toplessFC3Sman

iTrader: (1)

That's great news that it seems to be running like it should, at least for a little bit. Hopefully the new dizzy solves it, it really seems like you're running out of other potential causes.

The engine bay (and whole car in fact) looks very clean!

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, I'm quite proud of her (which explains this massive pimp thread).

It cheers me up as we go through this tough time to look back at where she started:




Realizing how far we've come and how close we've gotten makes it all a little more bearable.

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

Massive improvement! I love what you've done with it, however, the CA smog inspection process precludes the use of imagination. I've been failed because an unmetered vac line was not connected to the airbox. Everything needs match the FSM regardless of purpose or functionality and they don't like surprises. Documenting where emissions related components were moved to or rigging up some oem looking decoys will go a long way to helping S pass his inspection.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, the guys at The Z Store (oddly enough, located in CA) say that getting the early injected cars (76-83) is nearly impossible, even with all the OEM stuff working.

That's why a big part of our Plan B is to ignore California restrictions for now and just get her up and running in Colorado legal trim (which she mostly is already).
Bear in mind that we've never driven this car, Sigfrid doesn't know if he likes it yet and before this CA thing came up, we'd hoped to shake her down this winter and then move to the second stage, based on our experience with the "new" platform.
Stopping now and trying to revert back to "technically legal" would slow us down and be quite costly, eating up a lot of valuable time behind the wheel.

So, screw 'em.

I wonder though...
How is it that CA seems home to so many highly modified cars?

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

the California emissions system is, as you would expect, remarkably unfair, expensive, and thus, stupid.

for starters, the smog program is done by county, and not all counties are in the program. so since i live in a smog county, i need to smog everything i own every 2 years. the people that live in a non smog county do not have to smog at all.

in an effort to cut pollution, the smog standards have gotten more strict, so my cars need to almost be cleaner than new, yet if i moved 50 miles away (ok maybe 80), i can do anything i want*

two; we also have that $&%(#* visual. not only are they super strict about WHAT comes out of the tailpipe, but they also effectively control the HOW. this is problematic for older cars, as emissions parts for a 30 year old car are usually NLA, or in the Z's case (MGB too), all the kludgy disco emission controls make things worse.

third, or maybe second again, any emissions part needs to be OEM, or CARB approved. this can be a PITA, because a car like the Rx8, or the MGB, the only legal catalytic converter that is legal is the OEM one. the Rx8 people are forced to use the $1300 OEM cat, and the rest of the world can use the $299 aftermarket cat. or the MGB people need to use the 30 year old stock one!

that all being said the the rotary runs really clean when it has the stock stuff on it** , and the inspection is usually done by a guy who hasn't seen a rotary before, so you can usually get away with minor things.***

also they usually don't do FUNCTIONAL checks on things (except the EGR, they LOVE to test that), so all the stuff needs to be physically there, it doesn't get checked so if it didn't quite work like stock....

there may also have been some CARB approved parts for the Z, and you can print the CARB form, and just say your similar thing is the legal one. for instance, there is a CARB number for an FC intercooler kit, and i'm going to say thats the one i have, if asked. so far the one time anyone saw a carb sticker, the inspecting officer asked to see the carburator.

also with the Z, setting up the megasquirt might be a good option, i've never had them check the ecu...


*i can do anything i want, sort of, there are still federal laws, and you could get pulled over and get a referee ticket, which puts you in the the smog system, again. not really a worry if you're over 30..

**i smog about 6-8 cars a year, and the rotaries are usually cleaner than the piston engines. the rotary is nice because it has a lot of emissions equipment, and so if you're 2/3 they still run clean, unlike a piston engine, which just has a cat.

*** sometimes they don't like the color of vacuum hose you used, but then i've passed with headers, downpipes, aftermarket cats, missing egr valves, MSD boxes. my brother did an engine swap in his VW, and he used a newer vw engine, and 9/10 people wouldn't notice, but smog guys hate it, so he has had to go to different smog guys until he found one that didn't care, car passes out the tailpipe the whole time

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

That's the spirit! Keep the Z registered in CO and lend it to your friend until he can purchase a CA legal car. Make it clear that it is going back to Colorado within a year and he is not the legal owner.

Google can tell you way more about cheating the smog test than I can. Basically you gotta know a guy that knows a guy.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

thats the best option, just keep the colorado plates/reg; in theory you're supposed to switch to CA plates within 90 days, although its fairly difficult for anyone to prove that it hasn't just gotten here from CO that morning

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Depends.
If the smell of weed and school shootings has worn off, they'll know.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

dude Oakland has had legal weed for ~15 years! and i'm sure SOME of the shootings were near schools

clokker

iTrader: (2)

She'd be right at home then.
Too bad she'll be in San Jose.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

oh yeah? that's ~15 minutes away

San Jose is nice because they actually have some real crime, so the cops don't care if you have no registration. or actually lately i think the cops just don't care, i guess they are all ready to quit or something. anyways you could plates that are from Mars and probably not have a problem.

archaphil

iTrader: (1)

And I just spit my milk out from my nose.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Don't do that.

jesseluck

iTrader: (2)

Wow that stock rear end is hideous. You guys have a great looking car now.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Funny thing about the bumpers:

There's been a recurring CL ad trying to sell a complete set of bumpers/shocks for $200...it's been around for months.
We put in an ad offering ours for free, just pick 'em up, and didn't get a single response.
So we finally junked them.

