Nigel

My ultimate 240SX Transmission swap guide (is it possible to sticky a link to this, because I don't want to recreate the whole thing here on Hybridz): click the picture Nigel '73 240ZT

Click the picture below for a link to my very detailed writeup of the KA five speed swap. This is for an S30, but there should be little if anything that's different. Nigel '73 240ZT

Here's a cutaway of the Energy Suspension bushing... Nigel

Nope There's no need to use the stock lower diff mount. Nigel '73 240ZT

It's like WRC for bicycles. Nigel '73 240ZT

???? I'm no physicist, but I'm not sure that you're taking the second law of thermodynamics into account. Heat always transfers from a higher temperature medium to a lower temperature medium, not the other way around. This is why a radiator works in the first place. The higher temperature coolant in the radiator transfers it's thermal energy to the lower temperature air that passes through the radiator. This is also why a transmission cooler will sometimes be packaged inside a radiator like in your Camaro radiator (it will likely just be a tube with fins that runs through the lower radiator end tank that the rad coolant circulates around). While the radiator may be hot (180F), the transmission fluid can get hotter (say 220F), and therefore, that higher thermal energy in the transmission fluid will be transfered to the "cooler" radiator and then to the even cooler air (75F). So, if you pass a fluid through the transmission "cooler" built into the radiator that is cooler than the radiator, that fluid will get hotter without a doubt. In this case, the fluid we're talking about is fuel, and it's getting circulated by the fuel pump over and over again. The entire volume of fuel in the tank is completely circulated in a matter of minutes (9 min for a full 15 gal tank using a 100 gph pump. Only 3 min with 5 gals remaining!). However, just because the fuel is being circulated and is not sitting still, doesn't mean that it doesn't pick up heat. In fact, heat transfer INCREASES with flow speed (up to a point). Consequently, in addition to the heat generated by the pump compressing the fuel, and the heat picked up in the fuel lines in the hot engine bay, it would now also be heated directly by the 180F radiator, so you'll just be heating that volume of fuel in the fuel tank rapidly, over and over again, and the fuel temperature will skyrocket! From my personal experience, I've found that fuel temperatures can get to be quite high simply due to the pump compression and radiant heat picked up through the fuel lines (especially the fuel rail). With a 1/4 tank left, I've put my hand on the bottom of my fuel tank after being stuck in stop and go traffic, and it's almost been too hot to touch! I've seen the impact of this on the air/fuel ratio leaning out considerably, going from 13:1 at idle to start and climbing to 17:1 after being stuck in traffic for an hour. This is with all else being equal. To remedy this, I've added a fuel cooler and insulated all of my fuel lines, not to increase performance, but to stabilize performance. I'm also considering adding a variable speed fuel pump controller, which varies the pump speed based on rpm. This would allow the pump to run slower at slower engine speeds and therefore circulate less fuel and minimize heat transfer. Wow, I didn't expect to write so much. That's all for now. Time for dinner... Nigel '73 240ZT

Please explain what you mean when you say the whole system is connected? Typically the front and rear circuits are isolated from each other (even when they share the same reservoir). Nigel '73 240ZT

For some reason, this sticky is in the Miscellaneous Tech forum... http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=113108 Hey admins! How about moving this to interior forum? Nigel '73 240ZT

Guys... THERE IS NO REAR PROPORTIONING VALVE ON A '73 240Z!!! Remember that! I've seen this happen over and over again, where owners of earlier Z's advise later Z owners to just gut the prop valve, assuming it's still located at the rear of the car. Bad idea! Here's why... I'm not sure exactly when it started, but probably from the beginning of the '73 model year, Nissan moved the proportioning valve to the firewall. Furthermore, it does not operate in the same fashion as the earlier valves. With the '73 and later (not sure if this includes all model years for the 280Z), the brake pressure to the front, right caliper modulates the pressure to the rear brakes. If you GUTTED the valve on the firewall, you've tied the front right and the rear brake lines together! This is not good! What you need to do is REMOVE the valve, and splice the gap in the lines together. Make sure you tie the correct lines together. The top lines connect together, and the bottom lines connect together. You can see this done in this picture linked to earlier (look at the brass fittings splicing the brake lines together on the firewall) ... The brake pressure switch that others are talking about is located on the inner driver's side front fender, below the master cylinder. Don't touch that. If you've gutted it, then as mentioned, you will have also tied the front and rear brake lines together. Nigel '73 240ZT

