PeterZ

Someone else here reminded us that the ignition switch can wear and lose ignition when the key is turned too far. If this is the problem you can turn the key back a little when cranking and all will be well.

MR.C! what a very nice surprise it is to find you...We met at Dando's so many years ago. (The old shop before the move) I remember your red car, still have it? I helped you with the flares and the flip top fuel cap. Many things have happened since then, we must catch up at an event. I have Faber's Red Z-8. I can help with the seats but I think you've got this well covered by now.

What don't you like about the stock FI? The tiny intake runners and lack of HP or is there a driveability problem?

Excellent choice for a powerplant. What led you to your decision to use turbo over a supercharger? They both have their advantages; I'm curious.

Jegs or Summit sells a good quick release steering wheel hub but, of course, now I can't find it in either catalog. They sell several kinds, check the spline count and diameter. I think the Chevy 5/8 quick release fits but I'm not sure. Nice theft deterrent too. Get out of the car and take the wheel with you.

Keep an eye on the tops of the valve stems in the retainers. At the higher RPM the valve starts to sink into the stock retainers eventually slipping into the cylinder or breaking off. My racer was required to use the stock retainers. Until I put a rev limiter a missed shift would tack out to 8100 (Tack memory) and I could see the damage before really bad things happened. If you like your fuel delivery except for top end you can narrow the taper of the needle at the pointed end. For a top-end test, you can pull the choke lever to drop the nozzles slightly at WOT. That works well to diagnose a lean mid-range too. Remember to turn the choke off when you shut her down. Or just forget about the idle mixture and enrichen the mixture screws on the bottom of the carbs several turns and see what happens to top end. You can map where you are rich and lean then work on "profiling" the needles. Did you try running thinner oil or no damper oil yet?

With light load the pistons won't lift very high. I think you have way too much fuel at idle and not enough off-idle. Maybe your cam needs lots of fuel to idle but we had run some pretty big stuff and it worked out well. We didn't recommend boring the carbs for larger butterflies unless they were going on 3000CC or larger motors... There are some air control valves and solenoids that can cure the backfire with key off. Your intake popping may go away with thicker oil but everything gets thin when the engine warms up. I would set up carbs to run the same damping oil that the engine used. I believe ATF is 15W so you might actually notice more popping. Use no oil and see what happens!... Are you lightly blocking the carb inlet at idle or at 2,000? try it after dialing the high speed adjuster screw until you get to 1500 RPM adn then 2200 RPM or so. Another test: if you are too rich at idle the engine will run better for a moment if you slowly pinch off the fuel line to the nozzle, right before it starves and dies... The mixture can change a lot as the needle moves up out of the jet. I have seen exhaust readings go from 6% CO at idle (Way too rich) to less than 1% (way too little) in just a few hundred RPM. Sometimes this is due to wear. If the needles and nozzles (jets) are not centered properly (or they were bent at one time) they can wear causing a rich mixture at idle. When you turn the mixture screw to lean out idle you also lean out the mid-range (and the top end if you have to go really far). Dave at Rebello Racing engines used to grind a neat shape in the needle for better top end. I found the drill press works great for fixing idle and part throttle problems. The tricky part is the first 1/4" of the needle at the thickest part, where the step is. If you are so rich that your adjustment has the nozzle resting very near the step then the needle must travel very far (while the piston is going up giving additinal air) before the nozzle sees any taper and gives additional fuel. Check the profile of your old needles. P.S. the original FI intake runner is smaller than the porting in the head. I don't think it would offer better top end. I cut one open and it was something like 7/8". P.S.P.S. Make sure your tack is right, we had a customer complain of the same thing and his stock tack was low by almost 2K RPM at the high end. Ever see what happens to valve retainers over 8K RPM?

It has been my experience that thicker damper oil will help the sputter. The backfire through the carbs is lean-misfire indicator. If the carb pistons raise quickly air gets through but the fuel is heavier so there's a temporary lean condition. The damper rods help control that. I recommend leave the springs alone. I haven't checked the recommended links on tuning so I hope I'm not repeating somebody else or sounding way out of line. One trick, if you are careful, is to understand the relationship of the suction piston (the big one) to the fuel meetering needle and change your fuel curve from idle (too rich-dieseling) through the RPM range where it is too lean (popping through the carbs) by changing the taper of the needle. Datsun used to sell different tapers but I learned how to reshape the needles for engines to be driveable and still pass the smog test. I spun the needles in a drill press and machined the needle thinner in the places I needed more fuel. A few thousands in the right places works wonders. There's a lot to deal with and an exhaust analyzer helps tremendously. You can tell which carbs are lean by gently passing two or three fingers over a carb opening with the engine in the RPM where the popping occurs. You will essentially block off the air causeing the carb to pull more fuel. The engine will get "happy" and run faster. Good luck. If this doesn't sound like $#!+ to you I would like to ask a few questions and add a few more comments before you start sanding your needles.

