madkaw

I'm at a loss myself. You might wait till your wideband is hooked up at this point. I will be very interested in the outcome of this. I had a similar problem and it turned out to be those damn float bowl hoses. Looked great, felt great, but kinked up. Took a long time to identify the problem.

Kind of hard to tell from pics, but I can't see anything that looks terrible. I would guess that those retainers are not stock and that would lead me to believe that the head has been worked to some extent. If that engine is still on the stand you can rig a piece of steel that uses your flywheel bolts to hold the crank steady. Bolt the steel to the crank and wedge the steel between the engine stand mounts. That way you can do a leak down test. Don't worry about the yellowing on the cam, you just want to worry about the polished finish that actually rides on the rocker. Also for any gouging of the cam surfaces. If your missing a tooth on the cam sprocket, get another one and replace it-cheap, I even have a used one that is like new.You can also mic the cam to verify that it is 'worn", not unless you see damage, it would be hard to visually tell. I could have saved myself a lot of money and time if I had just rebuilt my head on my original, motor instead I just though with 100k miles I needed to rebuild everything. This cost me a lot more money on pistons and bottom end work that in the end probably did nothing for performance compared to the head work. Spending money on that stuff took money away from things I had to have like new shocks and brakes. When I took the engine apart the bores still had the crosshatching marks in the bores with no scoring, but I was sure that 100k was too many miles. Did I do a compression test? NO= Dumb. More work and money= less enjoyment and waiting longer to drive. So, just some things to think about when making your decision. Best of luck

14-15mm

Yes, that is correct. the measurement is just when the float tang touches. You can also hang the float in it's normal position to measure the other way. It's just under an inch from where the needle shuts off the fuel from the lid to the middle of the float

What engine are these pics of?

I'm also looking at your pics and noticing the difference in the floats. Is one dirty or just stained in some way? Were the bowls clean?

How much fuel was in each bowl after removing the lid- were they close to each other? I always like to test operation of the needle and seat by hanging the lids in their normal position and blowing thru the fuel line fitting. While you are blowing air thru the needle and seat , raise the floats slowly and listen for the needle and seat to close the air off smoothly. This will also give you an idea as to what level the fuel shuts off at. You might find that one of your needle and seat assemblies are sticking. I'm not surprised that the needle changed didn't make any difference. Though the SM's are richer, the car still should have run good.

might want to take a minute and rethink this. You have a motor in the car that might not need to be rebuilt. The fact that it doesn't go past 40mph tells you NOTHING! Do a compression test, look at the plugs, pull the dipstick and smell and look. Pull the valve cover off and look inside-what do you see. You might have something that has already been touched up, but right now it's not running good. Seems to be a lot of unknowns to base decisions on. You seemed to have made cost a priority, so I would work with what you have first. You might have some gold covered in grease!!!

E-31 block? What year is your car? It should be a P-30 block and the e-88 might be the correct head for that block. And if it's a early e-88 head it will be almost the same as having an e-31 head. How bad is the engine since you say it needs a rebuild. Bottom ends are very tough, maybe you could just get away with a top-end rebuild. If your looking for a peppy L engine the L24 with an early head will be peppy. The compression will not be that much of a factor if this an original pairing of p-30 and e-88. So go whatever route is cheapest-I think you'll be happy either way.

I'll throw in here again about the SM needles. Running a wideband I have run both types of needles on my MODIFIED L24. The stock needles supply more than enough fuel for my motor. I am running stock needles now and the AFR dip into the 12's WOT and the plugs look beautiful(until the headgasket blew;( ) I believe it is also critical to get the float levels correct in conjunction with the needles. I will also agree above that the changes need to be more drastic to tell if your going in the right direction.

I don't believe the FSM specifies hot or cold check on chain stretch. It would be worth to check while your in there, but it isn't your problem. If it's close, I would bump it up to the #2 notch. I don't see any ill effects, just benefits from advancing your valve timing slightly. Glad to hear about the hoses. Mine were soft too---too soft and they kinked with the movement of the choke.

