AtlantaZ

Thermostat housing SPLIT when I tried to thread in a coolant sensor - and I definitely wasn't over-tightening! Please let me know if you have a 3-bolt thermostat housing and you live near Buford, Georgia!

I should point out that I am using EFI rated fuel hose for my fuel system, as I do not want my lines exploding all over the engine. Do NOT use vacuum line, heater hose, or (as the previous owner did) transmission oil cooler line as a substitute for properly rated injection fuel hose! Also, someone pointed out the silicone reduced on my turbo compressor inlet. This is because the turbo has a HUGE 4" inlet, and I can only fit 3" piping up to the cold air intake! In general, you want as little restriction in front of your compressor inlet as possible...

After I showed my wife the pretty new engine, she saw the old alternator that I had bolted on (I was trying to save money, after all) and said "Eww, what is that old part?" So with that I decided to purchase a remanufactured 280ZX alternator with internal voltage regulator from Advance Auto. Should be here in a couple of days. And now I can blame the expense on her.

Long-promised pics: #1: Engine on the stand, awaiting exhaust manifold with turbo flange: #2: Still waiting... #3: Engine bay painted in flat black, waiting on shiny new motor: #4: Removed gas pedal for adapting to throttle cable (note throttle cable kit lying next to pedal assembly): #5: Decided to simply drill out existing ball joint pin on pedal arm: #6: 30 seconds later, pin was gone, and a nice clean hole remained! #7: Generic Spectre throttle cable kit fit right on: #8: After muffler shop #1 sat on the manifold for a week, I gave up and took it to the guy my 280z "Big Brother" recommended, who did the job in less than an hour: #9: He did a great job welding things up. Very happy with his work! After seeing the way my turbo and the flange fit against the manifold, I ended up ordering a wastegate elbow tube like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OBX-35MM-38MM-Flange-Wastegate-90-Elbow-Rrelocator-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3366839f4aQQitemZ220763234122QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories #10: Engine is on the hoist, ACT clutch & pressure plate bolted on (flywheel bolts are a beast to torque down without some sort of flywheel lock or other means of immobilizing the crankshaft!) #11: Making her way home. About four hours AFTER this shot, I finally got it properly set on the motor mounts. It takes a lot more persuading than one would think, especially with a larger-than-normal turbocharger bolted on the side. AND with the stock A/C hardlines still in place. AND finally realizing that the engine needs to be about 20-30 degrees counterclockwise from the straight-up position to line up with the mounts: #12: Almost there! Lower the tail side of the engine, gently thread the clutch onto the transmission input shaft. Leave the motor mounts and mounting brackets loose! Also, I ordered new motor mounts and discovered that I had to SLIGHTLY drill out the smaller hole on chassis motor-mounting bracket, as the locator pin on my new mount didn't quite line up with the existing hole. #13: Made it! Note the powdercoated throttle body and shiny JSK fuel rail. I also decided to be un-original and do the valve cover in wrinkle black with the lettering and border in bare aluminum: #14: Bought a $25 oil catch can from an eBay seller based in Hong Kong. Cheap but effective. Ran lines to both the crankcase breather hole (reused the old metal breather tube, which took quite a bit of tapping and wiggling to get loose) and the valve cover breather tube: #15: Inline fuel filter. Yes, I used rubber lines for my fuel setup. I'll keep an eye on things and will switch to stainless hoses when needed. But as this is a daily driver, I couldn't justify the cost, what with my project costs already WAY over budget: #16: Bought a CXRacing bar-and-plate same side intercooler. Also bought 1/8" thick bar stock from Home Depot, painted it gloss black, and cut/drilled brackets (the brackets that came with the intercooler were just too flimsy). Currently working on plumbing intercooler piping: #17: On the Garrett GT3076R turbo, the coolant outlet comes pretty close to the driver side fender well (see the rubber hose coming up from the bottom right portion of the turbo). If I were using braided stainless line here, I would definitely want to use a 90 degree fitting! #18: Car wiring is scary. Help! Seriously, here I am tracing down the old ignition coil, ECU, and transistor ignition unit (TIU) wires that are no longer in use. I am cutting them at the point where the engine wiring harness hits the first passenger-cabin plug, then leaving the rest of the harness wiring alone. No point disturbing the existing wiring except where necessary. #19: Megasquirt relay board is temporarily mounted on passenger fender, where old fusible link bracket used to go: Speaking of fusible links, I am upgrading to a 4-fuse AGU fuse block. I purchased mine from a car stereo store, and I believe the brand is "XScorpion." Got the fuse block with four 50-amp fuses for $28.00. The block is setup for a #4AWG input (or two #8 inputs) and four #8 outputs. As I recall, the feed to the fuse block will come from the battery via the starter, then goes out to various points. I am using this wiring diagram as my reference: http://sridout.com/datsun/76circuit_COLOR.pdf Almost forgot - I also had to order an oil filter mounting stud, since my F54 block didn't have a threaded stud like those versions that don't come with an oil cooler. I tried to take the stud off my old '76 block, but it wouldn't turn, and I didn't want to risk damaging the threads. Ordered one from an eBay seller. Once it arrives, the oil system will be sealed up and ready for oil! I bought Valvoline SAE 30 weight and a bottle of Lucas zinc additive to use as my first oil fill-up. When I add the oil to the engine, I will take off the valve cover and pour the oil all over the valve train, rather than just in the filler hole. I will take pics of the intercooler piping once it's done. After that, I will mount the radiator and cooling fan. Then the coolant system will be sealed up and ready for antifreeze. Then on to mounting my new Speedhut gauges in the dash center area. After that, I should be down to "just" wiring... groan...

