Thats what I was about to try. Just drove with it a little advanced and I got the snappy throttle response back. Heres the video of me advancing the timing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BHKHgXvlSw&feature=youtu.be

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Thought I saw a piece of the old valve cover gasket that I was scraping off go down the front cover yesterday but I shone a light down the hole and thought I found the piece I scraped off under the car. Just moved the wires down one post and when I went to start the car, the starter turned then stopped. Tried it again and then the starter spun normally but then the e-brake light started pulsing, the car started to buck violently in sync with the brake light. Turned the crank by the crank pulley and it seemed as if there were some tough spots . Sounds to me like im going to have to pull the front cover off the engine

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Wow, that sounds weird. Maybe it has something to do with your vin ending in 666.

Something doesn't seem right here. A piece of valve cover gasket shouldn't cause that. Put the plugs back where they were and see what happens. Are you sure you moved them the correct way?

Is the car moving like it is in gear? That is what bucking makes me think of. Or do you mean it is just running really rough. There should be tough spots when you turn the crank by hand. That is what compression feels like.

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Rob
1971 240z

What's with the pulsing handbrake lamp? Never heard of that before.

Starting to worry about supernatural influences in this car.....

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1970 240Z

Do you know how the e-brake light dims a bit when you start the car (might just be my Z's)? It would spin and attempt to start until it hit a certain point, the light would go dim and the car would buck (like im trying to start it in gear with the brakes on) every time it hit that spot or just stop cranking entirely. Letting go of the key restored the brake light back to its normal brightness. Im away from home now so I cant say if putting the plugs the normal way will do anything. Car freaks me out sometimes but when Im on the road its all worth it.

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Hey Porkbun, Did you get the car running well yet?

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Rob
1971 240z

Im away for 5 weeks but I might be able to stop at home this weekend. Going go put the plugs the way theyre supposed to be and try getting it started again. If it does start I might try and rig something up to allow me to advance the timing further than the mount will allow me. Any ideas for materials/designs to allow me to advance further?

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

I think when you put the plugs where they're supposed to be you won't need to advance it beyond the current max. The only reason it is like that is because the setup is wrong. If I needed to advance a cars distributer beyond it's adjustment the first thing I would think is the plugs are off by one spot. Moving the plugs one spot is doing just that. There is only 360 degrees in a circle. If you can adjust a distributer 30 degrees advanced or retarded that is 60 degrees of adjustment for every plug position. 60 degrees times 6 plugs is 360 degrees.

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Rob
1971 240z

Moved the plugs down a spot and up a spot. When I moved the one position clockwise, I got the bucking again but it was dependent on how advanced or retarded the timing was. When I moved the position counterclockwise, The starter just spun. Car runs "alright" until the vacuum advance kicks in at higher RPMs and then the car takes off. I never knew my car had a massive turbo on it! Going to do some more experimenting on it

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Tried moving the plugs up and down one and two posts and advancing and retarding the timing and got nothing but some jerking and intake and exhaust backfires. Rigged a distributor extension arm (it was a spare) and advanced the distributor further than originally allowed and now the car idles( very lopey) way better than before, moves way easier and faster than before, and is starting to resemble a smooth running Z (good thing too since I was getting jealous driving my Z after driving Zorros).

Only thing im not sure how to address is how far to advance the distributor now. Its running well now but im not sure if thats as good as it can run. How can I set it up now that my distributor is super advanced and account for the vacuum advance?

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

I'm glad to hear your car is running good now. How many degrees advanced would you say it is now, when it's running well?

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Rob
1971 240z

I have no idea how advanced it is. I have a timing light and found the tick mark, but im not sure where the numbers are supposed to appear.

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Decided to take the car up for a road trip and noticed a couple of things:

1. Sometimes the starter stutters/hesitates when cranking it to start up. Im guessing it needs to be replaced after all that cranking I went through.

2. The car stutters randomly (usually at higher speeds)

3. Battery died on me while driving on the highway. I was using the battery that came with the car (and that had been almost completely drained and recharged a few times), driving up a hill on a highway when the car started to shake and stutter a bit like it did before I did all that nonsense. Got off the next exit and the car was running fine. Drove around for a bit and then got back on the highway. Car died going up the hill, and when I replaced the battery with the spare that I had brought with me, the car ran fine and brought me to my destination. Not sure if it was the battery, alternator or both.

Also planning to bend some brake lines to use as a return line for the fuel system. I think theres a bit of rust in my tank and not sure what I want to do about that.

On the plus side I got 20+ mpg at ~80mph on the way up here so im happy that I changed out the Holley.

EDIT: Anyone near Mansfield who can help me figure out my timing? Zorro and I spent a bit of timing messing with the spark plug order and timing since his is running a lot smoother than my car and all we got was an extremely loud backfire. At TDC the distributor seems to be pointing in the right spot but I cant get it running in any other formation. Perhaps its the cam? Ill post some exhaust videos later of the lope

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Heres a video of my idle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og-rXDiF ... e=youtu.be

When checking for TDC I only checked the cam position but not the piston position. Could this be the issue?

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

If the piston was completely out of whack compared to the cam, you'd have more serious issues. Still, for posterity you could line up your "bunny ears" again and remove the #1 spark plug for a quick check with a flashlight.. should be able to see a charred brown piston top with relative ease.

The BEST way to find mechanical TDC is with the head off and a dial indicator poking the piston crown, so you can find the exact point that the piston is at "full up", and see if that's where the timing plate and the notch on the crank pulley line up at "0". However, this is labor intensive...

http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/46043-u ... %E2%80%A6/


You can also check the "notch through the window" on the cam sprocket at TDC, to see where the markings line up, to make sure the cam sprocket is on in the right place & your timing chain isn't getting too slack. By the way, don't make a habit of turning the cam the opposite direction of normal rotation. This causes the wrong side of the chain to go slack, and can lead to bad things. I believe it's possible to pop out the chain tensioner this way. If I miss the mark, I always give another full rotation in the right direction and try to line it up on the next go-around.

I don't think your problem is mechanical timing being off though.

The distributor timing at idle should be set with the vacuum advance disconnected and the line plugged at the intake side. I believe the -default- setting is 10 degrees advance @ idle, check the FSM/internet/Hayne's manual for confirmation.

Your battery is dying, also check out the alternator and voltage regulator.

Your engine is crapping out when you press the brake. Try turning on other electrical things to put a load on the system and see if it does the same. See if you can activate the brake light on its own, which is done by popping out the rubber stopper on the brake pedal that depresses the switch when the brake is "off". If not, I'd check for vacuum leaks at the brake booster. Disregard. Reading comprehension failure.

But do check other electrical devices to see of load is killing the system. Could also be a short, and I wouldn't jump to replacing the starter until after I'd checked the wiring and cleaned the connections at the starter/solenoid.

Also, it sounds like your fuel system is dead-headed. Why? I'm assuming the PO did that for... some reason... when the holley carb was installed, but the SU's were designed to be run on the engine with a return system. I'm not completely familiar with the mechanical fuel pumps, but does anything regulate the flow? It too is designed to run with a return line from the rail going back to the tank, unless there was a Z without a fuel return that I don't know about. Since you have a return line not being used, well....

By the way, I know we're trying to diagnose an idling/running issue, but why has no one mentioned the lumpy cam idle and shiny blue anodized spring retainers?


I'd go into more detail but I'm running on fumes. Need sleep.

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-Chris