The whole thing probably weighed 120-150lbs., it's really amazing how heavy they are.
We were quite happy with the "easy" weight savings till we realized what it did to ride height.
Z's always had stupid high wheel gap- pull the bumpers and it floats like a Conestoga wagon.
We not only went with lowering springs but also added 240z front top hats on all four corners (they are the slimmest of all the stock options) and even then, had to cut a coil from the fronts.

Until we can actually drive the car we have no idea what the ride will be like.
But she looks better.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

I went to Sigfrid's to await the new distributor (and PCV valve and spark plugs)...we usually get deliveries by noon but of course, not till 1:30 yesterday while I sat.

Not that it really mattered- I arrived to find a POD (a big, metal moving container Sigfrid must load by Tuesday with whatever he's taking to CA) parked right dead center at the head of the driveway...the Z can't move out of the garage till it's gone.

*le sigh*

Oh well, I had stuffs to do anyway.
Replaced five bolts on the intake manifold with better suited hardware (slightly longer flange heads) and retightened the exhaust manifold nuts.

Then, with time on my hands, I indulged in my favorite pastime...getting blitzed and fiddlefucking around with the assembly, specifically, the routing of the electrical/hoses on the manifold.
Having stripped the manifold of all the emission devices, there are a multitude of threaded bosses available and I've been slightly varying the layout since day one...simplifying and improving the hardware.
I'm liking the end result a lot and as soon as S. gets some pics, I'll show you.

The parts finally arrived and were soon in place ("soon"= @ 1 hour) and...

Started right up (seriously, she fires on the first crankover) and idles nicely, no smoke.
Free revs like a bastard but breaks up at steady sustained mid-throttle...we have no gauges but I'd estimate between @2500-3000 rpm.
I think we're down to the AFM now.

Sigfrid has been jacking with our original unit, cranking on the flapper clockspring to lean it out and we probably now need to go back closer to the stock setting.
We also have a larger turbo AFM to try and the RX7 S5 unit as well.

If I could have, I'd have ventured a test drive...she's that close, I think.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Latest engine shots (finally):




Not much really, but the evolution of the layout could be traced if one were interested.
It's just gotten simpler and less hardware intensive, basically.

The car can't be moved till tomorrow when the POD is picked up but I'm going over today to fettle her for (what I hope is) a test drive.
Even if she doesn't drive (for whatever reason), I'll need to get her in the driveway and dump the water, see what our cooling system looks like now that she's run up to temp a few times. If it looks good, it'll need real antifreeze as nighttime temps are dipping below freezing now.

There is also an oil leak at the front of the engine that must be found.
If we're lucky, it's the oil pump gasket, if not, it's the front cover>oil pan...a bigger deal.
It's a small leak and not immediately pressing but another thing to do later.

Back to baby steps for a while.

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully not a front crank seal. A little more work, and messing with the timing chain, which isn't crazy, but still.

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

Is that the stock orientation of the AFM? Usually the flapper door swings horizontally so it's not affected by gravity. Perhaps that and the previously executed 'jacking' is throwing off the reading.

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

Holy **** I never focused on the pics with the AFM till ^ That looks so similar to ours.

Having said that, internally they may be diff enough to be a can of worms. Try to stay with the stock one unless you really know what you're doing.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Oh yeah, that's the stock orientation, you can't get it wrong.
Originally, the AFM bolted to a bracket, which bolted to another bracket (typical) and was positively located. We've deleted the brackets but the unit sits more or less as it came.

Yes, I think the Z AFM would plug right into a S4 harness plug. It's got the fuel cut off switch and everything. Not saying its output values are the same but physically, I think they're identical.

I've figured out how to approach the swap electrically, now I just need to try it.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

I just got a quick report from Sigfrid.
The POD is gone and he tried to drive her but didn't get out of the driveway.
She cold starts and idles perfectly (that's something, at least) but falls flat off idle.
If you can get over @3k rpm it clears up...he described it as like the worst turbo lag ever.

I'm housesitting over there again this weekend and have a big passel of tests to run (it's down to TPS and AFM, IMO), hope to clear this up. I also hope to find out what S. has planned for the project...far as I know, he leaves in 10 days and I have no idea what he thinks will happen.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i agree, tps and then AFM

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Ran across this today:


I'm not a fan of cruisers (although this streamliner/Deco approach is kinda neat) but the overall aesthetic is exactly how I envisioned the Z.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

It's the cam timing.
Has to be.

I spent the weekend testing the TPS and AFM...they are perfect.
I even put the AFM in the freezer overnight to test the range of the IAT sensor, using the DMM and a heat gun, saw it display the range from 0° to 100° exactly as the manual described.
Every resistance test between terminals checked out.

Basically, I approached the car as if I'd never seen it before and tested everything I could think of.
According to the results, she should be running.
And yet, she isn't.
(Start and idle are still perfect though)

So, it must be the cam, which would also explain the low compression and low vacuum.

I just ordered the gasket set for the timing cover and as soon as our expected deepfreeze ends (supposedly five/six days), I'll redo the cam.
Sigfrid leaves for CA on Friday and returns for Thanksgiving, I'd like her running by then.

This diagnosis and proposed fix are my Hail Mary...if this doesn't work, I gots nuttin.