Captain Obvious

And I'm not afraid to use it?

Yeah, I heard that Parramore is rough. Would be nice to see some of it, but I'm not taking any unnecessary chances. At least they don't put the big "rental car" signs on the rental cars anymore. I should be in town tomorrow and will get in touch!

Is there enough meat to open up the ones you have, or is the wall too thin? I have a lathe, but don't have CNC so curves are done semi-freehand. I can do simple stuff. PM me if you're entertaining modifying what you have.

Congrats! Where are those pics you teased us with? Did Zup have his new lug nuts installed?

I did a little digging into historic Orlando and came up with the following that I'd like to see: The Rogers Building - Oldest building in town - Magnolia and Pine. Church St Station - Second oldest building - Original old train station, On church just east of the interstate. Kress Building - Originally a 5 and dime - Orange between pine and church. Bumby Building - Originally a H/W store - Across the tracks from Church St Station Cheyenne saloon - Next to Bumby Dr. P. Phillips House - Historic house SE of center of town. Also, I'd like to drive through some of the old neighborhoods like Parramore and Thornton Park, but I'm not sure if they're tourist friendly. Any input from the locals?

Haha! I showed the map to my wife and told here that it was going to be a tough challenge. It works out to about two stops per day. She reminded me "don't forget... it's a rental car". I'm going to do what I can, but if I'm traveling alone, I just might not be able to hit them all. Man's got to know his limitations.

Excellent. Thanks for the insider info, guys! That's just the kind of insight I need. The weather forecast doesn't look too good, so the hard core out-doorsey things are going to be for another trip. Tuesday looks like I may need a canoe just to get out from the hotel to do some sightseeing! I'd love to get to one of the coasts, but I just don't think we're going to have the weather for it. Skycraft on the other hand, looks like the perfect place to spend a rainy Tuesday! So tell me a little more about the Z junkyard in Sanford? I found Sanford Auto Salvage (http://sanfordautosalvage.com/), but it doesn't appear to have anything to do with Z cars. I also found what I think is a U-pull yard in Orlando called ABC (https://www.usedautopartsfl.com/), but it looks like more hype than anything. Yard looks small. I'm not sure how well it would go over with my wife anyway... "So dear, why are there greasy rusty car parts in the hotel room?" Also, I found the aviation museum: Kissimmee Air Museum - Warbird Adventures - www.warbirdadventures.com/air_museum The Kissimmee Air Museum Open Monday - Saturday ... Museum admission is $10 for adults and $5 for kids 6-12. ... Warbird Adventures, Inc.

Oh man, if you could be there... That would be awesome!! Here's my "map" so far. I put real addresses on it this time to help avoid some of the blind leading the blind issues you and I had last time!

Haha! Actually this is my first time in the Orlando area when a trip to one of the major theme parks is NOT on the agenda. I've got my "map" all made up like the one we used in Memphis. That'll take some time, but there will be time to do other stuff too!

I've got a couple days in the Orlando, FL area next week. Anybody got suggestions of things that I simply have to do while I'm there? Anything Z related in the area?

Are the part numbers on all of the injectors the same? And as for the resistor/no resistor 9V vs 12V thing without getting too deep into theory... The injector contains a coil (an inductor) and the current through that inductor cannot be described simply by (V=IR). The current through an inductor has a function that is dependent on time. It looks like this: Which says "The current at a given time equals the maximum current minus an amount that gets smaller as time goes by." So when voltage is first applied to the inductor, no current will flow. But as time goes by, the current will eventually max out at a value of I=V/R where the "R" in that equation is a combination of the injectors internal resistance, the series dropping resistor next to the brake master cylinder, and the internal resistance of the power source which is supplying the current. When you are testing using a 9V battery, you have removed the dropping resistor from the circuit and if the battery were capable of supplying enough current, the injector would burn up. But thankfully the 9V battery has a lot of internal resistance and is not capable of supplying that much current. The injector current is limited by the fact that the little 9V battery just can't supply that much power. If you would be to connect the injector directly to your big 12V car battery for long enough, the injector current would be limited only by it's own resistance and it would likely draw enough current to burn itself open. Your 9V battery can't do that, but your car battery sure can.

I'm not a coatings guy, but I have a couple questions/comments: First, I probably misunderstood what you were talking about with mixing on a board and a catalyst above, but that 907 spot putty is a one part non-catalyzed solvent evaporation process only. If you were mixing that 907 with the cream or liquid catalyst (that you use with fiberglass or polyester filler), I have no idea what would happen. I can't imagine it would be anything good though. Second, I've been told that powder coating is a difficult surface to adhere to. Tough, hard, slick, non-reactive... All the things you don't want in an undercoat.

