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Hey John, I would not try to rebuild the lifters, just gather a bunch of used ones in case you need to swap one or two out. I've got some spare used ones if you need a couple. I've heard that when you try and rebuild them, they are never the same. You can also convert your P90A to solid too. My L28 turbo pulls strong right to 6000 RPM with hydraulic lifters. Stock turbo cam. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you purchase an aftermarket cam for you hydraulic head, it needs to have the correct profile for hydraulic lifters. All aftermarket cams that I have seen are for solid lifter heads only. I'm in NH, we should hook up. Pete

The angle in the two photos is different, and the camera is closer to the gold car. Plus like Jon said, the tire brand is different. I've taken 2+2s apart (stripped for parts), and there is no difference in the rear suspension and or fender wells. For this to be true, the control arms and half shafts would have to be shorter, and the fender wells would have to be deeper. I know for a fact that the half shafts and control arms are the same on all S30s. Pete

There is no difference between the coupe and the 2+2 when it comes to fender wells. Those wheels don't exactly fit. One good bump, and bye-bye fender lip.

T04B 60 trim. About the same boost level (13-15psi). It was the stock turbine that was restricting exhaust flow. With the stage 3 turbine and 3" exhaust there is nothing holding it back.

I found the dyno plot for the T04B/T03 (stock turbine): This is the kind of torque curve I am seeing now with the WG ported. Pete

I don't think I have ever seen Cragar SS wheels on an S30. They look pretty cool! Pete

The last dyno run I did no boost controller was present, and the stock actuator opened up the waste gate at 8psi around 3600RPM. The boost continued to creep in a linear fashion, The peak torque hit around 5200RPM. I let off the throttle on the dyno at 15psi (5600 RPM). Now since the boost creep is fixed (opened up the waste gate hole) and the Dawes boost controller is back in there, it hits full boost (15psi) at 3000RPM. Since it made close to 320ft-lbs at 3000RPM on the old turbo, I am expecting it to make around the same on this one. Since I let up on this dyno run at 5600RPM (15psi), I am expecting to actually make a bit more power letting the dyno run to 6500RPM or so. I expect the power to start dropping off around 6000RPM. As you can see from the plot, the power was continuing to climb (along with the boost) up until I let off at 5600RPM. Pete

The compressor is a 50 trim. Internal waste gate. It was boost creep. The waste gate hole was not large enough to bypass enough exhaust pressure to hold the turbine RPM steady. The plot above was taken without any boost controller. If I had my boost controller in there set at it's normal 15psi, the boost would shoot to 20+psi. Pete

NA guys making 300WHP are happy to have ANY torque below 5000RPM!

Didn't want you to miss out on the fun ! I had to pull the exhaust, steering shaft, etc. to drop the turbo out from the bottom after putting it all back together the week before! Worth the effort though. You port may be large enough. Take the waste gate off, and put something on the flapper (I used silver paint) to mark where it is closing. Then put it back on and close the flapper. This will show how much bigger the flapper is than the hole. If the port ends up being too small, you will not get full boost until much higher in the RPM band (see plot). I had no boost controller in when I did this run. Didn't hit max torque until 5000RPM. Now I'm hitting the torque peak at around 3000RPM. Pete

A few weeks ago I finally go my turbo 240Z back on the Dyna Pack for tuning. I recently upgraded the turbo from a T04B/T3 stock to a T04E/T3 stage 3. I also added a 3" exhaust. The new turbo use the Ford style built in waste gate. The main issue I encountered with boost creep. The boost would continue to climb no matter what I se the boost controller to. After much fiddling on the dyno, I couldn't get the boost to be stable. Here is the final dyno chart: A few days after the dyno tuning, I decided to take it all apprt again and look at the waste gate port in the turbine housing. What I found was that the hole in the turbine housing was about 1/8" smaller than the flapper all around. So I ported the hole so that it was almost the same size as the flapper (about 1/16" difference). I also smoothed the transition between the turbine inlet and the waste gate hole. All this effort was worth it. It now hits 15psi at 3000RPM, and holds it all the way to redline. Here is the engine configuration: - Stock L28ET with P90A (hydraulic) head - T04E/T3 stage three - 3" exhaust with one 12" glasspack - 15psi - Wolf 3D 3.0 EMS I will get it back on the dyno soon and post a new dyno plot. I expect to see more torque at the lower RPMs, and about the same amount of power. Pete

This is what I'm building: V07 crank KA24 89mm pistons L24 rods P90 head 0.6mm fly cut (gives stock 0.030mm deck height) KA24 2.8cc dish should be close to 0 with fly cut 1mm gasket CR should be close to 9.6:1 (good for street engine)

Are you using the Ford VR sensor? If so, you may want to make your bracket slotted so that you can adjust the clearance. Your mount looks pretty solid, but remember that at high RPMs it can move around due to vibrations. I watched sparks fly from mine during dyno tuning. I had the sensor about 1mm from the wheel, but at high RPM the bracket deflected just about 1mm. I adjusted the sensor to a 2mm gap, and no more sparks.

