Daeron

For the record, that Soobie control panel does, in fact, have a recirc mode. "Max A/C" is recirculate, while "A/C" is fresh air.

Do you want to scrap EFI and go to carburetors? If not, then allow me to explain why "people assume you've never heard of the turbo swap" in you thread which (as you stated) was clearly about an intended NA build. You put in a cam and change the head, then you have pushed the pumping efficiency of this motor way outside of the envelope that the stock 280Z/ZX EFI is designed around. The injectors are undersized, the timing is not optimized... the differences get bigger and bigger the further from stock you modify the longblock, intake, and exhaust. Soon, you may reach a point where you've spent $5000 or better, and feel like you ought to have 200-250 horsepower, and in fact you've gained no power and lost fuel efficiency and reliability. The stock ECU is a simple switching apparatus that gets glorified into being called a "computer" when that word means alot more today than it did in the 70s. So, changing hard parts pretty well goes hand in hand with upgrading (or changing outright) the stock EFI. Now, given that, there is obviously the argument, "Since you go to all that work, turboing is not that much harder." That argument, you have already yourself provided your stance on; you simply want an NA car. The reason the Turbo suggestion consistently comes up is that the stock 280ZXT electronics and hardware swap in is as easy as pulling all the bits from one car and putting them into another. If you are willing to carb the engine and do a custom ignition (maybe a nice DIS crankfire setup) then I will go out on a limb and take a guess at your tastes: that is the simple way to go for you. Carb it, cam it, put a good hot ignition on it, and find yourself someone to dyno tune the carburetors and be happy. But the switch of the hardware (unless your power goals are modest... in which case a cam kit and professional head work are, by simple valuation, not "worth it") wikl also necessitate the cost and difficulty of changing the EFI system.

Naw, there is an electronic 280ZX dizzy that goes in the L6. I tried to find out where it comes from this week at the races, but the guys didn't really know. I've only ever seen them in pictures before as far as I can remember, so I can't tell you which cars it may have come in, but there IS an L-series distributor with the sweet, smooth cap that has the lugs set back from the outer perimeter a little bit.

I'd say that I feel alot of the same upset anger towards what may be a large group of ignorant Toyota owners.... BUT, I personally have about zero clue what models, of what Toyotas, have been effected by what sort of issues. My initial understanding was that there was a drive by wire throttle issue in the Camry that could cause a WOT situation, but now I have no clue what model has what wrong with it. This is because literally every single news medium I have engaged trying to figure out what this issue even is, focuses solely on the Headline and absolutely zero, absolutely ZERO on the technical and driver issues. I've never been a huge fan of Toyota or Toyotas, but I cannot deny that in the last 30 years they have sold massive numbers of cars like nobody since Henry Ford. Why can't I find straight info on this subject whatsoever?? Why is it that the only ones saying anything rational are angry individuals on YouTube, who are so upset that this idiocy is being perpetrated they get confused on how to be indignant and whom to react against? Why isn't Brian Williams explaining to people how to downshift their Camry if the brake fails *and* the DBWT is jammed open? If the issue is as simple as WOT, then the answer is as simple as the YouTube video suggests; Neutral. If the brakes fail, then you need to carefully downshift until you can get to first. Do these Toyotas also have Handbrakes that are operated by computer?????

That just instantly made me think of this.. This was a 70 rat racer, take it to the track and have fun without worrying about smashing the car up. My dad and his buddy wanted to get some good paint and paint the car, but they NEEDED to get some paint on it, so they mixed a bunch of leftovers and wound up with a decent color of nobody's choosing.. The smilie went on to ensure the paint didn't last too long

FTW!!!!

Sorry; my brothers and I were at Sebring competing the car (and spectating for the 12 Hour) all week. The Nittos ran great, although the borrowed Hoosiers were better. I haven't tracked the car myself much at all, but Tim says the Nittos are very predictable. We typically have been shooting for 35 PSI hot pressures and I would say you can CERTAINLY get more than enough life out of a set. I recommend you buy at least a set and try them out; my brother is THRILLED with them for the price they are.