Yes, junker carbs would have mung and drool all over them. I recommend to always start with the basics so you don't overlook something easy. Fuel, compression and spark at the right time. A good shop is worth spending money on, especialy for some free advise later on. (like them showing you how to keep your carbs in tune)

Please consider putting a radius on all flanges that contact the sheetmetal of the car. If you should have the terrible misfortune to turn the car over a sharp edged flange can cut through your car like a can opener during a time when you need your roll bar the most. On the bars I have used the flanges you are missing were the same size and thickness as the ones welded to the tubes.

Were all six plugs carboned or just the front or rear three? Those carbs can be really good when they are right. They aren't all that hard to tune once you understand the system.

That car was built about 1998 or so. I don't think it had OBDII; I had to put a "Check Engine" light in the dash and don't remember anything with OBDII diagnostics. Maybe the rules have changed. Sorry if that is so but we did nothing with the evap except to connect the hoses to the engine. I remember receiving a two-page info sheet from BAR that we used for the conversion. (Its probably 15 pages by now) The owner of that car didn't like his car being shown around much but would share info when I was working there. I checked the website and his car isn't pictured at all. My Z8 car is pictured, when it was a customer's car. I got it when the owner passed away. RIP, Michael.

No, it was pretty easy. I called the BAR and they pretty much said "we want to open the hood and see a '92 corvette smog system". They explained to me that the tank and evaporative system was part of the chassis and not assoociated with the engine swap. It was registered as an engine swap with no problems. One trip to the referee for verification and a door plate decal then anywhere for smogs like any regular car. The BAR was very good about explaining what was needed. The engine had an electric air pump that I had to adapt to the block hugger headers by adding pipe fittings. I angled the aluminum radiator and installed the factory intake including the air filter. The exhaust was allowed headers but (my memory is unclear here) I think I had to use dual catalytic converters because the 'Vette engine had duals. Anything after the converters was allowed. The owner wanted a digital dash and worked nicely with the 6-speed's electronic speedometer and he didn't want to use the adapter for the stock speedo. The harness was a great fit. Even the ECU was labeled. I did have to lengthen the wires a bit to get everything out of sight. I no longer work at the shop where we built it. I got to do most of the fab work, much fun indeed. I see the guys often. The car still gets work done there. It was clocked at 162 MPH at one of the Silver State Challenge events in Nevada. The speed plaque was displayed in the showroom. I'll see if I can get permission to get more info like the who owns the car, etc. It was completed well before june 2000, that's when I left.

We put a '92 corvette motor in a 280 using a wiring harness company we found in the Jeg's catalog. Good fit and it passed the US smog inspection for a motor swap 1st time through. Not expensive either if I remember correctly. I can't recall the name but I'm sure its available. The harness came with ID tags on all the connectors right down to the electric air pump and reverse lockout solenoid for the Camaro 6 speed gearbox. Too cool. You can order them for many combinations of powertrain.

I would say no to a fuse link. They melt and go away like a fuse only slower. I don't think a "real" 12 source would normally go to 0 volts if all was well with the wiring. You should be measuring the voltage drop of the solenoid (the amount of volts necessary to pull in the solenoid) Since it goes to zero I think you are losing the 12 volt signal and have nothing left-wait- this thing clicks but doesn't crank right? I'm getting lost since the posts are seperated. A jumper wire from any good battery source to the "s" wire of a properly installed starter should make the engine crank regardless of Key position, transmission, etc. Does this happen? (please be careful) If so, your problem must then be in the power distribution from the battery through the key to the "s" wire at the solenoid. Please verify this for me. I'm intrigued. (I did all of this with tests lights until computers became involved and messed up everything.)

Are you sure the brake lights are lighting and not the taillights when the headlights are turned on? A test ight is a quick way to test for things like power, switches and fuse connections. Sometimes the fuse is good but the connection to the fuse isn't.

