Tony D

When cam towers are misaligned, they tend to seize the cam bearings, and then the camshaft snaps... Now you guys see the importance of epoxy-gluing a cow magnet at the front and back of the head, as well as in the oil sump, and hose-clamping several around the periphery of the oil filter. Especially for original break-in!

You mean about the 'flash to pass' capability, and not the presence of the smaller parking light bulb holes in the tail light assemblies then, I assume.

Yes, they sell for around $700 a set...if you can find them. This car is in Buffalo?

Valve Guides are cheap. Change them all while you're in there. Don't insert them, don't Knurl them. Just replace them and be done with it. And change the guides BEFORE you have the machining on the gasket and top surfaces done! Heat makes the job go easier, so it's best to do the guides before truing the head surfaces. I heat lightly, and use LN2 or Dry Ice and Alcohol to freeze the guides for installation. Less chance of warpage to the head. But you can heat the hell out of the head to open those bores up while you drive em home. Filling the centers with LN2 helps them drop out when removing them as well... I digress...

I'm missing something here, you unplug the ECU and plug the new one in there. There is not any interlock between the ECU and the Transmission, nor many of the emissions components either. From the way I read this post, the guy wants to swap in an Auto ZXT ECU into a 5 speed ZXT. This is a plug and play operation. Now if he's changing transmissions then a lot of this other stuff applies. But the way I see it written, it's an ECU swap, to replace a fried ECU. As long as it's ZXT to ZXT, you're fine. They will not swap ZXT to N/A.

I have one of them...I took the stalk and steering column out of my Fairlady on Okinawa. As well as the wiring harness. Much to my surprise when I went to install it, thinking I'd have to put the wiring harness in as well, the wiring was already resident in the vehicle's main body harness. All I did was swap in the combo switch / ignition assembly and they started flashing just like on the other car. So my assumption was that the relays were identical as well. There are three sockets in the high/low beam stalk assembly. On US cars, only two of them have wires going to them. But notice on the body harness...there are three plugs in there! That third plug? Simple wire to the button in the end of the stalk for a ground as far as I can tell. Basically a 'manual' way to 'flick the stalk' to the other position for a brief second for the 'flash to pass' feature. At least that's the way it worked out on my car... As for rephrasing my statement. Er.....which one? Specificity is the soul of understanding.

I WANTED to say "0.008" but I simply could not positively remember the number off the top of my head. And being in Tarragonna Spain right now, my reference books are some few thousand miles away...LOL .008" is a calibrated wiggle. You can feel the difference between 8 and 4, and say 8 to 10. You will get the hang of it and realize when it is 'too much' and it's time to break out the precision measuring equipment for exact numbers.

I have used a stock N/A EFI pump to successfully make over 350rwhp on a carburetted blowthrough setup. Lending mas credence to exactly what 510Six says: if it's a low pressure setup, the flow from any given pump will be FAR more than rated. In that setup I used the stock 240Z 'ticker' style Bendix Electric Pump to send fuel up to the surge tank and never had a problem...even though that supplementary pump in the 240 was NEVER designed to support even 150hp much less boosting surge duty on a turbocharged car! Additionally, if you are running your return line through your surge tank (like you should) there should never be any incidence when your running dry or even low on your boost system. I would bet a stock EFI pump running 'free field' to the surge tank would handle quite a bit of flow, and allow even a slight positive pressure to the main pump, boosting it's throughput at the same time.

Frank 280ZX could idle his triple ITB's blowthrough setup at 2300 rpms and have 2psi of boost. At 1700, he easily had 7psi under WOT. And that pulled 'like insane' to 7000+ Similarly, my Blow-Through system was set to have full boost of 17psi at 1700rpms. Everydody who poo-pooed turbos because 'they have non-linear power output' without 'low end power' really got taken aback when they went for a ride in the old Shark Car. It's all how you set it up. Turbos don't have to come 'on boost' at 4000+ rpms. And if the do come on early, there's no reason they need to be 'out of breath' by 6000 either. It's all old wive's tales perpetuated on the internet by people 'reading' a far bit more than they are actually 'doing'!

