SportZ2

I think I finally figured it out. After be frustrated these past few weeks not being able to figure out why a perfectly good carb wasn't working right, I decided to take the carb apart agian (for the XXXXX time). I found out that the secondary vacuum port (I think that's what it's called) was not clogged. When I put everything back together and I tried to see if air was being forced out by the diaphram, I realized that the only sound I was hearing was the suction of the diaphram. At this point I was about to throw it across the room. Something in my head told me to turn the carb upside down and test it again. Low and behold it worked. So I thought to myself what is the only free moving part in this carb. The check ball. Since nothing to this point had worked I decided to use a smaller check ball (two came in the rebuild kit-one the same size as what was in my carb and the second one a little smaller) then the one originally in my carb. The carb works fine now. granted I had gone down to the second lightest spring and realized instantly that it wasn't the right one and changed it out for the purple one (next size up) and the car did what I've been expecting it to do-get up and go. I'm not sure that this was the way to fix this problem, but it works so I won't complain for now. I still have a lot of tuning to do and will probably be back soon asking more questions. Thanks for all the suggestions, it helped push me in the right direction.

Get the Lotus and sell me the 2004R! That's what I would do.

I have the stock Z auto shifter in my Z. The only fabrication that was needed was to extend the shifter bar that attaches form the shifter to the tranny. I have a TH350, but I don't think that makes a difference. I like the stock look. When I finally set the motor back all I think I will have to do is shorten the bar.

I called Holley tech support yesterday and they said the only thing it could be is a clogged vacuum port. I'm going to pull the carb and try to clear all the passages. There is a test where you force air through a line in the primary section of the carb (not quite sure what he was talking about, but i'll figure it out) and it should open the secondaries. If it works then that part of the carb is fine and the only thing it could be is a clogged line. I just find it wierd that for as clean as this carb is something like this could be happening. I should know later today what's going on.

Did the paper test and the paper is still sitting there. So the secondaries are not opening under load. Is there anything else I can eliminate? Like i said the carb is running great. Idle seems to be dead on. Vacuum is at 14psi and at 5k alltitude I'm told that's great. I'm going to try calling Holley and see if i can get a hold of someone there.

blueovalz, yes, you can hear the air rushing when the diaphram is pushed up. tony78_280z, I did put a lighter spring in (second tothe lightest in the kit) and still no response. When we were tuning the carb the other day some friends were just as baffled as I am as to why the secondaries aren't opening. This carb looks as new as the day it came out of the box, no deposits or rust buildup of any kind. I did a complete rebuild except for changing the jets, but that should have no baring on whether the secondaries open or not. I'm thinking of lifting the rearend and running the car so that it is under load to see what's happening. But I'm not sure that will tell me anything either. I'm starting to think that mechanical secondaries are in my future.

Ok guys I need your help. I rebuilt the carb (Holley 4011) put in the lighter spring, adjusted the floats, idle adjustment is right on giving me 14psi of vacuum (for 5000ft I'm told it's as good as it gets) and nothing is binding. Car runs fine, idles fine, cruises fine until I get on the gas and the secondaries don't open. Why is this happening? Everything has been replaced and the secondaries should be opening. Has anybody ever had this problem and if so what did you do to fix it. I hate to throw away what seems to be a perfectly good carb. I zip tied the linkage together to override the vacuum secondaries to see the difference and it was night and day. I cut the zip off right away since the carb doesn't like being forced to do it. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks PS: I did not remove the check ball since every book has said not to do that. PSS: Bought a good book on Holley carbs and it doesn't mention this particular problem.

Don't waste time power spraying and scuffing the engine bay. In less then two hours you can have the whole thing stripped to bare metal by using Klean Strip Aircraft Remover. Make sure to buy the gallon can and not the spray can stuff. I used two coats and it was finished. Be sure to use a good vent mask and gloves up to your elbows. Any problems in the enigne compartment will defintely be seen after doing this and primer adheres to bare metal nicely.

Yes Charlie, that is the wire. I have a 77 and think the wiring is the same. My oil pressure wire is black/yellow and my water temp wire is yellow. My fuel pump wire is also a solid green. I spent a lot of time re-wiring the front harness and getting rid of excess wires, but that was one I kept. I don't need the electric fuel pump right now since the engine is in the scarab position. But in 6 months that will change and I have already tagged the wiring needed for the setback. I have a full size color wiring diagram and it traced back to the ignition.

Thanks for the quick responses. I will buy the parts Tony78_280z listed. All the parts look fine on the carb, just guess it's been sitting too long between conversions. Someone also suggested I put in lighter springs in the distributor for better rsponse but is that really needed since I'm already running 30 degrees total? I know that the carb needs to be tuned better and will work on that next week (floats, jets, etc). Not sure about the check ball removal for better response. Will wait to see what others have to say.

Thanks Tim, I'm guessing the spring is way too strong since my secondaries don't open at all. The weird thing is I have used this carb on a V8 conversion before and didn't have this problem.

