madkaw

Didn't slow n rusty do a 3.5".

Well I am finally getting around to fabbing up the 3" exhaust for my daughter's 81 280zxt. Anyone that has done this project that wants to share some helpful hints -PLEASE chime in here:) I am planning on a 2&1/2" downpipe transitioning right into 3" the rest the way back. I have purchased 2 bungs so I can reinstall the O2 and later installal a wide band. I do not plan on running a cat. I purchased my mandrel stuff at http://www.mandrel-bends.com/catalog/. They seemed to have the best pricing and a sweet transition piece. I am using all 16 guage aluminized to a dynomax 3" inlet to twin 2.5's. I have started the project-starting from the rear. I think the "over the hump" part around the diff will be the most difficult. Infact, my first ? is the clearance in that area. I tried to take level pics to show how the pipe hangs around the diff area. The bend is maybe one inch below the lowest point-being the sway bar---do you think I have this up tight enough? I am worried about getting to close around the CV. I am planning on using 2 exhaust band clamps(butt type) to make the exhaust removable as needed. One band clamp will be near the front,probably right after the down pipe and the other will be wherever I have another set of factory pipe ends that I know will butt up squarely-probably around the diff somewhere. It looks like I will be able to use all of the original hangar hardware-atleast the rubber hangar parts are still good and I can modifly off of that. Any comments on the band clamps? I know the V style are better, but these are 8$ a piece. I used them on my duals for my 240 and they tightened up nicely, but I have no actual run time on them. I need to find some exhaust tips for the muffler. I was hoping to find some cheapo chrome tips for now instead of the high dollar SS. I know I am sounding like a tight ass here, but I have spent 2k in the last 3 months on this car and my daughter is attending IU right now and you know who is footing the bill. She absolutley loves this car though and I need to get it back to her soon.

Where the X pipe ended up was just a matter of where it would fit. The L6 set up is NOT condusive to this arrangement. It would have helped it I could have afforded the equal lenght headers from Stahl, but the MSA header,(cheap=affordable) are unequal so I tried to adjust for that after the collector. There is very little room to be Xing around under there. Atleast my car is painted and I can start installing all this hard work. Ironically, I need to finish my daughters 3" exhaust on her 81zxt before I can mess with my car. Way too many Z's in the garage right now:icon6: I like doing exhaust work-except the laying on your back stuff, it is fun fabrication for me. My daughters car will be a challenge too.

It is kind of funny to call this windshield repair since I broke the windshield taking it out:icon56: I was doing well until the tool I was using hit a snag and I leaned a little too much and next thing I know-crack! I had already researched prices for new ones and found someone to install a new one for 165$, so I could live with the loss. Let me backtrack for a second and say that I did follow my previous plan and sandblasted the area around the windshield before trying to remove it. It actually worked out well to keep the sand out of the inside of the car-even though sand still got in, so maybe that's how the water got in. I really only found one hole where it rusted thru, and that wouldn't have let water inside the car. I think the fact that the rust was so bad that the seal was no longer effective and that seemed to be proven by how easy it was to cut around the glass. The pitting was substantial and must have led to the leaks. I decided on por-15 patch for the repair. It would stop the rust, plus the putty like substance would fill the voids and small holes left by the pitting. I took care to only apply it in the molding area and not on any exterior surfaces that need paint. The exterior stuff I sprayed on por-15 paint to be later top coated with tie coat primer -then finish color. I haven't finished yet, so here are some pics of what I did do.

The rotas were not part of the group buy since they are 8.5" +4 offset. I believe they were 700 shipped. As far as cost. I probbaly have 1500$ in materials-that's all materials.

The car has 1" lowering springs-of course it doesn't look like it now. Thanks for the comments guys.

Hey guys, I shared this at CZCC, but I also frequent this site so I thought I would share here also. It has been a long road, but I have finally painted my car. Actually my friend painted the car with my help when i could. The color is true red by Mazda. It is a base/clear coat. It will need some serious color sand and polish, but I am very happy. I can finally start putting my car back together-instead of taking it apart:-D I think the color will work out well since I am blacking out all the trim. This color really blings in the sun.

That's funny Chris-that's the LAST thing I want to do at 60mph

Actually most locomotives are turbocharged, but I don't get to play with the wastegate.

Actually I'm an engineer, but I used to be an conductor. Conductor's job is a little boring on a freight train-until it breaks in half-then the conductor has to get busy. At least I have some thing in my hands to play with all night(the controls), so it helps keep me awake. It's torture when you have a heavy train an no power-then it's a long night. Now you get a 8000ft train and 14,000tons and about 16,000 horses and then things get fun-for me anyway. There is nothing like a challenge to keep you in the game. Sometimes I think about the discussions here about torque and I just smile while I look at the "effective effort" guage on the engine pushing 50k-100k lbs of torque:shock: and that's just one engine. I will try and take some pictures next time I am on an engine that has a locomonitor that I can show the engine rpms, horsepower and torque and finally amps-it's kind of fun to watch the numbers Enjoy a brief ride http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y9/_mad_kaw_/

yes it's heavy which effects my 0-60 times:)

While you guys are sound asleep I will be driving across country in my 6000hp hotrod. It sounds glamorous doesn't it, but I rather be sleeping. Thankfully I get to do 60mph with this trip which makes things go faster and stops a little more fun. I posted a view that I will have at about 6am-yes i am facing east in this picture-I should be just waking up but instead I will just fantasizing about a pillow and rest-hey it's a job and a good one I know. What guy wouldn't love handling 6000hp all night:mrgreen:

Your right, a lot of folks don't do the math and think the duals are overkill, but it is smaller then a single 3" pipe. The duals are a lot of work and I hope it is all I want it to be, because it slowed my project down a lot.

