GrayZee

Hmm.. I'm not postive but that does not sound right to me. You don't need any kind of relay to power the ecu. Although it does not sound right I am more curious what else it does.. What does it do if you try to start it? Does the fuel pump run? Do you have spark?

Wow, I had forgotten about this thread! Hmm.. updates.. well I found out that although people put 280z tanks in 240z's it does not work the other way around. I ended up have having to get the floorpan area in the hatch cut up a bit to make the tank fit. The result is that I have to use a compact dounut spare and that I have a access hole to get at the fuel pump. Other than that the setup works good. The fuel level gauge is very acurate when it is full, empty and half full. However the 1/4 and 3/4 levels are not as good. I think this is the fault of the autometer gauge and not the sending unit. Overall I am very happy with the setup.

Ok, I looked into the options and yes I would need a new distributor (my 87 Pathfinder dist. is the same as a z31) Given the extra cost I think the custom made intake is the way to go. On the upside I will be able to place the throttle on the other side for better intercooler layout. I ran into yet another problem, I mounted the turbo today and it sits much lower in the engine bay than I thought. Turns out that it is VERY close to the steering box and the exhaust outlet will run right into the inner fenderwell. Back to the drawing board, looks like the exhaust manifold needs a couple of bends added to make it sit higher. Not a huge problem but I guess it's fun to be one of the first people to do this swap, but it's also nice to be able to learn from OTHER people's mistakes! Ha ha ha...

Damn, you are right, I just re-read that website. I thought I just needed the distributor bracket, not the whole thing.. buying new wires wouldn't bother me as I should do that anyway. Anyone wanna donate a Pathfinder distributor? Hey I wonder if my 87 Pathfinder distributor would work?? Somehow I doubt it

Looks like the 90's Pathfinder intake will be the answer after all. Turns out that people swap out the restrictive z31 intake in favor of the better flowing Pathfinder/truck intake on their 300zx's. Here's the article: http://www.z31.com/pathy.shtml If that manifold came from a 93 Pathfinder I'm sure one like that will fit in my 87. It does look alot more compact, that's for sure! One advantage to making a custom manifold is that I could put the throttle on the other side and simplify intercooler plumbing, but for the price of the manifold.. (about $110USD) I doubt it is worth the bother. Free would be better of course.. anybody wanna donate one? Sorry Speeder, no pics yet, I keep forgeting to bring my camera to my buddies shop. Not much to see the the moment anyway, untill I finish putting the custom exhaust manifolds on it just looks like a VG30 in a Pathfinder. I managed to use the stock Pathfinder mounts (I just needed to drill/tap a few extra bolt holes in the turbo block) The block had the spot for the bolts but Nissan didn't have the courtesty to drill it for me over 20 years ago. The mounts did have bolt holes but only two out of four on the driver's side and two out of three on the passenger side. So I had to drill a total of three holes.. not bad. The only other mod I finished so far is a turbo oil drain tube in the oil pan, not that exciting. I had to extend the nozzle to reach the turbo so I made a tube from 3/4" copper plumbing pipe. To make that clear everything I had to notch the bottom of the alternator adjuster bracket a bit. Oh, one other thing was the Pathfinder starter has a heat shield around the plastic plug that connnects it to the wiring harness. The shield was interfering with the oil cooler connector near the oil filter. We took the sheild off and cut a 1/4" from it with a hacksaw. If I used the z31 starter I guess that wouldn't have been a problem but I wanted to keep as many original wires as possible.

Well after alot of swearing.. the VG30et is installed in the Pathfinder (not running, just simply mounted in the engine bay) Already it looks like I ran into a snag. Turns out that the intake manifold sits way too far rearward and interferes with the firewall. Looks like I'll either have to find a 90's Pathfinder upper intake or make a custom one.

I could give him a ride in mine, but unfortunatly we are kinda having a mild blizzard at the moment. Oh, I know of a really nice 240z with a RB26dett that you could buy locally... Problem is that you'd prolly have to shell out about 20 grand CND Yeah, I think you are right Datsunlover.. the most a 280z would need to handle really good would be some freshening up of the suspension bushings and such.

I've had experiences with many Nissans that have very flaky oil pressure sending unit/gauges. I think it is very likely that your engine is fine but it would be nice to know for sure. It is a expense but I agree that getting a good mechanical oil pressure gauge is a excellent idea. I also think those factory boost gauges are useless too.. They have a very stupid design, the way it works is a vacuum line is connected to a "boost sensor" to convert the vacuum reading to a electrical signal to run to a electrical gauge.. Why not just have a vacuum line run directly to a mechanical gauge??

I honestly don't recall what I did with the BW wire (I don't think I even used it) and my car is in storage so I won't be looking at it for a while. However.. I can tell you that I do remember running a wire directly from the positive terminal of the coil trigger to the IGN terminal of the ignition switch (no relay, just heavy wiring) I also T'd the wire off and ran it thru a fuse to the G wire as well. The G wire is the power source for the air regulator (fast idle system) The regulator should have power whenever the ignition is on. The regulator has two wires and the second wire runs to the ecu so the computer can decide when fast idle is needed. Of course you don't have to worry about the second regulator wire as it is already taken care of inside the injection harness. This probably also sounds very confusing let me just say that the fast idle and the coil are both controlled by a - signal from the ecu. The air reg plug is contained within the injection harness, it just needs a outside +power source (therefore connect it from the G wire to the IGN terminal of the ignition sw) Just make sure you use a fuse. The coil is separtate from the injection harness so you have to connect a few extra wires.. After you tap into the ignition switch you can use that same wire to branch out to the + coil trigger. This will power your coil. Then to trigger the coil run the - side to the ecu via the YW wire. Now your engine will have spark. To get the tach to work just hook up the the original 260z negative coil wire (blue I think?) to the - of the turbo COIL (not the coil trigger)

