Tony D

It's right up there on my priority list with 'turn in the $25,000 of outstanding expense reports' and 'turn in premium time from March to November 2011' I think... Now that you have necro-bumped it (think about the implications of that word...) and I'm refreshed on what issue it's in I can at least know where to find it again whenever I am home. OR.... Someone may want to configure a Yahoo Japan or E-Bay search to auto notify if that issue comes poking up... I have a fear I was reading this at someone else's house because I didn't get there until 84... and I've had a falling out with the guy who would likely have had that issue. Come to think of it, I'm going to send an e-mail to Mr. Okamura now on this issue and see if he can find it for me in Japan.

Read what you wrote under "#1" in Post 6, then reinforced in Post 8. I don't consider that even an option. You leave the option open. Maybe I think too much about this kind of stuff, but leaving the option open gives the impression, despite what caveats you may place, that it is an acceptable practice. It's like arguing about the rod. You surmised it was weight. It more correctly is to keep the case from having more meat taken out in the area of the bearings on the earlier case which isn't as thick in that area as the later models. Probably a better thought out engineered approach but with the downside that you would have to totally overhaul the transmission when you did any swap... Though changing the rods from what I'm told is not that big a deal apparently. Looks like it to me, but I'm told they come off externally (still means to me at least you have to pull the back off as well, instead of just doing a front-end swapover...) I just mentioned I saw the rods done that way in Japan, and would never of considered doing it that way. Curiously, this is also how the modification was done in Europe on several cars I saw as well. Those updated the rod and used OS Giken Straight-Cut Gears in the box, which are apparently available for the 180SX Tranny... But to answer the question, #1 in Post 6, and again reinforced in Post 8---the option is left open. I prefer not to leave that option open (as stated from the beginning) as it defeats the whole purpose of the stronger transmission in the first place.

That, sir, is again the function more of the flywheel than the emissions devices. The NEW cars are FAR worse than the old mechanical only BCDD and Throttle Dashpot. They will physically hold/bypass air open to keep rpms up---that is on stuff like the Z32, not S30's. If this is happening on your car, you got something adjusted wrong! It's not the emissions devices, they're transparent when driven hard. If maintained with a modicum of care (if that!)

I made 350+ RWHP on the stock EFI pump running no more than 23psi. They are extremely quiet when at idle and only pumping 3.5psi through a return-style regulator. At 23-25psi (21-22psi of boost) nobody really was interested in what noise the fuel pump was making! Why reinvent the wheel? If it fits in the chassis, use it. I've used on on the carbed blow-through setup for years. Fuel Flow for 350HP is fuel flow for 350HP. Showed no signs of being undersized in that application whatsoever.

