the bags? If it's not a parts mix-up between the two bags, then your thought about just getting a longer bolt is probably the simplest solution. So where did you get the kit? Do they have anything to say about the problem?

Haha! Thanks for the laugh. Reaffirms that I'm not the only one that does stupid crap like that even when I know better! Ever have someone else helping you and watching over your shoulder and tell them "Never do this." as your doing this? Glad you got to the bottom of the problem!

Excellent! So with the aluminum trim bezel not restricting the needle, what happens when you short the yellow to the black at the tank? Time for another beer! Hey, I really like working with you!! !!

Haha!! Glad you came up with the reference! I was starting to think that I threw that one out there and it was going to go completely unaccounted for! Was that three hours of bouncing off the front and rear of the cars parked in line with you?

Phew. Good. Been a while since I looked into any of this and I was hoping I was remembering it right! At the risk of going off the geek end, here's a pretty good description (I think) of how the gauge works. It's not a Z (Jeep I think), but I believe the principals are the same: The new Gauge Page

I was wondering this same thing myself. I've heard about others cutting a slot in the brake line bracket to allow the hard line to slip through the slot so you don't have to open the fluid part of the system to get the caliper off the strut, but I've never seen pics of such a modification. I was hoping that someone who has done this would chime in with their experiences?

I don't think the yellow is supposed to have a steady supply. I think the blinking is part of the way the gauge works. There is a bi-metallic strip in the gauge (kinda like your thermostat in your house) that makes and breaks the current to the sender as the strip is heated and cooled. If you ground the yellow wire back at the sender, the gauge should read F. But it won't happen immediately. The gauge response is pretty slow. Ground it and wait thirty seconds and then look at the gauge maybe?

Is that the Morris that's in constant danger by being crushed by a piano?

If there's no vacuum advance at idle, it's operating exactly as designed. It's known as a "ported" vacuum signal and it's supposed to peak right off idle at light cruise pedal position. Here's some discussion and theory about such things: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/electrical-s30/44790-ignition-timing-theory-port-source-vs-manifold-source.html

The device inside the red box is called your anti-backfire valve. It has three ports: Clean air IN from the air cleaner by way of the air pump. That's the largish hose on the left. Clear air OUT to the manifold when called for. That's the largish hose on the right. Control vacuum line, That's the small line that goes to the balance tube. The device's function is that when manifold vacuum gets very high (as sensed by the control line on the balance tube) the valve will open and allow air to pass through the valve into the balance tube. It's function is to dilute an overly rich mixture that occurs under high RPM deceleration conditions. See manual EC (emissions control) section.

The reason the manuals don't match your car is that someone has already converted your car from the original flat top carbs to one of the earlier years with the round tops. You'll need to use the earlier manual for the carbs and the 73 for everything else. As for the round thing near the carb... Can you be a little more descriptive? What direction is "in front"?

I wouldn't worry about the height yet. No glass or seats or anything else in the interior for that matter. What about gas tank and differential? Spare tire? I'm thinking you're going to be adding hundreds of pounds before your done, so I wouldn't worry until you have it loaded and then see where you're at.

Did you verify that the bushings are completely down in the receiving grooves on the rack? When I did my poly, the bushings were not a very good fit and I had to shave down the inside corners on the bushings to get them to sit well against the rack. Here's the details if you haven't seen it already: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/suspension-steering-s30/51640-steering-rack-disassembly-refurb.html Does the slit in the bushing close up before you clamp it? Remember, the bushings are supposed to be tight as that's what keeps the rack locked in place. There's not supposed to be any play and the poly should be compressed some upon assy, but if those bushings don't fit down in the slots right, there will be too much crush and the bushings will deform in directions you don't want.

I'm not so sure it's that easy. There were other changes made between 77 and 78 with respect to the fuel pump control and FI control relays. The 77 uses the dual relay above your left knee, while the 78 uses separate relays over on the bracket by the battery. The one that used to hold the voltage regulator. I'm not sure which harness those relays connect to... The main engine bay harness, or the engine bay harness.

Ewwwwwwww! Nasty! You ever figure out where the water was getting in?

The flow of suggestions and ideas is clearly bidirectional! No oops there! :laugh:

Edited... Just re-read your post and what I think is a typo threw me for a loop. You meant to say that the harness has no such connector nor (any?) cut wires, right? If that's the case, then I'm with the rest of the crowd. You got one from a 78, not a 77.

The "SAE 30R6" code number is also an indication. That 30R6 is not rated for FI. For the pressure side, you want "SAE 30R9". Here's some info from Goodyear Fuel Hose | Goodyear® Engineered Products :: The 30R6 and 30R7 are fine for the return side since they're under no significant pressure, but the pressure side needs to be rated for FI. BTW - Yikes! :paranoid:

Well you do know that some of this is your fault, right? I was just trying to get a spare in there that worked, but then you go and tell me about how you lowered your wood deck floor for more room. Now I have to do that too. I was happy with just a reliable spare before you went and did that!!

