Captain Obvious

Speaking of closing the loop... I'm sitting here right now wearing my new favorite shirt from The Back Forty Beer Company!! Thanks bud!

I know this might not work for you, but since I don't drive my car in the wet, I'd leave the boots off and take my chances. Are the bulb housings you purchased different than the ones they sell in the H4 packages for our cars? I haven't looked into it, but I'd be surprised if the upgrade packages have problems like this. Do they use shallower housings or something? I'm sure you won't like this idea, but you could always cut the back of the bucket out like I did:

And then we'll take it higher?

Haha! Glad you did that. I was internally questioning the way you took your measurements, but I considered the chances that they included a resistor in the gauge assy so remote that I wasn't going to even bring it up. I figured that the chances that maybe I misunderstood what you did combined with the very remote possibility that they included one there didn't make it worth it to continue to chase it. So thanks for closing the loop!

Yeah, I hear you that you exercised the pistons in and out. In theory that should have verified that they are OK, but if you're getting uneven wear up front, something's not right. Are the pads on each side the same as eachother? By that, I mean... I understand that driver's side is different than passenger side, but are both the pads on the drivers side the same or is one of them worn more than the other? What about pass side? What are the chances that the pads are getting hung up on the caliper body? I've seen rusty chunks get in the way and pads that are a tiny bit too wide that don't move freely in the slot.

I'd be hard pressed to believe the problem is low pressure on the right. It's certainly possible, but I'd be more suspect of: Sticky pistons or pads on the left that don't retract like they should? Sticky pistons or pads on the right that don't extend like they should? Air in the line to the right side caliper?

Zed Head, Yeah, I know I'm often long winded with my posts. I really try not to, but I have a hard time complete ideas out concisely. I like to think that if you can stand to make it to the end of my long explanations, it would be worth it? It's always the tradeoff being clear and being "that guy". So even if you don't check your charge lamp during the lamp test mode, a quick glance at the voltmeter will tell you if your alternator has bootstrapped correctly and snapped into regulation. And barring a spontaneous alternator failure, you only need the bulb at startup to get you over the hump. Once the alternator is generating it's own rotor winding current, you should be golden until you shut off the engine. The only other thing the charge lamp would do is light up while you're driving if your alternator or something else close to it went belly up and get your attention immediately. I think adding another path for some excitation current would be a good idea, and I agree that a simple failure mode carbon comp resistor (as opposed to a bulb filament or relay coil winding) would be a reliable way to do it. I would use a value that's on the same order as the bulb filament and/or brake warning relay coil resistance. That brings me to Geezer's post... Geezer, I'm not sure if that resistor on the diagram is a "representation" of other resistances in the system or if it's an actual component they put in there to increase system reliability. But I can tell you that putting a fusible link where that resistor is shown would not work in this situation. The resistance of the link would be too low and the charge lamp would never light because all the current would flow through the link instead of the bulb. You need something with more resistance than a piece of wire. Theory says that if the charge lamp consumes 3.4 W at 12V, it should have a filament resistance of about 42 Ohms, and that's about what I would use in parallel with the bulb. Something like 40 to 50 Ohms. Maybe since my car seems like it wants a tiny bit more excitation current, I might push it a little lower than that. Another question for discussion would be... Where to physically locate that resistance? It would work anywhere, but what are other's thoughts on the location? I've got my idea, but want to hear other suggestions first.

OK, nothing special about the 78 gauge. I would have been surprised if there was. So if that resistor DOES exist, it's not in the gauge. Thanks for checking. If it exists, it's probably a plug-in like the tach resistor, but I don't have any 78 harness stuff to to poke around with either. About the brake warning lamp stuff... In 78, the brake warning lamp check relay is wired in parallel with the charge lamp and hence, it will supply additional current into the alternator rotor windings at bootstrap. So in 78 at least, it might not be that a blown bulb would render the charging system incapacitated. Depends on the resistance of the relay coil. I don't know the resistances of either the charge lamp filament or the brake check relay coil, but it would be interesting data. In my case, I've got a 77 with a charging system rewired like a 78, including the brake check relay. However, prior to my alternator upgrade changes, my brake check relay had already been disconnected because it wasn't working properly. So in my case, there's a chance that if I were to wire in a 78 style brake check relay the additional current draw through the relay's coil would be enough to get me up over the bootstrap hump. So yes, your charging system (and mine and probably everyone else who has done the internally regulated alternator mod) is relying on that single corroded bulb. But in theory at least, you would know that you had a problem because the charge lamp would not light up when you turned the key to ON before you cranked it. You're SUPPOSED to scan the entire dash for anomalies before your start the engine. I know nobody does this, but you're supposed to verify that the brake and charge warning lamps light up properly. It's a bulb check safety procedure. Just like the bulb check mode on a new vehicle. Every time you get into the vehicle. Make sure the bulbs work - Check Engine, SRS, BRAKE, TEMP. Yeah, I don't do it either. In 76, the brake check relay was driven by the alternator as well, but it was done a little differently. In 76 and 77, they used a set of normally closed contacts and energize the coil when the alternator is working properly. So if the alternator stops working and the N connection goes dead, the brake relay coil de-energizes and lights the BRAKE warning bulb. In contrast... In 78 they use a set of normally open contacts and de-energize the coil when the alternator is working properly. So if the alternator stops working and the L connection goes dead, the brake relay coil energizes and lights the BRAKE bulb. That's why you needed to find a different place to connect your 76 brake relay coil. The sense of determining proper operation changed between 77 and 78. They both need a "high" to shut off, but the 78 won't "supply current", only "not draw current".

