JoshB 240Z

Here are some pictures of my SBF swap that I took this weekend. The engine is basically stock...for now. I am using Al's mount and the stock EFI for a simple install. Soon there will be another one on the street. Josh

Dan, Do you have the part number to the specific Dynomax headers you used? Josh

Don't forget Alaska. I hear there's oil up there. Josh

You're giving away my secret. As far as I know the 5L HO engines found in mid/late 80's Lincolns contain forged internals and are in fact identical to the 5L HO engines in Mustangs except for the cam (possibly). I recently had a Lincoln engine apart and the pistons were forged TRW units, the same as in my 88 GT engine. I never cared to research the cam specs as I usually install an aftermarket cam. I like the Lincoln engines due to their availability and their average driver. Most of the engines I have seen have been clean inside with some bearing wear due to mileage. Josh

I believe the company you are referring to was the Prince Motor Company in Japan. I have attached an article from zhome.com about relationship between Prince and Nissan and the article even refers to the engine in the 510 (L4) coming from Prince. I hope this helps. http://zhome.com/History/Truth/Prince.htm Josh

All stock Z's have a hydraulic clutch. No clutch cables were ever installed on Zcars at the factory. Are you sure that yours has a cable actuated clutch? Josh

Thank you, Tim, for pointing that out. I went to see the movie on Friday night. I promptly checked my brain at the door and enjoyed an hour and a half action movie. It was an entertaining movie not a documentary on the street racing scene. If it were a documentary there would have been 5000 people telling each other "I have a T66 and nitrous at home in my garage....." But I digress. Josh

Just picked up my '01 GT after having the engine replaced for a rod knock. Ford replaced the engine under warranty but not without argument from the dealer. They claim that the engines have such tight tolerances that the slightest oil "problem" can cause abnormal bearing wear. So the dealer started accusing me of not changing the oil properly or on schedule. Luckily the dealer had done most of the oil changes so it wasn't a hard fight to win. This car has always had it's oil changed at the scheduled mileage and is only used as a commuter and road trip car. We noticed the problem when we would start the engine and it would rattle as if it didn't have any oil. The problem became worse so we took it to the dealer and they had the engine replaced. Whatever the cause the problem definitely needs attention. For performance applications I will stick with the 302. I have 3 of them sitting on engine stands in my garage waiting for their opportunity. Josh

Stacey David, the host of Trucks, actually owns a 240Z. You can check it out at his website linked below. The pictures of his Z are about 3/4 of the way down the page. Josh http://www.staceydavid.com/early.htm

Terry, When do you think the aluminum block becomes necessary? Is there a HP level? Although the aluminum block may be a little lighter I agree with you in the idea that strength is the key "plus" factor of the aluminum blocks. Josh

There should be two sensors/senders in the thermostat housing. These sensors go to the Water Temp gauge in the dash and the second sensor is for the thermotime switch which runs the fuel injector cooling fan. The gauge sender wire is yellow and the thermotime sender is white. Neither of these wires run to the ECU rather they go to the vehicle main harness. On the turbo EFI the ECU receives the engine temperature signal from the CHTS. Josh

I just looked up aluminum blocks in the Ford SVO catalog and found two blocks for 302's and three for 351's. The part numbers are: M-6010-F302 (302) M-6010-F87 (302) M-6010-X352 (351) M-6010-X351 (351) M-6010-Z351 (351) All of these blocks have a note below that states you must call Raceparts Distribution, Inc. (704) 892-8688 to purchase. One interesting note, the catalog lists the weight of the aluminum blocks between 92-122lbs for the bare block vs. 135-205lbs for cast iron 302 & 351 blocks. Josh

Are you talking about the signal from the Cylinder Head Temperature Sensor? If so, the signal wire is yellow/green and terminates at pin #23 of the ECU. Josh

When I built my fuel rail I used the dimensions listed in the fuel rail How-To page on the SDS EFI website. Take a look at the article and use the dimensions for the injector bosses that are recomended and you should end up with a leak free fuel rail. Here's the link: http://www.sdsefi.com/techrail.htm Josh

Oops. I misread the first post. The BOV is vented to the hose that runs between the valve cover and AFM to Turbo hose? Duh! For some reason I thought the BOV was vented directly into the intake manifold behind the throttle body. I appologize. Josh

John, I assume you have a stock EFI system. You will want the vacuum/boost reference line to run directly from the intake manifold to the BOV. You will then need to run the BOV return back into the intake system after the AFM but before the turbo. If I understand your description correctly you currently are running the excess compressed air directly into the intake manifold and valve/cam cover. I would assume that by routing the air around the throttle body and directly into the intake manifold would give you a lean codition as the EFI thinks the throttle body is closed and is not adding more fuel to make up for the extra air you are dumping in the manifold. Plus, you are defeating the purpose of the throttle body being shut by forcing air around the TB and directly into the manifold. Does this make sense? Josh

Hoodwink, you're almost there. O-ringing the block is where a groove is cut into the deck of the block so that a piece of steel wire can be crushed (for lack of a better word) between the deck and head. This helps to seal the cylinders by isolating the combustion process to the cylinders and away from the paper gasket. I'm sure someone else on this forum can give you a better description of the process. Len168-Thanks for the offer but I will be going to an Accel DFI soon. I have been building my wire harness for the past ten months and almost have it finished. Once it's done tuning shouldn't be a problem.

