Tony D

Depending on how much you use the dyno, and how competent your friends are, the dyno place may let a competent friend run the dyno and leave you be in the car to tune it yourself! That saves quite a bit of money. Especially when you realize they are charging you like $45 an hour to have him sit there and push the button... Now, having someone who can run the dyno AND tune your system...that might be worth some money as long as you can talk to the guys customers and find out how that dyno tune actually ran on the street afterwards.

Fiddle with the timing bins. If it's jumping between bins it can change and that will make your engine speed up and slow down. The timing should be the same to about 1200---take a look at the stock FSM for the lead curve to use that as an example. There is no reason for it to move like that othwerwise barring vacuum leaks.

What's 'inefficient' about the aftermarket condenser or the 280Z or 280ZX condenser? Most issues with aftermarket S30 air are due to air leaks bypassing the evaporator, not system component sizing. Actually almost all the components are grossly oversized in the old S30 systems. Yes, even with R134 in there.

I can say if you know what you are doing, and have a properly charged and sealed ARA or Frigiking system, at 110mph, driving across Iowa in 103 degree heat, and 85% Relative Humidity in a light blue 260Z with hatch lovures and a GOOD FAN (not a stock 240 fan, a 280Z fan and motor minimum) the car will be maintained at 70F. If you have a stock 240Z fan, you won't have air exchange. If you don't have a PERFECT seal between the evaporator housing and the fan housing on the HVAC unit you will get MISERABLE performance. The #1 issue I see with people who complain about their 240 system being weak is they have a HUGE leak where the evaporator seals to the fan housing under the dash. I took an all-R12 system and did a straight conversion to R134, and had to still turn the thermostatic housing down or it would freeze the evaporator into a solid block of ice! With it adjusted properly, and SEALED with a decent fan to put out some air I would easily maintain 37 degrees center register temperature. The system depends on the car recirculating ever colder air. It will hold the condenser at 37 degrees, and the initial air passing over it will be hot---say 100 ambient within the passenger's compartment. If ALL the air passing through the fan goes over the condenser it will come out the center register somewhere around 70F. There should be a 30 degree drop under even the worst ambient conditions. After that first air exchange in the cabin, the temperature will be down to 40F, and soon the compressor will begin to cycel on and off as it maintains this temperature. But if you have a weak original 240Z fan, there won't be very much air exchange, and it will take longer to get a cabin through that condenser---meaning it's getting hotter as it sits in the cabin. If you got a leak between the evaporator housing and the fan pickup---then you have air getting sucked in at ambient---and since it's easier to draw through that leak instead of across the condenser, the performance quickly goes to shite. I can't count how many units I have seen where the guy has turned the temperature down to the point where the evaporator is a solid block of ice and still it won't go below 85 or 90 degrees on a 100F day. All because there wasn't a gasket between the evaporator housing and the fan housing! A leak there---ANY leak---is a total performance killer. Now with in-dash air, you will notice that they PUSH the air THROUGH the evaporator... Notice that a VW or Corvair PUSH the air THROUGH the engine cooling fins.... The reason being when you draw air through something, ANY leak is an easier path for air to travel, so it draws from there instead of across the cooling medium (evaporator or cylinder head!) In short the reason 240 ARA and Frigi-King coolers 'suck' is because they 'suck'! The key to getting it working right is to make sure there are not any leaks on the upstream side that will let air bypass the evaporator (that black goopy strip around the condenser to make it all pass through instead of bypass around the outside...) or suck air from the cabin (the gasket on top of the housing and at the bottom of the air uptake for the under-dash fan). Stop that, and the thing will cool just fine. Get the larger fan in there (Honda Civic, 280Z, or like me 180watt 280ZX!) for some decent air exchange and you will be fine. But in Illinois? It doesn't get hot there. Heck, that's nice humidity, I can leave my windows down there, keeps your skin all nice and silky soft. Now, try it in SoCal through the desert---sure you never sweat, but a 160F blast-furnace in your face gets old after a while. If I can get those ARA and Frigi-Kings working---getting them to work in IL will be a piece of cake. Make sure the condensate tube drains properly also....I digress...

ANY old Datsun with round lights will work. There is no need to get them from the PITA S30 Headlight assembly. If I was to go through the trouble of pulling one of them, I'd take the whole bucket assembly, not the little plastic bits! The bits are easily removable from any number of cars (not just Datsuns) which have far easier headlight access!

R.I.F.

