madkaw

I just realized there was a forum on 'what i did today"-cool! I have been working on Greg's Z forever it seems-sorry Greg, but I'm back at it hard. Today has been a particular fabbing challenge in that I have to rebuild the sheetmetal under the rear hatch panel. Greg supplied me with a repair panel, but once I started digging into things it got ugly. This by far has been one of my most challenging projects. Too many angles and bends. I am pleasantly pleased with how the first side came out, but there is still much to do. Someday I might have some real sheetmetal tools like a metal brake or something, but the vise and some angle iron will have to do for now:laugh:.

I really like the ignition curve of that dizzy-that's why I am asking. I figured out the chart:stupid: and was excited to see that I actually have one of those dizzies that I inquired about. Now to play!

walter, I was pouring over your excel spreadsheets(very nice work by the way), I wonder what nissan had dizzies on line 16&17. I like those curve numbers, but don't know what the application is. Is all these numbers just for zx dizzies? Mine doesn't show on the chart, I have the d6k8-26, if I remember correctly. The first number match, but my dizzy ends with -26.

having no cruise or fuel injection really makes the engine compartment clean! You are running an air filter I hope? Nice ride!

Sarah has been really good about dealing with the quirks of an older car---like waiting on parts, but she understands it's part of owning a classic. The only problem is the winter, then it's not a practical car, but we trade off for my suby impreza since i only drive a mile to work. I had promised her before she started college that i would buy her a new car if she managed a scholarship, and guess what-she got a full ride courtesy of the USAF. So I told her that I owe her a new car, but she would rather have her Z look pretty again. So then my wife and I decided that we would give her our Suby Forester when my wife gets a new car next year, and all she wondered was what was going to happen to the Z. I said-relax, the Z will always be yours and in our family.

That's one thing about a picture-it can make you look good at 20 foot away. her Z and me are good 20 footers:laugh:

As you can see, the picture is of two families in one. My daughter and I thought this picture would be cool in front of her sorority. Sarah still loves her car and all the attention it gives her. All her guy friends at school are jealous and always looking for a ride:cool:. Don't know if dad could have done a better job finding her a car that she likes so much, and I love driving it too-when she lets me:) Now that my car is looking good, she's wanting to know when her's get's to look that pretty. I guess I know what my next BIG project will be. Maybe the next Zcon we will both be there. Heck, she might have won the daily driver with her car!

I know money is tight everywhere, but you can buy a multimeter for less then 10$. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something to read DC voltage. And i would wire that flapper open, but it looks like the exhaust heater hose isn't hooked up anyway.

I will tell you from experience that the frame rail had little to do with the difficulty of installing the floors. The Zed Findings floors are not plug and play-which it looks like you found that out. As far as the frame rail, is it damaged from a collision? Even with a sledge, it would hard to "move a frame rail". You also have mentioned rust, how rusted is the frame rail? It doesn't look bad from the pics, but it is hard to tell. The area you show that is "out of line" probaly would not affect alignment that much. If the crossmember sits on there square, then I think it would align fine. Replacing the frame rail is a big job, maybe bigger then the floor you just put in. My frame rail was also bent at one time from a collision, I guess it was bent up over 30 degrees. The rail was bent back by the PO and besides cosmetics, it was fine. Maybe a tad weaker, but since it wasn't rusted all to hell, it was fine.

my version of the shaved rear

gary, I respectfully disagree. I think the carbs are one the last things to trouble shoot. All the basics should be covered before diving into the carbs. Why do I say that, because most other items are more straight foward to check then carbs. A simple voltage check eliminates many things. The carb function relies on so many engine functions that I have learned from past experiences, unless your sure, don't start with the carbs. By theway Gary, I was born and raised in Moorestown NJ, but don't miss it:)

It's a matter of checking the basics. If your voltage regulator is not maintaing voltage, your spark might be weak at idle, causing a unclean burn. You have a hot ignition that needs good battery voltage. To cold of an engine will also create issues of a rich mixture. A lot of times the problems are caused by basic elements not being correct.

about 3.5lbs. The picture just looked odd. Have you checked the battery voltage at idle?

Hey frank, did you ever dyno your car again, and was the car really running that rich when you dynoed at ZCON? Many members on the sites here have questioned the validity of my dyno graph.

You know your going to hear" SEARCH", so I will be the first to say it. With 55 posts you should know how this works. I am also going for HP on my l24, but it's a road that is determined by cost and research. I have more money in my motor then i care to admit, but have no big numbers to brag about. I have poured over these Z sites and have the book on "how to modify..." and still know very little of all the options. TUNE TUNE TUNE-first, then go from there. Get a base line using a dyno or drag strip, and see if you are actually improving things as you go. do you want a fast DD or a week-end warrior? do you want to stay NA or turbo? I wanted a fast DD, something to take across country to the Z shows and also take it to do some autocrossing too. The L24 is a great motor, but much more money to modify then a chevy v-8, but that's not my cup of tea. I am shooting for 200hp at the rear wheels, more then enough for a fast car, but i have already done all the basic work(brakes, suspension,ect...) to start with. Good luck and keep those L24's going!

Alright, we need more Z's in Indy. i'm on the westside of Indy, and my kid goes to Avon schools-also a booming area and the schools are all 4 star-probably best in the state. GOOD LUCK!!

I will say this, I have a set that Im selling, but I was suprised how decent they looked and fit. When I discovered them on a car, I couldn't tell they were fiberglass at first, then i noticed no rust what so ever, then a closer look I realized they were glass. I wouldn't have any problems using them on a Z, but my car had perfect fenders and were painted already. They do crack, vs. denting, but it would take a lot to crack one. It also depends on whether your more comfortable fixing glass or metal. And yes, they are lighter, but metal fenders are heavy-not really.

I'm looking at the your pictures and trying to figure out the hose routing from your fuel pump-it looks different for some reason, but it's hard to tell in the pic. Are you running a FPR?

What happened to checking the wires by the coil? You said it wouldn't start when you screwed around bundling the wires-I would think that you found your problem there. Did you check for bare wires? The electric fuel pump is probably not the issue-unless that's what you were running on, and your not. I have seen it happen many times where a bare hot wire gets hot and is close enough to metal it would ground out, you need to get on top of your car and look at the wiring with a microscope!

Maybe our butt dyno's are decieving. I had no idea what to expect for #'s since haven't driven a Z forever. I was happy to see that the #'s were bigger then yours-sorry-but not happy to see that I ran out fuel robbing me of HP. With you running way rich it shows that it takes the right tune to get the most HP. Can't wait to use my triples though!

I like doing everything myself when possible, but I would take mine down the road to someone who has a press. That's just one of those jobs that the right equipment or tools makes a huge difference. ADM driveshaft on Washington st. west side of Indy does nice work. Mark is my old neighbor and runs that place, great work-reasonable price.

Well after putting some miles on the new float set-up, I am convinced i am still weezy on the top end. The plugs all look tan with just a liitle carbon at the end of the threads. Basically they look the same as they did before. I swear I made a huge adjustment on the float and was expecting to go the other way(rich), but it didn't. I believe at first I set them at stock specs by inverting and measuring as the float tab just touches the needle-I think 13-15mm. I bet I went to 10mm on the the last adjustment. How far can I go, or should I go until it starts running rich? What other options besides float adjustment do i have with the SM needles?

I think Bruce hit the nail on the head, I'll bet you find a loose lead wire on your dizzy, or a bare wire somewhere . I had this same thing happen on my first Z car. I was stranded on a side of a mountain in PA in the winter(10 degrees) and I hought it was those damn carbs. After breaking the tang that supports the float pin in the float bowl and repairing it will safety wire, and after getting frost bite from being in a parking lot doing all this -I had it towed to a shop. The mechanic there-who really appreciated my resto on my Z- found the problem in minutes. Loose wire on the dizzy:stupid: Unless it's blatantly obvious, I don't blame the carbs anymore. And Rockford ill isn't close to where I go.

That's strange, my second reply is gone too. I asked where you were in Illinois since i travel there often to Salem Illinois. Best advice given is to pull the sparkplugs to start the process of elimination.

Love to help you with all the vast wealth of experience from this site but.... WE NEED MORE INFORMATION