Art Nadel

Can see how a newer disc inside the distributor might be a benefit, but cannot see how that alone allows you to get rid of the flapper. The flapper AFM is evil and must be punished. Art

Does anyone know the ID of those fittings which are shown in Lowdown's orginal post? For that matter, what is the ID of the oil galley in the block? Seems to me we need to keep the ID of the fittings at least as big as galley ID, or risk reducing flow. Since the fittings are short, provided thier ID is not less than the galley ID should not be a problem. Would not want the hose ID to be as small as the galley ID because of the long run of hose. Art

John, Always appreciate your comments. Am installing a "junkyard" L28ET in my 280ZXT to replace my engine which failed rod bearing. What do you think about putting synthetic into a high milage engine with unkonwn history? Saw it run before it was removed. Oil press good, compression very good and even. Now have done about 500 laps at Big WSIR and was down to mid 1:41 before the failure. Art

Paul Thanks for the input. Good points. If and when I re install the Schnieder will be alert to those issues. But some locals have commented that they also found the Schnider set up noisey, so am wondering if there is too much ramp angle.

Related issue. Valve Clatter. My L28ET with 2 1/2 " straight thru exhaust, manual boost control set at 14 PSI steady state at full power, stock injectors, adjustable FPR, Jim Wolf ECU, and PWR liquid to air IC, gained 20 RWHP on dyno by installing Schnider Cam and kit including the proper lash spacers properly fitted. HP 260 and Torque 310 Ft Lbs. with Schnider. Also was running more freely in upper RPM range, to 7,000. But was constanly having to reset the valve lash because of noise. A real pain. Tried all sorts of different clearance settings and could quiet it down, but before long the clatter would start again. The old high milage engine finally gave up, and so when I intalled a fresh long block, ( P90 head) stayed with the stock turbo cam. Set aside the head with the Schnider to deal with later. I do not make as much power now, and no point reving beyond 6500, but at least do not have to constantly remove the cam cover and spend lots of time restting lash. Any one care to comment on this? Art

I also had an Automatic 81 280ZX and put a five speed in. Since I installed a Jim Wolfe ECU when it was still auto. They sell different part number ECUs for auto or manual. Contacted Wolfe to find out if it matters. They told me that the difference has to do with idle speed, and if I am happy with the way she idles, I am okay. It does and I am. I have a stock ECU as well as the Wolfe modified unit, which is not cheap. No difference whatsoever on the dyno. And frankly cannot feel any difference driving. Go figure. Art

Related question. Is it still every man for himself to fabricate 3 inch turbo down pipe for an S130 or does some vendor sell them? Art

Tony Thanks. I suspected the "Five O" web site 300 cc number for the stock turbo injectors was bogus, which you confirmed. Therefore the correct apples to apples comparison is 260 cc for stock vs. 370 cc for the RCs, both at 100% duty cycle. Of course no one would run any injector at 100%. But unless you compare different injector rates at the same duty cycled and pressure, the comparison is not valid. Art

On second thought, there was one more thing I did when I converted to CAS wheel dizzy. Look on the side of the dizzy, low. You will see an electical spade connector. Run a good ground to that. Not 100% sure about it but I heard that the CAS wheel has an up and down side. So if the ground wire does not fix your problem, try flipping it over. Finally, make sure your distributor cap and rotor are in good condition. If you take the rotor off, be careful about the screw which holds it in postion. Mine fell out on the track at Laguna Seca and the engine promply started to run very funky. No permanent damage, the shaft just spun but the rotor did not keep up with it. Now I locktite that screw any time I service the rotor. Will be interested to learn if you solve your problem. Good luck, Art

RC rates this injector at 370 cc static, at 43 PSI, which I interpret as wide open flow rate, or 100% duty cyle. The stock 280zx Turbo injectors are usually spoken of as 260 cc. But I think that rate of flow is at 80 % duty cycle. Five O rates those 260 cc units at 300 cc open. So it seems the RC 370 cc units only add about 70 cc per injector over the stock turbo injectors. Does anyone disagree with the above? Anyone care to guess the RWHP the RC 370 cc unit would support? Art this analyssi? analysii yDo oourrcvvat motor I havefosusually refer to as 260 cc unitar whcih distguesueswiARAny one

I also have an 81 280ZXT and it ran fine with the stock crank trigger sensor. Got a newer 82 or 83 dizzy with the CAS wheel inside the dizzy, and just put it in, pluged it in, and all runs great. The stock electrical connector on the newer dizzy plugs into the orginal harness just like the orginal crank trigger did. Just plugged it in and drove away. I did the change so I can later install the MegaSquirt which I am told needs the distributor wheel trigger, but for some reason will not work with the 81 crank trigger. Why that is true I do not know, but there you are. NEW QUESTION FOR THE BRIAN TRUST- About the EGR Before and after the distributor change, from time to time the idle would get funky (techincal term) and vacum would not be as high. Eventually she would clear up and idle good again, and vacum would come up. When the idle was funky, there was no ill effect on full power or cruise. Had to wait unitl the idle was misbehaving to trouble shoot. Found that unplugging the vacum hose to the EGR fixed the funky idle. Now here is my qustion. Aside from the fact that it makes more polution with the EGR disabled, are there any long term bad side affects from running this way? Like will the tube to the down pipe rust out? Have a wide band O2 sensor, and G-tech and with the EGR disconnected all is well and she make just as much power as ever. Art

I ran 50/50 mix on my L28ET with great results prior to installing inter cooler. After the IC install, left the injection system operatiing with same injection point, just upstream of TB which of course is downstream of the IC. Kept the injection for the same reason you stated; insurance. Ran into an unusal problem. Had a valve hang up. Took the head off and found several valves stems had rust and one was totally jamed. So disconnected the injection. Unscientific guess is that the much cooler air charge with the IC installed, failed to vapourize the water alc mix. They do not recommend injecting upstream of the the IC, not sure why. I guess I should have reduced the amount of injection in three ways: Reduce the injection pressure, install more restrictive nozzle, and raise the boost pressure trigger to a higher level. Was set to come on at 6 PSI and I boost to 15 PSI. But after that nasty problem, am just not using the injection any longer. I like the water injection concept. Would use it again, but not unless I had stainless valves, and again would reduce the amount of injection volume considerably.