Have a question for anyone that knows Holley vacuum secondary carbs. I put the carb on the car, started fine, idles fine, runs at any speed as long as I didn't get on it too hard. Realized that the secondaries weren't opening. So as a temporary fix I zip tied the linkage to bypass the vacuum. Took the car for a drive and what a difference. My question is, what causes the vacuum secondaries not to work? No vacuum leaks that we could find and from what I understand vacuum is very low with the secondaries open. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks in advance.

Press problems and in-house printer scheduling has thrown us off our regular schedule. When presses go down, back-ups happen. At best, we're looking at coming off press on June 3, 2005. It is still possible that the Fort Worth USPS will see the mag by end-of-day Friday. Most likely, it'll be Monday June 6, 2005. Looks like we'll miss our original mail date by 3 or 4 days. Our apologies.

David, It's in. And your ad is also posted on our homepage.

hat123, would it male you feel any better if I post it next time. Granted I don't have a large post count but it's close to yours and I do own a hybrid Z. If this is a big inconvience to this site all I need to have is Dan or any of the moderators tell us not to do it any more and we would stop. Dave is the editor, and is only doing his job. He is not a hybrid Z owner and only posts once every three months to let people know what's coming up in the next issue of SZM.

My bad on the first gen Z comment, I was thinking more about the style changes from 81 to 82, bumpers being the most notable

Hey John, way to come out of the closet. When we talked at MSA I didn't think you wanted to mention it too soon. But you carry some weight since all the posts after yours started to become positive. And one other note, the 280ZX was not a first generation Z car. Am I missing something? And if you really want to compare apples to apples, then run a bone stock 280ZXT against a stock 350 and then lets talk. Keep in mind, most of these posts relate to straight line racing. So talking about better handling doesn't fly with this discussion. Just my $1 worth.

Mike, you have been PM'd

There is two versions you can get, one is hand laid so the underside looks pretty smooth and consistant and I think the other is sprayed on. I have the hand laid version and it looks very clean. It cost a little more for the hand laud version. The hood goes for around $300 (underside sprayed) and 370+ for the (hand laid version). The mounts are two plates that bolt on the hood and to the existing hinge system. The only thing you have to do is drill the holes where the latch bolts on to the hood. It's half the weight of the steel hood. The hood is usually made oversized so that you have extra on the edges for grinding down to fit your car (spacing between fenders, hood and cowl). He made mine to size and it fits perfectly. If you ask he will do the same for you I would guess. That's what I did. I can't tell you what the shipping costs would be since iI drove down to Scottsdale to pick it up.

Barnes and Noble or Hastings. The Issue with the SC article will be on newsstands mid March.

If you wait a couple of weeks, Sport Z Magazine will have an article on a custom made supercharged 280Z. Here is a paragraph of what it will be about. It might appear that Sport Z's project 280Z has been in hibernation, with only a short update in our Summer 2004 issue. But that would be a big mistake, sort of like poking a 1,l00-lb grizzly to see if he's still hunkered down for the winter. SZM's Ken Jones has been busy in his garage over these past few months building a devastatingly powerful L-Series motor: a supercharged L6. All the gristly details--custom fittings, install tips, dyno results, and even info on how you might be able to get your hands on a first-gen supercharger kit--are all right here in our latest Project 280Z installment. The Summer issue will have a update on the car and how it performed on the track. Just an FYI

I guess I will wait to talk to the header company until I see how S&S plays out. I'm not sure there is enough of a market for two companies. My contact says they would fit it for all trannys that are commonly used in the conversion. So 1 7/8" and 2" primaries and a 3' collector is what everyone is looking for? Shouldn't there be two versions, one for the larger hp sbc and one for the average hp sbc? This company already works with JTR on the S10 conversion and is familiar with there setup.

Hey guys, I was talking to a header company this past week and they are interested in designing a full length header for the early sbc in the jtr setup. They want to start with that one first. They would be willing to design a set for the auto and the manual. My questions is, do you think there is enough of a damand for it? If the demand is not there then I think it would be a waste of time for them. Once my car is done and the engine is in the setback position I told them they could have my car for as long as they needed for R&D. I want to see if there is enough interest before I call the guy back. I know MKelly is working on something but isn't that for the LS1? Let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions by all means suggest away.

John, Ken Jones is trying to get a hold of you. Wants to have you test drive his supercharged 280Z (I think he has talked to you about it.) We are shooting for sometime around the 25th of February (give or take a week). He's going to check on availability of three tracks in the area. Sport Z will pay for your airfare. Ken says he has more than enough room at his house and that we can crash there. The car will be in the Spring 2005 issue and the track results will be the followup article for the Summer 2005 issue. His contact info is: email: kenneth_jones@yahoo.com phone: 321-454-4971 Art at SZM

Thanks for the push, I was leaning this way and just wanted to make sure.