Daeron

Now, I *am* an environmentalist (thats why my sports cars of choice get over 20MPG) but, my understanding is that the freon is there. It has been manufactured, and there really is no way of preventing the chlorine from eventually finding its way into the upper atmosphere....eventually. (it is the chlorine in the CFCs and the freon, BTW that catalyzes the ozone in the upper atmosphere to bond together into plain old O2 .... 2O3 -->3O2 with the catalytic effect of the chlorine) Now, that being said, any time I am working on my car's AC i evacuate it.. but when in a boneyard, I figure that if they havent already evacuated these air conditioners, then the refrigerant is going to wind up in the atmosphere when they crush the thing anyhow..... In other words, in a Junkyard, I am EXTREMELY cavalier and dont giveadamn about it, because its bound to get up there anyhow. Now, I make this post because I wanted to ask the forum members who may be more informed than I in these regards.. isn't all this refrigreant that mankind has already manufactured bound to wind up up there someday anyhow?? I mean, even if we eliminate ALL CFC/ozone depleting gasses TODAY, FOREVER it will still take fifty to seventy years for the chlroine that is already up there to stop catalyzing the ozone... and I know this much.. but seriously, are we storing this stuff somewhere in a mountain in nevada to keep it from ever bein re released?? does used freon get recycled?

Andrew Jackson in an Infiniti TB.. Priceless!!! at least, thats what I thought until I saw the fisting pic. Boy, thats a cheap girl, right there.. 20 bucks, and she let you do THAT!??? *yuk*

Yar, Photos are in order for this.. it might even be a better option that this for installing relays on needed circuits (starter control, headlights, radiator fan, and anything else you want to bypass stock wiring for... That bracket (complete with cover, not shown) came out of an early 90's BMW 3-series

I don't think a nice, soild "brake check" qualifies as road rage.. I was expecting to read that you returned the favor and crawled up his tail with your highbeams on.. THAT would qualify as road rage.. Quite Frankly, SOME of us are better drivers than others. When you recognize that you, as a driver, are: ALWAYS using your turn signals; change lanes, accelerate, decelerate, etc properly; and if you keep a certain awareness of the road ahead of and behind and around you, then you (in my mind) have a right, almost a responsibility to try to "enforce" proper behavior in others, MOSTLY by positive example.. but in a situation like this, mr HJ needs to understand that he was wrong.. Personally, I have considered installing a white light of variable intensity onto the back bumper, to give the tailgaters, (and anyone with high beams on behind you, for that matter,) a nice quick signal that they are being douchebags.. A marquee sign would be nice, too, but hard to control while driving.. Maybe a marquee sign with voice control!! Yes, I called him HJ, thats what I call H2s and H3s (my buddy calls the H2s "plastic 'burbans") Actually, its not a bad idea as a name for ALL the crossovers out there, since we now have the FJ trooper out there, too (although I kinda like that one) MY favorite "road rage" story goes like this... I was driving down a road that went from two lanes, down to one lane in both directions, in a relatively isolated area of town. I was running rich at the time, and had replaced my rusted off OEM muffler with straight pipe. 75 280, so i had my pre-muffler on there only, no cat. I also was running the car unregistered at the time, so I didnt want to speed excessively. While still in the two lane section, the guy had started tailing me REALLY bad, and I couldnt go any faster because of a few cars in front of me. The right lane became right turn only, so he couldnt pass that way, either. After about 1/2 mile of this, finally I am at the front of the pack and I can get speed up to something normal (we HAD been held to below the limit by stupid people in front of us) So I accelerate to like, 50 or so in a 45MPH zone. NO oncoming traffic at this point, him and me.. the stripe in the middle of the road opens up, and we are in a passing zone. I slowed to just above forty, trying to entice him to pass me. I was tapping my brakes to show him the lights, everything I could think of.. he JUST wanted to ride on my tail. So I got my speed back up to about 45-50, fifth gear, kept it steady for a moment, let him crawl right back up my taint..... and just DROPPED it into second, with NO predication whatsoever... ....the loudest backfire you ever heard, and I know that at the time, i was shooting MAJOR fire out the exhaust when I backfired.. I probly left some soot on his bumper. He backed off.

