Daeron

Good show on not giving up on her, nice to see that she rewarded your persistence. Regarding the headlights, there is a common relay install procedure that takes the switching load off of the stock wiring and headlight switch and that usually fixes all your headlight problems; you can search for the TechTips page that Blue posted (I know there is a Z-specific explanation there) or you could go to http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=74632 and read a general purpose relay install guide that I wrote up on my Subaru forum. I don't have the link to the "Z headlight upgrade" write up anywhere handy, and my write up was very broadly oriented.. but you ought to be able to figure out how to do it from either. I have heard people SWEAR by various transmission oil cocktails or additives; the simplest is to add a quart or so of ATF into the oil, run it for a hundred miles or so, and then drain and refill.. There are a few different commercial products (GM Synchromesh, among others) that amount to about the same thing, but are labeled for use in transmissions. I don't know if it will bring back your fifth gear or not, but from what I hear it usually does wonders for a sticky, old gearbox that could otherwise get scrapped or rebuilt. My brother swears by Synchromesh, but its PRICEY.... so maybe try a little ATF flushing first, and see if that wakes fifth up at all? Regarding the throttle.. http://www.zhome.com has a write-up about the throttle linkage right at the firewall, and setting the relative angles at that joint where the up-down motion from the pedal gets rotated into the motion of the carb linkage.. maybe that will help your problem there?

That is too true, and I have stressed that from the outset, and attempted to keep anything at least MODEST, even if it is not yet "realistic." In any case, we can still bat the idea about and if someone wants to take steps towards realizing it that don't yet cost money, then no checkbook needs opening.. yet. There DOES seem to be a dearth of real enthusiasm.. but who knows what is going to happen next week, next month, next year? NASA put a man on the moon by outlining the needs of their project, breaking them down into surmountable goals, FULLY DEFINING SUCCESS for each of those goals, setting the appropriate persons to work on them, and persisting until success was met. You followed the same process with your head, I am sure.

Shucks, you beat me to it. I was going to say, "Damn, I Missed it!" Thanks

I just read this article on http://www.zhome.com and it rang many bells with what I have always wanted to do in my Z as far as speaker placement, at least in the rear. I will leave it to you to read the (very brief but well written) article to discover the front layout, but in short, the rear deck had been artificially raised, the amps "sunk" in just behind the seats, the 15" subwoofer enclosed in the spare tire well, (also flush-mount, grill protected,) and he built an enclosure similar to the one commonly available (I know Motorsport sells it) that replaced his plastic tail light panel. It had mid range and bass drivers (not subs) located in it. To quote the article, "This still allows for full use of the rear area with only a small loss of space due to the raised deck," and is the keystone of my much more modest concept. - For the purposes of this particular discussion, front speaker location is irrelevant.. I will explain why when I am done describing my idea. I always envisioned one, or maybe two small amps located vertical behind the seats, stock rear deck height, keep the spare, and build an enclosure replacing the tail light panel. This enclosure would house three chambers: One square central chamber with MAYBE a 10" sub, or possibly two small 8s. I am not a fan of earth shattering bass, and the Z is a fairly small space. I want my car to reverberate a LITTLE at subsonic frequencies, but I am more into intricate music and tone than overpowering bass. Two chambers on the front side, on either wing, built to house my favorite speakers in the world, 6x9 Infiniti Kappa 3 ways (tweeters, anyone?) The KEYSTONE of my plan came from having a pair of these kicking around on boxes for years (the speakers got trashed, for the record. ) I want to set the speakers up so that they are projected DIRECTLY along the curved path of the rooftop of the 2 seater Z. I SWEAR I could tell a WORLD of difference with my blown-out woofer, head unit-driven kappas when I had them propped up to aim on this curve, relative to when they simply sat in the standard little 6x9 boxes sitting in the exact same spot. I never MISSED front speakers when I had them set up properly, which is why I didn't bother mentioning any thoughts for front speaker placement. ANYthing (decent 4" 2-ways in the console) will fill out a tiny bit for stereo effect. - In the end it just seems to me that the acoustics in the car (at least, with the engine off ) BEG for this to be done, but I cannot say that I have specifically noticed anyone else placing speakers with that curvature in mind... Am I wrong? Has anyone else tried this thought? Forget the specifics of my plan.. I am pretty certain thats just about what I need to get what I want. I am mostly curious what people's thoughts are on the concept pf placing the rear speakers to take advantage of that roofline we all love so much.

