Tony D

"The only case I know that's an exception is fraud (people slamming on brakes just to get insurance/slamming on brakes to "teach a lesson"), and those are insanely hard to prove." Welcome to Southern California! Happens all the time, and it a primary reason most guys in company trucks will take off any identifying logos or signage while on the freeway. It's like a big "I'M INSURED" sign, meaning swoop-n-squatters will target you. One guy was prosecuted for murder as he ended up getting all his passengers killed when he obviously was swooping on an auto-transport. It was obvious, but the truck always stopped in time. Only through some miracle did people STICK AROUND to testify to the CHP on what was happening when one of the cars on the top of the transport broke-loose and came down in this guys back seat killing the back seat passengers (three people in a Pontiac Firebird????) No license, no insurance, no green card, looking for the green-gravy train of Jackpot Justice in the good old US of A! If only the car had shot just a bit further forward in order to dispatch all the vermin in the vehicle and not just the avaricious backseaters.

Indeed, it involved a sheep and shearing.... I've always preferred shaved.... Baaa!

Ma Ma Ma Ma.... That's a sentence! Tell me about it...

Can you show me that 4-Pinion (is that LSD like the Subie?) R200 sir? S12 R200 that longnose or short? Short would require a new driveshaft, wouldn't it? If long, I guess not. But the junkyard where you obtained it for $40 would be good to know about. If we're going to falsify fantasy numbers I'll stick with yours then: Subie R180 from STi in either LSD or ATB 3.7 or 3.9: $40 Axle Rebuild to swap with Subie Tripods to the Datsun Carriers(That's what they are, Tripods, not "CV"---you're a little low on price if you are doing a true CV conversion): $50rp (Brian S knows where that was done...) All the other stuff the same, save for the pinion flange you can stick yours on from your existing R180...if you need it. Oh, and you can subtract from the special mounts, because its a Long-Nosed R-180 drops right in where the old one was. So if anything, somewhat less than the "4 Pinion R200" found at a junkyard that sells R200's for $40. That effectively ends this discussion with the point I made in the beginning: The R180 is a bolt-in swap, you don't NEED conversion parts, and have just as much durability without the added weight.

Thank you 762802+2 for injecting truth into the mix: SU's are not some great panacea where you pick up gobs of horsepower unless your stock EFI is severely malfunctioning. It's a wash, at best. Reinforcing the contention all along that claiming the stock EFI 'Sucks at making Power' is just one of those myths perpetuated on the internet by people unwilling to take the time to learn about it, or who have never had a stock system that was working as it did when even somewhat new. The same logic for discarding SU's for Mikuinis can be said as well. Because you make Xhp with this system doesn't mean your SU's "Sucked at Making Power"--yet this is the argument. Whaddya do with that? Frankly, the same logic goes for the Z31 system as well. In comparison to modern GM EFI with long and short term fuel trim, and the ability to SELF-TUNE to each individual engine, it functions so much better you could say "The Z31 system sucks for making power, and is unuseable above 6500 for serious turbo applications due to insufficient coil charge time the way it controls it."--but this crowd would shorten it to "It sucks for power." If you're going to say something sucks for whatever reason, at least come up with valid reasons and not hype or "I changed it to this along with this this and this, and got this..." It's not a real apples to apples comparison. I suppose I could change my 2+2 back to carbs and run another dyno check. I think my stock EFI is performing decently. I just basically bolted it on from a box of parts someone gave me after they took it off after 176,000 trouble-free miles when they turned the car into a racer, and put latest-technology EFI on to it. But out of the box, it made 147 and pushed the car to 15.50 all day long. To me, as stated that is far from "Sucking for making Power"---especially reinforced by the disturbed gent in San Antonio who was 1 full second slower than me all night, with his big-throat TB, Header, Mandrel Exhaust, CAI with Cone Filter, and shiny paint. How do I explain it? I don't know, maybe the guy was an idiot. I wasn't the fastest that night, nor was I the slowest. But I did appreciate running 26 passes consistently, not to mention the Auto X, driving to the convention from SoCal, and then on a tour around the USA putting 18,000 miles on the car in about three weeks time. Summer heat, across the entire desert southwest towing an 800# trailer in heat above 110F in some cases...never slowed for an instant. No only doesn't that reflect well on the stock EFI, IMO, it reflects well that the car being 30+ years old at the time driving all that way without a hitch means those Datsun Engineers knew what they were doing and did something right. Before I dismiss their work with an off-the-cuff "Their system Sucks" I think back about that drive, and many others and say "Maybe Not, with my new SU's, I had to slow down below 85 in the Baker Grade when it was only 85 outside..."

Knee How, Ma!

If only I could post that photo I took in the Sydney Airport.... could confirm that last contention. Most people see one thing. When I saw it, and snapped my photo I titled it 'Aussie Foreplay'.... Over by the Maccer's in Terminal 1.... You gotta know the statue if you ever went through SYD!

