Ricklandia

Probably any of them that are advertised as high detergent oils will work, but I know that (at least "back in the day") the diesel oil was not only higher in detergent, but cost only half the price of the name brand "high detergent" gasoline oils

Learned this from an old school mechanic when I was a teen... When he got an older high mileage car that may not have had the motor oil changed as much as it should, he would get some motor oil designed for DIESEL engines. Cant give you a modern brand, this was 25 years ago but Exxon had some so finding it shouldn't be a problem. Put in a new oil filter, diesel oil and run the car. I saw this first hand on an Olds 88 he picked up. Ran it with the new diesel oil and filter for only about an hour and when it drained it was BLACK black! Filled it back up with new oil, new filter and ran it again, only this time for about a week. Oil was very dark, but not black as before. Third time used regular motor oil. Checked it after a week or two and it looked clean as a whistle. Makes sense, diesels are by thier nature a lot "dirtier" than gas engines, so thier oils are higher in detergents. Cleaning the motor slowly is the key, instead of taking the chance of flushing it and not getting it all out as others have said. JMHO

I'll give it a stab, without seeing a photo. I'm sure some meore knowledgable guys will correct me where needed. 1. Valve cover vent into K&N filter - that's fine. I believe that will draw in air to the crankcase if: (see #2) 2. The crankcase should be vented via a hose to the intake manifold at the center of the crossover tube. DOH! I forgot... triples (lucky stiff). The idea is you want to have the crankcase vented with an active pressure mechanism, ie. sucking air out on one end and sucking air in on the other. Is there a free vacuum port on the manifold you can use? Although it may not sound like it (sucking dirty, oily air into the intake manifold), good grankcase ventilation will actually make for better performance than without. 3. (Broke out the FSM for this one) The fuel tank vapor line should run into the (fuel) Flow Guide Valve (bolted to the fenderwell). The Flow Guide Valve has three markings on it A, F and C. The fuel tank vapor line goes into F, the upper port labeled A goe4s to the air cleaner (or any outside air source) and the post labelled C goes to the small port just above where your crankcase vent is (see #2). The preinciple is that tank vapors vent to the crankcase when the motor is not runniing, NOT the air cleaner. When the motor starts, any fuel vapors in the crankcase get cleaned out by the positive crankcase vent systems (again, see #2). If you want, send me a PM and I can scan the FSM pages for ya. I'm glad you asked, I'm sorta in the same boat; PO disco'd all the emissions stuff and I found the vent lines at the flow guide were reversed.

Bart, What kind od adhesive did you use?

You Left-Coaster's might want to take a last minute look at this one again: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=4546423850&rd=1 Triple carb 260 still under $500 with only 23hrs to go. If I didn't live on the complete opposite side of the country, I'd be interested

Not to hijack this thread but I have a quick question about the SS trim of the rear hatch glass. I took off the original louvers, which used three very slim "slat's" that were shoved under the rubber molding (secured with tape). One of the reasons for removing them was that the locks were shot, but also because the top corner SS trim pieces were coming loose. Well, one of the corner pieces has come off competely as the "lips" of the rubber no longer will grip it tightly. I hate to have to pull the glass just to reattach that little corner piece. Anyone have any ideas what might be used to secure it in place? I originally thought of that windshield adhesive putty (black) that you find in the local auto parts place. Any other suggestions?

I feel your pain, I've been there before. After mine was taken, I put on at least 25lbs of "eating-drinking-smoking-cuz-I'm-pissed-off-and-depressed" fat in the first month. I hate to ask, but did you have... theft insurance? I had non on mine at the time (binge time)

hehe - thx guys. I was beginning to think it was just my warped perspective. Ed, I think you're right, a little bit of both. Hopefully I'll get a chance this weekend to see just how much. Finally got the paperwork needed to get her "officially" transfered into my ownership, and get some tags! Been over a month now, sitting in my garage, while the morons at the DMV have been jerking me around getting the title transfered over from the PO.

DOH!!!!! You're absolutely right!!! I was referring to the front B-U-M-P-E-R, not the front fender. Jeez, I feel like a moron. I thought it was a pretty straight forward question, and as I'm watching the number of views grow, with no response, I started to think to myself, "uh, Rick, did you completely miss something here?" :stupid: :stupid: :stupid: :stupid: What I'm looking at is the front bumper. It looks bowed up in the middle to me, but I can't tell if the grill is bent DOWN, or the bumper is bent UP. Maybe it's both. I figured the easiest way to find out would be to remove the bumper and lay it upside down on a flat surface, but what I don't know is if it SHOULD have any bow to it, or if it should lay perfectly flat. Does that make sense? I know it's subtle, but it's buggin the snot outta me. I cant tell you how many old cars I've owned that have looked good only to have the front bumper "off", making the car look... well, second rate. Under the bumper's rubber stripping (which I realize is not original, but looks decent IMHO) there are a couple of small indentations. But otherwise it's in good condition, the chrome work is in very decent shape. I've thought about looking for a new one but good ones aren't cheap, and if it's NOT the bumper (maybe it's the mounts?) then that money is wasted.

spotted this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=4546423850&rd=1 Looks like triple webers, rest of the car is rough, but the going price is only ~$500 so far.

