Serban

Tony D, you may be right about the fuel filter. There was an obscene amount of rust in there. At least it's the 10 micron element so it may have stopped some of that rust from reaching the injectors. I'll report back once I get a new filter element in there.

I feel a substantial loss in power. Previously when the gauge was indicating low to mid 13s AF the car felt like it had more power all the way to redline, now I don't even chance revving that high. It doesn't break up or stumble or anything of that sort, just low on power. Cap, rotor, wires, plugs have all been changed in the last 6 months, so I may be able to eliminate them as culprits.

Filter is located near the factory location, I can't remember what micron size the element is, I'll take it apart and check. I used the same filter on a couple previous cars I've owned, and never had any issues with it. I'm not getting any bounce on the new gauge, it's liquid filled and very steady. Old one was a dry gauge and it only lasted about 4 months before it failed. Here's a few pictures I took this morning at idle, and with the vacuum hose off the regulator, and my intake manifold vacuum. Fuel pressure at idle this morning was slightly higher, looks to be about 28. Manifold vacuum was also very steady, it held at 19 until I blipped the throttle, then came back down to 19. ::Ninja edit:: The wideband gauge is a dual purpose gauge, wideband, and boost/vacuum. I changed the settings to show vacuum in the center. Another thing I left out, I'm using an Odyssey PC680 battery, and if you know that battery, it's small compared to a full size car battery. Could the small battery be causing my problem? I'll try a full size battery and see if anything changes.

I'll check it, its an Aeromotive filter, pretty sure its got a stainless element that I can clean out.

Vacuum at idle is a very solid -19, fuel pressure with th e hose off the fpr is about 38 psi

At full throttle when it starts to go lean, I feel a power loss. If I keep it at part throttle on the highway, even after 4k, it will maintain 13:1 ratio, as soon as I go wot, it jumps to 16 almost 17. I've browsed through the fuel injection guide, but I'll go through it again. The ford injectors are high impedance, I was told by the guy who built the rail for me that I could run them without any I'll effect.

I put a new gauge on and here's what I got at idle. Revving it I'll get around 30-33 or so but if I hold the throttle, it drops back down.

I realize it's guessing, but any reason it would just start going lean at wot? By the way, it is in the neighborhood of 15.5:1 - 16.3:1 on the wideband.

Here's the scenario, 1975 CA base model, EGR equipment has been removed, cat has been removed, air regulator has been removed, and 7th injector is not hooked up. I had a custom rail made using Ford 19lb injectors, and stock fuel pressure regulator. Car ran great everything described above, even a little rich, so I adjusted the AFM to lean it out a bit. Lately, once it gets to 4k or higher in the rpm, it runs real lean, this is verified by an AEM wideband gauge installed/ Sensor is located where the cat used to be. I adjusted the TPS as per the instructions on atlanticz, and it helped a little bit initially, but now it does the same thing. I even adjusted the AFM back to factory position, and it seems the only change is it runs real rich at idle, and part throttle (in the neighborhood of 10:1 - 11.5:1 air/fuel). Unfortunately, the fuel pressure gauge that came with the rail is busted, and no longer reading accurately, so I'll need to change the gauge. Could the fpr be bad? What else should I check for? Could the ECU be doing something goofy, and not providing enough fuel at the higher rpm range?

Did the Sanden 709 come on the later ZX model? By the way, the A/C setup in this car was pretty hokey, it just has an on/off switch for the compressor, there's no pressure switch or anything, it can stay on even if there's no freon in it. Is there a better way to run it?

Tony, thank you for the very useful info. I do have a 280, with a 240z a/c setup it looks like. I think I will start piecing together a compressor from the 280z or zx, this one does shake the car pretty nasty at idle, wasn't sure if its a bad compressor, or that's just what they do. I only really use it when it's raining out and I put the windows up, otherwise, I deal with the heat. I found a blower motor from an early 90s civic, and it does blow harder, it is noticeable enough.

Thanks! Progress has been slow, I think I drive the car more than I work on it, and sometimes I do neither Looks mostly the same, just less rust and more black paint.

Hey everyone, I've had the Z for about 8 months now, and I'm starting to drive it more and more, and coincidentally, it's starting to get hotter and hotter outside. From what the previous owner told me, this was a CA base model Z, it looks like an aftermarket A/C system was added on. It blows cold when you first fill it up, but there must be a leak somewhere because over time, it loses freon. Does anyone have any info on this aftermarket setup? What kind of compressor that is? I'd like to know in case I ever need to replace it. Next question is about the blower motor. I've spent the last hour going through blower motor upgrade threads, and saw some about the Civic blower being talked about. Was there any difference between on the A/C and non A/C cars blower motors on the Z? Could I really benefit from it if my car was the base, non A/C model?

Finally got a chance to pull the door lock mechanism out. Here you can see part of that spring broke off. The other piece is supposed to go in the other hole. This is the whole thing if anyone has a spare one they could part with In the meantime, this was my simple, yet effective solution. I drilled a hole in the door and ran a zip tie, to hold the rod, and put a little tension on it. It's just enough to keep it from falling down and locking on its own. I had to adjust the zip tie a few times though. If its too tight, when you unlock the door with the key, it is not enough to let the rod move all the way up.

Very nice! Going vertical with the tips?

Front suspension components made a pretty big difference. There was a lot of play before.

Things have slowed down a bit, I'm driving the car more and more, and only get to work on it here and there over the weekend. Bodywork sucks, but I'm sure it will be nice when it's done. I picked up a 240Z steering wheel and shift knob, as well as a carb manifold with a couple round top SUs. It is missing some of the linkages, and the carbs were taken apart and loosely put back together...not sure if I want to mess with it though. And lastly, I've been working with a carbon fiber shop locally to do some parts. So far I've got the tail light panels with a layer of carbon on them, but if there's enough interest, we might do some molds and pop out full carbon fiber panels. Mine are still not done yet, but here's some teaser pics

Pretty sure he's using the stock computer from the turbo ZX.

Litman, how much are you thinking?

Anyone have a set in decent shape?

I wouldn't try to put power steering on the car, so if the compressor moves up a little it wouldn't be a problem. I'm still quite a ways away from getting the engine, but this just seems like the logical swap for me.

Doesn't look like it'll fit in the factory location. Maybe a new bracket can be made to move it up a little higher?

Ok, thanks for the info!

Same here.

That's probably it. I never got to it this past weekend. Are those available anywhere without having to buy a whole mechanism?