Sam280Z

Buy a Spec from TH Motorsports. Both companies have some of the best customer service I have encountered. I had bought an ACT that turned out to be defective from TH Motorsports. Presssure plate spring was broken in half. Discovered only after brand new clutch was installed and would not disengage. Even though I clearly demonstrated that it was broken with high quality photos, ACT insisted that I send it in and they would have to repair it because they had no replacements in stock. What I got back, after considerable time considering that I was trying to get my car back on the road, was a new pressure plate (I had recorded the serial numbers). By the time I got it back I had already purchased and installed a Spec clutch because TH Motorsports sold it to me at just over costs because the ACT they sold me was defective. Spec also custom made reasonably priced replacement friction discs for an older Fidanza flywheel I had when Fidanza would not provide me the correct part at any cost. Sam

If he has a good set of bits that are just dull, get him a drill doctor. Drill bits are intended to be sharpened. Sam

I contemplated doing the blow through carb thing years ago. Based on the advise of those who had been there / done that, I ended up using TWM ITBs on two motors - one is a 3L and the other 2.8L. The 2.8L is on the road now and I'm in process of tuning. The 3L is for my fancy project that has been on the rotisserie for far too long. Right now I have cartech plenum and think I may be experiencing that "transient lean" that TonyD speaks of in post 16 and the fuel mileage in post 37 (http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/61291-hks-plenum/page__hl__%2Bhks+%2Bcartech). I cannot source one HKS plenum, much less two - so I have drawn up plans in autocad based on the 3D modeling on MONZSTER's "monzster plenum" thread ) (post 143). I have a friend with a CNC mill and hopefully will build a couple in the near future. TonyD, Is the main advantage of the HKS plenum the additional volume or the diffusing action of multiple inlets and routing of air? I'm wondering how much effort I should be putting into replicating those features for an injected setup. Thanks, Sam

Look at post 42 in this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/61291-hks-plenum/page__hl__%2Bhks+%2Bcartech__st__40

From what I understand, the floats do not need to be changed. I'll look at the jetting that was in the carbs and get back with you, but if I remember correctly, they had the standard Mikuni jetting in them. The reason I think they were part of cartech kit was because of the shipping label on the original box and the fact that there were long socket-head cap screws included - like to hold on the cartech plenum.

I've attached the instructions for the 280Z conversion. Joel sent this to me many years ago. He got it from Cartech. They said it was all they had at the time. The new Mikunis I have listed in the parts for sale section were part of a Cartech kit that never got installed (I'm pretty sure). Sam Cartech.pdf

There is one left in a wholesaler closeout at rockauto.com for 32.79 + shipping. I have one that came with a car as a spare. It's in a New-Era Genuine Parts box with "good regulator" written in ball point ink. It appears to be only slightly used - there is a little dirt on the wires and I can see where it was bolted down (barely). It has the numbers 23500-B8000 and TLIZ-85B on it. If you want it for $25 shipped, PM me and I'll send you my paypal address. I can send it tomorrow (tuesday) and you should get it friday. Sam

the bearing is the same - only the collar that holds the bearing varies depending on the clutch, not the transmission.

Since you have to take the transmission off, I would (at a minimum) inspect the existing clutch. It more than likely warrants a replacement - but might still be serviceable. The clutches for the 4speed and 5speed are the same. The only difference is that the 2+2 and Turbo cars came with a 240mm clutch while the NA came with a 225mm clutch. The pilot bearing (actually a bushing) is not the same as the throwout bearing. The pilot is in the crankshaft and supports the end of the transmission input shaft. I recommend you get a copy of the Factory Service Manual (Haynes manual at a minimum). Any year manual should suffice for clutch work. There are only minor (if any) differences between years. You can download the manual from a simple google search. Also, it helps if you let people know teh year and model of the car you have questions about. Sam

All L series cams will physically fit in any other L series head. At a minimum, you will want to make sure that the oiling system is compatible. If you put an externally oiled cam in a head with no oil spray bar, the cam won't last long... Sam

BHJ

Will do. Should be tuning soon. I will say that with the whisperear setup, you can hear everything. You can hear just putting the keys in the ignition and the throttles turning with the key off. After you shut down, you can hear what sounds like little trolls hammering away inside the engine as the parts cool and contract at different rates. I do get a little noise from the ignition, but not a lot. Make sure you get the microphone cord from radioshack.