I like it with the blue and red idea... The BRE paint scheme has always been the "right" retro race scheme to go for, because THEY used so many permutations on the theme that WE get to use our own unique takes on it... and while they all look practically the exact same, there are radical differences between them all too. Me, I want a nice off white paint on my 75, with a BIG red rising sun on the roof, with the blue bar through it, no datsun lettering. Identify myself to friendly aircraft

I havent done it yet, but I was planning on taking my stock 280 tank, and using a spare L series oilpan (as long as the metals can be welded together) and building a nice, baffled sump either with a rear outlet or a significant downward slope if its a front outlet. I even had thoughts of utlizing the two LOW FUEL lights my Z has (probly a fluke from a PO) one in the main tank, and the other in the sump You could also use a surge tank; plenty of info on how to put one of those togheter around here. If you feel a need to replace the turbo, and have an upgrade, then yah.. i guess injectors ARE pretty much on the list.. I just wanted to make it clear that even bone stock components WILL run better on well tuned standalone EFI; especially with proper manifold setups.

I typed out the words "To the best of my knowledge, none of that stuff should be different." Then I thought, I don't want to have to stick my foot in my mouth.. so I searched on motorsport. Looks like yer boned, and they are all different. sorry. Hatch glass and windshield seals Rear Deck inner and outer seals, and taillight seals Main 70-78 Weatherstripping page, Motorsport Auto Anyone know how radical the differences are? Could it be gotten away with?

people have been building 400 horsepower Z-cars for FAR longer than hybridZ has been around (including some of our more illustrious members here) so the simple fact that he is not known here means nothing. I've never seen pete brock post here either, yanno? if the 1970 chassis is straight, in good shape, and rust free, and it has a forged crank and good internals, and a good turbo and exhaust manifold (we're about to break through with mind bogglingly better intake manifolds anyhoo) AND an acceptable standalone EFI (I didnt see him mention any branding on it, he seemed impressed that it was DISTRIBUTORLESS and not that it was wolf3d/MS/HAltech/whathaveyou) then $8K doesnt seem to steep.. even IF this vehicle gets thrown onto a dyno and hits 450, even 350 horse.. the potential is there and parts have been bought. IF the head, the pistons, the injectors, the exhaust manifold, and the engine management is all up to par, then this car couldn't be TOO far from getting over 500, and it sure COULD be capable of more. Granted, the CL ad is one that rings alarm bells left and right, but if I Were looking to find a half finished project car I would CERTAINLY take a look at this vehicle... if you can get a detailed idea what pistons are in it from him, and find the rest out for yourself.. you never know what you might find. IT CERTAINLY doesn't seem to be the type of deal that will sell immediately.. some people will NEVER understand that craigslist is the last place to play the scheisty salesman.

If you get him a good set of solid models from which to work, he is. Otherwise, it is No one else seems to believe it a worthwhile investment of time or effort. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but if we don't keep this thread somewhat "realistic" then it will get shut down for the BS pipe dream that it basically is. Xnke, IF you could somehow get the blueprints for the P-G head, would that simplify the affair? I haven't the time at the moment of this post, but the next time I review this thread I Will re read the whole thing and see if i can wrap my head around finding a way to make these solid models happen.

my question was out of curiosity; it seemed someone else was asking for just that but I failed to notice seeing that you were willing to DO that. I may well have missed a vital point earlier in the thread; last night, I must confess, I only read the last 2 weeks worth of posts and not the whole thing. I can't say I am wanting to be squeezed in, it was more of an idle question than one of imminent desire.

heres one on me:

the bearing is bad if it spins with any roughness whatsoever, or if it makes a grinding/rolling noise (as opposed to an un-impeded rolling noise) when rolled in your hand; when in doubt, replace it.. but, like I said, may as well wait until a U-joint inspection and changing your oils before jumping to that conclusion, since it IS such a PITA. Regarding the carb tuning, I wasn't realizing that the SU's were a temporary solution when I went into that.. I was just trying to convey how easy it is to troubleshoot a problem that can sound like yours, and presume your carbs are "good enough" only to find months, or sometimes years down the road, that it was the carbs the whole time. As long as you are aware of that possibility, then you are clear enough. Hope I have been of some help, and good luck.

