Jesse OBrien

I second that, I see some awesome designs here. I suppose it'd be a good idea to get before/after test results compiled together as well, huh?

Since I'm relatively new to turbo technology, I've been doing a lot of research and an excessive amount of parts ordering. I'd really like to be as sure as I can be that I'm doing this right, so forgive me if this is a little irrelevant/silly/inconsequential. Anyway, the article that spurred the thought process can be found here: http://autospeed.com/A_111119/cms/article.html Essentially, it suggests using a plenum and a bit more hose running to the wastegate reference inlet (from the compressor side of the turbo). This keeps the wastegate completely closed longer, and theoretically allows a more direct buildup of boost while low in RPMs. As pressure increases, the wastegate receives correct reference and opens appropriately (in theory), keeping peak pressure within safe levels. My concerns are that I'll get a pressure spike just after reaching peak boost rather than having the wastegate open at the correct pressure. I believe I'll be running 8psi (.5bar) until I've sorted out my ECU/suspension/chassis/etc, then safely increase my boost pressure. I could also see compressor surge being an issue, since there is a delay in the wastegate's reaction time. Ideally, this will simply allow me to get to that 8psi more quickly and keep me in a safe range. I just want to know if the idea is unsafe/unsound. In that same vein, I also thought the intercooler would make a very nice (convenient) plenum, and if the theory behind this practice is sound, I could reference the wastegate actuator off the intake ductwork just before the throttle plate. As I said, the delay concerns me, but I'm curious as to whether anybody has experience with a setup like this. Thanks in advance! (oh right, this is on an l28et, which means the reference from before the throttle plate is very convenient)

Strange, I have a very similar problem, and I suspect it may actually be the exact same problem. Here I have a stock Nissan t3 exhaust housing, and a Turbonetics t3/t04 exhaust side of the turbo: From the sounds of it, Garrett and Turbonetics use the same wastegate cover. I'd REALLY like to be able to just use the stock wastegate setup with this, so let me know if you come up with a decent (affordable) solution. I've been looking for awhile, but probably not as hard as I should have been.

Did you seriously just miss the meet in El Sobrante?

You do remember correctly, I verified it today. 12mm - 1.25mm, and Kragen didn't have a set that looked like it'd fit. I'm going to have to take a wheel down to a shop and get something I'm SURE will fit, what a pain in the arse! Picked up some parts at the BBQ/Meet today, I'll post pics soon.

New stuff. Wheel studs are installed, but the lugs the car came with were the wrong thread pattern (I wonder how the studs got stripped... hummmm....), and the fresh ones I have that fit the thread pattern are too fat for the lug holes in the wheels. Next chance I have, I'll pick some up. Anybody have suggestions for good, strong wheel lugs? I know it's been gone over many times before, but these Toyota calipers with s12-8 casting have two 43mm pistons and two 33mm pistons, they're visibly obvious. They mount right up in the stock location if you trim/remove the dust cover. I think I'll just remove it unless someone has a compelling reason not to. Tank is cleaned up and emptied of dead dinosaur remains. It's not going to be on the road for the meet tomorrow, but it's getting there quickly enough that it's realistic to hope that I'll be driving around this week. Hopefully I'll get to see at least some of you guys tomorrow!

Oh right, I forgot to update this. There was a steel plate on the back of the passenger's wheelwell that I had to cut off in order to get to the clamp on the BOTTOM of the filler neck. A bunch of compressed air got the chunky little bits of old fuel grime out, and I decided to clean up what little rust was present while I had it out. Here it is halfway through stripping: I've repainted it and as soon as I get the first fuel pump mounted up, I'll put it back in. Thanks for the help, guys!

Will the oil even make it into the line if the line is on top of the turbo though?

The master cylinders are the same. You want a dual-reservoir 280zx master cylinder, and you could just measure the pistons yourself. If one pair on each caliper is smaller than the other pair, then it checks out. A 10mm difference is pretty notable.