It might help if you tell us what Z you have first. Looking at a wiring diagram for a '71 240Z is going to be pretty useless if troubleshooting a '87 300ZX... Nigel '73 240ZT

I have that style on my steering column, and I don't really like them. Because the base isn't flat, I've found that the plastic column ends up cracking over time if you use screws to it hold down. Again, because the base isn't flat, I don't know how well double sided tape would work. I spotted this on ebay... http://cgi.ebay.ca/52mm-UNIVERSAL-SINGLE-GAUGE-SWIVEL-MOUNT-METER-POD-CUP_W0QQitemZ370263786594QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item5635710462&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_3388wt_1253 This or something like it may be better if used with double sided tape. Nigel '73 240ZT

Before intercooler: With intercooler: Nigel '73 240ZT

I have a gold pressure sending unit and I'm 99% sure I bought it from the dealer. Were there only certain years or models that came with the black rubber sleeve? I probably specified a 280ZX when I placed my order. Nigel '73 240ZT

I just installed Google Chrome, and when I went to the hybridz site for the first time, Chrome gave me a warning that there were elements in hybridz from a website called "makingapril" which apparently has known malware issues (in other words, don't go there) and advised me not to enter hybridz. I don't know exactly what all that means, but I did a search here and didn't find any reference yet to that website, so I thought I'd mention it just in case. Nigel

You'll need at least a few wraps of teflon tape around the male threads of an NPT fitting to get it to seal. The white teflon tape works fine. NPT threads won't really seal without it. Nigel '73 240ZT

Nope... An o-ring boss fitting is no different than a regular -6 fitting except it doesn't have the flare on the end. The threads are the same. So, if you want to mount the FPR directly to the rail, get a 1/4 NPT male to -6 AN male adapter and an o-ring (you can buy them separately), and put the o-ring on the -6 AN end of the adapter and screw the adapter into you FPR. This is what I did and it's a lot cheaper than buying a bunch of extra fittings and hose for the short distance you'll need to mount the FPR elsewhere. Also, by using regular AN fittings, it's a lot cheaper than the arm and a leg they usually charge (or used to) for the hard anodized o-ring boss fittings. BTW, there's good reason to have the FPR close to the end of the rail: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105772 Nigel '73 240ZT

I just put an oil/air separator in-line between the crankcase breather and the PCV valve. I drain it with every oil change. Nigel '73 240ZT