"Does anyone recommend teflon thread tape as an extra measure (on the threads of course)? " ABSOLUTELY CATEGORICALLY NO, NEVER, NOT EVER! I am in a damned war now with our assembly site in China over this very issue. They seem to think Teflon Tape is something good in a fuel system. Again, this is 50's technology... There are PLENTY of anerobic sealants (PST 567 for example) which do the EXACT SAME thing ONLY BETTER than Teflon Tape EVER tried to accomplish. Thing is, it will NEVER get in the fuel system to snag and clog filters, hang a float needle up, plug a jet, etc... The list goes on and on. For NPT fittings in fuel systems, use Loctite PST of whatever strength you desire (there are several numbers out there, low, medium, high strength, removable, non removable, etc.) For Banjo fittings, the CRUSH WASHERS are what affect the seal, the THREADS do NOTHING in terms of sealing, they merely provide the clamping force to seat the banjo against the seating surfaces on the CRUSH washer. It is the CRUSH that is the operative word here, and that is PRECISELY why you must ANNEAL them before assembly if you are re-using. I came from Aircraft Hydraulics, systems that operate at 6000psi. If I can get aluminum and copper crush washers to NOT LEAK at 6KPSI, everybody should be able to keep them from leaking at the pressures they are using (many times 6000 times LESS than what I was working at!) The KEYS to leak proof threaded and pipe/tubing joints are as follows: CLEAN surfaces. Not just on the fittings themselves, but the ENTIRE AREA. If you have grease, oil, grime, etc all over the engine, you will NEVER be able to diagnose properly WHERE any specific leak is coming from. I've seen fittings wrenched on till they fail because of a fitting several inches above it continually leaked and followed piping down to the backside and simply dripped off the lowpoint. If the entire assembly is bathed with a quick-drying solvent like brake cleaner immediately before startup ANY moisture is QUICKLY discernible and traced to point of origin easily. No nicks, divots, or scratches that can cause a leak path on sealing surfaces (and on NPT fittings, THREADS.) Sealing Washers NEW or annealed properly. Male NPT Threaded Joints properly cleaned, with sealants applied properly to the root of the threads to prevent leak-paths. Female NPT Threaded Joints properly cleaned, with DRY threads. NPT Threaded Joints made up with the proper number of 'turns past finger tight'---on smaller fittings this may be as little as 1/4 turn! Generally no more than 2 turns past finger-tight from DRY MAKEUP. On O-Ring Fittings, proper lubricant on the O-Rings (Parker Super-O Lube, or regular O-Lube) On O-Rings with Static Seals, make sure the static seal is on the PROPER SIDE relative to pressure application. When using Anaerobic Sealants, remember THEY will seal the thread root-overtightening will DRIVE OUT the sealant, deform the threads, and PROVIDE a leak path. "Looser is better than 'one more turn' when dealing with these sealants!" When putting Aluminum Fittings into Aluminum or Magnesium, try using Loctite Green, (cylindrical parts locker) on the threads and DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN. (For a one-time installation meant to be permanent, use Loctite RED.) Use the locking compound to secure the threads and fix the position. If you tighten too much chances are you will gall the threads and render both the fitting and the casting you are putting it into useless. Both of these can be removed by applying a heat gun to the area to release the compound. The threads will come out looking like new, and they WILL NOT LEAK! NEVER use tape or other sealants on JIC/A-N/SAE style cone fittings. The key to their assembly is CLEAN NICK FREE FACES AND FLARES. I have seen locking compounds for it, as well as washers for the face. They can assist in troublesome cases. but many times when a flared tube has a nick, simply supergluing some 400 grit crocus cloth onto the face of a mating fitting and using it to clean the flared face will allow it to be made up dry without a leak. Anybody using teflon tape on flared fittings should be hauled before the local car club, flogged, and then shot. If it leaks, take it apart, CLEAN IT, and put it back together PROPERLY. In 999 cases out of 1000 in the field where I have had calls for 'oil leaks' I have found sloppy makeup practices were employed when the machine was going together. I take all the leakers apart (as well as most that aren't yet leaking) remove all the sealants, tapes, silicone, monkey poop, whatever was applied to 'stop the leak' in the past, and reassemble a clean, dry, properly torqued fitting and the LEAK CEASES. If I can get repeated three day passes to town for Zero-Defect QA inspections from Military Inspectors on 6000 psi Hydraulic Systems after major maintenance (that means not one of over 1250 fittings in a three system hydraulic test stand had even a SINGLE DROP show after a grueling test-run) you can get a 3.5psi fuel system (or even 100psi) to run without a leak. This also goes for my time with 6000 PSI+ Helium Compressors. You want to talk about a BEAR requiring ABSOLUTELY SCRUPULOUSLY CLEAN FITTINGS---a Helium Compressor for bottling cylinders is probably the worst you will get. Most critical-path systems use Helium as their leak checking gas as it's inert, and has the smallest (most apt to find a leak path and leak out) mol size to 'find' leaks where other gasses will not show a leak. Helium will seive out a fitting where Nitrogen will sit virtually forever without leaking down!