Feel free to PM or post any specific questions. I've found myself solving a thousand little puzzles, and I'd be happy to share the knowledge with someone else. For instance, I found that the Advance Auto Parts 5/8" heater hose works great for the heater core in/out lines. Oh, and if you're installing a new fuel pump, you definitely want to drain your fuel tank first!! I thought I could get away with just clamping down on the existing tank-to-pump line with vise grips while I swapped out the pump, until I noticed that my dry-rotted tank-to-pump line had split and was dribbling gasoline all over the garage... On a positive note, NAPA Auto Parts carried the 7/16" fuel hose that I needed to replace the line!

Got all motivated to install the engine and forgot to take a pic of the rail before I put it on. But I will... eventually! I spent the afternoon prepping the engine for installation into the engine bay. Got the flywheel and clutch/pressure plate assembly bolted on, THEN saw the flywheel dust shield lying on the ground. Took everything off, reassembled, and spent the next four hours trying to maneuver the engine into position. I'm very, very close to success. Getting the clutch threaded onto the transmission input shaft was the toughest part - or second toughest, after maneuvering around my A/C compressor. If I manage to get the engine installed without breaking anything on my air conditioning, I'll be pretty proud of myself. Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator is mounted on passenger side firewall, near battery. Looks really nice! I cut the return hardline and ran it right up underneath the return side of the FPR. Used an Earl's 5/16-to-6AN adapter. I almost purchased a 3/8 adapter, as the 5/16 size was harder to find - but REALLY glad I didn't! The fuel line is one thing you want to seal nice and tight, and I'm sure there would have been a lot of slop with the 3/8 adapter on a 5/16 line! Looks like I'll be installing my fuel pump and hooking up various hoses/lines this weekend. Which means progress!!! Pics forthcoming.

My checklist is now 80 steps, so I'm saving everyone the trouble of having to skip past it when they're reading for updates. Basically, I got in the wastegate adapter (that goes between the exhaust manifold and turbo) and elbow tube to space the wastegate away from the turbo, put a coat of wrinkle paint on the intake manifold, and took care of a handful of minor tasks that needed accomplishing. Once I get the spacer bracket and turbo on, I'll start plumbing the oil and water lines. Once that's done, there's really no reason I can't go ahead and drop the block into the engine bay. Pretty much everything else will be done from the top side of the engine. Oh, also ordered a fuel rail from Juan at JSK Machining - he does GREAT work! Will upload a pic as soon as it's available.

