Daeron

I forgot to throw in my favorite name for Harbor Freight.. Chinamart.

I would recommend taking any and all "ruts" you may have established and just throw them out the door. In the last ten years, the internet community has come to many conclusions regarding Z cars, and to me the most outstandingly loud one is, "It will work if it is done CORRECTLY, no matter what parts you wind up using." There are debates over the primacy of combustion chamber design, but otherwise it has been discovered that as long as you stay within a few reasonable paramters (certain heads are just right out, like the stock Z-car N-47, the later E88 unmodified, etc..) Best advice is to hang out here and read. Click on links, and read read read. These people know ALOT, and no ONE of us knows everything..

I worked at a tool repair shop, an authorized IR warranty and service center, and I must have installed hundreds of IR "tune up kits." It shocks me to hear that they typically last only six months in your experience; we normally only found that when the customer was overcompensationg for poor FLOW with higher PRESSURE, using dirty air, or not using enough oil. Not trying to be accusatory, more trying to figure out the discrepancy... as for other harbor freight stuff, I use the diamond bits and grinding blades ALOT. If you do any work on glass, and are NOT a professional, there is no other way to AFFORD it, because their diamond bits are literally about 5% what most stuff costs.. One word of advice, do NOT buy their metric flare nut wrenches!! I would rather use an OPEN END craftsman than a harbor freight flare nut wrench. Grinding discs, sanding belts, cut-off wheels.. OH YAH that beautiful aluminum racing jack they sell?? we havent exactly put it to HARD use but it seems to work FINE, and my brother has had it for about three or four years now... without harbor freight, alot of us would be SOL... it is interesting, though, that it is cheaper for the chinese to manufacture the tools, AND SHIP THEM OVER HERE, than it is for us to ship our good tools 1000 miles to do a job. God bless America, huh?

I figured about as much. I thought that at this point, the thread was begging for the question to be asked and answered for anyone who hadn't considered that point. Have you any photographs of this p82 manifold, perchance?

I haven't owned any "real" machine shop tools, but I had to replace a 1/2" chuck on a 30 year old craftsman drill a while back, and harbor freight had a jacobs brand chuck, made in USA IIRC (!) for like $5.. saved that drill for another year, until I used it on the flat roof and sucked gravel into the vent input.. oops.

most people seem to prefer the earlier, N42, non-EGR intake manifold that came on the first 280Zs, which HAS no webbing.. Does this mean that using the earlier manifold entails a "trade-off" of sorts? I had gotten the impression that the later intake manifold didnt have much to offer over the earlier ones, but I suppose that could just be a "clean install" factor. The later manifold is nowhere near as "clean" looking as the later, that is for sure.

Question: What does this material look like unerneath? I worked for a vet, and we got cold shipments in these insulated bags.. I assumed they were mylar on the outside, and it looks like bubble wrap on the inside, with not mylar or aluminum layer on the inside.. I was gonna cut all these bags up and use them to insulate my car on the cheap, and had anticipated installing them mylar side down. Is this material aluminum coated on both sides, or does the underside look like bubble wrap, like what I have?

Question: I have used relays and plugs out of BMWs for starter circuits and whatnot in the past, and when getting that stuff from the boneyard, I realized that it was a piece of cake to use a tiny flathead screwdriver (almost eyeglass screwdriver proportions) to bend back the retaining tab inside the relay plugs, and remove the original wire terminal. Is it not possible to do something similar with the plugs from the original Z wiring, then replace the actual metal terminals inside the plastic plug?

There should be a procedure in the "tech tips" page I linked you to in your "surging" thread.. it isnt an adjustment screw, per se, but it is adjustable to a degree. (no pun intended) its not the simplest procedure, more of a calibration than a basic adjustment, but it isnt difficult.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=120785 that didnt even require the use of the search function, it was about ten or twelve posts down. Not to be rude, but searching DOES yield results. Read that thread, and find the Fuel Injection Bible on this page..Z Tech Tips EFI & Fuel (AtlanticZ.ca) || | | | | | | |