You should be able to do it. Many times in Japan they run a carb inlet like that with an EFI pump and FPR downstream of a 'fuel log' (think double-pumper with two lines from the log)... This way full pump pressure and flow is available to the carburettor at all times, and you regulate backpressure to hold what you need at the float seat. Your fuel filter is upstream of the log, so if it's plugging the FPR compensates (to the point when it either collapses or blows out!) The EFI pump will push a LOT of fuel at the lower pressures of a carbbed requirement. It makes it much more 'dirty fuel' tolerant in terms of full-load fuel filter plugging. The feed side can be compensated flow-wise by increased pressure provided by the EFI pump... As long as you can maintain your recommended fuel pressure at Peak Torque/Peak Load on the dyno you don't need a larger line. What usually is more critical is the RETURN side at idle! There is the REAL challenge. That's when it's handling the MOST flow it will see. If you are undersized there, you will run into high fuel pressures, sinking the carb floats, running rich or even possibly pumping the float bowls completely full of fuel and spouting out the balance tubes!

Can you datalog both upstream and downstream of the fuel filter? I agree with Pyro, there is a lot of fuel that can be thrown at an L-Series at peak torque, and that's usually around 4500, after that point you can pull fuel like crazy (I have seen mid 13's on boost!) and you just keep making horsepower. Then again, I guess you have to be able to pull through peak torque to the point where you can pull fuel, eh?

"If I were to source a new or used transmission to get the car on the road, while on a trip, then the modified shift rod is just one more custom part to be R&R'd." EXACTLY why you should machine the casing for the larger bearing, and poke the rod holes bigger at the same time. If you source a new or used transmission, you simply pull off your existing bellhousing and DIRECTLY fit it to the front of the new unit and reinstall. If you do NOT machine for the larger bearing, then you have a bearing you have to change on the roadside as well! Yes, Ray's poke a few holes approach may open an alternate tranny for use... But I don't see RB 20 Trannies floating around all that much. I don't know of a single machine shop that would 'drill' those shift rod holes on a press, either. It's all Bridgeport work, and in todays shops, NC-Precision Bridgeport work. Hell, at my HOUSE it's Bridgeport work!

Egads, the censor-bot won't let you say wh o re... even in self-deprecating statements... How curious!

The ONLY way to know is to CALL REBELLO. Anything else 'my quote was X', 'my quote was y' is all internet jerking off. You won't know until you call with YOUR requirements and let Dave tell you the way he thinks you should proceed. Many times people calling in with a specific list of requirements inflate a job cost over just simply giving final end-use requirements and letting Dave figure out a combination that should work best for you. This happens all the time in my industry too. I can sell a $250,000 compressor which will give the EXACT SAME AIRFLOW AND QUALITY as a unit that costs $12,000,000 (this is NOT an exaggeration!).... But a customer comes to us with a specification, and we will build to it. Because we meet THEIR specification WITHOUT EXCEPTIONS they will buy from us for $12,000,000 rather than spend a FRACTION of that for another machine with a list of 'Exceptions to Specification' 4" thick. Often we get the comment "you're the only RFQ Respondent that met ALL of our specification without any exceptions!" Sure, we'll build ANYTHING you want...just a matter of how much you want to pay! I'm a compressor *****, what can I say?

Sounds like a fuel-flow problem to me...like possibly a clogged fuel filter making the pump's internal bypass lift! Check the fuel pressure UPSTREAM of your fuel filter. The conditions you describe are EXACTLY what happened to JeffP at the Jim Wolf Dyno Run. Car was fine to 5500 rpms, and then at 5525 WHAM like a rev limiter. Everybody was puzzled and then the car just stopped. Pulled the dissy cap and found the rotor 180 out! Jim says "Well, we know it didn't drive down here like that!" and the search was on: drive gear on dissy shaft was spinning when we hit the 'rev limiter' Eventually it was traced to a combination of two things. The Nissan ECU switched from two shots to one at 5525, so at lower flows the injectors were passing the fuel no problem. But when it went to a single BIG shot, there was cellulose fibers from a collapsed fuel filter which were allowing the lower 'two shot' flow through unimpeded, but when it switched to the 'big shot' the engine was starved for fuel. I suspect you may have a filter which is partially clogging, and the pressure upstream is getting to bypass point on the fuel pump. When this happens it's the same situation: you have all the flow in the world right up to the point of the valve lifting, then the engine falls flat on it's face. We went through plug gap and took it down to 0.020", all that stuff. We weren't shooting flames though... Biggest caveat: We NEVER heard a SINGLE detonation. Nonetheless 5 of 6 JE Forged Slugs sunk their rings on that run! This was at 8.39PSI on a calibrated, precision MAP Gauge set up on the manifold to independently register boost pressure. I'd do some testing, as well as check your compression and do a leakdown test. If you have done this several times and it IS fuel going lean....chances are high something is on the way out. We did it THREE times. We made THREE passes till the engine slipped 180. We re-timed it, and made a 'soft' pass where it 'hit the limiter' and the timing slipped 7 degrees---so that was it for the day. You may have a combination of both a misfire, AND insufficient fuel flow. I'd verify that upstream pressure on the fuel filter and see what you have, as well as possibly dropping the gap 0.005" at a time until it gets better or your noticing idle quality degradation. Good Luck, be careful...you're treading on "BOOM Ground"

