JoeinCA

You also may want to try moving the flap in the afm manually back and forth a few time, and see how much drag there is. I had afms get sticky, and they control the fuel, and when they stick limit the air. and if they stick closed, it wont start. Wont hurt to try it. Joe

Thats right next door! I kinda like the whole moving thing, learning a whole new area is fun. Now if only I could affford a house so i could bring all of my tools out here too. Joe

Ive driven the g35 4 door, I wasn't terribly impressed, though i like their navi units. I havent driven the IS, but the lexus' I have driven, just dont do it for me... (to be fair, its been 2 years since I drove a lexus, maybe they have gotten better.) I hate to also not choose one of the cars you selected... But, I have been seriously considering the Hyundai Genesis. Ive only test driven them, but i can tell you from that, that they feel very solid, are rwd, and are uber comfy and spacious. I can honestly say that the ride quality is at least equal to a mercedes s class, and is far far far less expensive. I want one. And a new camaro... and a g37... and a ferrari f430... and an SLR Mclaren... And a ducati 1198r (180hp 364lbs.. so 600lbs with me on it) ... oooh shiny objects, gotta go.

Tony: The supercharged 3.8 is a great engine. I had a 98 Riviera with it. Great power, and awesome economy. 135 k when i sold it, and never a problem. I'd love to have one of those in a Z. Maybe that could be my next project....

I went out and test drove the new camaro. Decent auto transmission on the v6, the engine feels pretty good, and sounds pretty good too. The seat in the thing are AMAZING. Perfect for my fat, bad back american butt. I really liked it, except the interior pieces were... uninspiring, and the visibility is suboptimal... and the trunk is wierd, and wrong, and the steering wheel was dead, very little road feel. It would take time to feel comfortable pushing the car. but overall, i would possibly buy one. And i would love to shoe horn the v6 into my Z, and the seats! Even the cloth seats were awesome. The oil filter is easily accesible, like the benzes ive worked on, and it looked like it would fit very nicely in a zed. I drove the challenger on the same day. With the Hemi and the 6 speed.. it was clunky, and all bark and no bite. They are running a fly by wire throttle... a remnant of mercedes technology. The difference is that mercedes got it right. The thing would not drop rpms between shifts, making it impossible to shift smoothly. the clutch was a mile long, and so spongy that children watch it on television after school. horrific. And i REALLY wanted to like it. REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to. Thats my input on the Camaro and challenger, for the whole 15 minutes i spent with both cars. Joe

so... uh... what happened to the hand? Are you a samurai in your free time? I know you said not to ask... but as soon as someone tells me not to do something, it suddenly becomes intriguing. Its how I rotate while progressing an undetermined distance. or roll for short.

Just because it smells of fish, does not mean it IS actually fish. Not all warning labels are superfluous.

I know I was damaged. But it was pretty difficult not to get a little "damaged" at the Jethro Tull Concert, and this was an outdoor event. It must have looked like a wild fire from outside of the pavillion. You probably arent a bad parent, you have contributed to creating a kid that at least knows the difference between music.... and whatever the emo-goth-pretty, sensitive vampire loving, egomaniacal product placing orchestrated self flaggelating/ego masturbating GARBAGE that is "new rock"... Kinda proud of the insult to current trendy music there... It could use a touch more adverb though. Joe

Some Jethro Tull, unabashedly psychadelic hippie music, with all the frills. Ive been to one of thier concerts... and I'm only 24. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jethro+tull&search_type=&aq=f

Haha! I always think that everyone else is overestimating the seriousness of the situation... If it's already broken, what's the rush? oh... we are sinking... hmm.. interesting. ya'll know how to swim? Just pack the hole with your wifes paste like mashed potatoes... it'll hold. My mind started to wander a few years ago... still havent found the bastard. Joe

Heres a couple pics. It's still on the car, because i cant afford to get it fixed this week. I'll cut it open when it gets removed... Because I like seeing how well I break things...

Now I have to go buy the book. I bet John Galt and Yossarian would be friends.

