Mark Maras

Does anyone remember Colgate Tooth Powder. Years ago my Dad used it to remove light scratches from our car windshield. It worked quite well.

Generally speaking, adding more fuel rarely increases the rpms unless the mixture is way too lean. Air is the most common cause of increased rpms.

If there are no vacuum leaks, something is keeping the front carb butterfly from closing. I'd remove the domes and pistons from both carbs. With the pistons removed you'll be able to see the butterflies and make a comparison test and perhaps find why it's not closing like the rear carb.

The mechanical pump will work with the Holley carb. Both carbs need between 3-4 psi, which is normal pressure for a mechanical pump.

Pull the engine. It'll save time and make the whole job easier.

Either way is pretty easy. If you don't need to remove the trans, leave it in there.

These engines come out and go back in quite easy. The biggest problem I've continually experienced has been disconnecting the exhaust.

It's my belief that Wix makes some of the best filters. They make the NAPA premium platinum oil filters. There are a few good videos on Youtube where people have cut open the filters to show how they're made. Wix was one of the best. Fram sucked.

I don't see much wear on the symbols that would indicate heavy usage. I think they were made that way.

If you couldn't suck any air thru the diaphragm, it's likely good and the problem lies in the bound up vacuum (base) plate. If you can get that to rotate freely I think it'll work.

I don't mind replicas as long as they're not misrepresented as OEM parts.

Don't sweat the 2mm clearance. The important thing is there is enough clearance between the release bearing and the pressure plate fingers that the bearing doesn't spin with the pressure plate when the clutch is released.

Disconnect the slave cylinder spring and push the clutch release lever until the release bearing makes contact with the pressure plate. Ideally the release lever should move about 1/8" to 1/4" before making contact. If the distance is greater than 1/4", lengthen the rod.

It shouldn't need 4 turns down to run decent. The float levels are the primary mixture adjustments. The nozzle screws are for fine tuning. How sure are you that the float levels are correct?

Have you tried the piston drop test? Lift both pistons all the way up with your fingers (there'll be considerable resistance) Then let them drop at the same time. They should drop at close to the same rate and land with an audible click when they hit bottom. If one is sticky, loosen the dome screws and try again.

Can you feel the vibration anywhere else? Seat, console, or is it isolated to the shifter?

As I recall in a previous discussion and a verifying experiment of my own, the trick to softening and keeping rubber (I don't know if it works on vinyl) soft was wintergreen oil. I soaked a destroyed hard rubber firewall grommet in acetone and wintergreen oil. It softened the grommet and left it soft for months after, at which point I was convinced and trashed it. I also seem to remember the go-karting world using w. oil on tires.

The edge on the headlight cases should be the same as the edge on the hood to look the best.

I've never had a steering wheel vibration that was caused by anything than a problem in the front. I did chase a severe vibration in the body (85 mph +)(not the steering wheel). I installed six u-joints but didn't cure the vibration until I found a small dent in the prop shaft. I believe the clunk and steering wheel vibrations are two separate problems.

Engine Masters devoted one episode to low, and high octane fuel as well as E85 fuel while fooling around with timing and boost. The bottom line was the E85 didn't need the expected timing advance as much as expected and E85 produced slightly more power than high octane at high boost. E85 loves high compression ratios.

I agree with Cliff. Keep it as is and keep adding parts to your 401Z account.

I have many times and I'm sure others have too. I'd suggest buying a couple of sets of new plugs (NGK BP6ES is recommended) and replace the fouled ones. It can make a difference.

Is it in any gear, or in neutral, when you're depressing the clutch and it goes silent? The jolt, I suspect, was a portion of a gear tooth, my first guess would be the input shaft gear. I hope I'm wrong.

It's also available on YouTube.

Engine Masters is my new favorite show. Cam timing, oil pans, rod length, 1500 hp from a stock block LS, the list goes on.