I've been using a Hallman Classic manual boost controller for almost 8 years now, and it's served me very well. However, it's inconvenient not being able to set the boost from within in the car, and now that I've got my turbo sorted out and I can run higher boost, I've been wanting something that allows me to switch between a high and low setting. Fifteen pounds of boost is fine for the drag strip, but on the street, I rarely ever get to use it. So it'd be nice to switch to a lower setting for around town, but to still have some fun. However, until recently, all of the electronic boost controllers that I've seen have been big $$$ ranging from $300US to over $1000US! And even dual stage MBC's can be over $200US. My single stage Hallman MBC was $80US back in January 2002. I decided to see what is available on Ebay, since it's typically a good place to get a quick look at a variety of products. It was there that I came across the SBC-D-SE, an EBC made by a company called Hybrid Development International (HDi) out of Australia. http://www.hybrid-power.com/ It's sold by d2power on Ebay and shipped from Hong Kong. http://stores.shop.ebay.ca/search-d2power__W0QQ_armrsZ1 It is a very basic controller, much like the old Greddy Profec B controller, with two dials for low and high boost, and a selector button to switch between them. But it's a fully closed-loop controller, with automatic gain adjust, a temperature compensated pressure sensor, and a quality USA made MAC solenoid. The best part is that it's only ~$150US! However, I was still somewhat skeptical that something this inexpensive relative to the other controllers on the market would work well. Even used Profec B controllers sell for over $200. I searched on-line to see what kind of experience others have had with this EBC and there wasn't much, but what I did find was positive. So, I decided that for $150, it was worth the gamble. It took about one and a half weeks to arrive from Hong Kong. It was packaged in an unpadded envelope and the box was crushed, but the contents appeared ok, with the exception of a missing T fitting, which I didn't need anyway. The controller is a compact 1/4 DIN form factor. The included manual was easy to follow, but the installation is very simple regardless. Here's a link to the manual: http://photos.imageevent.com/kadepunk/hybridinstallationguides/HDi%20SBC-D.pdf There is a short harness on the back of the controller with two connectors. The solenoid plugs into the small connector, and the main harness plugs into the big one. Only three wires on the main harness need to be hooked up for the unit to work... constant hot, ignition hot, and ground. There are other wires in the harness for an optional add-on controller module (nitrous/CO2 trigger, turbo timer), which I don't believe is available yet, digital boost gauge, and an overtake (scramble) boost switch which bumps up the boost by ~10%. But I'm not using any of that for now. There's also a port on the back of the unit for the pressure signal. I just T'd into the line for my boost gauge rather than run a second line into the car. No mounting bracket is included for the controller, so I used some double sided tape to stick it to the bottom of the dash. Hook your wastegate up to the solenoid following the diagram in the manual relevant to the type of wastegate you have; internal or external. When plumbed properly, the solenoid defaults to a position so that if the controller fails, you get whatever the actuator spring pressure provides. So, in the case of a stock 280ZX Turbo actuator, this is about 5 or 6 psi. In fact, if you hook up a switch in line with the ignition hot wire, you really get a 3 stage boost controller... wastegate spring, low and high. Here's a tip for getting the solenoid cable into the passenger compartment. The connector on the solenoid cable is pretty small, but you still need a sizeable hole to fit it through the firewall. However, you can easily remove the wires from the connector housing to pass the cable through a smaller opening. Using an unfolded paper clip you can depress the barbs that hold the connector pins in the housing. Once the barb is depressed, the pin just slides right out. Once you get the cable into the car, bend the barbs on the pins back out a bit, and reinsert them into the connector housing. You can use the mating connector as a reference for the wire location. Just match up the colours. With it all hooked up, now came time for the moment of truth. Setting the controller is very simple. Use the SEL button to toggle between the LO and HI boost range, push the appropriate dial so that it pops out, turn it and push it back in to prevent it from accidentally being adjusted. I turned both dials fully counter clockwise so each range would be set to minimum and went out for a drive. With the unit set for LO boost, I accelerated and noted the boost... ~6psi. I then turned the low dial a bit and accelerated again. I repeated that process a few more times, and at first I was becoming somewhat worried as it seemed that nothing was happening. I was still only getting ~6psi. But I couldn't really see how far I had turned the dial, and I was only moving it small amounts to be safe. So, I kept at it until low and behold, I got 8psi! A bit more and a bit more and before long it was at 10psi. Hey! It works! I discovered that the low and high dials are scaled differently, so don't expect to get the same boost with both knobs in the same position. I found that for 10psi, I needed the LO knob turned to about the 2/3's point, and the HI knob at about the halfway point for 15psi. Keep in mind these settings will vary depending on the wastegate you are using. So, my initial tests were positive, but I really wanted a clear picture of exactly what the controller was doing and how it would compare to my old Hallman manual boost controller. I dug up some old datalogs with my Hallman boost controller for reference. I found one 10psi run that I did up to about 5200 rpm. The colour code is as follows: Red: Manifold Pressure Dark Blue: Throttle position Light Blue: RPM Green: Air/Fuel Yellow: Air Temperature (deg. C) Hallman MBC, 10psi, 3rd gear: Here's a 13psi 1/4 mile run with the Hallman. Hallman MBC, 13psi, 1/4 mile run: I then hooked up my laptop and datalogged several runs using the HDI boost controller with various settings outlined below. As a reference, I data-logged a 3rd gear run at full throttle from ~2000rpm to ~6000rpm with the EBC disconnected. With the EBC off, the solenoid defaults to a normally open position, so boost is controlled strictly by the OEM 280ZX actuator. Peak boost with the OEM actuator is around 7 psi, but you can clearly see the knee at ~5psi where the wastegate is being forced open early, delaying peak boost. HDi EBC off, Stock Boost (7psi), 3rd gear: I data-logged 3rd gear runs at full throttle from ~2500rpm to ~6000rpm with the EBC connected and set at 10psi and 15psi. Below is the 10 psi log. Right away, you can see that the HDi EBC does a good job of blocking the pressure to the wastegate actuator for as long as possible. Peak boost is reached quickly, and yet, it still keeps overshoot to a minimum. Furthermore, it manages to hold boost steady right to the red-line. HDi EBC 10psi, 3rd gear: The 15 psi log is below. HDi EBC, 15psi, 3rd gear: To see how the HDi EBC handled rapid throttle transitions, I logged some 1/4 mile drag strip runs. This is a 13.5sec, 10psi run. Everything looks good! HDi EBC, 10psi, 1/4 mile run: So, I think it's safe to say that this electronic boost controller does everything that it's claimed it can do, and at a fantastic price! It's performance is dead even with the Hallman manual boost controller, and it costs less than the Hallman in-cabin adjustable controller. As I mentioned earlier, this EBC does have an overboost (or scramble) mode that raises the boost by about 10%. However, it would be handy to be able to switch between the LO and HI boost modes remotely on the fly rather than fumbling to hit the tiny button on the controller itself. This way, at the drag strip, you could run a lower boost for launch to limit wheel spin, and then switch to the HI boost mode for say, 3rd gear and up. I removed the four (very long!) screws from the back of the controller and pulled the circuit board out. In theory, one should be able to solder a pair of wires to the pins indicated in the picture on the back of the controller SEL switch and connect a remote push button in parallel. Be careful not to unsolder the yellow capacitor. It acts a a switch debouncer. Run the wires to a convenient location where a momentary push button can be mounted that can be hit while driving. The steering wheel or shift knob would be best. I have not personally tried this yet, so I make no promises that it will work. Here's the business side of the circuit board. When I removed the board, I discovered that the two nuts that hold the pressure sensor (lower right corner of the board) were very loose. The design of the sensor makes it difficult to tighten the nuts without risking damaging the sensor, and impractical to use lock washers. The nuts really need to be secured with some threadlock compound. So, in conclusion, if you're looking for an inexpensive electronic boost controller I don't think you can go wrong with the HDi SBC-D-SE. Nigel '73 240ZT

