BRAAP

Ruby! By chance is there a class for Restored Diecast 240-Z or factory fresh Diecast 240-Z?

And the lords good people said.. AMEN!!!

Sounds like fuel flow issues, i.e. clogged fuel filter, bad fuel pump etc. Some simple diagnoses should find your problem.. Honestly, with these sort of OE maintenance type questions, you will have a MUCH better chance of getting the answers you need from such forums as http://www.classiczcars.com and/or http://www.zcar.com. As the opening title of this forum says, “When stock just don’t cut it. Ultra-High Performance Z cars.” that sums up this forum rather well. This forum is dedicated to extreme performance Z cars, not so much a DIY maintenance and restoration site....

Good one.. Well.... uh.. maybe?!?!....

Under the dash, drivers side, you’ll find either one long relay or two next to each other. Look for something shiny aluminum in color. This will be the EFI relay/s. They are usually two separate relays or in one longer housing, (either way, there are two identical big square connectors for this EFI Relay). I'm sure someone here has a picture of one, if not I can post one tomorrow. Also, the AFM has a switch in it that when air flows through it, say at idle, the fuel pump will operate. Also, when the key is turned to the start position, the fuel pump is supposed to operate. Hope that helps, Paul

Whew… Ok. 1) The TPS is not needed for the engine to run, but without it, it wont run correctly. In short, plug it in! 2) The fuel pump should not be whining. Find out why it is whining. If it is whining, it most likely isn’t operating at its full potential for some reason. If it isn’t flowing the required fuel the engine needs, fuel pressure will be down and the engine will run like crap. In short, investigate why the fuel pump is whining and fix-it, cause a whining fuel pump isn’t right. 3) If you have the means, verify fuel pressure. Not just in the parking lot with engine running, but under load while driving. I have a long hose on my fuel pressure gauge and I place it under the windshield wiper arm so that I can see it while driving to verify fuel pressure while the engine is under load. If the fuel pressure drops off under load, then you have an issue that needs to be addressed because in short, your car will run like crap without proper fuel pressure. It is common to find clogged fuel filters, fuel pump inlet screens, bad fuel pumps etc this way. Hope that helps, Paul

Tech9, Honestly, too many unknowns here. We need WAY more info here. It could one, two, or 6 of over 300 things going on causing whatever situation you are experiencing. What ever the engine is doing, at what times it is, and what times it is not, doing those things needs to be known. The best scenario here is that it really needs to be seen, heard, experienced, and fiddled with first hand to offer any real applicable help. Are you affiliated with a local Z car club? Plug in with a local club and at best, someone that is familiar with the Datsun/Hitachi L-jet EFI and it’s known regular quirk’s will be bale to help out especially if they can see this first hand. Sorry, without a LOT more info, there isn’t much we can do..

With the OE tank, a surge tank of some kind is must, unless you only use the car to drive wine tours. In that capacity, the OE tank is a great way to let the driver know he needs more gas well before he actually runs out.

Just kidding about the NARPs valve. That is not a real part. Joking aside, I’m assuming this is the OE EFI. With the TPS disconnected, when you open the throttle above ¾, and the EFI is tuned and running properly, it will stumble and misfire noticeably. At part throttle it should run normal. The TPS tells the ECU when the throttle is above ¾ open and also when the throttle is closed. With the throttle open past ¾, the ECU will richen the fuel mixture accordingly. A whining fuel pump is not normal. The OE pump, (the 280-ZX pump is the same pump as the 280-Z), it should be almost silent from inside the car. Investigate the whining pump issue, it may be the source of the poor running, i.e. not enough fuel pressure. Inside the inlet of the fuel pump itself there is a little cone shaped screen. Make sure it is not clogged with debris. Also, make sure the fuel lines running from the fuel pump up to the front of the car or free and not clogged with rust etc. The MAF you are referring to is called the Air Flow Meter, or AFM for short. The AFM is a completely different animal than a MAF. The terms really aren’t interchangeable and when looking for parts, could you get you the wrong part. For the most part, all 280-ZX EFI components interchange with the 280-Z, no worries there. The Turbo ZX is different animal so don’t use Turbo EFI parts on your non turbo EFI system. Things like fuel pumps, fuel injectors, AFM, dropping resistors, Air flow regulators etc, are all interchangeable between the N/A ZX and Z. The only items you need to be wary of when interchanging is the ECU and harness. The Harness MUST match the ECU for the car it came from as the pin outs changed throughout the years. Also, the early AFM, had the fuel pump switch built it, but that is easy to get around. Hope that helps, Paul

Yeah, what Jon and J. Soileau said. These guys have far more experience and know what they are talking about.

When is the last time you checked/cleaned the NARPs valve?

