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You are not alone Arnold.

I just finished a post on another Forum that took me almost an hour to complete.
It involved finding part numbers and much messing around looking up stuff on the internet for someone.

A very large amount of ORIGINAL stuff now comes from China anyway.

So you buy a brand new American Ford/GM assembled car, made mostly from Chinese manufactured parts assembled in America and it all o/k, huh ?

But if you buy the same identical parts straight from China at a third of the price, the parts must be total crap.

America has now totally priced itself out of the world market.

Soon all Americans will be out of work, buying all
fully imported stuff.

But as long as some American company somewhere, repackages it, and hikes the price four times, Americans will be overjoyed to pay many times extra for the exact same part.

I once worked for a company that did this.

The boxes said "made here" but the parts all came from China.
The cardboard boxes themselves were actually locally made, so it was all quite legal.

Another problem can be that the master cylinder is not coming all the way back which closes off the port to the front fluid reservoir.
As everything heats up, the fluid can expand and lock the brakes.

As others have already said, unscrew a caliper bleed nipple.
That will tell you if it is a mechanical caliper jamming problem, or hydraulic pressure lock.

Yup, the very latest technology is always going to be better for both power and economy than even just a few years ago.

The latest thing now, is direct fuel injection, that is still in the future for most of us, but it is certainly well on the way.

I doubt if the actual number of cylinders makes very much difference, apart from smoothness.  
But even that can mostly be cured with balance shafts and very clever engine mounts.

Hi I've just purchased a 290HP chev crate motor and want to run a T700R (non electronic) which flexiplate should I run 153 tooth or 168 tooth.  Why is there a difference??
Thanks Stephen

Stephen, I am going through this same drama myself right now with a Ford combination.
There are so many years/applications that it probably does not matter as long as the starter and flex plate are a matched pair.
Do some research and find out what models and years had what (??) and buy both starter and flex plate to suit that exact year and application.

You will obviously need a free torque converter when idling and starting off in first gear, and also for full throttle up changes to soften the sudden shock loading when shifting gear.

The torque converter can be locked in top gear, and also maybe in the lower gears at very light throttle for improved fuel economy.
Many ways to do it, the simplest is probably to use a speed sensitive switch, combined with a "full throttle" switch.

Lock up the converter above a certain road speed, but have it unlock when you really nail the throttle at any speed. That would be about the simplest workable system.

Yes the American headlines can be pretty alarming, and are becoming more so as time goes on.

I have had numerous internet discussions on different Forums with Americans about crime and violence, and it is fascinating.
Always the same exact comments repeated.

It usually goes something like this....

You Australians let them take away your guns.
No, we all agreed after much public discussion fewer guns would make the community much safer, it is a completely dead political issue here and still a strongly held view held by the vast majority.
Since you gave up your guns violent crime in Australia has increased.
Yes it has, but it has increased much faster in America than here.
In Australia you are a sitting duck for heavily armed criminals.
True, but statistically you are eight times more likely to be shot dead in America than here (per 100,000 population).
You shot Crocodile Dundee dead because he owned an illegal gun.
The cops returned fire when he fired on them first in a siege situation, don't American police return fire when shot at ?

Well I don't want to live in a country where I cannot own powerful hand guns and assault rifles, crossbows and openly carry around hunting knives. I will stay right here in America the FREE COUNTRY.

It's a fundamental cultural difference. Not right or wrong, just different.

But many Americans have told me they don't want to come to Australia only because of the very tough gun restrictions.  
This is all something I hear repeatedly, and it's certainly something to think about.

This seems to be a very big issue for Americans, and certainly a worthy and important topic of discussion about the advantages and disadvantages  of immigration to either NZ or to  Australia.

Hello;
From the info I'm getting here it looks like a lot of investigation is in order to find the "pitfalls" of this move.

Many Americans simply could not live without having loaded guns constantly within reach. they simply would not feel safe.

That is the single biggest reason Americans say they do not wish to move to a different country, they simply would not feel safe there.

Much better to live among crime and corruption, pedophiles, muggers, murderers, totally corrupt government officials and crazies , and be armed, than move to a peaceful and safe country and to just trust people.

The other big problem is a lowering of living standard.
Income is much lower in most other countries, and prices for goods and services significantly higher. Americans still like to have lots of money and very low prices for things.
Anything less would just not be acceptable.

Americans love freedom, the freedom to use drugs, freedom to be homosexual, freedom to follow satanism, and not be discriminated against.  
People have rights, and Americans usually don't want to live in countries where they may be forced to conform to strict social and moral norms that they see as hugely limiting, discriminatory, and oppressive.