I'm away from home and have spotty internet access, so I can't go into much detail, but I'll do what I can. The device you are calling a "transistor?" is a coil or transformer of some sort. Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like it only has two wires going to it, and if I remember correctly, the whole radio goes dead when it's not connected? If that's the case, it's probably what they call a "choke" and it's purpose is to filter out high frequencies on the power input line so the noise doesn't affect the electronics inside the chassis. If it is a choke on the incoming power, it exists to keep noise from the ignition coil from messing with the radio. Also the terminal block thingie looks to me to be a line of "feed thru capacitors" who are another means to filter signals. One feed thru for each wire entering or leaving the device. Can you take a pic of the other side of that block? Of course I'm looking on a tiny dark screen and am guessing... As for how stuff fits back in, my experience is that kind of equipment is so tightly packed that stuff only fits one way! Think Jenga or Tetris.

You would have had to peel me off that big bandsaw. Also, what's the olive drab green thing in the upper left background of this pic? Right behind the guy?

How funny is that... I've been doing the exact kind of work on the rear decking on my car right now too! I'm at the cardboard template stage and haven't started cutting MDF yet. I've got my rear cargo covers installed and am working on dropping the rear deck as much as I can to reclaim some of the space back there. That's beautiful work on your rear decking. it is my belief that the original stuff was mass produced with large gaps such that the panels would fit into any 77-78 without interference regardless of the other parts involved. If you're making a custom set, you can cut those tolerances way down.

I just couldn't bring myself to take my car out in that rain. I hid at home in the dry garage instead. I really wanted to take a good look at some of those second or third revision Miata seats that your bud had for sale there. I've considered putting a pair of those in the Z. I've got Fiero seats in there now and I find them extremely comfortable, but I've always wondered how Miata seats would do. Couldn't stand the weather.

Yeah, I'm unfortunately in the same boat. If it was going to be a little rain, or just a chance of rain for a short period of time, that would be different. But the current forecast looks pretty wet, and I don't want to subject my not rusty Z to all that water. I guess I'll keep tabs on the details, but at this point, it looks like I'm probably going to pass.

Not trying to take business away from anybody, but an ignition switch isn't something I would buy used. Datsun didn't use a relay to handle the current for the starter solenoid and this is what happens inside:

I believe there are options available for a replacement thermostatic valve, but it won't be a direct drop in. There are valves for other applications (not necessarily specifically automotive) out there if you want the function and are willing to deal with having to modify the system to adapt a different form factor. Here's a couple ideas: Heat activated trap http://www.thermomegatech.com/product/hat/ Hot water balancing valve: http://www.thermomegatech.com/product-categories/domestic-hot-water-balancing/ There has also been some past discussion at the Z car forums. Here, Zcar, and Hybrid. Search isn't the best at any of them, but if you've got the time...

I took a look through the pics I've taken in the past, and everything is micro instead of macro. In other words, I've got close-up pics or wiring harnesses and ignition coils, but nothing of the show field. I'm guessing maybe twenty first gens?

Great results. Glad you could come up with a solution to your issues. I wouldn't necessarily call the water flowing through the carbs a bad idea though. It speeds warm-up and improves performance in areas of the world that are not as hot as where you are. It also prevents icing which could occur even where you are. It's just clear that "too much of a good thing" can cause problems. If your valve isn't closing until 195-200, then that's too high. Test procedure on 74 FSM page ET-5 says is should be closing around 130F. In your climate, I suspect 130F occurs about thirty seconds after leaving your house. Point is, blocking it off completely isn't much of a change where you live!

There was already a thread started about it couple days ago: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/55453-0064/

It got a bid at 50K, and get this.... Reserve not met!!! He's got a reserve on it ABOVE 50K. It's beautiful, and I'd love to have it. But for that money? "All original?" In addition to what is in the ad and what has been mentioned above already: H4 headlights. Hood misaligned and standing proud at the front. Front tip of the hood looks rounded like it was pushed in and subsequently fixed. Crack in the right sugar scoop. Green paint overspray on the muffler? Speakers in the doors. Some weird mount (cell phone?) attached to dash. Poor fitting seat covers. Parking brake boot missing. Overspray on front strut tower nuts. Green overspray on floor pans under car. And what's the red spot poking out from underneath the VIN tag? That to me looks like the car used to be orange, but I don't see any signs of that anywhere else. Like I said, it's beautiful, and I hope for all our sakes he gets what he's asking, but geez!! And for that low of a VIN, I'd want history and mileage documentation.

I'm planning to attend. Been there the past few years. A little further for you than for me. If you do decide to go, get in touch beforehand so we can be sure to find each other at the show.

Excellent. So make sure you keep us posted on the original problem and what the behavior is after you figure out what you're going to do about that thermostatic valve. This would be the first well documented case I've been close to.