Finally pulled the valve cover off and got to turning. Heres the setup im currently running.


And at TDC:

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Stop chasing imaginary gremlins.

You need to get a timing light and a manual for your car and figure out how to set your ignition timing; your distributor is flying off into oblivion.

Bottom mark on the pulley should be 0 degrees, each one above it should be a 5 degree + (advance) increment.

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-Chris

Installed a pertronix unit on the old distributor and threw it on the car. Tried to get the timing down but it would try to die at 20° (my harmonic balancer looks a bit off so its probably between 15 and 20°), the center mark on the distributor plate. Started running like it did when I started this thread and then I remembered that I used the old distributor with the pertronix. Removed the crane unit that I was running on the other distributor and put the pertronix on and the problems disappeared again. So the original issue was with the distributor all along.

The car still didnt feel right driving . I know where its supposed to be and it drives horribly in that configuration. Add more advance in and the car runs cooler, easier to get going in 1st, gets better mileage and moves faster and "lighter". I can tell how this is coming across but id be more than willing to set up a test drive where the timing should be set and how I have it set. The only thing ive noticed is something similar to leaning out after about 5-6000rpms. I put a timing light on the current setup, but I have the numbers all mixed up in my head so ill have to do it again tomorrow. Also found this from a website and things similar to it on other websites(zcar was one of them) when trying to figure out why my car is acting like this but im not sure how much it applies or how much truth it holds

Source: http://www.badasscars.com/index.cfm/pag ... /prd76.htm




What I have been experiencing in the ~17° range

Havent experienced any of this. Car seems to have a more radical lope more when I retard the timing. Ill try and get everything on camera tomorrow.

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Today is the second time in about a week that my car has ruined a spark plug. I have the recommended NGK's and earlier this week I changed the plug out of my #2 cylinder and found it looking horrible and all the others were looking fine. Today the car started sounding very weird (muffled) and eventually it just cut out. Pulled the plugs and found my #6 plug was starting to bubble on the top electrode (not like the earlier plug). Started carrying a spare since the first incident and the trip got me back home (choke pulled the entire way) and it was running like normal when I pulled into the driveway. Ive got an MSD Blaster 2 and a pertronix ignition. Should I switch back to the stock coil or will doing something like adjusting the gap help? The entire drive today I was thinking about how nice it has been not having to work on the car and just turning the key and going

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666

Finally a conclusion for this post. Going to try and sum my experiences up:

-I got the car with a fully advanced distributor and a 4bbl. Ran like a scalded cat but got miserable mpgs. Car started to run worse and it turns out it was the distributor.

-Changed the 4bbl out for SU's and Crane XR700. I created an extension arm for more advance and the car ran very well and got 22+mpg at 80mph with the windows down.

-Crane started acting funny so I switched to pertronix. Car did not like the extension arm but ran very quickly fully advanced(like when I got the car. Looks like the crane setup was retarded) and no vacuum advance (.75 turns on the mixture screw). ~35 degrees advance. Tried adjusting the timing as per the FSM and when I did I got a nice intake backfire. Did some math the other day and found out I was getting horrible mileage and my car had ruined two spark plugs in a weeks time.

-A few days ago I read somewhere that a car with a lot of advance can run a lot leaner than a properly adjusted car. It finally clicked that the intake backfire I got at the stock advance was not due to a timing problem but because my carbs were running lean. Richened the carbs to 2 turns on the mixture screw, reattached the vacuum advance and brought the advance down to 15-17 degrees. No intake backfire and comparable throttle response!

-Now my car is at 1.25 turns 15-17 degrees advance and is a little slower off the line. What I gained was the assurance that the car is running as it should be and a ton of gas mileage back . While testing I raced to every light, revved high, and when I was on the highway and there was a huge gap in front of me I casually hit 115mph without any coaxing . The biggest surprise though was when I got back home and looked at the gas gauge and it had not moved. That was a luxury that I only had in my 260Z when the flat tops were still working.

Shouldve listened to the experts from the start but ive learned my lesson and actually understand a lot more from all the mistakes I made . Just one more part of my car that im not terrified to mess with anymore!

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71' 240Z: HLS3040666