mentallylost

Look at my sig.

You're right. My bad. To add to this a little bit. A buddy of mine that I work with had his quad stolen from his house while at work yesterday. He had just recently finished paying it off.

I don't know if the kid that was arrested was the one who vandalized my car, and I don't really care. Somebody got arrested and I feel better. As far as the car goes, I have already pushed most of the dent out. It's still visible, but liveable too. You know, this thing only really happens when the kids are out of school for extended breaks. It makes for a good arguement for "year round school." I am pretty sure that the 3 10 year old kids who vandalized cozy z coles place a few weeks ago were out for summer break. l28et, I am in Killeen. About 4 minutes from the Fort Hood main gate.

I really hate summer break, and spring break, and Easter break, and any other break that lets kids out of school. Since I have lived in this house, I have had 3 bicycles, 1 car stereo, 1 boat stereo, 1 boat gas tank, and 2 animated reindeer stolen. I have a bullet hole through my garage door. I have had 3 tires slashed. My car was spray-painted. And today someone caved the roof in on my zx. All of these were done during school breaks. I can’t wait to move from here. The last street that I lived on, we had 6 actual hookers working the corners and never had problems like we do here. The police were called and I filled out the police report. They pulled a large clean set of fingerprints from the roof where it looks like the person planted their hand down while jumping off of the roof. After the police left, I pushed the roof out (most of it anyway) and washed the car. I am pretty sure that I know who did it. So after washing the car I decided to drive around the corner to dry the car off a bit. And to my surprise, as I drove down the street and around the corner the police were already putting the kid (the one that I suspected) in the back seat of the patrol car. They haven’t contacted me back yet and I don’t know if they will. I don’t even know if the kid was actually picked up because of my car. But I feel a bit better knowing that someone got arrested. Did I mention that I painted this car only 3 months ago?

Woo Hoo, I figured it out! So it only took calling in sick to work for 2 days. But I got the psi #'s up to 215 and 220's. When I assembled my motor a few months ago, the timing chain that I used did not have the "bright" chain links. So I counted the links instead. Apparently, my count was off by a link. Which is why when I advanced the sprocket from the #1 to the #3 link, my psi #'s increased by 5 psi instead of decrease. I adjusted the sprocket location, put the cam back into the #1 location, and she now runs incredible. Quicker throttle responce, and a much smoother running motor. Now if only I could get more fuel in there... naviathan, when I broke the motor in, I actually drove it nice for about the first 100 miles or so trying not to exceed 4250 rpms, changing the oil then for the first time. After then, I would run the motor hitting 5500 rpms for short bursts at a time. When I hit 400 or so miles, I just began letting into it spinning up to 6000.

I don't necessarily beleive that 4 hours would have fixed the tuning problems. But I do think that another week could have. There were just too many things going on at the time and the last 4 hours should have been more for "down" time and relaxation. Not struggling with a wrench. JMHO.

That is a great thread. I've read it a few times. But no, I did not degree my cam. I do not have a micometer or degree wheel yet. I understand ignition timing and the events involved. It's the cam timing that I am having dificulty understanding. I read the descriptions of the causes and effects and beleive them. I just don't quite understand them.

Currently 10:1 cr I am also considering the triples. I kind of like the "idea" of a high performance FI setup though.

I ended up pulling the cam sprocket and advancing it from the #1 hole to the #3 hole. The psi #'s did bump up to 190 to 195's and I seem to have more top end power now. It pulls quite a bit stronger from 3500 rpm and up. But not as strong on the bottom end now. I won't be able to tell if this helped the track #'s though until Friday though. That's the next test and tune. zeiss150, I know that this car is a heavy car. And I know that some people will be bothered by this, but this shell is only temporary. I have every intention of locating an earlier "z" not "zx" after relocating to Washington to perform a body up restoration. This motor, trans, diff, etc. will be transfered into the new body. I'm not looking for a turbo either. The ultimate goal is about 225 or so ponies with a very flat power curve. I know that I am driving it on a drag strip right now, but this is just a little bit of playing really. It's final evolution will be into a snappy and responsive road hugger for winding mountain roads. Possibly autocross duty and an occasional track day. twoeightythreez, I liked the story of your z. What are your intentions with your motor after flattening the lobes on #3? I see a new cam, intake, and megasquirt in my future.

