280Z Turbo

I've seen it done. Some things have to be cut and moved, but an L-series will fit into a Z31 somehow. It's definately not worth all the work. You'd be better off picking up a VG30ET from the junkyard and dropping it in. The S130 and Z31 and actually quite similar in terms of the suspension design.

In 2 weeks, I'm taking my Z out to Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit, IL to run a high speed autocross with Midwestern Council. I already ran the car at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI and was having issues with brake fade after a few laps. I have stock rotors and freshly rebuilt calipers, new Hawk HPS pads, with Valvoline Syntech brake fluid. The rears are stock. I'm thinking about running some ducting and installing Fade stop brake coolers. How do you guys run brake ducting? It looks like a lot of ITS guys run dual ducting with a stock front valance. How is it secured and what kind of ducts should I use?

Anybody ever use these before? I've heard of '82-'83 calipers being used, but I haven't heard anything about S12 calipers. I just picked up a pair from the junkyard along with brackets.

I recently swapped over to a Z31 alternator. My first one died suddenly, so I'm wondering if I have the wiring wrong. My Charge light is on constantly, but my voltage is steady. I used these instructions: http://www.zcarcreations.com/howto/voltreg.htm 5 to 1 3 to 6 But Blue's is different: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/alternatorswap/index.html 5 to 1 3 to 2 Which is better?

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=123847

It's hypothetical.

We all have stories about stupid PO's. What hackjobs have you done to your Z that would scare a future owner? A future owner sure wouldn't like my 2+2 rear seat speaker mounting solution. I cut the holes out of the side panels with a tin snips. The holes were too small, so I beat the crap out of them with a hammer until they were flared enough to fit the speakers. It looks like crap, but makes it even stronger than before! My wiring is also kinda yucky, although I'm working on that. Having done a turbo swap with an '81 L28ET harness and then a Z31 MAF swap, a lot of the wiring is custom. I have one junction point where I needed + ignition power for several things so I used a bunch of eyelits stacked up, a bolt, a nut, and a ziploc bag (for insulation) to make it all work.

I am running 2.25" pipe. 2.5" is just not necessary in my case. 2" would probably be even better with a stock T3, but I want room for future turbos upgrades. Maybe I will go under the radiator and have the air filter come up. I am not a believer in the 60 mm TB "upgrade". I think it may even be a downgrade. I do have an S13 TB laying around, however.

What size air filter is that? Is that 3" pipe all the way to the filter? I'm looking at replacing my Autozone POS with this and it looks about the same as yours: http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=KNN-RB-0910 What size are your I/C pipes?

Here's what I have: I want to run the turbo to intercooler pipe behind the radiator and the intercooler to TB pipe on the driver's side.

I'm working on installing a Mitsubishi Evo intercooler on my Z, but I can't figure out where to put my air filter. With the J-pipe setup, I have a cone filter in the same place as the stock air box. Obviously, the intercooler piping will not allow that anymore. I'd rather not have an air filter right behind my radiator and electric fan and so close to the ground. BTW, I have a Z31 ECCS and MAF. Where did you guys put yours? Please post pics if you can.

84-85 Z31 Turbo ECUs work. 86-89 Z31 Turbo ECUs use a different oxygen sensor, but if you swapped the O2 sensor, you could still use them. Any non turbo ECU will work, but it would have to be reprogrammed. I ran an '88 N/A ECU with '89 Turbo maps. I believe all Z31 MAFs are pretty much the same.

I had it where there was a squeeking noise when I turned the wheel. The problem was that the spring seat was rubbing on the aftermarket strut boot. I ziptied the boot to the spring seat now so it doesn't have to slide on it anymore.

Paint. My car needs paint and body repairs badly. I'll probably go with the original 301 copper color since I like metallic orange, it's not too expensive and I don't need to worry about painting under the hood (although I should probably do that too!).

Mob mentality. They definately went way too far with that. If I were him I'd just take a mustasche trimer and thin it out a little. Doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.

I recently got some brake pins from CarQuest for my stock '76 calipers, but compared to the old ones they are much smaller. They can wiggle around in the holes whereas the old ones had to pounded out with a chisel. Now I know the old ones were covered in rust and a little bit of paint (that's why I'm replacing them) but the CarQuest ones are still way smaller than the ones that were on there. Should I be concerned about this and if so where do I find suitable replacement pins?

Don't blame the way that car looks on the rear seat! There are some really nice 2+2s out there. Apparently some dumb hillbilly (who doesn't know the first thing about Japanese cars) got a hold of a 260Z and modded it like it was an '81 Camaro. Guess what though...it's not a Camaro! That car is just hideous. I'd give him $700 for it as a parts car.

My Turbo Z: And look down below too. Please ignore the faded, nasty brown paint!

It's kind of hard to know what you have going on when I can't see anything. Can you post some pics of your wiring, maybe? Are you using the stock 280ZX coil bracket and ignitor? Is it properly grounded?

I'm not sure if those couplers will work, because of the angle of the inlet and outlet. I wish they weren't so expensive! How did you guys that have done this before figure out which and how many U-bends to buy?

Are you getting fuel? I'm sure at least part of your problem is the N/A ECU. The maps are all wrong for 259cc injectors and I doubt it will run right at all.

You are wrong, and that's why your car won't start. You must have it confused with the fact that your '83 doesn't require you to swap the entire distributor like I had to on my '81. Everybody needs to swap the chopper wheel to a Z31 style, though.

Did you swap the degree/chopper wheel in the distributor?

The handling of a muscle car with the power of a compact economy car. Sweet.