Nigel

Those actually match the lines of the car pretty well. A friend of mine did something similar: I'll bet he would prefer the ones you found though... Nigel '73 240ZT

Any chance we can get this thread moved to the turbo/supercharger forum? This isn't really L6 specific, and I thought I was loosing my mind when I went digging through the turbo forum trying to find this thread and couldn't! I've noticed with the increased number of sub-forums that I'm having a lot more difficulty finding things now. Nigel '73 240ZT

Thanks for the info guys! Hmmm... well, I have what I was told is an '89 trany, and it has an electronic speedo in it. And Monzter, you say your mechanical speedo bolted right in, yet jeffer949 claims he had to modify his. What's your 5 speed out of jeffer? Nigel

$8000 for a plasma tv? Now look how much they go for. Just because the majority of people can't afford a new technology (like me, for example) doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. It's cool to know what's in the pipeline. And if I had an unlimited budget, I'd still spend it on my Z. Just because another car may cost more, why should that make it more desirable? Nigel '73 240ZT

But what about the weight of the rest of the car? Where did it go?

Can you elaborate on this? Nigel '73 240ZT

Yeah, and then we go out and spend 10's of thousands of dollars modifying our cars only to pretend that we don't have anything more invested than the initial purchase price! Regardless, those are very cool rims, and while they're expensive now, I'm sure that the price will drop as production ramps up.

I've read through the chapter on exhaust systems in the book "Street Turbocharging" by Mark Warner, and below are highlights from the section on manifold design. He covers log and tubular style, and since ours is likely going to be a combination of the two for practical reasons, I've included excerpts about both: LOG MANIFOLDS Log manifolds sacrifice some performance potential, but for moderate-boost street engines they can perform within 75% to 90% as well as a purpose-built individual runner manifold. When designing a log manifold, it is best to avoid sharp, right-angle feeds of the individual ports into the log. It is better to angle, or sweep the port feeds into the log as gradually as possible. It is also important to keep the flow moving in only one direction: toward the turbine. Anytime the flow from one exhaust port "tee's" into the log at a right angle, or is pointed back in a direction that is the opposite of the flow from another port, the result will be a loss of efficiency. TUBULAR MANIFOLDS When designing a tubular manifold, the goal is to keep as much thermal and kinetic energy in each exhaust stream as possible. Short tube lengths are better than long ones. A minimal number of bends is also preferred. Where bends and turns in the tubes are required, keep them gradual and smooth. Large radii are better than small radius bends. It's also important to keep the individual tubes as equal in length as possible. The closer they are to each other, the faster the turbine spool-up will be. Note, too, that the individual tube diameters on a properly engineered manifold tend to be slightly smaller than on a similar NA engine. Usually the cross sectional area of the exit port on the cylinder head is a good starting point for sizing the runners. For tubular manifolds, it's better to err on the small side, which will maintain gas velocity and reduce the exterior surface area, helping to minimize heat loss. It's better to group cylinders that are far apart in the firing order together in the collector. Nigel '73 240ZT

That would be great Tony! Despite the popularity of the swap, there is still a considerable amount of vauge, incomplete and unverified information, and it's scattered all over the place, even on this site (why is this thread not in the drivelilne section, for example?). Everybody knows that you can bolt up a B series bell housing if you drill out the one/two shift rod hole, mill the inside of the case, and either swap bearings, or open up the hole for the larger 71C bearing. But I've yet to see difinitive solutions regarding the speedometer gear, rear transmission mount (I've read rumours of a GM mount allowing everything to bolt right up, but I have one and can't see how that could be the case) and driveshaft (will an early 240Z shaft work, for example?). And how many people know that the reverse sensor is in a different location on the 4 speed bellhousing? Also, I have read many times that the FS5W71C are all identical with the exception of the gear ratios. However, this appears not to be the case. I've read of different output shaft diameters, and even the possibility that there may be a dual syncro version on some SR tranys. Now it appears that the gear widths may be different as well. It certainly looks that way with the S13 trany compared to dimentions I've found on this site for the SR trany (It will be interesting to see what measurements you come back with Tony). It would be nice to find out how the S14 version compares. This is particularly frustrating because I've just picked up this low mileage (60,000 miles) S13 box, but if it's no stronger than the 280ZX B series I'm wondering if I should bother putting it in. Anyway, I'm taking picutres of as much as I can, and I'm going to compile as much verified information as I can get (if anyone else can help, let me know) and start a new thread. Hopefully it can be made into a sticky for the drivetrain section. Nigel '73 240ZT

