trwebb26

When I had this problem - the actual input in the megasquirt was firing off of the wrong edge of the dizzy signal. I got it pre-wired from RS-Autosport and it came wired incorrectly from them.

Mine are illinois plates - "TURBO Z"

Thanks for the advice everybody! I got a chance to weld some more stuff this weekend. I had a few things to note from my experience: 1) Turning up the voltage made a big difference for the fillet welds. I was getting pretty ropey looking welds before - with the voltage turned up it helped a lot. I made a couple of passes that looked 1st class. 2) Position is EVERYTHING. Being able to see the puddle and control it without straining makes a BIG difference. I just don't have the skills for out-of-position welding, yet. Everything has to be flat with good access for me to get a nice looking weld. 3) Gun angle is key. I noticed that even 10 degrees in gun angle can make a world of difference in making sure your weld penetrates into both pieces of metal and that everything melts together. 4) Use a LOT of clamps and make sure things have cooled down before you let them go. I was amazed at how my welding cart shifted around with a little bit of heat. Questions I have now: 1) If I'm running MIG (with C25 gas) - should I be pushing or pulling? I've heard different answers. Does it depend on the joint? 2) If you use smaller wire - is there less distortion? My inital reacting is to say no - because you should be getting the same amount of heat into the part... I just wanted to poll the "experts" 3) Is welding like riding a bike? I mean - do you retain your skills after a while - or do you need to keep welding to maintain your skills?

Just to fulfill my curiosity - you do know how much that GT35 turbo costs, don't you?

I bought it from a local place called Columbia Pipe and Supply (http://www.columbiapipe.com/). They have an office right down the street from where I work. The "long" radius pieces were between $5-6/per and the "short" radius pieces were between $8-9/per. (the long ones are cheaper because they are way more common - even though they are bigger and have more steel in them). That is a BARGAIN compared to what Mcmaster-Carr charges (~$10/per piece). Call one of your local plumbing / HVAC repair shops that would work with gas lines and ask who they buy their stuff from.

Great tips on the header fab! I ordered my pipe today at a local plumbing supply place. I decided to go with the 1 and 1/2" schedule 40 pipe. I got 10 "short" 90 degree bends and 10 "long" 90 degree bends along with 4 sections of 12" long pipe (it was WAY cheaper than buying a 21 foot stick). The total came to around $160 Does anybody know where I can buy a good pre-made 1/2" thick header flange? A guy was selling them on ebay last week, but all of the ports were the same size so I didn't get one. I guess I can order some 1/2" stock and make one. Anybody? I started to make my die out of the head of a sledge hammer i had laying around the garage... boy that didn't last that long. That thing has a massive case harden on it. I dusted 2 brand new sawzall blades messing around on that thing. I guess I'm going to have to order some 2" mild square stock and start with that.

I'm thinking those things won't tuck under your fenders when you put rubber on them. Good Luck - they look great.

Well... I got a new lincoln 110V welder - a 140C. I also got a lease on a bottle of C25. It is filled with a spool of 0.030" lincoln wire (I forget the kind of wire right now). It was the kind of wire the welding shop reccomended for general use. To learn how to use it - I took everyones advice and started in on a welding cart for it. I welded on it all day and I learned a LOT. But I have some quesitons: 1) My tacks are WEAK. They break loose all the time. This caused me to put in giant-sized tacks that were impossible to make look good when I went back for the finish welding. The metal was 100% clean. Do you vary the feed or voltage if you are tacking? I don't know what I'm doing wrong. 2) I got to be really good at bevel, butt, and rosette welds. They looked super clean with great penetration - but my fillets - oh boy... they looked TERRIBLE. I got really bad penetration, crappy looking welds, and overall a horrible experience welding fillets. I thought maybe I should be changing my stickout a little for these welds, but I'm really not sure what my problem is. Anything I should be looking out for? 3) I've read about making different shapes with your arc when you are putting down a pass - half moon, circles, back and forth, and just straight... What do you use - and do you change what you use for what kind of joint you are welding? 4) I never messed with the gas... I just left it at the reccomended setting (35 cfh i think?). When do you know to add or subract more gas? I think that are my questions for now... Thanks for the help!

Great advice from everyone. Keep it coming. I was down measuring up my 280zx turbo head and I was shocked to see that the center two cylinders had bigger exhaust ports than the outside four. Anybody know why? Second question - what does everybody reccomend as far as tubing inside diameter goes? I imagine that as long as I kept the same cross sectional area as the exhaust port (or larger) - I should be good to go? It is complicated because the center two ports are bigger than the other four. I guess I should size the tubing for the center ports and use that ID on all the runners. Third - I've seen the SICK manifold that monzter has been putting together - and it says in there that ~30" runners are the ideal length. I was thinking I would just try to make them equal length and however long they ended up to get a good turbo position I would call it good. Any comments on this plan? Thanks!

My favorite welding site - when I was getting started. It has some really good pictures and movies. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm

I'm getting ambitious so I want to work on building a mild steel tubular turbo exhaust manifold. My first question is - on a Z head - how do you get from rectangular exhaust ports to a circular tube? Does somebody sell the transition piece I need or am I going to have to make my own?

Some people have good luck with a kit from POR... I used these guys: http://www.gastankrenu.com/ and my tank turned out great.

if you don't buy it - I will!

man... you really ought to invest in a set of hole saws and a set of drum sanders.

What do the upper spring perches look like between the two cars? How do the springs compare? FYI - you can sell that can of air on ebay for like 40 plus shipping... I don't know why in the hell people buy them, but they seem to be a hot item?

If you want to adjust the length of the bar without taking out the bolt in the eye of the spherical joint then, yes... One end needs to be RH and the other LH.

What Z owners live in central Illinois - reply with a post and send me a PM. I want to get a monthly meeting going. In addition - I think it would be cool to roll into the Decatur car show (July 12th) with a few other Z owners. The car show is massive - taking up the whole downtown area. There are hundreds of cars show up with bands, food, beer, etc. It is an awesome time. Let me know!

I'm trying to install my MMS 240sx rear disk brake kit on my 280z. I've done the passenger side and it fit up great. I'm having a hell of a time getting the stainless line to fit up on the drivers side so it won't rub anything. Please post up some pictures so I can see how you've routed yours. I'm also interested in pictures of how the e-brake bracket and lines are routed. Thanks! Tim

You may have old brake fluid - and there is electricity passing through it in the low-level brake fluid switch. I had to flush all of my fluid out and replace it with new to get my low-level switch to behave properly.

http://www.modern-motorsports.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=25_45&products_id=6

If you don't install it with your megassquirt out of the box - you should consider it the next $200 you will spend on your car. Without it - you will be pissing in the wind trying to tune your car.

You haven't included the details of your setup - but I (and I'm not the only one) consider a set of magnecor spark plug wires a MUST with a megasquirt install on a Z. I would also skip out on the stim. If you have intake air temp sensor and a coolant sensor (or just use the stock sensor and "therm" it) - you should be good to go.

Kinda what I was thinking... All that you'd have to worry about is bearing/spindle deflection. I figured that 1.5-2mm would be good enough. Anybody else have an opinion on the subject?

Don't worry... the 240s fit super-tight. Search around and you'll see people with Koni shocks in a 240 sanding the paint off of the outside of the insert body in order to make them squeeze into the strut tube. The 280s have a lot more room - hence the ability to add fluid around them. I had a friend machine some spacers from aluminum that capture the bottom of the strut - and also space the insert the correct distance from the bottom of the strut tube. I'd take a picture, but my brilliant wife recently destroyed our brand new $500 digital camera:mad:. Most people just cut a length of exhaust tubing and call it good.