Stephen, forget about the timing chain-that's not your issue. Now valve adjustment is a possibility. Did you check the float bowl hoses-the ones that supply the fuel to your carbs from the bottom of the float bowls? Don't mean to harp on the hoses, but can't remember if you said that you checked them-because they have been a problem from z therapy. They collapse or kink and cut-off the fuel or part of the fuel to the carbs. It's hard to see -you almost have to go by feel. And verify for me that have NOT changed your float settings yet during this thread. If you have NOT, you need to make that your next adjustment. Oh and happy holidays!!!!!

I was asking 200$ since it is all cleaned up and painted and has all the studs and nuts and stub axles. I might be able to help with shipping since you leave fairly close.

I've got a really quiet r200 that I'm selling- I'm going with a subaru diff. My diff is a 3.54

Usually plug wires give you problems under heavy loading- like climbing a hill in forth gear. As far as cam- more likely out of adjustment than anything . Well you get this figured out you will definitely know your car better The reason I asked what dizzy was to see how much vacuum advance your dizzy adds. At this point during you troubleshooting with the timing I would leave it disconnected.

Stephen, just out of curiousity, what is the model # on your dizzy. Should be engraved somewhere on the side.

That's what I was saying Stephen, these cars can be way different in running characteristics even with the same engine or year. Motormans engine is using a ZX dizzy which has a different curve than yours Stephen. Enough that the two motors would run different. I hope you can compare and find something, but if something is working for you keep going that direction. Stephen, did you check your dizzy cap for cracks?

The videos always amplify the valve noises, so they always sound bad on you tube.

I wouldn't worry about what others are running, just what works well with your engine. All these engines are different and hard to compare. 40 years and many owners and too many swaps and changes makes it hard to compare for BEST performance. Biggest thing to worrry about is detonation. I'm running 38 total, but that would apply to your engine more likely

I checked my carb balance and verified it was good at both idle and 3000 rpm. Next I set the A/F mixture knob to two turns form full lean. Third, I started it up and found the highest rpm at 1.5 turns out form full lean, so I leaned it out a half turn. Sounds like your at 1 turn only-that's probably not enough-I would richen her up. Steve-maybe I shouldn't have bashed the SM needles so much, it probably is not the issue here. I just know that the stock needles are more than ample for the L24. Your car definitely has the pcv system. Just make sure the pcv valve that is attached to your balance tube moves freely and none of your lines are obstructed

Glad to hear that the ignition timing made a change. If it were me and this was helping to fix the problem, then go with it. Put more advance in and don't worry about the vacuum advance. Listen for the knocking and keep advancing to see if it eliminates the your popping. As far as the 47 degree figure, that would be with total timing INCLUDING vacuum advance and you would only see that at light cruise. I would shoot for the high 30's with your light, with the vacuum advance REMOVED, and high enough rpm for the all of your mechanical advance to be in. I will also agree that a slightly out of tune shouldn't cause your problem, but what if your recurved dizzy has a problem that amplifies an out of tune issue. Anyway, advance away and keep an hear out for knock.

Well Jon, you just kind of confirmed everything I sent to Dave in a PM. I mentioned unshrouded based on what i have read from Racer Brown articles-that basically every head shoud be unshrouded for breathing purposes. Also for the fact that if larger valves are possibly installed and if the head needs to be resurfaced that unshrouding won't hurt -just help. Glad you weighed in on the OP theory. Still like to see his results from a mixed batch of engine parts!!! Couple of pics for you Dave

Dave, I'm a little suprised these terms baffle you as much as you have been on this site. Not being critical and also very thankful for all your contributions to the Z world, just suprised . Anyway we have kind of stomped all over this thread and not sure if you should start another for advice. i will PM you

Sounds like my set-up Dave. I would also recommend going with the biggest cam you can go with running FLAT TOP pistons-maybe even bigger then stage 3, but check your clearance, you might need to clearance your pistons. Not sure what dished pistons you would put in there to match your head- unless you had some custom slugs to match the chambers of your n42. Where's the original e-88? Don't forget to notch your piston bores!!!!! and unshroud the heck out of your head. I put my car on the dyno at Zcon and it was 155 HP and torque. Timing was conservative and the SUs were terribly out of balance and both rich and lean. It was 100 degrees outside. I'm thinking around 175 properly tuned- maybe better.

There is some guy on hybridz that was selling e-88 heads for 25$ each and that would be original.