Stone age man, like wicked tech daddy-o! Yo Cats, I'm heading to my beat poetry recital now...

Then I guess you're screwed, and are in for a teardown. Personally I'd run the hell out of it anyway and see what happens. You can get out of town to do this, you know. I've seen the same thing JM comments upon, as well as engines that have laid up in storage that got the rings stuck. Nothing wrong with them, just stuck from sitting. BTW, it's eTc, and pCv...

At idle on a cold day in SoCal I can not get the engine to 160F when idling. It will sit between 140-152^F measured at the CHT at the back of the head, and about 10^F lower at the thermostat. I have to drive it to get enough load on the engine to satisfy the 160F - 170F lower thermostatic control range. All stock cooling system, with clutch fan, and shroud in a 260Z. On a hot day, this is not an issue. If you are running appreciably hotter than 185, the chances for boiling in the back of the engine (head) are greater. Run a 16# radiator cap at least, and don't loop the heater hose if you're bypassing the core! If you're 220^F out the thermostat housing, you're over 230^F at the back of the head---way too hot.

Yerp... For those who have access to such devices. In the USA crack pipes are more common than handgun reloaders these days it seems...

If you aren't running a spare tire and put in a flat deck like the factory 432's with the 100 liter tank. I have one of those tanks and I can't believe some local sheetmetal duct shop couldn't knock one up relatively reasonably. It's got a couple stiffener ribs in the sides, but the rest of the tank is a simple flat piece of sheetmetal rolled over it. The difference is it takes a special sender and gauge (for the 100l capacity) but given it's a relatively consistent taper any standard GM sensor could fit, which would make those using Autometer Gauges in the dash very nice. Maybe sacrifice an old rusty tank as a donor for pickups and sending unit compatibility.

Yes, as long as the copper washers are not scarred or cut annealing the way Noddle mentions should actually be done each time the washer is removed. It will work harden and split if you re-use too many times without annealing. You can do it with a propane or butate crack pipe torch....

I can't see the photos...

What I have seen in most of the Greddy stuff is that the Diaphragms are the parts they 'cheap out' on---replace them with a REAL part and they seem to function just fine. I'm personally not a big 'knock off' buyer. Well, I admit I'm looking at dual-SIM iPhone 4's here in China simply because they are terribly overpriced and these run on Android 3... But that is beside the point. Pirated MS Software... don't get me started! Most of the cheap stuff I'll sell off to kids who don't have money IF I know it works. I'll support the real deal as they do all the work developing it. For the most part. But there is a limit of goodwill, and when people start getting ridiculously prideful in their pricing (yen exchange rate compensated) then I might consider alternates. It it works, run it. Check the diaphragm, that will tell you if it's real or not. Generally replicas will not have a trademarked logo on them. Make sure it's not a "Britz", "Blits", or "Bliitz" on the body. Like "Autokraft" filters for Ford--where the damn DEALER parts counter man selling it to me told me it was a "Ford of Europe" part, "from Germany". That filter I paid for, and went DIRECTLY to the regional Ford CS Rep for a talk... He was MORE than interested in my story, and then had an urgent Dealer Service Call to make... something involving an "Anal Audit of the Goddamned Parts Operation There" whatever that means Copies sold AS copies I'm good with... Copies sold as the REAL THING piss me the hell off!

