Xnke

Ok, after swapping the front and back pistons in the MC to match up with the car's lines, and rebleeding the whole system, I have a pedal that has approx half travel. At the halfway point, it really firms up and actually feels like it is supposed to. Is this anything like your problem?

Yes, they are pretty similar. What year is your chassis? 78? Mine's a 72, which is kinda why I was asking. I think I need to swap the front and rear sections of the master to get it to line up with the brake systems...but I don't know for sure.

I seem to be having a similar problem, in that after bleeding the brakes enough to run through a full quart of fluid, the pedal is still soft, but not spongy, nor does it slowly push to the floor, like a leaky master. Challenger, does your brake pedal ever hit the stop? Mine doesn't, but it's not very far from it. I am using an '82-83 ZX master, with S12-8 calipers up front, and 240SX in the rear. I have the brake master hooked up identically to BRAPP's picture below. Do I need to switch the front and back sections of the brake master? Could this be causing the soft pedal, since the two sections (to my knowledge) do not displace the same amount of fluid? Could this possibly be Challenger's problem as well?

yes, those are bleeder valves. Just like bleeding the brake calipers, but usually if you have bench bled the master, they aren't needed. Probably a good idea to try bleeding it through those. I'm at the same point here, trying to finish it up tonight.

hmmm. You're positive this is a voltage sensing tach? if so, the like others are saying, bypass the resistor and pull your signal from MS or EDIS first, then try the diodes. That input resistor might be swamping the tach signal. As for pulling the tach, there is a bracket behind the dash that holds it in place, unscrew the nuts that hold the bracket in and it should pull out. I don't think it comes out through the front, so your dash cap shouldn't be an issue.

Sorry-I thought we were speaking of the early 260Z/240Z tach. Which, if you put the tach and coil power in series, works fine, as that is how the tach was wired from the factory. Now, for a 280Z tach, you are right, the multiple diodes off the coils normally works. Have you tried using the edis tach output or the MS tach output?

Don't bother with the silly diode trick If you have a 240Z style tachometer, there are much easier ways to run a current-triggered tach. Easiest way to run a current triggered tach (this is 240Z and early 260Z) is to run it just like it was originally: power the coils THROUGH the tach, i.e. put the tach in series with the power to the coil pack.

Omar, to re-ring an engine means to pull it all apart and replace the rings, and hone the block. You're 60% of the way to a full rebuild anyway, you might as well do it all the way. Yes, you can get piston rings at autozone.

bent rod, wrong rod, twisted crank, broken crank, ect. Is it 3mm wrong? that's the difference from a L24 rod and and l28 rod. If it's less, I'd say the rod is bent.

check your dizzy. You've got it 180* out, or the plugs shifted by one. Just fixed the same problem on a vortec V6, had the exact same symptoms.

Still more work to do. Got some new intake valves, new valve guides, getting the head finished up, then new exhausts, new seats cut, ect. THEN CC'ed down to 40cc's, for a 9.6:1 compression ratio.

Get the really heavy ones, they are fine. Harbor freight hand tools are fine, it's the power tools that get you. The cheap 3 ton and 6 ton sheetmetal ones are junk though. The 12 ton stands really are pretty good jackstands.

There are some bolt-in smog approved headers out there, MSA sells some of them. If you can't find anything else, don't count the headers out just because you have to pass smog. They are pricy, though, for someone who just needs a manifold.

Timing chain tensioner worn out, down to the metal like mine was? Mine sounded similar, but more of a whirr than a hammering. What RPM is this? 750? That noise, if 750rpm is close, sounds like it could be at least 2x engine speed. Check the oil pump, dizzy, valve train, any fans/spinning things, ect.

DON'T loop them. You are creating a short path from the back of the cylinder head directly back to the inlet of the water pump, so you are recirculating HOT water, instead of runnning that hot water back through the radiator first.

Check the tanks on it, if the flange and the tanks line up, then yes. if not, then yes, with modification. Two tanks=99% yes, one tank, 80% yes with modification.

Looking good, might try the double row chain from a Z24 or L20B motor, or get a chain breaker/maker. I believe you can get individual links for Mercedes motors. Anyway, getting the sprocket cut shouldn't be a big deal, just go to any machine shop, automotive or non, and have it bored to X diameter. if it's a non-automotive shop, DON'T tell them it's for a car, and chances are it'll get done for a lot less. psssst...look at the Kameari chain tensioner for the L-series. Chances are you won't need the curved Datsun guide anymore, or the chain tensioner, but it's expensive. But I bet it would work.

They are comparatively expensive rebuilt for a reason...to rebuild them is a total pain in the ass. Several custom/specialty tools are needed, AND it's like a freakin' GERMAN watch inside (ungodly numbers of tiny precision parts). Nothing at all like rebuilding a wheel cylinder or a front disk brake.

I'd go for machining the sprocket, as using the Mercedes damper is not going to necessarily damp the Nissan harmonics...if it's only a few thousandths, then machine the sprocket. Solves the oil pump drive problem too, easy.

The problem with that is that the cam drive is the hard part of all of these swaps. A cast FranKAenstein head would still have the issues with cam drive that the segmented version would, so you are not really gaining anything. Mag58, have you thought about driving just one cam by chain, and having the other cam run by a gearset? This might allow for the L series cam sprocket to fit on the most convenient cam, and then using a gear setup similar to some other DOHC heads I've seen.

We all, defined as those of us who have looked for a DOHC solution for a while. I mean, I figured that a mercedes would work, especially seeing as the L series is so similar to them (wasn't it based off of a mercedes M130?) but so many people claimed to have tried it and failed, that I stopped looking. Anyway, looking closer it looks like a stock timing cover can be modified to fit the block, with a custom upper portion needed. Double row chain driven cams, I think? Count the cam teeth and compare to the L series, but I think you'll need some sort of countershaft arrangement to get it working correctly. If you can do it with just one chain, two upper drive sprockets, and one lower drive sprocket, look into the newer KA24 timing chain tensioner setup, it might be able to get it done.

HOW did we all miss this? Bore that block a little to unshroud the valves, have a GOOD machine shop mod the head bolt holes in the head to center them up on the head bolt holes in the block, and then bush them back down to size, it would be the path I took to get the head bolted up, and check the water and oil passages. Weld the water and oil jackets up completely in the head, and get an L-series headgasket lined up, mark and drill for L-series water passages, and then do the external oiling lines as you have already thought, BAM it's on there. Next, figure out the cam drive system...

Yes, the PORTED P90 (his personal uberported P90, I belive) flows a little more than the PORTED E88 that has smaller intake and exhaust valves. I can expect that. But stock for stock, the heads flow similarly. I've had 4 E88, 2 N42, the infamous EARLY E88, with E31 chambers and different porting, and a P90 all flow tested. At stock levels, having just been through the hot tank to clean everything, the early E88 with E31 chambers and the different porting skunked them all, by as much as 7%. Believe it or not, the P90 in that bunch was third from the top, the order being Early E88, N42 #1, P90, N42 #2, then the rest of E88's. All of these heads flowed within 10% of each other. AGAIN, this was stock heads. I don't have numbers, the tests were done by a local shop who was asked to rank them by flow, and give me percentages. To me, the numbers didn't matter as much as percent increase in flow. Unfortunately, that shop is no longer in buisiness and I can't get the digits for you, or I'd have them in a heartbeat to back up what I've said.

Combination of special Datsun magic wires and a REALLY rich condition. the puddled fuel causes the run on, and also basically runs the engine in a flooded condition. Try unplugging the cold start injector and see if it helps.

To the front of the car, the engine bay has a third vapor line on the driver's side.