Connor280ZX

Would an aluminum driveshaft do me any good?

Wow, that's more than impressive, Tony. I'm going to start working on my car today (electrical connections and vac lines). Where have you dynoed your car?

147 HP to the rear wheels on a stock 1980? That's nearly 30 HP over factory specs. And you completely achieved this power just by tuning up the car very thoroughly?

Yes, I agree. I've replaced just about all my sensors, but I'm going to replace the vaccum lines as well. I'll clean up all the electrical connections while I'm at it, then I'll send my injectors to RC.

Wow, that really is some great info. I wonder why I haven't seen that thread before... Definitely a lot to think about. Thank you for letting me know about that thread.

Alright, alright. Jeez. Talked to a guy at RC who said upon my injectors arriving at thier shop, that they will have them back to me within 24 hours, which is actually pretty impressive. Anyways... What i've been having a hard time finding out is if these EFI systems are "Dyno tunable" And yes, i have done some research to find out if this is possible, but i can't find a solid answer. So now i am kindly asking if theres anyone here who has ever had their 280Z-ZX "Dyno tuned" And no, i havent forgotten about my electrical connections. I am going to clean those up before i proceed with what i have stated above.

RC engineering is in Torrance, Which is roughly 350mi from where I live. How long would my car be out of commission while my injectors are in? How long does it normally take them?

Got the valves adjusted two months ago, but can you explain to me what the ''Distributor advance curve'' is? What is the best way to find vaccum leaks? My spark plug gap is at .044 +/- .01, do you reccomend this gap? I may be due for some injector work. Mine are the 31 yr old original ones, and the hoses are starting to crack.

Alright, i've made some posts here and there about cams, exhaust parts, clutches, etc, and found that i can't really work in those departments without spending a whole lot of money, risking smog failure, or risking breaking something. Now im cutting to the chase here: Without tampering with the engines internals, V8 swap, Turbo-ing, or wiring up a new ECU, what can i do to get more power out of this car? Tweaking sensors? Using different brands of parts (Like Champion vs NGK, or Bosch vs Denso)? Throttle bodies? Ignition systems? If heard of some Throttle Position Sensor modification that could be done that increases HP, but i'd rather hear it striaght from the pros. Those are just some examples, but please, throw what you know at me. My goal here is to run low to mid - 14's. ***Here are the specs on my car: 1982 S130, K&N air filter, Crane cams Ignition Coil (25K Volt), Catback MSA exhaust, NGK Iridium plugs/plug wires, rebuilt dizzy, Timing advanced to 10BTDC, Adjusted the AFM 4 teeth CCW to correct rough idle, Crappy EXEDY clutch, and its got 4lbs off of the flywheel. *The Drivetrain is all stock, 5 Speed Nissan tranny with the R200 3.90 open end. General Alitmax 205/70 tires on stock rims. *Suspension is upgraded. Urethane Front-end bushings, KYB struts. Rest of the suspension is stock. *This is my daily driver, so i would perfer not to strip my interior. Compression numbers: 183-181-184-180-186-184 (Dry)

Oh, ok I see what you mean. Though the P90A head is hydraulic, the rockers/pads are still compatible with solid lifters? If I were to, where would I find P90A lash pads?

Thanks, but i attached this same link in my original post, haha.

N42's are pretty good heads... '80 ZX's come with N47's stock, so thats an improvement. However, if you do find that its cracked, you might be able to get it filled depending upon the damage. And if its warped, i think in some cases a resurfacing of the head can fix it depending upon how its warped.

Had a valve adjustment done a few months back. I didnt do it myself, because i couldnt find that special Nissan valve adjustment tool that is needed to do so. I sent it in, and told the Datsun guy that i'd like a "performance" valve adjustment. I didnt feel much of a performance difference after that, though i did ask him how the valvetrain looks, and he said everything looks very good, with minimal wear on the pads, rockers, lobes, etc.

Hi. As some of you may know, i'm trying to squeeze every HP out of my 1982 280ZX as possible without major engine modification, not being too expensive and still being able to pass CA smog. Now, there are Cams. Cams have always come into my mind first when thinking about performance parts, however, aftermarket cams (from what i've heard) require all new valvetrain hardware to work properly, and will most likely cause the car to not pass smog, not to mention all of that is pretty expensive. So i thought to myself; "What about previous Z's valvetrain? EFI S30's made much more power than any NA S130, though they have the same displacements, but have different valvetrains..." Well, I think 75-76 Z's had the N42 head, followed by the N47 head for 77-80? Correct me if im wrong. I made a thread asking if anyone knew the specs for factory Z cams, which thankfully i was promptly given a few answers. Cutting to the chase: I'm thinking about swapping out my P79 F Cam for an N42/47 A, an E31, A, or an E88 C cam. I'm leaning towards the EFI cams, because im not sure how my ECU would react to a cam coming out of a carburated engine. Now a few questions: -In order to swap one of these cams in, would i need to do anything to my valvetrain? -Are the cam's basically the same lenth/width? Would any of these even fit in my P79? -Would i need to time the cam differently? -How much power can i expect to gain (if any, not expecting a whole bunch, but +10-12HP would be fantastic)? Cam specs:http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/cam/

Ok, cool. Thanks for the info, guys. I'm looking into a head, or maybe even a cam swap, but i'll start another thread for that.

Does anyone happen to know the stock can specs for a P79 head, and the P90 head?

Alright, just got the cat, and installed it. The exhaust seems to open up more under load, and it does feel slightly quicker. The stock cat was 2.0 inches in pipe diameter, so I definitely have more flow now with the ID of the new cat being 2.25 inches. The header pipe is 2.25 inches as well.

Thats a very good point Randy, however, i made a mistake on my order which i cancelled. I had a funny feeling about the cat i bought (Not sure why i didnt do it to begin with, amatuer mistake) so i went under my car and measured the length of my cat. The lengths were different, so i quickly got back on ebay and cancelled my order. Found the correct one this time which is a bit longer, and has a 2.4' inlet/outlet. Not sure about the stock header. Its either 2.25, or 2.5.

The cylinder head could have a crack, or is warped. Of course its hard to tell off the bat, but i'd clean the head up and inspect the surface for cracks or fractures. As far as the bottom end goes... You didn't happen to do a compression test before you began the teardown, did you? Also, how many miles are on the engine?

Interesting. I bought my car with a brutal misfire (Due to broken dizzy and bad IACV) which the previous owner wasnt aware of, so my cat might not be in the best shape anyways... It still doesnt run perfect, but i got the misfire problem worked out. Still idles rough, but oh well. I went ahead and ordered a Magnaflow 49-state cat from Summit Racing. its got 2" internals, and it 13.25 inches long, which supossively is the right lenth. Hopefully it works out. Going to save the old cat, and clean it out before the next SMOG test. I've been thinking about EFI tuning latley, what would it take to hook up a wideband?

I believe MSA sells test pipes, but you have to call them so they can build one for you. What i meant by geting a 49 state cat was: IF a 49 state cat provides better flow, id buy one, install it, and swap it out with my factory cat every two years when i need to smog the car.

Thats nuts. California is such a bad place for a high performance car, ha. Anyways, i guess im going to take up the idea of a stealth-cat instead of buying a cat, just to hope itll get me a few more HP. How hard is it to gut a cat? Can it be done without taking it to a shop(Don't want any EPA freaks that might be present to get all nosey on me, and risk a fine)? What about the 49-state cats? Do they flow better?

I currently have a cat back exhaust on the car (2.5") but headers are illegal here in CA. Do any of you guys have a recommendation for a higher flowing cat? Or reliable brand?