Daeron

I think it was the Belt Buckle... Tony, on that story of the hit and run. Me and a friend of mine saw the same sort of thing happen to a truck full of big, belligerent drunks (who had been powdering their noses, too, I think) and a late model Mustang with temp tags from a used car dealer on it. My buddy snapped a shot of the plate, and we were going to deal with it surreptitiously, but suddenly a crowd ensued and the Apes realized they couldn't drive off.

I don't know, but I will bump it to help revive an extremely interesting thread.. Things like this are far more instructive to me than simple textbooks explaining theory on suspension geometry.

I live 60 miles north of Miami, and South Florida is a beautiful place.. but if you want "CArribean" go to an island. There is plenty of mightlife here, but there really isn't that much nature left, and there are SO MANY people that the difference is plain. I'm all for hyping s. Florida's tourist economy, (no state income tax here, just sales taxt, so we need it) but honesty is important too. South florida is great if you want a tropical vacation without the hassle of leaving mainland... but even though in my heart I find the Carribean in my backyard every day, it isn't as easy to find for travelers.

And, to get back the the OP's question, I would summarize by stating this: In America today, profit is King. High diameter, low profile tires sell at a premium price. High diameter, flashy looking wheels sell at a premium price.. (almost WHOLLY regardless of weight.. wheels that are heavy are by NO means necessarily inexpensive.) If the advertisers and the marketing types can convince enough people to go "Joe Cool" and buy these wheels, then they can start phasing out tire options for smaller sizes and begin a New Era where they get to charge premium prices for just about every tire and wheel sold. I must also add that the TIRES are where the major revenue generation is. Wheels you buy once, tires you buy over and over again. All that being said, I have yet to see an ounce of evidence that justifies the expenditure alone. Forget the aesthetic points, forget rules compliance, and forget weight versus performance, this question is first and foremost and economical one. Sure, maybe you happen to have $2000 for a set of wheels and tires, and you don't mind paying $800 for new rubber when you need it. Why does that justify limiting selection of original equipment size performance radials? Profit. A cadre of MBAs somewhere asking "What's in it for me?"

Might want to look into Drag DR-26 wheels. Just google Drag DR-26

$500, from the turbo to the tip, is NOT alot of money for a complete 3 inch exhaust with downpipe, ESPECIALLY one that was built for your vehicle (not a kit) and built to your specifications (like Zmanco's point about making it in at least two pieces so you can pull the DP without dropping the whole exhaust.) My buddy has an '05 SRT-4, and he keeps talking about exhaust plans, and they all involve this $600 kit, and that $150 "o2 housing" (its a downpipe, but its integrated into the turbo housing on the stocker) and then finding someone to put it together and hope it fits. I keep trying to tell him that local exhaust shops will build it to your car from scratch for less than that, and he is finally beginning to listen. Fortunately, he is broker than *I* am right now (thats saying something) so he hasn't made any costly mistakes yet, but your local muffler shop is your friend, period.

Oops.. I forgot, you can only run halfway into the forest...... So, in the sense of scale, I made a gross error, but the bones of the matter stand. The more mass that sits further from the center of the rim takes more work to accelerate and decelerate. Technical/performance reasons I have a problem with 18s (and again, this is my personal taste): -mass issue -sidewall flex issue. I drove my 75 around for about a year with some BIG TALL tires on it and I have to say, it was the loosest and most enjoyable year in that can on the street.. easy to snap out of control and right back in. Everything that I liked about the way a stock Z handles, handled more like that. Aesthetically, I simply point out that the direct stylistic descendant of replacing our 215-60R14s with 255/40/18s, is the instant popularity of the black, bolted on fender flare. The fenderwell is missing too much negative space (because the wheel is so big and the tire sidewall so small) so you need to go buy: -expensive wheels -expensive tires -expensive (because they're currently all the rage) flares. Now, I have to say that one MAJOR reason that "small wheel guys" seem so defensive about this is, my point above about tire pricing. Now that these huge wheels are all the rage, performance tires in 13, 14, and 15 inch sizes are all but gone from the market. This is something of a sore point for a lot of us, so please bear that in mind any time one of you "big-wheelers" (sorry, couldn't resist) hears one of us old fuddy-duddies* griping about your spinners. *I am only 29, but my tastes are old fashioned.