Pretty sure those are the tires my brother ran on his ITS car and decided that for the price, they couldn't be beat. I'll have to ask him and get back with you, but pretty sure == about 98.5%.

We need a Nationally sponsored Charity, to which we, as citizens can submit "nominations" for males to qualify. Once an individual gets three (or five, or nine, or whatever) "nominations" they get a free vasectomy.

I dont care for the turbo sound drowning out the valvetrain sound... A clutch fan doesn't "drown out" the valvetrain any more than a turbo does, but it still takes away from the sound in a way that triples do NOT. I'm not saying I don't like turbo whine, but..... Sorry, I was trying for once to keep a post short, so I failed to wax poetic about my beloved valvetrain noise properly; I just wanted to point out one of the features *I* find most attractive (in a subconscious way) about the engine.

One final note to add: As you play with your L24 whilst getting to know your Z-car, pay attention to the sounds of the valvetrain. I was about 16 when I finally learned how much of the sound that I love comes from the valvetrain of these cars, and through that how much the noise is addictive to me. If it weren't for that problem, I would be one of "the turbo guys" in an instant, but the noisy valvetrain being the chief high percussive note of the underhood sound really really gets my gears going in a way that keeps me on the fence. Decisions.....

Usually, if you pull off a spark plug wire and nothing changes, that indicates that cylinder is not firing. Since you are running carbs (and cyl 4 shares fuel with cyl 5 & 6) and cylinder 4 is effected singularly, it would tend to indicate an issue with spark to cylinder 4 (plug, wire, possible bad cap contact points?) But if I am missing something, or just plain wrong, and you DO need to replace the carbs, the Z-therapy SU rebuild/swap program is the simplest and least expensive bet. Webers take finesse and (ideally) a large collection of jets that not everybody has. In a sense, you need to "commit" to Webers through jetting expertise and tuning equipment the same way you need to "commit" to standalone EFI through map programming expertise and (slightly different, but mostly the same) tuning equipment. You can get it close enough, easily enough, but its a pretty involved task to train yourself in knowing how to really dial them in just right.

I completely ignored carburetion, and that was NOT fair of me to do... but it was already a book of a post. You asked a couple good questions.. MS (megasquirt) you've got figured out, but the reason it would be needed is tied intimately into the point I made about ignoring the possibility of using carbs. The piston issue also comes into play. We all know the formula for making a powerful engine; more fuel, plus more air, plus more compression. The L6, unfortunately, CAN have troublesome detonation characteristics when you boost compression over 9:1. This threshold runs from 9:1-10.x:1, but compared to many other motors the threshold is pretty low. There are workarounds (a very lengthy thread involving cooling modification between cyl #5 and #6 in the head, among others) and there is an "open chambered head" camp versus a "high quench head" camp, but my point is the ceiling is there. If you build a longblock with 9.5:1 compression and a mild NA cam the right way, you can run properly set up SU's (not a difficult task) and get away with it on pump gas; maybe not even high octane. If you do it the wrong way, you can't dial in enough timing to avoid pinging on low octane fuel. The "right" and "wrong" ways are not my point; nor am *I* the one to explain. (I'm really more of a talked than a Do-er. Gotta make that clear, all this knowledge is obtained by oZmosis and through living my 29 years of life in and around these cars. Haven't built an engine myself yet, but two brothers co own an ITS racecar, there are 4 Z's currently owned by my immediate family, and 6 datsun Roadsters.) What I wanted to make clearer was this: the more precisely controlled your fuel and spark is, the further you can push the compression envelope with stock pistons. Everything is really contained within that sentence.. The MS helps get fueling and ignition *just* right, at every combination of RPM, throttle position, and load level possible... Carbs will never be as precise as the MS, but you can certainly tune them to be "safe" at the expense of fuel economy. (And THAT issue isn't just as simple as "Oh, sure, whats 1-3 mpg?) If you know 4 barrels well, and have a 390-650CFM Holley in good shape, then a cam and a 4 barrel, along with an electronic ignition setup, might be your best bet engine-wise. I have to say frankly that the 4-bbl is at the bottom of my personal list, but there is no factual reason for that, merely taste and experience. My dad ran a 4bbl in his 240 ratrod-racecar and friggin loved it (and he is the one I got the prejudice from in the first place.) Whether I like them or not, I can't deny that they are a valid, easy, cheap, and potent way that many people have no regrets over. Edit-- I forgot to mention that the Stock EFI system is an antiquated computer. It functions well, and is well worth maintaining and using within a certain limited power demand, but upgrading the car is virtually impossible. Methods were worked out through the 70s and 80s, but they all involved richening the mixture through band-aid means and "fooling" the computer one way or another. There is no way to properly re-tune the stock EFI if you change a cam, or injector size, or anything like that... so if you wanted to go EFI, it would be nearly pointless to consider using a stock system/computer/sensors. Stock EFI intake manifolds are not the biggest breathers in the world, which is why ITB's were suggested... but this is something of a lark. The stock manifolds don't flow as much as the engine could use, but they are certainly adequate for up to 350-400 turbocharged horsepower. An NA engine is going to be limited in a different way, though, and if you built a mean NA monster longblock/computer, and put a stock (even stock +ported) EFI manifold, chances are that mani would be a bottleneck.

