colerongo

I have a 76 280z with LS1/T56 well sorted. It is my daily driver/only car that my wife and I both depend on for everything. It isn't posted for sale, but I would sell it if someone was interested. Or if you have a Subaru or VW TDI or something else worth having, I'd be into trading. Let me know

I have a 2002 Jetta TDI that I'm in the process of putting a bigger turbo (GTB2260VK), injectors and a tune on. Stock I get 44mpg in town and on the highway and have some power but nothing too impressive. After the $1500 I'm putting into it I will have 200hp and 350lb-ft and either maintain my 44mpg or improve it. Upgrading these engines makes them get better economy most of the time. Even just a simple $300 tune with everything else stock will give you 30hp and 3-4mpg increase in mileage. You should get a golf if you want hatchback and put some nice suspension on it. I actually lifted mine 1.5inch with Moog VR6 springs and Koni struts and it handles way better and is a great substitute for my Subaru Outback that I gave to my sister. These cars are incredibly easy/cheap to modify and get such amazing gas mileage. There are quite a few people who get over 50mpg. Good luck!

So after installing a new thermostat and bleeding it on a steep hill my temperature is constant at 180 degrees! Also, just because I'm overly anal about how my car runs I rented a block tester from Auto Zone to see if any combustion gases were getting into my cooling system and it all checks out fine. Running at the proper temperature again, the KA sounds better than ever. My wife drove the car to work in Napa today so I got to hear it driving next to me and wow it sounds sweet. I can't wait to hear it with a turbo! Thanks guys for the recommendations on getting my cooling issues taken care of.

I took out the thermostat and it doesn't get up to temp even with the fan unplugged. So I'm going to buy a new thermostat from Nissan. Alonso, I haven't tried running a radiator breather tank. How does this work exactly? Do you mean an overflow/expansion tank?

I currently have the heater bypassed so bleeding should be even easier. Yes it started acting this way since the new radiator. The radiator isn't for a 240sx or a 280z. It's a double pass chevy style radiator built for circle track cars. I'm wondering if the headgasket is leaking enough to let some exhaust gases into the cooling system and fill it with air bubbles. I just ordered some arp head studs and a new fel-pro gasket set. I wanted to do this anyways so I know I can trust it when I put a turbo on it.

So I just installed a Four Seasons Racing double pass aluminum radiator into my ka24de 280z. Since the install I have not been able to get my cooling system to function properly. Beforehand I would run at a constant 180 degrees with the oem nissan thermostat. Now I am running between 180 and 200 degrees measured with an autometer gauge with sender located in the water outlet where the stock bleed screw was. I do not like having an unstable temperature, I just want it to sit steady at one temperature. I have tried every method I've been able to find from the 240sx crowd to bleed the air out of the system so I don't think that is my issue. Still my lower radiator hose is cold. I went for a long drive this morning (Air temp was around 45 degrees) and my lower radiator hose was COLD. I don't mean cool, I mean cold. Even when my engine temps started to reach 200 degrees at the upper hose. So my thermostat obviously isn't opening. I am wondering if maybe my new radiator is too efficient and since the thermostat is on the lower hose it is not able to open with that cold cold water on the front side of it. So i'm trying to figure out what to do here. Should I drill out the air bleed hole a little on my thermostat to allow more water to pass through when the thermostat is closed? Should I try running it without the thermostat? Should I install an inline thermostat housing on the upper radiator hose and put the thermostat at the hot side of the engine? I haven't heard of anyone doing this, but seems pretty logical to me. I don't understand why anyone would want their thermostat on the lower radiator hose anyways. Let me know what you guys think here. I'm sick of trying to bleed this thing and still have it running hot. I don't like staring at my temp gauge all the time. Thanks

I have two Tokico 5-way adjustable Illuminas. Make me an offer!

Just get a custom driveshaft made with Spicer 1310 yokes. That's what I did and it didn't cost much. The only problem is that the thing is so beefy i had a little bit of a clearance issue with my rear sway bar.

Well I don't know if it can cause any long term problems but I used it on my 4 cylinder turbo engine in my Mitsubishi Eclipse. It made it idle and rev smoother. Maybe other people have different experiences but it worked great for me.

I think it depends on whether or not you are running ZG flares. I think the Rota RB-R looks great with ZG flares but I think a more modern style wheel looks better without them. Check out Dailydrifter's car with the XXR 527 wheels. That looks nice.

