Gareth

http://wmexpressway.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=371 Hope this helps.

Pop N Wood, good writeup on the main Spitfire and Bf-109 maintenance differences! One thing that should be added though is the fact that even with a correct fuel mixture setting, the Rolls Royce SU carburetters would stop under negative g-forces, because of the fuel being pressed to the walls of carb bowls (dunno if it's the correct English term, I'm trying to do my best ). In order to counter that, the British introduced the "Miss Shilling's Orifice". There's a quite good article on Wikipedia about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Shilling%27s_orifice Well, the Germans developed numerous turbocharging devices for many purposes... There were experimental turbocharged Daimler-Benz (DB603S) and Junkers (Jumo 213T) engines for high-altitude use, tough they never made it into production. Aside from the aircraft engines, MAN (Maschinenfabrik-Augsburg-Nürnberg) made Buchigebläse turbocharger systems for U-boot inline 9 cylinder Diesel engines, which proved to be superior to Germaniawerft Kapselgebläse gear-driven superchargers.

Yeah, the P-38 would perform much better with the Merlins. The Army Air Force guys were disappointed with the early P-38's performance on higher altitudes, just because the Allison lacked a supercharger at first. The Griffon was a truly great engine (basically similar to the Merlin, but MUCH larger) but because of its size it would ruin the flight characteristics of any light fighter plane. I once talked with a Polish colonel, who used to fly de Havilland Mosquitos during the war, and he told me that with larger engines it would never be such a pleasure to fly. Even with the older Merlins, the Mosquito was able to outrun almost any German fighter on high altitudes. No wonder why their losses were so small, in comparison to single seat fighters... I wish I had an uncle like that! The device you mentioned wasn't exactly a "gearbox" in our (automotive) understanding. As far as I know, it was a certain type of clutch that engaged each speed of the supercharger, resulting in different boost levels (it's the same kind of effect that you would get by changing the supercharger pulley while driving). A similar device was used in a twincharged Lancia Delta S4, which disengaged the supercharger after full turbocharger boost was reached. Instead of having a Roots type supercharger, the Merlin had a centrifugal one, which was great on higher RPMs - with the constant engine speeds in an airplane, it must have worked really well. Exactly! Even in the early 1940's, Daimler Benz used direct (mechanical!) injection. Both the Allies and Axis powers experimented with different kinds of boost - without the WWII, we would still be in turbocharger stone age (superchargers are a different story, auto makers used them in the 20's and 30's - like the Blower Bentley). The Germans also used GM-1 (nitrous oxide) and MW50 (methanol-water) injection systems for adding power. FW-190s were also equipped with a slight overboost feature similar to the P-51s, but called Erhöhte Notleistung ("Emergency high power"). I think I don't need to mention all the American achievment in the field of turbo, water-methanol and nitrous technology - take the P-47 for example. It is also great that the US guys took a lesson from the German and Japanese researches after the war, and evaluated every possible type of aircraft. The second World War resulted in a huge leap forward in engine technology. Back to the "Favourite planes" topic, I've always had a special place for one plane in my heart... Guess I don't have to explain anything. I've only seen two of them - one is a partially restored G-6 excavated from a muddy lake (I don't think it's ever going to fly again), and another one WAS a Hispano Ha-1112 - the one that Mark Hanna crashed in...

While there should be no problem with bolting the 350Z transmission to any other VQ block, the ECU could become an issue... Remember, most of these newer engines need a signal from the original auto transmission to operate properly, which means that you'll either need a good piggyback, or a complete standalone management system, which could push the overall cost to a much higher lever than planned.

Before you start the swap, remember one thing - Eclipse and Evo engines are mounted differently in the engine bay. What I mean by this is that while the Eclipse GST and GSX have the flywheel and gearbox on the left side of the car, Evos from IV on had gearboxes mounted on the right, or it may be the other way around. Anyway, this is why DSM guys can't just swap the 6-bolts or 7-bolts for much better Evo engines. As far as I know, original Mitsubishi gearboxes are not up to the task when paired with a DSM or Evo motor. I don't know about the details, but I read somewhere that they're just weak, that's all. There are adapters for Toyota W58 and R154 gearboxes, and they both easily handle that kind of power. Also, Mazda RX-7 Turbo II gearboxes bolt right up, as long as you use the right bellhousing from a Mazda pickup that had a Mitsubishi engine. Dunno if an FD3S gearbox will fit - there are 600HP FD's that run on daily basis, so they should be a good replacement for the TII ones. A 4G63 swap would surely be original, and with the motor's aftermarket support, stout cast iron block and tons of DSM experience it should not be that difficult to make a Z a really fast car. Reliability is another issue - I'm pretty sure that you'd have to spend quite a lot of money to get this going. Good luck!