I know this is an old thread, but nobody answered this question, and I'm now wishing someone could have. I picked up an '89 KA transmission, and the gear widths appear to be approximately the same as the 71B box. I wasn't able to measure very accurately, because I don't want to disassemble the entire trany. But most of my measurement were in the 18mm range. If I'd known, I would have picked up an SR box instead. I don't know if it's significant, but there is a "71B" cast into the bellhousing. Yet, the gear ratios match those for a 71C Nigel '73 240ZT

I had a quick look through the book, and I couldn't find any reference to this (not saying it's not there, I just couldn't find it). Doing a quick search on line I came up with what I've pasted below, and I've read this several times before on other sites. A local, well respected turbo builder has also told me the same thing. In a nutshell, if you want to run high boost (>~18psi), then use a smaller wastegate, if low boost (<~18psi), then use a larger wastegate. *EDIT* this is more or less what savageskaterkid said. But, what's a small turbo, and what's a big turbo? From research I was doing a year ago, I recall that for a T3/T4 turbo running less than 18psi, a 44mm WG appeared to be the best choice.*END EDIT* This is from Performance Car Magazine (http://forums.performancecar.co.nz/viewtopic.php?f=37&p=455903 1. The wastegate size is relevant to how much horsepower you are targeting 2. If you want to run high boost, then a smaller wastegate is better than a larger wastegate. The idea being that in order to generate high boost you need most of the exhaust gas going through the turbine, not through the wastegate. 3. If you want to run low boost then a larger wastegate is better than a smaller wastegate. The idea being that in order to keep the boost low you need a lot of the exhaust gas going through the wastegate not through the turbine. But what is high boost? Well for the sake of this discussion I have settled on 1.2 to 1.4 bar (18 to 21 psi) as being the divider, thus 1. 2 bar and under is low and 1.4 bar and above is high. How did I arrive at this number? Well based on the results of the surveys, this seems to be the most common point where the wastegate sizes change from theory 2 to theory 3 (above). The next bit of theory is that it takes 1 lb per minute of airflow to make 11 bhp in a current generation 4 valve engine. This is a pretty well established piece of turbo sizing philosophy. But how do we relate this to wastegate sizing? Well referring to the results of the surveys, it seems a straight 1 to 1 relationship is not too far from the average, so 1 lb of airflow = 1 mm of wastegate diameter. OK R31 Nismoid, let's use your car as a discussion starter..... 300 rwkw = 480 bhp 480 bhp = 44 lbs of airflow = 44 mm wastegate Now if you want to run 20 psi, then that's statistically the right size wastegate. My experience indicates that to get 300 rwkw out of a GT30 you would need to run around 1.5 bar (22psi). So using the draft formula... 44 / 22 X 19 = 38 mm. So based on the 75% success rate of the formula in the samples so far, I would say a 38 mm wastegate would be the go.

There's a picture in Maximum Boost of a turbine housing with an external wg flange cast right into it (pg 147). Something like that could be really helpful. You could either connect the wg directly, or run a pipe to a better location. But I've never seen such a housing like that for sale anywhere. Nigel '73 240ZT

I have the same oil cooler in my Z and it's completely blocked by my intercooler. I think I've yet to see the oil temps go above 100 deg C. Cruise is around 70. Nigel '73 240ZT

Quantity is the key. A Yugo would cost as much as a Ferrari if you only built one. That's why it's beneficial to do a group buy...

Is equal length that important for a turbo header? Nigel '73 240ZT

I'm not sure if you considered this, since it's not clear from your posts, but if you plug all the holes in the fuel tank, you will not be able to fill the tank! When you put fuel in the tank, the air that's in there has to be able to come out somewhere. Once you get past the level of the filler hose on the tank, that's it, no more fuel can go in. You need some means to let the tank breath. Also, there is no charcoal canister on a 240Z. Nigel '73 240ZT

I'm interested...

Is this something new, or has it always been doing this? Mine has a hard time with hot starts too, but it doesn't backfire.

