madkaw

If you go thru the MANY threads where owners comment on camshaft selection- MANY regret not going bigger as it doesn't effect drivability that much to have a big cam. I'm running stage 2 and it is as civilized as stock. If you read articles by Racer Brown , he comments how these engines like big cams. I can't wait to go bigger, but I'm not disappointed with milder cam . Being you already have the L28, you have some displacement and torque, now give it some HP. Remember , the power is in the head, make use of it.

Does it matter!?!?!? YES- more importantly , I would not drive without it. You need to put a wrench on every bolt under your car. Get a bolt the correct diameter so there's no slop in there. Pretty good chance you found your rattle

When you say rear seals, your talking weather stripping right? If they are gone, then the hatch could have play in it. The hatch should be a spring fit on the seal. I would adjust it down tight on the latch so it takes some force to latch and see if that changes anything. Nothing has to be too loose to make noise, so you don't always feel anything when you yank on it. It's hard to duplicate driving conditions. All the strut has to move is a 1/32" and it would make noise.

Do it right- do it big!! Like said, get a regrind done from someone that works with these L motors

Welcome to the home of Z lovers! One drop of fuel can stink up a whole garage. Check all your lines. If its a fuel venting issue, you might try the trick I did with LIGHTLY pressurizing the vent system and then look for leaks. I have a thread on here somewhere. Good luck and congrats

Noises are always a pain because the noise can travel around the car and mislead you. Sounds like a loose strut , but you said the gland nut was tight. Not sure if a bad shock would produce a rattle sound. When you installed the struts you were SURE the and nuts bottomed out on the shock and not the threads on the nut. Not sure why you would just now start hearing the noise, but that's what it sounds like. I've noticed that it takes very little movement on any part to produce noises on these cars. A diff mount bolt on the moustache bar will cause a clunk if its a half a turn loose. Anyway it could be your hatch adjustment is loose and the hatch is rattling.

It's not about keeping the pistons flush- it's about setting up proper head to piston clearance based on the head gasket used. Thru research I have read that the best set up is .022-.027 clearance , but that might be too tight for some comfort levels. It's all about ideal parameters to fight detonation. I'm running about .027 Most stock Nissan L motors have a pistons above the block from .014- .019

Leon, are the training wheels off(old ignition system), or you still have it on standby?

I would be doing just the opposite and tackling the spark first. The beauty of doing spark is that you have both old and new systems on the car until you are ready to change over. Let's say you want to use a distributorless Ford EDIS ignition. You could actually mount it all up and experimemt with it while still having the old system on there.

Welcome to Classic Z. Glad you found a Z car, prepare to get addicted! Not trying to be the grammar police but we ask you use proper punctuation so it will be easier to read your posts. Example being the right wheel- which wheel, front or back ? Finding noises is process of elimination. Help us figure out what you have done already on the car . Tell us more about the car and yourself since this is your post.

What's cool about the Z is that the design is timeless and appealing to even our kids generation. I'm even impressed how much attention my car gets from all ages. So hopefully your son will stay engaged in the project since it sounds like he will be doing the posting I think one of things you will appreciate about the Z is that they are easy to work on- just by the standpoint of room to wrench! When's the last time you leaned over the fender to pull the starter?

You could even go crazy and redrill the posts for the float lower if there was enough there to do that. You would be lowering the Fulcrum point to gain height on the float

Make sure you don't have 2 washers in there- been there done that!

Do the needle assemblies on the SUs have a packing washer that can be removed to gain height?

Wow- Tony D didn't have an answer after an hour. Best get another set

That sucks. Wish I could help in some way. Weird deal about the carbs

Well actually what I am trying to say is, that most MS users would probably be like Sarah. They would be tired of the old EMS and it's lack of flexibility. Let's face it, if you have a 76 Z and want to put headers and a cam, you really can't support that with the current ECU. My adaptation of MS will be far different then a current FI Z car. I will be using high impedance injectors and LS1 coils COP. It's probably not going to help folks with stock FI make the transition easily. This will be an intimidating task for most and then not have any similarities between my set up and the stock FI will make it confusing. The little stuff like the relays that are on a current FI Z could probably be reused or rewired to make the main circuit for the MS, where as I will be starting from scratch. Like I said, I don't mind sharing, but it will help the few in my circumstance.

okay, just curious where this combo left you with the ITM pistons. So 1mm HG?

Is that measured flush? What HG are going to run?

Sarah, I was really hoping you would jump on board on this. I am always impressed with your posts and knowledge of the Z systems. If you haven't already, look at the "megamanual" or visit the MS sites and do some reading. You are probably already ahead of me with the knowledge of FI systems. It also seems from reading that you maintain your car well, which is important for doing a project like this. I actually purchased Matt Crammer's book on performance FI to get myself up to date on FI. Matt also frequents Hybridz to answer questions regarding MS and seems to be very supportive. I think the place for one to start is getting a wideband O2 sensor. It's interesting to see in real time how the engine is burning the fuel. The wideband is the basis for all your tuning with the MS. As soon as I get my laptop back I will start posting pics of my progress. Right now it's staring at schematics for hours it seems to see how I want to implement or integrate the MS system on my car. Like I said earlier, my car is far from a stock 71 and for direct application for others it won't work. It might give some ideas and help folks understand FI and how it is structured. For now I have 2 very large bundles of wires and a computer to find places for.

Believe me Leon, I can't wait. I will be looking to you for help with some timing curves. It will be bitter sweet when I let go o the triples, but that will be progress for me. I'm hoping that I can get a custom intake with FI to make better power then the triples. Reminder to myself- get engine dynoed!

The unit that sits at the top of the tank that has the wires for your fuel level and also the return and outlet lines that go into your tank.

That's all fine and good. But I think my application would not benefit the group as a whole. For this to be beneficial to a much larger group I would be doing this on a stock FI year model. My car is so modified that I should be kicked off this site- Someone that had all the stock wiring schematics and strong knowledge of the wiring on their 75-83 NA car would be a better canidate. I would be more than willing to spread my limited knowledge to get it done.

A lot of this guessing would be eliminated with a fuel pressure gauge. Did you ever pull the sending unit to look at it?

I already made the suggestions. Take the fuel line OFF and measure the output into a jar or something. It should amount to at least stock volume , which you need to research and find. The gauge is very important also. If you aren't careful you will damage the motor by driving this in a lean condition. You seem to have this narrowed to a fuel condition, so be very thorough looking at that . You would be lucky if that is your only problem . That set up probably also has a FPR that also has to work properly. Still waiting on more pics