I think the problem with the 280z parts is that the 240z struts would not fit anymore. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not think this would work with his Tokico 5-way adjustable 240z struts. Nobody has a 240z hub?

Judging by some of the responses people are putting in this thread, I'd say that the new pay to play policy isn't working very well at keeping scammers out of the classifieds or out of hybridz. I took a break from Z cars for a few years (giving the DSM and Subaru worlds a try) up until this last fall when I bought another Z, and I have noticed that the Z car classifieds section and the entire site has generally become somewhat of a "ghost town" compared to how it was before. With my last Z I never had any problems finding parts that I needed. Now the best source for trading, selling, buying is as good as gone. From my experience, it seems to me that the restrictions on the classifieds section is only hurting this forum. Or maybe it is just the economy...

You might want to start by cleaning all connections with electrical parts cleaner and applying dielectric grease to them. Also cleaning the AFM with MAF cleaner would be a good idea. Go through your grounds and make sure they are all clean and have dielectric grease on them. This is the best place to start, from my experience. Make sure all connections are snug and there are no cracked/broken wires while you do this.

zguy240, thanks for the response. I am actually looking for this for my brother's 280z which has all 240z suspension on it including control arms, hub assemblies, etc. So i have emailed him to see if the parts you have will work. I am not completely familiar with what he has done to the suspension. The 240z that his suspension came off of was in an accident so that's where the bent parts came from. The other side was bent as well but has been replaced already with another 240z assembly. I'll get back to you asap on those parts. Thanks

The rear passenger hub assembly on my 240z is bent on the passenger side making my tow way off. If anyone has one in decent shape they will sell me please let me know. Thank you.

If cost isn't a big factor and your number 1 priority is power and awesomeness, then go with the rb26. If you want good power for a decent price, great aftermarket support and want to eliminate some weight, go with the sr20det. If you want the same benefits of the sr20det, want to spend even less money, and have more torque then go with a ka24de-t. For a lower price than either the sr or the rb, you can buy a running ka, a holset turbo with t3 manifold, walbro fuel pump, larger injectors, wideband o2, megasquirt or the new nismotronic that is about to come out any day now, and the few other supporting mods needed. If you are looking for under 450hp then you dont even need to worry about the internals as the stock ka internals can handle over 400hp with a good tune. So it all comes down to your preference and how much DIY you are planning on doing. The LS1 is another option you should look into. This v8 pulls like crazy, basically sits completely behind the front crossmember, and isn't even expensive anymore. It's all about personal preference...which engine do you like the sound of best?

Mckinney Motorsports just came out with a set of Megan coilovers with 240z or 280z adapter tubes with custom spring rates and everything designed for the Z instead of the 240sx. So that is probably the best bet now since it is only $1150. I think I will be buying this kit. It looks extremely good and isn't mismatched parts.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it. "A series of political, economic, and military missteps led the Kuomintang to defeat and retreat to Taiwan in 1949, establishing an authoritarian one party state that considered itself to be the sole legitimate ruler of all of China. However, since political liberalization began in the late 1970s, the Republic of China has transformed itself into a multiparty, representative democracy on Taiwan." The people I have met here over the past few weeks did not call themselves Chinese or associate themselves with China, although what you said is also true and I am sure some of the people do call themselves Chinese. In fact some people consider Taiwan the "real China". But that is not what my point was, I was saying that products designed and manufactured on the island of Taiwan are generally of good quality and the people here strive for excellence. I do not doubt that within my lifetime Taiwan will have a similar reputation to the one Japan has now. I do not know if these statements hold true for mainland China as I have not been there or known any people who live there. The idea here is to be able to have a coilover that welds directly onto the hub like some people have done with s13 coilovers onto 240z hubs without the need for custom lower perches. So this would eliminate a few hundred dollars. And since I could have a set of four of these coilovers for $600 US, that would be the only real cost. I just have to find out if there is a coilover that has the right ID to fit onto the 280z hub, which means I have to know the OD of the 280z hub. I have seen coilovers advertised for vw's and some other cars that are "55mm coilovers". For example the vw golf coilovers are all 55mm strut tube. Does anybody know if these might work? Why or why not?