The hotter it gets, and if you're in the Desert SW that means any time it's over 85 when the sky is clear.... the urethane dams get really flexy. One alternative is to make a reinforcement 'skeleton' behind the lower part of the lip using 1/4 or slightly larger metal rod. Trick is to not make it TOO rigid! A simple loop will do to keep the lower portion from folding under. It allows you to dink a parking lot barrier and still bend. Yeah, you got to now straighten the rod because it doesn't bounce back like the urethane does... but it's pretty quick and easy to make. just another thought. I like the splitter-look done here as well. Oh, and for you guys in SoCal looking for ANYTHING plastic, check out S&W Plastics (they are in the book, on the web as well I believe) Anything from ABS, Perspex, Polycarbonate, you name it they either have it in stock or can get it for you!

Man, seems like the school kids have a break... I mean, I'm stuck in a 20' ConEx box on an island in the middle of the Coral Sea with no wheels and no money... So I'm online. Not much other option. Perhaps writing job analysis reports and the occasional expense report to knock down the backlog somewhat. But you can only do that for so long before you got to do something else. And not having had much time to even read my own personal e-mail the past month...getting away seems like the thing to do. What's your excuse when you're in the states, and have a three day weekend? Why here and not outside someplace twisting wrenches or better yet, DRIVING the Z?

But I see your point about getting out a timer! If I use the one on the video, it's over 15seconds , and that doesn't coincide with your claptrap! Man this sound reminiscent of Bubbles at ZCar.com and thinking a 14 or 15 second car is somehow a big achievement. Call me when you make 12's with the SU's... Been there, drove that! Never said it was slow. But I can say it isn't particularly quick! Not by a longshot!

Looks like a stock pull with a 3.36, though I don't know why it backs off at only 90... I know nothing about modern EFI, Tis True. Those Hondata Boys with their $5000 MoTec system bumped the scale a bit. Then again they have F1 induction tract and major sponsorship as well. We just scabbed it together in the garage. It's an old system... Not big like a PROPER Motec. I mean, MoTec is the best there is out there, lets not kid ourselves with some compromised Z31 system (the one you know, that won't control the coils over 6500 rpms for proper dwell?) Typical East Coast - West Coast Youngster tripe... When you do something worth recording, let us all know. Maybe do it at an FIA Sanctioned event where record it on something other than a fuzzy video. It's not impressing me, and the net is too slow here to post the dyno run I took last Saturday. Had to calibrate the one we made to coincide against the traceable Dynapak we'd run on the day before. But it's old white guys doing this. We must be using gauges and taking flash readings like an old Stuska. We would never be sophisticated enough to datalog load cels and make our own dyno... See ya when you're 30!

Yes, New Zed, the ignorance being assumed here on one side of the 'argument' is sad. Their lack of historical context regarding EFI and the Z in competition is especially telling as to the extent of the ignorance. As for 'hacking mods'---yeah, believe what you want. You aren't reading anything I'm stating. You have your ignorant opinion, and are unopen to any sort of education on the issue. What a sad state of affairs. But it's what I expect from the Z31 Crowd. By and far they are an odd lot, with big chips on their shoulder and lots to prove to nobody in particular. Have a good life. It was a stock for stock change being discussed. I offered examples of PROPERLY TUNED EXAMPLES in both stock and non-stock form. They don't want to listen. That's good. We need someone to fill the field on a track day. At least they won't be an issue till it's time to lap the backmarkers!

Ignorance is bliss. Why are you so angry that I make 147 with the stock setup? The guy in Texas swore at me. Do the math on the 1/4 times sonny. My old dyno sheet at 147 doesn't explain the times, 147 is way too low for that kind of weight. BTW: The race cars used first generation Bosch-Licensed Technology like you find in a 68 Type3 VW made by JECS.... It was MAP based with four control knobs on an analog computer box mounted where the radio would be in a stock car... If you REALLY want to know why in the SCCA they used the Mikuni 44PHH, it's what was homogolated. That was what the car was SUPPOSED to come to the USA with, having the SU's as the 'entry level model'... For REAL racing, STREET carbs like the PHH's and SU's were never seriously considered. Lucas Slide-Valve Mechanical FI, as well as the new JECS EFI (or as Nissan called it at the time "EGI") was the choice for serious competition worldwide (where rule classes let you run it...) But because EFI was a 'black art' most sanctioning bodies considered it AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE against teams relegated to merely using carburettors, so in most places it was not allowed. Where it was allowed (and if you read the FIA Homogolation Papers for 1975 Appendix J you will see STOCK EFI being homogolated!) it was used to great effect against teams without it.

