mom'sZ

what should the fuel pressure be?

my first thought as well, I unplugged the hose from the fuel rail and pointed it into a soda bottle and when I cranked it very breifly fuel came out, quite a bit in fact, although it (the fuel pump) could still be bad. But anyhow, this was upstream of the filter so it's not totally clogged.

Hello everyone I have a 77 280z, fuel injected, pretty much totally stock. It won't start, cranks over forever, then when it does start, it sounds like it is running on three cylinders. Then... it will clear up and run fine for a minute, idle and rev, then almost stall again. The car is pretty much undriveable. About two weeks ago it stalled idling at a light a few times. I turned up the idle (it was idling at 600 rpm) and it was fine, stopped stalling. Then one day last week it started real hard and then acted like it was running on three cylinders, finally cleared up and ran fine. Then this morning, it wouldn't start, when it did it ran like on three cyls then stalled and would not start.

preith: Maybe I'm reading this wrong SCCA IT category rulebook section D.1.a.6 Fuel injected cars may alter or replace the engine management computer, or ECU, provided that all modifications are done within the original OEM ECU housing. Only the stock (unmodified) OEM ECU connection to the wiring harness may be used. I appologize if I'm wrong. Am I? oh and sorry... thanks for the advise on cage and seat. Do you have bolt in autopower cage in your car? (or did) and is your seat the brand mentioned?

Hi everyone This question is for anyone to chime in and any links would be appreciated. What is a good (SCCA legal) racing seat? Also, does anyone make a bolt in (SCCA showroom stock legal) roll cage for a 77 280Z. Does anyone have one? How does it fit? Also, does anyone make a replacment high performance ECU for the FI 280z that would comply with the SCCA IT rules? In other words... plugs into the stock wiring harness & fits in the stock location.

Yes thanks katman!!!

Just a question to Katman or anybody else with experience in SCCA ITS class, I've read the rules pretty carefully, it seems the unibody, structure wise, must remain stock, but a roll cage must be added. Also, a bar may be added between the front strut towers. Obviously the cage is going to add a certain amount of rigidity to the chassis. Is it legal to add subframe connectors? What about if they bolt in?

Katman: Thanks for reply. You then are an expert in current SCCA classes compared to me. In IT, the motor has to remain almost stock in most ways, but suspension modifications are more open, is that correct? Sounds like an awsome record then to by the way. and another question if I may. Why then semi retired?

Clarkspeed: West Palm Beach Mike: glad you made it OK I've also checked out south florida Z car club on the net sfzcc.com They have track days I think . But the club is more Dade,Broward & PB counties (Clarkspeed: you are around Tampa or Orlando?) Hopefully lots of chances to race once I figure out a class. So... for SCCA production class is out for 280. ITS class only if you use stock FI and mostly stock engine. GT2 or SPU and SPO are possibilities if you wanna go full boogie with a tube chassis. I know a turbo is legal in the SP class. And then NASA and VARA. I'm going to go check em out on the net.

so Mike... then you were OK? If you had one in another car, and had a bad accident and you're installing one in your current ride, then you're happy with how it protected you in a traffic wreck?

Katman: Thanks for the info. And having watched my beloved (at that time) GSXR750 kartwheel over the tire wall and into the canal as I slid along on my belly at a hundred mph in the rain, I know what you mean about racing. So do you SCCA race? Anybody else?

Mike: A cage sounds like a good idea and I had one in a streetable drag car (not a zcar) some years ago. But a week or two back a comment John made about roll cage padding being made to protect a helmeted occupant made a lot of sense. Like I said, I had one, and nothing bad ever happened, but in an accident it easily could. If you go that route, make sure your seat mounts are top notch, pad that thing big time and always wear your harness!

