Gavin

Thaught I should report back- Yes my timing was out of wack. Fixing this actually helped my throttle response a huge amount as well as cranking, as is used to hesitate for a moment when I got on the throttle (assumed it was an enrichment problem before).

You should try shortening the Accel Taper Time value, and perhaps lower the End PW value as well. You should try a larger 'Dave Capacitor.' Search megasquirt.info for more information on this. Capacitors of the proper size can be had at most Radio Shacks. What is your "Decel Fuel Amount" value at? If its low, try making it closer to 100%. I think MS1 might call this "Decell Fuel Cut," in which case 100% is no fuel so it would be the other way arround. The bottom line is, change the value so it doesnt cut fuel on Decel. If this fixes the probem, other values can probably be adjusted to make the Decel Fuel Cut work again. The vacuum being out of the range of the VE table wont cause any problems, it still draws from the closest value and thats completely normal. When the idle is fluctuating, open up the VE Table tuning window and see if the area where its idling is smooth or if the little green dot is moving back and forth over two very different VE values. This inconsistency can be enough to cause something like that. Hope that makes sense.. Do some dataloging and post em up!

Gotcha, OK thanks a lot guys!

Damn, wish I had baught the camber plates for the front... I actually have a Corolla wagon which would ideally be my driver, but its slowly been getting a turbo installed for the past six months or so. So the tire wear thing wont be too big a concern soon enough. Why would I want to slot the front towers over adjusting the camber at the bushings?

Niice ok thanks! So it looks like I'll be using these bushings all arround as well as camber plates in the rear. Should I not bother installing the camber plates? Or would it make any difference making the camber adjustments from either location? Aside from that, since I'm going to be able to make real adjustments to my alignment with these parts, what are some good specs that I should align my car to, for starters? This is for AutoX.

OK so there are some bushings available to adjust toe and others for camber? Could someone direct me to where I could find these? MSA has these, but they are for camber. I need a way of adjusting my rear toe. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/PSDC07A

No thoughts on my alignment figures?

Advan SA3R perhaps? At first I didnt know what to think of them, but they grew on me. I got a good deal on these through rbmotoring.com because they were in bad shape. The lip comes anodized blue or red. They're 15/6.5, would have gone bigger except I want to be able to put them on my Corolla. Also these are +32 offset so usually the lip is deeper. Anyways, I think they look good on my car. Thinking about getting 17"ers at some point. http://homepage.mac.com/gavinwilliams/Z/IMG_0007.JPG Also really light. Didn't get around to weighing them though..

I have bump steer spacers. I like your Corolla. Its pretty good now, with the bushings switched around.

OK so sounds like my problems are mostly fixable. What do you make of this: Front: Caster (L/R): +2.84/+2.83 K.P.I.: +12.75/+16.66 Camber: -.06/-.12 Toe: +.12/+.19 Setback: +.20 Rear: Camber: -.71/-.23 Toe: +.51/-.28 Geom. Driving Axis: -.39 I did not install the rear camber plates yet. I DID switch the swaybar end link bushings between front and rear and that made things much much better. - Oh and also the shop pointed out to me that I have some play in my steering rack, so that would mess with the front toe numbers a bit. Any recommendations on where to get a new one?

Not much left to remove in front I'm afraid, asside from the battery. Did the earlier Zs come with an air pump? Wish mine did, I'd throw it on the 8CI B&S motor I'm MegaSquirting Didn't think much could be adjusted. I'll have the readout by the end of next week. But where do I want my rear camber? Since I may as well do that at the same time.

Did the trick. But its behaving very strangely now. Should I have to reset my base timing?

I hear ya bjhines dont worry!! Next week im going to install the camber plates, swap the bushings, and then take it straight to a shop. Could anybody give me some good numbers that I should have my car aligned to? Im not even sure what exactly is adjustable on this car from the factory. Cant lower the front beacuse I dont have adjustable spring perches. Some day... Its not high in the front I think the shadow makes it look that way.