This is where I might disagree with you. If you're looking for 'exceptional' performance with a boosted motor then I believe that a proper intake manifold is just as important turbo as it is NA. My intent was not to downplay the importance of the intake manifold on the turbo setups; it merely appeared to me (when the post was originally made, I have seen details I overlooked at this point) that there wasn't enough attention being paid to the manifolds on most NA setups. My comments on "dumping money" into ANYthing was an attempt to make it clear that my plans are to START with the manifold and MS setup, and open things up from there. (head job with a decked P90, injectors, flattop block, and ultimately probably turbo(s) and any accompanying RE modifications) Any and all feedback is appreciated

I figured there was a good reason.. above and beyond the extra work it would take as opposed to installing the complete f54/p90 longblock. Sounds like you're probably going to be in decent shape as it is anyhow. Good luck with the swap.

Oh, yah, to be certain..... The only reason I mentioned it was because MY post was asking if people had tried a good, wide open manifold as a primary concern of building an NA Z. I had assumed that most of the work I had seen on these ITB setups, and more classical type manifolds with larger diameter runners, was being done to be built into a Turbo motor. Its just easy to miss the NA projects that happen here because so many people seem to be universally of the opinion that "turbo is the easiest way to speed" (myself included, honestly.. but easiest isnt necessarily "best," right?)

Honestly it was RonTylers scratchbuilt intake manifold thread that had stimulated that question, becaus eI had already read through it and had assumed it was for a turbo setup while doing so in the past. I am re reading that thread as we speak

(i cant believe I am the first to mention this) Why not slap your E88 onto the F54 block?????? THAT would be alot more FUN......

AWESOME, thanks a bunch, BRAAP.. will pore over those threads and keep sponging up knowledge. You people kick ass. Am I just jumping the gun in assuming all of these incredible builds are turbo setups?

Thanks, it just seemed like all the people focusing on the intake manifold have already taken the turbo plunge as well.... 1 fast z, I was reading the thread from when you got that engine into the car, and there were posts about speed.. but never a dyno post in that thread. do you have a dyno sheet on that motor? regarding the LD manifold, heh, NOT now. Broke, and out of work right now in fact (which is one reason I have so much time to kill reading about my Z on the internet) BUT thank you for letting me know you have "a few."

stab in the dark, but I believe the ECU should be getting signal that you are cranking, and the injecotrs might not fire without that signal.... go to carfiche.com and find an FSM for your ZX if they have it, and if you dont already. EDIT I just read that thread over on the HAMB forum.. WHAT a JOKE!!! if you ask me, I couldnt think of a BETTER motor to use for a hot rod, andd THAT has been my first thought throughout reading about your entire project!! small, lightweight, powerful (power potential? you could link these guys to the thread here listing all the IMSA GTP engine parts for sale) Those guys, even the ones being nice and saying "awesome work but not my first choice for a power plant" REALLY need to get rid of the Ostrich Syndrome and realize that there are more motors out there than just old fashioned american iron!!! you ask me, all of THEIR motors are antiquated piles of junk, and they should be leaving them behind as such!! they whined about tradition, the hot rodder's "tradition" was to go with the latest and greatest they got their hands on. To ME, more power out of a lighter weight, smaller engine is better, regardless of who the manufacturer is.... ugh... END EDIT

Beg pardon, I wasn't entirely clear.. thats what I meant by this... "the bolts" being the lateral bolts, not the head bolts... Cool, I just wanted to make sure I grokked your final solution. That was about what I had figured you were gonna be left with. In the end, it seems absurdly simple.. more so than *I* ever thought it would actually be, anyhow. I just CANT GET OVER the fact that you've actually DONE this!! thanks for the reply