Thank you for replying John. Thank all of you who have helped. I am in the process of checking out all the leads. I have no illusions about winning races with my 280z. Years ago I went to a lot of SCCA races at moroso. They usually ran many classes at once. I'm sure you would have someone to race with, or at least chase, and to me... that's club racing. I want to put coil overs on it, I've already got them. And although the stock FI runs excellent, I want to install a stand alone. I've already built one tube car although it was for drag. I'd like somewhere to drive the car fast. Let's face it, (don't flame me people) but stock bodied, it doesn't make a very practical street car. With no metal in the doors to speak of, and all those SUVs out on the road, you get my point. I'd rather do with it what it was made to do. So... with that in mind what class would the 280z fit best in you opinion? They're going to have a SCCA race at moroso next month and I'm going to check it out. See what other people are doing, if there are any Zs. (there was back then) thanks

Mike and John: Thanks for the links, very helpful indeed. I'm no stranger to a road course though. I'm really trying to find out more about the class structure in SCCA, how the 280Z would fit into those classes and any other sanctioning body that might host races in the SE. So I can make intelligent decisions about what modifications to make to the car. Anyone currently roadracing a Z car wanna talk about what class they run and what is done to the car?

Thanks preith for replying. I do believe I have heard John mention ITS. That would be internaional touring sedan or something? in the SCCA? And I'm not sure but I swear that car had a big ol' custom intake manifold and throttle body. Does that mean you can use custom manifold, TB and injectors but must retain the stock electronics to run it? I don't get it. What about the AFM? I don't recall seeing that either. I have an older copy of the GCRs somewhere but the whole thing is online now anyhow. I wouldn't mind autocrossing some, but would like to race it. SCCA is only 'club' racing after all. Being competitive would be great, but winning races isn't that important. At a club level race there is always somebody to race with. Driving the car fast, on the track, with no chance of getting a ticket sounds fun to me! I'm just in the first stages of race preparing the car and don't want to do something that would preclude the car from a certain class. I've heard of E production also but did notice that the 280 isn't listed. I've seen a 280Z with a turbo that was suppose to run in the super modified class you mentioned. I've seen a 240 that had coil overs and megasquirt that supposibly runs in vintage. Anyone else who knows more about the class structure, other sanctioning bodies or just any thoughts?

Hey group: This is really cool!! I have kicked the idea around for years to try to build my own dyno and was excited when I saw the subject to this thread. Unfortunately, it seems a little beyond the average do it yourselfer's capabilities. Years ago, when I was roadracing motorcycles, I worked for a machine shop specializing in working on racing motorcycles, it was small. We did some work for some guys racing go karts with Briggs and Stratton (S?) engines. We began to do development work and rigged up a crude dyno. It was a power steering pump off a car bolted to a fixture that allowed us to attach the briggs motor to the drive pulley. We had a reservoir of hydraulic fluid hook to the lines. On the outlet from the pump we had a pressure gauge. We could run the motor at a steady speed while making changes and if the pressure went up on the gauge, we knew we were making more power. I know it, like I said, it was crude. But it worked!! There was no easy way to calabrate it to give HP numbers, but as a tuning tool it was effective. In fact, the motors we were working on began to be more competitive and others from the same league began to show up at the shop asking about getting some work done. Unfortunately, as we learned to build and tune these lawnmower engines to ever higher degrees of tune, the short comings of our little dyno began to appear. We began to blow hoses under higher pressure and the fluid began to get very HOT!!!! We replaced hoses with stronger ones and even considered rigging a cooling radiator for the fluid. We were pushing the limits of the pump and considered a bigger hydro pump. In the end the shop moved onto other projects and the idea was dropped. But I never stopped considering assembling something similiar for my bike engines. I've even considered using an electric generator instead of the hydraulic pump and feeding the power back into the grid! Just some crazy ideas. Momentum dynos that test rear wheel HP are great, and my hat's off to you for building this baby, but a engine dyno that the engine can run at a steady RPM while changes are made is the only way to make many incremental changes and see the results immediatly. Yes, it's harder to pull the engine and mount it to the dyno. sorry for the long post

Hey group: Just wondering... does anyone know what sanctioning body and class John C. raced his rusty old Datsun in? Also, what SCCA classes do people race 280Zs in now? Are they competitive? What class would a 280z fit into if it had coil overs and stand alone EFI. What other sanctioning bodies do folks roadrace their Zs?

Hello everyone I have a 280Z, manufacture date 6/77. It has stock L28. The steering has about a quarter of a turn of slack. Getting ready to rebuild entire suspension. Have searched this site and the internet. Does anyone know where to purchase new or rebuilt steering rack?