Gavin

It has been very easy to tune with the WB and MegaTunix on my iBook. I have it just about perfect I think. Im going to start with Tokico Blues and the matching springs. The light has gone on and of a few times since it has been running, but it had nothing to do with the handbrake position.

My father agreed to let me go to work on fixing up his old 78 for myself. A few months before he had passed out at the wheel (blood sugar dropped for unknown reasons), french-kissed a guard rail with the rear 1/4 pannel and smacked the nose into the bottom of a ditch pretty hard. Luckily the damage was essentially only cosmetic. He had purchased the car from a friend of mine's father actually, who got it from a friend of his who drove it out of a junkyard.. So the car has been around. It was red at the time, but we later discovered that it is actually one of the rare Black Pearl Edition Z's - the first Z to come in black. We were planning to restore it before the accident. Since then my dad got a nice shiny orange Texas 78, so hes not missing it that badly. I'm going to use the car to get into racing, starting with Autocross and then building it to be competitive in a certain class - playing it by ear pretty much. Keeping it on a low budget untill I find the right places to put the money into. For the engine I am going to try to use mostly stock parts to build it up like the MN47 head to boost my compression, with a cam to match that. Thats far off though since I'll be making it handle first. I started by stripping out basically everything, and then MegaSquirted it from there. I did this mainly to learn how to tune in preparation for my turbo 20v AE92 Corolla wagon project. I wired everything up using the relay board and on my first time cranking it over it completely unexpectedly fired right up and idled almost perfectly on the stock MS configuration for a Chevy V8. I expected to be troubleshooting for months so it was a very pleasant surprise. So I quickly prepped and blew some primer on the body pannels (still have a good amount of detailing to go) and slapped them back on. Anyways, here are the pics. Sorry about the quality I used my Motorolla, I'm just so excited over it. Specs: 78 280z Black Pearl Edition 104 k miles MegaSquirt 2.2 board w/ standard processor and code, relay board. PLX M300 wideband O2 sensor Sick homemade 3" to 2" intake w/ JB welded-in GM IAT sensor Removed all emissions stuff I could get my hands on Removed A/C Removed stock mechanical fan Honda Civic auxiliary electric fan AE86 oil cooler (sandwich plate setup) Stripped interior Removed dash (only a shell attached to the frame) Removed interior heating/AC parts 83 ZX Turbo wheels on loan from my brother Push-start ignition Anyhow just wanted to share. Whatchuguys think?

I'm trying to use 024s13c with MegaTunix. What settings might be messing me up?

This is what you're looking for, under the drivers side flap-thingy. http://homepage.mac.com/gavinwilliams/resistors.jpg

I am trying to switch from the standard MS code to MSNS-E on my 280z to control fuel only. I loaded the new code on and selected fuel only mode, and everything looked good except for my tach which read some rediculously high RPM. I am getting my tach signal from the - on the coil. Loaded my old code back and works fine again. Why would this be happening? Thanks.

Oh sweet http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/calcs/engine%20builder/index.html

Oh my I didnt realize the compression gain I would get from the MN47. How much do these heads go for?

I have the stock N47 ex manifold right now so I'm still flexable in that area. So what compression would the MN47 combined with the flat tops give me? Also, how much does each .1mm of gasket thickness change the compression over stock, approximately (and what is the stock thickness?)? Looking at using the Nismo .6mm compressed gasket for some more squish.. If there is a guide to all of this that I missed in my search please feel free to point me towards it.

Yeah I read that about the square port head. I alse read that for a mild race/street engine I should go with the N47 or even better the Maxima version. The money sounds good to me. Otherwise I'm thinking I'm going to clean up the head, do a valve job like you say, and unshroud the valves. Later on, after raising the CR, I'll go for the 260deg cam and after that I'd be happy with whats under my hood. Thats just what I'm thinking of doing as of right now, subject to change at any time - based on feedback from you guys of course! Thanks for the help. Oh and BTW right now I'm running the N47 motor stock with MegaSquirt, soon to upgrade to the ZX dizzy for spark tuning. I'll definitely post up my tuning once I get the wideband in, since I know we are lacking N/A basemaps I think a tuned stock setup would be a good contribution. Anybody want to trade a MN47 for a N42??