I've been watching all the input so far, I'm going to have roughly 6' of piping, measured around the outside diameter of every piping curve. That's including the intercooler. The intercooler is rather small and the thunderbird intercooler is known for flowing well. I don't think turbo response will be adversely affected. I am concerned about exhaust heat, but I've seen a lot of really funky tubular manifold setups, and if heat soak into the intake manifold is a problem, I'll make a heat shield (might make one anyway). I hadn't really thought about the oil issue. Being as new to turbos as I am, it's not something I would've known to consider. I have a second turbo now that looks like it should fit in the 'standard' layout, and I'm more concerned about getting a wastegate in there. Is there somewhere that I can get a t3 spacer with a wastegate flange on the side quickly? I've been looking around eBay for the past hour or so, and can't find anything that doesn't try to adapt a different type of turbo altogether. I just want t3 -> t3 with a wastegate flange attached to the middle.

1. Done. 2. Done. 3. Done (easier than I expected, there are no screws on it, just slip connectors!) 4. Done (also easier than was expected, with a jack under the tank to relieve tension) 5. Tank is sagged. 6. In the passenger's cabin, or do I need to squeeze my hand between the tank and the floor of the hatch? 7. Now it's making sense... I don't need to remove the 3 screws in the cabin? 8. They're already off 9. Hopefully tonight. Thanks, I'm going to give it another go tonight! ... I definitely didn't mean to put this in the member projects section, would you mind moving it to the correct section? I always forget that member projects can't be replied to.

You just made my brain melt. I'm in love.

I checked my Hayne's, which normally serves me well for these simple things, but it didn't help at all. It just said 'remove fuel tank, reinstallation is the opposite of removal'. Thanks, guys. Thanks a lot. I know it's here somewhere, but the search results were overwhelming. I went through four pages of results, then decided I'd break down and ask. The only trouble I can see is the three philips screws at the bottom of the filler neck, inside the hatch area of the car. It LOOKS like they go directly into the tank, so I suppose I don't want to just rip/cut them out, but I do want to get the tank out so I can purge it and install my electronic fuel pump and some stainless fuel lines before the meet this weekend. The three screws point directly at the filler cap, almost as if a screwdriver with a 90* bend would be able to reach them, but they're definitely not going to move with that little amount of torque on them. I have a very short stubby philips, but still can't get clearance on them. It looks like: 10 The filler neck blocks access to the philips screws 20 The filler neck is attached using the philips screws 30 goto 10 (ctrl+c) Hopefully somebody can point me in the right direction here, I really need a little guidance. I've seen a lot of bare s30's with the tanks out, but I haven't seen a video or anything of anyone removing one. It's a little infuriating.

There's an intake manifold in the way, and I'd have to drill all new mounting holes. Also, the way the exhaust manifold is cast, it has 'tabs' to mount it on that wouldn't be in the right place if it were upside-down. Why would you do that on a VG? I'll measure out the piping that I've been considering, I'm pretty sure it's equivalent to the length of a FMIC setup.

I received another toy today, now I have a choice as to which one I plan on using. My new fuel surge tank, some assembly required:

I realize this may be a very bad idea all-around, but I've been considering mounting my turbo backward. It should allow me to put a nice big downpipe on here (it'll be a little long though) and gives tons of room for the wastegate and flange. I'm planning to route the intake to the defrost cowl (the slats in front of the windshield) with sane ductwork so I'm not sucking up rainwater, and the intercooler lines will run behind the engine where the stock hood latch is, through the TMIC just under the hood, and around the front of the engine into the intake. Kind of like the air is running a lap around the engine. I should be able to do it with fewer harsh bends than a FMIC, and have the option to do it shaker-intercooler style. The turbo certainly doesn't seem to mind: So, thoughts, suggestions, or reasons why I'm an idiot for considering this?

Yes, sir. It sure is. The second one is coming in soon. That's the plan, I can also have it made out of stainless then, and don't have to worry about trying to match steel types. Yeah, almost definitely electronic actuator that switches between two manual boost controllers.