This thread is all greek to me, but I love the single-cam engine getting the love... I may be mistaken (I could never answer my question 100% on the page I was looking at) but the IMSA champion car, that Geoff Brabham drove back in 89 and 90 et cetera, was running a DE-stroked, 2.5 liter single cam VG TT that made like 1000 horsepower. This was a website that was a sale ad for a huge lot of engine parts that went back to the Electramotive team... We interrupt this post for this link http://www.nissanracingengines.com.au/ I had to check to see which Electramotive to use, whether I meant ElectrO or ElectrA, and in googling to find my answer I found the website I was referencing. Ever since I saw that 4-5 years ago, I've been falling in love. After learning about high-quench head design, doing the head job on my Soobie EA82 engine (9.8:1 compression) and comparing the CCs on the Soobie heads to the CCs in the VG30 heads....it was all over...

Yes, but with that attitude you rarely have a wife or a girlfriend!

OOO!! I'll trade problems with ya!! "Oh, great, NOW I have to put the Datto engine into the Rover!" Thats a nice looking truck there! Good show!

I can't link you up to all that you want, but I can tell you right now that there are 120-140 free Nissan horses under the hood, and that price is mighty difficult to beat. Depending how much you put into it, a sturdy 140-150 can be had cheaply enough, and if you want to spend the cash to say, do a valve job and cam swap on a head, and get good SUs and electronic ignition, you'd be in for maybe 1500 (less if you can save on the "head job," but its a variable. I'll presume you understand how this cost thing plays out.) My point is, you can then go about spending maybe up to the same amount on some suspension and brake upgrades (aftermarket springs/struts, replace bushings, continue on spiraling out the cost and performance gains but as always, the gains start becoming minimal for the cost eventually.. I'll leave you to discover) and get alot more fun out of the car. You'd need to put some work into the suspension to handle a 383 anyhow, right? Like I said, there are at least 120 free ponies to use now, and you can't beat that cost/power ratio. Suspension upgrades first are the wise (if usually ignored) way to go with an old S30. In terms of maximum NA power, for five grand you ought to be able to piece together a MegaSquirt system and some cheap ITBs or an aftermarket intake manifold. You'd want to do some pretty "real" head work if you are REALLY going after horses, and I don't know how much you'd spend and how much you would do yourself on that, but the 5K was just talking EFI. Stock internals are pretty stout, the reciprocating assembly is good to just about any NA power you're likely to make, and any RPM you're likely to hit, *in naturally aspirated trim.* The Pistons should be forged if you want to run the ragged edge of compression and push the power envelope, but if you can satisfy yourself with being a touch conservative stock pistons might even survive for a little while... But, forged, full blown head, nice EFI and ITBs you're looking 10K for about 300 +/- 50 wheel horse. Forged, stock bottom, mild homebrew head, stock ported EFI manifold with the right cam, maybe a 3-6K job depending on what you can do, invent, and pull out of your arse and what you have to buy.. Maybe even 7K, but that motor would be looking like 220-240, 250 would be optimistic. If it was all done well, which can take a knack. You could put this $3-7K package together and land 165 WHP if you are seriously lacking in knack. Now, ALL of that is total hogwash intended to give you a sense of where you are at in a murky sea!!! Every dollar figure and every power number, as well as every modification listed, is VERY subject to changing based on how the package is selected, (ie part matching on paper) assembled, (ie parts matching in reality) and the tune (ie computer fits with all the parts and spells out the power you want.) So, I hope it is useful, but to really understand how to summon power out of an L6 in NA trim is witchcraft of a capital order, and