Zed Head

Hey, since the cam and rocker arms took so much abuse but still survived, could you share the names of the companies that made them? ITM and Paraut are typical rocker arm companies. I have a thread on Hybridz collecting info about rocker arms, just because they, or the cams. seem to fail so often. You have dodged the bullet, so far.

Bummer that you have to deal with more problems but lucky that you found it early. I think that you might have some nomenclature/naming a little off. What you're calling the "lash pad" is normally called the rubbing pad. The "bucket shims" are the lash pads. There's a sentence in my Honsowetz How to Modify book that says "The only sure way to determine correct lash-pad thickness is to check the cam-lobe wipe pattern". Page 70. Trial and error. I've seen it described that if the valve stems are all trimmed to the same length out of the head that you only have to do one. But I've also seen that some builders leave random valve lengths in the head so each requires a different lash pad. On the rocker arms, since they're been wearing on half the pad you'll need to carefully check that there's not a discontinuity in the middle of the pad. Worn and unworn. On the oil usage - if DPLLC installed a high lift cam it may be pushing the retainers ( I think that's the part) down in to the valve seals, damaging them. Page 63 of said book says that 0.460" (11.7 mm) valve lift is the maximum. Rocker arm ratio is ~1.5 I believe (although others have measured differently), if you have cam specs. ~7.80 mm (0.307") max Or you could look at a seal. There's a Ford valve seal out there that people use with high lift cams. DP might have used stock seals with a high lift cam. Doesn't really look like he knows a lot. Thanks for sharing though. You should get back to him with what you found and see if he tells you "tough luck" or offers help. At least he should pay for the lash pads and new seals. That would be good to know.

Can't tell whose car is what, but if you have full time vacuum on the advance canister, you could see 32 at idle, which will drop to 32 minus max vacuum advance (the 16 djwarner saw) when you open the throttle. Most people run ported vacuum to the vacuum advance canister. Or disconnect the vacuum hose when checking timing. 16 initial isn't unreasonable. That would give 34 total at open throttle, high RPM, with 18 degree (not uncommon) weights.

More likely that the inner lining would get damaged during installation. They're multilayer. But you already knew that. I was just pointing out the possibility of the leak starting in a not obvious location. Another thought is one of the fittings on your fuel rail. Brass fittings in aluminum might loosen a little over many heat cycles. Just brainstorming...

When my old injector hoses failed they cracked lengthwise internally. I smelled gas, stopped and opened the hood, and a very thin stream of fuel squirted out on to the sidewalk. A tightening with a screwdriver got me home, but that fuel traveled quite a way from its origin.

Wow, that's a big change in pressure. Pretty good example of why valve lash is the very first thing in the Engine Tuneup chapter. You can get low compression also, if the intake valve doesn't open soon enough. It's the air that pulled in on the intake stroke being pressurized that causes the cylinder pressure. Less air to compress = lower pressure. So your adjustment caused the front three to pull more air through the front carb. I know very little about carb tuning. Very little. It's like more vacuum.

You could take a screenshot, save the file, then attach the file. Windows 7 has a tool in Accessories called the Snipping Tool. Open it, circle the stuff you want, then save it as a very small file. I've only been able to paste a few types of files in to any forum's software. Most don't allow pasting images.

I've used the two part epoxy fuel leak repair material on a pin hole leak in a tank. It worked well. Another option.

Just curious, but how did they dyno-tune the engine and end up with the distributor fully retarded? Wouldn't they give you timing specs. as part of the "tuning"? What's the point of the tune if they don't give you the numbers? And shouldn't the engine still have good break-in oil in it? Or did they drain it before shipping? And you would think that if there was odd noise that they would have heard it while dyno-tuning and breaking in. Lots of "doesn't make sense" here.

Doesn't Rebello run their engines for a break-in period? Or is that only if you ask for a dyno sheet? Many of the performance cams run a tighter lash than stock. I agree with madkaw, just do exactly what the builder says to do. He's built hundreds or thousands of these. If it were mine, I would make a video or sound file and send it to him. You might have a problem that can be fixed before it does extra damage. Or even call him first and tell him it's very noisy. He might have a procedure he wants you to follow. On the lash - you can't stick a .010" in there but what can you? What is the actual measurement? Lash grows as the engine warms up, but if you're starting with a valve open when cold, you could "burn" or warp it. Best to get a real number. Bummer that it's not an easy break-in. Extra noise on a new engine is not normal.