I prefer piston-engined warbirds to jet fighters. I've been to several airshows with WWII aircraft displays. There's NOTHING that sounds close to a Rolls-Royce or Packard Merlin-engined fighter on low altitude... I still remember the sound of a Spitfire and a Spanish-built Hispano HA-1112 Buchon (licence built Bf-109G-14 with Merlin XX) flying just over my head. I was a kid back then, and things like these fascinated me so much that I dreamed to become a pilot one day. Even tough I have a great passion for cars, I've always had a special place for aircraft deep down in my heart. My favorites are: Supermarine Spitfire, Focke Wulf FW-190, Messerschmitt Bf-109, Macchi M.C. 205, Kawasaki Ki-61 & Ki-100, Nakajima Ki-84, Vought Corsair & F6F Hellcat. To the guys that visited Imperial War Museum - if you haven't been to RAF Muesum in Hendon - regret it now! There are much more things to watch than in IMW.

To tell you the truth, I've recently contacted Frank on the subject of L28ET motors. In the end I decided not go with it for the reasons above. Fortunately, my friend offered me to take care of the shipping from the US to Europe. The only issue now is to locate a parts shop that would be kind enough to send them to a certain office somewhere in the States. From there on, these parts are going to be brought together in a single package, and then sent to Europe. My friend has been importing parts like these for a year or so already, and he had no bad experiences with it - I will pick them up from his house when I come back. This way, I will avoid involving other people in the whole mess. It's a shame that I'm going to the "wrong-as-far-as-the-Z-cars-are-concerned" coast, but then again, you can't have everything! The parts I'm searching for are small enough that I won't need a container that you mentioned, so I will cut on cost there. I will probably contact MSA or Modern Motorsports to get all the parts I need - I hope it won't be a problem for them to ship the parts to NYC or some other place specified by me beforehand. If it won't be possible, then I'll have to take a cheap flight to the UK and pay a visit to Geoff Jackson at Fourways Engineering. I really liked UK after my first visit, so maybe I will go to a travel agent soon to search for some cheap tickets... Anyway, thanks for being so helpful! Regards, Tony.

I will be located somewhere in the New Your City. Great thanks for the offer! Would it be possible to ship the parts to your house, and from there to Europe? I live in Poland, so I can pick these parts up from Hamburg in Germany or somewhere else. There is also a company in Chicago called Polamer (I think they have an office in NYC), and they ship freight from US to Poland on a regular basis. I may be able to transfer the parts transport to them, and that would make much less trouble to you. Thanks! I have some factory parts that need replacing, so I'll definetely look for them there. Thanks for the suggestion, I think I'll do it this way in the end...

