z-ya

I was waiting to see the word "quench", but I'm glad to see that it didn't appear ! 8^)

You are wasting your time doing anything with the valve springs. If it is running decent, leave them alone. I bought a junkyard L28ET that had been sitting at least 5 years, and have had no problems at all with the long block. Spend your time doing the swap. Pete

You are much better of with the L28. Carbureted turbo setups are very problematic. And with the L24 CR (8.5:1), it's difficult to control detonation, the result being lower boost pressure and power. I know, I had one. I'm running a fuel injected L28ET now, and I'm extremely happy with it. Pete

I met him at the convention in LA this year. Sorry, I don't remeber his name. Nice guy though (aren't all Z freaks?). I remeber it being a real nice installation. I looked at it for a goo 1/2 hour or so. He had a lot of money into the long block, as well as a lot of time into tuning. His wheel HP numbers seemed high, but possible (380WHP?). Pete

Those are gorgeous! What did you spend on them? Pete

I'ver 250 at the seen over 250 at the wheels running stock turbo EFI. The turbo AFM is a bit larger than the NA one, so maybe that is the restriction. BTW, the track car I tuned got 164HP at the wheels, with the injectors close to 100% duty cycle. That's pretty much all you can expect from the stock NA injectors. I was also running stock fuel pressure, so you could get more with more pressure. This car is running a Megasquirt, so there is no AFM to get in the way. Pete

I have the return going back into the sump on my custom spare tire well fuel cell, and it works fine. In fact I have had the cover off the cell with the egine running, and there are no bubbles coming into the sump from the return line. Have done 10 track sessions with the car so far, and have had no problems with starvation.

All 280Z, 280Zx injectors are low impedance (2.4Ohms). If you measured 6, your meter is probably off. You need a high quality Ohm meter to measure low impedance coils (that is what is in an injector). Fuel injectors aren't really designed to be on all the time. They need to be cycled on and off at a relatively high rate to prevent them from overheating. Typically you don't want injectors to be on more than 80% of the time (duty cycle). If you put a current limiting resistor in series with the injector, this will prevent the injector from overheating, and burning out, but the opening time will be much slower. This may not be mportant for oyur application. Are you going to use a pressure switch to turn on the supplemental injectors? The turbo injectors are 26lb/hr, and the NA ones are 19lb/hr Pete

I'm running 245-45ZR16s on 16x8" rims with a 5" BS. They fit, and come real close to the coil-overs. I had to roll the rear fender lips to prevent rubbing. If you are running the stock ride height, you won't need to roll the fenders. For 275 width tire you certainly will need 9 or 10" wheels, and flares. Pete

Here's neat conversion for ya (ken Jones found this one): http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2490011598&category=6187 Pete

Nice work! Also, nice job on the piston comparisons. What distributor are you using, the 83' turbo unit? Pete

Most decent machine shops will have a machine that will let you turn the rotor on the hub, therefore making the whole assembly run true. When I put Wilwood brakes on my 240Z, I had to have the rotor and hat bolted to the hub, then the entire assembly was turned. I had slight vibration when braking before turning. After turning there is absolutely no vibration. Pete

I have seen many a race car with a surge tank in the passenger compartment. I've also seen many a race car that has the fuel cell sitting right in the hatch area. The club I run with requires a metal plate to separate the tank from the passenger compartment (as you have in an stock gas tank setup). I have a metal bulkhead between the surge tank and the passenger compartment, so it passes tech inspection. Pete

I used the steel 240Z expansion tank as a "stealth" surge tank. No one knows it's there. Works great, absolutely no starvation, even on the track. Here is a diagram of how I used it: http://hybridz.org/nuke/modules.php?op=modload&name=coppermine&file=displayimagepopup&pid=470&fullsize=1 Pete

