tooquick260

Putting more miles on the car. Went to replace the rubber grommet bushings in the steering rack. Removed the used ones that were in real good shape. The ones that I got from zstore where the wrong ones, one was correct passenger but the drivers side was not. Since the rubber grommets were in good shape I reinstalled the used ones. The car only has 80,000 miles on it. I was hoping this would fix the non centering steering problem. Did not help, because I did not change anything. Rebekahz told me to adjust the rack, loosen. I did that and it helped a little. I am going to loosen another 5 degrees and see what happens. The only other thing it could be is the top bearing in the front struts. The car runs great, still getting a ruff cruise, blurble a/f not happy a certain times if idling in 4th,5th 6th at less than 2100 rpm. If I go above 2500 seems to be happy. I am sure it is the mail order tune on the z31 ecu. Other issue with starting the car is hit or miss. More miss now. I drove for about 50 miles and 10-12 starts with no problems. Then it will act like the battery is dying. If I unplug the ignitor trigger and coil wire, plus the connectors into the ecu. Then try cranking the car and it cranks like you have a new batter. Replug everything and wala it starts.

Just watched your last 2 video posts. Hilarious about the gopro. Ended up in a cool spot watching your feet.

Possible damage to dampner from the unbalanced clutch that was damaged?

I removed the old bushings yesterday. They were in real good shape. Of course the ones that I got new from zcar store did not look like the ones I took off. So since they are in real good shape I put them back on. The car only has 80000 miles on it. The new ones both looked the same. Where as the ones on the car that I took off where 2 different sizes. One side has a larger hole different thickness. Today I did loosen the adjustment on the rack. I did tighten first to see how tight. Per the FSM it says snug and then back off 20-25 degrees. Mine was maybe 10 degrees to snug. So backed off to what I think is 25 degrees. Went for a drive about 20 miles and 45 minutes in traffic. Seems a little better. So i it is too loose it will clunk. Wander if I can back off another 5-10 degrees?

Thanks for the light replacement link. We got the headlights to work. Just dealing with the lights going up and down. Have them permanently up now. Great info on the hvac system. Car is a GL with manual a/c stuff. So will check the plastic lines and the vacuum tank for leaks. Car was already converted to r134a in 2005, sticker on the from core support. What did you do for rear suspension on your v8 swap in the z31?

Oh,,, yeah. I will look at that as well.

Well what I think is the top bearings in the body rubber grommets are not working properly. Is you have the car up in the air the suspension travels as it should. No feel of binding and nothing has slop in the suspension. So, when you drive the car and turn is when you feel the binding or resistance in the steering that it will not center. Being that is the point the suspension has constant pressure for something that rotates or spins. I guess I will have to wait for 2 months till I buy my new front coilovers from Technotoy tuning. I will then address this issue. Maybe if I am feeling full of energy I will dive into it one of these weekends

Great progress. Seen a guy do that with a karmann Ghia. 300 hp in a 2500 lb car is a lot of fun. With the bay window bus should be a great cruiser!! Here is cool cruiser.... This has 4 wheel disc brakes. Porsche Fuch wheels. Running a 2332 cc motor with fuel injection. Transmission is from a bug but has the Gene Berg 5 speed kit! He had a 3.44 rear diff in the tranny with a .89 5th gear. Cruises at 80 mph all day long at 2600 rpm. Can't find the motor or interior pics. He has the interior empty in the rear just carpeted. Front seats are cool bucket seats. He competes in water skiing events. The pic below shows my dads yellow 73 has 2165cc dyno'd at 188 hp before the nitrous. Black car a 1952 Split window bug is the bus guys other car. Running the same exact setup as the bus motor wise. He dyno'd the bug at 170hp. The buggy is running a 2007 with a T4 turbo fueled by a single barrel mukuni carb. He put down 190hp.

I just replaced the rack n pinion bushings today.Was told that was the issue with steering issues. What it does is.... if you take a turn at slow speeds the car will act like it is out of alignment. Car will continue pulling for a period of time If you turn the other way slow speed it will correct. But going straight it will take a while for the steering to re-align. What have others done?

do you have an air/fuel gauge? What are your readings? I just moved my MAF another 5 inches away from the turbo, also unplugged the O2 sensor. My cruising runs 15 to 16.4 a/f reading my O2 sensor for that gauge is 28 inches from motor. My issue is mainly idling that it creeps up over 18 out of scale. Smells real rich but is showing lean.

