dougs280z

alright, that sounds like what im looking at. it is the flat top. Ill try to fill that up with oil and epoxy it shut. thanks for the info. Doug

I have recently purchased a 74 260z. It starts up and idles ok'ish, but when you give it a decent amount of gas, it starts to bog. I tried researching, but i have no idea what kind of carbs i have. Im a fuel injection guy and know nothing about carbs. i just want to get it running decent so i can sell it...... anyways, the carb closest to the firewall has a pin that bobs up and down as you give it gas. I dont think its supposed to do this. On the top of the carbs there is a plastic nut that says "hand tighten". This is where the pin is popping out of the middle. I really dont think its supposed to be like this, so i pushed it back in and taped it up to see if it ran better. It does run better, but still not right. i basically want to know if that pin is something i should leave to float, or leave it pushed in. I also want to know what carb setup i have and if there is a diagram/forum on how to tune it. Thanks! Doug

i just started stripping down to part out an 82 280zx turbo. ive never heard the car run or had a battery even hooked up to see what anything does. anyways, there was a vaccuum switch of some sort under the dash....it says something "open"....i dont have it in front of me, but it was on the drivers side under the dash and had two vaccuum lines going to it, no wires. anyone know what this is or does??? Is there any other sensors or panels that are valuable or worth salvaging out of it??? thanks doug

well, the 82 and 81 are both getting parted out/scrapped...im going to part out as much as possible before scrapping. i am doing a turbo swap, i am in the process of rebuilding the engine for high boost... i pulled all of the drivetrain which includes the borg warner 5spd. im not sure if i should mess with rebuilding it or just see what happens, it seems to work, but ive never driven any of these cars. does anyone know if the differential is different in the 82 zxt? is it worth swapping? what about the turbo cv's? thanks and any other parts that are worth anything...oh, the 81 does have a 130mph speedo which i will be selling. Funny that the NA car has 130mph, and the turbo only has an 80.

I have an 82 280zxt, an 81 zx, and a 77 280z. i am rebuilding the 77. I have removed the engine and tranny. i will pull the diff and all calipers etc. Im wondering what are some things that will interchange to the 77. is the turbo diff/axles stronger than the non-turbo? anything i should take off before scrapping whats left... thanks doug

thanks, i did search, but that was titled something that i wouldnt have clicked on. i think ill just use the NA rods that i have...im only shooting roughly 400whp. Thanks again! doug

i have an 82 turbo motor that i am rebuilding. i ripped the engine down and a pistons was cracked and broken apart and a connecting rod was bent. my question, i have a 77 and a 81 engine. are these rods the same, or did they put beafier ones in the turbo engine? thanks doug

is there any older car caliper brackets that will bolt up? how much do you want for the brackets? this is the first time ive heard of the brake regulating valve....is this the same as a proportional valve? why does it need removed. thanks for the reply. i just want to get as much at the junkyard that i can. doug

i read alot about the rear disc conversion. i have a 77 280z and was looking into converting it to rear disc and front toyota calipers. i think i understand everything for the front conversion, and ill have to see if i truely need the spacer. the rear im still confused. it seems there are a lot of options. i have 2 280zx donor cars. i have yet had time to examine anything on these cars. my question: from what i have gathered, the 280zx caliper/bracket dont just bolt up. but does the rear axle and disc all bolt up? would there be any benefit changing the whole rear axle. i have also gathered that the 280z uses u-joints and the zx uses cv axles?? is that correct? if that doesnt work, im heading to u-pull it this weekend, what caliper/brackets should i look for. i have heard 84-88 maxima...but that there is a lot of customizing to it. what about the 240sx caliper brackets? all i read was about using the 240sx calipers. what caliper brackets should i look for? thanks doug

well, i think thats about it for now....i got some parts to start collecting. ill start researching the MS better and look into getting one of them. That way i can get rid of all stock wiring and have complete control of the engine. i havent seen anything about the supra injectors being direct replacement, so i assume there is still mods to be done. i have some stock dsm 450cc injectors, (i need two more), but i plan on getting a fuel rail extrusion and making a custom fuel rail. im still going to keep my eye out for a good set of 8:1 forged pistons, but im going to start with the fuel components first. lets see....anymore questions...i dont think any as of right now.....is there anything else that i should salvage off of the turbo model....rear end (i havent checked to see if they are the same)....etc. thanks for all the answers...ill be back later with more doug

