Six_Shooter

Yeah, it really depends on your knowledge of what is required to install a turbo system. For myself I have never used a pre-made turbo system or swapped an already turbocharged engine. My first turbo engine was an engine that there were no turbo parts available for, and had to make my own turbo headers, along with intercooler piping in a vehicle that other than for 3 years and using a different engine was not turbocharged from the factory. It took plenty of research and studying other turbocharged engines to know that I had everything in place for it to be correct. For someone who has never dealt with a turbocharged engine before a stock swap can be a good idea and then upgrade piece by piece, I just usually choose to start with those upgrades. lol

Is it just me, or does the car look like it's in too good of condition to be used as a parts car? I can see it's no where near perfect, but it looks pretty solid from the pictures. In a case like this, since the engine needs a rebuild I would just rebuild the engine I have and if I was really worried about it use the turbo specific internals, even though I'm running a high boost turbo set-up on my stock N/A L28 currently... The only (L28) turbo specific parts that are needed are the exhaust manifold, and well, nothing else really. Many of the other parts can be sourced from other vehicles, or would likely plan to upgrade/swap for something else anyway. I have exactly 2 L28ET parts on my turbo L28, those are the exhaust manifold and the cam cover and the cam cover was only because I got a good deal on it at the time. The rest of the parts are from other cars or are aftermarket/home made. That being said, if you want to do a completely stock L28ET swap, without changing anything, then using a donor is a good idea, as this will give you all of the mechanicals and the electrical to get a stock swap going. I find though that anybody that does a completely stock L28ET swap, they find they want to start upgrading things only a few months later, usually starting with the addition of an intercooler or swapping the ECM for a newer tunable ECM, where it then snow balls. This makes the stock swap seem almost pointless other than for some people to learn on, because of limited mechanical experience.

The fact that you opened the bleeder and that did not release the brakes rules out the hydraulic portion completely. It's the linkage in the drums causing this, it's a common issue with drum brakes, and mechanical parking brakes. Drum brakes are especially bad because the brake dust is contained in the drum and will get into the pivot points in the brake linkage, gumming up the works.

I don't understand why you'd have issues with the throttle being blown open, when using a bypass valve. Turbo engines don't have this issue, and I haven't known any supercharged cars that I have been around to have this issue either.

Many people replace the ammeter with a volt meter from a late 280Z. The most common way to bypass the ammeter when this is done is to attach those two wires together. When I did mine, I used a screw and nut, and then taped up the connection. It wasn't my preferred way to make the connection, but it has worked for 5 years this way.

There should be a white wire coming off the starter, that feeds into the harness running next to it, which in turn feeds into the car. According to the FSM, this wire splits off to the fuse box and to the ammeter. The ammeter then feeds the ignition switch and other parts of the fuse box. You can bypass the ammeter by connecting the large white and large whit red at the ammeter together, if you think the gauge itself is a problem. You can also test that there is 12V on both of these wires with a DMM as a better way to troubleshoot.

I wonder if he caught wind of this thread? Maybe someone just simply informed him of what he actually had...

A few pictures of mine: The pictures with the stock front bumper are more recent.

I don't see a VIN listed, but I agree it's not even close to being a '69 build. If the VIN listed in the first post is correct I'd say it's probably a '72. It's about 30,000 earlier than mine, and IIRC mine is a mid '73 build. I would have said '73, if it wasn't for the front bumper. The '73 had a front bumper that was pushed out. It's not hard to fit an earlier bumper to the car, I've done this with my own '73, but there is definitely a mish-mash of parts here. Take a zero off that price and it could be worth it.

If you think weather pack connectors are good, look at Deutsch connectors, they are 10x better. They also do cost a little more, especially the crimpers, don't even consider the cheap terminals, they are not worth it, go with the high end real deal. When I get to the point of re-wiring my car I will use Deutsche connectors everywhere I can.