If I was headed into work I would have brought an old headlight bucket or two and you could come get them up in Diamond Bar... But I'm playing hookey, and if all goes right by Tuesday I will be hopping a flight to Indonesia/Thailand/P.I./Malaysia for about a month...

yeah I knew those were the adjusters, and when you said grommits I figured you were on dope with the photo posted and meant something rubber. Only thing rubber sticking out the back was the headlight gasket positioning teats (stick out of the back of Key # 12). I swear I've seen those adjusting pieces in a 'Help' bin at a local auto parts store. They are pretty universal and aren't used just on Nissans. Yours broken? FYI, the junkyard is a veritable cornucopia of those things, any old Datsun / Nissan with round headlights uses the same piece. Even some of the later square-headlight jobbies have pieces that will work for you. Good place to get uncorroded screws as well. (Having an Atlas 6" Lathe lets you make your own screws out of allen headed cap screws that are stainless steel...muahahahaha!)

If you have a wire gauge hobby drill set, using a blob of solder in the vacuum line and then drilling it out till you get a decent compromise between spikes and MAP Response to WOT is a good idea. Really the idea is to keep the strong pulsations from triggering a MAP based accel loop, or affecting the enrichment circuits at all (or the higher load sections of the fuel map from being involked). I mentioned a stock L28ET at 35kpa, and that's pretty good vacuum. I would say anything in the 35-40 range would be acceptable given proper valve adjustment, proper timing lead (advance), and closed T/B. It should not be 54 unless you have a big cam (or possible vacuum leaks...) DanEasyguy71's 510 lift, 470 duration cam exhibited a 10" Hg idle vacuum. I'd have expected 12", but that's in the ballpark. Same goes with kPa---35 would be ideal that is where I see most of them. When we were running SU's and had the throttles cracked we could NOT get below 55 kPa no matter what we did. It was just terrible trying to work with that little resolution on the scale! But back to Dan's cam---there you are looking at 50 to 60 kPa (if my conversions are correct in my head) so you see what I'm getting at with a mostly stock engine and that kind of number. You should be able to get it down there, but it may be a worn engine, valve adjustment, and yes as you mention timing advance that will affect it. What kind of 'range' do you see as a pulsation at idle? When you watch the MS table, is the little dot jumping from two or more bins? If it flicks rapidly between two adjacent bins, I'd say it's acceptable. What you don't want is a pulsation that is moving it across three bins (or more) at idle, or any place down the throttle position. I know with ITB's you can get pulsations like that well into the 25% TPS range if you have a bad situation. I'm betting as soon as you crack your throttles your MAP signal goes pretty smooth and above 1000rpms you get no pulsations whatsoever. With ITB's it can be pulsating in the 2000rpm range if it's bad. And jumping three bins then will play hell with trying to tune it! Dampen it so it's not flicking more than one or two bins at idle and call it good. You shouldn't have an issue tuning idle mixture then. And off-idle you should still have a relatively decent MAP/TPS correlation without much delay to mask with an accel shot. Good Luck!

Meh, I don't know I'd go that far... The motorcar was not invented in Britan, it was a 'continental' invention and they all go on the other side... But you know how tradition rules in some places if you rode a horse that way, then we shall ride this new motorcar this way as well, it is afterall, just a horseless carrige... And two roman horses asses dictate railroad gauge to this day. There's no accounting for it!

I don't believe those are grommits, but in fact the securing 'teats' for the headlight to fender gasket. They stick through holes on the headlight bucket and hold the gasket in place as you install the headlight assembly. I believe they are individually available through Z Man of Washington, amongst other places.

Before anything else transpires: No it is not an LD28 that is being discussed. Don't even go there!

"Detroit 48051..." I guess that is like me saying I live "in L.A." (Bro lives in St. Clair Shores... my cabin is 'up north'.) Unfortunately I'm not driving to MI this year for vacation, or I would throw a core in the back of the truck for ye. Really if you plan on something else, stick with an unmodded engine and go from there with your upgrade. Doesn't pay to modify an L24 for performance unless you are restricted by a class rule. You are generally describing an overbored L26. Myself, I have a 'matching numbers' car, and the L26 would be nice to keep in there for correctness. But with availability of L28's and the ability to take the stock engine and put it on a storage stand for inclusion when the car sells even I would be sorely tempted to run an L28 instead of modifying one. But that wouldn't be an issue if I was going SBC, it would just 'stay as-is' till I got my big donk all buffed and ready for a go. As you see, a little dilligence with searching and scouring usually turns up stuff at a reasonable cost, even in the land where Toyotas are used for Batting Practice. Again regarding 'mods' to an ET, stick with what you got for the lowest cost, the most I'd go with was the MS and ditch the stock ECCS, the change in driving / drivability even to a bone stock L28ET on a MS compared to stock electronics is pretty amazing. And you can always change configuration on the MS to drive a 4 bbl TBI or Port Injection setup on your SBC down the road. Something that will be durable and reuseable---THAT is the kind of mod you want to consider. Good Luck!

