Zmanco

I think I misunderstood your question and blozup got it right. Injector opening time has to be measured. You can tune around it if you're not close, but you may see strange patterns in the VE table. If you use a time that's too short, you'll see the VE rising as MAP goes down - which isn't how the physics actually works. That's a clue that you need to extend the opening time a little.

MS calculate PW based on the setup criteria you give it (# and size of injectors, size of engine, etc) along with MAT (manifold air temp), MAP (manifold absolute pressure), and VE table. It's the VE table that you use to tune. You might want to reread the section in the manual where it discusses the ideal gas law and how MS uses it to calculate the PW.

FWIW, the cam card that came with my Schneider cam only listed cold clearance. I called to ask why and they said it didn't really matter whether it was done cold or hot, and since it's easier to do cold that's all they list now. My own experience from installing a few cams cold and later checking hot is that there is no pattern to which valves "change", and usually it's about .001 or .002 difference so not a big deal. As I said in another recent post, if you're worried about valve noise, make sure that the wipe pattern is good, otherwise no amount of adjusting the valves is going to quiet things down.

I'll throw one more thought out on the thermostat issue: how will the engine be run? If it's just an occasional burst of WOT on the street, then I can see the benefits of a lower temp thermostat. But if it's sustained WOT, such as on a road course, then I don't think it matters without other changes to improve airflow through the radiator. The stock setup, regardless of which radiator is used, is likely to see the water temps rise above any of the thermostat temps being discussed after a few laps. Once the thermostat is fully open, the temperature at which it opened no longer affect the final steady state operating temperature. I used to run a similar setup with .030 flat tops, N42 and mild cam and couldn't exceed 35 degrees total advance, and on track days, had to run an ignition table where I retarded between 4k and 5k about 5 degrees or so. With the 4 core MSA radiator I routinely saw water temps in the 210+ range by the end of 20 minutes track sessions with ambient temps in the 90s. I added an oil cooler and that brought them down a few degrees (typically around 204 - 206 max). I didn't have an oil temp gauge, but expect the oil temps saw a much larger drop. My point is that it would not have mattered which thermostat I ran as the cooling system was limited by airflow (or lack thereof) through the radiator.

A suggestion: hit the space bar on the laptop while datalogging to mark the event. That makes finding it a lot easier when you're reviewing. You can give us the time code from the bottom of the screen so we can find it too.

You still have req fuel at 8.2 which is high for those large injectors. As a point of reference, with 440cc injectors I'm running req fuel = 3.0. Of course, this increases the range of values for the VE table. If you want to start from scratch, use the req fuel calculator in MT. For a stock block and 280 cc turbo injectors you'll get 11.0 ms. Do it with 450 cc and you'll get 6.8 ms. I cut it down further to expand the range of values in the VE table to above 100. I'd suggest you go back to your last good msq file from when you ran the stock injectors and scale (multiply) whatever you had for req fuel by 0.62 (=280/450) and start over. If you had a decent tune with the old injectors, and the new injectors have a similar opening time, then you shouldn't see much difference in the AFRs with the new injectors. Also, have you tried datalogging and then using MLV to tune? It looks like you need to take a few long drives while logging, and after each one, run MLV and let it recommend changes. If you haven't been using this tool, you're doing it the hard way.

Would you elaborate on what you mean here? Why does a high compression motor need a more stable ignition than a low compression one? Was Rebello referring to the stock 280zx dizzy, or was he making a comment that a high compression L engine doesn't need as much advance at high RPM? Or perhaps he meant something else?

A long time ago I ran 215/60-14 BFGs on 14 x 7 Enkei wheels. I had no clearance issues front or rear on my 73. The suspension was stock. I can't imagine you'd have clearance issues with a 205/60-14 unless something isn't straight on the car.

I know you're showing us the engine but it looks like you have dual master cylinders using the stock units? Any chance you can show us some close ups of how you did that?

Both the RPM and MAP signals are very noisy. What are the Lag values for them? I'd suggest taking them lower to smooth things out. Also perhaps you can take the MAP signal from a different port on the manifold where there's less fluctuation? On my L6 just moving the MAP port from the end (near the power brake vacuum port) to the middle made a significant difference in smoothing the signal above 6k rpm. I can't help but wonder if you had a smooth RPM and MAP signal what the PW and AFR traces would look like. My sense is that the PW would smooth out and put a more even load on the fuel pump. But I really can't guess if that would solve the backfire/stall issue. Still, I think you will want to get these cleaned up anyway so couldn't hurt to do it now in case it helps.

Welcome to the site, and a friendly word of advice, try using the search function. A quick search using "head" and "e80" turned up this thread:http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=128095&highlight=e80+head Seems unlikely that an AU head made it over to So. Cal, so maybe your theory that the E88 is just defaced might be the deal. But it looks like there is such an animal as an E80 head.

And in case it wasn't obvious, torque the tower bolts with a cam installed. Make sure it turns freely. If it binds, loosen them, tap the towers with a soft faced hammer as BRAAP says, and tighten again.