Nice work! Pete

Great list John. I would add: - Verify that the timing you set in your ECU matches what you see with a timing light. - Bring an extension cord for your laptop - Create a basic conservative timing map Here is what I would suggest for tuning your NA motor. - Set max advance to 25-30 deg - Dynojet: do some pulls, check AFR and listen for detonation. Try to correlate dyno results with fuel map bins. - Dynapack: Set dyno to maintain RPM point. Tune all fuel map bins to 12-13:1. Listen for detonation. Let engine cool after every other RPM band. - Start increasing max advance a few degrees at a time. Listen for detonation and check AFR. AFR will go lean as advance is increased because it will start making more power. Adjust mixture to maintain 12-13:1 AFR. Keep increasing timing until you here detonation. Check AFR. If AFR is 12:1, and you still get detonation, you have hit the wall. Back off timing a few degrees and do another pull. Give yourself at least 2 degrees of head room to account for bad gas. I spent a few hours with the race car on the Dyna Pack last weekend. Here are the specs: L28 1mm flat top ITM pistons Stock, unported N47 head Stock head gasket 460/280 camshaft Port match intake manifold with 60mm TB 6:1 header -> 2.5: exhaust -> 3" Supertrapp Stock 81' ZX NA distributor and coil Made 185HP at 35 deg advance, but detonated Set max advance to 30 deg, no detonation:

I find that the OEM intake/exhaust manifold gaskets match very well to the head. If there are any slight differences, I open up the head ports to match the gasket. Then I use the gasket to mark the intake manifold ports. I use the 4 stock shoulder bolts to align the gasket on the manifold. Then I scribe it. Matching the intake ports is easy, and is certainly worth the effort. Pete

Get a Nissan OEM gasket. Last time I bought one they were around $75 from Courtesy Nissan. Unless you are going forged pistons and boost levels over 15psi, the OEM gasket is best. Courtesy doesn't have any OEM head gaskets left? I have also used ITM gaskets in NA builds. The head gaskets look to be very close to OEM in quality. The oil pan and valve cover gaskets are cork (suck). You can buy A complete Ishino set from thepartsbin.com W0133-1632596 http://www.thepartsbin.com/catalog/?N=9285&Nr=OR(AND(make:Nissan,model:280ZX,year:1983),AND(universal:1))&Vi=1684+11381+4294966708&y=1983&mk=Nissan&md=280ZX

Great idea. What is the thread on the bottom, or did you re-tap it for NTP. Pete

You can reuse head bolts, just clean all gunk from the threads, chase the threads in the block with the right tap, and then oil the threads before reassembly. I've used turbo head bolts 3 and 4 times over on MODERATE builds without any issues.

Yes, it does minimize coolant seepage. I did it on my L28ET at least 5 years ago, and I use it on the track. No signs of seepage. I've used it on all of the engines I've built and have never seen the seepage problem. It is worth the $5 per can. Just clean the head and block normally with acetone or brake cleaner to remove all gasket and oil residue. Any remaining copper isn't going to hurt anything (it might actually help).

Yes, you can use the N47 gaskets with a P90. Before assembly just be sure that no coolant passages that are both in the block and head are blocked by the gasket. Most intake/exhaust gaskets that I have seen are cut so they will work with both a square and round port. The Nissan ones are the only gaskets that I have seen that actually have a round exhaust port opening. A stock OEM or aftermarket head gasket can handle 12psi easily. No detonation is allowed of course. As long as there is not detonation, you can safely run 15-18psi on a stock gasket. I like to spray three coats of copper spray on head and intake/exhaust gaskets. From my experience it makes a longer lasting seal. Pete

Use the tach output pin on the Megasquirt. I use this with EDIS and it works fine. One thing to keep in mind is shielding of the PIP and SAW signals. Connect the shields at the EDIS module, and leave them unconnected at the MS. Pete

So you mean that you will at least have an engine harness available for RB and SR motors?

I like the idea of a Megasquirt PNP for SR and RB motors. Keep up the great work! Pete

OK, so you are using the stock Porsche coil packs that don't have igniters built in. I understand why your Father would like to keep the OEM look. BTW, I never said you were an idiot or that you were retarded. You need to thicken up your skin a little bit. Pete