jmortensen

Carl, it totally depends on the engine. Examples: Mid 30s (I suggested 15-20 degrees for the ZX distributor which is 32-37 degrees total with the 17 degree advance model) generally speaking IS where L series make the most power, unless you're running distributorless igntion. Check this out:

I've never heard of any of my friends' Zs or 510s having any issues at all at 35 degrees. I used to run 87 octane at that advance in my L28. No ping, no damage. I think advising people that they should stay away from that much timing unless they have a big camshaft is overly cautious. That's my opinion anyway. PS-It's Jon, not Jim.

The next question is why aren't your pistons hitting the head? Think about it, if the stroke is longer, then the piston goes up farther in the bore. If you used the same rod and piston that were in the 327, they'd pop right out of the bore and smack the head. I just checked and the 350 has a 3.48 stroke where the 327 has a 3.25 stroke. So those pistons would come out of the bore .23". Something else had to have been changed, or both engines must have been 350s.

Generally best power on the L series running a distributor is had around 35 degrees advance. If you run that much and it pings, add octane and keep the increased power. If it doesn't ping, don't worry about increasing the octane. It has not been my experience that running 35 degrees of advance causes any damage whatsoever as long as the car doesn't ping. I cannot think of any good reason why more advance would melt a piston without preignition or detonation as a factor. I'd love to hear one though Victor...

The stroke and the bore make the displacement in all piston engines. So if you used a longer rod and a piston with a higher pin height to make up for it you didn't add or subtract displacement, but you did improve the rod/stroke ratio.

15-20 degrees should be right in there. Need a dyno to pinpoint it any farther than that I'd expect.

The dipstick has a low level and a high level marked by tiny lines close to the bottom of the stick. The carbs don't take much oil at all, I used the cap on the bottle of oil to fill mine. If you accidentally overfill it's not a big deal. When the piston goes all the way up the first time the excess oil will spill out the top and get burned in the engine. I'd try some 20 weight and see if that helps. 20-50 if you can't find straight 20 weight. The needle height is pretty critical. You can set it "better" than what I'm about to tell you, but I'd set it flush with the bottom of the piston for now. If you really want to get it dialed in, get the video from Ztherapy and that has details on how to dial them in just perfectly. Flush with the bottom of the piston and then screw the mixture knobs on the bottom all the way in, then back them out 2.5 to 3 turns and you should be in the ballpark. If you don't have a synchronizing tool, that would be a good thing to get. Make sure when you put the domes back on that you push up on the pistons before you tighten the screws. The pistons need to be able to move freely so you might have to move the dome around until you get to where everything moves nicely.

Are you aware of how the SU is oiled? The brief story is that the black knobs on top are dipsticks and they have a low and full level on them. The carbs need periodic oiling, and I used to pull the domes and clean the pistons every 7K or so. You should do that, and then maybe try different weight oils. My old SU's liked thin oil, like ATF or Marvel Mystery Oil. My friend's needed 20 weight or thicker. Also check for nozzles stuck down. Search and you'll find lots of info on SU's. They're about the simplest carb ever. You should take some time to check them over. Your problem might have a very simple solution.

I've never been to an auto parts store that didn't have shank style 12x1.25mm lug nuts. If you really can't find them you might try Schucks or NAPA or Autozone's websites.

Sorry to anyone who is proud of their Stage III cam, this is kind of a pet peeve of mine, so I'll probably come off more obnoxious than usual. Stage III is the third stage of wimpy. I think they have the Stage I and II so that FI people can feel like they're really "stepping up" to the Stage III. If I were Schneider, I'd call the III the Stage I, the Stage IV would be the Stage II, and the all out race cam would be the Stage III. As Arne points out the stock FI can't handle overlap, so by making the very mild maximum duration cam that the FI can handle the Stage III, the FI people get to feel like they're really upgrading. That's my theory anyway. I run something similar to the Stage IV. It runs great with SU's, when I switched to triples it turns out to be a bit on the small side. I'd like to find something in the .520/300 range now, but I've got enough other crap to do that I'll get to that when I get to it. I know two or three people who have bought the Stage III and regretted it, one being former member here Zvoiture. I tried to warn him, but he went with the Stage III for his "race" engine on his track day car. I think he put down 180whp on the dyno after installing it in his new motor. He was pretty disappointed. Later on his Unilite took a crap on him, twice. Eventually I think he bought a GT2 engine that was all done up and put that in his race car. Also, I think a regrind is a better choice than a new Schneider cam. Seen too many posts like this one: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=109514 The Nissan metallurgy is proven. All of my friends and I run regrinds, only a few with really high lift are running new camshafts (and those aren't Schneider). None of us has ever wiped a lobe and I don't think any of us resurfaced or replaced the rockers, that's probably 15 camshafts now with many many miles on them. Actually the "replace the rockers when you replace the cam" thing is the same deal to me as the FelPro contingent who are so emphatic that the L6 has headgasket issues. The rockers are an issue because of the cam you're using, not the other way around IME. All right, I'll stop now... I think I killed it. :dead:

