AZGhost623

yeah, something is up, because I had it sit for about an hour and its a very tough start again. It started up, but then died quickly after i let my foot off the pedal to try and get it to idle. Its pretty lean now from what the spark plugs are telling me. For some reason spark plugs 4 & 5 are still pristine white. The AFM gauge was about 10.5 to 11. I filled the tank with premium about a month ago. I put in about 5 gallons, and then about another 3-5 was added to try and refresh it earlier this month. Maybe its a bunch of residual crap from the coating they did on the inside of the tank when it was sent out for refurbishment? Atleast I have it narrowed down now, thats key. I could be way off on my carb settings now too. I tried to tune it by ear when it was running. Im curious to know if its the bad gas thats causing that obnoxius clacking... Could be timing I guess too. which is just roughly set. But very exciting, first time ever its moved under its own power. I would turn your volume down before playing, its kinda loud. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi00aVMmtpI

Well Duragg, you were on the money. Took me most of the afternoon, but I drained the carbs, and cleaned everything with carb cleaner. Engine started right up on first try. Idle is very very rough and the AFM gauge is off the chart. Ill go and try to adjust it as much as I can from what I know, but Im no expert yet on these webers. The idle seems a bit low as it chugs when it gets down to about 800 rpm or so. But may just be the carbs that need adjusting all over again. Im wondering if we didnt get all the "bad" gas out of the line. We sucked it out with a tool, but only ran it once. Im wondering if some residual crap was still in there and made its way into the float bowl.

Hey man, you got thinking when you said to drain those carbs. Im wondering if we didnt get all the bad fuel out of the line. We sucked it out, but maybe we didnt get it all out, and we have bad gas in the carbs. Carbs like cigarettes? Damn... Ive been feeding it chocolate.

heh... not with electric fans and water pump

very interesting... any idea how much? tablespoon ish...? Im going to do some more adjustments, drain all the carbs, and ill try your oil trick

So this is where Im at... all coil towers test good. spark is good good fuel flow into carbs Pulled lids off all carbs, and inspected, everything looks to be ok. float moves freely, and float valve works ok. All carbs have gas in them carb spray didnt change anything "progession well" looks good. throttle plate is behind all 3 holes idle screw... not sure on. I have it about 6 turns up on each one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXEofAeBPDE Anyone else got some ideas? This is very close, I can feel it. I think timing is about at 16 ish... My next step is to go through each carb and clean everything out one at a time. I couldnt imagine needing to goto that level on something brand new at this point.

So i messed with this a bit more today. As long as the engine turns counter clockwise then its correct. The pickup lands on the 12 tooth at TDC, so its 6 degrees advanced. Anyone know if the engine rotates counter clockwise? If it rotates clockwise its 180 degrees off which might be the problem.

Can someone tell me if this trigger wheel is on the balancer correctly? Its not for megasquirt, its off electromotive which uses a 60-2 wheel, but I would feel the idea is the same. Pickup is supposed to be off the 11 or 12 tooth for TDC from the gap. My problem is that nothing is marked for me to know where TDC is so I can tell if this wheel got put on right, in relation to the woodruff key... Does the woodruff key indicate where TDC is in relation to Compression/Exhaust stroke?

I can try that. Im going back to basics this weekend. Double/triple checking everything. I replaced the fuel filter this evening (I have one before the fuel pump) and a glass one before the carbs. Some fine grit came out. when I drained it. I somewhat expected that from how messed up that tank was and how they had to go about cleaning it. Electromotive finally got back to me today, and told me how to properly test spark on their system, which wasnt the old fashion way, so Im doing that tomorrow. I also got a TDC tool, so Im going to find TDC, and check to make sure its correct on the pulley and trigger wheel. A guy at work scared me saying he had an old BMW M3 that had the pulley shear the key off on the crank. I seriously doubt this could have happened but I guess anythings possible which is why I am checking everything TDC out. I did find my electric waterpump is messing with the magnetic pickup assembly on the trigger wheel when the water pump is on. I left the ignition on while the pump was going, and the controller would go read on occasion, sometimes just stay red light. Pulled fuse to water pump, and controller has been green since. So too much EMI/EMF coming off that pump, which causes the controller to go red (unreadable to pickup) so I need to shield the waterpump which im going to do tomorrow as well with EMI/EMF tape. I may also try to shield the sensor as well. I wonder if any megasquirt guys have had that problem before. Should have just kept a stock waterpump...