A funny thing happened when I tried to access the hybridz site at lunch at work today. I got the following message: Request denied by WatchGuard HTTP proxy. Reason: one or more categories denied helper='Lunch' details='Criminal Skills' We're supposed to have open access to the web between 12 and 2 pm, but I still got blocked because apparently I'm trying to learn 'Criminal Skills' by visiting the hybridz site! LOL! How the heck is this happening!? I have a password to bypass WatchGuard, so it's no big deal, but it's pretty funny that it would try to block me for that reason... Nigel '73 240ZT

First of all, I just want to say that HizandHerz did a great writeup of this alternator install, and I think this should be made into a sticky! Now, with regard to alternator output at idle, I found a website with output vs alternator (not engine) rpm for the GM 10si, 12si, CS130D and CS144: http://oljeep.com/gw/alt/edge_Alternator_Theory.html Here are the graphs: To summarize, you can see the 94A 12si only puts out 50A at 2000 rpm. If your idle speed is 1000 rpm, this would require a 2:1 crank pulley to alternator pulley ratio. It's been a while since I measured the pulley diameters, but I think it's less then that with the pulley supplied with the 12si, and it's even worse if you put the Z pulley on, since it's slightly larger. So this means that at idle, you're looking at less 50A, maybe less than 40A if your idle is low, and it will get even worse as the alternator heats up. A smaller pulley will help, but I don't know how small you can go before it becomes a problem for the belt. The 105A CS130D (1994-2000, the earlier CS130 is not considered as reliable) can put out 70A at 2000 rpm. It's similar in size to the 12si, but there appears to be a variety of cases and "clocking" orientations for the mounting tabs. I haven't found a site yet that shows what year and make would be the best for us. The 140A CS144 can put out 95A at 2000rpm! But it's somewhat larger than the 12si, so I'm not sure if it would fit. Has anyone tried this alternator yet? 12si case dimensions CS144 case dimensions Nigel '73 240ZT

I hate to burst your bubble, but from my experience, I don't think the 280Z tank swap is worth it. For one thing, it is not a direct bolt in. The filler neck, vent lines and straps are all different. The issues can all be dealt with, however, it's an added level of frustration that you may not be aware of. But most importantly, this tank is not going to be the solution to fuel starvation issues in hard corners that you may hope that it will be. With an upgraded pump, I found that I was still experiencing fuel starvation in hard left corners with the tank only slightly below half full. The only difference between the 240Z and 280Z tank is a coke can sized shroud around the pick-up. That's fine for a 170 hp, NA car, but for high HP, turbo engines, I don't think that's enough capacity. I found this out the hard way after considerable expense and frustration at fitting the 280Z tank in my 240Z. I ended up pulling the 280Z tank out and putting my old 240Z tank back in with a sump welded to the bottom. This has worked well for me so far, but I still get nervous when the tank starts to get low. Fuel starvation under boost could result in the death of the engine. The best and most reliable solution is a surge tank fed by a low pressure pump (covered in other posts on this forum). That's on my future to-do list. Like I said, I hate to burst your bubble, but I'd hate to see you go through the trouble to install this tank and not have it work the way you expected, so I thought I'd share my experiences. Nigel '73 240ZT

I have the 94A, 12si alternator in my Z, and it works well with the pulley supplied with the alternator. I only get 12V at idle if everything is on, lights, rad fan, Blower, etc. Are you using a 1 wire or 3 wire setup? I have the 3 wire setup... Batt, sense, and excite, with the sense wire connected to the battery. If it's a 1 wire setup, you may have some issues at idle. Here's a good explanation why... http://www.madelectrical.com/electricaltech/onewire-threewire.shtml If you do have a 3 wire setup, where is the sense wire connected? Nigel '73 240ZT

It sucks that it's $10 more in Canada, but I bought a subscription anyway. Looks like a cool mag! Nigel '73 240ZT

It doesn't get much cheaper or simpler than than this to lower your car... http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=11 All for the low, low price of $19.99!!! Nigel '73 240ZT

If you're looking for one that bolts in place of the stock regulator and has the same hose connections, I'm pretty sure you're going to be out of luck. Just about all aftermarket adjustable regulators that I'm aware of require some modifications/fabrications. Somebody may be able to recommend one that's at least close. Just make sure that where ever you mount it, mount it where you can keep the vacuum line as short as possible. Nigel '73 240ZT