NewZed

I get it, I've done the same thing. Gear oil smells better than used motor oil. Uuhhmm... Another spot that might leak due to seeing a high oil level would be the front cover bolt holes. The holes are tapped through to the inside of the cover and can pass fluid along the threads. The top ones, that might only see a splash or two due to braking and turning over time, might be seeing a steady oil supply now. The FSM recommends sealing the threads upon assembly but I'll bet that a lot of people don't. The right oil level might get you back to normal, but it might take a little while for everything to drain out. Another spot, but which would probably leak all of the time (one of mine did), is the clutch pivot ball bolt. It's also tapped through the cover.

I'm not familiar with the Solex carburetor at all but most carbs have a throttle plate to control air flow. Your description shows that you are basically using the choke plate to control air flow. It sounds like your throttle plate(s) is(are) stuck or adjusted too far open. Timing at "full retard" doesn't mean much either. Meaning no vacuum advance or distributor twisted as far back as possible? To control idle speed? That's not the right way to do it. An actual static timing number is what you need. Just an observation of carb and engine basics from an EFI guy...

Pretty sure that the "proper level" is up to the bottom of the fill hole with the car level. You could just remove the fill plug, level the car, let the excess drain out, and put the plug back in. Then see if it still leaks. How do you know where the fluid is coming from if the transmission is mounted to the engine? How can you see the hole that you described?

Wet plugs would mean "flooded", but the reason why isn't clear. Dry the plugs, crank the motor a few turns with the plugs out while you check for spark (watch out for gas and fumes in the area of the spark), check your inlet and outlet lines to the rail to make sure you're not over-pressurizing. The hose connected directly to the top of filter goes directly to the fuel rail, not the regulator. If you have spark and everything looks right, it should go.

Did you reverse the inlet and outlet hoses to the rail? That will give full pump pressure to the rail, the regulator won't regulate. Could be 90 psi if you have an after market pump. Are the plugs wet? Or you just knocked a wire loose. Check for spark?

Here is a great thread to read to get the basics down of how the L-Jet fuel injection system works and how it's affected by common modifications. Worth reading before you spend too much money or get too carried away, and for any future problems you might run in to. It should give you some ideas and help you avoid the more common mistakes. Good luck with the new car. http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/95316-braaps-l6-efi-induction-advice-and-tips/

These are pretty common (both). Fuel pressure should never get down to 15 psi. Apparently, there is a screen or wire sock around the outlet tube from the tank. Many stories on the forums about flakes of rust or "stuff" floating on to the mesh and clogging it, then floating free after the engine dies. The fuel tank has a drain plug. You might consider disconnecting the hose to the fuel filter, running it in to a gas can or three, and hot wiring your pump (disconnect the starter and hold the key or run a jumper directly the the pump) while you monitor fuel pressure as the pump drains the tank. Then shake the car around to stir up the residue and remove the drain plug. You'll get a look at what happens to fuel pressure over many gallons of fuel, and you'll see what's sloshing around in the tank at the end.

If there are three wires then you probably have one with dual pickups. You only need one pickup (two wires)for the GM HEI module. It's probably a rebuild, that's why the wires are blue. Take a look right at the pickup coil in the distributor and you'll probably see a green and a red spliced in to the blue wires. The GM HEI module used with a variable reluctor distributor isn't really written up well anywhere that I've seen. In short, on the HEI module, B connects to switched battery voltage (coil positive is a convenient source), C to coil negative, G to the green wire from the distributor pickup coil, and W to the red wire from the pickup coil. Make sure that the module mounting points (holes) are electrically grounded, since that is part of the module's control circuitry. Edit - here's a popular link specific to the 240Z - http://www.sonic.net/~kyle/ztech.html

Did you take the rubber boot off to see if it's leaking? The boot can fill up with fluid without external leaks. I've opened a new slave cylinder and found honing grit inside. Best to open it up and flush it out before installing.

There's a couple of 77 280Zs in the PicknPulls in your area. Might be worth a look.

Backwards I was. So, there are advantages to avoiding the shims. Your 2.3 camshaft degree estimate (4.6 crank degrees) suggests that the #2 hole would give 0.6 crank degrees retarded with the .080" missing. Seems within the bounds of the range suggested by the FSM's before and after pictures. Also, since the notch is relative to the cam, you could pre-assemble and check the notch position per the FSM procedure to see if it's right.