Update: 1. Engine bay cleaned and painted flat black 2. Purchased a new Supra o-ring seal set from Advance Auto (actually two sets, since they only put four rings in a set!) 3. Found out my existing fuel rail is NOT drilled for a 280Z manifold! 4. Begrudgingly purchased another rail from JSK 5. Had intake manifold washed, ready to finish grinding and repaint (wrinkle black) 6. Looking for hose connectors for intake manifold... 7. Rebuilt throttle body 8. Reused fuel pump blockoff plate from old engine to cover hole on new engine 9. Mounted alternator 10. Mounted 2-row pulley and timing wheel to new engine 11. Decided to go with a T3-to-T3 spacer w/wastegate flange, instead of welding flange directly to exhaust manifold (for space reasons) Next steps: 1. Trace engine bay wiring and run new leads for headlights/signal lights/horns 2. Source & install 280ZX injector seals on intake manifold side of injector 3. Finish griding intake manifold, repaint, install throttle body, mount intake 4. Purchase vacuum hose connectors for blowoff valve & fuel pressure regulator (2x connectors required) 5. Test fit turbo with spacer/elbow tubing/wastegate 6. Have wastegate spacer welded to exhaust manifold 7. Purchase T3 discharge flange, since MSA downpipe flange doesn't fit on GT30R turbo - to be welded on by muffler shop once car is running 8. Port match exhaust manifold w/spacer to turbine flange 9. Flush coolant passages in new engine 10. Mount intercooler 11. Fit breather filter to PCV crankcase hole 12. Turn over engine, remove oil pan, and coat crankshaft/piston rods in motor oil 13. Mount starter to new engine 14. Mount mechanical cooling fan to new engine 15. Mount 280z 2-row pulley and timing wheel to new engine 16. Install accessory belts 17. Install motor mounts 18. Install Megasquirt coolant temp and inlet air temp sensors 19. Install new flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate on new engine 20. Mount exhaust manifold, turbo, and wastegate 21. Plumb oil and water lines to turbo 22. Drop it in!

I bought a set of Fel-Pro Supra injector seals, and they fit fine. But it turns out that my rail doesn't line up with the intake manifold injector holes!!! Grr.... So now I need an AN-8 fuel rail bored for 11mm injectors for the 280zx, and I need one pretty quick! Anyone who can help, please let me know!

Working on steps 2-8 right now. Of particular interest: Many of us HybridZ'ers like to put the 60mm Nissan 240SX / KA24 throttle body on our engines. If you're like me, you're not content to slap on the throttle body without making sure it's clean and in good order. Here is a good link with instructions and pictures on breaking down the throttle body: http://zilvia.net/f/tech-talk/305836-how-throttle-body-rebuild-disassembly-assembly.html I discovered that this throttle body uses plastic pivot bushings (aka flanged sleeve bearings, aka spring keepers) to hold the springs in place. My plastic bushings were cracked and disintegrating, so I decided to upgrade to metal bushings. After a surprisingly difficult search, I have located suitable replacement flanged bearings. *EDIT: The bushings/bearings I ordered were a little too large, so I've deleted the previously posted dimensions. Here are the dimensions I recommend: Hole inner diameter: 13/16" Hole outer diameter: 7/8" Flange outer diameter: 1-3/16"

Step 1: (Remove engine & set aside) - Complete! Looks like I am going to need a LOT of degreaser... My transmission bellhousing looks like a swamp in a blender.

Nice looking car you got there! I wish I'd spoken to you yesterday... I JUST bought a used 2-ton hoist from a guy on eBay (who's local). At least I can resell the hoist once I'm done with it... But if you're offering to help, come on up! I'm hoping to spend a couple of hours on Thursday cleaning up the engine-less engine bay and prepping it for painting. You're welcome to stop by! You can eyeball my freshly rebuilt L28ET engine and offer critiques. Or you can help me find somebody to hot-tank/powerwash my intake manifold. Or weld on my wastegate flange. So many fun things to do!