See next quote: For as long as I can remember going to the local wrecking yards (a few decades now), there has not been any Datsuns in these yards. There may have been some maybe when I first started going, but didn't own a Datsun at the time. There just are not that many Datsuns around here, and the cars usually don't sit for long before they get crushed. So to repeatedly say "Just go to the local pick n pull" does not apply to some of us.

I assume this problem only occurred after the car has been sitting for a while. The car would roll fine when it was parked? If that's the case, you're looking at the wrong end of the braking system. The problem will be within the rear drums themselves. This can especially happen when parking brake is left on. Usually the parking brake portion get stuck on, due to lack of lubricated joints, and won't release right away. It would be best to pull the drums. You can back off the adjustment to loosen the drums, get everything in the brake system moving freely, reassemble and re-adjust.

Are you sure it's metal? On just about every engine build I have done, the assembly lube can appear like metallic bits, and can give a false sense of something wrong. The fact that it looks to be floating suggests this may just be assembly lube. If you can't really pick out a piece, as in put some of the oil on your finger and there is no silver left on your hand after the oil drips off your hand, I would not worry. I'd put in more oil and run it, I bet you will find less and less of this silver with each oil change. If you can actually pick out pieces, then well, yeah it's not good then... I know you mentioned a few pages back that you had trouble after swapping to Royal Purple oil, but I will say this, Royal Purple is all I run in my toys, and have had no issues with it. I like it more than the Mobil 1 Synthetic I was using previously. I have used Royal Purple for at least 5 years now.

This post shouldn't even exist, this post should've read "I just bought a 280Z for $400." People spend more on less, at least from your description of the car. If you get out home and did it's too much work you could likely sell it for more or part it out.

I've seen a number of modern dash swaps in S30s, including several 240SX dash swaps, R33 dash swap (In the White Common Snapper Z), there was a 350Z dash swap in a silver S30, that had many other (questionable) changes, along with a few others that slip my mind on the specifics. While I like the way the 240SX and R33 dash swaps flowed, I just can't find a better looking dash than the original 240Z dash. I did have a plan at one time to make a custom dash, but other than one design, that was basically a Volvo P1900 dash, I couldn't come up with anything that suited the car better than the stock dash. Getting a MINT 240Z dash also helped sway me away from building the custom dash too. lol I do hear you on the radio thing, while I'm not a fan of double din radios, especially in small interior cars (they just look unproportional), it would have been nice if the radio position could allow for a fold out. The only fold out that I can see working is a Kenwood with the "Z mechanism" if they still use that. It was very adjustable, and would likely work. White common Snapper Z dash (R33): 350Z dash swap:

That looks to me like the type that just slips into place and is not threaded, so I would keep looking.

Hmm, I like the smoothed valve cover. I'm not a fan of the Rising Sun motif, don't get me wrong it looks good, I just see it too often. I still have my stock cam cover, maybe I'll smooth it out... Hmmm... You should see if you can get a red oil cap, maybe an anodized aluminium one.

If money were an object, I'd go MS, or what I actually used Delco (GM) ECM. I've been following MS since the beginning and only since the release of MS3 has it piqued my interest enough to consider using it, because of many of the now included inputs and expand-ability it provides over MS2. It's just a tad more money than I want to spend on an MS that doesn't include any sort of on board diagnostics. There's also a couple other things that I haven't fully been able to verify that keep me from it. The Delco ECM, is a steeper learning curve, because of how the options are laid out. It's not a "one size fits all" type deal, and proper selection of ECM service number and code has to be made. The upside is they can be installed extremely cheaply, because you can buy them from the wrecking yard, they are extremely reliable, they have On Board Diagnostics (OBD), and can be tuned very inexpensively. Or for a slightly larger investment an EPROM emulator can be used and tuned in real time. If money were less of an object, I'd look at Haltech. They seem to have very reliable products and are usually up to date with new features. They also have many options that can be added or removed as needed. I would absolutely stay away from F.A.S.T. Everyone I know that has used one (local to me and many online) has had less than optimal results with them, especially the "self tuning" versions. I don't have enough experience with other systems to comment on them.