well i got plenty of questions. Do the ecu plugs match on both the 280z and zx turbo? what about the distributors? im kind of getting to, do i have to swap wiring harness's, or just parts? i dont want to completly destroy the donor turbo car, because my dad might restore it with my z engine/tranny. i really would like to build the bottom end, and i still might pursue it, but has anyone here used water/methanol injection? if i kept the stock pistons, and a lot of boost (intercooled and water injection) is the 350hp still the limit? and when you say 350...is that max...or reliable max.... getting to i dont want to run "100% duty cycle" on my engine and have that constant fear of blowing her. i believe the first gen talon/eclipse were 7.5:1 compression and i dont remember it being toooo bad off boost response, so i might be able to deal with it. one last question for now....does the megasquirt control spark too? if so what is the need for the stock ecu at all? so what kind of 1/4 mile numbers will 300 whp in the 280z put down. oh, one last question...what is the stock injector size?

well, i say 300 whp...but of course after about a month...ill want more. i would rather go forged for a few hundred extra. from what i read about the z31 ecu is that it could be a direct plug in, as long as you seal the connections. then i have read that the maf sensor needs changed. i think i would want to try the MS system. I have a crap load of questions still. Ive been reading as much as i can, but still have a ton of questions. What is a "Dizzy"...i know its a distributor, but what are the benefits and what is it. Will those flat top forged pistons from Arizona Z car work with 280zx rods? i emailed them and he just told me that the 240z rods will bring the pistons flush with the block. will the 280 rods just be slightly lower compression? In order to put the 280zx engine in a 280z, is the wiring harness the same that i can just plug the ecu's in, or do i need to swap the wiring harness? Finally, i should open a new thread, but to save space, the 280zx turbo i have has a 5spd tranny...its the borg warner one. am i going to encounter problems swapping that into the 77 280 i have? thanks doug

from what i read at arizona z car, you have to use the l24 connecting rods with the forged flat top pistons?? is that correct. i did read about them being longer and therefore making a less drastic piston/rod angle, but do you have to use them with the l24 rods...if so, where can you get them at. i am intrigued to go with the forged flat-top pistons. that would give me the compression i want, and the reliability i want. im a little curious about this z31 setup though. why is this so great and what does it do differently. in my previous setup, i never changed my ecu or any other electrical components. i just simply turbocharged, and had to compensate with extra fuel. thats where i used the warlbro/450cc injectors/SFMU. When you use the z31 setup, does it build extra fuel pressure some how, or just compensate in some other way. i keep looking into the mega-squirt, but am a little intimidated at the tuning. i wouldnt want "test" tuning on this car when im done. anyone in the pittsburgh pa area that can help with that later? thanks! doug

im looking about mid 300 range....300whp would be fine with me. i plan on running larger injectors with a custom o-ring fuel rail, fmic, 3in exhaust. i would still like to get forged pistons just to make me feel better. so those cars you explained were all with the stock turbo head? what if i got stock forged pistons (7.4CR) with the N42 head...from what i read, thats about 8.5CR...is that head a lot more restrictive? Another question. I was using a vortech, super fmu on my eclipse. It worked fine, but of course idle was a little lumpy with the big injectors. i think im going to try the megasquirt, but how come i havent read about anybody using the vortech fmu?? i dont see why that setup wouldnt be an alternative to some lower HP setups. Thanks. Doug

im fairly new here. ive been reading for about 3 weeks straight. i recently bought three z cars. 82 280zx turbo, 81 280zx, and a 77 280z. the 77 is what im keeping. the rest are going to be used as donors. i last buildup was a 95 talon that i converted into a turbo 420a engine. i have been running 9.6:1 CR on the engine with about 16 psi of boost. of course it was intercooled and water injected, but i never had any knock/ping. anyways, to my question. i would like to build up my car with approximately 8-8.5 CR. i would like forged pistons, but im not clear on how much power the turbo pistons have been proven to. i have been reading about the different heads and im also a little confused on which would be the best. i havent dug into the cars to see which one is which, but ive read that the n42 head will give you about 8.5 CR. Is this a good idea on a turbo engine. how is the flow on this head. or better yet, what engine/piston/head combination has been proven. any other input or information will be appreciated. until then, ill continue researching. thanks