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Click Here. The OBX part number for the diff disassembled in this thread is listed (and pictured) in this thread. Look up what diff came in the cars the OBX you are looking at purchasing is meant for and what diff your car has.

Everything I've ever read is additive packages in standard oils, extended life oils (anti-sludging agents, thermal/viscosity/surface adhesion modifiers), racing oils (ZDDP) are good things and you should use one that's appropriate for your vehicle. It is the off-the-shelf cure-all additives such as Slick 50 with Teflon! that are to be generally avoided. Additives designed to alleviate a specific problem (such as lack of ZDDP) and don't make outrageous claims should be fine. The toxicity of ZDDP to the catalytic converter is different. I think the term "Life of the car" is key here. New vehicles come with a warranty specific to the emissions system, and the catalytic converter has to last for that. Classic cars are not considered current life vehicles, so are not expected to have functioning original cats. The elimination of ZDDP from new oils IS a problem not only for us, but for any vehicle with flat tappets. This is a greater problem with new or re-ground camshafts. Old, run-in engines have a very compatible contact pattern between the cam lobes and the lifers or rockers. Any high spots have been worn down gradually over dozens of heat cycles and thousands of miles. During that break-in, ZDDP and other phosphates helped protect the cam. Now, the use of ZDDP-free oils in a rebuilt engine during the break-in results in any slight manufacturing defects rearing the head in horrid ways. One problem that has been observed is there is a miss-match of hardness (read up on the Rockwell scale) between the lift/rocker and the cam. This is seen especially on Z cars using camshafts with blanks cast by CWC using high-pressure valve springs. A re-ground Nissan cam and re-surfaced (or new) Nissan rockers is the best way to go. As for weights of oils, thinner is ideally better, to a point. Thinner oils have less friction, and less friction means parts move easier, and parts moving easier creates less wear and more power. The caveat for this is the oil must be thick enough to fill the gaps between moving parts and protect them. Our classic cars with larger bearing tolerances looser-fitting parts from older metalurgy compounded with sometimes hundreds of thousands of miles need thicker oil to fill those gaps. You could very well bulid and L-series engine with clearances, thermal expansion properties, oil galley sizes, oil pump capacity, etc that would be perfectly happy with 0W-20. Hypereutectic pistons and as small as possible bearing clearances would be big steps forward making an L-engine happy with thinner oil. A high capacity oil pump would also most likely be needed. Keep in mind that when new, an L-engine was rated to run 5-30 in cold climates. With new synthetics that protect better, a rebuilt engine could most likely be happy in all moderate climates (above freezing to mid 90s) with it.

Maybe he thinks if he puts spinners on and runs 110LL he can leave the ground? Actually, that would be a great prank to play on someone, see how long it takes for them to notice. Almost as good as rolling down the window and sprinkling glass on the floor.

The most reliable thing is to pick up a copy of the FSM for the year you're looking at. It will tell you size and ratio for anything. Of course, that also depends on previous owners not swapping parts around, which is always a distinct possibility. On the ZX, per my 82 FSM, the rear diff mount is listed with the following note: "Differential mounting bracket and adapter plate of R200 differential carrier are installed opposite to those of R180 differential carrier. Install them according to identification marks shown in table below." | Bracket | Adapter Plate | White Paint | Cutout ------------------------------------------ R200 | Front | Rear R180 | Rear | Front The easiest thing to do is just learn to tell the difference visually. Also carry chalk with you for easy marking of the driveshaft to check the ratio. Or just use the John Coffe method - pull it apart and look!

Take a look through this entire site, it's worth it. http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/ A bunch of nice pictures and diagrams are in the Electrical section, there's a ZX distributor rebuild page. -Eric

I love the BSOD screensaver. Found one that looks like The Gibson too. Edit: Found it! Gibson Screen Saver.rar

Most certainly not the original wiring. Measure and/or make a template to determine physical fit. Get the FSMs, read through and trace out the wiring diagrams for the stock dash, the dash from the car you're looking at using, and check out the section for the digital dash in the 83's FSM. Don't forget to check sensor ranges (temp, oil pressure, fuel, etc) and the sensor for the speedometer too. I'm with hoov too, I like the 87-89 digital dash better. I have one in my 88 and it's pretty darn awesome. -Eric

Take a look inside your old cat. You should be able to see right through it, with a nice honey-comb. If you can't see light, then it's clogged and will eat power, if there's just a straight-through hole, then most likely retarded timing or running rich burned it out. If it looks physically in tact, then it's likely just old and worn out, but not damaged.

Works for me. Once I get a little disposable income and can afford about 50 rounds each of .30-06 and 9mm, along side a 250box of .22 LR, I'm going to organize a range day with friends. -Eric

No, but I do.

Not bad. Where are you going trick-or-treating?

Factory spec on my 82 NA is 8 BTDC. Try 11-12 to start with, and go gently from there.