Right you are. I didn't pay attention. Which is why you can't trust my math, BTW. So .030mm = .0013 in. So maybe the calculator is wrong? Maybe that value is in inches and not mm? Don't know... EDIT- definitely can't be inches. Calculator must just be wrong. If you don't want to go with super duper HKS gasket, I'd suggest get a Nissan gasket or get a Stone gasket. The stock thickness is .050, and they'll last a lot longer. I just use the Nissan gasket on my engine. I thought you were trying to up the compression with the shorter gasket, which is why I suggested the HKS.

You can get the HKS from Nissan Comp, or from various HKS dealers. A search on google will probably locate some for you. I'm betting MSA and Black Dragon have them as well. I got my deck height info from the lengine calculator. Shows .080 for deck height, and it's metric. Convert .080 mm to in, .0037" or something like that. One other caviat is that I SUCK at math, but I used an online calculator so it should be correct.

Measure the distance now, drill holes at a similar distance after. Easy enough.

Yes the pistons should stick up, but only about .003" over the deck. The rods shouldn't be any different between an N42 or F54 block, both have 130mm rods and the same pin height. The deck height should be the same also. Makes me think that somebody surfaced your block at some point. Fel-Pro sucks IME, if you want .040" gasket (which is what the Fel-Pro is), use an HKS 1mm gasket. Do some searching on Fel-Pro if you want some backup on the sucky part.

I'm sure your problem was either bad gas or bad plug wires, octane boost is a complete waste of money. In a can of octane boost you get 8 oz of tolulene and xylene for $8 (look on the bottle, they usually say what's in there). Go to the hardware store and you can buy a gallon of either for $9. The two solvents are 114 octane and 118 octane, respectively. That little bottle will raise your octane by .1 which isn't enough to do much of anything. Do a quick google and you'll find home octane booster brews. They work, but you need A LOT more than 8 oz to make a significant difference. Oh, and if you don't NEED the octane, you'll probably LOSE power by raising the octane.

Mine on my 70 were 8 x 1.25 as well. They are small for sure.

I'm no wiring expert, but unless the Unilite has points, and I don't think it does, why would you need the ballast resistor at all? When installing the 280ZX distributor your choices are to jump the ballast resistor or to remove it entirely and connect the wires that attach to either side together directly. I'd try running a jumper cable across the resistor and then check your voltage.

Sounds like it's time to learn heel/toe downshifting.

I think you'll find more of those on hybridz.org. I'm not sure if the damper is the same as Nissan sells, but there are a few guys running ATI dampers and BHJ dampers, and crankfire as well.

One option is just don't use them. The struts have a dust seal in them and the boots aren't necessary and just look clunky IMO.

What manifold are you running Eric?

You want 1/8" to 3/16" free play between the master cylinder and the rod. You kinda have to look up under the dash while you push the clutch pedal. Don't do it by free play on the pedal because you NEED play in between the master and the rod, and the clutch pedal tends to oval out its hole which can make it seem like there is more free play there than there really is.

Later ZX trans has aluminum shift rails. That might be a contributing factor. It's possible swap the rails out though, so if someone has a Z and a ZX 5 speed, it's not too hard to just swap the rails and keep the closer gearing for an NA car.

I guess another idea would be to put an airbox on and see what difference that makes. In my non-engineer mind that would kinda group the vacuum from all the runners to get a more steady stream of air moving.

Hmm... interesting. I have the stumble too with 37mm chokes on 44mm Mikunis, but I was able to *almost* completely eliminate it through jetting. Kept going bigger and bigger and bigger on the pilot. Bigger I went, the less it stumbled. I tried bigger pump nozzles, but that didn't have anywhere near the beneficial effect of the bigger pilots. Your comment makes me want to try a different manifold and see the difference though. Malvern was one of the people who told me the manifold choice was the right one, the other was Rebello FWIW.