Captain Obvious

So... Who wants to send me an early current driven tach for some reverse engineering? Madkaw, the relay system for the auto trans was originally tied into the tach, but only because it shorted across the advanced points contacts until the temperature came up. You can just disconnect that stuff. And I made this up a little while ago for a different discussion. Doesn't add any new revelations here, but just in case:

Hi Mike, Got your PM and just replied. Thanks for getting in contact so quickly!

I probably won't make it to Austin because of the distance, but I do have a couple suggestions for improvement based on my two past convention experiences. If there is someone here on forum from the host club that would like to talk about them, send me a PM?

Mike, Very nice! And in fact, Cliff looks more like Chewie than Roger. It's the hair.

That's awesome!!

While messing around with the diff straps, I noticed what may be some obscure Z car trivia... Here are the two belts I have. Top is from my old 260 (stamped with P/N 55425-E4100), and the bottom is the one that I just took off my 280 (stamped with P/N 55425-N4300): I wanted to know the circumferences of the two, so I put some tape on the inside like this: And then peeled the tape off and measured the length like this. It's not an extremely accurate way to make this measurement, but was probably good enough. The measurements I got showed that the 260 belt was a little longer than 21 inches in circumference while the 280 belt was a little shorter than 21 inches circumference: But the neat potential trivia part is that there are numbers molded into the ID side of each belt. The 260 belt has a "537" molded in: And the 280 has a "529" molded into it: And if you interpret those molded numbers as millimeters, you'll find that the math works out almost perfect. So I don't know for sure if those molded-in numbers were in fact the circumference length from the factory, but it sure appears that way to me. It's also interesting to note that the 280 belt seems to be designed a little shorter than the earlier belts, even though it's for a R200 instead of a R180?:

Yup. That works. I considered doing the same thing as well, but decided that the SHCS option was easier and a little more forward compatible. I mean... I sure don't expect that I'll need to replace that mount again, but if I ever do, I won't have to grind clearance on each new one that goes in.

Haha!! Thanks! I may have won the "more free time than money award", but other than that, I'm not so sure. And I'm electrical, not chemical. But what's a discipline between friends?

Zed Head, I like your metal mount. And about that leather looking arrestor band... I don't think that's leather. I think that's Super-Grip Rubber Flat Belting from McMaster - "Commonly used for material handling and light to medium duty power transmission, this belting has a textured rubber cover on both sides for a better grip on material than urethane. Inner layers are cotton. Width tolerance is ±1/8". Color is tan." Something like McMaster P/N 5753K424. Three ply 1 1/2 inch wide: I looked at a lot of flat belting before I decided to try my web strap approach.

Yeah, that blue webbing stuff is of questionable origin and specifications, and that's why it's a temporary install. The black stuff I got from McMaster is thicker and has known specs. The black webbing is McMaster P/N 3510T83 - Shock-Absorbing Nylon Webbing, 1-1/2" Web Width, 5100 lb Breaking Strength. I was considering 2" wide material, but I'm figuring that 5100 lb breaking strength of the 1 1/2 inch wide stuff ought to be enough. And I used the shock absorbing rated material to deal with any sharp shock loading. My blue temporary webbing has been in place for about a month and I've been reaching up there to check the tension occasionally, and so far, so good. So even for a temporary installation, it's holding it's own.

I was just thinking that having the rears blink would be cool. Even it it's not "necessary". Anyway, I like it. Maybe you can get them to blink alternate to the front corners. Like some other cars do? The side markers light up when the front turns go off, and vice-versa.

