acador

I had toe-out in my mind not toe-in when I made my original reply so please disregard. I think cozye's idea of the knuckles being reversed is a possiblity. They should lean inward if installed correctly.

Is it possible that the front bushing on the tension rod is missing or incorrect causing the control arm to angle back too far? I would think that would cause the swaybar to not line up though.

I had the same issue. I used a Home Depot benzene torch to heat it up and it came right off with the screw driver method.

Thanks John. I'll measure the diameter when I get home to see what that comes out to. I would have preferred going with camber plates but I couldn't find any that worked with the stock strut assembly. I assumed the tower was too small to allow for much movement. You also mentioned slotting the strut towers. Does that mean you can slot the factory holes without any additional hardware or modification?

I installed some TechnoToyTuning lower control arms this weekend in an effort to get some negative camber to help my understeer issue. I'm surprised that my eibach/tokico setup left me at zero camber in the fist place. The TTT arms seem well engineered by the way, but I started running out of tie rod end link threads before I could get the desired camber. I stopped at 1/2" which gave me only around -2 degree camber, but that seems like too few threads. What is the minimum amount of thread length that I can safely run?

I just removed the water line from my intake last weekend. The water path is isolated from the intake so the open ports won't impact the funcionality of the intake, but I plugged the ports just to keep any debris out in case I had second thoughts down the road. I stuffed some large rubber vaccum caps in the holes backwards (open end in). Proper fitting aluminum plugs would be ideal, but the caps look nice and they shouldn't go anywhere.

I am certain the timing was a 17 degree before I installed the MSD and 8 afterwards. I have been doing extensive tuning on the carbs, cam, and igntion timing over the last few months so I very familiar with the setup. I even marked the timing position on the distributor so I could adjust it at the track without bringing a light. The only explanatoin I can come up with is that maybe there are a few milli-seconds of processing taking place on the MSD that is delaying the signal. If that were the case though, it seems like it the delay would be exaggerated at higher rpms.

I don't have any pics at the moment. The msd street fire line is for the "budget minded" according to them. Its a little less powerful putting out 435volts compared to the 6AL's 530volts. With my compression being less than 9:1, I figured the street fire would be sufficent and the $75 dollars in savings would be better spent on the next performance part. I'd probably stick with the 6AL though if I had a high compression race engine or ran a lot of boost.

I recently removed the valves on my head to clean them up and port the runners. I was surprised how difficult it was to remove the carbon off the valves using a wire brush wheel on a power drill, even after they soaked for days in sea foam. I remember thinking there was no way squirting that down a running engine would do much. That being said, I’d still squirt some in the carbs in the off chance it would reduce carbon buildup.

So I decided to upgrade my ignition system to a MSD Street Fire CDI ignition, and WOW, what a difference it made. I was running a E12-80 dizzy in my L28 240 and the car was running great, but I kept fouling my plugs b/c I have it tuned fairly rich. I installed the CDI setup to prevent the plug fouling and for the rev limiter, but I didn't expect the increase in WOT performance. The exhaust smells better, the engine sounds more powerful, and there is a noticeable seat of the pants difference. I just wanted to post this for anyone on the fence about the value of a CDI ignition. It is $140 well spent IMO. One thing I found interesting was the change in timing. I had the non-vacuum attached zx dizzy set at 17 degree base timing. When I removed the E12-80 module to wire it directly to the MSD, the base timing changed to 8 degrees base. I was able to adjust the base timing back to 17, but I was surprised by the change.

I am running a late 70s 5-speed I believe. Mine turns 3500rpms at 70ish on 205/60/r14s in 5th.

I'm also running an open R180 with 4.11s out of an 84 4X4. I love the ratio but it probably wouldn't be the best choice for a commuter car. It was a bolt-in install on my 72 but that may not be the case on a 77.

Thanks for the link Blue. I didn't have time to attempt a repair last weekend but I did replace the booster tonight. I can hear something rattling inside the old booster so I think it must be the reaction disk. I didn't suspect that before because the symptoms didn't match what I read online, but I maybe its possible for that to also cause complete vacuum failure. I suspect that the reaction disk fell off during installing. The booster had vacuum before I installed it, but I never checked it afterwards. I had to adjust the pin that pushes the master way out which now makes me think I was compensating for the missing disk. The car had very weak brakes before and after the 1st booster replacement but I just attributed it to a problem somewhere else in the system. The car had weak brakes when I bought it a few years ago. It now has rebuilt front cylinders, a new master, a new booster, new rear cylinders, stainless lines, and hawk pads. I can't wait to test drive it tomorrow to see how it feels with functioning brakes for the first time.

I rebuilt the rear cyclinders on my 72 a while back using a parts store rebuild kit and they leaked a little. I recently replaced them with the Autozone cylinders and they seem to be good quality and are leak free. I did have to bend my lines a bit like David mentioned above but it was simple.

