MarkDixon

I also have a 1998 Ford Explorer. My wife's car is a 2002 BMW X5. Which is an awesome care by the way. Everyone should have one.

I hear a lot about this topic. I am not looking for a luxury ride out of my 240z, but I don't need it to be any more rough than it already is. I see urethane bushing kits all over the place, but never the rubber bushing kit. Where does one get all the rubber bushings needed? Would I need to buy those one at a time from the dealer?

I have some sort of short in my fan system that keeps blowing the in-line fuse. I thought it was my switch so I bought a used one. Unfortunatly I found that both switches work but I still have a short. The stem on the switch I bought is much longer than the one on my 71' so I asume it was meant for a 280. I don't need it so I will sell it for $10 plus shipping. That is what I paid for it. email me if you are interested. Mark

You can save a lot of money by just using fiberglass on the back side of your panels to repair the cracks, and then paint the fron side with SEM vinyl dye. This come in a spray can and be forund at NAPA auto parts stores. It will make your plastic look like new again.

this may be a dumb question, but if I buy a used plastic fan with clutch will it fit any new water pump I buy from say Advanced Auto Parts?

http://www.paintwithpearl.com/candy/pwp402/pwp402.htm Check out this product. You can mix this with your clear coat and it will give you that something extra you were looking for. If you are going with a metalic color paint, tinting the clear coat is the best thing you can do that will give an extra custom look

MoonPup, That is exactly how I adjust my floats. Using a 14mm wrench. Very strange.

If you clean the carbs and make sure your needle valve is not sticking open and letting the fuel bowl overflow, than yes you should be fine. I would do two things. Never let your gas tank get lower that 1/4 to 1/2 full, and check or change your fuel filter every fill-up. Once you get your tank (flushed, boiled, sandblasted) or whatever method to clean it, you will need to replace your fuel filter for the next couple of fill-ups. If your fuel filter gets clogged you will know it. The RPM's will suddenly die and your car that was running and sounding great just a second ago will go "Burrrrrrrrr". The dirt may pass through and it will sound great again, and the "Burrrrrrrr" This I tell you from great experience. Keep a spare fuel filter in your car. Your wife will not be happy when you tell her to go in the garage get your spare fuel filter (which you will have to explain what it looks like over the phone while she is looking), and then drive 25miles to bring it to you. Now is when she starts in on "you need to clean up your mess in the garage" and "is this car ever going to work right" Have fun Mark

I do remeber the term "grosse jet" Mike. I think if you buy one of Scott's remanufactured carbs the use one instead of the needle valve. By the way Mike, check your private message. I asked you a question regarding another topic. Mark

I think MikeW and I are talking about the same thing. He is calling it the check valve and I am calling it the needle and seat. The needle I am refering to is not the needle you see when you lift up the damper. I may be calling it a needle and seat when in-fact it is the check valve. Either way, you should take the tops of your fuel bowl off and follow my instructions to remove the brass hexagon shaped thing in the fuel bowl top. Inside this is what Mike is saying can get stuck open. you will find that inside the hexagon thing there is a component with a rubber-like tip(needle). This tip comes to a sharp point. When your fuel float rises(when bowl is full) this tip pushes up into the (seat) to stop fuel flow. It only takes a speck of dirt to clog this thing therefore leaving a gap for fuel to continue to pass into your bowl. remember your fuel pump (if manual) is trying to pump fuel into the fuel bowls everytime the engine turns over. This is a easy fix and your car will magically start running better. You should also buy, or make a gasket to seal the top of your fuel bowl to your bowl. Gas spilling out right above red hot headers is not a good thing.

deadflo, you don't have to take the bowl off to clean the filter, needle and seat. They are all in the top that you pulled off of the bowl. The float comes off of the top by pushing the rod that goes through both sides of the float bracket. That is the easy part. Make sure you don't bend the bracket Once you get the float off, use a 10mm or 12mm I can't remember what size exactly but you can remove the brass looking hexagon thing screwed into the bowl top. this is where your neede and seat is located. There is a tiny tiny tiny spring that keeps the needle from sticking in the seat. do not lose this spring. otherwise, use some carb cleanear and spray everything down. put it back together, make sure your carbs are tuned, (make sure they are both pulling the same amount of air and gas mixture). If you don't know how to do this, I strongly recoment that you go to www.ztherapy.com and buy their video. Now your car should run great. The SU carbs are the heart of your Z. If they are not happy, you will not be happy. Don't worry, SU carbs are very easy to work on. But......... None of this is going to do you any good if you have rust in your gas tank.

Well that sounds like a great deal Arne. After reading this thread, I'm scared to drive my car. I have a 71' and the water pump leaks a little sometimes, and sometimes not. I have a metal fan. I guess I need to find the plastic type, and change that water pump. Thanks, Mark

Got it. Thanks guys. Now if I can just get all of these gauges back in when I'm done. Thanks again, Mark

Thanks. I think I will try to pull the knob down. I was afraid I would break it if I pulled too hard. Thanks for the help

I just realized the error of my explaination. I am having problems with the cable that attaches to the Trip Odometer. Everything else is un-done, un-screwed, gauges pulled out the front of the dash. I am down to the Speedometer. Everything is loose and the gauge is almost out, BUT the cable to the tripodometer is still attached. Please give me a little more detail on how to detach that cable please. Thanks, mark

I posted a thread last week asking for advice on how to remove my Spedo/Tacho out of my 71' 240z. Someone told me the cable to the tac will un-screw and you can pull it off the back. That doesn't work. How do I get the cable off the back of the tac. The speedometer unscrewed but the tac does not. Please help me. Mark

I'm gonna give the un-screwing method a try tonight. Thanks guys

If anyone is interested I have the white gauge faces in a .jpg file. They could be printed on a vinyl paper or sticker type paper and cut out. The cutting may be difficult but I think it could be done.

I know the speedometer cable un-screwed, but it didn't feel like the tac cable would un-screw. I will try though. I just keep adding on to projects. This all started by replacing a fan motor. (which by the way I havn't finished yet. I thought while I have the glove box out, I will replace my gauge faces with white ones and red back lights. It turns out the gauges are harder to get out than I thought. I think it will look good when done. My car is white so it should look natural. Thanks.

What does it say about un-plugging the cable that runs to the tacometer part of the Spedometer gauge?

I've got 6.0

I can't seem to open those files.

I am trying to get my spedometer gauge out of my dash. All other gauges were pretty simple. The spedometer has really kicked my arse. I now have everything un-plugged but the cable that runs to the tacometer. How does that come off? Of course I will be asking for advise this weekend on how to put all of these gauges bak in. Thanks

"Break bolt, difficulty level jumped up to 7" That's funny. Isn't that the way it goes. I think that will be the next project. I guess I might as well try to find a plastic fan while I'm at it.

WoW what a difference. I guess I need to get out in the garage and try a little clean up. My mother in-law has a Chrysler 300M that the plastic headlights are so hazey you can barely see light through them. I will try this on her car. Can't beat those kind of brownie points.