Yup, that's right. Take a look at the EFI bible, you can pick up a copy from http://www.xenons130.com in the reference section, listed as the 280Z/ZX Fuel Injection Guide. Take a look at page 16, as well as the rest of the thing. I'll chime in on the other thread later, it'll take some thought and such, and I need to run out for a bit. In the mean time, read up on reading spark plugs. While there's more to it, a good start is here: http://www.dansmc.com/spark_plugs/spark_plugs_catalog.html -Eric [url=http://www.xenons130.com/files/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf][/url]

Wow, there's a bunch of wrong information in that thread. Also, the cold start valve only gets power when the engine is cranking. It doesn't matter what the thermotime switch is doing once you release the key, since it provides a ground signal to the cold start valve, and positive comes from the ignition switch. There isn't any time at all the valve should continue to operate once the motor is started. With the motor running, you can verify this by removing the plug for the cold start valve and testing for power on it. Also, pull your plugs and look at them. Look up articles on how to read plugs, and see what they're telling you. -Eric

Think about how smart the average person is. Now remember, half the people out there are dumber than that.

When you use air to blow out the lines, regulate the pressure down, step it up slowly if needed, and take the fuel cap off.

First, add more fuel. 3 gallons isn't very much and may not be reaching the fuel pickup. Second, you should have a fuel strainer between the tank and the pump, not a filter. Pumps are good at pushing, not pulling. Put the fuel filter between the pump and the carb. Trying to get fuel straight from the line coming from the tank is the best plan, once it's full of fuel and flowing, hook the pump back up (through the strainer) and run it. You should hear the pitch of the pump change once it's full of fuel and pumping. Keeping the fuel line under the hood in a bucket can be nice to help purge the lines and verify sufficient flow, as it can take a while for the fuel bowls to bleed enough air through them to prime the entire system. -Eric

It may be a good time to introduce a couple of relays under the hood to take the stress of the high current off of the column switch. Take a look at this nice PDF, as found in the electrical section from here: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/

The condenser helps filter out noise from getting to the rest of the car. It'll help keep efi systems stable and reduce radio interference, mainly AM. The case of the condenser is bolted to the case of the alternator with a spare ground bolt, and the terminal (wire with connector) goes over the battery terminal. It's not critical, especially with carbs, but it doesn't hurt anything and the ZX alternators all have them, as far as I can tell. -Eric

Why do you think you have a bad afm? Sometimes they just need tweaking, after years of use the springs in them wear out. For part numbers and year/model application cross reference use FAST. -Eric

The cold start injector should only squirt fuel while cranking with a cold engine. It doesn't keep adding fuel once the engine is running. You can verify this by checking for voltage at the connector for the valve itself, see if it has power with the engine off (key on), while cranking (remove coil wire) and while running. How and where did you test the switch you found to be bad? Did you unhook the cold start valve from the harness before testing? How badly are you failing smog and in what catagory(s)? Make sure your plugs aren't fouled and your o2 sensor is in good shape. These cars seems to go through those at a decent rate, especially if you spend a significant amount of time at WOT. Either way, FAST says the p/n for the 7/78-8/81 thermotime switch is 22635-N4710. Try the dealer, or see if someone can cross that number. -Eric

The real problem is there's an AFM still in the intake plumbing. COP certainly isn't a problem.

Neatfree looks like a MAJOR scam. Their website is laced with a trojen, and the domain lookups point to ambiguous entries, shared with lots of other mass-registered names. Anyone you contact via that site is not affiliated with copartdirect, but simply posing as a legit company to steal money. Copartdirect is legit, but contact them directly, not through an un-releatedly named website. -Eric

Tire design/size and most importantly speed will make you hydroplane. I've managed to hydroplane my rear tires only once. This was in a 4500 lb Mercedes that stock had a 52/48 weight distribution, but the way I had it loaded it was exceptionally close to 50/50. 205/70R14 tires, good Pirelli P400 tires in front, cheap walmart crap in the back. I had no choice with the cheap tires, as I'd gotten two flats out in nowhere, approaching the middle, while driving cross country. They were the only ones with anything in my size. It was a weird feeling to have the rear end start to slide out, but the front stay solid as a rock, a little braking and my drivewheels settled down, and things were good. Two days later I got two more P400s and never looked back.

Dumping timing doesn't work here, as that's one thing they check. One thing with the later NA 280ZX distributors is the electric advance. If you time the engine to 9 btdc with it hooked up, the smog tech will see something to within 1 degree of spec per the computer, not knowing to read the directions on how to time/check timing printed on the bottom of the hood, and then once you're much off idle you'll loose about 10 degrees of timing, which may reduce HC and NOx. Still, any decently running car should pass our emission testing without trouble. A poorly running car also robs you of power. I don't know any race team that would want un-burned fuel dumped out their exhaust into the atomosphere and not burned up making power. On a side note, I was under the impression that a mild cam would help clean up emissions on an L engine. As long as the duration and overlap weren't causing fuel to dump into the exhaust things just ran alltogether better. -Eric