Well I bought a 30$ Mr Gasket regulator #9710 at Oriellys (5 to 1 psi) and it does nothing no matter what I adjust it to. Ill have to get something else to check this out further, Its all they had on hand. Junk! Can anyone recommend one off hand?

I was told not to use a pressure regulator with carbs. I assume from your comment I should go invest in one? Thats a very easy enough fix if that be the case. I need to run to Oreily anyways to get something else, so Ill look for one.

Car has run once since being completely rebuilt, and has not run since in over a month. Triple weber's (DCOE45), and electromotive ignition. Sent computer off to manufacturer, tested good. All diagnostic tests I can do here do show ok on the ignition. Carbs are brand new. Fuel tank has been refurbed professionally. Pulled all spark plugs, #2 looks the worst, #4 looks brand new still has polish on it. Cranked engine with no plugs in to see if any gas was spewing out and its not so nothing stuck open. Looked at main jets, and idle jets, none are plugged. Have not pulled the top off the carbs yet to check floats/needle valves (i dont even know what to do at that point or look for). Inline fuel pressure gauge shows 6 psi to carbs when fuel pump is on. All coil packs show the same resistance when I ohm it all out. I basically followed this video on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zhgsnyZWw as a general rule of thumb. Since they are all the same I have to assume its good. I cant imagine all 6 going bad at once? I dont have a very big spark on any plug, but Im told by the manufacturer this is ok, its not going to look like a normal spark. (which makes no sense to me but whatever) Plug wires are all good as well, double check them and resistance through the wire. They vary by .3 ohms depending on length, so all good there. Basically all that Im aware of that has been done to the car from when it ran to its current state, is the exhaust was put on. I have verified all grounds, and wiring. I even bypassed the entire wiring harness on the car to the batter directly with same results. Battery currently shows 12.3v This is going on two weeks now trying to figure this out. I need some guidance as Im completely lost at this point.

hrm, yes Tony, found your stuff through the google on other websites on this topic. As far as Im aware of I didnt plug any of the evap line to that canister. Like I said I just originally had everything open, until pressure was building up on its own. It should still just be "open". Ill need to go over those lines it appears to make sure that "third" steel line is not clogged or some how got shunted closed. Still have all the parts from what I removed JC. So I can still add it back on, but it appears there might be a bigger issue if its not venting on its own through that open pipe. The fuel tank itself was pulled and sent off to be throughly cleaned, and then bolted right back up to how it used to be. Didnt do anything with the evap tank, or the lines itself from that evap tank in the rear. All four hoses were put back onto the tank as it came off...

Yes I have insurance, but I am trying to get answers to prevent having to go that route tony... Since I converted from EFI to Carb, all the Emissions control stuff went bye bye. All I have is two fuel lines and out and in. The Return is plugged, and the out goes right into the carbs from the tank. Whats the proper way to control this pressure vapor build up on a carb setup? Run a vented gas cap instead if I can find one that works?

I just was working on mine today, and notice the Japanese plastic trim is a bit bigger than whats stock on mine. Ill need to file the japanese trim down a bit around the edges if I am going to want to get it to fit. My 280z is a very early 76 so I wonder if the tail lights are slightly different in the early years compared to the later years.

So the return line keeps wanting to dump fuel out when pressure builds up since it wasnt hooked up. I put a bolt in a hose on the return line to block it off, but I am worried about how much pressure just builds up when it sits. When I remove the gas cap, its a pretty big pssh... my Titan doesnt even pssh out that loud when you take the gas cap off.. Maybe its just because of the restoration process and everything being new/cleaned out? Is this something I should be worried about, or is this par for the course like any car and I dont need to worry about?

