Phantom

Pete, Know what you mean. I have about 10 kids - most of them unofficially adopted that we're always doing something for. On top of the ZX alternator thing Chris and I spent all of Friday night and then last night she was up until after 1:00 AM counseling a young woman who's roomate - another one or our adopted kids - has gone off the deep end after getting divorced and is dragging her roomate with her. She is now temporarily living with us until she can get control of he own emotions and something can be done about the crazy roomate. Today Chris is out with yet another adopted daughter whose fiancee' is in Califormia with a new job. They are shoppig for wedding shower clothes and Chris is attempting to cheer her up because of problems the separation is causing. Saturday night we have a ministry event at our house with a bunch of people coming in and then Sunday evening we're having a 30th birthday party for another adopted guy whose folks are doing nothing for him. Tonight my car goes in the shop to have the window tint redone - under warranty which is another story in itself - and Chris' Z32 goes in later this week to get the top redone under warranty so that it actually fits right. Yeah - it never ends but that is what makes life interesting.

Friday night / Saturday morning just after midnight I got a call from my younger son telling me his car ('83ZX) was dead on the side of the road about 15 miles from the house. He suspected a failed alternator. Fortunately he has towing on his insurance (good idea for an older car with 240,000 miles on it) so we confirmed that he would call USAA, get a wrecker to his location and have it towed to the house. In the meantime I got a jug of distilled water, the battery charger, and a battery cap pry tool positioned in the garage for when he got there. At 3:00 AM I got a call from a concerned neighbor. The tow truck had gotten their dogs up who had gotten them up and then they got me up concerned that someone was about to bolt with the Suburban I have parked in the driveway. Good neighbors! After putting her mind to rest I got up and went out thorugh the garage to help with the offload of the car and then, while JOsh was settling up with the driver I popped the caps on the battery, added about a pint of water, hooked the charger up, and gave him a brief lecture on checking battery fluid periodically. With that I brought him inside and set him up in the guest room for the night and went back to bed. At 9:00 I was up and at it again, managed to confirm that the battery was good - 14 volts by the gauge and car started fine - but that the alternator was bad - red warning light and not voltage rise from the 14 when the car was running. Josh got an alternator ordered from O'Reilly's - only $49.95 with a lifetime warranty which is cheaper than the battery - and then went off to work in the wifes Z32 convertible. Knew there was a reason I have three vehicles. Sunday after church we put the car up on ramps and started in. Had to pull the power steering pump to get the alternator out and then the alternator. Ran the old one to O'Reilly's, compared it carefully to the new one, and then headed back to the house. About three hours after we started the car was back together and Josh was off on a victory lap around the block with a working alternator. Even with a fan, shade, and lots of ice water it was a tough three hours in 102° heat. Still managed to teach him a few things as well as supply a boatload of tools. Seemed that every nut & bolt needed and different size, configuration tool to get it out - not to mention the hammer and screwdriver routine on the blet tensioner to get it too loosen up and getting into my box of spare Z bolts when one mysteriously disappeared. Now all we have to do is clean the car up so it will pass emissions. Sigh. This was all follwed by a couple weeks of projects on my older son Erics Firebird while he drove the wifes Z32 convertible to work. Did I mention that I now know why I have three vehicles? Anyone else the family garage/vehicle rental agency?

Jon, You going to run a T5 behind it rather than the heavier T56?

R200 doing fine - did break a U-joint on the drivers side half-shaft though.

OK - The John's car engine mounts have the adjustment on one side for alignment only. The mounts are very precisely designed for the LS1 and to put the engine in a specific location that will allow useage of the other components from JCI. It does not set the engine back against the firewall but sets it about 3-4" forward to allow access to heater hoses, AC lines, etc. LS1 and LT1 are two totally different engines. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the LT1's are very similar or identical to the older SBC's where the LS's1 definitely are not. The JCI LS1 kit was not designed to mount the LS1.

I have dual 2 1/2" exhausts that run from the headers through a true X pipe to the rear and then cross over to the stock drivers side exhaust position. They exit out through a Magnaflow that has dual 2 1/2" inlets and, in my case, a single 2 1/2" exit although a 3" is available. Several guys here on this forum, including IA Consultants, had an opportunity to hear it at idle and close to WOT last night.

I know of no reason the driver's side whould need to be modified - unless your car has an accident in it's history that has left the front clip area somewhat deformed. Why don't you just give John a quick call?

Local yellow pages work pretty well too. Just contact an auto glass shop and tell them what you need.

Zerzat, Your initial question and then later comment about not knowing where to start leads me to believe that you haven't yet spent much time reading posts on this website. I would suggest you do some searches under supercharging or turbocharging. Since the 280ZX L28 came from the factory with a turbocharger on some models you would be many $$ ahead trying to locate one of those motors and then building it up over time.