QFT!!! (at least, thats what I heard... *duck*)

The E31 head has the peanut-shaped combustion chamber. I gather from your statements that at least the #1 E88 head also has the peanut-shaped combustion chamber, but I cannot tell from your descriptions; which E88 heads were full open-chambered and which had the peanut-shape? The fact that this thread has not already answered this question for me is vexing and bothersome; add that to the fact that this is a question that has been nagging me for some time anyhow, and I have to ask. I am curious because I've got some inherited head castings (along with a plethora of other junque) that need to be sorted and "prioritized." If anyone can get *some* pics up, I may be able to get other pics, so we can finally get good, high-res documentation on (at least the USDM variants) of this casting. (It is a missing point from the L6 head sticky here, too)

Learned this lesson myself, in a similar fashion. Oops!!

But the vast majority of the weight is STILL 17-18 inches from the center of the wheel, as opposed to a 13 inch libra, which comes in at around nine pounds, (and those are the aluminums.. the magnesium wheels are REALLY light!!) and most of THAT weight is 12-13 inches from the center of rotation. It is called "polar moment of inertia;" Check it out sometime. Get in a swiveling computer chair, and get in the center of a nice clear room. spin around, and while spinning, extend your knees fully. You slow down. Now draw them in. You speed back up. 18 inch wheels rob power, in a sense... IN ADDITION to all that Jon had to say above. Besides, the car was designed in an era of 13 or 14 inch wheels; putting these huge dubs on it with overpriced, 35 series tires just looks goofy... But then I guess you can go put some nice blacked out, bolted on flares on your fender to get the visual wheel/negative space/fender proportions correct.

This is my favorite swap thread ever... (since we can post in project threads belonging to other members now, I just had to pop in and say that.)

But, the 19" rims still complement the ultra-lightened flywheel on the engine.... Right??

It sounds like you have a good lead on what the problem may be, but I will throw a few ideas out for good measure in case you test/swap and still have the problem. Have you pulled the plugs and inspected them after a stall? I mean, immediately after. Obviously this isn't going to be something you can do easily, just wondering. If the plugs look fuel-soaked when the engine stalls, it would point to an ignition culprit, and if they are dry then obviously the fuel supply would be suspect. You said you tested all the EFI components... Have you also re tested each system from the ECU plug, checking the various components through the length of the entire wire harness? I am suspecting what I call a "magic wire" somewhere, which is either grounding out your ignition and robbing you of spark, or dropping fuel (either through supply or through injector function; my brother's 280ZX had an injector resistor magic wire.) This may well be contained within the transistor ignition box, but as I said above, I am just brainstorming for alternative ideas.

It really testifies to your character that you would come across this data, and post a correction of something you said almost 2 years ago that was mistaken. Thanks for being so up front with us!! ($400 really isn't that out there at all!! You can easily spend that on an aftermarket steering wheel, so for a pristine OEM??? I'm with you, that steering wheel is really one of the pieces it is nice to have Original. Later cars (like my 280) you can take it or leave it, but the 240... Can't wait to see the pics!)

Personally, I find it very hard to pass up on the trumpet-clarion of the L-6 in NA trim. Many many many others can attest to the addiction that is boost, especially on an already torquey I6 motor. Many many many others will also attest to how much fun it is wrapping a small-block up to 6500 through first, second, and third, without even thinking of the effort the motor is putting out. Not knowing your personal tastes and history (heck body size and shape even comes into play) its impossible to "recommend" any option to you, but let me point out that the conventional wisdom for Z-cars for about 30 years now has been "Tune the engine so that it runs well, but spend your money on brakes and suspension first." Now, I am not trying to change your direction here; obviously you are focusing on a motor now because yours is kaputz. But, I mention this to illustrate that 300 horsepower is useless if you can't hook up the tires, and although handling isn't needed in EVERYONE's book, it sure is in mine. I guess my point is, you can't enjoy a whole lot more power than stock, without building the car underneath it to suit it. However, you CAN build a car that is MUCH more fun to drive than stock, without losing the NA L6.