I found one that actually worked better than stock for my 76 280Z. But I'm not positive where it came from, I picked it up with a shifter for a 71C transmission. It was either a later model 240SX or a later 300ZX. Had to poke new holes through the rubber, but I was able to use the same holes in the tunnel. The stock one rubbed in 5th gear, the new one was lower and doesn't. Might be this one. $6.78 US, might be worth a try. Probably get it from a local dealer. http://www.courtesyparts.com/34122mb-boot-dusthand-lever-300zx-z32-1990-1996-p-40239.html http://www.courtesyparts.com/300zx-parts-z32-1990-1996/genuine-nissan-parts/power-train/341-transmission-control-linkage/-c-882_883_953_971.html

The eBay guy "harmony01" has been discussed before. He seems like just a sales-type who pushes hard to sell his cars. He does have good comments in his feedback, but the problems with the paper-work make you wonder if he's not very honest or maybe incompetent. http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/50163-1969-hls30-00182-on-ebay/ http://www.ebay.com/sch/harmony01/m.html?item=161438375051&forcerrptr=true&hash=item25967a1c8b&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562

Sometimes I use a dry shop towel, the blue ones, to find small leaks. The light blue turns dark when it gets wet. Just touch it to all of the interfaces and see what turns color. Also wouldn't hurt to put a screwdriver to the clamps. I've found that the Gates brand EFI hose, although of apparently high quality, tends to creep over many heat cycles. I've read that today's clamps are all spring tension clamps, designed to keep constant tension on the hose. The hose is probably designed for the newer systems. The screw types are constant diameter and the hose can creep and loosen up. My Gates hose took several tightenings until things stopped moving. I'll bet your hose creeped and all of your clamps are looser than when you installed them.

For emphasis - we really need to know who this person is. At least the eBay name. That's what these forums are for, to share information like this.

eBay is notorious for fake ratings. People who sell there will give other users bad ratings if they get one, so everybody gives everybody else a good rating. The ratings are essentially useless. Post the guy's name. If he has sold 100's of cars and owned 100's of Z's then he should be known to this community. Nothing wrong with vetting a person who's asking you for thousands of dollars. And, here in the States anyway, expressing an opinion about how someone does business is not a crime. The old high bidder bailed out routine is a common scam technique. And, on the same point, the high bidder, if there actually was one, is in the same position as you. He agreed to buy the car then changed his mind. He would get sued first, if that was an option. But it's not an option, nobody is getting sued. The seller/scammer is pressuring you because he senses that you are unsure. An easy victim. Everything about this says scam or big problems. He might have a car but once he gets your money, it might take forever to actually get the car, plus I would bet that there will be many extra expenses for shipping, and insurance, and miscellaneous. Please post this person's name. It's probably a fake one anyway. At least post the eBay name.

The dial does not actually do anything. It only indicates the state of something. Probably something that opens and closes.

Probably fresh air vent actuators. Pull on them.

Seems like a pretty good value. http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/pts/4763144210.html

This is not right, the top part (no offense). The AAR just lets metered air past the throttle blade to increase idle speed for a short while. The idle air adjustment screw on the AFM lets air past the AFM vane, leaning out the fuel-air ratio at low RPM. You might see a small change in idle RPM if you turn the screw, but it's a side effect of changing the fuel-air ratio. It doesn't let any more air past the AAR or the throttle blade. The AAR is only active for a few minutes then its internal heater should close it completely. The AFM idle air screw is used to tune the idle mixture to give the right ratio of combustion products for passing emissions tests.

There's not a whole to them. You can jump a battery to the two terminals and watch it close. I have a stock one that I "re-tuned" to close completely using that method. Open passage, connect battery, wait, rotate mechanism until closed completely.

I was just suggesting the simplest way to get rid of the main problem with the headlight circuit. The switch on top of the steering column, with its old, pitted contacts. I have a single relay that only bypasses the headlight power switch. I left the dimmer switch intact since it doesn't seem to be a problem, besides getting stuck open occasionally (in the past for me, no problems since). I'm just being super-economical. Looks like there are many ways to take the power switch (supply), and the dimmer switch (ground), and the old wires out of the circuit and replace them with new.

I notice that nobody has a relay between the headlight power switch and the fuse box fuses EDIT - as another option. The switch is the part that tends to get pitted and hot and cause the solder joint to break. I put a relay in front of the fuse box to take the load off of the headlight power switch. It's easy to get to for 1976, it's the red wire at the fuse box that feeds the two headlight fuses. Looks the same for 1975. I assume that for 1975 you would have to use the shunt supply to keep the ammeter working right, basically replacing the headlight switch with a more durable switch (the relay). 76 has a voltmeter so I just ran a fused line from the battery. I also did the same for the running lights but it was more difficult. The wires are buried up in the dash. I had a pretty big voltage drop across the switch and eventually both solder joints, HL and running lights, broke/melted. The contacts in the switch had matching pits and bumps making for a tiny contact area. Edit 2 - the two relay way would be best for taking the load off both supply and the dimmer. I went with the one, in the cabin, because it was easy and I didn't really see any problems with the dimmer switch. I wonder if the dimmer contacts really are much of a problem in the circuit?

There's a lot of rural land around the small city of Portland. And, apparently, some Portlandians keep goats at their homes in the city. She said goats had jumped up and walked on the roof.

Dieseling is from hot spots in the combustion chamber. Usually carbon deposits from running rich or burning oil. Might be worthwhile to take it out on the road and (ab)use it to clean out the combustion chambers.

Looks like it would. In essence, a bored out L24, but with an L28 head, I assume. Bigger valves and ports. http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/enginedesign/