Well actually I have done quite a bit of reading on this site as well as 240sxforums.com, nasioc.com, some supra forums, and some other random forums and nobody that actually uses "cheap Chinese knockoff coilovers" has much bad to say about them. Most of the companies do come standard with different spring rates in the front and back and alot of them even have custom options or a track option with stiffer spring rates. The 240sx street setup usually has a pretty good spring rate for the Z because it is a little lighter. The benefit of these over any other type of suspension system is not only the adjustable ride height but also the ability to change ride height and pre-load separate from one another. And as far as performance goes, some of the fastest street cars in the world ride on coilovers like these. This setup comes out almost exactly like the AZ Z Car coilover setup, but I'm looking for a cheap, quality option that requires a little bit of thinking outside the box. These coilovers are not made in China, they are made in Taiwan. If one were to travel to Taiwan, they would know that these people do not manufacture junk. People used to make those same comments about Japanese junk, but look at their reputation now for engineering and manufacturing. From my research on other forums as well as from my observations of Taiwanese people, I do not believe that one should assume that a product is not worthy because it is made in Taiwan. Honestly, if somebody were to blindfold me and tell me to chose coilover A which is built in Taiwan or coilover B made in USA, without getting to inspect the two beforehand I would probably go with coilover A. Now, can somebody confirm the exact diameter of the 280z strut tube? I will most likely be purchasing the z car customs sleeves which are an awesome product for an awesome price, but it would be really convinient if there was another coilover out there that could press directly onto the hub of a 280z and be welded on. I know that certain coilovers can press directly onto the 240z hub, and I am under the impression that it is 2.0 in. diameter (which is what these coilovers are). So if my searching gave me correct information that the 280z strut tube is 2.17 in. (55.1mm) then, this is what I will have to find. Now to compare these coilovers to GC or any other setup, why build a suspension system to your driving style if you can have a suspension system that you can be tuned to your driving style, depending on what your driving style is that hour, day, or week? There have been so many posts of people flaming Taiwanese made coilovers but there is usually no experience with them to back it up. If you have had a bad experience with these particular coilovers or any other Taiwanese made coilover please share.

So, I am in Taiwan right now for work and have been contacting a few suspension manufacturing companies about options of picking up a set of coilovers for my car. I asked one company if they could make one with a lower perch that could fit over my 280z hub. They said they have this one with a 51.1mm inside diameter. What is the exact size diameter of the 280z hub? has anyone measured? I would do it myself but my car is in California. If this ends up working out I may be able to put a group buy together or work out some sort of discount. Thank you in advance. Here is the picture the company representative sent me and his email. Hi there, we can arrange front S13 shock with special lower mount as shown. the Inner diameter of the lower mount is 51.1mm, so u can make a hub to fix the lower mount in your Datsun. Edit: I just found a thread saying that the 280z strut tubes are 2.17in which is 55.1mm. So for a coilover to fit onto a 280z without buying custom lower perches it would have to be a 55.1mm ID lower perch.

I'm curious about how the Godspeeds worked out too. I am trying to determine the best route to go with my 280z.

These wheels came on my Z when I bought it last fall and I can't figure out what they are. They are in great shape, just wondering what they are. Thanks

280zx 2x2, you should look into swapping a 1.9tdi vw diesel motor in. I don't think it would require that much more work and would give you well over 60mpg in a datsun. There are companies that make kits to mount the motor to toyota supra 5-speed transmissions for the people that swap them into their suzuki samurais. In fact, I have the cad drawings for the plate, so you could machine it yourself or pay a machine shop. Also, there is a guy named josh i think that swapped a tdi into a volvo wagon. These motors are amazingly efficient, reliable, and make plenty of torque for daily driving. With a chip and injectors you can make 30-40% more power and fuel mileage from stock. I was going to do this swap but didn't have the money. The TDI cost about $2000 as opposed to the $600 I payed for ka24de and tranny. It would save that much money back in fuel in the long run though if you can do it. Plus, I am about to buy my parents old Jetta TDI so I don't have to have the motor in my Datsun now.

As an update, I got my registration and AZ licence plate finally. Arizona no longer requires level 1 visual inspection of the vehicle for out of state title transfers. So I was able to get my AZ plate without driving/trailering the car to AZ. Next I am working on getting my driveshaft made. I have a custom brand new driveshaft that came with the shell when i bought the 280z. The last owner had plans for SBC with TH350 or something like that so the driveshaft is setup for that using 1310 u-joints. It is not easy finding a 1310 yoke that will match the nissan 240sx transmission but I believe I have finally found the right one. It is Spicer part 2-3-12341, recently changed from part number 2-3-13461X. The driveshaft shop in Stockton will be shortening my driveshaft as well as installing the new Spicer transmission yoke. The yoke cost $60 and the shortening is going to cost $75. This should be the last thing needed to have my car on the road. The custom 3" mandrel exhaust is pretty loud, it will sound alot better with a turbo.

