Leon

Engine is back from the shop! Block was bored out .020" and decked .004". It's a bit wet from a generous dose of WD40. The head was shaved and got a 3-angle seat cut. Rods and pistons were balanced, pistons mounted (ITM flat tops), and rod bolts pressed in. Today, I finally took my crank to a shop close to work who will polish it and send it off to be checked for balance. I'm including the flywheel with it to be balanced as well. Figured the crank pulley should be in balance, but I'm thinking of taking it in as well.

Guys, before we delve further into this, I helped mistah mofro work on his car last week... Comp came out OK, but oil is white and milky. It could very well be from condensation but needs to be changed ASAP. Then, I confirmed TDC as best as I could (plugs out, looking with a flashlight into #1 plug hole while Alex turned the engine). We marked the pulley at TDC and then checked timing. Timing at idle is somewhere in the range of 0*-5* retarded with both distributor adjustment screws maxed out. This is why the car has no power and backfires through the carbs (and a nice big one from the tailpipe). We moved the plugs over by one spot but that resulted in so much advance that the car wouldn't start. I think the carbs were then tuned very rich to compensate (also carbs are out of sync but proper timing needs to be established first). I told Alex that he needs to re-orient the oil pump spindle per factory instructions, so hopefully that is done soon. The engine was swapped out of another car that was apparently running well and the only thing that was changed was the distributor. This leads me to think that there are minute differences in adjustment screw locations which in turn doesn't let the ZX unit advance as far as whatever distributor that was in there.

I'm betting it's fuel/carb related. Sounds like the culprit is the emulsion tubes, since it seems to be a common characteristic of DCOEs with F-series tubes to lean out at higher RPM.

Got some 7075-T6 shim stock today and modeled up the shims... I'll be cutting them on a CNC wire EDM for accuracy, plus there will be no burrs for me to clean up. Just perfectly sharp corners.

Longer braking distances (than stock).

Have you tried smaller air jets? It could either be a progression hole problem or a main circuit tip-in problem (solved by the right combo of e-tube and air jet).

Steve, buy a real flowmeter, the Unisyn is junk (as you can see). I gave my last one away. Get an STE SK syncrometer and it will make your life a lot easier.

I measured the head with some vernier calipers before I took it in and the head seemed to be stock thickness (~108mm). It was in great shape and didn't look like it had been messed with. I plan to remeasure chamber volume just to be sure. I'll also measure head thickness to see how much was taken off. A copper gasket sounds nice but the $135 might be hard to swallow right now! I still need to decide on fuel line routing and order AN lines and fittings which will be a pretty big expense. I'll keep the copper gaskets in mind, Jim. Couple more things to cross off the list: - Regrind rockers (shipped to Delta last week) - sourcing 2mm/0.080" cam tower shims (ordered .080" 7075 shim stock yesterday ) - sourcing longer valves (SI has great prices) - low profile valve stem seals (FEL-PRO SS72686 bought on ebay) - figuring out my cam and springs, lash pads may need replacement (made cam sizing spreadsheet, still need to call Isky...) - Head gasket (will probably get Fel-Pro, maybe copper?) - Manifold studs (MSA) - Manifold gasket (turns out I have spares) - Valve spring shims (TBD) I'll also be going through boxes of parts this weekend and trying to inventory what I actually have.

It's a manual rack-and-pinion setup, pretty much as direct as it gets. Everything else is hard to comment on because feel comes from the suspension setup and quickness depends on the length of your steering knuckles. The stock setup is pretty quick, but not lightning-quick like some modern power-assisted setups (which allow for a quicker steering ratio).

Wow, I'm surprised it made such a dramatic difference! You must've had a crappy ignition system beforehand... O2 sensors measure air (Oxygen) concentration in the exhaust stream, with respect to the atmosphere. Less O2 in the exhaust gives a richer reading, no matter how much HC, CO, or CO2 you have in your exhaust. Your meter shows a richer cruise after MJLJ install, meaning you're burning more O2 (and fuel) thus leaving less air in your exhaust stream. Your meter also shows a leaner WOT after install, meaning you're now burning more of the fuel (and O2), enough that the O2 sensor now indicates a lean mix. FWIW...

The uncertainty is about the valves not being installed. Maybe he temporarily installed them with the old springs and hardware? I'll clarify his procedure when I pick up the engine, and I can always double-check myself once I've lapped the valves and installed new hardware. I should be fine at 10:1 as long as I do a good job on the tune and minimize cylinder-to-cylinder variations. That will remain to be seen.

Nice job!

Quick update from machinist: P90 chambers are 44cc. Now I don't know how accurately he cc'd them, but I was expecting closer to 46cc. Thus, my compression ratio will be just about 10:1 depending on compressed head gasket thickness. This is a bit more than I was anticipating but I think it'll be alright given the nice chambers of the P90 plus the hotter cam. He's shooting to have the machine work and balancing done by early next week.

Once you've floored it, you're on the main circuit. The only thing that can help there is a proper emulsion tube. The hypojets make the car more tractable and efficient at lower RPM. The butt-dyno feeling is one of more "crispness" and quicker throttle response. Frankly, I've only run the hypojets with Keith's e-tubes so I can't exactly comment on how they feel on their own, but Zedyone Kenobi (or something like that) on CZC got hypos recently and posted his thoughts on that forum.

No.

My first thought is, why? This is HybridZ and all, but what would the functional purpose be of a rear transaxle in this car?

VLSD only came in Shiro editions I believe, but it would be good to clarify.

I have a couple sets of wheels: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/112897-wheels-bumpers-dash-door-r180-wiring-harnesses-etc/

There's one for sale on SF Bay Area Craigslist: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/3862924237.html

You might be able to register under SB100 but I think that may impose restrictions as far as how the car is used. I'm not well-versed in this so don't quote me. Just skip the political crap please. I don't go to HBZ to discuss pot-growing and what state may be a "dictatorship"...

Sure do.

The reason I recommend hypojets is because they're tunable (that 4-in-1 thing) and Keith will exchange jets. I don't think Weber jet distributors do that, AFAIK. Hypojets really wake up the car, especially on the low end (combine with his e-tubes and it's even better).

Those are huge idles. Drop down the orifice size and to a smaller air bleed hole (not sure what F-number that would be). That should lean out your cruise mixture. I recommend Keith Franck's hypojets. They are way better at fuel metering than the Weber ones, plus they're tunable - it's like having 4 jets in one. Going through the process, are now learning the differences between a "running" setup, an OK setup, a good one, and a great one.

Yeah, we get it. "Dictatorship..." Please keep your political thoughts to yourself, at least at HybridZ (it's in the rules, after-all). I'm perfectly happy living where I live. Now get outta here you pot-smoking hippie!

If you get cited for something smog related (e.g. blowing smoke out the tail pipe) you'll be sent to the referee, who will check you off once the issue is taken care of. The referee will know if the engine is non-USA, let alone if it's been swapped and not BAR'd. However, 1975 and older vehicles are exempt from biannual smog testing so people get away with it (until they do something stupid and get sent to the ref).