According to the FSM, the four degrees described per cam shaft sprocket adjustment hole, is in crankshaft degrees. #2 is four degrees, #3 is eight. The sprocket has 40 teeth, so 1/40 is .025 or 2.5% of one camshaft rotation, 5% of one crankshaft rotation since the crank moves at double camshaft speed. .05 times 360 = 18 degrees. Or 1/40*720. So you can have 4 or 8 degrees of advance with the stock chain/camshaft configuration or retard the timing one tooth and use the adjustment holes to move forward to get 18-8 (the #3 hole) for 10 degrees advance, or 18-4 (the 2 hole) for 12 degrees. 4, 8, 10, 12. Weird how that worked out so evenly. Sticking with the stock chain and sprocket configuration and using the #2 hole seems like the most likely option, if you can avoid the chain slack issue, and are on a budget. BUT, isn't rocker arm angle and wear patterns the other problem with the milled head? The other, maybe the main, reason for the shims?

Those are adjustable bushings for setting camber. You don't need them unless you want to adjust your camber. Your hyperflex kit probably has a bushing that will get you back to the stock camber setting. http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/zr/full.aspx?Page=41

One tooth divided by the total number of teeth times 720? Just a quick guess...

Isn't that a typical lug nut size?

These links might help you. If you're having a problem, describe it with details of smoke and sparks, and you'll get some good replies. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/electrical.htm www.xenons30.com/reference

Pretty sure that there's a diagram in the electrical section of the FSM. If no one comes through with the easy answer.

I think that y'all are describing the effect of high CR, but not the influence of the ECU and AFM. He's just asking for the reasons the stock ECU and AFM won't work with higher compression ratios, which might not be a valid statement anyway. Might be mixing two issues, better flow and higher CR. My reading is that the ECU and AFM are generally thought to not work with improved breathing or flow modifications, not necessarily high CR. And nothing will really support the advantages of higher CR, it's just an inherent limitation of the L engine cylinder head design. But it seems that, in theory, since the AFM and ECU are supposed to maintain a certain air-fuel ratio, that they should work in the low air flow range, at least up to the limits of maximum fuel enrichment. So lower RPM, moderate driving, should work but you run out of fuel at higher RPM (higher air flow). I haven't seen a real detailed explanation myself, of what happens and why, when you try to use the stock ECU and AFM on a modified engine.

Even the turbo cams are designed to produce decent performance when the engine is "off-boost". It's designed to work with a low compression ratio engine, but shouldn't necessarily cause lower cylinder pressure. So it would probably get you by, but would not work as well as one of the other stock cams. Plus, it's internally oiled, which needs to be considered. You didn't say what you're using that broke. And you left out the most interesting part - how did you break a camshaft in half?

Maybe I can learn something here - why would a mechanical pump stop pumping while "driving up the mountain" and why would an electric pump be different? Is the pump failing due to altitude or overheating or "vapor lock"? Just curious, what's your reasoning?

Missing link?

There's really not much else, with carbs. Strong spark at the right time, with fuel (assuming it was running well before). Recheck your timing and your firing order if you're sure that your spark is strong. Check your plugs, they may have fouled while you were trying to get things straightened out.

Here's some help on your second question - http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/forum/93-megasquirt/

Have you confirmed that you're getting any spark at all? This is timing-independent, nothing to do with firing order, vacuum hoses or anything else, it will tell you if there the coil is charging and the module is working. Put a spark plug on the end of a plug wire from the cap, place the threaded portion on a good ground, crank the engine over and look for spark between the electrodes. That would be step #1. If you don't have that, then you can focus on figuring out what's wrong with the module or your wiring, before worrying about timing. If you do have it then you can worry about timing. One possibility - I have on occasion, forgot to put the rotor back on to the shaft before putting the cap back on, after changing distributors. No rotor, no spark.

I've not confirmed it but the FSM implies that some 1979 ZX models had the 3.36 R200 also. Edit - got curious and looked in the 74 FSM and the 3.36 seems to be the R180.