Diseazd , I went with the stock type system because it's just simple and easy. I really didn't want to drop the diff, and while I've heard that installing the RT mount is possible with the diff in place, I've also heard that it's way easier if you pull the diff first. Doing what I did, I didn't have to pull the diff or mess with any of the driveshafts. My thinking is that the original stock mount lasted the first forty years and if I use a tight strap to keep the front of the diff from lifting, I should be able to get the next forty years out of the new OEM lower mount I just put in. And with that in mind... sweatybetty, Where did I get a new strap? I sewed myself a new one! As proof of concept, I bought some cheap blue nylon webbing at the local hardware store and sewed loops on the ends. I'm no seamstress, so please be kind... Sewed a loop on one end: Here's how the loops fits over the mounting rod: In order to determine where to put the other end loop, I installed it in the car and measured for length by looping around both end mounts and removing the slack. If you look carefully, you can see my Sharpie marks: After measuring for proper length, I sewed the loop on the second end and it looks like this. Like I said, I'm no seamstress. I was focused more on strength than looks: Wrapped around both end mounting points and installed above the diff, it looks like this: Summary... Here's all my parts. Old mount stuff on the right, new on the left: That lightweight blue webbing strap got me to Zcon and back, but it's really a temporary install. It's a thin gauge webbing of unknown origin and specification. Since making the original strap, I've purchased some known quality webbing from McMaster and I will make a second strap to replace it. Here's the better webbing from McMaster: So I don't have any data as to the longevity of my strap solution, but I can tell you that cheapie blue one has been in there for about a month and is still going strong. I can also tell you that it's doing a whole lot more for retaining the diff nose than my original stretched out crispy factory strap.

Nice. Are you planning to do the rears as well?

I recently did some diff mount and strap work on my car, and as part of that work I switched over to socket head cap screws for the front lower diff mount. I found they were much easier to work with than the original hex head bolt hardware if you ever have to mess with the diff mount again in the future. I've started a thread with lots of details here: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/55955-my-new-diff-mount-and-strap-project/ But the summary for the hardware change is that the socket head cap screws allowed me to use a hex drive on my ratchet from the bottom to turn the mounting bolts. Looks like this:

I recently did some work on my front diff mount and strap and here are my findings from the project. It was my first time messing around with these parts. Here is a pic of the old mount and original hardware. I'm replacing the mount because the rubber is soft and squishy. The original hardware holding the mount to the diff is hard to remove because the mount itself is partially in the way. It's much easier with the whole diff out of the car, but if you're trying to replace the mount without dropping the diff it's a pain in in the butt. I think you're supposed to remove the hardware using an open end wrench on the bottom and a box end up in the trans tunnel hump on the nut up top: I decided that since my original mount was already 75% split and squishy, that I would just split it the rest of the way and pull the bottom part of the mount off which allowed me to use a standard socket on the bolt head. In other words, I finished the destruction of my old mount to get to make getting to the hardware easier. Here's my old split squishy mount: When it came time to put my new mount in, I changed the mounting hardware scheme to socket head cap screws instead of the original hex head bolts. I don't know if this is old hat or not, but my custom hardware looks like this. Socket head cap screws on the left in this pic: So what's the big deal about using SHCS there instead of hex head bolts? The SHCS allowed me to use a hex driver on my ratchet like this: And tighten the bolts from the bottom like this. The hex driver clears the bottom plate on the mount so you don't have to deal with the original hardware anymore. If I ever have to mess with this thing in the future, it will be much easier to R&R. Box end wrench braced against the diff body to hold the nut on top and hex drive to tighten from the bottom, I found this much easier to work with than the original hardware scheme: I used 1/2-13 x 4 inch long socket headed cap screws. You could also use M12 SHCS if you can't deal with the English hardware on the Metric car, but since the English stuff is so much more prevalent and cheaper for me, I used Engilsh. I used the black oxide hardware below to test fit, but for my final install, I bought some new zinc plated hardware for corrosion protection. This pic was before I had the zinc plated parts bolts on hand:

I've never done an MS install, but if I were closer, I'd be happy to give you a hand.

The numbness may never go away completely. I've mangled fingers bad enough to require stiches a couple times and I think it all depends on what gets cut. All of mine have gotten "good enough" over the years, but never back to stock. Worst one was probably an electric hedge trimmer. Dr. in the emergency room muttering things like "I can't really tell what to stitch to", and "hamburger". I don't think I was supposed to hear any of that... Tis but a scratch. As I'm sure you already know (from what I've heard about your motorcycle history) that the external injuries pale in complexity to the internal issues. Glad you're almost out of the woods. Now clean that house and do some laundry.

