73240z

If you don't continue the diagonal bar to drivers side head, your never going to pass tech anywhere, and anyone who knows anything about safety would tell you if your cage was ever to be used, you'd probably be crushed due to lack of support for the top hoop.

Looks like your on a good track. Are you having the side bars go out past the doors? In otherwords, are you going to gut the doors? There might be limited room if you do those side bars without gutting the doors, but its a good side bar design. Same as nascar, if they use it, it must be proven safe... Similar to the ones I did.

Keep in mind your height, if you are anywhere over 6 ft, You want to keep in mind your center crossbar will limit how far back your seat will go. Also, watch your head room to your top left on drivers side/passenger side where your head would be. The z has limited head room with a cage in it, especially with a helmet on.

yea, if they didn't I probably would never be driving my z.

I don't have words to describe how I'm feeling right now. I just started up the LS1 for the first time... VinhZXT, you are a genius. I just came home to work on the z and switch the regulator around to after the fuel rail. Started it up, and... it worked! Thanks for all the help and response guys, I really appreciate it. I should have posted my problem a long time ago, but I'm just glad to have it working now. Thanks everyone. John

I sure hope this is my main problem. I will have spent a lot of money for nothing fixing other things, but I don't care at this point. I just want this thing on the road. Thanks for the input guys, I will let you know what the results are when I switch it around. John

oh man! I can't believe I had it set up wrong. I could have sworn I thought the regulator and gauge went before the fuel rail. Wow, I totally had this one wrong. I really hope this fixes the problem... thanks man. here is the picture i looked at to realize what you were talking about. Should I really put the schrader valve back on or is that just to keep the fuel from leaking out if you disconnect the line?

Alright, this is an older picture, but the fuel pressure regulator and gauge are just before the fuel rail inlet now.

VinhZXT, I was refering to the schrader valve on the end of the fuel rail, on the fuel return end. I took it out because I was using an -AN connection. The fuel pressure regulator I am using is an Aeromotive with a fuel pressure gauge just before the fuel rails. It is set at 58-60 and remains there while it fires.

alright, I will give it a try. I am probably in the small percentage of people who hopes their MAF is bad. Thanks 80LT1, I will let you know what it does. It will be a little bit before I give it a try, I am at school this week.

alright, I will try starting it without the MAF plugged in and see if it does anything different. Hopefully its a bad MAF. If it is bad, I will have learned not to buy sensors on ebay... Any other possibilities other than the MAF?

80lt1, I'm hoping the people who built my engine got the crank/cam timing right, but I haven't checked it, as I am hoping for it being an external problem. The engine hasn't been broken in yet, it hasn't had a chance... can't start it, I swapped it in and it hasn't been running yet. As far as the fuel pressure while cranking, I did check that yesterday and it stayed right at 58-60, where it was when I'm not cranking. While it fired and ran for the 2-3 seconds it also remained around 58. coltgt4g63, I thought about maybe a sensor malfunctioning but still working and sending values that were either very high or very low, causing a rich mixture. I also have heard of someone only being able to start their car when the MAF was unplugged and it was a bad MAF. I thought I tried starting it without the MAF plugged in once or twice, but I will give it another shot and see if it does anything. The engine should be able to run just with the TB (take off the intake). I'll unplug the MAF and give it a shot. Are there any vacuum lines that if blocked off would cause it to cut out? The only line I have going to the intake is the one on the back (MAP-valve cover) and the one on the front (valve cover-Intake just behind TB, pass. side). All the others on the TB and intake are blocked off. Ideas?

My LS1 has the fuel return line, I am using the stock fuel rails, but took out the schrader valve. As far as the plugs, they are dark like I said, and a little gassy last time I checked (when I changed them 2 weekends ago). The exhaust is pretty dark and made my clothes smell after I had been trying to start it and was working on it for about an hour... So, yes, rich. I am almost positive my ECU is good cause I sent it into Speartech to have it re-flashed and got it back. One of the sensors could possibly be the problem, but I only have had access to a scan tool that reads codes and not engine rpm or sensor details. I have tried unplugging just about every sensor, one at a time and attempting to start it to see if it made an difference (better or worse), but not much luck. My fuel filter is bran new, and I have new fuel safe enduro fuel cell. I know fuel is good cause I filled up a jar with gas pretty quickly (line feeding the fuel rail). Any specific sensor that would cause it to cut out but still allow it to fire and run for a solid 2-3 seconds? Any other thoughts guys?

I changed the plugs out already, thinking there could be a couple bad ones from the rebuild. So all the plugs are new and gapped evenly. I have a holley fuel pump right after the fuel cell and a aeromotive regulator just before the fuel rails. I have the psi set at 58. My fuel pump is wired independently from the rest of the harness, so it has a constant currently in ignition-on. My pump is definitely working, I took off the fuel line from the fuel rail and there is definitely fuel that is being feed to the rails. I just am really confused why it will run for a couple seconds then just cut out , but if I go to start it right back up again after it dies, it will take a couple cranks then do the same thing.

I bought the motor from a shop that rebuilt LS1's. As far as the cam and crank sensors, if the crank sensor was bad, I don't think it would fire, or it might fire, but very randomly. I unplugged the crank sensor and it made a big difference, and didn't really fire at all. The cam sensor didn't do much when I unplugged it, but I think they are ok, cause the engine will fire, and run just for a couple seconds then cut out slowly. If I just barely press on the gas, it wants to cut out completely. I played with the vacuum lines and blocked of the ones just behind the throttle body and it ran smooth just for about 2 or 3 seconds then cut out. This makes me wonder if it is an air or fuel issue. It almost like all the air is getting used up in the intake, and once it gets all sucked out, it just dies. As far as the engine before the rebuild, I'm not sure of the history of it, as I bought it from the builders as a rebuilt engine. All the sensors cam with the motor, so it could be a sensor that was bad and got put on the engine. I just don't have any idea which ones. I have played with them all, and disconnected, started, and reconnected them all. Tried different ones, and no luck. Any other ideas?

Ok, after countless hours in the garage trying to brainstorm and come up with the possible reasons my car is not starting, I have run out of ideas. I put in a rebuilt LS1 last summer and never got it to start up. Here is the problem: When cranking, the engine will crank without firing for the first couple cranks. Then, it will start to fire in each cylinder, one every couple strokes. Once I have been cranking it for a little while, there is firing in all of the cylinders, but its very rough and it wants to die out. The longest I can get it to stay running is only about 2-3 seconds, then it will cut out. It will also not start at all when I just touch the gas, as if more air is making it cut out completely. Right when I start it, it will fire a cylinder and a few others with no problem, after that it will just die out slowly. I have a custom harness and re-flashed computer from Speartech, but before I got the harness, I had the stock harness and un-flashed computer and it was doing the same thing. I know my harness and computer are good. I checked compression on all cylinders and it all checked out ok. I checked my grounds, all the sensors are plugged in, I checked plugs and plug wires, all looked good. When I checked the plugs, they were somewhat dark and a little wet. I am sure all my wiring is good, cause I get spark on all cylinders, and all my injectors pulse. Each cylinder does fire and gets good spark. I also checked to see if it was reading any codes, and no problem codes came up. I am out of ideas and am getting depressed because so much time has gone in, and its still not working. Please, if anyone can help pinpoint this problem it would make my year. this has been the one thing that has kept this car from being on the road. Please, let me know what your thoughts are and if you have any suggestions. Thanks, John