millsan1

WOW. Talk about blunt! Nicely done. Hope he replies. I did not believe the 70 HP claim, I just like the look. It seems like a good manifold. I am looking forward to his answer. Thanks for playing bad cop!

Yeah, the motor and trans go to me, maybe the dif, anything salvageable goes up for sale, the rest goes to the junkyard. I will be picking it up with a car hauler.

Thanks guys. At this point, I am leaning towards the TEC3R. I like the data logging and the windows interface, along with the nice direct fire.

I am down, might have a guest, most likely not in my Z, but I will bring my Hummer

I will be putting an aftermarket ECU and sensors on my engine. I am not interested in Megasquirt, even though it is a fine product. I have seen Haltech and Electromotive. I also will eb forgoing the distributor route and will go with direct fire ignition. The Tec3R is really nice, but at $2500 is a bit of change. The Haltech offerings have me confused. I am nt sure which one would suit my needs, without corner cutting. Does anyone have opinions on which Haltech is comparable to the Tec3r? Anyone have any other ECUs they would suggest? Thank you

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DATSUN-280Z-ZX-HEADER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33631QQihZ006QQitemZ160009072705QQrdZ1 I really like the look of it, and it may be a bit of cash, but really nice looking part. He says in his ad that he has customers with this manifold for 2 yrs, so I figured those customers might be Z members. Anyone have any feedback on the part itself, not my illogical pursuit of trick bits?

Thanks a bunch. I have the coil overs coming, just waiting on annodizing at AZC. Your numbers seem to fit what I had planned, so thanks again. I was aiming at 17x8, with 245/45 tires, so looks like it is a good to go thing.

Just got my AZC brakes (5 lug, 6piston setup) and they are just drop dead gorgeous. Nicely made as well. I am operating under the impression that Mustang rims up to 2004 will work on this set up. I am also doing AZC coil overs, etc. My searches seemed to show that 17x8 up front and 17x9 out back will fit just fine. Am I correct? Does anyone have this same set up? I can not measure, as my car is in the body shop. I have a 78 Z and I am having the shop roll the lip on the fenders.

The thing is a true junker, but I really only want the block and manifold, worth $300 to me. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=015&item=250009032030&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

Rags, I will take you up on your offer. Would love to talk to a fellow Z'er. I just bought an 82 280ZX Turbo parts car, wo I will eb going to get that shortly, and will be stripping it of anything useful. I am sticking with the stock manifold at this point. Thanks for the input guys.

I would love to come. If I drive my Z or not depends on the body shop. i live in Paramus, NJ

I just got a 1982 280 ZX parts car, complete for $300 on Ebay! I am so excited. I just got my AZC Brakes in, the car is in the body shop, AZC suspension coming, I am jazzed. Now I need to find a motor shop in the North East that will rebuild the motor and tranny.

I would like ot have Carbon Fiber bumpers on my 78, but as we know, the kit from MSA is for a 240. I am assuming that a bracket, or whatever, could be fabricated to make the bumpers stay on the car. I know they will not be funtional, but that is not really a concern. Has anyone tried this, or had any success putting 240 bumpers on a 280? Thanks

I am spending money on Arizona Z Suspension and Brakes. I am one of those idiots who cares more about how it could work, and how well it is designed, rather than what you can coax out of it. I know there are plenty of people who make mad horses out of the stock manifold. I just knwo it is not as good as it could be, so it bothers me. That being said, I will probably end up with a stock one anyway, as I can not find a manifold less than $900 or so, and that is a bunch of change. The car is going in for paint and body work next week, the Arizona components are coming in a week or two. I am redoing the whole interior, carpets, gonna cover the plastic bits in vinyl, doing soud deadening every little place I can, blah blah blah. This is gonna keep me busy for a couple weeks. What is wrong with TEP? Should I search for anything in particular?

I had a Z as my first car. It looked about as rough as that one. Fix the safety stuff you need to make it safe, and just drive the thing. If you have the cash it would take to fix that one, you would be better off buying another Z in better shape. It would save a lot of time and money in the long run. But enjoy your Z. I have missed mine for over 20 years and finally bought another this month.

This http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/4/web/2116000-2116999/2116389_2_full.jpg is what I am talking about, as far as a good manifold goes. It is far from perfect, but alot better than the stock one. I know I can get my expectations out of a lot of stock parts, but knowing that the parts are not the best they could be will bother me. Plus, this is my toy, and I want my toy to be the shiniest one on the block.

I just finished reading a treatise on turbos. The book was well written, and very informative. After reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that the stock manifold is just plain horrible for maximum performance. The turbo is in the wrong place, and the manifold itself looks to flow very poorly. I understand that there are other reasons why the manifold is the way it is, but it is still a bad turbo manifold. This just reenforces my desire to go aftermarket and custom.

I can not weigh in on the structural integrity of what has been done. But I do weigh in on the concept of saving every ounce you can to make a better racing machine. I raced motorcycles for years, and wieght is everything. Earlier in the post, someone mentioned 10 lbs of weight = 1 HP, it is actually 7 lbs. So the theoretical 20 lbs we are talking here is more like 3 hp than 2 hp. As was stated, this car has 160 HP. If you add 3 HP to that, it is a measurable increase of over 1%. In an effort to save weight, etc, you can "add" a large portion of your horsepower in a low output scenario such as this. IMHO, if you do not understand why someone would do this, then keep it to yourself. Again, not knowing how flaring and holes add or remove strength, I will not commet on it, but as to the idea of saving every precious ounce when it comes to a race vehicle, I understand and back it all the way.

It is real easy to get the molding off on mine. I just lift it up. Seems like a design flaw. Have to remedy that.

Thanks for the input. I am leaning heavily towards a system that Steve at Top End Performance has recomended. Basically, it is a rebuilt 83 Long Block, my choice of engine management systems (leaning towards the TEC3R), T3/T4, 550 Injectors, other goodies. The price is a bit high, but I think it better to go with aftermarket goods, engineered with performance in mind, rather than 20 year old OEM bits, manufactured with economy in mind. My goal is nothign crazy, just 300 to 325 RWHP, 300ish RWT. I want a system that lets me run it when I want, but still last a long time. I plan on sinking a decent amoutn of effort and money into this little project, so getting the best of breed, within dollar constraints, is my goal. I am basically doing a resto-mod of my 78. I knwo I am gonna sink more into it then I could ever get out, but my plan does not entail the getting money out part. I hope to keep this ride for a long time.

This is my first post to the forums. I have been looking around, researching a turbo conversion for my 78 Black Pearl. It seems the majority of people go with an 83 ZX turbo, from a parts car, for their conversion. But then, if you want real power, items start to get replaced, such as the turbo itself, then the ECU, etc. I anticipate that I will end up with an aftermarket turbo, and programmable ECU (MEgaTune?), does it make more sense just to buy an exhaust manifold, and the standard sensors, etc, then buy the aftermarket turbo and ECU? I just think it is more logical, rather than buying a whole donor car, and using 5 to 10 pieces of it. As a side question, does anyone know of an aftermarket turbo kit that you bolt on to an exisitng engine? Thank you