That's JP Matte's Z. He's the current president of the Ontario Z Car club. He built that wing himself about 10 years ago. My avatar was designed by him for the club as well. Where'd you find the picture? I believe it was taken at Daytona last year. I'll let him know he's now famous. Nigel '73 240ZT

I need some help diagnosing a no-start condition on a friends Z. Last week, his car wouldn’t start after running fine for years, and it turned out there was no spark. He was running a 240Z distributor, MSD 6AL, and an old (early 90’s) Allison XR-700 optical ignition. I narrowed it down to the XR-700, and last night I replaced that with a Pertronix ignitor. We have spark again, but it still refuses to start. It came close a few times, but no go. The Pertronix is fixed in place in the distributor, but the XR-700 optical pickup was adjustable, which could have an impact on timing. I was wondering if perhaps at some point the distributor timing may have been adjusted to compensate for the optical pickup location some how not being correct? Now with it back to a stock like condition, could the distributor timing be too far off? How far off would the timing have to be to prevent the car from starting? There are timing marks on the distributor itself. Is there an initial position that the distributor can be set to where it is most likely to start? BTW, the distributor has NOT been removed. The only other possibility that I can think of is that the engine is flooded (triple Webbers). We were cranking it a lot the week before trying to diagnose the problem. But it sat for a week before we tried again, and we didn’t crank it much last night. However, it did come closest to firing after we took all the plugs out and let the engine sit for about 15 minutes. My friend is getting understandably frustrated and wants to get the car towed to a garage, but it seems like it should be a simple issue and easy to fix. Unfortunately, all of my experience is with my SDS EFI distributor-less system. I went with that so I wouldn’t have to deal with issues like this! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Nigel '73 240ZT

What rear end ratio, tire diameter and RPM are you entering? Regardless of what it says, having the horsepower to reach the given speed is another matter altogether... Nigel

Which is ~50mm, which is the difference in length of the two transmissions, and also the early and late 240Z driveshafts. The Japanese are typically pretty good about rounding part dimensions to the nearest 1, 5 and 10mm’s depending on the part. So, for example, it’s unlikely that you’ll find something that’s 448.469mm. This makes it really easy to take measurements with a simple ruler or tape measure and be confident that they’re accurate. Unlike if your dealing with parts designed in inches where it could be 17 & 5/8 of an inch, 17 & 21/32, or 17.600, which is kind of hard to determine with a tape measure. Fortunately, driveshaft dimensions aren’t that critical… Nigel '73 240ZT

8mm is less that 3/8", so it shouldn't be a problem. Nigel '73 240ZT

Geez... 10 seconds worth of searching: From http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Nissan_240SX_Performance_Modification/Transmission Gear Ratios KA24(D)E & SR20DET (S13/S14): 1st- 3.321 2nd- 1.902 3rd- 1.308 4th- 1.000 5th- 0.759 Datsun transmission calculator: http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/ Nigel '73 240ZT

For full details on the 240SX swap, click the picture... Nigel '73 240ZT