It looks like it is locked to me, the weld in the third picture would be pointless otherwise. You can easily check that it's locked out by simply grabbing the rotor and attempting to twist the rotor one way and the other. If the rotor moves a significant amount and you can actually see the mechanicals moving in the dizzy, then it's not locked. If the mechanicals do not move, then it is locked. Back when I was running a dizzy on my car, I found the stock (replacement) rotors had significant play in them. I mention the play just to forewarn you about it and not think it's the mechanical advance not locked out. Don't take offense to me mentioning small things like this, I don't know your skill level when it comes to stuff like this, so I assume people know (next to) nothing about it when I try to explain some things. You don't need a turbo dizzy. The reason there is a "turbo dizzy" is because Nissan changed the control of the engine when they went to the turbo version. They decided to add or change the way the ECM/ICM was triggered. Since your MS is capable of using pretty much any ignition input signal as an RPM reference, the NA dizzy is fine. I ran my turbo L28 with an NA dizzy (locked) for the first few months it was turbocharged, then switched to DIS. I actually couldn't use a turbo dizzy due to the ECM I am using anyway. As far as adjusting timing, you do that through a combination of mechanical manipulation and through the SA tables of the MS. You need to set "base timing" using the dizzy itself. Depending on the application this is usually between 0 and 10 degrees BTDC (Before Top Dead Center). You then adjust overall timing through the SA tables in the MS. I can't help you on setting the base timing, I use a different ECM than an MS, that allows for easy adjustment of base timing by disconnecting one wire temporarily (similar in concept to disconnecting the vacuum advance of a carb set-up. You will have to do some research there, I'm sure the MegaManual and MS forums will be of help there. So in short, don't be worried that it's an N/A dizzy, just be sure that it is locked out, and that base timing is set correctly, along with MS doing what it should be doing. If you don't have a timing light, get one, learn how to use it, correctly set timing can solve a multitude of problems. I'm only mentioning this last part as an FYI, but a non-locked out N/A dizzy could be used in conjunction with EFI, provided that the SA tables are set correctly in the ECM to account for such a method. This is a sort of advanced topic, and has no real benefit in doing so, but I mention it, because it could be done and with such a universal ECM as the MS, it could be set up a multitude of ways, along with the actual mechanicals that it is attached to.

Don't read into the idea of using the engine block as a ground for the MS as a "good" or "superior" ground point than the chassis is, it is simply because the sensors associated with the engine need to share the same reference point. This has to do with values that the sensors read as well as noise rejection. About the idea of the grounding scheme brought up in this thread, I will state that I've solved more problems by REMOVING "ground systems" that were installed similar to how this thread suggests than having it solving anything or improving how the electrical systems work.

I got around 35 MPG on a trip this summer in mine. '73, with a 2.8L and turbo (N/A 2.8L + turbo), running Delco (GM) EFI, 5 speed trans, 3.9 rear, 225/50/16 all around, My girlfriend, myself two dogs (smaller dogs) and some luggage. I was light on the throttle and almost no stops for over 4 hours so a pretty consistent 70 or so MPH. Most of the time I get WAY less than that, but it's how I drive it. I beat on my car like it's stolen, which means the throttle spends more than enough time at WIDE OPEN, which makes my fuel consumption go way up. If I drive it sanely, fuel mileage is great easy to 20+ MPG.

What are the wires being used for? There may be a way to use the existing horn wire/connection to activate what ever it is you want.

Prime Wheels are a brand that have been around for a bunch of years. You might want to contact them and see if these are an old offering. http://www.primewheel.com/

SEE!!! They all "came with the car" LOL Thanks for doing that. Well it looks like I might not be able to find one, unless I convince one of the 4 owners of these that I have come across to sell me theirs. Looking forward to the pics lowrider... Want to sell it, since you're not using it? lol

Why? Why wouldn't you just buy a Mustang if you want your car to look like one?