spineless

I have an '81 zxt and I have found that the section of the Pulley on the crankshaft that guides the belt to the a/c compressor rotates freeley. I'm assuming the crank pulley is a combo balancer/pulley setup. My question is do I need to replace the entire crankshaft pulley/balancer, or can I just tac-weld the free moving pulley section to the neighbor pulley? The A/C pulley guide section of the crankshaft pulley is the only part that seems to be effected.

For my 383 stroker swap using the jtr method, will these work?http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=PTP%2D7%2D509BL&view=32&N=700+4294861902+4294925079+4294908216+4294908202+4294840140 http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=ENS%2D3%2D1108R&N=700+4294925045+115&autoview=sku If not, any other suggestions? Thanks.....

Thanks, that was much easier.

I started final assembly on my 383 stroker and I am having a heck of a time getting these plugs in without destroying them. I have an '86 block and I assume 1/2 inch plugs are what I'm supposed to be using. any suggestions ASAP would be great.

I'm building a 383 stroker and I would love some suggestions on which intake and carb to purchase. I want to keep the origional hood and I'm not sure how much clearance I will have. This build is for street use and comfort and reliability is important. I don't have much carb experience so the less tweeking I have to do the better. This will be going into a 1975 280z using the JTR mounts.

Thanks for the info guys. The block is going to the machine shop tomorrow.

Thanks for the links and book suggestion. I'm a step ahead of you though, I bought the book and dvd last week. Very informative, definately makes the process less intimidating.

The previous owner dropped in a stroked motor when he bought a larger 5th wheel. He said that there were no preblems with it when he pulled it. I tore into it because I wanted to see it. I've never been into an engine before so that is why, curiosity. This will be going into a 1975 280z. Not going for anything too crazy, but from what I'm reading, vortec heads, cam, intake, etc..... probably something I'm leaning towards. From the engine's history, sounds like it would be fine if i just put it all back together, but what do I know, never done this before. So what's the suggustion? Put it all back together OR rebore, rering, etc...

I just picked up an '86 sbc out of a GMC 3/4ton. The guy says he took great care of it throughout it's 120k mile life in the truck. This is my first experience with a chevy 350 so I've taken it apart to learn a little. So far everything looks good. The cylinders are smooth and I can still see the hone marks. Like I said the walls feel smooth except for the top where the rings don't reach, looks like a little bit of carbon build-up. Should I leave the pistons and rings alone or should I tear into it a little more. Thanks

Just an update, it looks like it might the an exhaust leask. I found that the manifold stud closest to the front of the car was broken off. Looks like I have a little project ahead of me. What are the chances that the manifold is not warped? How hard is it to get the broken stud out? Any suggestions on how to do that? And yes, the FPR is after the rail. Pallnet, I think I'll be ordering your exhaust manifold stud kit very soon.

I recently noticed that my zxt goes "chug chug chug..." upon exceleration. Is this intake leak, exhaust leak, or non of the above? I also noticed the the performance is not as sharp and the boost does not seem to hold as steady or reach boost as quicky. The only recent changes I have made is a pallnet fuel rail and new injector o-rings. The car ran great after that. boost was holding steady at 9psi and it felt very quick. A few days later on two separate occasions I noticed that my fuel pressure guage maxed out above 60 psi. I realized that the vac line to the fuel pressure regulator was leaking. No more spikes after fixing the leak. Could driving with that much pressure cause a problem? Could there be a problem with the manifold relief valve? Any suggestion would be appreciated.

I recently finished my 81 zxt swap into my 81 N/A. I thought I got everything wired up ok because it fired right up. Last night I noticed that I don't have the fuel pump wurring noise just before the engine cranks. What did I miss. The engine fires right up, but I know I used to hear it before the swap. I also don't seem to have much power/pull after 3000 rpm or so. Any suggestions on either problem would be great.

I purchased a 1981 280zx turbo and found that it does not have the CAS down by the pully. I pulled the dist cap off and found that it's in the distributor. I'm thinking it must be an 82 or 83 but the rotor does not look like the ones found on those model years. How do I find out what model year distributor I have?

I have 1981 l28et going into my 1981 N/A 280zx with the 5speed tranny. Would love to test out your downpipe. My swap should be complete by this weekend. mikebchiro@yahoo.com

uh oh, what's wrong with the felpro gasket?

I'm in the middle of swapping a 1981 l28et into my 1981 n/a . I have both complete cars. The wiring makes me nervous. From all of the searches, I've found that I need to swap over the wiring harness and ECU. My question is do I just need to swap over the EFI part of the harness or the whole thing? Also, I've done a little searching on Megasquirt and it looks like for the 1981 turbo, things are a little different concerning the distributor and CAS. Will the car run better than stock without having to do all of the mods for optimal timing advance(repositioning timing marks, etc) if I choose to attempt a MS install? Any info specific to the 1981 l28et engine would be helpful. Thanks

Did anyone ever try getting the MS to work on a stock 81zxt setup with the MSns extra that was mentioned above? This thread got me really thinking about doing the megasquirt thing if it could be done easily in the stock 81 zxt.

Thanks again for the replies, I'll have to look into this Megasquirt thing. Time to do some searching....

Thanks for the reply Gollum. You make a good point about the t-tops. That was the main reason I would have considered restoring that one. The other reason was for the power steering, it sure does make it easier. Do you think it would be worth the swap into the N/A car? Or is it not worth the extra horses it steals?

I would really like some opinions on the options before me concerning my next project. I have a 1981 280zx n/a which is totally stock, has no major rust or body damage, and runs great. I just purchased a 1981 280zxt mainly for the turbo motor swap I have been wanting to do. After looking over the zxt which has t-tops, electric windows, power steering, and cruise control (my zx n/a has none of that stuff), I'm now uncertain which one I should use for parts. The zxt has obviousely been more abused and has misc rust holes here and there. I guess in one hand it's doing a turbo motor swap and in the other it's doing body panel and misc parts swaping. What would you do?