I have been itching for this very discussion. I have a 3.1L stroker turbo and have been pretty happy with it. I originally started the project with the idea that I would use a junkyard motor and turbo but quickly found out that the words "stroker" and "turbo" do not go with words like "cheap" and "inexpensive." I would say that my buildup was in the moderate range. I chose to go with the LD28 crank, new Nissan KA24 pistons cut down to fit, Nissan bearings (main and rod) and total seal rings. If I remember correctly the bottom end alone cost around $1500 parts and machine work. I then installed a P90 head with aftermarket turbo cam and 300ZXT EFI. Once this was all done I installed the engine into a 240z and have been very happy. I have only run stock boost at this time and the car is quick. The driveability and gas mileage are good. My only complaint stems from the stock EFI. Currently there are no easy ways to tune the 300ZXT EFI (that I'm aware of) short of having JWT reprogram the ECU. This means that you are forced to run the stock injectors which limits your boost to 10-12psi intercooled. I have been told that this setup should yield 250-275RWHP but don't have any numbers to prove or disprove those numbers. If I were to do it over I probably wouldn't overbore the cylinders to .120" since the large increase in bore doesn't really give you that much horsepower, especially in a turbo application. I can also say that even with the material removed in the overbore and the cut down stock KA24 piston the engine did not self destruct when I over boosted to 20+psi. At this boost level it did detonate and didn't break anything. I was lucky but it goes to show these engines are quite durable. Bob H-What are N/A strokers getting at the rear wheels? Josh

Thanks Tony for picture. I have always wondered what the burn off looked like. I must say, we are a sick bunch of individuals for even caring what the MAF looks like inside. As for the 300ZXT EFI swap, I have been running this for a year now and am much happier than with the 280ZXT EFI. The driveability is much better and the parts were easier to find in my local junkyards. I am not running the fuel temp sensor and receive an error code. I am only running the cylinder head temp sensor, TPS, O2, and MAF. The car starts immediately when cold, runs well and pulls hard despite only having 6psi of boost. My only real complaint is the lack of tuning available. Josh

Clint, Does this mean that the DFI 6.0 unit does not mind running either high or low impedance injectors? Are there modifications required to run either type? I am currently building a harness for my DFI and this will help me to get the system on the car and on the road. Thanks, Josh

I believe the Yellow wire that supplies the start signal runs to pin #9 on the 280ZXT harnes/ECU connector. If I'm not mistaken, this wire supplies a start singal to the ECU so that the computer may make the necessary timing and fuel changes to get the car started. My car will run and drive with or without the wire connected but I also live in California with mild climate so the engine doesn't really need too much enrichment to start. Josh

What is the best method for mounting the anti-submarine belt in a 240Z? I have seen several different methods, from an eye bolt through the floor board with a large washer on the other side to a bar welded between the trasmission tunnel and rocker panel framework. Thanks, Josh

Ron, I don't doubt it. I have both wheels and could never tell them apart. I only swapped them because it was easy to do and I wanted to be sure that everything was perfect. I was starting a new engine and didn't want the trigger wheel to be a source of unhappiness. Either way, I think the swap is a good one. The MAF is easier to locate and cleaner looking than the AFM. It's also easier to find in local yards. The one downfall I found is that you cannot run bigger injectors as easily. SleeperZ mentioned having to introduce an air leak to compensate for bigger injectors. Unfrotunately, there is no spring to twist making bigger injector swaps easy to tune for. I TRIED to run SVO injectors with less than good results. The brief moment the engine would run would produce a thick layer of smoke and unburnt gas that didn't even rise more than a few feet above the ground. The car would then foul the plugs and die. I went back to the stock injectors and have the boost left at stock. Once I get an intercooler on the car I will begin turning up the boost. Josh

Tony, According to JWT the trigger wheels for all Z31 engines are the same. I pulled my trigger wheel from a 300 N/A and do not have any problems. The engine runs smooth and revs to redline. I will keep my eyes open for wheel when I visit the junkyard this weekend. Are you able to find N/A engines? Josh

ooops. You also have to swap the trigger wheel in the distributor to one from a Z31. Another five minute job. Josh