Daeron

I think the Turbo Tom is a drawthrough system, putting the carb before the turbo.... That particular piece looks like a hack job that belongs in the garbage. I just said this in another thread and I MAY be wrong... but from the pics posted it looks like junque to me. Ditch it for some SUs; I won't knock the 4 barrel on a proper intake manifold, but that thing looks like a couple teenagers welded it up thinking they could slap a four barrel on the japcar.. Good idea, poor execution. If anything, the carb ought to be on a ramp ABOVE the intakes of the SU manifolds, and have a hole cut in the hood to snag some positive air pressure from up above the hood.

it looks like a hack job to adapt the stock SU manifolds to a four barrel downdraft.. I don't want to knock what might actually be a well crafted piece, but it doesn't LOOK so hot and IMHO the idea is less than optimal. Why not try to score a set of SU's? people take them off of their cars all the time, it shouldn't be too difficult. If you are handy with carburetors, you could pick up a pair of decent spares (ie need rebuild) and get the Ztherapy video and have a pair of damn fine carburetors on the side there, for a not-TOO-awful price.

I'm not researching either for a potential swap; MY motivation in all this is to further my understanding of reciprocating assemblies, and why they function the way they do to put out the power they do. I feel like I have a decent enough grasp on the theories behind building a hi-power L6 at this point, and I am beginning to explore how many of those "whys" in that process will effect other IC engines, and also seeing what cylinder geometry combinations make good power in what kind of setup. I have long since embarked upon a shadetree engineering degree, with curriculum designed and administered by yours truly, to yours truly. This topic is one I have been batting about and the thread is a net of sorts, that I threw out to harvest some more input from those that know the GM engine better than I, and those that know the VQ engine better than I. Something is telling me that all of those super badass GNXs have long connecting rods in them.. it seems to me that if 2:1 rod/stroke ratio can be achieved on this engine, and if people are making 1100 horses with this engine, then chances are they make those ponies on long rods and the stockers probably limit things, but even that single statement is a gross oversimplification. I am honing my mind, thats all. At this point the only engines I could EVER bring myself to swap into a Z would be nissan V8 or RB, and even those would take serious convincing of myself. I loves me some L-gata

are you getting proper fuel pump relay signal through the entire system? There are a series of little switches (including one in the AFM IIRC) that need to close for the fuel pump relay to be energized and the fuel injectors to be fired, and if that circuit isnt complete then the vehicle presumes something is fundamentally wrong and disables fuel. It is a safety consideration; if the vehicle is flipped over then fuel wont pump or squirt from the injectors. Didn't re read the whole thread, but have you been introduced to the EFI bible yet? Search my name and the term EFI Bible and you will find a post started by me that contains all your answers, and better yet, the methodology for finding those answers, AND the theory behind how all the system works in the first place. HTH

I want to emphasize more than I did in my previous post that, "best" in this case is used, KNOWING that it may well not be practical given the group buy nature of this effort. I just wanted to put it out there as an "ideal" that would be achieved in a perfect world is all I seem to have alot of ideas and thoughts on this, even tho I have NOTHING to do with the group buy, so I am trying not to be a pest about it

I would suggest making custom gauge faceplates, if you can find a way to rip off the typeset somehow. That would let you put the high beam indicator wherever you want, and allow you to clock the speedo properly. It shouldn't be TOO awfully difficult to get them made.

How about the lights off of a Geo Storm? Pretty much the same as the fourth gen Camaro headlights: I call it "The Homosexual French Camaro," or alternately, in the case of the hunchback (which was my first car) "The New Gremlin" Ugly? sorta, but believe it or not it grows on you. Not a horrible little car, and believe it or not it is (very) distant kin to the 1990s FWD Lotus Elan.

Well, a T4 properly mounted would be lifted somewhat away from the areas of interference, and we can't forget that. Granted, the diameter of the exhaust turbine is larger, but the centerline of that turbine will also not be as low as the T3 in the photo; nor would a T3 mounted on a proper T3 flange on this header, exactly as-is. The brake cylinder in question is an issue that should be dealt with on any Z anyhow, as are the hard lines. I think that maybe with .100-.125" combined milled off of both the head flange, and the turbo flange, and another 1/4-1/2" in clearancing done by backing the turbo flange up a bit, all the space you could need should be made available. Will SSAC have any problems making these changes? Might it not be a decent idea to make the changes to this header somehow before sending it off? Or am I just whistling in the dark?

http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/z/full.aspx?Page=10

I don't even SEE S30s in the junkyards here anymore.. 280ZXs are becoming rarer (certainly not dependably present) and its mostly Z31s and Z32s. Actually, if I find one or two "z-cars" of any stripe its rare, and I have three local to me. I will post anything I see, though.. a junkyard sub-forum would be great, as long as new posts could only be made relevant to new trips to the yard. With an entire sub-forum, each trip/set of cars in the yard gets its own thread to spread the info, browsing the sub forum would essentially be as good as browsing every junkyard that contributing members browse.. It would be great for the community of a car that is now approaching 40 years old.

OTM, those are some of my favorite Z photos ever taken.. the car, the lights, the paint, and the road you are on.. just about perfect. Have I ever mentioned that?