Thank Aaron D, not Tony D for Necroposting. Still doesn't change the facts of anythign posted. Thanks for sharing with us all how you solved the electric power steering integration issue, it was as helpful as a Chilton's Manual...

Again, LHD or RHD makes no difference (driver position inside the vehicle). It's the side of the road being driven upon which will dictate the type of lens installed.

Toodling down through Eraring and Wagga Wagga to a weekend holiday at East Morissett is a damsite different than taking a Z across America or driving the desert southwest of the USA. Our speed limits are, well, Australia has ridiculously slow limits... Lets say you decided to take a time machine and tow 'cross the Northern Territory at a minmium sustained speed of 135kph.... In FEBRUARY! Think that dinky little R180 would be up to it? I can tell you right now, towing an 800# trailer (if that, probably closer to 500#, but conservative is as conservative does...) at a constant steady speed of 120kph on flat level ground in 40C weather resulted in differential temperatures hot enough to MELT THE STOCK PLASTIC BREATHER OFF THE TOP OF DIFFERENTIAL. This was a stock 75 260Z Spec 2+2 with a 3.90 differential and early five speed. These temperatures did not change nor subside. This occurred within 2 hours of constant steady-speed driving. That trip ended up consisting of 18,000 miles in roughly a three week period at speeds rarely below 120kph. Many days it was fill the tank, drive at 135 till empty, take a 20 minute break to fill the tank, and back on the road. Repeat until tired, usually 16 to 18 hours daily. If you tow with a Z, in the USA at highway speeds for more than 2 hours your differential will get to be over 300F!. Synthetic oil is mandatory IMO, as well as considering a cooling mechanisim. While the synthetic may hold up to these temperatures, it isn't good practice to let oil runaway like that! Viscosity breakdown, foaming, volatile offgassing... why risk it? Many people get lucky. If you want proper engineering to be done, consider the facts of the situation. I tempgun shot my differential as it felt like I was sticking my hand in an oven to retreive that melted off vent cap (sitting in the rear cross link)... They get hot. It's what took them out of competition at LeMans. Even WITHOUT trailers, the eurospec turbo cars got a differential cooler when speeds are expected to be above 120kph for extended periods. You want to argue my engineering philosophy, that's fine. I know what my trip showed me. But consider the existence of Differential Coolers STOCK on an S130. Nissan put them there for a reason. Consider the fact that a longevity improvement was engineered into the later vehicles which may not have been production worthy in the earlier S30 series. But also consider that when in competition, mandatory prep in the JDM was to fit a cooler to the R180---so much importance was put on this, Nissan put it in the competition prep manual with diagrams and where to tap the housings on the R180 for the pickup, return spray nozzles, and venting. Towing in the USA is not a leisurely stroll in the park. Especially in the desert Southwest. It's a bit toastier here than in Newcastle.

As for troubleshooting technique: You have to identify all components in the circuit where the fuse is blowing. (FSM Wiring Diagram) Then disconnect all components and safe the wires. Install a fuse in the circuit (checks box shorts) and then start reconnecting components one at a time until the fuse blows. Repair whatever you find wrong related to that component, and then continue with a new fuse in the circuit until all parts are reconnected. (I have seen more than one short in a circuit, never never never put everything back together after you found the first short! ALWAYS follow the procedure until the whole circuit is reconnected!!!) I of course learned of this technique AFTER my failure as well...

Oh, side marker lights... I feel your pain. To be sure, NISSAN made the sidemarker lights the ONLY non-idiot-proof connection on the body! They are the only lighting connector where you can directly connect power to ground. I thought you meant something else in your description! I had the EXACT same issue on my 73 when I bought it. Right Rear Corner Marker was directly grounded, and it took a LOT of fuses to find that one! It's where a 1 amp circuit breaker with a pop-out reset comes in handy. You can make them with a dowel, some metal tubing, wire and a standard pop style 12V circuit breaker. Makes troubleshooting shorts much less bothersome (I wouldn't say less expensive, fuses are CHEAP compared to a ceramic bodied aircraft style circuit breaker! LOL) Great to see you got it beat!

I'll clarify your statement as to 'right drive' and 'left drive' meaning where the car is on the roadway... The beam pattern you have is Continental (and USA/Canada) meaning for cars intended to be driven on the LEFT side of the road. Where the driver is seated (RHD or LHD) will not make a difference in beam pattern selection (low beam) as it's road position of the vehicle which will dictate the pattern required. Nothing like having to pull out perfectly good Koito Housings because they were Right-Drive pattern...

It's a straight power up from a fuse tap to that wire. A fuse in the line is a good idea. Even better is incorporating a Ford Fuel Cutoff/Rollover Switch (resettable) so if you get in an accident or roll over the pump stops. They were in most Ford Products and if you get one out of the Tempo/Topaz from the trunk area, you can salvage a good 8 feet of heavy gauge wiring to boot! They are also in the passenger's footwell on Ford Ranger pickup trucks under the floor mat near the firewall. Black Box with a red button on top, can't miss it. I use that existing wiring to trigger a relay at the back of the car which is hooked to a #10 wire running back from the battery lead (fused). This gives me full battery voltage, with a safety relay provision and modern impact/rollover safety. But the wire under the dash just need to be hooked to hot source key-on. It's a direct uninterrupted shot, no relays nothin'!

good to see you're making progress! A small orifice in the vacuum tubing on the manifold side leading to the lawnmower filter will dampen the pulsations further. A carb jet from a Rochester is nice, as they are measured in thousandths of an inch, so you can correlate their size with the damping effect.

I thought I just said that, though with sarcasam... How much is 10 gallons of water? What would a man on fire pay for the same 10 gallons if it was the only source? If you put your conditioned intellect to rest for a long time, suddenly it will be like the bottom falling out of a bucket -- then you will naturally be happy and at peace. If you understand, things are just as they are... If you do not understand, things are just as they are.... This Work is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine. All conditioned things are impermanent. Work out your own salvation with diligence. Become the rack.

Addressing in turn the cons: 1) Yes, but dressing properly will stop that issue. 2) Uh....no, that is not a correct statement. I'm not going to get into it here, but it is a complex answer to a simple problem. a 0.020" head saver shim is not worth the effort. I'm not at liberty to discuss anything other than that right now, but it is a proven quantity. Just was overkill for the situation at hand. Which is why I went with the course of action I suggested. Want a more valid con: If you DO blow a head gasket, you have a flapping 0.020" piece of steel exposed to directly exhausting combustion gasses. What do you think it does to a flimsy 0.020" peice of steel in that environment? Like I said, 0.020" is not worth it in this case. Now, you got a 0.040" peice in there, and it starts holding up O.K... one that is 8.2mm thick really has no issues at all holding up! But I've said too much already... shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I have run an L28 N42/N42 combination from a 1977 Nissan Cedric since 1985 in the 'mid to high teens' without changing pistons. (Ran 21 for a while...) What is it that forces people to think that 20psi demands 7:1 CR or thereabouts? If you are planning on going to 30psi with a block consider a compression ratio in the 7.X:1 range. But for christs sake, 'mid to low teens' is NOTHING boost wise. A LOT of it depends on WHAT TURBO you are using, as well! If you think the MS is harder than hacking together stock components and band-aiding fueling with a BEGI....you're off the mark a bit. I wouldn't touch the inside of the 78 block, you stand to F-U more than you will 'fix' with mismatched components and (did you say new ARP Rod Bolts...no you didn't so...) old stock rod bolts waiting to ventilate your block. In 9 out of 10 times people open a bottom end to make it worse than if they had just left the well assembled stock Nissan stuff in there undisturbed. Does it make anybody else think when someone says they are 'not trusting their 170K mile engine' and then take it all apart to 'fix' something...then in less than 20K miles there are problems? Seems to me with the preponderance of 250K+ mile engines out there leaving it alone may not be a 'bad' thing!

Also be aware they can make the 'flywheel' portion weigh what you want. It does not have to be a 15# total weight assembly. They can meat-up the flywheel or outer rim area to make the car a bit more streetable. Of course, with weight comes easier slipability, and with slipability comes wear...