Had a grilfriend in college that had a 1958 Morris Minor - basically a sprite with a sedan body. Had the same lever action hydraulic shocks, a 4-spd with a non-synchro first, a hand crank that inserted through the front bumper if you were brave - or stupid - enough to use it, and a 987cc 4-banger that had 37 HP. It had been fully restored - black naugahyde interior and candy-apple red paint. Sweet little car.

If I remember correctly the achilles heel of the Z33 motor is the connecting rods. If you go to forged rods & pistons, ARP bolts and replace your bearings while it's apart the bottom end should be able to take more HP/TQ. If you drop the CR to around 8.5:1 then you'll be able to run significantly higher boost presures. With a good intercooler I would imagine 18-20 pounds of boost would be achievable. The key once all this is done though is to get it to a good dyno tuner and get it set up properly. If he had spent the $500 to do that originally he'd probably still be running fine with the original equipment.

Look in my photo album. There are photos there of a 10" sub installed in a custom enclosure on the drivers side behind the rear fender well. It works really well for a 280Z as the other side has an expansion tank for the EFI system and it balances out. In a 240 you could have a pair - one on each side.

Daniel, Have you looked at the way they do it with the 280Z? You might be able adapt that system.

The 280Z system is marginal in really hot weather. The blower is a bit under powered. I have an excellent stock unit and it was generally good to 90°F. I then heavily insulated the car and it is now good to 100°F but it takes it quite a while to catch up if the car is heavily heat soaked from sitting out in the sun.

Thanks to everyone for all the good suggestions. Each was viable and typically could have caused my problem. As it turns out it was what I suspected - a burned spade connector near the starter. It was heat stressed by the exhaust system on the passenger side and finally failed. I didn't have the proper equipment to get in and investigate it so I tried all the other obvious possibilities first. Once I got it to a shop with the right equipment it took them less than hour to find & repair the problem. Back on the road again!

Update, Car going to a shop. I've jumpered the ignition switch - nothing happened. I've checked all the components under the dash and everything appears OK. The new starter worked the first day I had it in but exhibited the same symptoms of the previous one so I have to believe there is another problem that cause the same symptoms in both starters. On the bright side - the car sure isn't using much of the $3.00/gallon gas.

Boy does that bring back memories. Had some fraternity brothers who had one of these. They got drunk one night and one of them tossed a quart beer bottle through the windshield. Don't know hwat got into them but then they knocked out all the glass and got a torch and cut the roof out. Ldeft the window and door frames - just cut the roof out. After that it somehow got named "The Toilet". It was pretty notorious on the U of Idaho campus for the rest of the year for various reasons.

Jon, Interesting that I'll be in Boise the 2nd of June interviewing for a new job. You're right about the flatness, relative to Seattle. Compared to the DFW area, though, it's heavy mountain terrain. Since I grew up there I find your analysis interesting. I also noticed that Boise is listed as #1 for real estate valuation growth potential. Evidently it is still a hot market and it is expected to remain that way for awhile. I'm a bit dismayed by the cost of home ownership during my recent investigations. Bill

Thanks for the aditional information. I had the same symptoms 4 weeks ago so I had the starter replaced but the symptoms didn't go away. I dont' think it's the starter or solenoid. I have a new starter realy coming so I'll be able to eliminate that later this week once it arrives and I can reassemble things. If it still doesn't start I'll bedown to three things: 1) A faulty iginition switch and Rick's post above indicates how to correct that, 2) A burned wire down by the starter due to it's colse proximity to the exhaust manifold - that's happened before, or 3) A "I haven't a clue". The car is going in a shop for some work in a week anyway so if I don't have the problem fixed by then that will be the final 'fix'.

Thanks Rick. I do actually have a starter relay. That is what is making the 'click' sound and the number on it corresponds to a starter relay with Nissan - which I have ordered. When I get the new one installed - and reassemble all the electrical in the footwell I had to pull to get to it - I'll try jumpering the ignition switch if it still doesn't work. Thanks for the tip. One for you - since my car is a late production '77 then it is like the '78 - you have a starter relay buddy!!

Track down CodyZXT. He has an '83ZXT that has run a 12.9 in the quarter and I don't think it is hugely modified. HTere is, hbowever, no fast, cheap & reliable combination that I know of that works. Usually one is lost at the expense of the others.

Heck - I hadn't even noticed it!

I am in total lust!

If the car sat for a while with a warm motor it probably evaporated the moisture out of the contact area. Cleaning the contacts with contact cleaner probably did little to actually correct your problem. If, in fact, the contacts were corroded you need to go back and mechanically clean them with a small file or sand paper and then coat them thoroughly with a dielectric grease that will reduce their propensity to corrode and also help keep water away from them if that area gets wet again..

When I did my conversion I sold by 203,000 mile L28, '83 5-spd and 3.90:1 R200 as a set for $500. Unless someone is desperate for an automatic I don't see it being worth much. The engine, depending on condition and part of the country, might get you $200.