Gents, Looking for a thread about which oil to run in the Turbo B-W T5 gearbox, and found this thread. Several guys who have used the box. Installed one from an 82 into my 81 ZX Turbo, and am very happy. But just learned it should have ATF in it. I did not know, and have been running Red LIne syn gear box lube. How much trouble am I in. Should I leave it alone, or just drain and replace with ATF? If I replace, do I need to do it several times to get all traces of the gear lube out? Thanks Art

Oh man, that would really reduce the clearance under the car. One good whack and you would have fuel all over the place. Art

So how and where do you install that nifty gadget. It is not clear to me. Art

Matt, Terrific!! Seems there is no better online support then DIY gives for MS. An excellent reason to select it, or rather to not select any other. Just wondering, the threads go back a few years, and call the MS II the road less travelled, and therefore suggests a person might want the earlier versions because of the vast amount data base from existing users. Has that changed now that MS II is more mature? And, it explains how to go with our without the HEI module. It does not seem hard or expensive to add that, but forgive my ignorance, what is the advantage of doing so? My stock L28ET system has given me plenty of trouble but never the ignition side of things. I get a good hot never failing spark to well above the RPM I need. So keeping that the same, but under MS control should make me grin. I like to grin. Need some incentive to add the complication. Thanks Art

Sidwell, That is a really a thing of beauty and should be a great source of pride, not to mention horsepower. Now lets fit an air box to the throttle bodies, use the normal turbo exhaust manifold and stuff, and blow it? Art.

The AFM is evil and it must be punished. So a stand alone is needed. I like the SDS because it may be simple enough for a computer idiot such as I. In addition to being dumb, am also lazy. So I like the MS because I can use stock CAS distributor which I have. Why remove and modify a perfectly good pully which is minding its own business? Have you nothing better to do with your time? Which of the other avialable systems would also let me use the stock distributor, or even the stock turbo crank trigger set up? Have that as well. Art

Kyorad, I am in Huntington Beach, and Time Trial my 280zx. Mostly at WSIR. Was thinking about the JTR radiator, but not until I sort some more pressing problems. So am not in a big hurry. Am getting by with the stock unit, and although I run a bit hotter than I would like, it works for now. If you want a test bed for early fit up, will volunteer. The oil cooler suggestion by Jon C is interesting. If I went that way, would consider running the engine oil first through the radiator, to take out some heat, and from there to the stock Turbo oil cooler to finish the job. Would like Jon's opinion of that. Art

Tony, Thanks for jumping in. Sorry I must not have made my situation clear. Considering the four barell carb to avoid any kind of electroic fuel control. That part is easy for NA engines. And with NA many kinds of distributors will work fine. But with Turbo, it gets more interesting. Am sure I can engineer the plumbing to pressurize the Holly. But am aware that turbos like to retard the timing when on full boost. So that is where I am worried about using simple distributors. Heck, if I was willing to do the Megasquirt, would not be thinking about the switching to a carb. I am really old school and have been plauged with issues related to EFI, on my 280Zx which I have road raced with good sucess for four years. Have been lusting for the good old days when we raced NASCAR with a single four barrel, made tons of HP, and only needed a screw driver to adjust the carb. I have straight through exhaust, no cat no nothing. Manual boost control set to 12 PSI steady state on dyno. Wide band. Liquid to Air PWR intercooler. Jim Wolf ECU. Adustable fuel pressure. And make 250 wheel HP with stock injectors. Only melted pistons once -LOL. Remember, this thing does not make quarter mile dash. On the track it runs flat out for 20 minutes at at time. Actually I have calculated that it is WOT about 50% of the time. Art

Gents, Sorry this is a bit like religion. People will argue both sides. But some seem to like the Arizona Z 4 bbl coversion. It seems that with just a bit of work it can be set up to "blow through" on a 280ZX turbo car. But if I do it, can I keep the stock ECU to run the ignition? Does the ignition programing need any of the old FI inputs like AFM or TPS? Appreciate your opinions. Art

1981 280ZX turbo. Mostly stock. Long block has only 1000 miles since overhaul by Nissan, three years ago. But most of those miles are on road racing tracks doing time trials, surprising many Vettes and Porches. Low miles because do not drive on street much and trailer to tracks. Engine is running strong and smooth making plenty of power, but suddenly starts to make whitish smoke upon start up and when throttle is blipped. Smoke is progressively getting worse. Static compression and leak down is very good. Have replaced valve stem seals, no improvment. It is not using water, but is suddenly using oil. But get this-the plugs look beautiful. When I drained and filtered the oil through fine paper, no lumps but the oil which had not been in long was amazinglly very very black. It is Royal Purple synthetic. Turbo is working fine, but will be installing my spare just in case the seal is shot. But I am not confident that will be it. What else can it be?

Gents, My first posting on this site. I see some of my friends from " westcoastZracers" are regulars. All I need is a tad more flow than the stock injectors, and want some that will bolt in without modifications. Have varioulsy been told that the stock units are 259 cc/min or 270 cc/min. Also have been told the 84 300 ZXT are 370 cc/min. Who can tell me with certainty if there are 370 cc/min injectors that will just plug and play. If not what will? As you should know, my car has the dropping resistors. Have measured the injector coils and find 2.7 ohms. Many thanks, Art