One mans junk is another’s treasure I guess.. The headers are nothing special old used round port 1 ½” primary headers, the intakes, well they are aluminum. They wont rust too badly…

Yes, Nissan did baffle the ’75 and ’76 tanks a little better than the earlier tanks for EFI use, but they still have terrible fuel starvation issues during aggressive maneuvers with less than ¼ tank fuel. They aren't much better than a 240 tank. The ’77 and ’78 cars have little nice internal baffling but still suffer from picking up air pockets during aggressive maneuvers when below 1/4 tank. Below 1/8 tank, just mild playing the engine is popping and sputtering from air pockets. The later tanks are larger and shaped much differently, i.e. it would take lots of fabrication to get one in an nearly Z such as cutting out the spare tire well. If you plan to drive your car aggressively at all and want the OE tank, plan a surge can/tank.

Good question. I have no idea what that BMW V-8 is going for dollars wise, and of course you would want the tranny with it. The SHO V-8, (both are dual planeV-8) I’ve heard it has the same bell housing bolt pattern as the V-6 variant, and that has been converted to RWD using a T-5. At that, a standard SBC could be built ,$$$$.$$, to rev similarly to what the SHO revs to stock, and you would have, that much more displacement doing it, i.e. power… Sound similar to the Nascar V-8, though I think they rev higher than the SHO and BMW V-8. My thought with the more generic SBC and destroking it to that extreme with a 2” stroke is that even “OE cast” pistons would survive at 9500 RPM all day long, no sweat. And being as the crank would be custom, that would allow a single plane design for that Ferrari braap exhaust note, just like the F-355 on the video a few posts back, but the SBC versions could feasibly rev another1000-2000 RPM more, I think the F-355 redlines at 8800 RPM if. It would sound more like a sport bike or F-1/Indy engine with a single plane crank at those R’s.. Of course this crank could be built in dual plane as well, though if you were machining this yourself, the single plane would be easier and less work. The other beauty of the SBC version is with all the parts already available for it. With so much aftermarket support with heads, valve train, internal parts, etc.. the sky and your check book are the limit. Not to mention, parts are everywhere. If you want to alter the BMW V-8, good luck finding heads, cams, intakes, etc. and if it breaks? Probably better off just finding a whole other engine instead of trying to rebuild it.. The dollar per “exotic RPM whine” should be pretty good with the SBC, depending on how much parts sourcing and scrounging you are willing to do yourself. And it would be something that you built, not bought. Think of it this way. Just as Mega squirt is to EFI, this 2” stroke SBC would be to exotic sounding engines like sport bikes and Ferraris. Most of us can’t afford a Ferrari engine, but we might be able to duplicate its sound and possibly its power at a fraction the cost. The only issues I can think of at this point that would need addressing for a SBC to handle spinning that high is valve train components and possibly the oil pump.

Check it yo… Even Braapizzles, Lego V-8 has a dual plane crank.. Mad engine skills, reppin Hyb yo…

Last weekend i July. Flyer is here.. http://home.earthlink.net/~rusch/

TOOL loaning program eh?.. Hmm..I'll loan you Ron..

Yes, we do have a few parts and parts cars...

I’d say fuel cel. With the stock tank you’ll have to build a surge can/tank, some fuel cels have them built in. Fuel cel also allows for more flexibility in regards to exhaust routing at the back of the car as well. That's my $.02

Electrical diagrams for the factory service manual.. ECCS overall schematic; http://www.300zx-twinturbo.com/cgi-bin/manual.cgi?list=efec&dir=&config=&refresh=&direction=forward&scale=0&cycle=off&slide=13&design=default&total=190 VTC tech info; http://www.300zx-twinturbo.com/cgi-bin/manual.cgi?list=efec&dir=&config=&refresh=&slide=29&cycle=off&scale=0&design=default&total=190 When it is activated and not activated; http://www.300zx-twinturbo.com/cgi-bin/manual.cgi?list=efec&dir=&config=&refresh=&direction=forward&scale=0&cycle=off&slide=30&design=default&total=190 Wiring diagram for the VTC circuits, relays etc; http://www.300zx-twinturbo.com/cgi-bin/manual.cgi?list=efec&dir=&config=&refresh=&direction=forward&scale=0&cycle=off&slide=164&design=default&total=190 HybridZ member “booztd3” is also a great source of technical info…

Nice work.. So do you have PIXAR do all your blue screen work.. LOL Nice spank..

The first thing that popped in my mind was the little carbon nipple that goes in the top of the distributor, contacts the top of the rotor. Is it still there?

Good source of Z-32 info there no doubt, yet they have more than a few yahoos that are pretty closed minded and not afraid to let you know that.