Niice. I'll go try that.

Since I upgraded to the ZXT dizzy for my trigger, I have had a very strange cranking problem. The car will always start fine with a Cranking RPM (under general settings) of arround 70-90 RPM - Less if I have a low battery and more if its well charged, but it will not start out of that range. It does not appear to be using my cranking PW with the RPM set like this, but instead I guess is pulling them from the VE table. If I try to set it higher, like the normal 200 RPM, it violently backfires. I find that the engine is not fussy about its starting parameters, almost never flooding at times when it really should have and under a wide range of ignition advancement in the cranking area of the table - right now that area is set to 0 advance while I finally try to sort this out. Here are my ignition settings: So, what could be causing the misfire? And why on earth would it need to be at this particular cranking RPM in order to start??

That would be great! I'll PM you when I finish typing this. Maybe I'll expiriment with moving the old bushings to the front. I know how to trail brake. I fooled arround in this lot a few times, the last was with a friend who has a lot of racing experience of all kinds and a NASA instructor liscence, and he pointed out the understeer without my saying anything. Im talking about a lot of understeer at times when there really shouldnt be any. But ya, thats under pretty much the worst possible conditions. I will check out my alignment ASAP. Camber is visably quite negative in the front just from being lowered.. wish I had the numbers.

Yes I am following you, actually. I'm just beginning to understand suspension dynamics and am really eager to learn. Reading what you guys have to say is invaluable and I appreciate your answering my easy questions.

Hope your happy with the combo, I sure was.

Is your car really lifting at speeds where your splitter would be making downforce? Impressive. Or are you just talking about the weight shifting?

I have those. I think my car sits really high, and even have slightly smaller O/D wheels than stock (205/55R15). I dont think they are too stiff at all either, handles the bumps and cracks of these New England roads just fine while cornering... BTW I am using mine in combination with the Tokico HP shocks.

I am using the original bushings in the front where it attaches to the frame, but not at the links (they are in real good shape though, somehow). Other way around in the rear - I have new bushings where it ataches to the frame and oldies at the links. What has bean installed from my Energy Suspension master kit was done over a long period, between me and my father, so yeah... things are a little disorganized. I'm gonna check out the local parts places today and see if I can find a suitable replacement for the rear sway link bushings.

I dont care about handling well in the cold and grit, but I figured its a good reflection of how the car handles in general (a lot easier to reach/test the limits in a sandy parking lot). Am I wrong? If not, thats good news, but it still understeers more than I'd like under ideal conditions.

If either is too soft, eh? Actually one pair, think its the rear, is still on the old bushings where it attaches to the links (I either misplaced them or they didnt come in the box, kinda pissed about it). Both are well tightened down though. Anyone know where to get these seperately? OK well thats a good start! Other ideas? Edit - Oh I had misread your post. That must be it. Sweet!

My 78 280z has a tendency to understeer. On the dry pavement on a warm day I have to try to make it happen (know the limits pretty well by this point) but on a cold day with some grit on the ground its horrendous and just dangerous. Heres my setup. My alignment figures would probably help, but I dont have them unfortunitely.. 78 280z 205/55R15 BFG G-Force KDWs, 34 Psi all arround Tokico Blues with matching springs by Tokico (~1 inch drop) Front roll center adjusters (ebay special) Most of a Energy Suspension bushing kit installed (not sure whats relevant, just ask) Thats all I can think of that would be relevant... Also I have reduced the weight in the front a lot with a CF hood, fiberglass bumper, and heavily stripped down engine bay. Still have the bumper in the rear, allong with a full sized spare... I also have a pair of those MSA camber plates waiting to be installed, so if adjusting my rear camber would help I can do that. But should I need to? What could I try adjusting or what could be going wrong to cause my car to push the way it does? Any input would help. Thanks

Good to know. You sure the BOV of yours is working? Watching the vid of the after-tuning test drive, sounds like compressor surge where it should be blowing off a lot of the time.