Haha!! Thanks Jim! I'll be OK. No need for us both to be struggling!

I thought about this as well and I agree. If it exists...

I don't know if my alternator is a reman or not. There's a lot of things that could affect this, and I'm right at the borderline. Maybe your alternator is a tiny bit more efficient at lower RPM's. Maybe your charge lamp is slightly lower resistance than mine and passes a little more current. Or most likely, I suspect that your idle is simply higher than mine when you first start your car. I've got my AAR adjusted pretty low and because of that, I've got a slightly low cold idle. But in any event, you're right... It's more the mystery of the resistor on the 78 diagram than the way my alternator behaves. You don't need anyone else to take any readings to check your 78 voltmeter... Just measure the resistance across the CHARGE bulb wires (green and blue) and then pull the bulb out of the socket and check it again. If there's a resistor built into the gauge (which I really doubt), then you'll still see some resistance between green and blue even with the bulb removed. If the resistor exists at all, I suspect it's somewhere other than the gauge itself.

Weird. I wonder why they discontinued the warm white. Glad I got mine when I did. Wish I had bought more than one. I don't have a 4-LED in warm white, so I can't directly answer the question. I have a 4-emitter in cool white and I don't like it. Both because it's cool white, and because it wasn't bright enough. I assume you dug around on the web to see if there were other places to buy the 6-emitter in warm white?

I did the internally regulated alternator upgrade a little while ago, and everything is fine with the exception of one ignorable low priority issue. Such a small issue that I wouldn't consider it a "problem", but more of a "curiosity" and it highlights some (what I think is) interesting alternator trivia. Goes like this... Sometimes when I first start my car and the RPMs are (cold) low right after I start it, the alternator doesn't spin fast enough to snap into regulation.This is evidenced by the charge lamp being lit and the voltage indicated by the voltmeter. I can give it a little gas to pull the car out of the garage and just that little bit of RPM increase is enough to get it to snap into regulation and from that point forward everything is fine... Charge lamp goes out and the voltmeter shows that the alternator is outputting a healthy 14ish voltage. The way the system is supposed to work is that the alternator pulls a small current (bootstrap) through the charge lamp and this current energizes the field coils until the alternator is spinning fast enough to produce field coil current by itself. Once the alternator is spinning fast enough to produce it's own internally generated field coil energy, it snaps into regulation and the bootstrap current flowing through the charge lamp stops and the lamp goes out. On my car, I sometimes need to increase the RPM's a tiny bit in order for this to happen. I'm not going to do anything about it, but I COULD also fix this by increasing the amount of bootstrap current. So... If I'm not planning to do anything about it, then why am I bringing it up in the first place? Because I noticed an oddity on the 78 wiring diagram that would support my theories and potentially fix the issue. In the Engine Electrical section of the 78 FSM, they describe how the system works (page EE-13). And on that page (and the following page) there is a circuit diagram of the system that includes a resistor in parallel with the charge lamp. This resistor could provide additional bootstrap current to add to what is pulled through the charge lamp: This mystery resistor is not shown on the complete car wiring diagram, nor on any of the circuit detailed descriptions in the Body Electrical section. Does anyone know if this resistor truly exists? If so, what's the value? Is it built INTO the voltmeter gauge, or is it buried in a wiring harness somewhere? Does it plug in like the tach resistor does? I simply can't sleep at night not knowing!!

Jim3 A lot of our motley crew. Jim, Jim, Jim, Steve, Bryan, Bruce, Philip. The better halves So proud! Jim and Vicky Jim2 hiding behind so many trophies! jim2 Glowing trophies Mike W and Alex Gold winner and Mr. M

Here's my shots from the event. Flight to Memphis Dinner on Thursday Eve Bunch of us on Beale Street. Jim, Charles, Philip, Jim, Bruce, Jim Unicornicopia Taking a picture of Steve taking a picture from on top of the scaffold platform Me sporting my Fiero shirt at the Saturday show with a fellow Fiero enthusiast Philip presenting Mr. M a gift of a section of the first transatlantic communication cable laid between North America and Europe. The thing that looks like a cigar is actually a couple inches of the rusted original cable that's over 100 years old.