Update: 1. Listed the old engine in Parts for Sale section. If I don't get any bites, I may consider parting it out. 2. Disconnected hoses & wires, nearly ready to pull old engine out. 3. Received Supra injectors and test-fitted them to my 11mm fuel rail. Injectors feel too loose - heading to Advance Auto today or tomorrow to see if they can help me find some slightly larger rings/grommets to make a better seal on the rail side of the injector. 4. Ordered CXRacing same-side intercooler and piping kit (about $200 shipped for everything) 5. Decided to reuse existing starter/alternator for now, as I'm out of parts money. 6. Received turbo, wastegate, and blowoff valve; dropped off turbocharger to be ceramic/powder coated 7. Ordered motor mounts off eBay 8. Ordered stainless downpipe from MSA 9. Ordered universal throttle cable for adapting to stock throttle linkage pivot at firewall Next steps: 1. Remove old engine & set aside 2. Begin cleaning engine bay - remove old brackets, sand off paint, prep for repainting 3. Begin tracing engine bay wiring for future rewiring - label everything, compare to FSM wiring diagram to ensure consistency 4. Source & install seals on Supra injectors to better seal inside fuel rail 5. Have wastegate flange welded to exhaust manifold 6. Have intake manifold hot-tanked 7. Determine number of required vacuum ports on intake manifold; purchase new hose connectors, cap unneeded ports 8. Rebuild throttle body; need to locate brass pivot bushings to replace cracking plastic bushings on TB pivot arm 9. Repaint engine bay (satin black or charcoal gray) 10. Cover mechanical fuel pump hole in cylinder head 11. Flush coolant passages in new engine 12. Turn over engine, remove oil pan, and coat crankshaft/piston rods in motor oil 13. Mount alternator and starter to new engine 14. Mount mechanical cooling fan to new engine 15. Mount 280z 2-row pulley and timing wheel to new engine 16. Install accessory belts 17. Install motor mounts 18. Install Megasquirt coolant temp and inlet air temp sensors 19. Install new flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate on new engine 20. Drop in engine...? I hope to be lowering the new engine onto the motor mounts by this weekend. Here's to hoping!

Anybody have exact specs for oedering these o-rings - such as inner/outer diameter?

Where are the mounting holes on your rail - if you remember? I seem to have one hole on each side of the rail, each one near the opposite end of the rail, perpendicular to the direction of the fuel injector.

I'll email him and see if he doesn't mind sharing a part number with us. I also need to fab up some brackets, as my rail doesn't appear to be one of Pallnet's...

This is a very old thread, but I hope we can get a better answer than electrical tape... I'm mounting Supra MKIII turbo 440cc injectors in an 11mm fuel rail, and I'm concerned that the injector seals on the rail side are a little loose. I feel like they should seat pretty snugly, but all my injectors are a tad loose. Does anyone have a suggested part number for a rail-side injector seal that seats tightly in an 11mm fuel rail?

Update: 1. VR sensor mounted, relay box connected, and confirmed solid VR sensor reading. 2. Megasquirt successfully ran my injectors, if only briefly, and rich enough to half-foul my spark plugs. 3. Ordered low impedance 440cc Supra injectors (part no. 23250-42010). 4. Purchased Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator (part no. 13101). 5. Purchased Walbro 255lph fuel pump (part no. GSL392). 6. Purchased Garrett GT3071R ball bearing turbo with TiAL wastegate and blowoff valve - sized the turbo based on the airflow maps posted elsewhere on Hybridz. Basically it's the ballbearing equivalent of the T3/TO4E 50-trim. Deal included oil and water lines - bonus! 7. Purchased 240mm lightened steel flywheel (should be more warp-resistant than its aluminum counterpart) and ACT street clutch (rated at 400ft-lbs). 8. Bored out stock L28ET intake manifold to fit the 60mm 240sx throttle body. Intake now contains about 1 metric ton of aluminum dust. Will hot tank manifold today to wash engine-destroying aluminum powder off the walls. 9. Mounted EDIS coil pack bracket and coil pack. Stare disdainfully at stock spark plug wires. Wish I could afford Magnecor shielded wires. Still to purchase: 1. Intercooler with piping 2. Gauges (Speedhut Revolution) 3. Starter 4. Alternator 5. Miscellaneous fuel lines and fittings, motor mounts, and plenty of doodads that I haven't even thought of yet. 6. Engine lift - or should I just rent? Hmm.... 7. Ceramic coating job for turbo exhaust side 8. Motor mounts 9. Stainless downpipe with O2 bung (MSA) I now own more performance parts at once than I have collectively ever owned, and I'm itching to install them! The plan is to build up the new engine as far as I can before the swap. So I'll mount the intake, fuel rail and injectors, turbo, and I may start test-fitting intercooler piping. I also need to rebuild my 240sx throttle body from where I had it broken down for powdercoating. I'd like to replace a couple of the cheap plastic pivot bushings with brass bushings, but I haven't found a good source for these yet. Will post as soon as I find something. Once the old engine comes out, I'll spend the first day cleaning up the engine bay and running new wires for the headlights, horn, and turn signals. My goal is to have the engine bay cleaned up and spray painted (rattle can satin black) by end of Day One, or by midday on Day Two at the latest.