Yeah, I know they're playing the statistics, but as the owner of a Y2K Frontier with no end to it's life in sight and nooooo real reason to trade it in I would be like the guy in the advert should I go over a bump and it sagged in half in another 10 years!

Got more than enough witnesses on this board as to the veracity of my times at San Antonio. Asked and answered previously. Don't forget now, I said comparably weighted -- if the engine was in a car 500# lighter, yeah I can see 14's. But in my rat-crap 2/2 weighing one of those two weights above (I forget which) it turned 15.50 and a best time of 15.30. So what really did you gain? If it's in the 78 then I applaud you, you took your car from 17 to 14's. But your tag line shows a bit more than a carb only swap!

You don't own a silver 76 280Z coupe and live in Texas do you (or maybe that was 78's daddy...)? That guy couldn't believe a rat-crap 2/2 was turning consistent 15.50's (best ever a 15.30) down the San Antonio 1/4 Mile all night long, 26 passes at the ZCon. Scales at that event said the car was either 2695, or 2965# I forget which. Trap speed was just below 90mph (89.9, 88 or so, I don't recall anything below 88 mph that evening and don't know where the time slips are any longer...) Do the math. You have been reading too many domestic rags. The stock EFI Exhaust Manifold is not resrictive, it's not a 454 or SBC. Best thing on the car was the 2.5" crush-bent exhaust (with TWO mufflers, because I want it QUIET)... and that doesn't account for the numerous crushed areas from bottoming on rough roads... There's a nice photo of the car in J's Tipo doing a burnout in the Bleach Box. THE POINT BEING: The car FELT fast as hell with the webers, header, et al... But it wasn't. And it was WAY down on power. The properly running EFI put back onto the car, and all the crap put back to stock (including the air cleaner, with a K&N Stock Replacement element) FELT a hell of a lot slower. But it wasn't. It was almost DOUBLE the power, but had no sensory feedback screaming at you "your going fast your going fast!" Unless your car is CURRENTLY dynoing higher than 147 to the rear wheels, or can turn a 15.50 in the 1/4 mile when weighted comparably as mine was---I got news: your swap cost you power! It really is that simple! As for the stock EFI not handling cam or head work...you are grossly oversimplifying the situation. If you choose to do this, and run with the pack of average intelligence morass (called 'the pack') then that's acceptable. When you wanna run up front, give me a call and we can teach you about the real tricks of the trade. I've seen 187 on stock EFI at MSA. Go read the power and performance readings for comparable era BMW 6's, and go look what kind of EFI system they used. (Hint Hint!) You're simply too young to know how it was done in the day. There are easier ways to do it, but to disparage the system from a standpoint of ignorance like you're doing is an injustice both to the Nissan Engineers who made the system work, and to the people at Bosch who came up with the concept in the first place. "Proper" EFI? Sounds a lot like you want the "Best" system in your car...well... that's all a matter of opinion and skill level. And money. If you don't have skills, money usually makes things very easy, like buying a "modern" standalone---based on Bosch Technology from the early 60's!

Yeah, the old slip fit system allowed you to reverse the piping or turn it so the bends moved the pipe to a more central location. Working with 2+2's allowed some more leeway as you had to add a 13" pipe anyway, so you could turn things even more askew! The new flanged exhaust -- no way, and the flange is the low point, so it SNAGS ON THINGS (which is why my exhaust manifold BROKE---damn flange dragged and caught on something and snapped the manifold! Hence now running noisy headers!)

PM Done... I keep the inbox message to short words so you can understand.

I didn't see where you said it bolts in, I merely questioned why on earth would he want to do it? It's all downsides compared to an R180 which is a BOLT-IN swap (kinda like the turbo engine was.... OP seems to like that kind of project, eh?) Because the Sunny GTi-R scoop is period correct (If you're going to 'quote' me, do it correctly!) and designed for the intercooler position he currently is running--allaying the HEAT SOAK issue Sleeper Z alluded to in his post? Perhaps stating the obvious is too, uh....obvious. Car's 10 years old, bits from modern wrecks (though my GTi-R was an 87 so I don't know where you get 90 from...) Yep, period correct. Like the 67 Camaro Hood Vents on my 63 Corvair Spyder. I don't account for PO tastes, I just mention the trends I see (like Kenmary Skyline Lights in ZX's and Z's....) You know? Mix-and-Match? Guys put 83ZXT Lights into 240's, and 260/280 lights into them as well. Hell, I've even seen 89 COROLLA lights in a 240... You saying you can never backdate body parts, or (shivver) take something from one manufacturer, and put it into or onto a vehicle from another, different manufacturer? I fail to see any cogent point in your comment in this regard. Most guys running autox I know don't want the heavier weight of the R200 out back, Subies come all day long with 3.7 & 3.9's in LSD and ATB, and if you think running a turbo with a 4.1 at an autox is a good idea, try it first. (My suggestion, after running 350rw Tq: use at least 265's in the back and get good at throttle modulation with anything lower than a 3.36!) I'm not throwing my weight around to disagree. I just thought putting a differential into the car which never had one, nor had mounts for one, which weighed more, and offered no LSD or ATB availability out of the box in massive numbers to be just.... welll.... a stupid suggestion. Just my opinion. The cars came with H and R180's, and swapping a Subie differential is quick and easy. Subie R180's, or just about any R180 with ATB or LSD are plenty strong, the weak point is the SPIDER GEARS, not the R&P! (FYI: If you didn't know, The Four Pinion LSD's and ATB's really dont have spider gear breakage problems.... if they have spider gears at all!) If you've done it once or twice, you might know that. I've done it more than once or twice. I know this. I'm trying to share my knowledge of what did and didn't work for me, and not trying to throw some guy something I read somewhere to meet some sort of benchracing formula. What the hell got in your arse this morning. Man, talk about PO&B at the world! Take your medication, you're no fun like this whining and bitter over a simple opinion difference... You run the R200 in your Auto-X Car, I'm sure your car 'needs' the strength. Mine at 350+ ft-lbs of torque didn't seem to 'need' the R200. I guess some of that goes hand-in-hand with knowing how to drive the car properly...