Alternator!! its a 90 or 100 amp unit, and if I am not mistaken, it may bolt right onto your stock alternator mounting point!! the pulley will require some games to get it to work, and you need to retrofit the maxima plug onto your Zcar, but hey, free alternator upgrade!!!

You *could* just cut the wire going to the "start" terminal, then re route that wire to a relayed push button switch.. in other words, run the line that USED to receive power when you turned the key to "start" to the output of a relay, and run good fused constant power to that relay (you could use switched, but constant is better) Then run SWITCHED power to a pushbutton (it can be small, that why you are using the relay) and use that pushbutton to activate that relay. It may sound a little complicated, but this is actually a VERY simple "band-aid" type fix that is very safe, very secure (you still cannot start your car without the key, and you have to know about the pushbutton to start it at all) AND if you are interested, I can tell you what kind of car to get the relay, relay plug, and wires out of to splice in. Send me a PM if you are interested...I could draw up a little sketch in paintbrush to show you waht I mean if my description isn't clear enough. Drawings can go a million miles in explaining something like this

Allright, not to be rude.. your English is FAR better than I can speak any foreign language (although I am learning more spanish daily.) However, JUST to be clear, what he was saying is that most fuel injected vehicles provide a constant feed of positive voltage to the injectors, and let the ECU switch them by switching ground. In other words, you should have a constant 12V+ to one side of the injector, and nothing to the other side. You should be able to check for continuity between the other side, and ground, and get nothing.. UNLESS you are cranking the engine, and then you should see an intermittent ground on the other one. Now, I read the L-Jetronic Bible about two years ago.. I havent had my Z running since shorlty BEFORE that, so I havent worked on Z FI since then.. BUT I am pretty sure he was exaxtly right, and the ECU switches ground to the injectors to activate them. IIRC, the constant positive comes from the dropping resistor, but don't quote me on that... So, if you have the negative lead on a good chassis ground, and the positive lead on each injector wire, and crank the car, one wire on each inj. should run +12VDC, steadily. the other wire should register nothing, or MAYBE show an intermittent -12VDC. More likely, the other wire would register nothing, and then you leave the leads connected as they were to the other wire, and switch your multimeter to continuity.. then, while cranking, you should see fluctuations between continuity and non.. IE, no resistance, then infinite resistance. Now, as I said, I havent worked on my Z in three years.. and even then, I was no guru.. but i am trying to help. Hopefully I am not opening my mouth to insert my foot, but I normally don't even try to help if I am not fairly certain I am right. Also, hopefully if I am misleading or incorrect in any way, someone will chime in and correct me

Yah, as you might tell from my signature, I am not too fond of the fusible links... they caught fire and sidelined my Z since 2004.. so I have looked into this alot, and the conversion simply makes sense. After 30 years, all of our fusible link blocks have seen too much time and moisture to be reliable at this point, and these parts are alot less expensive and more reliable, and have GOT to be better for longevity, than OEM replacements. If you simply need new actual fusible links, you can buy fusible link wire from auto parts suppliers. Here in the states we just go to an auto parts store, the better ones carry the wire in stock. I dont know where in Kuwait you might find it, but you should be able to find it online somewhere...

Being rather centsless, I'll welcome any .02 I can get! Don't worry, if you make good points then the post is never out of place.