Nucking Futs!!!

Its soccer, on a basketball court covered with ice. Oh yah, and sticks. And ALOT more physical contact and abrupt inertial transfer. EDIT Oh yes, and, congratulations to both teams. I've never been a huge follower of hockey, but I am of soccer and so the above statement is a compliment from me. Both teams played fantastically, and I seriously don't think it could have played out more appropriately. I was at work hearing a radio update when it was announced they tied and took it to overtime and I said "That's good enough boys, that is championship caliber. The actual victor is a technicality." I typically ignore the winter Olympics, but this one caught my eye..

My car was running with a switch on the fuel pump for a long time, too. Then I had an electrical fire, and here I am six years later with no Z-car. The fire wasn't related to the fuel pump wiring (at least, not directly.. it seems to have been related to the original fuel pump/ignition lockout circuit but I haven't ripped it all the way apart yet. You are obviously getting ample fuel to your spark plugs; possibly far too much. Is the TPS functioning properly? The fuel pump relay will not keep the fuel pump on after letting go of the switch if the engine is not running. At the very least, get the relay out of the car and visually inspect it; if that really is the culprit then go ahead and bypass it with your own wiring, but understand you are bypassing a factory safety cutoff. It has been a while since I read the EFI bible through, cover to cover, myself, but I know it has thorough diagnostic procedures for all the components, and I know it explains the theory of how they all work together well enough, and outlines troubleshooting methods (flowcharts etc) thoroughly enough that just letting you know you are running rich ought to help point you towards finding your problem. Make sure your spark coming out of the plug is good and blue, (unless there is any chance the timing is off; then you'd need to check that.) but if thats okay then your problem lies in the EFI. Check the AFM signal, and the TPS signal, each at the component and then once more with the multimeter back at the ECU plug (testing through the whole wire harness.) Sometimes a component works fine, but the harness is to blame, and the ECU gets bad data. GIGO, Garbage In, Garbage Out. Sorry I missed your first paragraph; I skim these posts sometimes and just post the link just as above. I figured I may as well try to give you a hand by way of apology.. but without more concrete data you are quite frankly stabbing blind. The Bible has pretty well all diagnostic bases covered. The first time I read it through it was about 80% Greek to me, but like the thread i linked to says.. re-read. After about five or six times (with a few time gaps in between) all of a sudden I was diagnosing peoples problems from my keyboard.. and this is without an EFI Z to play with!! (I didn't get my hands on the Bible while I still had my car on the road.) Eventually the cold, crisp, simple logic of the system will work its way into your head and you will speak its language. Believe it or not, it is a matter of dumbing your brain down to L-Jet's level to understand how he works.

You should be able to use the key blanks you pictured... Unless I am somehow making a HUGE mental failure, they were the same in the 280ZX as they were in the S30. Heck, all the way into the 90's the key blank pattern remained the same.. Again, unless I am SADLY mistaken.

TANSTAAFL! There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch!!

Wow, I DO remember finding that website.... As a Datsun purist (to a degree) it turned me off in a major way; the concept of "purism has no place on HybridZ" seemed much more excluding of us Nissan fans at the time than it later became. A few years later when I checked the site out again, I was simply completely out of my league; it took me about two years of tinkering on my DD Soobie to complete Kindegarten and graduate to the Big Boys' car forum... and by the time I joined there was already a huge Nissan transplanting community here. (which is "purist" enough for me. Super Swaps are all well and good, but they just aren't for me.) It is really interesting looking back on it. Thanks for what you guys have done!!

Only one way to find out: Ebay!

I think this is what my brother is gonna do when he finally gets these things in the mail:

YOU CAN NOT have "too many jets!!!"!!!!! !!!! You can spend hours, and hours, and hours tweaking your jet combination trackside, or at a dyno, and you could start out thinking you've got every jet for a Weber ever made.. but trust me, After a few hours you will discover one that you need!!!!