kmack

Well, I finally got around to pulling the passenger side control off tonight (after pulling the driver's side out last Thursday). Here's what I found out: When measuring the overall length of the control arms, the drivers side is about 1/4" shorter than the passenger side. For what reason I don't know. There are no signs of either piece having any damage at all. So my only explanation is that either the factory goofed or at some point one was changed and there is apparently different lengths running around between models. Anybody care to help shed some light on this? FWIW, the drivers side (measured across the top from end to end) is 13-1/2", pass. side is 13-3/4".

HOROSCOPES FOR YOUR JOB POSITION 1) MARKETING: You are ambitious yet stupid. You chose a marketing degree to avoid having to study in college, concentrating instead on drinking and socializing which is pretty much what your job responsibilities are now. Least compatible with Sales. 2) SALES: Laziest of all signs, often referred to as "marketing without a degree." You are also self-centered and paranoid. Unless someone calls you and begs you to take their money, you like to avoid contact with customers so you can "concentrate on the big picture." You seek admiration for your golf game throughout your life. 3) TECHNOLOGY: Unable to control anything in your personal life, you are instead content to completely control everything that happens at your workplace. Often even YOU don't understand what you are saying but who the heck can tell. It is written that Geeks shall inherit the Earth. 4) ENGINEERING: One of only two signs that actually studied in school. It is said that ninety percent of all Personal Ads are placed by engineers. You can be happy with yourself; your office is full of all the latest "ergodynamic" gadgets. However, we all know what is really causing your "carpal tunnel syndrome." 5) ACCOUNTING: The only other sign that studied in school. You are mostly immune from office politics. You are the most feared person in the organization; combined with your extreme organizational traits, the majority of rumors concerning you say that you are completely insane. Oh, and usually the first to be incarcerated. 6) HUMAN RESOURCES: Ironically, given your access to confidential information, you tend to be the biggest gossip within the organization. Possibly the only other person that does less work than marketing, you are unable to return any calls today because you have to get a haircut, have lunch AND then mail a letter. 7) MANAGEMENT/MIDDLE MANAGEMENT: Catty, cut-throat, yet completely spineless, you are destined to remain at your current job for the rest of your life. Unable to make a single decision you tend to measure your worth by the number of meetings you can schedule for yourself. Best suited to marry other "Middle Managers" as everyone in you social circle is a "Middle Manager." 8) SENIOR MANAGEMENT: See above - Same sign, different title. 9) CUSTOMER SERVICE: Bright, cheery, positive, you are a fifty-cent cab ride from taking your own life. As children very few of you asked your parents for a little cubicle for your room and a headset so you could pretend to play "Customer Service." Continually passed over for promotions, your best bet is to sleep with your manager. 10) CONSULTANT: Lacking any specific knowledge, you use acronyms to avoid revealing your utter lack of experience. You have convinced yourself that your "skills" are in demand, and that you could get a higher paying job with any other organization in a heartbeat. You will spend an eternity contemplating these career opportunities without ever taking direct action. 11) RECRUITER, "HEADHUNTER": As a "person" that profits from the success of others, you are disdained by most people who actually work for a living. Paid on commission and susceptible to alcoholism, your ulcers and frequent heart attacks correspond directly with fluctuations in the stock market. 12) PARTNER, PRESIDENT, CEO: You are brilliant or lucky. Your inability to figure out complex systems such as the fax machine suggests the latter.

Well, thanks to 2many I have begun to install a set of adjustable camber bushings. I have checked the strut tubes, control arms, and tension rods and all are straight. I haven't checked the strut towers themselves, but will after this weekend. Let me tell you, getting those old stock bushings out of the control arms w/o a press is a real b*tch! :tapemouth That's the reason I've only done one so far.... I'll keep everyone posted on any further findings....

I used a brand called "Nason", made by DuPont. I was told it's a step or two down from their top-o-the-line brand. I got it in an acrylic-urethane, single stage paint. It flowed on nicely and I had few problems. So far it still looks great, but it's only 3 months old. As for deciding between a single stage paint or 2 stage paint (base coat-clear coat), think of it this way: If you're going to use a metallic color, you must use a 2 stage. Metallics by themselves just won't hold a shine and they're not that durable. If you're going to use a solid color, you can use only a single stage paint. In a base coat-clear coat, the base is a pigmented paint. The clear is a pigmentless paint. If using a solid color, why put 2 layers of paint on when you only need one (aside from the normal covering layers)? I have seen single stage paint jobs in acrylic or enamels that are pushing 10 yrs old and look like a base coat-clear coat system. I went with an acrylic urethane for the durability. And I went for a single stage system because I could not afford to put 2 layers of paint on my car when I didn't really need it.