I have been in "lurk-mode" on my Z car for over two years now.. more like six or seven if you count the time I spent driving it stock and not doing anything to mod it. I have been patient, because I know how much I do NOT know. My dad and uncle have been driving "perfromance" Zs for 30 years and are well indoctrinated in the "standard" NA, carb'ed Z-car schools of thought.. so I have been trying my best not to learn TOO much from them, since alot of it is obsolete knowledge nowadays... trying to avoid picking up bad habits ("yah, sure, that airbox and exhaust oughta be good for another 30-40 horses!!" type stuff) I have a bone stock 75 280Z. Anyhow, for NOW at least I am not really anticipating a turbo setup. 200 WHP would tickle me pink; I currently have modest goals. My thoughts on building an engine are flattop pistons, stock conronds and crank, and a p90 head shaved 0.080" with the longer valves installed. I have spent alot of time reading and reading about camshafts, and I am aware that the camshaft is going to be key to this motor. My question is basically this: Has anyone ever spent a decent amount of effort and time, putting together an NA motor, FI, standalone engine management, and given themselves a good intake manifold? I honestly believe that I may have a good chance at getting beyond the 170-200 HP bottleneck of the NA motor, by doing something along the lines of a dual stock TB setup on some SU manifolds, or something of that nature. the "su manifold" idea is one that came up last night, and I haven't even looked at the manifold to know if the TB would even come CLOSE to fitting, but I should be able to get a flange welded on if I need to. For the purposes of this post, lets assume the term "SU Manifold" simply means a good manifold for one TB to 3 cylinders. I am basically curious if anyone has done an L28E, NON turbo and removed the bottleneck of the stock 30mm intake port runners... I know I can build a head that will flow well, I know I can find a cam that will flow well, and I know I can make the fuel system flow well.. I am trying to find a "budget" method of getting the air into the motor better than with my stock intake manifold. I figure in the long run I WILL want to turbo this car; so the idea of dumping money into a manifold setup for my NA motor, to me, is identical to "dumping money" into a MS setup for my NA motor. To turbo it in the future, i can just replace it with an uncut P90 or dished pistons, or whatever.. *I* just am beginning to think that the stock intake manifold has ALOT to do with all the people saying "if you want more than 200whp, just go turbo" Has anyone proven me wrong already? Has the NA setup been tried with a good intake manifold? I would LOVE to get an LD28 manifold, that would be IDEAL, but I do NOT have on already, and I DO already have all the other parts that would be needed to set up what I've described here... hence the low cost, I would hardly need to buy anything, just mod parts I already have.. Thanks for reading the long post, I am trynig to educate myself and just needed to ask a couple of ?s....

but you basically are counting on the head(s) being bolted down to hold it all together, as much as everything else? the bolts would hold it from any possible lateral force, which would be minimal, the dowelz hold it straight, and the headbolts (as always) hold it down? And you simply put gaskets between the head sections? I *really* like the look of this engine. You also said your camshafts were a secret.. are you being secretive just about the grind, or the vehicle from which your camshafts were sourced? as of the most recent info I had read, I thought I heard something like a standard RB cam would fit the saddles...?? Sorry to rehash it all, but threads on this subject are many and its difficult to find the "definitive" answer any way other than asking directly. Beyond that, just simply.. wow...

I love this picture... and chance we could con you into setting the valve cover on top of that head, so we get a clue what the "finished" look will be like?? Thats simply GORGEOUS, it fills the engine bay!!!! It looks like it was built to go there! Also, I wanted to ask you two things.. One (and I hate to sound like a nitpick, but) are you going to grind the welds on your intake plenum/air box at all, or is that weld going to be the finished product? and two, about the construction of the heads.. I missed the conclusion on the build thread.. (link? i havent been around very long so I'm unsure which of the threads about this has been your "official" head build thread) Although I read what you said earlier, I wanted to make sure I understood it.. you've O ringed the block, and you have basically three separate sections, aligned and held in place with dowels, bolted onto the block? Like a modular head design? or am I oversimplfying your earlier statement and misunderstanding it in doing so? If the answer to the last question is easier found in another thread, a link will suffice... or even a vague idea what the subject line on the thread was, so as to make searching for it easier for someone who wasn;'t paying attention when the project began..

get an adapter to use the bung for the oil pressure sender, and install a real oil pressure gauge. Best bet.

If you are running with the stock 280 ECU, then you need the 280 throttle position sensor, NOT the one from the 240SX. the older Zs used a double switch for a TPS.. either Idling, Cruising, or WOT.. the newer ones (300ZX and 240SX both I believe) used a potentiometer style TPS.. basically a volume knob attached to the throttle shaft. TOTALLY different inputs and outputs, using the Pot-style TPS when you have an ECU that expects an older style TPS will not work.

Benjamin? or Brandon? cuz beau lives in town, right? its shawn carey.