Tony, Pressure paper bolt down test? Please continue to expound knowledge upon me, I am apparently suffering from an ever increasing lack of knowledge. The more I learn, the less I know. (3 years ago I was an automotive tech, and now i can get a manifold to seal!) Joe

The heads were brand new, PN 10125377. GM TBI performance heads. The block was shaved, very slightly, I belive it was only one or two thousandths. (Its been so long since the rebuild, I dont even remember the cam specs any more.) I am using a winters 302 manifold, ( I know, hacking at historical peices.. yadda yadda) I have been using fel-pro gaskets for the 88' k2500, and i tried some double thickness mr.gasket ones that got me as far as Oceanside. I think I may go by the chevy dealer today and get some good composite gaskets. or the double thick composite gaskets. I'm just getting tired of messing with it, i have a bad back and it is really not fun at all to keep changing the gaskets. Joe

resurrection time: A sign I suggested my girlfriend to post for the benefit of her drama plagued employees. Life is more dramatic without a paycheck. Joe

Hey Grumpy, I have been having some intake manifold sealing issues. I have a 1988 355, and am using a 302 winters manifold, which i modified to fit the 72 degree center holes, and I am aware that this could be my problem, however i am having difficulty finding a decent square bore manifold that is cast specifically for this application, even the gm performance parts manifold is simply spot faced to 72 degrees. The cylinder heads are PN 10125377. I was hoping to get a gasket reccomendation, Ive tried 2 fel pro versions, and a super thick set of mr.gasket gaskets. All have eventually failed, and I have been anal retentive about going back and keeping the manifold tight to no avail. I believe my next step is to use GM Performance 12497760, or 10159409. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Joe Edit: Hey Grumpy, TonyD and a few non tech forum guys chimed in on my intake sealing problem. I was advised to try a few things: First, measure the ports on the manifold and the heads, and make sure to get the appropriate gasket (sensible), Second, Get "pressure paper" (available at mcmaster carr) and installe in place of the gaskets, and bolt down the manifold lightly to check for warpage/angularity problems with the mating surfaces. Basically to make sure that the "couple thous" the machine shop said the block was decked is really only a couple thous. And Third, Use good composite gaskets, or double gasket, or double thick gaskets and if necessary rtv the heck out of it to get it to seal. Because the game is to make it work, it doesnt have to be pretty where nobody can see. ( i hate kludging repairs unless absolutely neccessary). Hopefully that will help anyone else out who is having similar trouble.

So, some of you may know that earlier this year my second hybridz came to life. Since day one it has been plagued with intake manifold sealing problems. I have an 88' 355 in it, so it has the silly 72 degree center bolts, which limits manifold selection quite a bit. I ended up modifying a beat up winters 302 aluminum manifold after my cheapo weiand fail. I got the thing running, drove it 476 miles, and then the intake gasket failed... again. So i replaced the gaskets, again, and drove the thing around for another week or so, and the gasket fails again, but repairs itself mysteriously in the same drive. Another couple weeks go by, and I find an errant spark plug wire (BAD alternator belt, BAD!). SO after fixing that, the engien is runnign great again, and honestly I'm tired of babying the darned thing.. I mean what is the point of putting thousands of hours into an engine swap, and never getting the full effect of the power? By full effect I mean occasionally shaming kids in thier souped up turbeaux subarus. SO... When i was done shaming said kids, I noticed that i had in fact blown out the intake gasket. again... I take the next exit and head back home, in the drive of shame mode, with a massive vacuum leak, high idle and lean pops and all. I decide to shut the ignition off to slow the engine, thereby pumping unburned fuel and air into the exhaust. The first little back fire was funny. The second backfire wasnt joking. I turned the ignition back on, and there was an EXPlOSION under the car, and it suddenly became very... vocal. I limped the car the last mile or so to my apartment, parked it, and then lost the keys for a week. (No I really lost my keys for a week, it sucked). A few days ago, after I shattered the window on the porsche 914 (by SHUTTING the door) Ive been borrowing from a friend... I looked at the exhaust on the Z to see how badly damaged things were. The exhaust tip now points slightly downwards, and the muffler went from oblong, to about as close to round as possible. I feel bad foor the people who were behind me when the thing went off. I probably owe them new sets of underwear. Pictures coming later.. of the muffler! jeez. I am so done with this engine. But i cant afford to pick up a new lsx and t56, because i'm poor, and people dont hire people who arent supposed to lift over 10 lbs and walk with a stick. I brought the TBI manifold down from northern cal, and the holley tb, and have been trying to decide whether i should buy a new carbed cast iron manifold from gm performance, or if i should buy a MegaSquirt and spend hundreds of hours tinkering with that. Or if i should just try again with gaskets from GM, and stop messing around with fel-pro and mr.gasket. JB weld would make a good gasket.. right? Maybe i should just weld a chain to the engine and pronounce it boat anchor. Unfortunately, all of my tools and able bodied friends live 500 miles away from San Diego, so even that option is lost. Oh well at least thanksgiving was good, and semi-ironic. Time to make turkey salad! Joe.

I moved out here. Hopefully i will be able to buy a house soon, and move all of my tools out here too. Its too bad that summer is over already and all of the good car shows are past. I was looking forward to some southern california shows .Oh well. Joe

Well, not actually San Diego, but Oceanside, which is in San Diego County. Ive been out here a few weeks now, settling in, breaking the Z... twice already. I drove out here in my freshly completed 355 Z. getting 17+ miles to the gallon, carbed! (its nice to have an o2 sensor, and a carb equipped with adjust-a-jet) Unfortunately, on good ole Friday the thirteenth, I decided to figure out why i had a new misfire. Apparently a spark plug wire committed suicide by alternator belt... a nice easy repair later and she was back on the road in all her glory. A little back story, I have a 1988 truck engine which I rebuilt back in 04 and put about 3,000 miles on before catastrophic transmission failure abruptly ended the tortured life of my 4x4. The engine was worth more than the truck so it stayed, and the truck left. So enters v8z project #2 just 6 months ago. Everything went smoothly up until it was time to start the car for the first time, and the crummy weiand manifold poured water into the engine creating a wonderful mocha looking froth with my mobil 1 oil. Fast forward a weekend, and the replacement manifold is on, but this time has sealing problems at the intake ports, frustrated, I take the manifold 5'lbs over torque, cracking the manifold slightly. function didnt seem to be impaired, the car ran great, smoking the tires, breaking traction going into 3rd gear. Then it began burning oil, misfiring, and other very odd behavior, like temporary massive vacuum leaks. So I chucked the weiand again, and modified a manifold I had sitting around, Voila. I drove the car all the way from the San Francisco area, to Oceanside, which is about 500 miles, no problems. I forgot to retighten the manifold, so the next day... gasket failure. No problem, i get new gaskets, religously check the manifold bolts... but a week later, getting on the freeway the gasket temporarily fails again (as I chirped tires into 3rd), repairing itself when I restarted the engine by popping the clutch down a hill. SO... On friday I was trying to merge onto the freeway, which is apparently the riced out subaru driver's universal signal for "I want to Race". I jumped on it, easily overtaking Speed Racer, and patting myself on the back for the mature way in which I handled the situation noticed that I had once again killed the manifold gasket. Being the genius that I am, I decided to just shut the ignition off to slow the engine while it was in gear. So there I go, smugly pumping fresh fuel and air into my exhaust system, relatively aware of the potentially explosive potential I was creating. I recall thinking: " Its just a little backfire, it wont hurt anything.". And then my muffler exploded. And the next evening, I lost my keys. And So the Z sits, locked up, broken, and replaced by an equally plagued porsche 914. amazing. So yeah.. SAN DIEGO WOOHOOO. Joe

280zwitha383 was right. There was a leak at the intake gasket, caused mainly by the garbage weiand manifold. I modified a dz302 manifold i had sitting around, and then used crummy gaskets... so after the 9 hour trip to san diego, the gaskets became oil soaked and subsequently allowed a vacuum leak again. One more go with new fel-pro gaskets seems to have fixed it. Now i just have to remember to retighten the manifold periodically for the next month or so. Now a mystery intermittent grinding noise.. probably the starter pinion gear clearance... or a clutch problem. And a leaky fuel tank... and new door locks. and the list goes on. So, thanks for the input guys. Joe

I am in serious need of a fresh perspective. I cannot get my darned Z to run right. I dont know what else to do but ask for some help. http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=155069 Thanks guys, Joe

Okay. An overview of the situation... I have a 355 1988 chevy engine that I built 6 years ago, and put about 4,000 miles on in my k2500 pickup. I lost the rear transmission seal on the Getrag 5 speed coming out of wyoming, towing and hauling way more weight than reasonable people would think to be safe.. Not noticing that the synchros were gone until Nevada severely shortened the life of the transmission.. to about 501 more miles. Luckily we only had to travel 500.9 more miles. The engine did not seem to mind much. I stored the engine for the next 5 years in my garage. This is a quality engine: Gm Performance parts TBI heads. Mild cam aimed for low end torque ( i cannot for the life of me remember the specs.) Holley 750 vac. secondary with adjust-a-jet on the main metering block. MSD HEI distributor (Brand new yesterday) Garbage weiand intake manifold.... So, the engine is installed in the z, the dizzy gets bent in the process, fails completely after about an hour of total run time. First start fails, engine fills with water, oil pan everything, until pushing its mocha frothy mobil 1 goodness out of the rtv at the back of the valley... My friend was filling the engine at the same time we were going for the first start, so when the water kept dropping, he kept filling. Anyhow, the engine tried to start, and failed with a loud pop and puff of smoke from the valve cover. Fast forward a week, new manifold, same Weiand Garbage, have to over torque manifold to get the damn intake runners to stop sucking air. ( I use fel-pro gaskets) The engine runs great, but is burning some oil. and leaking a bit from a sensor. A few runs around town over the course of a week and It needs over 2 quarts! I never had a drop in oil pressure below 20 psi at idle engine hot, and have between 45-60 psi cruising. I have had 2 plugs oil foul, on #3 and #7. #7 has stopped fouling with replacement of the distributor and the spark plug wire. #3 cylinder has 11 bar of compression, or about 160 psi. #7 has about 11 bar, as does #6. Cylinder # 3 puts wet clean oil on the compression adapter. I have checked the timing with a light, I dont know exactly where to set it. I have an 02 sensor on the passenger side exhaust. There have been no signs of fouling on that bank of cylinders, plug mixture readings have looked a little lean on #8, but good on 2, 4, and 6. I get 940 mv at part throttle cruise, and large drops between shifts, down to about 300 mv. I am at approximately a 67 size jet on my main circuit. I did a test run before i began writing this, and all is not well. The popping in the exhaust is still happening on decel. I tried a 3/4 throttle acceleration, and chirped into 2nd, then throttled down quickly into 4th gear to resume cruising. The engine would not return to idle, and kicking the throttle would not allow the engine to return to idle. Throttle response was also akin to having a major vacuum leak, laggy and lean. I shut the ignition off, and the engine continued to diesel a bit. I restarted the engine, and it continued to run as though there was a vacuum leak. So I shut it off again, and had much worse dieseling, followed by a large fairly audible blast of smoke from under the hood. I coasted for a while, and then started the engine again, and the high idle/vacuum leak problem was gone. This is the second or third time this has happened. I need some help here. What is causing this? Timing way out? Blown rings on #3 causing the engine to diesel on on the oil and carbon coal in the cylinder? Bent or sticking valve? Santa claus? I'm supposed to be halfway to San Diego... this time last week. Joe

Howdy, The Z is almost sorta kinda for step one done, and there are pictures up on the build thread here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?p=1080553#post1080553 I have some of the best friends in the world, the guys gave hundreds of hours of their time to work on my project. I have a very bad back and can't do much more than tell people what needs to be done and how to do it, so they quite literally built this car for me. It made for an interesting build. I'm just waiting on a new distributor and fuel regulator (grrr), then I get to drive it 472 miles down to San Diego. Check it out, let me know what you think. Joe

just some more

This is the first project car I have undertaken since I injured my lower back a few years ago. Without great friends, whom provided me with 1000s of hours worth of free labor, and a very understanding family, whom put up with my project related mood swings, this car could never have been. This Build took about 4 months, with the majority of the work done over one month by my friends. The idea was to replace nearly everything. 4 wheel disc brakes, vented 4x4 up front, 240sx calipers in the back, Tokico ILK suspension, new wheel bearings, new steering rack, new bushings, new master cyclinder ,relatively new 355, with a t5 world class, 2.5" exhaust into a single 3" for a sleeper sound and look... Again many thanks to Doug, Steve, Jimmy, Ron, Brian, and Andy for helping out so much.