Hi guys, today I phoned a travel agent to confirm that I'm going to the US. I'll be there from the beginning to the end of July, so I'll have plenty of time to search for some parts for my Z that I'm currently restoring. I'll be staying in New York. After 2 years of constant searching for Z info on the Internet I found out that there aren't many Z-related shops in the East, but I hope I'm wrong. Now the question is - are there any 240Z parts distributors in New York? I also started a research on what exactly I should buy for my car. I'm planning to create a semi daily driver/semi trackday NA car, which means that I can't go all-out when choosing some new parts. I was thinking of the following upgrades: Suspension: - thicker anti-roll bars, front and rear strut tower bars, polybushes for front and rear suspension, performance dampers and springs, 16x8 front and 16x9 rear wheels (Watanabes would be perfect), what else? Brakes: - Toyota 4 piston front calipers with 300ZX NA ventilated discs, rear disc brake assembly (don't know which one I should choose), maybe a full-blown Willwood 4-piston trackday brake kit? Steering: - what can I upgrade here? I read about WRX and Miata racks with PS being used in 240Zs, do they really work? Engine: - 280Z N42 engine, triple Solex C.40 ADDHE twin-choke carbs (I bought them recently, they are the Solex equivalent of Weber DCOE and Dell'Orto DHLA carbs) on a TWM or Cannon intake manifold (which one's better?), good 6-3-1 exhaust manifold (headers?) with a performance exhaust, longer-duration camshaft (Isky, Schneider, something else?), stiffer valve springs, KA24-based 89 mm forged pistons, ARP rod and head bolts, metal head gasket, Clevite bearings, maybe L20A rods for better rod/stroke ratio? Drivetrain: - factory FS5C71A/B gearbox (it came with my L24, this is the Euro-spec gearbox, still don't know if it's the A or B type - will have to disassemble it first), aluminum flywheel, performance clutch (single disc?), limited slip differential (european cars have the 3,90:1 R180), diff oil cooler, what else? I think this is pretty much how I would like my car to look like - the body is already being straightened up to handle the extra abuse, and the car will be assembled mostly by my friend, a racecar driver and mechanic (lucky me!) and partially by me. Is this plan reasonable? After a lot of consideration, I dropped the L28ET idea, just because a turbo engine would ban my car from most historic events in Europe. I just hope that I will be able to source all the listed parts while being in the States... And BTW: is there anyone who lives in NY over here? Thanks guys! Tony

I don't live in the USA, so please don't blame me for the question below - I'm just curious wether one trick would work or not... As far as I know, US got the SR20DE came in some FWD platforms, such as the Sentra SE-R. The FF applications have different blocks then FR cars, which means that you can't just use a Sentra block in, say, a 240Z. Now the question is - if one would swap a USDM SR20DE motor into a 240Z, and change the block for a JDM FR SR20DE block (most of J's and Q's Silvias came with the NA SR20) even with DE internals, would it be legal to drive it in the States? The engine should maintain its basic characteristics, and nowadays it's nothing strange to import some parts from Japan, such as an engine block (especially in a situation when you can't source one from the US). I know it's not a turbo motor and it doesn't have the punch of the DET, but it may be possible to create such a turbo kit to make it smog legal (after all, companies such as Edelbrock make 50-state legal turbo kits for Hondas and such), and with the SR20's parts intercheangeability it should be easy to create SR20 that's legal to drive in the States. Block construction should not alter the car's smog characteristics, as long as you keep the DE internals intact (who checks it anyway?). It you use the stock ECU, cat and so on, it should be pretty easy to tell the Police officer that the car is 100% legal - if only the SR20 really came from a USDM Sentra. If you can't swap to SR20, then why not o KA24DE and turbo it?

Great, thanks for the info!

Maybe wickedwicked240z is preparing another engine somewhere else? I hope it's going to be fast to match the looks Even now, the car looks great - it even made me consider white paint for my car (I chose to go burgundy in the end). I think my project will look more or less like this, so I'll have to check for updates frequently

Hello, my friend called me a while ago asking to post this question for him. He bought a Z32, which is his weekend project car. He wants some big wheels for it, and he found 19x8 ET38 front and 19x9 ET15 rear rims. Will they fit in the Z32 without interfering with the body? Thanks in advance. Tony

This is a LY race engine head, used in Nissan works racing Fairlady Zs... It's not just a chopped up and glued Z or K head, it's a completely different unit made by Nissan themselves.

Well, it looks complicated from what you guys wrote. If so, is there a burgundy paint that could emulate the car from the first two pics? I don't really care about the base coat, as I would only like to make the car look from distance as the one in the pic. It's not that I want any additional effects - just the exact burgundy shade. It's not going to be a show car, so I'll probably make some dents here and there while driving it roughly in some sporting events - in this case, a standard burgundy paint should do the trick. Now the question is - does anyone know what kind of paint this might be, if there is no silver base coat? It's a pity that I don't live in the States - I'd like to be able to meet you guys at some kind of a Z car show, and say "thank you" personally to everyone out there. I love the Z community!

Gee, I never thought that I'd receive all the answers I've been searching for. Cheers guys! Frank, the L28ET may be a bit pointless if I'm searching for something that will hold only 300HP, but then again I don't want to make a mess from my original engine after I make the rebuild now. While transferring the turbo parts may be easy, I'm afraid that the fuel injection could be a problem if I was to install it in a originally Hitachi-carbed L24. I know that I could only change the head, injection stuff and pistons, but I'd like to keep the factory engine as original as possible, in order to drop it straight in if anything happens to the L28.

Alright, I'll ask them if the car from the pictures is in brandywine. It sure helped! Cheers guys! Regards, Tony.

Great, thanks for the help! There is a DuPont shop near my house, so I'll go there and check it out. Death69, thanks for pointing this out - I've just seen that this is a slightly different shade of red. I opted for the "bordeaux" paint as seen in the first picture - it looks the business...

Hey, I've seen this car in someone's MSA 2007 pics thread... Does anyone know what kind of paint this is? It looks beautiful, and even my girlfriend said she loves it... Obviously I won't have the "how to paint my Z" dilemma anymore. Regards, Tony.

Thanks for the info - as far as I know, all ZXs came with the F54 block, right? Does HKS still make the 2mm head gasket? I'd have to import a P90 separately. For the HP goal I would like to achieve, the stock cams should be alright, so maybe I should search for a hydraulic P90A head? I'd like to use a set of forged pistons, just for safety - I've seen too many blown up engines lately. Are there any aftermarket T3 flange cast manifolds available for the L28? And is the non-EGR N42 inlet manifold better than the factory P90 design?

Hey, I bought a rare Euro-spec 240Z a year ago, and I'm currently restoring it to better-than-new condition. After reading this forum for a year or so, I decided to upgrade the suspension with polybushes, custom Bilstein struts, H&R springs, new stabilizer bars (= sway bars in the US?) and strut tower bars for front and rear. Also, my friend wants to sell me a set of S14 4-piston front calipers and 2-piston rear calipers. Even thought the car will have a stock engine for a while, I opted for a custom rollcage to be fitted, just to make the body a bit stiffer. I'm also searching for a R200 LSD unit, but I don't know if I will find one here in Europe. After I get used to driving the car, the stock engine might not be enough for me. I know that it's a lot of time before this happens, but I want to plan things in advance, just to be sure if I'm thinking right. After reading the forums, I thought that the most reasonable option for power levels up to 300 flywheel HP would be the 280ZX L28ET, which should be a drop-in replacement for the factory L24. I know that there might be some problem sourcing the right tank from a fuel-injected 280Z, but there's still a bigger one - I don't know where to source the engine from. Unfortunately, we Europeans didn't get as many 280ZX turbos over the 80's as the US clients did. This means that I won't be able to source a donor car just like that, from around the corner. Now the main question is: does anybody in Europe have a clue where can I find either a complete 280ZX parts, or a L28ET drivetrain, along with the R200 differential? A few days ago I've called a guy in the UK, who was selling some 280ZX parts, but, unfortunately, he only had NA motors... I hope I won't get flamed, because I've read the whole forum, made a ton of searches and created a realistic (I think) plan. Thanks in advance! Tony

Yesterday a friend of mine told me that he has a set of 4-piston front calipers from his own S14 (he's replacing them with Brembos from the Z33). I've been told that the European S14s has the same aluminum calipers as the NA Z32. It might be difficult to source a set of Toyota calipers here, and even if I did, I would have to fabricate the brackets. Is it worth to install the S14 calipers in a 240Z? Are the S14 240SX calipers the same as in European cars? Please don't blame me if the info was posted before - I've searched through the whole forum and found nothing.

The 750HP 4 cylinder that RacerX was reffering to is either the one that mull wrote about, or Per Eklund's Rallycross monster. As far as I know, Per usually had around 600HP on race days. He took his older 9-3 to Pikes Peak once, and I've heard rumors that this one had even more HP. It had to be disassembled after every few hours of hard driving. These engines can withstand some serious abuse, but in order to swap it into a 240Z you have to find a matching RWD gearbox for it.

I know this thread has been dead for almost a year, but does anyone know if there is any working link for the VHS movie? I'm sorry I brought back the dead topic, but I've been searching for any Wangan Midnight videos - without result.