Son, there's knockoffs and copies of everything just a matter of how hard you look. I've seen iPhone 5's in and around Shenzen already. We don't even have them yet...just 4S! But they go 5's out there already! For mechanical parts...it's child's play to knock it off. Looks the part. Does it work? Who knows? For a long time the pneumatic stuff from HF was knockoff I-R and Blue-Point. Didn't have the logo. I wouldn't categorically say they aren't out there, just that you may not have seen them as yet. But my money says "yes, they are out there"---the real question is why do you think yours is a fake?

I've always wondered where the 'locked distributor' comes from... That's straight out of the 1950's Turbo Manual. I ran vacuum advance/retard on mine. The Euro Spec Turbos used an E12-80 distributor with Vacuum Advance/Retard from the factory. Modifying the distributor to allow retard under boost is easy enough, and covered at some of the 510 sites. You just allow the points plate to rotate in the other direction through slotting of the plate appropriately. Cutting down of the total vacuum advance is possible though simple epoxy in the slots as well. The way the car runs with functioning distributor vacuum / centrifugal advance versus locked is quite a bit different. And the ability to have all of that at partial throttle helps in spool as well! Retard is retard, and easily enough done with a BTM. I'd not lock it, there really is no need to with a low-boost engine. A BTM at 2/psi will drop 16 degrees of advance by 8psi. Do the math on mechanical advance (as vacuum will not be in play) and you will see numbers that coincide with most MS Maps of timing for the same level of boost!)

There is no difference, one runner, three runners, or six runners the pressure achieved will be the same. What will change is the volume available to do work. Like to run vacuum operated wipers, etc... Like Leon says, it all depends on what you want to do with it. If all else fails, put a small reservoir in. If there is not sufficient vacuum, install a Bullfrog Vacuum Pump from an 83 Turbo to MAKE more vacuum in your reservoir!

Valve float is not an issue unless you got some serious valve spring issues. SERIOUS valve spring issues, like forgetting to assemble it with inners or something like that...

Also, most people agree the old 'engine braking to save the brakes' is outmoded as a driving technique even in Endurance Racing. Using the brakes to slow the car has become the accepted method. Improvements in brake compounds and most importantly brake fluid have rendered the old concerns almost irrelevant. It can be used as a method for 'conservation' in some cases...but as a general rule it's not neccessary any longer. Drive a stock EFI car through an Auto X and you find there's plenty of engine braking if everything is properly maintained. Even if haphazardly maintained... In other words, if you think 'sporty driving' involves any of the areas where the Emissions Devices affect engine operation (below 3500 rpms)---you need to relearn the driving you are doing. You are loosing ALL the sporting characteristics of the car driving in that range. Emissions affects daily driving, not enthusiastic driving. I have often said chances are for most people driving these cars, you could substitute a VW Jetta TDI engine and they would think it was the greatest thing since sliced bread! They always shift before 3500, and when they DO run the tach to 5000 ever so rarely the engine does seem to pull all the way there. Just like a Jetta TDI. Plenty of torque down low, and the ability to rev to 5400. "Performance Personified" for many of today's drivers.

Agreed, engine braking is done above 3K rpm, if you are holding braking below 3K rpms, that's pretty extreme. For Emissions devices to affect the sporting driving characteristics of the car, you must drive it grossly incorrectly. Powerglide hits it spot-on with the operational range. " I refer to the engine's rev up as well as rev-down characteristics." Rev-Up is also dictated by the camshaft, rev down is not an issue the BCCD is driven by engine vaccum, if you are truly WOT there isn't any driving force for the hold-open function at 4000 rpms. The only thing that operates is the dashpot and that is as much a 'keep the throttle from sticking' function as anything else. If you were old-school, you would realize it has to be driven as Powerglide suggests. If you learned on an Air Cooled VW you would realize this. Cut your teeth on American Iron and you find yourself upshifting at 3000rpms and complaining of the lack of 'low end' torque at 1700 rpms. Engine braking exists on the early EFI systems. If you're driving it. It's not there on todays' CVT's unless you select a lower ratio...it's a complaint overblown IMO.