2003z: what kind of cash did those pistons set you back? now I am being lazy and milking for info, but for now its just vague notions still being formed, so vague information is OK jmortensen: I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately, just going out and buying the standalone FI is not exactly an option for me, so I have been busy sourcing all the plugs and electrical componentry needed from junkyards.. I realize that its simple enough at THIS point to find all the plugs new, but its also easy to go to the junkyard and find a wrecked BMW or VW or Volvo or any other vehicle with bosh style EFI and find ALL the connectors and rubber boots and different kinds of spring clips you could want! I am anticipating basically a full component check of all my FI sensors/gadgets etc per FSM procedures, and retrofitting new (junkyard) plugs onto EVERYTHING, replacing wire where I need to. Then, when MS time comes, I already have the component ends of my wiring harness replaced, and I can just dovetail it in. For now, I plan on leaving the current longblock** untouched, and probably not even changing much beyond MAYBE the TB/AFM for starters, this should be more than sufficient. Once the car runs again, (more reliably than I ever had time to make it when it was a DD) then its WAAAY overdue for rust work, some body work, and primer. Once primer is on, interior, brakes and suspension take priority over engine.. and the long process of nickel and diming me to death is well begun. THEN, once I am used to spending actual MONEY on the car.. i start playing REAL games. For now, its all just tinkering and a lot of reading and talking. I'm not a total n00b, but I know I am BOUND to ask an ignorant question or two ** I do not know what the deal is with this engine. Head/block castings are stock (I remember checking them against what it should have in the past and verifying that they were "stock") and I am unclear on the mileage. NO history of the vehicle from the PO, and the speedo cable has been broke since I bought it. The odometer reads 11,500 miles. I drove it for a little over four years. The other almost four years I have been driving, I have averaged about 20K miles in a year, so my conservative estimate on how many miles I put on the thing is 65K. The car was NOT in the kind of shape I would expect for an 11,000 mile car, so I can only assume this car may be almost, or even WELL beyond 200K miles. The engine runs STRONG on low test with no pinging. So, no real reason to believe the motor IS stock, but no real reason to believe it isn't either. If its stock, then I have one heck of a well-seasoned block to rebuild Oh, and I write long posts. sorry; I try to keep them as concise as possible.

I think you, Dadssun, and you, RWDawg, have helped me come to a major life decision. First off, I must say I *do* prefer the s30 to the s130.. apologies, but its inevitable. That being said, I have always preferred the look of the earlier s130s with the chromed pillar. That front spook, and those absolutely GORGEOUS seats, have sold me. My 75 is going to stay NA probably its whole life, and when I feel ready to play with a turbocharger, I am getting me an early 280ZX to start with, black interior and hopefully those seats. This is something of a revelation for me, since I've been idly dreaming about what I want to "do" with my 75 for 2 1/2 years now, and I haven't really been able to feel right with my conclusion that I wanted to stay NA with it. Now I know why I felt unsettled, and the feeling is gone. I am not going to REbuild my 280 when I want to go turboing, I will build me one of these, with that spook, (RWDawg) and those seats, (daddsun) and shaved door trim. Thanks!

Oh yeah, bubbleguinea.. I watched you start building your 280 over on zcar.com and was mind bogglingly envious of the amount of time and money you had to dedicate to your car.... My Z got sidelined in October of 2004, and you were doing your total body restore at that point.. made me drool... I also forgot to mention that my dad and uncle have been working on these things since the 70's, and my uncle (the batchelor) has been hoarding bits and parts the whole time, too.. on the side, he plays around with the older of the two BRE 2000 roadster racecars (I forget which number, but its the one with the slightly taller roll bar) I may be wrong, but I believe its the car in the foreground in this image Anyhow, with cylinder heads and blocks and rods and pistons to spare.. HOPEFULLY I can pull this off at a minimal investment. I hope to build the lowest-budget 280 that has ever been done, RIGHT. Doing it right takes precedence over being cheap though.

Oh, I could tell that from the get-go... its just SO MUCH information to wade through that is not quite exactly what I am looking for.. but it is ALL education. I never said anything about being set in stone against turbocharging, either.. I just want to start simple, first. Aww, why not, I'll throw out my vague plans here and now, and try to add disclaimers where I know i may be being stupid I was thinking f54 block with stock flattops (but I really know the LEAST about block/crank/piston combos) and a P90 head shaved 0.080". 60MM TB, injectors, fuel rail, hot spark (also know very little about ignition) and port match all the way.. Thus far most of my research and reading has gone into cylinder head work. All I want (at first, at least) is about 200-250 WHP, and if I can *actually* pull off the 0.080 shaved P90 high comp setup, and I put some miles on the cylinder head and she still looks good, then I might look into MSnS and building a bottom end. Obviously the added fuel and air will want MS from the get-go, obviously I am going into potentially troubled waters with the shaved P90.. and obviously I still have a lot to learn BUT my thoughts are geared towards a couple things... A, getting my Z back on the road ASAP and B, gradually building power into it while driving it. Hopefully she will not be my only vehicle, as she was for the five years I drove her. Having your Z as a daily driver is fun, but it hinders the work process Nice to start getting to know more gearheads. Hopefully sometime soon I will stop lurking and asking questions, and START working and posting projects