Marty, I made the 180 degree bend by using a piece of tubing. Stainless steel specifically. Get a piece of tubing about 6-8" long. I've heard not to use copper because the fuel will degrade it over time. Not sure whether it's true. Once you have the tubing, use a bender to make a "U" out of it. Then slide it in the hose. You could just cut the hose into 2 pcs and use the tubing alone for the bend (instead of sliding it inside the hose) but that requires more hose clamps. I didn't have a tubing bender when I did mine so I used my bench vise. It turned out a little crude looking, but it worked and you'll never see again, so who cares.

As I have done this before (and specifically w/ 280 seats in a 240) they will switch easily from left to right.

Mine is rather simple, like most on here. The "k" is for Ken and "mack" is my last name. But I've had the nickname for the last 11 years. I got it at my first job after moving to San Antonio. A good friend always had nicknames for people at work, so he came up with this one. We all thought it had a good ring to it, so it stuck. Had it ever since. Sad thing is, there are people here in SA that still don't know my first name....:classic:

A search on the forums will yield a write up or two on this very subject: replacing fuel tank vent lines. In those posts you'll find all the info you need, but for a real quick intro, you'll need about 5' of 5/8" fuel line and about 8' of 1/2" fuel line. Make sure you use a hose rated for fuel use only!!! You can find this large size at any NAPA. Good luck.

"What year carbs are you using? And are you running water through your intake manifold? What kind of problems are you experiencing?" I have '71 carbs, on a '73 intake w/ '73 heat shield. What I'm experiencing is a slight studder or hestitation under acceleration at speed. I noticed that if I tried to touch the fuel rail, I couldn't. It was way too hot. I am running water through the intake. "I think you could find better products on the parket than asbestos." Well, the asbestos is free. I can't get much cheaper than that. But you bring up a good point about the overall under hood temps. I'll have to take a look at that. Maybe I'll look at wrapping the fuel bowls also. Just an idea. My main concern is that the fuel is boiling in the rail and/or the fuel bowls.

Ok, so here one for ya'll to think about... I have the stock heat shield from a '73 over my header (6-2) and I'm pretty sure I'm still getting a heat problem in my carbs when running down the highway. These "warm" Texas summers aren't helping matters. So I'm looking to modify my heat shield to combat the heat coming off the headers. I have an opportunity to get ahold of some asbestos fabric and was thinking about using this and apllying it to the heat shield. I figure pop-rivets would work better than glue (not sure I could find a glue capable of handling the heat). Now I know all about the precautions regarding asbestos. I've been involved in the removal aspect of it. What I'm curious about is if it will help keep my carbs and fuel lines a little cooler. I'm going to be using my car for racing (in the hot Texas sun) so I'll need something anyway, just wanting to know your views on this. Any and all comments welcome...

I paid $900 for a '71 and a '73 at the same time, so I basically paid $450 for each one. But if you ask me how much I have spent on my car, that's a whole other story. And please don't ask me to add up my "labor" for the last 9 years! :stupid:

Well, I had to choose "never raced" because...well, I've never taken a car out on a track. I don't street race, but I do drive fast. Maybe a little too fast at times. But like Smg said, when I drive fast, I'm always testing myself and the car; learning it's abilities and limitations. But this will all change later on this year as it looks like I'm finally getting things in order to start autocrossing and doing a few "high-speed driver's ed." racing. I have a '71 240 that is used only for street now and had plans to make a dedicated race car. But that has changed and my car will now be built for street/track duty.

Those pictures look like the ones I took at the National Convention. I remeber seeing that car and thought it looked real sweet the way the spoiler flows into the rest of the body. Unfortunately, that car was not registered in the car show, otherwise, I would know who the owner is. But you could try to search them out through the Texas clubs (TX plates). Good luck on your search for a car.

Hey, McZ, my daughter just turned 4 on 7/30. She falls into the first group! As for me, I'm old enough to know better, and young enough not to care! 30 to be exact....but you couldn't tell by the way I think or act.