Here's a couple pics from my Zcon adventures. Shot out the plane window while in the air on the way to Memphis. My Atlantic Z Car Club hat so graciously given to me by Blue: : And here's one that I took while I was out with Cliff at one of the brew pubs. This was at Wiseacre Brewing. They said they normally offer a rainbow topping for the Saison, but they had sold out earlier that day: Those are two general pics. I'll put up some more of the ZCon specific shots in the pics thread: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/51932-some-zcon-pics/

Some of my unique experiences? I got to ride in my first series one car. Maybe you saw it? Jim - jfa.series1's car? I think it won a couple awards or something? I failed as Jim's navigator, but in fact, it was actually a ploy to spend more time riding with him, chatting about past lives and technology that was cutting edge at the time, but few would even remember at this point. Thanks Jim! I got to start Cliff's - siteunseen candle burning at both ends with a microbrew tour of Memphis. With horns honking behind him, he pulls his car over to the curb at the end of Beale Street, I pop the passenger door and jump in. We had never met before that... Cliff says "I'm completely lost. I got no idea where we are. Can you get us back to the hotel?" So did the best I could with my limited resources. No nav, no smartphone, and the only map I had was the one I posted earlier with the brewpubs as landmarks. We made it back to the hotel just fine, but we "had" to stop at three of the pubs along the way just to make sure we didn't get "lost". It wasn't that we WANTED to, it was strictly necessity. Thanks Cliff! I got to spend a bunch of time with my buddy Philip - Blue and Mrs. Blue and share my non-tourist philosophy with Mrs. Blue. It turns out that the two of us had completely independently acquired the same targets when it came to food. And I also was learned that my ideas for restaurants was NOT what SteveJ and his wife were ready for. Thanks for indulging me anyway!! Thanks Blue and Steve! I regret that I did not go out on the last night's food and drink expedition with Mike W. and crew. I unfortunately had an early flight the next morning and couldn't stay out partying till 3:30 in the morning as was promised . I would have loved to go, but really needed to be sharp the next day! Thanks Mike! I got to have a wonderful small group conversation and late night drink with Mr. M, one of his companions and Jim - S30Driver. I was trying to ask questions that he doesn't get asked frequently and it was great having Jim there to participate. Thanks Jim! I got to meet my long lost brother Jim - Zup who's got a whole lot of experiences and perspectives on the world different than the average bear and I'm glad you're able to share them and stay sane. Thanks Jim! I've got some (what I consider) interesting pics I took along the way and I'll get them posted soon. So thanks all for the wonderful experiences and I'll include more when I can!

Ok... I'm home!! Completed my combination whirlwind tour of Memphis and Washington DC. Had a fantastic time at Zcon 2015!! There was a healthy contingent of ClassicZ forum members there and the chatter here on the forum leading up to the show allowed us to find each other once we got to the show. There were ten or so of us that hung together during the event and I'm very glad we were able to do that. Prior to this event, very few of us had ever met face to face and because of that, you never really know what to expect when you do meet in person. Well, I have to say that my expectations were exceeded in every way and the ClassicZ people I met were some of the nicest, friendliest folks I've ever met. I want to thank everyone that indulged me and went along with any of my hair brained ideas. Everything from carting my sorry asse to and from events and venues to climbing rickety structures for pictures to getting out of their comfort zones in sketchy neighborhoods. I'm honored to have spent the time with you guys, honored to be part of the glove box signing, and thrilled to have had the opportunity to spend time together with the crew. Blue, Brianpilati, Jfaseries1, Mikew, Patcon, S30Driver, Siteunseen, Stevej, Zup... So to all you guys and gals helped make this a wonderful experience, thanks so much!! Hope I didn't inadvertently leave anyone out!!

In DC. Stop Very little Internet. Stop Unicorn out late partying. Stop Will respond more soon. Stop

Magnetism is not a completely reliable way to determine stainless from non-stainless as many stainless grades are magnetic. So if it's NOT magnetic, it has a good chance it's stainless, but if it's magnetic, you still don't know for sure.

Woot woot. After Jim went to bed and you and Jim were tearing up the roads at midnight, Jim and I were bending Mr. M's ear at the bar. I can only hope he enjoyed the conversation remotely as much as I did.

It was great meeting the crew from ClassicZ and thanks all for putting up with me!! I've got some pics from the event that I'll post when I can, but in my currently hamstrung technological state I can't do it from here. I had a great time hanging out and will be headed out on the hotel shuttle shortly. Congrats to all the trophy winners!

A bunch of us ClassicZ folks got together tonight for some food. I have some pics from the event, but can't upload from here. Tomorrow morning, SteveJ has promised me grits!! Can't wait!!

Yeah, seriously... When you say "everybody's here", does that mean you're in Memphis? That would be awesome! This is my last correspondence before I pack it up in preparation for the trip. Next time I'm looking at a screen again (other than my flip phone), I should be at the Hilton in Memphis myself.

Zed, You're over a month late. We squelched that version of "hookup" at at the very beginning of the thread on page 1.