Wow, another Winnipeger! There are alot of Z owers here given the size of the city. If you are going to buy a Z in Winnipeg though watch out for Mr. Rust! I have alot of local Z connections I could even set you up with a engine if you want. Shoot me a email and we can talk. eyeamdeath@hotmail.com

The good thing about the HybridZ forum is that people don't really argue here, they have "heated discussions" from time to time (I seem to have been in a couple lately) Everyone has different opinions and are free to say them, but nobody on here really gets all that upset on here because there is a attitude of a professional exchange of ideas. Name calling, slamming people ect. Are not tolorated here and I would like to say that it is very nice because that seems to be the norm on most internet forums. Hashi, sounds like you found a winner, good luck with your journey down the Z car road!

Yeah I know 14.9 is kinda sad for the mods that I have, wanna hear my sorry-assed excuses? 1: VERY crappy tires 2: first time at the track (ever) 3: Very crappy tires 4: my 280 is likely 400+lbs heavier than your gutted 240 A couple of weeks before the track day I pulled out my small diameter clutch (it was slipping like crazy) I had a large diameter clutch but it looked almost worn right out. I put it in anyway with the idea that it only had to last me a month (till the end of our Z driving season) My buddy offered to let me use his drag slicks at the track, but I figured that would toast the clutch for sure and I'd be looking at a expensive tow bill. Next season with a good clutch and tires, a little more tuning, I'm sure I'll be in the 13's easy As for your mods ON3GO, I know it CAN be done for cheap. (I actually probably have a fair amount less money in my car than you do) but that is for people that are VERY resourceful... Not everyone has that talent, that's all I'm pointing out. That's not a shot as Hashi either, seeing that I have no idea of his talents/resourcefulness... For all I know he can build a 12sec car with $400?? (not likely however)

Normally it is done as a upgrade/swap on a L28 turbo, but I don't see why you can't do it to a N/a You would have to get several parts to do this to your car however. 1. z31 ecu (84 to 89 of the n/a version) (hell maybe even a maxima ecu??) 2. z31/maxima maf sensor 3. a z31/maxima/pathfinder crank sensor 4. either a z31 injection harness or better yet a 82/83 280zxt harness If you want more info go to the turbo/supercharger section and there is a sticky post on the swap

The suggestions made by ON3GO I pretty much agree with (nice touch with the 2.5DP should be fine btw) The only thing is that it sounds to me that a 13 second Z might be a little out of your budget. Cheapest way is a L28et (or a V8 ) but they both cost money. ON3GO's setup would likely set you back a few grand unless you had alot of good connections. Good luck at any rate..

Personally, I wouldn't do it.. I would either fix the efi or try out one of those 4 barrel holley setups before I would go SU. SU's can be made to work good but unless you have a really good core/carb and have alot of knowlege with them I think you will only be disapointed. Another idea is to upgrade the stock ecu to a z31/maf setup, they work way better than the stock ecu.

Yes, in fact I am running a re-chipped z31 ecu in my car and although I do have a O2 sensor it is not being used. Basically it just serves as a plug for when it dosn't have a wideband hooked up. The feedback/learn mode was causing more problems than good so we turned that part of the program off. Alot of people assume that a efi system MUST HAVE a O2 but it actually runs fine without it. It just cannot compensate for abnormal rich/lean conditions (like a vacuum leak or something) Now the ecu does exactly what it is programmed to do and dosn't try to "think"

True, turbo cars are easier to build but I wish the pics that I posted earlier were working so you could see the simplicity of the design. It's really quite ingenious. The car I am refering to DOES run a intercooler. All he did was use a supercharger from a GM V6 and mount it on the OPPOSITE side of the engine. He made a collector flange to direct the pressurized air past the rad support into the intercooler. The intercooler runs across to the left side and to the throttle-body. He is using the STOCK intake manifold. The supercharger gets air from a filter mounted where the battery used to be (battery re-located to the hatch) He also had to relocate the alternator to where the AC compressor would be. We both went to the race track on the same day (first time for both of us) His times were near identical to mine with a 8.3CR, 6psi and a Megasquirt with 260cc injectors. Traction was a problem for both of us.

have you been using di-electric grease between the module and the distributor body? If not you should.

It's not so much that it increases conductivity, this stuff probably IS conductive. The elecrtical signals are probably jumping all over the place (from wire to wire)

BernardD has a buddy with a supercharged ZX. It's a sweet setup but I believe that he is using a n/a version of the P90head/F45block. I found the link to some pics he posted a while back but looks like the pics are no longer on the server? http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=91364&highlight=supercharger I'm sure you can do it with proper fuel control and a intercooler as you have similar compression to the setup above. However the P90 is supposed to be a more advanced head with better combustion chamber design, which helps avoid detonation. You said you want to keep a Nissan L6, any chance of finding a cheap later model L28 in Finland?

My 76z did not have a O2 sensor, neither did my 79 ZX. However I had a 83n/a and it did have a O2 sensor. I think the older ECU's were kinda primitive and didn't have any kind of feedback/correction system. Although you have to consider that these were Canadian models. Another thing I noticed about the older L28 is that it didn't have a temp sensor in the head (near #5 spark plug) It just used the sensor by the thermostat. I had a online argument once with a American that said they all have temp sensors in the head and claimed that he was a mechanic at a Nissan dealer for years and that I didn't know what I was talking about. I just told him it must be a difference in Canadian models. So here's a question for all you Yanks, was he right? Do all US L28's have temp sensors in the head, or was he the one who didn't know what he was talking about?

no, they are not compatable