Lots of updates actually. I will be taking some pics soon and posting more in depth. I wasn't planning on writing a build post but I guess I should share some of my experiences from the swap since there isn't that much about this swap on Hybridz. To start, when I got the car, the previous owner had started preparing it for a sbc swap. This was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to do with the car. I wanted a smaller, more efficient engine that I could make decent power with and drive daily without filling up at every other gas station. The only problem that the previous owners intentions caused me was dealing with the hacked off transmission tunnel mount brackets. The swap was fairly simple as far as fitment and wiring went. I used Vildini's crossmember simply because I didn't have a garage to do that major work in at the time. I live in a marina on a boat with strict "no working on cars" policy. This didn't stop me though, I was swapping transmissions in and out and changing wheel cylinders in the dark after the marina staff was out for the evening. Before I decided for sure what engine to swap (I looked at everything possible from 4g63t, 1.9tdi, 7mgte, sr20det, fj20, and just about every other motor possible). My first choice was the 1.9tdi since there is a company that sells adapter plates for fitting this motor to a toyota supra tranny. The problem was finding one at a decent price. My parents have always been die-hard vw diesel drivers so i know all the wonders of this engine. My mom's 1998 jetta tdi has 280,000 miles without skipping a beat and the car is starting to fall apart around the drivetrain. this motor was set in my mind to go into my new Z. When my parents told me they wanted to keep it a little longer I bailed on the idea for the meantime and jumped on a 1996 s14 ka24de with tranny and all wiring components in San Jose for $600. After picking it up and bringing it home I was a little skeptical about it because the fresh rtv sealing the bellhousing to the tranny made me wonder why the tranny had been taken apart. Also, after taking the valve cover off I noticed that the upper timing chain guide was a bit worn down and had a piece broken off. After taking the timing covers and oil pan off and inspecting every inch of every rotating part I decided no damage had been done and proceeded to reinstall and seal everything. This time I left the upper and side timing guide off because I read more about them snapping off randomly and causing more problems than they are worth. (More info about this on ka-t.org nicoclub and 240sxforums.com) Once the motor was reassembled I welded in my Vildini crossmember and dropped the motor in. I used a piece of random scrap metal out of my school's metal recycle bin to make L shaped mount brackets that bolt through my tunnel into the sides of my tunnel (very similar design to the 280zx jagsthatrun transmission mount kit) ( http://www.jagsthatrun.com/Pages/Parts_DATZX_MountingInstructions.html ) With these brackets in place I used a polyurethane energy suspension transmission mount insulator part # 31108G that just happened to bolt perfectly onto the ka24de transmission. For a clutch setup I used what is known in the 240sx world as a "white bunny" clutch setup. This consists of a larger 240mm clutch disk and pressure plate from a 280zx turbo or 300zx in conjunction with a flywheel from a d21 pickup or 280zx turbo. To get all the info on this search white bunny ka24de or something like that in google and there are hundreds of posts about it. It is said to be able to handle 500 hp on a ka24de. The stock ka24de in the 240sx comes with a 225mm clutch so this larger diameter greatly improves holding power without adding any clutch stiffness. Only downside is that it's a bit heavier than stock. The solution to this is to use a fidanza aluminum flywheel for the 280zx turbo or rb25 lightweight flywheel. Since I didn't want to run air conditioning and couldn't run power steering I had to eliminate those. There are a bunch of writeups on this but the best way I found was to use the upper and lower alternator mount brackets from an sohc ka24e which moves the alternator slightly to line it up with the crank and water pump. This puts the belt in a place that it hits the thermostat housing so you need the housing from an sohc as well. With this mod I now have only one accesory belt. Any more questions on this feel free to ask. Now that the engine was in place i went for the wiring. I used alot of info from ratsun forum, nicoclub, and the510realm. Icehouse (a member on the 510 forums) has a great writeup on how to wire in a "ka/sr/ca/vg into anything" .I made a wiring diagram/every piece of wiring information I needed to get my ka24de to run perfectly in my Z. I do not want to post this unless people are really interested because I do not know if it is formatted well enough to be used for everybody. Let me know if you want this and I will send it to you. If enough do maybe I will post it. One thing I did different in my swap was that I converted my s14 1996 obdII efi to a s13 1994 obdI efi because megasquirt makes a plug-n-play computer for the s13. This means Later on I can either use Nistune to tune my stock computer