2ManyZs

Well, it can be done, but on a mostly stock engine anything other than just a good cleaning is going to be a waste of time and money. You could have them "swirl polished" but it won't do much good unless you did a lot of work on the head and intake ports. The swirl polishing is supposed to give the incoming air a swirling motion as it enters the combustion chamber thereby filling the combustion chamber completely for a better air/fuel charge. Unless you had the head ported and polished and the intake polished or perhaps Extrude Honed you won't realize any benefit by just doing the valves. One thing you should do is to lap the valves to get the best seal at the valve seats. I'd like to see how much benefit you could gain having the head and intake Extrude Honed. Wonder if anyone has ever done a before/after dyno test on an L-series after having the head and intake Extrude Honed to see if it really does what it claims. It probably doesn't do much more than a good machinist could do, but it sure is less labor intensive and should be quite a bit more economical....

Well Dan, believe it or not the cruise control can actually floor the throttle if you have wheel spin. I have had it happen in an older 85-87Chevy's (I know, figures for GM) but it will do it. The older cars with the vacuum canisters connected to the cruise control will do it even quicker than the newer cruise controls. I haven't had it happen lately, but I don't see how the newer ones are any different. It is not as noticeable with a vehicle with a LSD as it is with one with an open rear, one wheel spins, and the cruise will then increase the throttle before you can react. :cross-eye It doesn't happen as often in the rain as it will if you hit a patch of black ice or an icy bridge. I've had it happen in a tractor trailer hitting a overpass that was freezing over, increases the "pucker factor" even more when you are beginning to jackknife, and have no control over the throttle.

I've had it happen to me once or twice....:stupid: I guess I never learned my lesson the first time... I had it happen last summer pulling the camper with the Ram. Cummins with high torque + rain+ towing a 8K plus pound trailer= wheelspin, usually when you least expect it. Hit a spot that had a little standing water and had my hands full for a minute.... I've also had a full size Chevy Blazer cause me to do donuts on an ice and snow covered interstate just because I was in overdrive (30-35mph)and the automatic suddenly downshifted out of overdrive. That's one reason I will never own another automatic:angry:

Egad, that is not good. But as long as you are OK, well, there is always another car to tinker with. Look on the bright side, you live on the "left coast" where Z's are plentiful.....and usually a lot cheaper than here on the east coast. Can it be fixed?

If you are talking about the cylinder that bolts on the outside of the bellhousing that operates the clutch fork, yes they are the same. The proper term for it is slave cylinder, and they are quite cheap and easy to find, so you will have no problem finding a new one. MSA, VB, and probably even your local Napa, Advance, Pep Boys can get you one with no trouble, probably no more than 25 bucks.

Saw one recently on Ebay for $ 250US, so they are not that cheap....:disappoin There are not many of them in working condition for the first reason, and a lot of them got thrown into a box or into a dumpster when a previous owner decided to put an aftermarket radio in. So, to answer your question, yes, they are becoming scarce and finding a very good, working example if you want to do a proper original restoration is not going to be easy. You might end up paying a good sized sum for a perfect original radio, it all depends on who is selling, and if you are bidding on it on Ebay or the like.

If you want the book, use the Bookstore in the Main Menu. It will link you to Amazon.com and it does help support the site...... You can find nearly all the books ever written on the Z in there..

Never saw one lose a blade, but I have seen them break where they attach to the mounting plate to the fan clutch though.... either way the result isn't a good one.:disappoin

Not sure, but I think the trans has to come out through interior tunnel on these early MG's as well. Notice the missing trans tunnel in the foot pedal pic? If he re-wired it to get rid of the electrical problems that were the downfall of these cars, I'd say this would make a real cool cruiser...

Yeesh, talk about wishing my "minds eye" was blind.... Zlish, did you really have to do that?:cross-eye :sick:

Cool, a dependable British sports car...... That is a pretty interesting swap..:cheeky:

I'd just like to have the parts he has.... car would be a bonus if it is repairable....:cross-eye

Here's one on Ebay that is a very early 70 model. Needs quite a bit of work, but he has a bunch of parts to go with it. It's only 60 miles from me, so if needed I could look at it for you if you wanted. Beware, if I see it, I might buy it myself....:devious: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6187&item=2403320521&rd=1

Everybody's prices are going up on some of the items that are getting harder to find, it's not just VB....:disappoin