What would lead me to water would be proof that a P head is superior to an N head in an L6 application. So, when you guys finish building your engines, get them on the dyno, and post the results. If the results show that the P series head produces significantly more HP than a similar L6 with an N series head, then I will bow to the almighty P design. I gues this would be the only way to really settle this. I have a P79 and N47 on the shelf, so I could combine those to make a P79 that I could swap onto my N47/F54 race car the next time I need to tear it down. But that would kind of go against why I used the N47 in the first place: a budget L6 with good performance. Best Regards Pete

I suggest you do some reading on fuel injection before you do anything. You need to have a basic understanding of how it works, before you start installation. Yes, you need a high pressure pump. You can use the complete fuel system out of a 280 Z or ZX. Pete

For the people that are convinced that the P series head is superior to the N series (I'm certainly not), I'd say go with what you believe in. spend the extra $ on machine services and "maybe" you will have a better performing head. This of course means that there will be more N series heads around for the rest of us Pete

The easiest way to get EFI into your 240Z is to install a Megasquirt. If you have basic electrical skills, you can do it. You can try to install the stock 280Z EFI, but plan on spending time debugging problems wit sensors, the harness etc. This stuff is old. Build up a new Megasquirt, with a new harness and sensors, and enjoy trouble free driving. If you have more $ to spend, there are a number of low cost fuel only ECUs that can be had for ~$500.

As you were there to witness it Dan, the F54-flattop/N47 engine I built for our club race car put 164HP to the wheels. The head is completely stock, including the cam. The exhast liners are still in there. It also has a round port 6:1 header, and 60mm TB. The only porting that was done was to the intake to match the intake runners to the head, and to match the TB to the manifold. The motor has been rock solid reliable so far. Here is a dyno plot: http://www.zccne.org/events-2004/dyno-2004/bad-dog.jpg Pete

Are you going to use an NA distributor? You'll be stuck with the advance curve unless you buy some other ignition box. You are better off with it all in one box, that way you will have complete control from the same unit. With what you will end up spending on ignition add ons, you could probably buy the Microtech with direct fire ignition. Pete

ToplessZ , I know a few people getting 350HP at the wheels on a stock long block. Doesn't the Microtech have ignition control? If so, don't waste your time screwing with an MSD BTM, ditch the distributor a just go for crank trigger direct fire ignition. You will have more control over timing than the BTM can ever give you. The BTM will not allow you to change the timing curve of the distrbutor, just retard under boost. I'm installing a Wolf3D V4 in a friends turbo 240Z now, and we are using the MSD GM twin tower replacements coils with a Nology three channel ignition amplifier in a wasted spark configuration. The ECU can drive the Nology module directly. We're shooting for 300HP at the wheels with a stock long block (stage 3 hybrid turbo, intercooler, 14psi). Pete

I'm sure people have said this before, but If this going to be a turbo build up as stated in the original post, I think you are wasting money on any internal mods except forged pistons and o-rings. Spend your money on a good engine management system, stage 5 hybrid turbo, and intercooler, and be done with it. Any additional power you get with a turbo stroker certainly won't be worth the additional cost. Here is what I'm planning for my next turbo motor build (I'm running a stock L28ET now): Bore to 87 or 88 mm Forged pistons stock l28 rods, crank. P90 Head Wiseco makes an 87mm foged L28 piston with a 9cc dish which should yeild around 7.8:1 CR, which would be good for high boost (20psi) applications. This should yeild a reliable crank 400HP. No offense, just my $0.02 Pete

I've got a bunch of stock 280Z injectors that are that color. I think they discolored from age. I sent them out for cleaning, and they flow at the stock 19lb/hr rate. Pete

As long as the turbine housing has the same down pipe bolt pattern as the 280ZX T3 housing. The compressor housing fits no problem as that's what I'm running on my 240Z. Pete

I love the Z32 wheels on and S30, they look awesome! I painted my wife's 280Z BMW Oxford Green Metalic. Really comes alive in the sun, but almost black in the dark. Here is pic: