I need some serious Help!

[jeff1216]

1978 280Z

L28 with Flat top pistons

E88 head ported and polished

hot cam

Arizona intake

Holley 4 barrell

New timing chain and gears

New Ms Header

I just finished putting all the the things above together last night........2 major problems.

1 car will not start......once it loads up with gas it blows a huge fireball out the exhaust.

2 raw fuel is pouring out of my exhaust and filling my # 5 and 6 piston a running out of my header gasket at the manifold

When I put the timing mark on the (crank) at 0 my #1 piston is at top dead center..................also the timing mark on my cam gear is lined up with the dash mark.

I thought maybe I was 180 out.................so rotated 180 deg....the only way I coulf figure out to do that was drop the oil pump and rotate the dizzy drive gear 180 and put it all back together........is this the right way to do it?

I have spark at all plugs.

I am at my wits end.

Anyone close to Charleston,SC that wants to give me a hand feel free to shout....... :classic:

[LanceM]

Wait, that much gas is a big problem. Check the float levels of the carb. sounds like they are stuck open, no way you would get that much fuel in an engine just from cranking. The engine is so flooded there is no way it will start.

[Mike]

The easiest way to flip the timing 180 degrees is to simply change the position on the distributor cap. Don't pull out the oil pump and all that.....

I had a problem with my L24. Engine builder put the timing in 180 off and I couldn't figure it out. Once I flipped the plug wires on the distributor cap... it started right up.

[BillD]

Jeff,

You've sent me a couple of PMs about my Edelbrock setup, but you haven't read my responses. Basically, the previous owner set up the four barrel system and it is working beautifully. I have pictures of the engine compartment in my gallery that show the air filter (that just manages to clear the hood).

He did change the fuel pump from the stock z unit to an electric Edelbrock E80125 with a 5.5-9psi output. He said that the z unit was putting out too much pressure. Don't know if this helps, but it might be food for thought for the group.

BILL DELAUNE

[mandtw]

I am curious how well your Holley works.

[jeff1216]

Is the plug wire to dizzy in the same position on the dist. cap on all Z cars (240,260,280)

In my book it only shows the lay out for the 240Z

[LanceM]

Jeff,

Yes, they are really the same engine (L series) the difference between all of them for the most part is bore and stroke.

[jeff1216]

I am now a really confused .......................Before I did all this work to the car it ran pretty good...........just needed some head work....................................as I pulled the plug wires off the plugs I put a peice of tape on each one and labeled them 1 - 6.......Now when I look at the book.........................it dont match up at all.....................................what postition on the clock should the #1 plug wire be on the dizzy.................I thinik it should be like at 7 or 8 oclcok...but mine is at around 2.

Car ran fine like this.....................maybe the previous owner was running it 180 out.

My head hurts

[Ben]

Ok, now is a good time to start from scratch & get the timing 100% correct.

Remove the rocker cover & get the engine at verified TDC compression #1. Check your cam timing marks.

Remove the dizzy & confim that the drive is in the correct (11:25) position. If not, sort it (drop the pump & re-align).

Then check you plug wire orientation on the cap: 1-5-3-6-2-4

Re-assemble everything, disable the fuelling system & crank the engine with the plugs out & a timing light attached to #1.

Verify that you are happy with the timing (anywhere between 10 & 20 deg advanced will do at this stage!).

You should now be confident that you have a strong spark, occuring at the right time, so you can move on to fuelling issues.

And since I don't know how to spell 'Edelbrock' or 'Holley' this is where I bail out

[jeff1216]

Grrrrrr

I have now set the plug wires to the correct order.......I am still having flooding problems but I turned it over anyway..............Now

With all this gas I have puring all over the place....shouldnt my plugs be soaked with gas and fouled????

they are pretty much dry and do not smell like gas.

What would cause this??

[jeff1216]

I give

it is a carb problem................dumping so much gas that it is impossible for the motor to fire

[jeff1216]

By the way............it did attempt to fire a couple of times.............but the timing is so retarded that I dont have enough adjust. in the stock set up....bolt is out and I am 1/2" past the max timing rotation on the dizzy