You can use Acetone to soften up the glue and take a rag and wipe it off. It's not easy, takes a bit of work, and you have to be quick because of the evaporation time of Acetone. A dull putty knife will also work to help peel it up some. If the putty knife is dull, it won't harm the paint, and you're still going to cover it up with a new seal anyway, right? Something else you might try... At Home Depot and other hardware stores, you can get small brass wire brushes, about the size of a large toothbrush. Get one w/ the brass bristles. Use that on the glue and it'll take it right off with out harming the paint. You may have to spend some time every once in awhile cleaning the glue out of the brush, though.

I had to replace the entire inner fender on the passenger side, from the strut tower back to the firewall, inlcuding the portions of the firewall, and front half of the passenger floor board. I also had to replace the right-side section of the rear hatch sill. And I can't forget the trouble I had replacing both rear bumper mounts! I think that's it, I could have done a few other things, but I got tired of welding so much!

Mike, our selfless website creator/adminstrator is in Albany, OR I believe. I don't know how close that is to you but might be worth looking into. Send him a PM (private message) and ask.

Well, you certainly came to the right website for information on the early Z cars. And we're pretty nice, too!:classic: Anyway, the car sounds like a pretty good deal. But I'd go back and check out the body a little closer before plunking your money down. The tapping under the valve cover could be one of two things: 1) loose adjustment on the valves (most likely) 2) the spring retainers starting to fail. It's not hard to fix and doesn't happen very often, but I have seen it. At 15k (most likely 115k) miles, it probaly only needs a valve adjustment. That only takes about hour or so (depending on how quick you are). The sluggish revs up in the power band tend to suggest that the vaccum advance on the distributer is not working right or not at all. That's no more than about a $10 fix. The brakes could probably use new rubber lines and fresh fluid, about $60-80 if you include new pads. As for what to look for rust wise on the body, do a search on the forums here and you'll find a wealth of info. But basically, check the lower rockers, front and rear; under the battery and lower firewall area; and on the rear hatch sill. Check the car out thoroughly, and make sure you find as much out about the car as you can. You might also see if you're close to someone here on the site that would go check out the car with you. It never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes spotting things you can't see..... Good luck and enjoy the ride...

From what you have described, it sounds like you need to drop the tank. If the car will run on a small gas can, and will run after you blow out the fuel lines, then something is in the tank that is plugging the fuel pick up. The only way to fix it, is to drop the tank. Dropping the tank isn't too hard, but make sure you drain it completely and work in a very well ventilated area or preferrably outside.

The fusible link is a wire that is designed like a fuse. It's made to burn up if too much current (amperage) is pushed through it. It is connected directly to the starter. Open the hood,, and on the right side (looking at the starter), you'll see a second wire attached to the positive side of the starter. One wire is the Big red one from the battery, the other is the fusible link. From the starter, it runs over to the side of the car and into the wire harness. It should have a spade-type connector somewhere in the middle (between the starter and wire harness). That section is the fusible link. Hope this helps.

Check to make sure your fusible link has not burned up. It is about 16/14 gauge wire that runs from the wire harness along right side framerail to the starter. I had one burn up once and nothing will work as this is the main power wire to the rest of the car. I replaced mine with a 16ga set-up for a Ford from AutoZone. It cost me like $2. I'd check that first.

All those girls are more than you old farts could handle anyway! Besides, women like that don't exist in my world.

Sorry about not specifying the direction I was looking at the carbs. I was picturing it from viewing the carbs on the bench (looking from underneath). I preset my carbs before I put them on the car. Thanks for correcting me, Ken.

A good starting point on the SU's mixture is 2 turns out from fully seated. Turn the round knob located underneath the body of the carb (where the fuel goes into it) clockwise until it stops. Then back it off 2 turns. That should be slightly rich, but still good enough to start the engine and let it run fairly decent. I'd still look at a fuel regulator also. Ps- How much would an RB26DET cost to buy and get shipped to the US? I'm starting to entertain this idea...

I'm thinking aloud here, but opinions are welcome. I'm going to make my final measurements (before I change anything) with the car on jack stands on the suspension. Therefore, the suspension will be loaded down with the cars weight. My reasoning being that I'll be able to spin the wheels and take readings at various points on the wheel to come up with an average. The only way to do that would be to have the car jacked up, but still have the suspension loaded to get an accurate measurement. I can also then guarantee that the car will be level. This will also make taking measurements of suspension parts (control arm, etc.) easier. Any reasons why I shouldn't do it this way?