your vibration/noise problem might well be an issue with any of the U joints in the drive shaft or half shafts (more likely driveshaft) OR it could be a bad throwout bearing. Changing the trans and diff oil is never a bad idea, but if you do so and it doesnt go away then I would check any U joints for any slop, and if they seem fine then it might be worth dropping the trans (or pulling the engine if you think thats easier?) to get a good luck at that throwout bearing. Never hurts to know where your clutch is at, either. The carburetors NEED to be properly synchronized and tuned.. there is a WORLD of difference between a Z car with SU's that run OK and SUs that are REALLY properly tuned, and its less than $100 worth of tools to do it right. Look up SU tuning and you can find more information from someone who knows more about it than I; carburetors are something I haven't handled on any of my own cars, just Z-cars belonging to my dad, uncle, or one of my brothers. Because of that, my knowledge is theoretical, or "asymptotic" if that makes sense to you.

how much would just a flange and a fuel rail cost?

fifty bucks says the manifolds get bolted onto a junkyard L28ET IMHO thats the only way to properly break in parts like this.. by BLOWING UP a junkyard motor. holy fookin cow man, i am just.. speechless.

Thanks for the comments about the manifolds, i was throwing the names around for potential sources, its good to have a good answer on that. Thanks for your input as well; it would be so nice for some cast fruition to come out of this, but unless someone who does casting work has time and effort to dump in, it looks like this thread IS just becoming an internet masturbation exercise.

To the best of my understanding, installing standalone fuel injection is not, in and of itself, cause to immediately go buy new, larger injectors and turbocharger to complement it. As far as I have gathered (internet bookworm, not speaking from experience disclaimer) there is a significant amount of room for growth for the L28ET to be found in the engine management alone. You will need to upgrade to a MAP sensor instead of your AFM, (for megasquirt) and the airflow meter is as much of an impedance on the air intake as the stock throttle body. (Granted, the stock intake manifold is probably as much of an impedance as well.. but it can still make plenty of power.) Larger injectors are a relatively easy replacement anywhere down the line; they are right up there on top of everything else. The turbo can be played with until you get tired of it. I would suggest simply installing what you have, and then playing with more fuel and bigger turbo as a preliminary incentive to blowing and rebuilding your engine. It sounds like you plan on rebuilding shortly anyhow, so I say that tongue-in-cheek It looks like you've got the disease; I don't know whether to congratulate you or pity you

dorky point of order: TPS stands for two different things; Throttle Position Switch (L-series type, two contact switch) and Throttle Position Sensor (potentiometer-style, resistance based sensor. think a volume knob) Now, I realize that almost everyone knows the difference.. but it often makes life easier to say TP Switch, throttle switch, etc or throttle sensor just to avoid confusion. On a side note, I am 99.99% positive that All l-series FI used switches, not sensors.

should be a copper crush washer, not a rubber washer, if I am not mistaken

I see what you are saying, and am aware of and fairly familiar with the Volvo swap at least; but my statement was intended to indicate that (at least as far as the varied attempts by many Z-car community members here and elsewhere) pretty much impossible to use an RB head without going completely external for cooling and oiling lines, which is absurd. I may be less than perfectly correct on the details, but the RB head just seems to be a no-go, and I think that in nearly 40 years of production, something would have been stumbled across before now. The first successful head alteration was 1 fast Z's, and my point was that duplicating his head with a single cast piece would likely be the easiest and best route to achieving our holy grail. In other words, I don't think we really disagree that much.. I think its simply a matter of me having less faith in the possiblity of "finding something else out there" than you. I am all for that attitude; if you find it then GREAT, I just stopped believing in the possibility some time ago. Call me jaded