Heh, simple means cheap to me. work is nothing, thought is nothing.. money is the biggest complication in MY life, I dunno about you.. ..And I *did* say "to me" after I made my comment:mrgreen: but I know what you mean. Its just heritage I guess, plus the exhaust note is really a key to me.. I actually have a sort of fondness for that mid-rpm engine drone, because it helped me understand that music is just a mathematical expression when I was like, eight.... (harmonics and whatnot)

whoa, cool, ample positive feedback in like half an hour.... I just came back to add an edit that I wasn't even really looking for info or help or advice... I know that turbo is just the simplest way to power, but my first memories are riding around sunday mornings with my dad in his 72 240 with a hot head.. back in 83/84 of course, it was a carb'ed car, and I just cant get that off-the-line, screaming exhaust note out of my head to this day.... My dad's 83 turbo was really nice, until it got rear ended.. and I mean, the snap-back of the neck in 2nd gear when that turbo kicked in (even stock) was amazing, but its just not a quite a Z with that turbo whine, to me....

I haven't started reading this forum extensively until the last week or two, but I have been into Zcars my whole life. I've also been a zcar.com member for several years.. now go ahead and flame me if you like, and move the thread if it warrants it.. but I just figured I would ask real quick to confirm a growing suspicion... Most of you folks here that stick with the L-series seem to be geared either towards just turboing it and forgetting trying to achieve real NA power, or if you are going the NA route you are going the big bucks, racecar way.. I mean, not that it is set in stone or anything, but I am more or less correct, huh?? I mean, it is HYBRID Z, not shadetree horsepower Z dot org...

I was driving my first car (92 geo storm hunchback) into the ground with a crankshaft pulley/woodruff key issue, and had just worn out my second pulley and key when suddenly my 75 280-to-be appeared parked on the corner at my house for $300. Far from rust free, and it needed an ignition lock, but it was a solid car (other than the passenger's floorboards) AND it had a five speed. I will never forget that first sit-down.. I looked at the knob and saw the green 4 speed pattern, started shifting her through the gears and didnt find fifth.. until i was just resting my hand on the shifter, in *just* the right spot, and hit the clutch pedal. It fell right into 5th gear, and I knew she was for me.... She has sat now for 2 1/2 years while my cash situation has simply gone further and further downhill, but life is changing and she is going to run by this time next year, come whatever may. (and no, I haven't said this for the last 2 1/2 years.. honest...

These cars were MADE to be turned into porsche-busters.... my uncle even has a sticker in his shop that says, "I'm a porsche-buster!!" All it takes is a minimal effort to breath a little more life into it than stock, and youve got that 944 all day. My dad had a ghetto 240 racecar that was put together outside our house in a tarp canopy garage.... and he used to beat the tar out of brand new boxters on the autocross circuit.... can you believe how THAT must have felt, losing to a poor man's racecar in a porsche that cost $50K

any Datsun guy on the lookout for a nice, inexpensive wagon would do well to consider the sbaru loyale/GL series.. made throughout the 1980s. they came with a sohc 1.8L boxer in both a SPFI NA, and MPFI turbocharged varieties. outside of timing belts and headgaskets (if the car overheats, easy to avoid) the NA's are near bulletproof. FWD models weigh in at about 2500 pounds, and youve got a choice between full time 4wd, or dual range.. and if you want more power, there are hundreds of people who have swapped the older engines out of these puppies and put the EJ series legacy/impreza/WRX motors in them. They sharpen up REALLY nice, too... lifted or lowered.