The brakes on my car have been terrible for a while now and I finally determined that my brake booster is bad. I put a vacuum pump on it and it will not hold any vacuum. I replaced the booster a few years ago and I remember doing the same test and it having good vacuum. The booster was under warranty so I have another one coming, but the issue is it will not be her in time for this Sunday's AutoX event (which I will be running with or without a functioning booster). I'm trying to figure out if there is any chance I can repair my existing booster for Sunday's race. There is some magic gasket that always comes loose and only takes 10 minutes to fix right? Seriously though, I would spend the time and take it all apart if there was at least a 50% chance I could resolve the issue without needing any special parts. I have looked at the diagram and I can't tell what could cause such a massive leak. Does anyone know of a repairable gasket or seal that I should check? If a repair is unlikely then I'll just wait until I get the replacement on Tuesday.

I played with the carbs over the weekend and they are now tuned well. Moving the cam was timing was definitely the right decision. The horsepower didn't increase much but the power curve is much better. The torque is flat line from 2000 to 5280 and the horsepower ramps up smoothly the 5280 and then levels out. I'm surprised the peak hp didn't move but the torque curve is much better and it seems to rev faster in the upper RPMs. The graph is just a GTech and not a chassis dyno but it's probably fairly accurate. I built the car for AutoX but I couldn't resist taking it to the drag strip on Saturday. It ran a 12.18 @ 86 in the 1000ft which would probably translate to low 14s in the 1/4. That was better than I expected for a mildly built low compression setup. I'm happy with it.

I finally got a few minutes free tonight to put the cam back on the #1 chain position. I put the ignition timing back to 15 degrees base and took her for a spin. The tune is totally jacked now but I can tell it's going to make a huge difference. The GTech power curve looked like a roller coaster from 4-6500 but its making more power at 4k than it was a peak before. My wideband shows that it cruises around 16.5 afr where it was around 14 afr before. It idles at 12.6afr and the full trottle pulls are all over the map. I'm running 20 weight in the dashpots which was great before. I'll trying lowering the jets to see what that does but it may be time to experiement with the springs and needles. I had never had a problem with an erratic AFR under full throttle so this is interesting.

Yes I definitly want to sort out the timing before running the engine hard. I'll get the balancer mark verified later this week. I'm pretty sure I noted its position as correct when installing the cam but I don't remember now so I'll double check. Another senario may be that the mechanical advance isn't giving me the full 17. I may be at 25 base with very little mechanical advance. I'll set my timing back to 8 and see how far it advances at 2500rpms using the factory tab.

You are correct, I do not trust zero, but I don't know of a way to verify it without a degree wheel kit. I guess I could line the sprocket marker up with the dots on the cam tower and then see where the balancer mark is in relation to the timing tab. It would not be exact but it should at least tell me if i'm still in the ball park. The cam is a regrind so I assume its timing in relation to TDC is similar to the pre-ground stocker. I researched online a bit and the common consensus is that advancing the cam lowers the power curve. I think I will try moving the cam back to the first position on the sprocket to see what that does the power band and to see if it changes the timing situation. I will probably need to pony up and get an adjustable gear at some point but right now I need to spend my money in other areas to get the car track ready.

Fresh build may not be the correct term, however the cylinders did look brand new. I did the build myself. I ported the runners a bit, lapped the valves, used the Isky valve springs & Lash pads, and ford valve seals. All the geomety is to spec. The cam did come with a cam card but an adjustable sprocket wasn't in the budget so I decided to trial and error with the three possible adjustments on the stock sprocket. I totally agree that degreeing would be best but that is not an option at the moment. This trial and error method is how I got here. I guess what I am really asking is if I should move back to position 1 on the sprocket to raise the power curve, or If I would need to move it to position 3? 5200 peak may be normal for this setup, I just want to make sure i'm not leaving any power on the table. The crazy high base timing makes me think something is not right. I originally had the base at 17 but it wanted more. The more I advance it the more the engine likes it. I suspect that maybe my balancer has spun and my numbers are not accurate, however the dizzy is still fully advanced and there isn't any adjustment left. If my blancer mark is incorrect, is there a way to further advance my timing by repositioning the dizzy? I have never seen a Innova timing light but it sounds cool. Is it able to read timing without using a timing mark?

I having a few issues with my freshly built L28 that I would like to get some opinions on. My setup is a 240z with a stock 90k mile F54 block, cleaned up P79, Isky 480lift/280duration regrind, round-top SUs, header, E12-80 ZX dizzy (mechanical advance only) with a 5speed and 4.11s out back. The carbs are balanced and my wideband says the A/F idles at 11, cruses around 14, and is low 12s at full throttle. The car runs great but I am getting some unexpected results. 1st oddity - According to my Gtech and seat dyno, the car is making max power at 5200rpm. 5200-6500 is flat and drops off a bit. The advertised cam power band is 2500-6500 so I expected the peak power to be closer to 6k. 2nd oddity- My base ignition timing is as far as I can twist it at around 25 degrees and it doesn’t ping a bit. I know the mechanical advance is working because I can see it advance with the light, although I’m not sure how much. The vacuum advance is blown and not connected. I suspect that my cam timing may not be ideal. I placed the reground stock cam on the #2 sprocket position per the recommendation of an experienced Z engine builder. His logic was that 90k mile stretch should go on number 2. Could my cam be too advanced/retarded causing the lower than expected power band? Could that also cause the extreme base ignition timing? If so, what direction should I move the cam in?