Huh, interesting. My last few were alu, and the l24 and l28et really didn't come with fuel rails (the l28et is just steel hard lines... they suck). If it's steel, powder coating is the way to go for a serious finish, so I'm with Pharoahabq. If they're stainless, you could just polish it and call it a day.

+1, bushings are a must-have on a 30+ year old car.

They're generally aluminum, anodize it!

That makes sense, but I thought it'd be fun to have it in the cab. That does make sense, though.

What rear end do you have? I'm running the ~3.3 rear end, which is pretty tall, so I THINK (correct me if I'm wrong here) I'll be a little lower than that, around 3200 in 5th at ~70mph. I think that'll work out just fine. Those are just weird. I'm not sure I understand the advantage of running long lines directly to the injectors, I'm planning a plenum-style rail, more like this: . Still, I definitely think it's worth contacting him, if only for wiring/resistor information.

The broad strokes of my fuel rail are finished, except for the channels to be cut for the injectors, since I don't have their exact dimensions. I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be 11mm, but I want to be pretty darn sure before I send out the design. I'm pretty sure I'll have to get one of my intake manifolds drilled out a bit as well, so I think I'll just head to the machine shop in person with a flash drive with a .dwf on it and the manifold. I got a couple more parts in last night, things are looking pretty darn good at this point. More pics: I'm a little overstocked on transmissions right now. The exhaust flange from the stock turbo doesn't fit the turbonetics turbo. Shame. There may be one in the box, I'll check tonight. Here's the stock flange that doesn't look usable: It'd be really nice to have the option to stay internally wastegated, for simplicity and space, but I might just have to do some welding and adapt this wastegate somewhere. I need a spacer from the exhaust manifold anyway, since the compressor side of the turbonetics turbo is too big. It actually hits the exhaust manifold, no matter which way I clock it. No, this isn't an optical illusion. It really is that big. I need to decide where to mount this boost controller. I'm thinking I'll put it in the center console, in the switch panel. That way I'll have 3 switches: Fuel, Spark, Fan, then the boost control knob. Thoughts? Finally, it's decided. The l28et is going in this thing. I sold the roundtop SU's and the intake manifold from the l24, and I'm trying to find someone to take the e31 head off my hands along with the block (and some transmissions, perhaps). The plan for tomorrow is to hack up the firewall a bit and get the transmission bolted to the engine.

Look at it this way: you'll be hard-pressed to make it any worse Mine's even worse off than yours is, and I'm strongly considering this. I kind of want to see what the frame of the dash looks like by itself.

... and I'd need to have someone do the wiring for me, since I'm colorblind. Also, it's a little more than a day's project on an engine that I'm not even sure runs nicely yet. I've been keeping my eyes open for turbo z31's, and haven't seen any that I could snag just the ECU/CAS/MAF from. Since my plan is to have it running by this weekend (yeah, it's coming up quickly) I really can't afford any new wrenches to be thrown into the works. As far as updates go... I received most of a turbo today but it doesn't look good at all. I don't think it's going back together, and I'm not sure it's worth putting back together since it's a mere t3. 'Some Assembly Required' was an understatement. I've ordered a set of 4 450cc DSM injectors, and own another set of 4 for a total of 8 bluetops. I think I can make new mounts and a fuel rail for them, and have a bit more fuel at my disposal (but we'll see how that 280zxt pump actually flows in practice). I also got a 5spd from a Datsun truck that I'm really hoping fits. Anybody know a good way to check the gear ratios or model numbers on them? I have a pair of t3/t4 hybrids en route to me, I just haven't decided if I want to keep one as a spare or sell one to cover some of my build costs. I'll be putting up a big pile of s30 parts for sale pretty soon as I clean out my garage from parts leftover after gutting and making decisions as to what to keep. Now I'm off to play around with Autodesk Inventor - it looks promising, and I THINK I can make something to mount up those 450cc injectors.