naviathan

Might be able to get something for it from a metal scrap yard. It's pretty heavy, so I'd imagine they'd give you some sort of pocket change for it.

The impact marks are just the surface of the damage. Inside the cast could be hundreds of stress cracks from each point. I wouldn't replace the block just yet, but I would get it sonic tested to ensure there isn't anything you can't see damaged. Others might disagree, but I wouldn't throw away a block without being sure.

Guess I'm lucky, my wife picks out Z cars around town and in movies. She gets pissed because so far she hasn't found one I haven't seen already.

Ok I understand the damage now. See I read the "How to Rebuild" and "How to Build Performance" L Series books before I started to knock casting plugs out. It warns in one or probably both of the books to be careful on the front plugs as they're very close to the cylinder walls. Funny, I actually read those books but haven't picked up a regular book in years.

Well, it's not so much a loss in power as it's an increase in lag. See with the turbo spool up you want the exhaust gasses moving as fast as possible when they hit the turbine so it spins faster. By widening the path the gasses move through you're increasing the flow rate, but decreasing the velocity. Think of two pipes, one 1" and the other 2". If you put 10lbs of pressurized water into the 1" pipe and it exits into the 2" pip the water flow will slow down and you'll lose some of the pressure. This is the same concept for the turbo. If you you "dump" all that pressure into a wider opening you'll lose pressure and speed. I hope that makes sense...

Now that you've explained what this door in a door is for...(wow, that rhymed) I think it's an awesome idea.

I guess if you're engine is built appropriately it should net gains instead of lag. I was just thinking an engine with a basically stock or slightly modded engine would lose out on a manifold port. Made sense in my head anyway...

johnc, what does that kit cost for all four corners?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought in a turbo application exhaust velocity was more important that flow between the head and turbo, but after the turbo it was flow that was important? So in essence you've really increased your turbo lag by increasing the size of the exhaust runners. Just my $.02

Use an N42 with flat tops and you can net the same compression ratios as the P90 with all those mods. I dont' understand why the big fuss over the P90 when BRAAP and others have stated time and again that any L28 head can be made to perform just as easily as the P90. Do a quick port job on an N42, drop in flat top pistons and you've got a 10:1 compression motor ready to run hard. It's that simple...sort of...

Economy in a Z can be had by changing the rear to something a bit taller like the 3.54 (which you might already have) and using the standard L28 5 speed from a ZX which has a wider ratio gear set and updating the EFI. MegaSquirt is not all that hard to do, and with the wealth of info on this forum anyone can do it. Definitely get rid of the stock EFI harness and go with the universal 12' from DIY Auto Tune to simplify the swap. If you go with this setup it should net you close to if not at 30mpg. Keep your foot out of the firewall and you might do better.

I think I know that guy...? HAHAHAHA I love it. This is what happens when you stick Marines in a single location for too long. They get bored and start creating their own havoc...

Yeah I know, but I only paid $450 for my Fairlady and I thought about just doing the part out myself and making more off it. To be honest though, I already have a project car and a parts car in my yard along with my 81ZX DD and my buddies two ZXs, then the kid on the way here really soon, I'm not going to have time to part out my Fairlady. I think it would be best to just let this guy have it and part it out himself and save some of my time for making the new one show ready.

Well, my daily drive is called "The 81" because....well it's an 81ZX. My project car is called "The 77" because, again, it's a 77Z. My Fairlady is called "The Fairlady" because, you guessed it, it's a Fairlady import. Sorry, no fancy or interesting names here. I suppose if I were to name any of them based on experience I'd have to call the 81, Ski because I hit a pool of standing water in it once and went Skiing across to the other side without a problem. Scared the hell out of me but really says something for the design of the ZX. The 77 I could call many things, but none of them would be proper on a family oriented forum. The Fairlady would be Rusty...Because it is very rusty....

If you're looking at stage packages then I think you need to start looking at a real machinist. You're looking through the MSA catalog at their packaged camshafts and not to be rude, but you have no idea what you're looking at. Do some research on camshaft lift, duration and lobe separation and you'll start understanding what makes each of those "stages" different. There are many many threads on this forum talking about different cams and what to look for. Most people would agree that the stage 2 you're looking at is a waste of money. If you insist on going with the MSA cams stage 4 is a starting point. But I would highly recommend you do some research, find another stock cam and send it off to a real machinist and have it reground to the performance specs you want. Don't forget to learn about setting the lash and how to find the right size pads for your cam/spring setup. Ditch the stock springs and get the Schneider Performance springs that MSA sells. Remember, if you're going to do it, do it right the first time. Especially when it comes to cams because if you screw this up, you can seriously damage your engine. Voice of experience here.

I'm going with BRAAP on this. The Z rear suspension didn't change a great deal from 70-78 and it's been the 240Z that's held long term records in Rally Races across the globe. The majority of the changes made to the rally cars were to the engine not the suspension. The Z family started life as a race car in my opinion and has devolved it's way to a sporty luxury coupe over the decades. Today's cars are over engineered in every way. That's why the vehicle weight keeps increasing. For performance and reliability sometimes it's better to use something simple that works instead of something over engineered and 3 times heavier than necessary. Personally I think Nissan did it right when they designed the suspension. When I can take sweeping 90* curves at 100mph+ on a back country road without so much as a tire squeal, there's nothing wrong with the suspension.

Those spots do look a little....off? I'd have that block tested before doing anything else with it.

This thread gets my vote for longest run on sentence of the week....Wow...

Oh I know what to look for when I see the car. I was more curious to see if the price seemed right considering this is only the second Fairlady I've seen in Eastern NC.

Yeah it's an expensive gasket, but it's also going to last you a very long time. Why not just shave the P90 down and use a normal gasket? It would probably be cheaper and net you better gains.

Well I think I'll be looking for either the Jetta TDI, Toyota Echo or a late model Civic. Those seem to be the best options for the time being. Thanks for all the comments and ideas guys.

Well, that's why I want to see it in person first, but I think even if it isn't exactly what it seems so far I might still go for it. It is a RHD and it runs and drives, so in any case it's rare to see here in the US. That alone makes it worth a little bit more to me.

I thought the felpro gasket was 1.2mm and the only way to get a 1mm was to buy a MLS gasket. The only 1mm MLS I've found recently though was the Kameri one that MSA sells for an arm+leg... Why are you looking for 1mm anyway?

I don't even have a dash cap and my glove box doesn't match my factory dash.

I think you can sand it down to a mirror finish again. Don't use regular sand paper though, go to a hobby shop and get a multi pack of micro grit. It'll probably be in the model section. That stuff goes down to a grain so fine it looks like polished plastic. Run through all the grains and I think you'll be pretty happy with what you get. To keep it from rusting again though you'll need some sort of clear coat or maybe a good wax would help.