I would say you didn't botch the photographs to horribly..... Wow. What a close fit... It almost appears impossible to fit a downpipe onto the turbo in a few pictures, but other shots make it look not-so-critical. I presume if it were woefully close you would have mentioned something; also, not to forget that with a proper flange the entire center axis of the turbo would be shifted upwards slightly... Still, fitment of larger than stock turbos is likely to be an issue each owner will have to attend to, even if it is just a bit of fender bashing. Beyond the close tolerances, though... Look at the volume of airpsace in between the exhaust manifold/turbocharger and the intake manifold!!! Am I betraying my NA biased experience, or is that not about twice as much space between intake and exhaust as the stock setup??? It seems that whatever prices paid in close fitment are likely to pay dividends in that regard. Also, couldn't that proximity to the fender, brake bias/warning light switch thingy, and steering shaft be reduced by rotating the motor a few degrees and dropping the starter side a bit? The tight fit *may* be an issue in spots, but I think this header just got even better looking

VI-DE-O!!!VI-DE-O!!!VI-DE-O!!!

Guess how big that motor is? 2 liters flat. DE stroked, small bore, L20A 6cylinder. Yah, its built like the freakin space shuttle, but all the years I have played with Zs have yet to "teach" me the difference in sound between the various displacement setups we have available. I am not saying it cannot be done, I just think that "the sound of the stroker motor" is not that much different from the sound of a 2.4 liter motor with the same intake, exhaust, cam and head/piston/chamber characteristics. A cam makes more difference in the sound of an engine than almost any other thing, the muffler and carb/intake choice being a close second. The valvetrain comes after that, but since almost all the Z valvetrains are the same solid lifter setup that isn't really a variable. After the valvetrain I would say compression likely plays the next greatest role, but I am guessing at that. My point, overall, is that it seems to ME at least that (regarding L6 engines at least) the stroke and bore of the engine have little impact on the overall sound it makes. Triples just sound awesome, thats all

nothin says lovin like a fresh set of BPR 6ES

I'm pretty sure you are going to NEED to use a fuel tank from a 77 280Z; in fact, you may even have a limited range of production months to choose from. I know my old man had a very very limited range for his 78 280Z, and I know the 77s were somewhat easier, but IIRC the last 2 years of production on the 280Z saw 3 or 4 totally different gas tanks. Maybe someone with some more specific recollections can chime in??

What about simply routing the fuel rail return line back to the gas tank rather than the surge tank? Returning from the line to the surge tank preserves the heat already accumulated in the fuel in the surge tank rather than sending it on a long trip back to the nice cool gas tank, and then gives all fuel entering the surge tank a nice long cooling trip up before it gets there.... I haven't yet set up a surge tank on a vehicle, but it strikes me as odd that so many people return from the rail to the tank, and then from the tank to the fuel cell, rather than routing main fuel rail return line to the tank for cooling. I suppose it must be logistically more complicated in a way that hasn't occurred to me, since I have only thought about it rather than actually doing it yet.

It looks like I am among the first to read, so I will throw out two things I noticed.. A: Spark You verified with a noid light.. Did you pull the plugs to look at them? Check gap? Okay, well, my real suggestion was to pull a plug, connect it to the wire, ground out the electrode, and visually inspect the spark as it appears when it is in your combustion chamber. You never know. B: Compression. I don't even want to say any more here, I just had to point out that it was one of the basics you hadn't specifically verified in your post. I hope like hell this is a blind suggestion Hope this helps, and good luck.

Any chance at managing to maintain a stockish look? Call me childish, but I am sorta in love with the typeface and visual appearance of the gauges from 70-76.. with a decided preference for 74-76 equipment. (Not too particular, am I?) Even if it would take the production of a custom face for the gauge due to "clock" differences, it should be do-able.. but is there any chance that they line up so you can just use either face on the Z32 gauge?

That Cadillac is GORGEOUS!!!!!! I could not believe my eyes! For the record, I like classic American cars, but they aren't my forte. Really the old Datsuns are. Still, that Caddy is just.. incredible! The Charger video is awesome, too.. but mostly, thanks for letting me read this interesting conversation. Shame on counterfeiters.

Remove the CD player from the vehicle and see if your lights come back. The first stereo I ever installed in a car was in my old Geo Storm, and somehow I originally wired it up wrong in a way that the stereo worked, but my running lights (including tails) and gauge lights didnt work; I discovered I had wired a ground up improperly (I Think I used the vehicle's illumination wire for a ground? or something?) But try pulling the plug on the stereo and see what happens.

Patience, child, you live in New England where things rust quickly and junkyards are not always as forgiving as they should be. ZXT motors are still around; you just seem to be unfortunate enough to NOT have a pick-and-pull type yard near you. I guarantee that finding a complete ZXT motor will be cheaper than getting the RB, and the only reason the RB seems so "obtainable" is because it fetches a decent price, so the people who sell them make sure they are rather visible. ZXT motors are going to be a little more obscure to find... but not necessarily more difficult. It just won't pop up under a google search of "buy ZXT motor" like "buy RB26 motor" would.

Yep, 14x7, pretty sure they use flat style lug nuts (like stock ZX alloys) and the backspacing is at least "close enough." We somehow acquired like 10 or 12 of these rims, along with some hoosier slicks that were used, towards the beginning of my old man's "race effort." My Dad's racecar, the Grey Ghost which was pictured above in maroon, was a quick-and-dirty, parking lot autoXer; I think the total budget dumped into the car over two or three years was less than 2K. Having scads of parts, a brother with scads of parts, sons with scads of parts, and the whole family with scads of experience, can make things possible on a budget! For example, that car was called "The Grey Ghost" because it was ALWAYS in primer.. until my dad and his friend mixed up that blend of leftover paint and sprayed it that maroon color one weekend. The smiley face was intended to ensure that paintjob was temporary.

Video? I want to hear that big snail breathe through a moroso unit.... Any pictures of the specific turbo you installed, not mounted in the vehicle?? (it looks impressive )

I cannot disagree or refute that fact, but making a whole new car is NOT going to be anything affordable, hence my previous post in this thread: leave the 350 alone, cheapen it up, and drop the sticker price. Thats the only route to a cheap Z.