trwebb26

I'm pretty sure the clutch fluid in my 280z is original. It is really nasty looking and I'm sure is full of water (stupid hydroscopic brake fluid). I know to fill it with dot3 brake fluid... but how do I bleed out all of the old bad stuff and put in fresh new? Should I drain everything and then fill it up with new? Should I replace any o-rings in the cylinder - or try to clean it? What would you do to make it "factory fresh"? If it makes a difference - I'm putting on a SS clutch line, too. What is the best bleeding tool (my wife isn't patient enuf to help me). I've never done this before and any reccomendations would be great! Tim

The belt setup is SICK! Doesn't it cost an arm and a leg? Does anybody have a BHJ single groove pulley??? Can you comment on it? I looked on ATI's website. It looks like they only have 2 or 3 groove pulleys - no single groovers. ?

Just did a bunch of searching. I only found one picture - and it wasn't installed. I would rather have a single groove pulley, unless somebody can offer up a different reccomendation. What is the cost of the pulley nowadays?

I'm very curious about the "BHJ Damper Upgrade" I ordered one of the Nissan Motorsports Euro Pulleys, but they told me it will be anywhere from one week to one month to get it... I guess they come from Japan. What is the BHJ Damper Upgrade and where can I get some details. I have time to cancel my order. Great idea about the center punches, BTW.

I don't think you understand the question. For the crank to be at #1 TDC - the keyway should point up (like the picture i drew). In this orientation the timing mark on the pulley should line up with the timing marks on the block... They don't with my pulley. Clearer?

So i guess it is possible that the guy who owned the car before me put the wrong pulley on? I didn't know there was more than one location. I thought all timing indicators for L6 blocks were on the passenger side of the block. Thanks for your help with inputing the picture.

Why won't my pic show up?

I have a 78' 280z. I think there is something wrong with my pulley. "http://www.geocities.com/trwebb26/pulley.jpg"> Waddaya think?

Who is running an L6 and has switched to an electric fan? What radiator/fan combo are you using? Are you happy with the performance? How are you switching the fan? Thanks! Tim

One more thing... You don't have to completely drop the sway bar to do the swap - you just have to remove the mounts to the frame. You can disassemble the shaft from the pump while it is in the block and take them out separately.

I swapped out my dizzy shaft last night for the 83 version. It was easy as pie. The hardest part was explaining to my wife what TDC was so she could help me find it while i turned the crank from under the car. Thanks everybody! Oh... and just to confirm - you don't have to drain your oil to change the shaft / oil pump. The pump will be full of oil when you remove it from the block so watch out for that. Motorsport auto sells individual gaskets for the oil pump (inexpensive). Make sure you fill up the pump with fresh oil before you bolt it to the block (like the Haynes manual says).

But don't buy a crappy soldering iron... get a Weller or other high end brand. Something with replaceable tips. It will pay for itself in the frustration it will cause you.

Yup... I re-tapped the thermostat housing for the GM sensor and the autometer sensor. If I never have to tap another NPT hole in aluminum the rest of my life - I'll be happy.

I went ahead and bought the autometer guage with sending unit... sorry. I don't know the answer. I'm sure you could rig up some electronics to adjust the resistance out of the gm sensor to match what the guage needs. I would be a tad afraid of the calibration... thus the reason for the other sending unit. There are PLENTY of holes in the stock thermostat housing - you are just going to plug them if you don't fill them with a sensor?!?

Any consensus on whether you have to drain the oil??? I went to my local auto parts store to try and buy an oil pump gasket and a distributor gasket and they said they couldn't even order them. Do I have to get a whole timing cover kit to get these (2) gaskets?

I've done the search and it seems like there are mixed opinions in previous posts. It seems like most people say they mount it in the cold start hole, but all the pictures of engine bays I see have it before the throttle body. Right now I'm leaning toward the cold start hole. Where do you have yours mounted and do you think it makes a difference whether it is before the throttle body or after. Thanks! Tim

Don't have to drain the oil??? Doesn't the pump have to be fed oil to work?

Yowsa.... that's something I didn't expect to be doing! Looking it over in the Haynes manual - it doesn't look too horribly difficult. Does the "drive shaft" that you swap out just sit inside of the pump (not permanently attached with screws or pins)??? Anything else I need to be paying attention to? Oh... and do you use the pump from the N/A motor or the turbo motor on the N/A engine? (this is probably a retarted question... but I'll ask anyways). Thanks! Tim

Is it possible??? I want to use it for my megasquirt setup. I've searched for about an hour and half and I can't find a definite answer. Are there modifications required to the dizzy??? I can't figure out how to modify it to fit in the stock 280 block. Thanks! Tim

So the only coolant that the sensor sees is the hot water from the turbo... I don't know if that is a good thing either. It probably doesn't really reflect the temperature of the water running through the engine (water from turbo probably not the same temperature as the water from the block).

I considered doing that... but the sensor part isn't in the "flow" of the coolant. I've been reading on the megasquirt forums trying to figure out if this is a big deal or not. Obviously the way you've done it would be the most simple, but I'm a bit concerned about water not flowing around the sensor leading to inaccurate readings. Thoughts?

Bump!!!

I know some of you are running the GM CLT sensor with your Megasquirt setups. I have purchased this sensor, but it does not screw directly into the stock thermostat housing. I'm curious about what you did to make the sensor fit. Pictures would be GRRRRREAT. I think I'm going to drill and tap out the thermotime sensor (the one on the front of the housing... on the drivers side) hole bigger to accept the sensor and plug the rest. Thanks, Tim

Ok... Let me throw another wrench in the works. The Haynes manual says to turn the heater on when you are draining the water from the engine. This means that there is a valve inside the heater controls that blocks off the flow to the back of the head when the heater is off. So when the heater is off - there isn't any water flowing through that hose to the back of the head anyways. By looping it you are adding extra cooling to the head (good), but taking away from the amount of cold water available to cool the block (bad). There is a very strong argument for looping it or not looping, but I'm enjoying the discussion. Waddaya think now?

Well... now I'm confused. Can anyone agree on whether or not plugging the holes is ok??? Still no word on what size plugs I should use. Thanks guys.