In trying to keep this a budget DIY style build up, I wanted to retain as many OE and off the shelf parts as possible, no brand loyalty, so long as it works, with the crank being hopefully the only one off custom part of this build up. In doing so, the OE SBC heads came in three “basic” chamber volumes. 58, 64 and 72 CC. I choose the smallest, and as luck would have it, the early OE vette aluminum heads are 58 CC and will support 400 HP with a bit of port work, (I also port SBC heads, not just L-series..). As for those compression ratios I quoted earlier, those figures were with flat top pistons. As you noted, Domed pistons would raise the compression ratio and for a N/A build up, that would be the route to take. I feel a little head milling will also be needed as well. The early 302, 327, and 350 hi po engines are available with domed pistons and there are a LOT of over the counter inexpensive domed pistons available for those engines. Being as Chev used only one rod length, (except for the 400 SBC which had a shorter rod length), that means the pin height for the 3” stroke of the 302, the 3 1/4” stroke of the 327 and 3.48” stroke of the 350, were all different by about an 1/8” between each one. Some quick figuring, with a 2” stroke, rod lengths for an over the counter 302 piston could be 6.2”, for the 327 pistons, 6.325”, and the 350 piston 6.44”. Now if you utilized domed pistons for a 350 that are designed around the 6” rod, on the 2” stroke, you could use a rod that was 6.74” long rod. With the short 2” stroke and those LONG rods, the rod to stroke ratio is also quite favorable, yet another plus for this theoretical build… Again, Rod lengths for a 2” stroke SBC crank utilizing OE over the counter pistons could be 6.2”, 6.325”, 6.44” and 6.74”. Depending on the actual lengths of the rods available, we could fudge the stroke either way a smidge to accommodate the piston rod combo being as the cranks is custom made to begin with. So now we need to find some decent quality OE rods from the wrecking yard that will allow the use of SBC writs pins, and in the length we need. Machining the small end of the rod is no issue, as long as there is enough material in the small end… Big end?.. doesn’t really matter as the crank is custom so we can make the crank pin diameter any diameter we need, within reason any how. Update… In doing a quick piston search, finding pistons with enough dome to get us up to over 10:1 for N/A with a 2” stroke is not looking good. Here is a KB Claimer piston, -14cc dome. With 2” stroke, 588 CC head, yields 8.9:1 CR http://www.kb-silvolite.com/claimer.php?action=details&P_id=18 Another KB Forged, -15.2 cc dome, yields 9.1:1 http://www.kb-silvolite.com/forged.php?action=details&P_id=443 This one is the same as above, but for the 383, so a rod length of 6.565” could be used… http://www.kb-silvolite.com/forged.php?action=details&P_id=442 With the engine at a mere 3.3 liters, 9000 RPM will help get the N/A HP up to fun and livable Hybrid levels, even at only 9.1:1, but being as getting a more desirable N/A 10:1+ compression ratio is going to be a bit tricky, (read expensive with custom pistons), adding boost is looking more and more attractive.

When comparing the Domestic V-8’s to pretty much any import, whether it be the Datsun L-series, or Toyota, Mazda, Honda etc, the metallurgy used Japanese engines was, for a better word, better suited for long engine life compared to the domestics. I’ve torn down many L-series with well over 200,000 miles and the cross hatch from the factory hone operation is still present, at least in 80% of the bore, and no ridge at the top. Some domestic V-8’s and at 100,000 miles a huge ridge at the top. Not all of that is due to metallurgy. A huge influence on engine wear is maintenance such as tune ups, air filter and oil maintenance and also owner/driver habits, such as revving the engine immediately after initial start up. EFI has played a HUGE role in engine wear and the ability for oil changes to go past 5000 miles with NO ill effect. Complete combustion with no misfires makes for a very happy long lived engine, no matter what part of the world it was manufactured. The piston rings and cylinders, valves etc will live a long happy life. Throw on a carb that is out of tune, an ignition system that is not up to snuff, now you have fuel wash, diluted oil, rings that don’t seal completely due to misfires, etc. engine wear just increased dramatically. Also, firing up the engine and revving it up immediately after start up adds considerable wear to the bearings, rings and cylinder walls. As for the domestics and metallurgy, a person can acquire over the OE parts counter, blocks, cranks, rods etc that utilize similar and even tougher metallurgy than the imports used. This is through the performance parts divisions of those domestic manufacture such as Chevrolet, Ford and Chrysler. Even the Aftermarket has addressed this as well. Any how, engine life is a two part equation. First part being metallurgy, the second part being proper maintenance and care, even if the engine is driven hard, as long as proper tune ups are kept up, air filter and oil maintenance is kept up, the engine will last a long time. It has already been covered that when an engine is modified to work harder, i.e. produce more Horse Power, the lifespan is shortened, depending on how far this taken of course.