Did you mean that you could theoretically be persuaded to re-create one of your three-piece units, or that you would be willing to co-operate with an effort to cast a single-piece head based on your (Nissan's) design? It seems to me that it would simplify the mold-making process if there was a supply of sectioned up original pieces to use for patterns.. from there, its simply a matter of duplicating a design... but from what you say the replication of the timing gear was not as straight-forward as "this goes here, that goes there." It almost seems like there is enough support (if I have Brian on my side) to TRY looking into the feasibility on the cylinder head idea... and if the people who have spoken up on this thread who have the metalworking know how and were willing to contribute want to contact me as a "ringleader" then I'll captain the ship for now.. but I must profess that it seems out of my league. Beyond my sphere of experience at the very least. Unfortunately, the realities of an all-new aluminum block simply do not outweigh the costs.. unless you have a few briefcases of cash to throw at it. If that is the case, then put your money where your mouth is. Regarding the "Paeco-Goertz" unit... I tried a search, and the thread where the pics were originally posted, (starting in post #58) no longer has them. Tony, do you still have the photos of that piece, and if so, can you post them here?

For those who don't know, the handle on the inside, to open the door, is that little chrome thingy underneath the "winglet" window... there is a small metal pull handle at the bottom for closing the door, but the latch is up high. Also, when a customer ordered one of these with air conditioning, it was installed with lines running to the trunk, and there was a small air handler box that went back there, along with the condensor coil, that went where his speaker/stereo box are. Am I crazy, or weren't those "third light" reflectors at the top of the fender a later addition? I LOVE the polished Libra mags, though, I bet those cost a pretty penny Nice SR SRL311, too

Tim: I was wondering if I was maybe seeing a dish that was "off-axis" to the same degree the combustion chamber is. To illustrate my point differently, I was asking if the "bowl" formed by the dish pointed straight up out of the bore, or if it was cocked towards the spark plug side and not of even depth. My question has been answered; sorry to have asked a question so "out of left field" and prone to misinterpretation. As far as squish goes, it seems to me that matching your pieces, and preparing and controlling your motor well and with proper techniques, matter more than anything else. Quench or open chamber, the power is there.. IF you can build it.

First off, I want to say that part of me hates stepping into bench0building discussions like this.. because I do freely admit that most of it is largely over my head.. but I know how far over my head it is, so I feel somewhat comfortable talking about it, and this is too tempting to resist I could not possibly disagree more. if it only took a grand to put an RB head onto an L6 with external oiling and cooling, then it would have been done seventeen million times already.. To me, the two possibilities involving casting new pieces, and the L-6 engine series, would be to A: Cast new aluminum blocks B: Cast new crossflow, DOHC aluminum heads Now, the difficulties of, and advantages in either possibility have been discussed at length. To me, the reality of setting up molds for a complete, internally cooled new engine block, is a manifest show-stopper. However, if KA series heads were already modified and sandwiched into a head, then why can we not find KA heads to section up in order to prepare a mold, sculpt an "ideal" combustion chamber (or even weld up and fill in a combustion chamber for complete customization after casting) and find a way to make the camshaft question work? Proven valvetrain components exist, the bores line up.. I hate to sit here and blatantly suggest we all copy what was just pioneered, but.. the realities of casting a head seem to me to be more surmountable than those of casting a complete block, and that aluminum block would still have to breathe through an L-series head, OR you would have to pioneer installing an RB head onto what is still an L block. To me, when thoughts of CHANGING either the block, (to accommodate the RB head) OR the 240SX head design, (any changes needed? intake port alteration like I mentioned above?) are concerned.. then the entire ballgame is changed, and you are departing rapidly from reproducing and beginning to engineer your own animal. Therein lies even more potential for difficulty and time to snowball on this kind of project. Whatever we may all agree or disagree on, my point remains.. without a captain, this ship is most likely going nowhere fast.

Its called capitalism; Supply and Demand. They sell FAR fewer "custom pistons" than they do 240SX pistons, and a customer coming to buy parts for such-and-such a car is usually a paying customer of someone Else, so they can get away with charging rather more for a piston for a Generico Blahmobile than they really could get away with charging for whatever specific piston set you wanted. The manufacture of the pistons is all the same, custom orders just take a slight effort to make the machines do "something else." It can be scary how simple it all is sometimes.