And I will remind you my BONE STOCK EFI L28 with no cam, with no porting, BONE STOCK makes 147 to the rear wheels. So for about $4000 in head work, cam, carbs and bottom end work you picked up 60hp. Read that again. Read that again. Read that again. That signifies to me that the BONE STOCK EFI does pretty darned good on a BONE STOCK ENGINE. What if I did porting and a cam, where would that EFI go? 190? I know someone with 187 but it's a different dyno and done 20 years ago. Now guys just slap a MS on it and don't look back. In every way, power, emissions, driveability, the Stock EFI was an improvement over the former induction system. If you had problems with it, and didn't take the time to learn the little you need to learn to fix it---that is your problem. Don't blame the equipment for the poor performance of the guy behind the wheel!

"I don't understand how you say that, when you witnessed a l28 with sus put 190 to the wheels on a dyno." I don't know, maybe because my 0.020" overbore L28 with the head done by the same guy, a cam from the same guy, and EFI makes 278 to the rear wheels? Maybe that might be a reason.... Seriously? You are going to debate being able to tailor the engine's response AUTOMATICALLY ON THE FLY? That's not a good thing? Just because something makes XHp doesnt mean it is the penultimate achievement in mixture control. At best, "it works" -- and arguable, with another 20HP further being made with other carbs, the SU's ain't that great. Have I seen 190 on the stock EFI manifold? Hmmmmm, maybe. But you didn't READ my statement. And before you retort further I'd ask that you actually do that before making statement like above again. Read, and understand what is being said before coming up with an off-the-cuff response that is ludicrous. 190 ain't that great! It may be acceptable, but by the owners own actions it has been proven in his application "there IS something BETTER"....and I got news: economics played a role in him NOT using the EFI instead of the Triples he got at a discount.

agreed---if the mechanical fuel pump is overcoming the floats at higher rpms the float level goes all to hell and could do this. Monitor fuel pressure!

Guys from OZ, can you elaborate on the advert I just saw regarding new car insurance cover? Company called "G-I-O" apparently is now selling insurance for your new car, that if you put it on the car within a year of first purchasing it...if there is any total loss within 12 years<Edit> Apparently lifetime replacement!<Edit>, they replace your car with a new one. I thought the idea was a pretty good one...interested to see the details. You guys get all the good stuff! Absolutely loved the advert---two guys hoisting a stainless steel BBQ unit onto a deck above the garage, and as the guy is explaining the coverage he daydreams his mate getting a back spasm, where the rope slips, the propane jug falls out of the grill, bounces, and lands into the open sunroof of the formerly new car---which promptly does a 'Simpsons' and explodes with the guy saying "I still get a new car!" Interesting ad, and interesting concept. Anybody have it, or have details? Love any ad where cars explode...

CNG is huge in the USA, you just don't see it. In fact, governmental regulations by the CNG lobby have all but eliminated private conversions now, labelling them as 'unsafe'. Now you have to go to a 'certified CNG Conversion Facility' to do it. But buying an old Crown Vic CNG and salvaging parts.... This is not LPG, that's something different. The propane conversions don't have a subsidized fuel cost break like CNG does. And you can't buy your own fuel pump and have it installed at the house for 0.40 cents a gallon fuel. (Though if you had a big propane pig in the back yard, I don't see why you couldn't pick up an old pump and fill your own...if you have the skills!)

little changes make big differences. Try this for s&g: Change your valve lash 0.002" tighter, and looser than specification. Do a valve timing event chart (cam card) and see what changes occur.