I have both complete motors, the N42 and the later one with the N47 head. So I have an N42 and an N47 head and two identical bottom ends. From what I have read I'm just going to sell the N42 head and build the block to mate with my N47 head later. What you said about using the N/A ZX pistons is exactly the kind of setup I had in mind when I started this thread and I think I will go for that.

Yes it does. I thaught I had read that the earlier motor had different pistons to match the different head but guess not. By block I really meant pistons (I have both whole motors, and was hoping maybe I could just swap the bottom over). So, to rephrase my question, will the N47 head combined with the earlier pistons (otherwise stock) yield a higher CR than a stock 78 motor. But you tell me they are the same pistons, if I understood. Thanks!

Just curious about using the early L28 block (N42) with a N47 head, if it would raise or lower my compression. I have both at my disposal..

thanks

Is this what I am looking for? http://homepage.mac.com/gavinwilliams/resistors.jpg Sorry for the huge image..

I reassembled everything like Trouble said and installed a mechanical gauge. The gauge doesnt show any pressure and I cant even see any oil in the tubing - not consistant with what the OE gauge was telling me last. Could I have installed it wrong or missed a step? I guess I am going to go put the old one back in for now and see what it tells me. I really dont like turning my car on and off with no oil like this.. The tapping seems to have disappeared also. If you guys could name some other things that could possibly cause this that would be great. What voltage should the oil pressure sensor be putting out? Thanks, Gavin

Its more like the area of the shaft. You can hear tapping from the dizzy to the pump and you can feel the tapping through the pump if you wrap your hand arround it. I will try that, thanks.

OK I have the shaft out again. Thanks for the help so far. So, like I said the dizzy is turning, so mustn't the oil pump be being driven also? It seems so simple.. Could a loss of oil pressure like I described be cause by something in another area? Still doesnt explain the noises I was hearing though. Thanks again, & please help me :|

But would it be possible for me to have installed it wrong if I managed to get it running / the dizzy works? Pulling everything apart again now..

The other day I saw that my gauge was not reading any oil pressure and stopped the car immediately. Once it was towed home I determined that it was not the sending unit or the gauge so I ordered a new pump and installed it. Now the oil pressure jumps up and then goes all the way down erratically and a grinding noise is happening in the area of the oil pump. The shaft that goes between the oil pump and the dizzy fell out when I took the pump off, and I dont think that that was supposed to happen and could maybe be related. It is definitely not the contacts on the sending unit or anything electrical. I'm thinking about replacing that shaft with one out of a 78 parts car - should that be the same part? Thats all I could think of trying. Anybody have any ideas?

I have the parts for two complete 78 280's, but no straight chasis. I'm planning to make a stripped out racecar with all of these parts. I need to know how much of it can be transplanted into a 240 or 260z chasis, and if there would be any advantage to using the older cars or if I should stick with the 280 chasis. Thanks, Gavin

Thanks for the info forrest. I will look into that fuel rail.

The FPR I used is a stock unit from a 78 280z. I don't know about the pressure its at right now because I dont have a gauge. So, I guess what I should be asking is - will the L28E (as in N/A) FPR increase fuel pressure with boost 1:1 like the 280zx unit would?

My 280zx had the problem of my FPR not returning enough fuel, or maybe any at all, causing a rediculous ammount of pressure and eventually fuel leakage under my hood (thats what tipped me off, thaught the pump was the problem since it was making a lot of noise, of course). I grabbed an FPR from a 280z that I had lying arround and it seems to work fine, but is it keeping the fuel at a different pressure? Also, where might I want to check for damage from all that fuel pressure?

HA thats great! There are a bunch of HKS parts on the car, including a hell of an exhaust, and I guess this isnt really a suprise. I should look arround more! Tightened it down and the leaking stopped. Thanks guys! So what exactly does a pop-off valve do? Does it serve a similar purpose as a BOV? Didn't think you could have one after the TB I thaught that was the point..

Cool thanks guys I will do that.