Does anyone know if these is a lateral curve to the front fender? What I mean is, if you were to remove the front bumper, flip it upside down and lay it on a flat surface, would both end pieces be touching the ground? I have a feeling mine is bent, it just doesnt look "right" http://www.classiczcars.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=15073 there are a few other angles in the my gallery.

I'll agree with Mike on this, high G hardrives have been around for some time now and are pretty reliable. there's also the option of using solid state memory (flash drive) technology. the idea of using a 3" CD is that it might be possible to make a unit that can fit in the standard (old school) radio space without having to hack the dash up as is needed with the newer stereo systems. If you don't mind the cutting, new CD/MP3/wma players can be found inexpensively. OTOH, if you want a bolt in solution that is totally reverable (ie reinstalling the ORIGINAL 240/260/280 radio) then your options are limited. I did the iPod/MP3/CD player for a while in my Miata when I first got it (the CD player died), but I found it to be a real hassle. Cables and cords, plus the fact that everytime I stepped out of the car, I felt like I had to disconnect everything and pack it away from view. I learned my lesson years ago when someone decided to slash the convertible top on my Chevelle to get a cheapo Walkman that I left sitting on the front seat. $1000 for a new top vs. $20 for the walkman. Since then, I never lock my doors, if they steal stuff, so be it. If they steal the car, they can get in anyway so what's the point. Same thing here; I dont want to have to disconnect the ipod/mp3/whatever just to run into a store for 5 minutes, or to have someone smash the glass to get in when I forget, all for a little CD player.

Your prolly right. I was just thinking that the 3" disc format might make it possible to still have the ability to play CD/MP3/WMA files without having to hack the console to fit modern sized players. I was thinking more of the 3" CD's as opposed to Sony's mini-disc format. I'm torn on this one. FM radio here in S. Florida is horrible, so I've come to love my mp3's. OTOH, I don't particularly like the idea of hacking the dash up. Going with a hidden system is an option, but a PITA frankly. Maybe the answer is just to wait until someone decides that people will want a hardrive in thier car stereo ala iPods. Hey, what about making it wireless too, so I can just DL files to the car when it's in the garage! :classic:

Very sweet ride, congrats. White Z's look exceptionally nice if done right, and yours sure fits that catagory!

The thought just occured to me... Why not an indash CD/mp3 player designed around the 3" mini-cd format? They hold ~300mb worth of data which is still ~8hrs worth of MP3 music. Not at home right now to measure, but I wonder just how wide the center section of the stock radio cutout is? I've got an original radio at home, and a working Kenwood Cassette unit in the car now installed by the PO. Unfortunately, the LCD display on the Kenwood is going bad (only displays ~half of the digit sections). The PO also cut the center console to install an EQ/Amp just above the regular choke light indicator. :/ MP3 sure would be nice but I'm not sure I want to cut the dash. Question: the piece that would need to be cut to install a "modern sized" car stereo, is that the plastic center piece? or is it an underlaying steel piece? I haven't take mine apart yet to investigate. BTW, while surfing the subject, came across this for those on a budget: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-ephfQqNuT5p/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=200&id=essential_info&i=140MARB102

What the Classic Z World NEEDS... is a two pole AM/FM proper size stereo that simply has a BUILT-IN harddrive or flash memory to store MP3 music (ala iPod or other MP3 players). Why no one makes one is beyond me. You can buy some pretty decent MP3 players for next to nothing. I seriously wonder what it would take to make a head unit that simply has a USB port built into the face so that all you would need to do would be to plug in a flash memory stick and either play, or download to the head storage. IMHO, multi CD disc changers are passe. When the stereo in my Miata died, I shopped around, found a decent Panasonic AM/FM/CD/MP3 player for less than $100 on sale. If you think a Z has no storage, try on a Miata for size. With MP3 capabilities, I can carry virtually every song/album I will ever want to listen to on only 3 CD's. If I got picky, I could probably pare it down to one. But better yet, if I could simply put it onto a flash memory stick and pop it in...? How sweet would THAT be!

Chris, excellent link - many thanks! I had the cover of my Miata headlight blasted off the car when I got hit by a piece of road debris (made a nice hole in the windshield too!) a few months back. I got a replacement but just never have the time nor inclination to find out what it would cost to get just that little piece painted the same color as the rest of the car. One rattlecan of Miata Mariner Blue will do the trick!

Interesting, I've never heard it referred to as that [FRP]. Makes sense. Any idea who might have made that part [combo valance/spoiler]?

Excuse my ignorance; "FRP"? Is the manufacturer of the piece?