For the cam tower bolts that's not necessary. IIRC the spec is low, around 12 lb ft. No need to creep up on that

I have a 4.11 R180 that whines between 55 and 65 mph under heavier load. I set the backlash to .0065" when I installed it with new side bearings. I've found that if I lower my head (which is usually near the headliner) the noise is reduced a lot, so it seems to me that it's a resonance type of issue. Back in 73 apparently there was a TSB that involved adding some large weights to the front diff mount. I've tried that and I think it helped a little, but not much. My point is that our early Zs transit all kinds of resonances and someone shorter than me probably wouldn't give my car's a second thought. Glad you found a diff that's as quiet as you want - I think you should consider yourself lucky

Besides the head/block interface, I'd check the timing cover and the waterpump. Also, not a bad idea to check the heater core under the dash along with the temp control valve. Hopefully those didn't get cold enough to freeze as they're in the cabin. One last thing would be the coolant path through the intake manifold if you're still using that. Good luck!

Some tire manufacturers will list the min tire width for each tire size. Here's the specs for a BFG tire in a 215/60-14: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp?make=BFGoodrich&model=Radial+T%2FA&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&partnum=16SR4RADTARWL2&tirePageLocQty=%26partnum%3D16SR4RADTARWL2 In general, I wouldn't go beyond a 215 for a 6" rim, and even that is probably pushing it, although this example tire seems to be ok with 6" rims all the way up to 235. FYI, the width of the tire to our eyes is affected obviously by the tire's width, but also a lot by the width of the rim it's mounted on. In other words, a 215 vs 205 tire on a 6" rim aren't going to look much different. And all else being equal, I'd bet that the 205 would be a better choice from a performance point of view. Lastly, here's a spread sheet I built that let's you see how the tire diameter changes for a variety of sizes for our Zs. The Error column is how much your speedo will be off, assuming it's accurate with the stock tire Tire sizes - 240z.zip

Datalog it. There are so many things that could be set up wrong that's where I'd start. FWIW, I'm running the Ford 440cc injectors with a T3/T4 and don't have this issue, so suspect it's not the injectors, rather something in your tune. BTW, I have to ask a basic question. You said these injectors replaced the stock ones. Did you change req fuel? If not, that would explain why you can't get the AFR above 10

This must be my day for closeouts ... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes.jsp?make=Yokohama&model=AVS+ES100&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&partnum=435WR9ES100XL&PID=361116&SID=FW8gumvp&AID=10396151& FYI, I ran these in a 225/50-16 and they were a good value for the money, but not my favorite. Good grip, gentle breakaway, but not real crisp transitions. But at these prices, if you can use one of the closeout sizes this is a good deal for a summer tire.

I'm running the Ford 440 cc injectors 280-150-400 with resistors. I set the opening time at 1.0 ms, but found that for light throttle (MAP<40) i was seeing the values in the VE table at low rpm going up, even though I had the AFR targets leaning out as well. My suspicion is that as the opening time is really longer so the VE is rising to compensate. Just before our storms here in CO I increased opening to 1.2 ms and did one datalogging session. It did suggest reductions in low MAP VE entries without any in the upper right corner of the table, but not as much as I would have expected. I haven't been able to go out again so need to tune more before I can say with some certainty that this injector needs a longer opening time. My intuition says that the opening time with resistors will be longer than without as the resistors are reducing the level of energy applied to the coil. The idea is that it takes a certain amount of energy to open it regardless of how it is applied. Has anyone else experienced this, or could there be something else going on?

http://www.rockauto.com/RSS/vehiclefeeds.php?carcode=1209361&m=wc&l=en&html=true If you're looking for some 280zx parts, some of these might be a pretty good deal. I think many of these will fit the NA car as well.

John, so what you're saying is that with a stiffer spring, such as 250 lb/in, the illuminas can only be used on their higher settings, say 4 and 5?

Yes, I've seen that Autometer seems to be the most popular, but wasn't sure if the Sport-Comp series fits like the others.

I'm looking at the 3543 guage: http://autometer.com/cat_gaugedetail.aspx?gid=2796&sid=15 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ATM-3543/ Have any of you used it in a 73 240Z? I'm thinking of replacing the clock with it. Does it require any cutting or special fabrication to mount? Did the stock lamps fit? Was the hole from the clock adjuster very noticeable? I'm hoping for a more or less "bolt in" solution as my fabrication tools/skills for small delicate parts like this are not good.

Under the heading of "Teaching a man to fish ..." When you bleed the brakes the bubbles in the caliper are going to RISE, hence it's not going to work if the bleed nipple isn't at the highest point. Keep that in mind when you mount the calipers and it's unlikely you'll mount them backwards. Of course, you've now figured that out Hey, at least you had the courage to admit making a mistake. Read enough posts here and you'll see that we all (well most of us) make a few dumb mistakes.

It doesn't seem likely that bleeding the MC is going make the pad and disc surfaces mate properly unless there is so much air that there is almost no pressure in the rears. I would focus my attentions on how the caliper is seated on the bracket, etc. If you haven't already done it, with the wheel off and a good light, I'd be looking at the bracket/caliper/pad/disc interactions to see what's not fitting together properly. Also, you said that you had the discs resurfaced. I'd put a straight edge across the discs looking for unevenness. Perhaps they didn't cut them correctly? I had an issue with that the last time I tried to have my discs cut at the local parts store. I've since decided that discs are a wear item like pads and will just replace them and the pads together from now on. Discs for our cars are relatively cheap and the hassle when it doesn't work out just isn't worth it.