Soundmasterg

Well that explains a lot! I'll have to try the google search. I was looking for something I saw awhile back in some post about using a different crank to get a stroker instead of the diesel crank, but can't recall which one it was and haven't been able to find it since. Greg

Chris and Big Phil, both of your cars are making tons of power with just a L28 without the diesel crank? Thats amazing! What is it about your builds that gives you all the power and torque? Custom cam grind? Bigger injectors? Big turbo with lots of boost? It would certainly be cheaper to build a turbo engine with the stock 2.8L crank than to hunt down a diesel crank.....and if it makes that much power that way, then it makes me wonder why I'd bother looking for one.... Greg

This thread is really interesting....I'll be following it. Greg

Whatever someone will pay.....

I'd love to have a diesel crank if you feel like selling one? Greg

I'd help except I just don't have the time right now. Hopefully someone else will be able to help you. Sorry. Greg

Hey Hugh, I'd love to scan the one you got at the show if you still have it? Greg

I did the Modern Motorsports 240SX caliper/300ZX rotor setup and couldn't be happier. Everything fits well and the brakes are rock solid. Very nice and worth the dough. Greg

If someone did do a swap to Volvo calipers and wanted high performance brake pads, IPD would be the best place to start. http://www.ipdusa.com/ I would think other solutions would be better. While Volvos have excellent brakes, their calipers are usually heavy. Greg

Mine pulls hard to 5k with the Pertronix, then hiccups whereas it used to run a lot worse but pulled to redline with points. I'm still trying to figure out the problem....was curious how yours worked with the Pertronix above 5k. Greg

So with the Pertronix yours is running fine up to the redline now? Greg

Z Specialties sells them. I got the bracket and rod from them for my '72 240Z, and got a bolt at the local hardware store. If it is an S30, there should be a bracket that fits over the top of the battery, a J bolt that fits on the front, and then a bolt that screws it into the firewall. There is also a spacer that correclty locates the tray and isolates it from the firewall that is available from MSA. Greg

I've got a similar problem with my '72 240Z. I put in a Pertronix and it runs light years better than with the points. Ever since I did so however, it struggles around 5000 RPM and up, whereas with points it would rev to the redline. I'm NOT going back to points though so I'd like to figure out what the problem is. All new cap, rotor, coil (Crane PS40), plug wires, plugs (NGK), freshly overhauled 3 screw SU's with SM needles, carbs synced, timing set to 10 degrees BTDC. I think it has something to do with putting the Pertronix in, or with the vacuum advance not working personally as I put in the Pertronix and coil at the same time and didn't have the problem before. I'm going to try another vacuum advance can as soon as I get my hands on one. Any other suggestions? Greg

Does your car have the stock alternator, or did someone replace it with a later one? The original ones on the early Z's used the external voltage regulator, but many aftermarket replacements were internally regulated. Perhaps this could be the case with yours and it doesn't need the external one? Greg

One other thing that is bad about valve float is that part of the cooling of the valve is accomplished by having it bang into the seat as it closes. Without that happening, then the valve gets red hot and is much more susceptible to breaking. It happened on a friend's volvo that had misadjusted valves and he over-revved it and broke the valve and spring. Woops. greg

Congratulations on getting it started. So messing around with the distributor while cranking did the trick? Greg

Build a diesel! Since diesel fuel has more useable energy per liter than gasoline, it makes sense to use other fuels that will provide more energy for a given mass and weight such as diesel. I think generally speaking, engines with more stroke than bore are more efficient, though I am just guessing on that one. Definitly the less cylinders the more efficient, but to a point.

I'm not sure about the metric vs the standard measurements, but if you set it to what the book says you should be ok. If your distributor shaft is worn down, then you will never get a good setting on the point gap or dwell, making the timing be off, and the car will run bad, unless you go to an electronic ignition setup like I mentioned, or go with a new distributor. Something to keep in mind for the future.... I would still suspect the timing being off and turn the distributor while cranking to get it started at least. It should start if you have fuel and spark. I am assuming you got the plug gap set correctly and you have all the plug wires plugged in all the way and on the correct terminals on the cap? Greg

There is such a thing as static timing, and dynamic timing, and they are both different. If you had disassembled the engine, then you would be wanting to make sure the top and bottom halves of the engine are correctly timed to each other so that nothing will hit internally, and so everything is timed correctly for the engine to run right. This is where they are referring to setting the timing to 0, which is known as top dead center, or TDC. Since you haven't disassembled your engine, and it was assumed to be running moderately well before the issues, then we can assume that part of it is ok. If you loosen the adjustment bolt on the distributor, hook up a timing light, and get a helper, then you can crank the engine over while turning the distributor slightly while shining the timing light on the marks on the flywheel, and try to adjust to around 10 degrees before top dead center, also known as BTDC. It helps if you paint the timing marks on the flywheel beforehand. I used white model paint and painted the 0, 10, and 20 marks on mine. When the engine is cranking and the timing light is flashing, you should be able to see the marks and see where the engine is timed currently, and by moving the distributor, you should be able to get the car started, and then set the timing. I would make sure you set the point gap correctly so that at it's widest point as the engine turns over and the distributor shaft rotates, it is at .0018" to .0022" as they recommend in the book. It would help to have a dwell meter too as they are more accurate than just setting the point gap. Personally, if it was me, I'd switch over to an electronic ignition of some sort such as the E12-80 distributor from the later Z's, or put in a Pertronix unit in place of the points. I did this on mine and it runs a million times better than it did previously, and starts easier too. Greg

That looks great Arne! I picked up a donor roof over the weekend for my '72 240Z because I've got a sunroof just like the one you had and want to get rid of it. I'll be talking to the place you went to when I'm ready so thanks for the heads up and good luck on your car. Maybe I'll see you at the Canby show.... Greg

It sounds like your timing is way off since the distributor was loose. Maybe other things like carb mixture could be off too. If you're still using points, then the point gap and dwell could be messed up. The distributor shaft could be worn out, in which case a new distributor or electronic ignition module like Pertronix could help. Stock timing should be between 5 and 10 degrees BTDC from what I've been able to ascertain. The fact that you can pull your key out while the car is running means your ignition switch is worn out. You can have it retumbled for your key code at a local locksmith for around $80 or less, but you need the code off the doorlock cylinder to give to him. The white/red wire is the main wire that powers the fuse block. The way those fuse blocks were made, the power ended up going through rivets in the fuse block, and after all this time, they rust and oxidize, which increases resistance and causes the current draw to be more and more as time goes on. You may be able to clean up some of the contacts on the backside of the fuse block, but you may also have to replace the fuseblock with a new one. MSA sells one that uses modern blade fuses and mounts in the same spot. Greg

So the people who have a T3/T4 have some kind of hybrid turbo setup taking parts from each? Greg

Count me in on one of these too, though at this point I'm still new to the game and am not sure what options I would want. I don't know the difference between the T3 or T4 for example. Greg

Now the real question.....when it is tested and proved to work great just like we know it will, will you be selling them and if so, how much? greg

Could be a dead video card, a dead processor, dead memory, or a dead motherboard. Pull the video card and turn on. If it beeps then the motherboard should still be ok. If its on-board video, then can't do that. Pull the memory and you should get some beeps. If no beeps then the MB is bad. If you have an extra video card, you can try to plug that in and see if you get some video. Sounds like a dead MB to me though.....just scrapped a PC at work that did this and that was the problem. Next time stay away from Emachines as they are lousy. greg