I've got an excellent plug repair kit. I just didn't have it with me. I have a Tech Permacure kit and I've had excellent success with it. This is the manufacturer that all the pro shops around me use. You can get different sized kits. Mine looks like this: I asked the service manager at Canadian Tire if they could just plug the hole and they said that they would not do that. They would sell me a plug kit (the pipe cleaner looking style that you linked to) that I could purchase and use in the parking lot. But if they were going to fix it, they insisted on dismounting the tire and patching it from the inside as that's really a better way to do it. They used one of those patches with the rubber prong in the center on the inside. I think it was from Tech.

Actually, the Canadian Screw was when I got the bill from Canadian Tire. I think I could have bought a whole new tire for what they charged for the repair. In all honesty however, I have to give big kudos to the tech that did the repair. The tech came walking out to pull the car into the shop, but when he saw it, he handed me the keys back because he didn't want to take the chance of messing something up. He also let me work the floor jack myself because I know where the jack points are. He asked what pressure I wanted in the tire and also allowed me to torque the lugs myself using his torque wrench. He was very respectful of the car and I really appreciated that. Only thing I didn't like was the cost.

You folks who couldn't make it were truly missed. It would have been great to have all you guys together with us and it would certainly have been trouble, but fun trouble, of course! The Captain Drinkable was very nice. I've been an IPA guy for a number of years, but I'm really enjoying a well done pilsner just as much. In fact, here's me enjoying it : Granny, The screw was a Robertson. I had to look that up as I always just called them square drive, but that's what it was. I've still got it to serve as a reminder to carry my tire plug kit with me next time I do a long trip. I had my fancy-dancy narrow always inflated space saver spare with me that I could have put on, but I wasn't going to try 500 miles at highway speeds on that thing. Would've got me to a repair shop if I had a complete flat, but there's no way I would have tried to make it home on that.

Next morning was the trek home and (other than the Toronto traffic) this was the only real bummer... Driving through the hotel parking lot to head home, we hear this click-click-click from one of my rear tires. Stopped for a quick look only to find a screw stuck in the tire. After trying to pull it out and verifying that it was in fact punctured all the way through, we drove to a local Canadian Tire where they pulled the rear wheel off to patch the tire: And here's my souvenir. My "screwvenir": Thankfully after that time consuming and frustratingly expensive false start, the rest of the trip was uneventful. Got to stop at Bullfrogs Brewery in Williamsport, PA, where I got to sample this: So I'm home, tired, poorer, and trying to catch up on the forum and other things. Great meeting new friends. Getting together with past friends, and missing all you that couldn't make it.

Next morning went to visit Grannyknot. We hiked through miles of wilderness to view one of his Z car projects: Mr. and Ms. Blue left early to do some additional sightseeing in the area, but Granny treated GGR and I to a fantastic Canadian surf-n-turf!! After leaving grannyknots, GGR and I went to Muddy York Brewing Company. Great microbrewery not far from the hotel. Here's a shot of the operation: Next morning was the Peoples Choice show and we tried to gather the ClassicZ forum guys for a picture. There were more of us at the show, but couldn't get in touch. We were able to gather about ten of us: Here's our ClassicZ table at the closing banquet:

Got home safe last night. It's going to take me some time to catch up, but I wanted to get some pics posted. Here's my travel report: Started the trip by performing a high tech metric conversion on my speedo: As I mentioned before, we stayed the first night in Niagara Falls. Went to the Taps Brewery for a great dinner and a beer and then the next morning we drove down to the falls to meet up with Nikola Tesla: Here's he is, looking admiringly down on some Datsun Z paraphernalia: At the risk of arrest and/or driving violation, with the execution of a well timed plan, here's a shot of my car at Horseshoe Falls: Went to The Flying Saucer for breakfast before finishing the trip to Toronto: Made it to the Toronto where I met up with one of my Fiero buddies. He brought his beautiful car over to the convention hotel: Sitting up on our deck overlooking the pool. Farthest to closest are my traveling partner GGRIII, my Fiero buddy Adam, Blue, and yours truly Cap O: That evening was the Distillery District social event and a bunch of us got together for dinner at Mill Creek Brewing. An international collection of enthusiasts: Here's the mischievous Blue "adjusting" the beer selection menu while the rest of responsible people tried hard to stop him:

Out for Italian dinner last night with the Jims from the west coast. Nice time! Great to finally get together. So we do have Jims here, but always have room for more!