Sorry, I was refering to the "idiot" lights. Fuel gauge also.

Yup, it's the first show.

Have you removed the wheels yet to inspect the brakes? If not I would start there.

Do you have any lights while in the run position? That'll let you know if it is the switch or not.

I have been considering that it could be a lack of fuel at rpm too.

The rear end was replaced before I purchased the car. It's now a 4.11 lsd. Fun on the curvy roads, but horrible on the highway. Although it does not spend much time on the highway at speed. I didn't realize that the larger cam would lower the cyl.'s psi. And I am not real happy with this cams performance. I think that I may try and advance my cam sprocket from the #1 hole to the #3 and see if that helps. I have read that advancing these 8* increases the top end perdormance. If that doesn't help I may find a new cam shaft is in my future. I knew what I had wanted when I bought this one and I still let the Schneider tech down-talk me into a smaller cam. But no, this is not my first time on a drag strip. Although it has been over a decade since my last time on a track.

Any theories on my cylinder compression psi #’s? I rebuilt my motor 500 miles ago and decided to perform a 500 mile check up today. Oil change, spark plugs, cap, rotor, valve adjustment (not done yet), compression check, timing, etc… When I got to the compression check I got 185’s and 190’s across the board. Yeah these are good numbers, but I feel that I should be in the 210’s to 215 range. Especially after the headwork that I had done. Yes, I did the check at normal operating temp. Yes, I pulled all of the plugs before testing. Yes, I disconnected the fuel rail. Yes, I wedged the throttle wide open. All of this was brought on after a trip to the local drag strip this past Friday. The car performed horribly. I had a best pass of 16.283 @ 83.67 mph. I had no top end power and 3rd gear just seemed to last forever. Engine: 83 280zx F54 Block Bored .040 Flat Top Pistons L28 Crank Main Journals .010 Rod Journals .010 P79 Head: Shaved & Shimmed .080 Port Matched Polished Runners Semi Polished Combustion Chambers Hardened Valve Seats Hardened Valve Guides Schneider Cams 260/270 Int./Exh. .460 Lift 110* Separation .080 Longer N42 Valves Intake Manifold: Polished Port Matched Stock Injectors Stock Fuel Rail Exhaust: MSA 3-2-1 Header Cat-less 2 ½ Pipe

Did you mean the Apache Longbow? So are you in Texas or Colorado right now? If Texas, are you at Fort Hood? I live 2 minutes from the main gate.

Yeah, I voted for the SBC. It's not the most exotic of these power plants, but it is by far the least expensive to build up. And when funds are limited, cheap is good and reliable is a plus.

I see that you are already breaking that new garage of yours. lol What are these new "goodies" that you speak of?

I'll take 2 but I can't find your paypal address.

He never actually says if it's a Fiero or not. It's just that a Fiero chassis is the platform that many of these kits are built on.

You have my dream garage. Half for my auto projects. And half for a woodshop.

I still have it in the back yard. Haven't ruled out the mold idea for a future attempt.

No new pics. I ditched the front end and went back to stock. It was just so big and heavy.

I hear ya on the new found respect for paint and body people. I recently did my first paint job (the zx in my sig) and I have got to tell you that it was a lot more work than I could have ever anticipated. There are 8 coats of PPG on this car. Well kinda anyway. I shot 8 coats. But how many layers did I have to sand down to repair the flaws that were not visible with primer? I have no idea. But I do understand now the difference between $500.00 and $5,000.00 paint jobs. I learned a lot though and will do it again.