its a religion based on spending lots of money that could be FAR more efficiently spent on a turbo for the 6, or a V8. It is very very rewarding though. Two last points, then a treat from our resident Encyclopedia D. Turboing the 6 is a simple, fairly cheap way to get to 250-350 horsepower, even up to 400 with stock equipment plus bigger injectors and some computer upgrading. $1k added to the factory turbo system can net you 400 horsepower, and 250-300 should be easy to obtain spending that. (Turboing a non-turbo is a more complex affair obviously.) Secondly, as I said before, you'll get more fun out of tweaking the handling first.. and dont underestimate how much fun "only" 200 NA horsepower can be in the car with a good suspension! Here is your treat... this is what CAN be done Naturally Aspirated:

First off, if you weren't already familiar with it, http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=135748&highlight=efi+bible+step What do the plugs look like? Everything sounds vaguely like it isn't getting full fuel supply at the high RPM, which would lead towards fuel filter, fuel line clog, low pressure from old pump or poor contact, etc. However, you could also be having an injector problem, leaking too much fuel in and going rich. A new AFM is slightly suspect to me, for some reason. If I were in your shoes I'd be tempted to test it's calibration, but that can be a wee bit involved and is probably somewhat astray. Still, you can get a ballpark on how close the wiper pattern is set just by checking it fully closed and fully open. One other potential culprit is the TPS. Not sure how up to snuff you are on EFI terminology, but this is not a Throttle Position sensor; it is a 3 contact switch. At zero or light pedal, the signal voltage is fed from the center terminal to one side. Once the throttle is opened slightly, this "idle" contact is broken, and the computer interprets it as "cruise." The third contact is hit at 75% throttle (IIRC, check the book for certain) and puts the computer into "WOT" mode. Calling the ECU in this machine a "computer" is almost a stretch by modern concepts.. Its closer to a super-complex switch than it is to the simplest of cell phones anymore. I say this to emphasize a point; there are not many reasons fuel could be lacking at this RPM (or if that isn't the problem, then fill in the blank.) Becoming intimately familiar with that EFI bible will benefit you greatly in the long run, if you choose to stick with the factory EFI.

Initially I posted stating my position on the subject. I made an outrageous error (inadvertently referring to diameter instead of radius) and got my stick buried in the mud here. Like he said, as much as I may whine.. I'm NOT trying to bend over the thumbs of the 18" wheel crowd; I'm just trying to explain where the old school camp is coming from. the thread had divulged into various people talking about why you have to put a body kit, or side skirts, or lower the car, or do whatever, to make the 18s "look right." Someone also came up and made a comment about needing the room for more brakes. jmortensen chimed in with factual information regarding big brake clearance and wheels all the way down to 15" (his point being, there is literally far more acreage underneath an 18 inch wheel than you could possibly neeed to fill with brakes on a Z-car.) After a few more posts mucking about in muddy technical waters, suddenly the people who like our normal-sized rims are defending our turf, and the people who like to put modern rims on the old car are trying to justify it. I'm through posting in this thread*, because it seems like each post I make is taken with too much venom. I'm complaining, yes, but only after having it dragged out to his point. My first post was an off-the-cuff joke about how 19" wheels really complemented a lightened flywheel. I wish I hadn't tried to be a comedian. *Edit: I will continue to read, in the hopes that the discussion will pan out with more good solid data. These things typically do. I guess I forgot to apologize to anyone who's buttons I may have pushed, but please keep context in mind.

