Captain Obvious

Sweet. I'm now always skeptical about the stock spray bars after what I've seen on a few.

Blue, Did you verify your cam oiling looks proper? siteunseen, Those are good healthy streams you got there... What were you using to spin the pump, or is that just the starter motor turning things?

Your fuel rail looks correct 74 to me. Your carbs and balance tubes, however, came from 70-72. And, yes... most of your emissions parts have been removed. The vacuum hose that comes from the front carb and T's to the distributor and the charcoal canister is correct. That's what it's supposed to do. So what hose it that you want more info on? Can you take a pic?

Thanks for the info on the cradle. Forgot to ask before... Does the engine on that cradle have an oil pan installed?

I've got the scan from XenonS30, but I'll snatch a copy of yours if it's cleaner. Do you think it's worth the bandwidth if I already have one?

I looked in all the FSM's for guidance on how to install both the bushings and the washers, and didn't find any pics with enough detail to be 100% certain of direction of either of them. I put the thick side of the bushings (with the rounded corners) on the side which contacted the body because that's where the rod is supposed to pivot. If you picture what this thing does in application, the rod will swivel up and down at that point when the wheel moves up and down over bumps, etc. The receiving cups welded to the frame of the car are cupped on the inside as well to accept the bushings. The rounded corners seemed to me to dictate "I'll fit nice into the cups on the frame and will rotate at this point". And the washers I installed like all shock absorber and sway bar washers I've messed with in the past... With the concave portion facing inward towards the bushings. Lastly, I compared the whole installation to a 74 260 which I'm pretty sure has never had any work done to that portion of the suspension and it seemed they had the thinner portion away from the frame. I can't be 100% absolutely positive that's the way the 260 came from the factory, but the car was in the family since the early eighty's and I doubt the bushings needed any attention prior to that point.

One of my tension/compression rod nuts fell off somewhere and I lost some parts on the road. While inspecting the other arm (the one that didn't fall apart by itself), I discovered that I only had one correct large washer (out of four), and the other smaller washers looked suspect as well. I also did a little searching here on the site and found that the recommended configuration is poly up front, but rubber in back to lower the stress on the rod. After a bunch of searching, I turned up P/N 45G25036 bushing kit from AC Delco that is very nice and not only includes rubber bushing, but includes all the washers and nuts for one complete side. The washers are high quality, and the bushings are well made. I would recommend this kit if you are looking for rubber bushings. I would also recommend this kit if you simply need the washers or the spacers. AC Delco calls it a "BUSHING,FRT LWR CONT ARM ROD INSL" or a "Strut Rod Kit" Rock Auto calls it a "Shock Absorber Bushing" Shows up on Amazon as a "Pitman Arm Kit" Here's what I started with: Here's the bushing kits. One per side: Here's the washer and bushing configuration: Ready to go back on the car: I know that this is old hat for most of you, but it was my first time, and I was really impressed with the quality of that kit for such a low price.

Thanks much. Doesn't have to be too detailed. He's pretty handy with his table saw. Just something that I can point him to and say "Something kinda like this". I'm going to be helping with the engine pull, and I'm going to be lobbying for a pull with the tranny attached, so whatever "dolly" he comes up with will have to account for the trans as well, but in any event, the overall concept is still the same.

Engine looks beautiful. Hey, do me a favor? As mundane as it sounds, would you please take a pic of the wooden support that your motor is sitting on once you lift the motor up and off? I've got a buddy who's going to pull the motor out of his Z and stuff it to the back of his garage for maybe a year. I suggested he build a little wooden structure like what you've got there and put a set of heavy duty casters on the bottom so he could roll it around the garage if he needed to. Lift the motor out of the car and set down on a rolling frame made out of wood? And then... I see your pic with something similar to what I suggested to him!! :bulb: Yeah, I know... "A talking frog? Now THAT'S cool!"

And you type faster that me!!

Haha! Excellent! I wish you speedy delivery! 280~Master, Have you got any pics of this?

Aren't you worried that your arms will get tired if you try to lift it that long?

Exactly. In fact, I was eyeing up the one on my daily driver, and it looks very similar to the Toyota one you just posted. I was going to go to a junkyard today and poke around to see if I couldn't find something that looked like it would be an easy mount, but it was just too darn hot. I figure I can wait a day or two more. And.... As an added bonus, I believe the one on my DD uses a servo to move the valve, so I might be able to kill two birds with one trip to the yard. Once it's a little cooler.

Thanks Jim. I was thinking about a servo controlled valve in the future and that kit looks like it would be a very simple install. Neat stuff. But for now, I just want to drive the darn thing before it starts snowing again! Would you believe this heater project started with tension/compression rod bushings? And Blue, I know you're only half kidding because you know the story. The valve itself wasn't blasted on the outside (like so many other parts), but I wonder what has worked it's way to the interior through coolant circulation.

I've got a non-A/C system now, and one of the things that I DO like about it is that there's no vacuum control of anything... It's all cables. Still not a great system, but at least I don't have to deal with vacuum actuators and a bundle of old cracking vacuum hoses. At this point, fiddling to keep the temp right would be a huge improvement for me. My heat is always full on. I bought the car last winter, and it wasn't much of a problem then, but now that it's summer, it's a problem! My top priority right now is to get some sort of cable actuated valve in there, and beyond that I'm imagining improvements to the original system. Just not right now. If I come up with a valve substitution, I'll be sure to let you know.