Had a passenger this morning and took a short video. Low boost shifting at 5000 rpm. Tried to get the tunnel effect. http://s158.photobucket.com/user/melbellwood1/media/20131026_092729_zpsfce4fdf6.mp4.html The van got the jump and was winding out. Had 2 young woman laughing keeping up with us through traffic. car is running good now.

Ok... Going to post here to keep the build post complete..... Did some adjustments today. Moved the MAF as far away from turbo that was allowed. Went straight up to the radiator electric fans. I want to run the cold air in front of the radiator Another day I guess. This seems to have helped the idle and cruising in the car at steady speeds. Air/fuel is reading better on cruise as well, holding 15 to 16. At idle it seems to creep up out of scale. I have also unplugged the O2 sensor. Just trying things to see whats up. Redid wiring as in putting a fuse block in that allows to clean up some wiring. I also put both fuel pumps on a relay, still ignition on. I will have the computer start it eventually. This took a lot of juice away from the coil. Man those pumps sound happier. This may have fixed my hard start/ no start. As stated above the coil would lock up. Dad took my brother out for a McDonald's run tonight. Bro wanted a McDouble. They messed with the boost controller, they just switched to A and B. I have the controller on off and pulls 5.6. On setting A it pulled 8.6 pounds. On setting B it should be 12 pounds. Well they got back and had a new max boost record of 16.5 pounds. They both came in with big smiles. Dad said everything happens way to quick. Specially when the only lights on are the tach. And I have red line set at 5500 rpm ,so the shift lights start coming on at 4500 rpm. They said its like a light show with that and the boost gauge and air fuel gauge flashing. They both said it still seems to be cutting out. Not as bad as it did. Maybe need to move the MAF more. Stay tuned more little fixes to come. And body work. I will take some video this weekend driving to show how nice the six speed tranny is. Dad wants me to help him with a project he committed to for the school. Installing and hanging a new metal door for the locker room. Oh boy. Maybe film the drive to the school.

Hey,,, yep sure did. You know jeff? I live east orlando in Union Park.

Here are some pics of the above fixes.... The Fuse box... Yes I have to clean up the wires... want to get all bugs figured out first. MAF extension. Not the best pics but when I get the car back up on jack stands I will take pics underneath.

Got some of the above done today...... Man you try to run around and pick up parts and peaces and the day flys by. So I rewired some things. I had 5 things running off the positive leg of the starter,, they were fused but looked bad. So I bought a 6 leg fuse terminal using the newer gm style fuses. Made an aluminum plate and bolted to where the seat belt start interupt button was at. I will post pics later. I also ran both fuel pumps ( i have a low pressure and high pressure with a surge tank) off of a fuel pressure relay. Yes I know the z31 ecu can trigger this. That will be done when I know that I have all other issues figured out. (want to hook the reverse lights up to the 6 speed sender as well.) Man those pumps have never been that happy. Also moved the AFM to about 9 inches away from the turbo. That took as long as the wiring did. When I moved it that far away I needed a bracket to hold the end of the air cleaner because it was sagging and would of eventually fall off. So first attempt of starting and driving with these small changes...... Started right up.... but had the battery unplugged as well as the ecu during the wiring redo. Smoother acceleration The air/fuel readings where more consistant on cruising and idling Exhaust note was deeper Did not stall randomly,,,, tried a few blasts in 2nd and 3rd and then stick the clutch in lifting off the gas pedal, did not stall. it did a little hickup when it fell below the 1000 rpm but came back to an idle. Before it would just die. Will be driving it a lot this weekend and see what else pops up. Things I will be looking at and working on. Helping my dad and brother putting subframe bushings in the z31 Figuring out the clunk in my rear suspensin,, happens on accel and sudden decel Eliminate the gas fumes or at least reduce the amount getting in the cabin Put a plan together for the brakes. They work great but in a panic you easily lock up the front brakes. Clean up the wiring with cased tubes, zip ties and electrical tape Have to fix the no dash lights/ wipers. Night time driving with only a tach light is cool but would like to see the speedo.

Really... interesting. Ok easiest for my is to move it the 8" from turbo. It that is still giving me trouble I will move it between the intercooler and the throttle body. I think I may have enough room there to slide it in. Only issue is wiring , may have to extend the maf harness.