Pegasus 76: Yes, I have seen the big blue relays go out. But I recommend testing first. What I'm not sure of are your voltage readings. If you apply 12v to the "s" terminal (with something like a decent jumper wire) the starter should take off (just like it does out of the car) regardless of what the key is doing - or the transmission for that matter, be careful. Are you getting .45v with the "s" wire off at the solenoid and the key turned to the to "crank" position then nothing in the crank position when the "s wire is connected? If so there's a big voltage loss in the system. The "s" wire should have battery voltage during cranking. Any dash, alarm or stereo work done recently?

Neutral safety, clutch interlock, seatbelt, there are many depending on the vehicle. If the solenoid truly clicks then you are getting power to the spade terminal of the starter. Use the fancy new meter and make sure you are getting about 12 V to the spade terminal. That's what causes the solenoid to click and engage the internal contacts that connect the battery cable to the starter windings. The solenoid click is performing two functions: iit is engaging the starter drive gear into the flwyheel teeth and connecting the internal contacts from battery cable to starter windings. All that happens at the end of the sonenoid where the cables are connected.

Good call Ol' Timer. But how is the battery? Have you tried using a known good battery and jumpers on the car's system? A battery with a dead cell could have enough power to pull in the solenoid (45 amps) but may not have enough to spin the enigne (150 amps). A battery will drop voltage like a rock if it is discharged or damaged internally like having a dead cell. Good luck, glad you got a meter.

Pegasus 76- Have you checked tha battery or tried to start the car with good jumpers and a known good battery? If the car push starts and runs then I would guess the alternator is working and maybe the battery isn't. I agree with Ol' Timer and recommend checking the battery. Turn the headlights on and try to start the car. If the lights go out then maybe the battery is dropping from 12.6 volts to less than 6. A voltmeter would tell you this quickly. I would caution anybody with computers in the cars (modules etc.) on pulling the battery cable when the engine is running due to a possible voltage spike as the alternator tries to charge a "missing" battery. Doing so with the headlights on will give the spike somewhere to go besides your module. I haven't had problems but I have heard stories.

What is the battery voltage when the starter clicks? If it drops more than 2 volts I think you would you need to find out where the losses are. Got a meter and test light handy? If the solenoid is causing the click you hear then the ign wiring probably isn't at fault. Once the solenoid clicks the internal solenoid contacts are supposed to connect battery plus to the starter motor. Is the wire from the solenoid to the starter (the big, short, braided one) correct and not on new insulating paint? A test light is a quick way to find these things IF the battery is good. I recommend start at the battery. Why was the starter initially replaced?

I would suggest putting the wire on a relay so the ignition doesn't have to handle high current. I have put my brakes, turn signals and starter on relays and love it. No more smoke signals when I turn. The V8 starter draws much more amperage than the stock wiring harness likes to give so I put it on a ford starter relay. With 12 feet of wire from the battery through the key to the solenoid and the heat of the engine there's enough voltage drop to cause problems. I'm looking into relays for the slow wiper issues too.

I bought my Miller 110 volt welder brand new for $1,000 with a cart. I use it more than my Miller TIG welder. The guys let me "test drive" the welders because I wanted a 220V welder. They let me try to break it on the thickest stuff I had. It works well. You can increase the wire size, for higher amperage, on the occasion that you need to do thicker material. It has beel all that I have needed.

I recommend buying stones to match whatever piston ring material you are using. Talk to your local machinist for what stones go with what ring. (Cast rings use different stones than moly-coated rings etc.)

I recomend take the nine dollars and get a test light. Phantom is right; the wires (fuse links) are supposed to be there and are supposed to melt if something is not right. Fuse links are special wires, don't leave your jumper in place when you are done. The black wire should be power from the key to engage the starter. The "other" wire at the starter solenoid should be a resistor bypass to allow full battery voltage to the coil during cranking. is it a spade connection as well? If the key isn't "happy" (powered) you need to find out why there's no power there. Are you sure the yellow ground wire isn't actually the battery feed (power) wire for the rest of the car??? (is the ground wire kinda small like the solenoid wires or big like the battery cable and are you sure it was connected to the starter solenoid and not to the battery cable?) The size of the connector should help. A test light helps there too. Check the basics. Check the battery: If there's only one big cable with no other smaller cables and it goes only to the starter then the key and the rest of the car gets it's power from the starter terminal. There must be another wire there to power the ignition and fuse link. Find that wire and follow it. A test light is an easy way to check for power. Did I mention that? Voltmeters are better for computerized cars but a little more difficult to use if you aren't accustomed to them. Good luck.