Im still super excited about this build Im going through despite my recent woe is me... Everything has gone to hell in the last two weeks it seems. The XDI Electromotive ignition system died, being replaced on a warranty claim. Then the starter died after all the testing from last weekend diagnosing it just quit, gear no longer throws out. Found a new one and ordered with rockauto. Planned vacation day from work, so went into the shop today to get as much heavy lifting done as I could, before I brought the car home (no welding or cutting equipment at home). Passenger side rocker panel is just beyond repair. Need to get a replacement somewhere. Did get the new cowl installed on the hood, love it. Also got my custom built home brew exhaust in place which I need to get some pictures of still. Now I just need the computer back, and starter, then it will be drivable. But now its in my garage and I can give it much more needed attention on a nightly basis rather than trying to have to schedule time on weekends with my father in law. Got lots of comments towing it home, some didnt even know what it was. Couple ricers were taking pictures at a stop light too. This car will get a lot more attention once I get the body work done now.

If your talking about the fusable links under neath the hood by the battery, you can clean it up quite a bit. I havent done the conversion yet, but I have seen many Z's with it done. i plan to do it later, looks very simple to do. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/electrical-s30/35588-upgrade-fusible-links-circuit-breakers.html

So just incase anyone else comes across this, after talking to Electromotive this morning and checking a few more things, turns out the initial red light means a hardware fault. Should go green on ignition, not flicker red or be a solid red light. RMA'ing unit. Im told these are pretty indestructable, but on occasion a few right out of the box do fail from time to time. So thats probably what happened here.

I know this electromotive forum is a bit dead, I hope someone can chime in who has experience with this, on a side note, I have posted over on the electromotive forum too hoping for some help. Here's the skinny.... Car sat for two weeks while we finished other things up after we had a successful start. Car now runs like its missing on cylinders or not even firing. We checked spark and spark is very poor, despite the battery showing 12.8 volts. When ignition comes on, XDI status light immediately goes to red despite the dipswitch 1 being up to indicate an even fire setup. We checked and cleaned all ground wiring and replaced spark plugs. We tried different gap settings too. Cylinder #4 spark plug is completely wet like its not even firing. Spark out of the plugs is very low or non existant, and fizzles at times. Ive seen lawnmowers with better spark. Hard part is outside of the manual, Im not sure how to troubleshoot or what to look for. XDI showing red (odd fire) even with dipswitch 1 in up position (even fire): running poorly: http://youtu.be/_8P5y0dqNPw As far as Im told... Nothing has been changed at my father in laws shop. It was started a few times to show customers and everything worked up until earlier this week after the exhaust was put on. Any advice or suggestions would be very helpful. Car has not been on the road at all yet.

Did anyone else notice that the intake manifold is on the other side of the engine? I just noticed that... other than for the crazy exhaust, I wonder if they designed it that way for RHD Z's?

JohnC probably knows, since he is a reseller of OS Giken

Well OS Giken is back at it again; new for 2013... http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/02/engine-porn-os-giken-tc24-b1z/

Hmm that scenery looks like Arizona...

Lots of good points. I believe madkaw hit the nail on the head "Maybe the Z community is it's own worst enemy." I think car collecting is all subjective; in the eye of the beholder if you will. Everyone recognizes the Z as being something important, even outside of the Z circles. I think we all want to continue the heritage of these cars just like any other collector wants to do. Im not aware of anyone who doesnt take pride in a Z they own and drive no matter what they have done to it. I have read about the Z being in the same categories of Porsche 911's and old Jaguars of the era, but still are looked down upon. If a community cant come together then it wlil always be "cheap american car" as TonyD stated. However, I definitely don't see the Z in the same car category as a Pinto LOL... but maybe others do and thats part of the problem? If thats the case Maybe the community as a whole needs to start raising the price on the cars they sell, and holding firm to it? Is it the companies like Kelley Blue Book or "Black Book" that keeps these values down? Is it the amount of cars still in circulation? I dont know how you even begin to solve that problem, or if it can even be solved? The thing with the tail lights at 2000$, that is definitely over the top in my opinion. Parts dont need to be super expensive, that will just put off collectors or investors. Its not like the Z is super rare, only then could I see prices in some kind of range at that point.