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Hey guys. I guess I'll consider this a follow up thread from my last one here(http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/124831-megasquirt-ignition-and-timing-problems/). The car cranks and runs. I don't think my MS is controlling the timing but it's producing the spark at the least. I've gone through the tests to check for my commanded timing and my actual timing with no luck. The timing on the crank is really sporadic at idle and the timing marks disappear and reappear when I increase the RPM. It seems wherever I adjust my dizzy manually, is where it stays at during idle. The stock dizzy on 85T vg's is electronically controlled. Could my stock ECU be interrupting the MS's signal? (I haven't gotten around to going completely standalone YET, but I'm taking this one step at a time). I've got the car running which is a big step, but I've got no timing control, either in "fixed advance" or "use table". I burn and cycle the ecu whenever I'm prompted to. I've hit a wall with this. Hardware Pin 36 connected to the ?signal wire? on the stock power transistor. (I've tried all the other wires going to the coil, and this one is the only one that seems to work. It's the G/B wire) Pin 24 is connected to the CAS correctly because I am getting an RPM reading on the dash and in Tuner Studios. (It's also really sporadic) I have the B&G prebuilt MS2 v3.57 with 3.3.0 firmware from DIY Stock dizzy and ignition coil + power transistor DIY Nissan Optical trigger wheel Here is a datalog while idling and my current tune. I've got the tooth/composite/trigger logs but they are .csv files so they aren't of much use. I still haven't really figured out how to troubleshoot with the datalogs, maybe one day. Thanks zx2.zip CurrentTune.zip

TLDR: Z31 turbo, want a 0-60 time of around 5 seconds and want to modify to whatever hp this requires. ~$2,000 to spend. Advice? I am looking at a 1985 300zx turbo and have a few questions... I intend on dailying the car mostly but have a '73 240z to cruise in when this is out of commission (swapped in a different L24 with a friend so I have experience wrenching on cars, just not efi) My funds would be split between this and the 240z so realistically my budget is around $2,000 not including the car I don't like setting a whp goal since its kind of arbitrary due to weight/diff ratio/dyno/etc differences I am looking for a 0-60 around 5.0 seconds (e46 m3, 07 STI, 350z, etc range) 1) Is this realistic? Given my experience level (want to do all work myself), budget, and drivetrain 2) If so around how much whp is a good goal? I'm thinking in the 250-300whp range? 3) If that estimate is realistic then are these modifications sufficient? My plans are as follows: Basic maintenance(t-belt, plugs, wires, etc) Stock bottom/top end Stock Fuel system Stock ECU Either maxing out T3 turbo or installing an HY35 I have MBC set to 13-18psi (what ever will net my hp goals) Ebay intercooler/piping stock intake K&N intake filter w/ resonator removed 3" turbo back exhaust w/ hiflow cat CA 91 Octane fuel (would love to run E85 but stock fuel system will be strained already without 30% more demand for fuel) possibly MLS hg/ARP studs just for insurance? I think I've been reading too much and have gotten a little over saturated. Some people say you NEED this or that, and I've seen too many conflicting opinions. I've looked at TONS of dyno sheets and stuff on Z31.com/Z31performance's dyno section, but most of those guys are way over my output goals. Sorry if I sound like just another kid asking what the minimum I can do for X amount of HP is, but I've read so many posts of people saying they made 300whp on stock ECU/long block/fuel system and am just wondering what is necessary/a good idea to upgrade to have a pretty reliable setup for my goals. Thanks in advance!! Adrian

So, spoiler alert! This story is about a Z car that I've owned since the early 90's. It has spent most of its life in storage. Worse, it is a long distance love affair as it is at my mom's place in Seattle while I'm in Sydney. Being a time capsule and a long distance affair, my warning is that this story will have a horrible cliff-hanger until I can get back to Seattle again (It is verbatim posted build thread in the Skylines Australia forum where I usually hang out). Also, the early part of the story is light on pictures since it started so long ago. [This is the only picture I could find of the car in its early history. But was after the conversion had already begun] So, how did I get the car? This is a long story. Living in Seattle with my brother, there was one of the worse wind storms to hit Seattle on 20th Jan 1993. Winds topped 94 MPH. One casualty of the day was my Brothers '70 240Z. It was struck by a tree that fell center on down the car in my sister's front yard. The car was totaled. Worse insurance called it an act of god and wouldn't pay. So I went looking for a replacement Z with my Brother. We found this '72 240Z that was an ex-SCCA race car. The owner had brought it up from California but it had sat in his garage for >10 years. It was actually only used as a road car for the first few years of its life before conversion for racing. Back then race prep was crude and done by individuals rather than shops. So all the wiring was stripped as was most of the interior. Spec: 240Z run as a 260Z for larger engine displacement. 100 lbs were added to the car to run in that trim. 260Z motor with extractors, 7lb alum/steel insert flywheel, & Iski Race cam, retained original 4 speed 2.5" straight pipe exhaust with a single resonator at the back Bilstein Racing Strut inserts (these things have monster 30+mm shafts) 5pt adjustable custom anti-roll bars front and rear numerous other mods The howl that this car gave off that could be heard from 2 blocks away gave it the family nick name "the Green Hornet". As it turns out that is the name that Greg Scott from Scott Performance gave his own very similar Z (Scott Performance did a lot of the work on this car originally in California). Anyways the car had sat and wasn't road legal. So my brother and I worked on it for about a month and got it going. Luckily there was a loop-hole that California cars had stricter emissions standards so we got to license it without an inspection. WIN! However, a year later it needed to get inspected so we were back to square one. Since my brother just wanted a street car, we found a '73 240Z for him and I traded him for this Z. After the '73 went through emissions we swapped the race motor into that car since he no longer liked the response from a stock Z. I had other plans anyways. My goal? Well I was still on a meager wage back then but I wanted a club racer. So my goal was to build a 240Z that could beat a Porsche 911. You see in the 90's the track was full of Microsoft(ies) that cashed stock and all bought 911's to bring out to club race days. They were slow as anything in the corners (afraid that the Porsche tail kick would bit them) but would blast down the straights cause they had the power. I figured a 240Z with a 300ZX Turbo transplant would solve that right quick. I bought a totalled '84 300zx turbo 5sp manual and started the engine swap. Little did I know that my career would take off a year later along with marriage and instant family since my wife had a son from a previous marriage. Thus this project would get put aside for much, much longer than I expected (and different continents). So in the next installment I'll bring you up to speed on where the transplant got to before going into storage for nearly 20 years!