I built one. You can really hear everything going on in the engine. I have not used it to tune with yet and therefore have not heard any knock. Right now, I'm running a pretty conservative tune. Before I built it I found a video on youtube demonstrating what knock sounds like. It is pretty discernable. I thought about the JCS unit, but in researching it there were two things that concerned me. 1) Characteristic engine sounds that must be filtered from knock sounds are different for every engine. 2) For the JCS, you should have a good timing curve to begin with. You shouldn't just max out the timing and let the JCS control the curve. FWIW, Sam

I'd rather not remove the evaporator because I have an un-cracked dash and I don't want to risk cracking it with the removal. I have the system charged with R12 now and it is cooling marginally with high side pressure of 250psi and low side of 30psi. I foolishly just stuck the valve that was in the car back in with new O-rings after blowing through it with my mouth and comparing it to a brand new valve that belongs to a friend. I should have cleaned it out, but didn't. I think it is partially clogged because the EV housing is sweating and the high side line gets pretty hot in the evap housing. By pretty hot, I mean it will burn you if you touch it too long or too hard. Does this sound right? I'm not running the system until I get all these issues sorted out. Of course, I'm in Louisiana with 90% humidity and high 90's F. So the suffering continues. When I charged the system, I had bypassed the pressure switch, thermostat, etc. and activated the clutch directly because the AC relay was missing. In hindsight, this was a mistake. Upon replacing the relay, I discovered the pressure switch was bad. So, I have to pull the system down again to change that anyway. I have an expansion valve that was pulled from a recently operating system - the compressor seized after ten years of use. I went through all these same issues getting it going back then - except the EV was completely plugged (took me a while to figure out why the suction side was pulling a vacuum no matter how much freon I put in). Back then you could still get new EVs so i just dropped a new one in.

I'm trying to get AC going in my 78 280Z. I have everything installed and ready to go. I tried to buy a new expansion valve but they are NLA, so I am stuck using an old one. I have four and will use the best one and keep the others as spares. One of them was pretty corroded. In cleaning it, I managed to take it part before realizing that the screw that holds the spring in also sets the superheat of the system. Now that it is apart and cleaned, is there a way to set the superheat back to specs? Every instruction I have found online indicates setting it with the expansion valve installed on a running system. This won't work on the early AC systems because the setting screw is inside the running system. I only want to do this once - R12 is not cheap. My questions are: How do you set the superheat? Is there a way to test an expansion valve before installing it to be sure that it is working? Thanks, Sam

PM me if you got one you want to unload. Thanks, Sam

Got mine today. I too was getting worried that they had folded up. I'm glad those worries were unfounded. Awesome magazine. Best pictures of a 2000GT I've seen yet. Sam

Joel, I still have it. I should have put it in this car when its motor blew last year. I'm saving it for my other 280Z. I hope to get it rolling again in the next year or so.

Xska, you da man. It was the dip switch. It was set to internal originally. When I rewired everything, I noticed this and switched it to external since it is an external WG. I switched it back to internal and it is working again. Thanks! Sam

Its a Tial external WG. I have not tried disconnecting the wires. Will try that this evening. I don't understand what you mean by "If you have it hooked up like external W/g with two hose, blowing through is going raise boost." I thought that having it hooked up Manifold -hose-> Solenoid -hose-> Waste Gate would make it act as if there was nothing there if the controller was off. It boosts perfectly to 10lbs if I bypass the solenoid. I'm still working on the tune. Using Megasquirt running MSnS-Extra High Res. It drives better and better each day as I learn. I just got it running again after a complete rebuild. I bought this car last year: Car Ad In October, a over-rev caused by stuck accelerator broke a ringland on the #5 piston. I fell into another "while I'm at it" trap... N47 Block with JE pistons (flat top w/ valve reliefs) from Rebello Racing. P90A head converted to solid lifter. Rebello port & polish. SS Valves. Rebello Cam. Fidanza Flywheel (Spec friction surface) Spec clutch. TWM throttle bodies, TWM manifold, Cartech plenum. Siemens Deka 63lb injectors BHJ Harmonic Balancer Stock exhaust manifold w/ Holset HY35W turbo

Thought I'd attach a picture of my set up...

Its overboosting with the boost controller turned off. If you blow through the solenoid valve on your profec, do you feel much resistance? Thanks, Sam

I'm at a loss on this one. I have a PRofec Bspec boost controller.This one If I run the wastegate hose straight from the manifold to the WG, I get 10psi boost before the WG opens. If I hook up the solenoid box - run the hose from the manifold to the inlet on the solenoid box and then a hose from the solenoid box outlet to the WG, I get 20psi with the boost controller off. I can blow straight through the solenoid box. I even applied 10psi of compressed air and it seems to go straight through (although there seems to be a little restriction). This unit was working before I rebuilt the engine. While installing it, I did drop the solenoid box - but I opened it up and can see no damage - looks to be pretty robust. Anyone have any ideas on what might be going on? Sam

Check your left shoe. Seriously, the MC can leak out the back through the firewall into the car. Sam

I'm in the process of putting together a motor with the KA bolt/Volvo washer mod. I ordered the washers from Swedish Engineering and the KA bolt from Courtesy. Courtesy said they are having so many problems getting stuff from NISMO NA that it wasn't worth trying to get the $40 NISMO set. MSA said it would take 6 weeks for them to get it. KA Bolt & Volvo Washer The pic shows the unmodified KA bolt on the left, the shortened bolt (2.240" total length, head and all) in the center, and the stock bolt on the right. The volvo and stock washers are shown above. I still have to cut the small step to register the washer on the crank shaft. It appears thta I do not have to reduce the diameter as has been reported since I am using a BHJ damper.