Darn.... You could fix that tonight!

Good to hear you fixed it!

Local Orlando air cooled VW shop that has been there since 1973. Dad worked there from 1979 til 1982. Lots of cool stuff comes and goes. Here are a few pics i took. First is a 1970 beetle that was customized for a local radio celebrity. He had the shop hop it up enough to be a fun driver but reliable. He drove it for a few years and let it get in a little neglected state. He sold it back to the shop owner. This I am told is a car setup from the 70's. Dad said he even drove this back then. Has had many variations of motors. Currently running a 2 litre with a/c, its fast and it has modern comforts. Heated seats, real leather seats and much more. All under original paint. It is a 1966. Here is a pic of a 73 beetle with almost 600,000 miles. Owner of the shop uses as his daily. On its 3rd paint job. Drives this car all over the southeast. Has a/c as well. A/c is a custom job install job. Owner is working on the dual carbs. Said weather change messed with the idle settings. These are real drivers no trophy cars and not trailer queens. Owner operator does not own a water cooled car. Cool to see and meet people dad hung with 35 years ago!

Yes very nice.....

Yes it is mail order... and I understand. The tune is pretty close. Martin at Z Fever is willing to do a final tune as soon as I have all the issues/bugs worked out. So are you saying to move the maf after the turbo in front of the throttle body? Or just move it out length wise past the throttle body? The tuner told me to try a few things...... 1. get a msd blaster ss coil 2. unplug the O2 sensor 3. Unplug the memory power button to the ecu I will try that tomorrow to see it works.

Since no response now this is my plans....... move maf at least 8 inches and have the filter in front of the intercooler. Going to wire the fuel pump to the ecu through the relay like factory. Move the maf and O2 sensor wires to there own source for power. Looking at the 88 300 z31 wire diagram to see if there is a transistor inline for the ecu signal, maybe it reduces voltage to the coil.

Ok posting here for more exposure.... I have completed the z31 ecu install. If you havent followed this is what I have. L26 bottom end P90 head Schneiders hot cam 83 turbo t/3-4, 83 wiring harness If it matters, i am using the 74 datsun balast resistor for ignition on outlets. Which I have powering O2 sensor, MAF, low pressure fuel pump and high pressure fuel pump, and coil. 240sx throttle body AEM tru-boost controller AEM Air/Fuel gauge 88 Z31 turbo ecu tuned by ECUtuning 500cc high impedence injectors This is the issue: Car will start and run. I can drive the car feels real strong still on low boost. But, if I drive the car for extended periods of time it seems to run worse. As in, the air fuel when cruising starts out reading great.... 15.2 to 16.1. At traffic lights the a/f will go up and out of the realm of the gauge reading 18+. On some occasions when going to stop, I lift off accelerator and stick the clutch in the car will stall. I can either let the clutch out and jump start or restart the car(sometimes it will not unless i unplug everthing as stated above.)So, when i stop and turn the car off it will either not start as in no ignition, or have a struggle turning over like the battery is dead and/or strong current draw on electical system. Other issue is when driving if I lift off accelerator and stick the clutch in the car will stall like coming up to light. It does not do it all the time but is annoying. Seems to be during more spirited driving on off gas quickly. I can either let the clutch out and jump start or restart the car(sometimes it will not unless i unplug everthing as stated above.) If I then unplug the ecu connectors, all three, and unplug the 2 wires to the ignitor. Re-plug them all in the car will start and run fine. Any suggestions? Any ideas? Anyone experienced this? I know it is either self inflicted or the ecu is bad.

So, after driving the car for 3 days,,, Love the boost and much better ignition with spark gaps down to .27. I have not upped the boost on it though. When I am driving the car it seems run poorer the longer I drive it. The air/fuel reading on cruising goes up to 17+ then 18 and then the gauge goes dead liine like out of scale. If I roll into the gas I can get it come back into a reading. Full throttle will drop it down to 11 to 13 a/f reading. Another major issue is that when I turn the car off and try to restart it acts like it has a dead battery. Large drain on electrical system. But, if I disconnect the computer and the ignitor wires. Then replug them in it will start back up. Something is locking on either ignition system or the computer. I am going to post in the ems secion to see if anyone can chime in on this issue.

That sucks...