Captain Obvious

Hot switches are never good. Hopefully you caught the issue before you really smoked something. Get yourself some headlight relays quick, and hopefully you won't have to go deeper than that. You may need to have the switch disassembled and repaired too though.

It's a common issue for the ignition switch to burn up inside from the load of the starter solenoid, I would start there.

That's not a 79. It's a 77 or 78 280Z (not ZX). Are you selling whole or in parts?

Yeah, That's cool. I did the same thing with my 74. So when do I get to see it?

Haha! It's only funny because it's true. You would be quite welcome to anything come up with, but it could be a significant wait. Current projects in my shop are stainless brake booster guts (done awaiting reassembly) and some more shift knob stuff. I just finished a full set of LED dash bulbs and a PWM dimmer for the guy who bought all my research parts and helped with the testing and brightness studies. I've got a couple ECU's open on the operating table hooked up to life support just for fun and adventure. Those got pushed to the edge of the table to make room for the shift knob stuff... It's never ending. Sorry, I'm rambling. If only there was some money in some of this stuff!

How do I plan to address that? I have no idea. I didn't even know that was an issue until you mentioned it. I just bought these things because the price was so right and my originals are hard as rocks with little cracks in them. Crap. Off the top of my head... Either work up some fixture to bend the replacements. or take the new ones apart to harvest out the rubber bits and chuck the rest. Staple the new rubber into my old metal strips?

My only experience is with the Hitachi licensed varieties so I've never seen those others without the milled slot. Thanks for that pic of the others! So you really think yours are resting on those stops at idle? Are you sure you don't have any vacuum leaks? At idle, it's especially important to have every molecule of air going through the venturis instead of around them. An easy way to tell if you're on the stops is to remove the damper plungers and use a small screwdriver to push the pistons down while the engine is running. See if there is a change when you force the piston all the way to the bottom?

Haha! Seek help. I got my order today as well and everything seems to be mostly in order. Only issue I have is that I bought rubber squeegee window "dew wipes" and the little black plastic ends were laying loose in the bags. They just need to be glued back on. Not a big deal. Especially for the price.

How about you mount a pair of fuel injectors inside the stock air cleaner box aimed into the mouth of each carb? Remove the suction pistons and put the domes back on. Disconnect the original fuel line back at the tank and install an electric EFI pump back at the tank. One dead headed innocuous black fuel line running into the fuel filter to feed the injectors. Hey... Nobody said it was a GOOD idea...

Forgot something... This part about "The piston has to be held mechanically slightly off the bridge to allow SOME air to get through." I'm no SU expert, but I do not believe that to be true. I would propose that's what the milled slot down the center of the piston does. It provides a passageway across the bridge right at the needle even when the piston is all the way down.

There was some discussion between Blue and I about that little nubbin in this thread. About halfway down: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/40640-su-mixture-question/ I ran some tests on my carbed Z a number of years ago (so the details are fuzzy) where I actually measured the height of the piston lift at idle, and (in my car at least) the pistons were NOT resting on those little stops even at idle. In other words, even at idle, there was some piston lift and the protrusion height of those phenolic stops was a non-sequitur. I thought I had documented the results of those tests somewhere on here, but darned if I could find it... Fading memory says my nubbin stops resulted in a .005 inch gap between the bottom of the piston and the bridge. IIRC, I had .008 inches gap at idle meaning that my pistons had lifted .003 off the stops. I wonder if those nubbins were characterized and shaved at the factory, or if proper operation includes being lifted off the stops, even at idle. Maybe you're a little rich at idle and by increasing that bumper height, you have leaned it out a little and the engine likes it?

Interesting devices. I think I need to read more about them... I think you need an ECU and sensors too, right?

I found that beveling the inside corners of the driver's side bushing allowed it to fit much better. Here's a pic of what I did to mine and there are lots more pics in this thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/48621-steering-rack-disassembly-and-refurb/

Looks like the impeller vanes are worn shiny at the outside tips from contact with the front cover. If that's the case, then no wonder it was noisy! You had metal to metal contact! On edit - And if there was contact inside, what did the front cover look like?

Louon, Thats a good point. We've been focused on Florida, but they didn't even get the worst of that thing! Stay safe and dry, and I hope things dry out quickly.

Some of the Fiero folks have messed around with installing the Vue pump as well. Here's a thread from the Fiero forum that details one install. There might be some applicable tidbits in there. Things like cutting parts off the module/motor to reduce the size and make it easier to fit into place: http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/095326.html

Ooooo,!! Oooooo!! I'll go first. I see dirt!! .... What do I win?

Wow... Batten down the hatches guys! And please report in roll call after it's over??

"Cool" yes, but "robust" maybe not. I'm a little skeptical about NOS rubber things. Most stuff NOS is great, but old rubber, even if new and stock, isn't always the best idea. Would be perfect for a trailer queen though! I don't think I kept those old boots. I keep many old parts, even if worn out, but I think those boots hit the round file.

I bought the car used so I cannot know for positive sure, but from the looks of the old boots that I took off, I would guess that they were the ones that came on the car from the factory when new. I don't remember if that apparent wider convolution spacing was as pronounced as it appears in the photo. It certainly didn't seem to be really needed for any "functional" reason.

Mine was Led Zep IV. I played that thing so many times that all the songs were longer from years of tape stretch.

I've seen electric power steering systems grafted into other cars as well, and believe this could be a fine modification to the Z. My sports related worn out shoulders would appreciate some help in parking lots sometimes.

Hmmm... I thought the whole point of the carbon can recovery system is that you should NOT smell gas fumes. If you're smelling fumes, I suspect the carbon in the canister is saturated and cannot retain any more fuel molecules. Are you sure your purge system is working properly?

I understand... I'm going to be screwed the next time I need a replacement car. I don't have a smartphone either.

If you are so inclined you can add a tilt mechanism? I see what you did there.