Haha!! I just read the exact same page not more than five minutes ago!! Yeah, I found some info on people that rebuild the valves, and yes... Mine could sure use the help. But if I'm right about the function of the capillary, then I could live without it. At least unless I heat the core so hot that my air box bursts into flames! :eek: I'm thinking that any mechanical valve that I can manage to stuff in there will work. I would really like to relocate the valve to the engine compartment so I don't ever have to mess that deep into the dashboard ever again. This whole thing started out trying to figure out why my air always blew hot regardless of the temp control lever. Now I've got the whole interior torn out and I don't know how the scope this project has managed to spiral so far out of control.

I took the capillary device off the rest of the valve today and added heat again. Now that it doesn't have the pressure of the valve's spring pressing against the little plunger tip, the tip did extend a little when I heated the coil. However, it was compressible back with finger force. Also, when I was done, there was a tiny bit of some kind of liquid seeping out around the plunger tip. Not much... Only seen under magnification, but there was something coming out. I stand by the theory that it's an upper-temp limiting device, and I believe it is supposed to be filled with some kind of liquid. I suspect some of my liquid has leaked out over the years and the resulting bubble is compressible which renders the device useless in application. So nobody has ever seen any documentation as to the function and/or purpose of this thing? I'm the only one curious enough to look into it? Ever??

I'm pretty sure it's hollow. I didn't cut it open, but there's a blob of solder at the end of the coil that resides inside the air box. I assume that solder is to seal the end. It would be difficult to convince me that they could get any useful info through that thing if it was simply conduction through a solid wire. Not impossible, but difficult.

I removed my water **** from my car and took a good look at the design. Based on that investigation, I'm going to change my guess a little... I now theorize that it is an over-temperature prevention device. The reason I say that is because it appears that the device can only reduce the amount of water flowing through the valve, not increase it. I'm guessing that it operates like the thermostat on the cooling system... The material inside the tube expands when it gets hot and pushes on a lever inside the valve which closes the valve. The hotter it gets, the more it presses down on the lever, and the more the valve closes. All that said, I tried to test it by heating the capillary and valve with a hair dryer, and it didn't do anything at all. So, either I'm completely wrong, didn't get it hot enough to hit the threshold temp, or mine is simply broken. Sure seems like an unnecessary piece of over-engineering...

10000 slaves with ropes? :bulb:

It's more of an "access panel" than a door. It's screwed into place and doesn't move once installed. They coil the capillary up and run it to a little access panel screwed to the heater box downstream of the heater core. In other words, the coiled portion of the capillary sits in the air stream after the air has gone through the heater core. Best pic I could find is from http://www.zparts.com/zptech.html: They are clearly sensing the temperature of the air after it has been heated, but the question is... Why? Are they adjusting the opening and closing of the valve with the pressure from the capillary? And here's some pics of the water **** and it's associated capillary tube as installed from old threads: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread11152.html http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread17858.html http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread40835.html

What is the purpose of the capillary tube on the water **** valve for the heater system? The car in question is a 77 without air conditioning. They reference the capillary on page BE-51 (Body Electrical) section of the 77 FSM. They talk about being careful not to damage it, but I cannot find any description of why it exists in the first place. Some kind of attempt at feedback to stabilize the output air temp in the face of changing heater core temperatures?

Nope. Soldering isn't an option. The brass colored original pivot is actually a plated steel (cad or chromate), and the casting is either aluminum or zinc. Out of curiosity... Why? Is yours loose too?

I've fixed two of them in recent past. First was easy... I just lubed the detent balls with some light oil and cleaned out the accumulated gunk out of the corners where the balls are supposed to snap. Went from mushy to crisp. Here's a few pics: Second one was NOT easy... I tried lubing it first and that didn't to anything. Figured out that the problem was that the pivot point for the assy was loose. It is knurled and then pressed into the casting and it's never supposed to move again, but mine had started to squirm around and once it starts to move it just keeps getting worse. I pulled the old pivot point out, bored and threaded the hole and made a new insert to thread into place. Works better than new. Very crisp now and has very little slop in every direction. Since I was making new insert, I was able to control the geometry and sizing in other areas as well. Made a new tighter fitting pin for the handle while I was in there... I love it now! Not worth the time I put into it, but it turned out better than just using epoxy to glue the original pivot into place. I just hope yours isn't that serious. Haha!!! And here I thought it was just ME!!

Yeah, I had been through that section, but it's vague. I know what is supposed to connect to what, but the real question is... It it the same piece of wire, unadulterated, with unbroken insulation from one end to the other, and it's too vague for that. I was just looking through the EF section again, and on page EF-18 (of the 1977 year), there's a paragraph just above "Trouble Diagnosis" that reads: So, we've got documentation that confirms bullet connectors on the injectors is fiction, and I'm gonna assume they didn't do anything strange like bury spliced connections inside any wiring harnesses (like GM does sometimes).