Yeah, somebody needs to set up a virtual tip jar for the guy who created this!

This may already be on HybridZ elsewhere, but my search didn't find it. At any rate, one of our dear friends over at classiczcars.com has painstakingly re-created the FSM wiring diagram in FULL COLOR. If you're like me and modifying a 1976 280z, the following wiring diagram will be a lifesaver! Also, since this is a vector PDF, it can be rescaled without things getting fuzzy. Which is awesome! http://sridout.com/datsun/76circuit_COLOR.pdf

Just installed my projector headlights from trueprojectorheadlights.com ! They look great - big upgrade over stock!

Could've been... since I was trying to thread in the allen bolt from above the engine, with the radiator still in place, the angle was definitely much less than optimal. When I tried mounting it to my L28ET on the stand, it seemed to fit just fine. Yes, grinding the corner helped. Hate to ruin the finish, but I guess no one will see it. I may respray it with satin black just to be sure. Speaking of... do you have good source for good-condition 2-row crank dampers/ pulleys? My stock one is okay, but I wouldn't mind having a healthier replacement. But I'd rather not pay $200 for NOS on eBay...

I mounted it in the same orientation as Derek's setup - with the large bolt at the bottom, and the smaller slotted hole towards the top. At least it's on now!

Happy to show it off anytime! Right now my father and I are fabricating a junction box to hold the Megasquirt relay board and to help organize the wiring in the engine bay. I hope to centrally locate the other miscellaneous relays in the car (headlights, A/C, ignition, etc.) in/near this box that we're building, so that all the electrical systems are centrally located and easier to troubleshoot. This will also make it easier for me to tap switched/constant 12V sources, as opposed to having random splices all over the place. Finally, the central/"star" ground will help ensure clean grounding and should reduce voltage problems. The box itself will mount on the passenger side fender, directly adjacent to the battery. I sketched up a couple of diagrams using Powerpoint. Please note that I re-used the Idle Air Control (IAC) wires out of the DIYAutotune.com wiring bundle for the injector (+) wires (see the top side of the relay board in the picture), as I'm not planning on installing IAC at this time. Although not illustrated, I am leaving the IDM (ignition diagnostic module) in place on the wire coming out of pin #3 on the EDIS wiring harness. This is a small gray box with a 2-pin connector plug, and I believe the Megamanual recommends tapping this 2-pin inline plug for feeding a tach signal. I will be using Speedhut gauges, so I think this will be a good place to locate the RPM signal. Here's the box-in-progress: Although not obvious from the picture, there is a rectangular slot cut in the side of the box in which I can plug the 37-pin cable that runs from the Megasquirt ECU to the relay board. The Megasquirt ECU will probably end up in my glove box or on the passenger kick panel. Here's a picture I took of the 12-pin Ford EDIS-6 wiring harness: This plugs into the EDIS module, and this is where I got the wire colors in the wiring diagram below. Here's my wiring diagram: I have depicted the relay board, the EDIS ignition module, and three terminal blocks: 1. One for 12V constant (this goes directly to the battery) 2. One for 12V switched (this will go to the primary ignition relay, or possibly a secondary relay that I branch off of the primary ignition relay) 3. One for ground connection to either the battery (-) terminal, or the firewall. Need to research and see which is best. Also note that I used the wire colors from the DIYAutotune wiring bundle. I highly recommend this bundle, as the wires are appropriately sized and color coded! Here's a side shot of the box: Note that the power and ground wires will terminate directly on their destinations, but the other wires have built-in quick disconnect connectors. If I had an existing pigtal (connector + wires) for a device, like the coil pack, I chose to simply solder in some additional wire to give me enough slack, but not to build in yet another connector. The fewer connectors in a wire, the fewer opportunities for intermittent contact - and less chance of stuff not working!

Got it back on without having to pull the radiator! Which was nice, since I didn't want to deal with coolant spilling everywhere. The bad news - the VR sensor mount didn't quite line up with the timing cover holes. After trying unsuccessfully for 20 minutes to get it on, I took a drill and grinder to it, and finally managed to get it bolted on. THAT part would have been nice to do with the radiator off. But it's done! The best part is that I get to do this all over again on my new engine. Thankfully, that engine IS on a stand, so this will all be much, much easier the next time around!!