I'd sell my SOUL for one of those clocks with a stopwatch to fall in my lap...

I don't think Juan was insisting that it was overpriced, I think he just missed that the price quoted was for the entire exhaust system. His statement still stands.. "$500 is alot of money for just a piece of pipe!!" *Just* a downpipe would not cost as much as Zmanco's full 3" exhaust, by any means. Actually, it would likely fit more into that category of nice, simple, short, profitable jobs. Of course, the only way to know is to go down to the muffler shop and see. Too many people (like I said before) get mass produced "exhaust kits" and never consider checking out the local option. (I'm a member of this group, so I'm not pontificating or judging, just stating a reality.) Generally speaking, most towns have a muffler shop that is ready, willing, and able to build you a scratchbuilt exhaust from head-pipe to tip, and it will almost ALWAYS come out for $500 or so. If it is a simple job, and you have a muffler, 100-200 isn't unheard of. So Frankie Ricerlover goes out and buys this 'leet 3" turbo-back exhaust kit with hi-flow cat and whatnot for his SRT-4, or his 89 Accord hatch, or whatever (My DD is a CRX, so CRX if you want )and pays $900 when he could've gotten it done by his girlfriend's cousin's teacher's husband (relationship unbeknownst) and saved some money, gotten a quality fit, gotten the thing INSTALLED, and kept the money in his local economy. (Vildini, and the work that JeffP were doing, and many, many other real Custom exhaust kits, don't fit into this category of "exhaust kits" I am scorning.) Now, that wee rant there was mostly intended to explain that the point was simply: It's pretty cheap to have it done local, man.. Check it out!

I think you're a freakin hoser, but a brilliant hoser Awesome, I can't wait to see that adapter. It's nothing I could ever see myself using, but any four barrel fits that category. I still think its the bee's knees though.

Have you read my post about the EFI bible? I never hesitate to recommend re reading the sections relevant when trying to diagnose a component that has failed like this (ie, thingy works, but the car isn't running thingy right) and I do it myself. While I'm not personally an extremely religious man, i will say it is called the Bible for a reason: just like the Holy Bible, it is a book that can never be finished sharing its wisdom with you. Christian worship (especially today, in America) is largely based on analyzing the wisdom of the Good Book for the nth time, and the EFI Bible works about the same way. Read it through, read it again, then refer back to it without hesitation for guidance with your issues. Now, like I said, I'm not too religious myself, but I sure understand enough Christian theology to know that the metaphor holds. If you read this and you're a churchgoer, then you understand, but if you are more towards the cynical side, I tried to make it clear.

Wish I could help more, but one thing you can confirm is adequate fuel supply from the pump. Disconnect the output of the pump from the carbs, and find a safe way to pipe it into a clear container. Pull all the spark plugs, (to make it easier on the starter motor) and run the starter for a moment to monitor the output of the pump. It has been so long since I've done this, *I* wasn't even the one doing it (it was my dad and I was 12 and ignorant) so I can't tell you off the top of my head how much fuel you should get, in how much time, but the FSM may well have a figure for that test, or someone here may chime in. Although, after watching that video, an intermittent bad pump seems doubtful.... However, the fuel lines may well benefit from being blasted out.

Those weren't Rotas, they were some other oddball brand (Drag R. I was presuming top quality and reputation was NOT the primary issue, since $500/set was the price bandied about; I was trying to help find him a five lug wheel that looked about the same. When last I checked, those were available in 5x patterns; last night I didn't find it on the site I got the hit on.