Yes, moving overseas to a totally different society and culture means you will need to be prepared to fit into that culture and perhaps give up a few things.

Not entirely true, my ancestors paid $250 to come out with the first fleet as Squatters.

That was a vast sum of money in those days.
Pretty intrepid too.
Must have seemed like going on the first manned mission to Mars.

Another way would be to contact the New Zealand embassy in Washington.
http://www.nzembassy.com/united-states-of-america/about-the-embassy/contact-us

They will send you a big stack of forms to fill in, to begin the whole immigration process.

You can always change your mind later on and decide not to go. But nothing is going to happen until you actually start the process.

I would also very strongly recommend contacting the Australian embassy as well. It may not be your first choice, but once in Australia with Australian citizenship, moving to NZ would then present no problem at all.

There are no travel restrictions at all between Australia and New Zealand, you just get on a commuter flight and go there for as long as you wish to stay.
You may eventually decide to take out NZ citizenship, or keep your Australian citizenship, it really does not matter.

Even President Obummer seems to have a slight little problem with his Social Security number not being valid..............

It looks like NZ has their act together regarding people coming in to stay ....BUT ...Is it enforced ?  We too have set rules to enter  our country legally ......... :

Don't know about NZ, but in oZ it sure is ruthlessly enforced.

Anyone overstaying a three month visitors visa will be arrested and deported. You will remain in prison until you can get someone to pay your fare back to your own country. I am not kidding.

The first day you start in any new job in Australia, you fill out a form which goes to the Australian Tax Office. If you don't have a verifiable tax file number and identity, you are toast.

Without verifiable identity documents you cannot open a bank account, obtain a driving license, get a credit card, rent property, get any Government benefits such as unemployment or free health care, or do much of anything.  You are a non person without an identity.

So an illegal immigrant cannot work, cannot find a place to live, cannot drive a vehicle, cannot get health care, and without a bank account cannot receive pay or own a credit card without being caught very quickly.

Once behind bars, with no provable identity, you will be deported.
It is all very effective indeed.
And you don't even need to get caught doing a significant criminal act, it's the "system" that will get you.

See what happened to these guys.
And they were not even illegal immigrants !!!
All they did was find themselves a job while they were here perfectly legally on holiday.

http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/2010/ce10010.htm

As you are near retiring age, I agree NZ would be a very good destination.

The main disadvantage of NZ, there being very little manufacturing or industry, and hence quite limited career possibilities for most younger people wishing to immigrate.
For self funded retirees in good health none of that applies.

It is merely a problem of convincing the NZ immigration authorities that you are among the best and most worthy of all the other applicants.

How good your chances are, probably depends on how many others apply as much as anything else.

Even though Australia may not be your first choice, it would be a good idea to apply for there as well.  Once you are established with permanent citizenship in either country, there are no restrictions of subsequently moving between the two.

Getting into either country may be a long slow difficult process, but applying for both multiplies your chances.

Sounds like turbo lag...... without the turbo........

Only thing I can think of beside emissions, might be fuel economy.

If you instantly crack the throttle wide open, you are going to have a lean stumble, unless you also tip in a massive sudden (accelerator pump like) fuel squirt.
That could use a lot of unnecessary extra fuel with really aggressive driving, and screw up both emissions and drivability if it is not done exactly right.

Now if you slow down the rate of sudden initial throttle opening, it may be possible to better control the A/F ratio during sudden initial acceleration, and use less fuel.

I dunno ??  
Just guessing really.

You can always just buy a kit and fit it yourself, as you already know.

Another much better way would be to fit an entire electronic distributor and coil off a later model car.
Some of the 1980's models had very good electronic ignitions with inbuilt mechanical centrifugal and vacuum advance. These usually had the igniter built into the base of the distributor, and require the special "electronic" ignition coil that goes with it.

The very latest EFI cars now have completely locked distributors and use the engine management computer to map the ignition timing, so are unsuitable.

Using a full factory ignition, (that is distributor plus special "electronic" coil) will provide a very solid and factory proven high output system, and at very low cost.

Adding an aftermarket kit to the existing points type ignition coil will not be anywhere near as good, and will probably cost more.

I have to believe there are repair parts available somewhere ....

Not at all likely if it's made in China, as it most probably is.

If it was made in USA and cost $300.00 then individual off the shelf spare parts would almost certainly be available for it.

Things are very different these days.