I wish I could tell you, but my car is not finished. The car is at the paint booth now, then it will probably be months before I hear my fantasy exhaust. I just thought I might be the first to make a dual exhaust with a crossover pipe for the L6. I have never seen one before and the X pipes seem to do well for scavenging, so what the hell. I wam ending the exhaust with some cheapy glasspacks(12") on either end. This little fantasy has cost me a lot of time and money when you consider that you have to change around your fuel cell arrangement to have symetrical duals out the back. With no basis to go on, I am taking a guess on how this work and sound. 2" pipe also makes for a bit of a challenge because there are more options for 2.5" I had to fab my own X pipe since I couldn't find a 2" prefabbed. I figured dual 2" wouldn't be much bigger then a 3" single, so it's not overkill.

I think 2.5" would be a bit big for stockish motor, but I'm no expert. I went with 2"

msa has then too. Ask for them.

My guess is that the oil is as original as the car. Time to order some synthetic I guess and rearrange my fuel lines a little further away from the diff. Also a good excuse to buy one of those laser temp guns. If it was my car, the 5speed would be in there, but it's my daughters car so it doesn't bother her, except when the Walbro is screaming and she asks me "is that normal":eek:,

By the way, I forgot to mention that the car is an automatic. I haven't had the car very long and have only taken a few 50+ milers with it. It is my daughters car and she does a little city driving with it mostly. It has been fine around town, never noticed anything unusual and the fuel pump was fine, but a couple of longer highway runs here lately and we noticed this issue. It concerned me that the gas mileage was no better on the highway, but the rpms seem a little high at cruise, like the automatic needs another gear. I guess I will need to do some searching, but wasn't all the turbos 3.54's, but the auto was an r180. I guess once again I have an issue that no one else had experienced-based on the lack of responses.

This might be showing my ignorance, but how hot do stock diffs get. The reason I ask is because I noticed when cruisin some highway miles with my 81 280zxt and I can actually feel heat on the floor inside the center console. I figured it was my catalytic converter getting hot ,because it is probably the original and is probably getting plugged up(replacement exhaust is in the works). Anyhow, my daughter came back from a 50 mile highway cruise and she pulled into the driveway and you could here my new walbro really whining, which it never did before. I broke out the pressure guage to check pressure since I had a previous pressure problem, and the pump checked out, but still was whining. When I went to diconnect the power to the fuel pump I notice that the fuel tank was very warm-almost hot. I got under the car and started snooping around and I grabbed the diff and it is red hot to the touch. It is hot enough to warm up my fuel tank and I think bake the fuel line above my Walbro-the rubber line was feeling pretty mushy for a new line. Can this be normal??? I checked the gear oil level and it is where it should be. The car drives okay, but I think the gas mileage on the highway should be better. The gas mileage is 19-20 mpg in the city, but it isn't any better on the highway. Am I over reacting here, I guess I have never grabbed a diff to check the temperature after a cruise. The exhaust muffler, catalytic and pipe were all cooler then my diff. i realize it would hold the heat longer, but it still seems way to hot for just some highway cruisin.

I haven't done a whole lot to the car lately, but have made some progress. I have hit some stumbling blocks related to having an old car , like not finding oem parts. I found out the hard way that some parts for the rear brakes are not available anymore, so I will have to try and find used stuff somewhere. I was able to fabricate something that would work on the rear caliper brackets to replace the plastic shims that are supposed to be there, but I hope to find the proper parts soon. Anyway, I got rid of the clunk that the caliper makes when these pieces are not on there. The brakes work great on this car and I hope to have the parking brake working again as soon as I get some real time to work on the car. My family goes on vacation to Orlando shortly(I'm not going-tired of Mickey), so I will get 5 days of Datsun in on her car. I plan on redoing her windshield and fabricating a 3" exhaust for the car. I am putting my shopping list together for the pipe and muffler. Looks like I will have almost 400$ just in the exhaust. That would include making my own downpipe and 3" all the way back to the Magnaflow muffler. This will be a big job for me-hope it goes well. I think the catalytic converter is clogged on her car, so this needs to be done soon. The windshield will also be a stress maker. My plan is to remove all the SS moldings and tape off the windshield and then sandblast the windshield panel. With the car all closed up it will be easier to keep the sand out of where it doesn't need to be. This will be easier then trying to tape off that big opening with the windshield out. After that I will take the windshield out and assess the rest of the windshield flange area. I will use Por-15 patch to fill any pitholes and to rust proof the area. I will spray por-15 along the rusted areas outside the window channel area(the roof basically), After letting everything cure I will reinstall the windshield and toucch up paint-sounds easy doesn't it:eek: I will try and document everything with pics

I need the rear calipers off of a zx from 79-81. I need the complete assembly -bracket and all hardware, regardless of whether they are rebuilt or not. Please send pics to sfinnerty@indy.rr.com I have paypal.

I have a excellent pedal box, but I will need to check on the pedals. E-mail me for pics sfinnerty@indy.rr.com

I second that. The M/C probably needs bleeding.

WOW, I can' believe I am the only one that has had this issue. I called MSA and they said that this is a discontinued item by nissan. So I guess your just Fu&%ed if these pieces break. I guess I will have to improvise for now, but I don't like improvising when it comes to brakes.

I was able to get some pictures posted--please please look at the brake forum.