Lenny, Was just thinking about you today and wondering when you might start to find time in the shop again. So you say that Bob's AFM has an offset that would make his car run rich? Couple questions... First, you're talking about an offset in the "airflow to resistance curve" right? Bob's takes less air than normal to move the vane? (Mechanically speaking, he's got a spring loose?) Second, you've measured enough AFM's to be able to spot an outlier? If so, that's fantastic! That means you've got enough data to identify what "normal" looks like???

I have no doubt the final parts were chosen based on test results. In fact, I guarantee it. Look at the resistors below the burned diode. See those metal stands with the resistors soldered to them? Notice how most of them have two resistors soldered to each stand (putting the two resistors in parallel)? Notice how one of them is always a significantly higher value (order of magnitude) than the other? The reason for that is... You put the lower value in place and then tweak the value down a little more by soldering a higher value resistor in parallel with the first based on test results. The lower value is "standard" and is probably the same on all the ECUs of the same generation, but I bet the higher value resistors change from one ECU to the next as determined on a test fixture at the factory.

Thanks for the additional suggestions guys. One other thing my "plan" provides is reducing the overall width of my spare. The accordion spare is on a 5" wheel and pretty much bumps against the underside of the false wood floor. And believe it or not, but because of the significant offset difference, the space saver wheel (the one that fits the rear but not the front) bumps up against it as well. You would expect the space saver to be narrower, and the rubber portion is. But because of the offset built into the metal portion, the overall width is about the same. Moving that space saver rubber to a narrow Z wheel will allow me to drop the height of that false wood floor and gain some valuable space back there. Of course, a can of fix-a-flat is thinner yet, and a AAA card is thinnest of all!

Before I forget though... It's clear that the two ECU's are from a different run. On mine the feedthrough wire connections are labeled "U sub n" (U1, U2, U3...) You can see U9 and U15 on mine for example while sscanf's are not marked in any way. It's clear that the silkscreen markings of the two different boards changed along the way, and I can tell you from experience that nobody changes just the silkscreen. It's too expensive. I'm sure there are some copper changes somewhere between the two as well. Might not be extensive, but I'd bet good money that something changed.

What makes you think the resistors are any different? But before you answer... The fact that mine have a gold stripe on the end while the ones that sscanf posted have green and blue? Take a look at the other end of the resistors in sscanf's pic. Mine were just assembled the other direction. No difference, just mechanical 50/50 pseudo randomness. So if that's what caught your eye, don't worry about it. Direction on the resistors makes no functional change.

Thanks for the info on the space savers, but that's not the real problem here. Let me put the whole story out there... First, let me start off with: I did get my hands on a 4.5 inch wide Z rim, so if anyone is still looking for me, thanks for the help and I'm calling off the dogs. Now back to the story... I have a 77 280 with the collapsible accordion spare and the inflator bottle. I don't trust it. I don't know if the bottle has anything in it, and I'm not sure that accordion spare would be all too happy to be woken up from a 40 year long slumber. So, with all that in mind, I started looking into different options instead. Problem number one... I don't have enough room to use a full sized spare. The spare tub in 77 is too small of a diameter. A full sized tire won't fit down in the small tub. I don't know when exactly they made this change, but I know a 74 will accept a regular tire and wheel combo, and 77 will not. So in either 75 or 76 they reduced the size of the spare tire tub and made it necessary to use the smaller accordioned inflat-o-spare. So, I went to the junkyard and started looking for mini space saver spares. I found lots of them with the proper lug pattern (like your list above), but the diameter restriction is an issue even with the space saver spares. I took a tape measure with me and bought a 15" space saver with a diameter that should fit. When I got home I pulled on front and one rear wheel and checked fitment. Fit fine on both front and rear. Offset was wrong, but I didn't really care too much. Like you said, it's temporary only and emergency use. Offset isn't really a big deal. However, as I was test fitting the 15", I realized it had very little air in it and as I filled it properly, it grew in diameter and when done, it wouldn't fit in the tub anymore. Duh. So 15" doesn't work. Back to the junkyard and picked up a 14" space saver with the correct bolt pattern. It's a 115/70/14 and even when fully inflated, it fits in the 77 tub. But when test fitting to the vehicle it highlighted problem number two... It fits fine on the rear, but in the front, it won't clear the caliper because of the shape of the back side of the wheel. :tapemouth So, the bottom line is that I'm not sure there exists a space saver spare that will fit in the reduced diameter 77 tub while still having a large enough wheel insides to clear the front caliper. That brings us to now... I've got this 115/70/14 tire that would work just fine if I moved it to a wheel that would clear the front caliper. The space saver rim is 4" wide and with the very short sidewall on the space saver rubber, I doubt I could stretch it out to a 5" wide Z rim. But I DO think I could get it onto a 4.5 inch Z rim. My theory is that a 4.5" Z rim with a 115/70/14 space saver spare tire mounted on it will fit the 77 tub AND will be able to be mounted to all four corners. And if that 's not all!! A bonus would also be that the offset would be appropriate. And that's the whole Alice's Restaurant Massacre as to why I'm looking (was looking) for a 4.5" Z rim.