or buy a megasquirt for it when I go turbo...soon. There is not yet a good way to tune a stock s14 computer so everybody with 240sx's usually convert their motors to obdI s13 electronics. This consists of ditching the stock distributor with built in coil, efi harness, and some sensors on the intake manifold and installing the parts from an s13. I just bought an entire intake manifold from an s13 for 25 bucks and swapped the upper half (half with all electronics) onto my lower s14 half. This way I have the more simple s13 electronics but also don't have the intake runner flappers found in s13 manifolds. I wanted my wiring to be legit so i went to my local pick and pull and browsed every car to find the best fuse/distribution box design. I ended up getting one from a 90's cadilac because it had room for about 8 relays and had an equal amount of standard spade fuses. I wired my car up this way so my relays and fuses could be kept tidy and stock looking in my engine compartment instead of seperate and bolted on somewhere random. The car started up first try and idled smoothly, but my alternator wasn't charging. I got it tested and it wasn't putting out anything so I made another trip to the pick n pull and picked up a 110 amp alternator from a 1997 nissan quest. This alternator is exactly the same except that is is slightly larger all around and has smaller lower mount bracket holes. You just have to drill them out to slightly over 3/8 inch and everything fits perfectly. With the stock alternator and the 1 belt sohc mod I had to use a 35" 3 rib belt but this alternator required a slightly larger (36.5" i think) belt. Next was to get my autometer tach to work. Remember to flip the switches in the back of the tach to 4 cylinder mode. There is a tach output wire from the ecu (pin #2 i think). This wire does not work for autometers. The tach input wire to the ecu however (pin #3 y/r wire) does work however. I just cut it from the ecu and wired it straight to the tach signal wire. My tach now works perfectly. For my autometer water temp gauge I tapped out the coolant bleeding screw to 1/8 npt located just above the factory temp sensors to accept the autometer sensor. If you use the factory nissan sensor your temp reading will be off and you'll think you are overheating. For the oil pressure I just threaded the autometer sensor into the stock location and it worked perfectly. As for the speedometer, I currently have a mechanical autometer sensor that I need to sell in order to get an electrical one so I don't know about that yet. Next thing is cooling. I couldn't use the stock mechanical fan because the shroud would have to extend about 3 miles from the block to the radiator support. I decided to use a Taurus 2-speed fan that is famous on hybridz. this is the same one I used on my last l28et 240z as well as for my brothers LS1 240z. This thing flows some serious air!! I wired in another fused relay in my fuse box so that it would come on as soon as the key is turned to on. I will probably eventually get a 185 degree switched sensor that activates the fan only when needed but until then it will run at low speed when the key is on. I do not expect to need the high speed since the shroud fits perfectly on my JTR radiator and low speed flows more air than the stock mechanical fan could have ever dreamed to flow. It is there though for later if i need it or just want it. Last weekend I picked up a 3" mandrel bent ford bronco tailpipe from autozone for $40. This is made by maremont and is part # M30001. If you give the guys at autozone this part number they probably wont be able to find it though. The autozone part number is SKU#577061. I bought a flange from a local muffler shop and welded up my entire exhaust with this piece. I used this tailpipe (consists of about 2 90 degree bends and 2 45 degree bends as well as a few feet of straight pipe) as well as 1 18" section and that was all I needed. So for $50 I have a custom 3" mandrel bent exhaust that sound really sweet. I used a knock-off magnaflow muffler that a kid gave me from my school after he didn't like the sound of his frontier and went with some name brand muffler that sounds the same. Last thing I did on my car was yesterday I got a throttle cable from a 90's maxima at the pick n pull. It bolts up perfectly to the throttle body and bracket but wasn't exactly right for the gas pedal and firewall. With some finagling I actually got it to mount without any modifications to the firewall on the engine side. The last thing was to get the cable to connect to the pedal. Since the pedal was designed for a linkage, I had to cut and weld a bracket onto the end of it to accept the cable. After this it worked perfectly. I will take some pics of everything as soon as i can and list them where they need to be to make sense of what I have written about. If anything isn't clear ask me and I will clarify what exactly I did. The only thing I need to do now is get my JTR sbc driveshaft shortened and get a nissan yoke for it since It was built to attach to an automatic chevy trans. This will be nice when it's done because it is brand new and has replaceable u-joints. Should be good!!! Thanks for reading and feel free to ask questions!