If you have never taken one apart and don't have the proper tools such as a torque wrench and a press, I would advise against it. The rear pinion bearing is pressed on the pinion shaft, and the pre-loads need to be set correctly on the pinion shaft to get the proper contact at the ring gear. It does require some special tools, but you should be able to find someone to do it for you for a reasonable price. I haven't done one myself as I don't have all the tools to do one right. If you do some checking with a local Z club or some of the racers in your area, they should be able to tell you of someone that can do it for a reasonable cost. I believe you can get most of the bearings and seals from Victoria British out of their catalog. The only thing you might have to do is get the pinion shims from a Nissan dealer to set the preload on the pinion, if it requires shims other than the ones from the old diff.You should be able to get all the bearings and seals and shims you would need from someone like Courtesy Nissan, or perhaps even a local dealer. Of course, if all else fails, a Nissan dealer should be able to do the work, but it will likely cost a bit more.:disappoin It is possible it could be in the thrust washers in the carrier that is causing the noise, but then, that is also something best left to someone who knows what they are doing. Are you absolutely sure it is the diff that is causing the noise and not a U-joint or something else? Since you say there were not that many shavings in the diff, I'm wondering if it could have been caused by something other than the diff itself, like perhaps a U-joint, or a worn bushing causing excess movement in the diff mount or mustache bar?

There's only a couple things that could cause the howl, bearings or the ring and pinion itself. Best thing to do is to pull the rear cover and see what the ring and pinion look like. Hopefully it will just be one of the bearings that is going bad, and hasn't caused any permanent damage. Pull the drain plug from the bottom of the case and drain the oil, if you find a lot of metal shavings, pull the rear cover and take a good look to see if you can spot where the metal is coming from, if the ring gear has deep grooves in the faces of the teeth, you will be looking at a complete tear down. If there is no real deep gouging of the teeth, it may be just a bearing going bad which you might be able to replace without a total rebuild, of course, you'll then have to figure out which one it is.

I think it would be a good idea to pull the plugs and pour a bit of regular motor oil in each cylinder and then turn the engine over by hand to coat the cylinder walls. Mystery oil is too thin to stay on the cylinder walls for very long, it will just run down the walls and pool on the pistons and not protect the cylinder walls like a thicker viscosity oil would.

I hate giving people bad news like that, but with the problem of pushing the coolant out and now the sludge in the engine, it sounds like the problem is fairly serious. I think a compression test or leakdown test at this point is a waste of time. I'd say there is a definate problem in the head gasket or head itself. It could be the engine has gotten hot to the point the head has warped, and that has caused the head gasket to blow. Is there any coolant leaking around the base of the head on the outside of the block? This is usually an indication of a warped head/blown gasket. More than likely the damage is confined to the head so the next thing to do is to remove the head and have it checked for straightness and cracks if the head is not warped significantly. If you are lucky, it might only require a slight shaving of the head and a set of gaskets to re-install it. Of course, you should the valve seats checked out carefully and re-place them if needed while it is off.

If the sludge is a light brown it probably is oil in the coolant. This is the same engine that was forcing coolant out of the radiator right? I'd say that pretty much confirms my suspicions that you either have a blown head gasket or cracked head.:disappoin Before you do anything to the engine you should try to get as much of that out as you can. Using an old garden hose, cut off one end and put it on the transfer tube on the passengers side of the engine and block off the end you unhooked and flush out the block and head as well as you can. You could use the "Y" where the line goes to the intake and just turn on the water pressure and let it run for a while until the water looks fairly clean. Then I'd say it is time to pull the head and find out if it's a head gasket blown, or if the head might be cracked or warped. I'd have the head checked for straightness at a machine shop and if it is OK, and the gasket looks good, then have the head checked for a crack. Either way, I think you will need to do at least a top end rebuild. When you get the engine back together, I would use a commercial engine flush to make sure the block and radiator are clean. The sludge you found is probably clogging the tubes in the radiator and will cause a lot of problems later....

Most of the suppliers have sold their molds and gotten out of the fiberglass business.:stupid: Just saw a set of molds on Ebay just a few weeks ago for stock front fenders, guess I should have bought them..... Try Doug Piner, if he can't supply them, he probably knows where you can get a set as he is racing in EP, so it's likely he has a set on his car, and has a supplier if he is not making them himself. http://www.piner.com/japco/

Hey, I'm over 40, you trying to tell me something?:devious: :cross-eye

Jet-Hot, HPC, Airborne Coatings, there a quite a few on the market now and they are all pretty close to being the same thing.

See these links as they will explain everything. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/competition/shaving.html http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/competition/heatcycletech.htm BTW, nearly any question you could have about a tire is covered on the Tire Racks web-site if you know where to look. Be ready to spend some time digesting it all as there is a lot of good info there on some of the more popular brands of racing tires.