Check out Datman's E-Bay auction and in-between the upper lenses on the back of the assembly you can see EXACTLY the place where the JDM parking light bulb goes. On the Eurospec and US Spec light assemblies, they have a round plastic plug in there, and there is no accompanying wiring harness and bulb connector (though in the S30's they do have the wiring in the main harness for some reason...same with the 'Flash to Pass' feature in the 240's...)

Actually there IS more different than the Amber signal section. Depending on if they were from the JDM or European market, there are other 'parking lights' in the back of the assembly that are not on our cars. Regulations in Japan (and California, interestingly) that require vehicles parked upon the roadway to illuminate the lights on the side of the vehicle nearest traffic...and since they can park facing or with traffic, one side or another is all that is required to be lit. This is why the center console on the S30's have those extra holes that are covered over/plugged. There were light switches in there for Japan that allowed you to light the 'parking lamps' on either the right or left side independently of the combination switch position. They are very dim in comparison, like a 3watt or 5 watt bulb in each turn signal assembly. But you can leave those on for HOURS with those little dinky lawnmower batteries these cars came with in the JDM and not drain that battery significantly.

I gotta go with Stealth-Z on this one. I have excoriated friends for 'hesitating' at some vehicles priced at $500 or below. ANY S30 is worth that much in parts alone for the most part. If it's a FairladyZ, let me know, I'll come pick it up for that much!

Mag Base, Dial Indicator, and the Degree Wheel. Set it up as the Cam Cars says, THEN go to the dyno and try a degree at a time advanced and retarded to see where maximum performance occurs. It 'may not' be as the cam card says. Then again it may. But until it's 'degreed in', you will never know where you are... If the engine won't advance and is getting it's trigger signal, I'd check settings and verify against another EDIS Box that it's correctly working. They are all over in the JY, and cheap, too!

Well, we got the P90... Lots of NON-North American Markets got the N42 till the day they stopped production. When the engine was designed, the gas was much better. In 1975, the USA mandated Unleaded Fuels. And had very strict emissions compared with everyplace else on the planet, save for Japan (whose requirements were stricter 75-83...) Everything with engine design is a compromise. Paid for tooling accounts for a lot of decisions in the OEM world. It took Chevrolet over 50 years to reverse their venerated Small Block, even after they did the testing and showed the advantages in the early 60's! What was that, almost 50 years to institute that change?

There are limits for what is termed 'the wiggle test' and has to do with simple geometry. If you look at the distance from pivot point to measurement of lateral movement you can compare that to sidewall clearance. Using simple geometry you can determine the maximum clearance radially in the guide to the valve stem. Failing that, you can look up the specifics in the FSM, which I believe has dimensions for that (or it's one of the knock-off books like Haynes or etc...) "Any play at all" is NOT bad. You need oil clearance. Excessive clearance is bad, but what excessive is has to be determined as above.

One quick thing to learn is not to flippantly retort when someone makes a suggestion... Things that were 'fine' were not. Which is why JC posted what he did... Having someone else check them doesn't mean they're right. I have literally flown thousands of miles because a customer wants someone else to look at something. Even though the guys that have been taking care of them are competent, knowledgable, and generally well-versed in what they do...looking at the same problem after you missed something 'insignificant' the first time heightens the possibility you will overlook it the second time the same set of eyes looks it over. More eyes means more different points of view. Many times, guys will say "Damn, how did I miss THAT? I looked at it X times over the last month and it never occurred to me that it was bad! Looked good." When in dobut, go back to the basics and start at square one... Which is what JC had suggested. Someone missed something.

You doubted me? Go back and read the thread, and you'll find they're JDM for the most part. Doesn't make sense to make one special manifold you can only use on ONE vehicle, you make them 'common' so little bits can bolt on and change it's character. That's the way OEM's think. They may have been on other Non-US models, Cedric, Gloria, Leopard, Laurel, etc.... Anybody in the UK or India care to chime in on that one? Saudi? Saudi got conventional distributors and FOUR BARREL CARBS on the VG30 powered Hardbody Trucks (so don't laugh yourself too hard, JohnC!)

THAT'S THE LINK! I know Ray linked from it on his page. It was from down under. You want to know what makes a Z Car L-Engine's Cam work (or any cam for that matter) read those technical papers! And remember this was written in the early 70's! Nothing's changed in the engineering, just better metals to withstand higher acceleration rates (but worse oils.....BAH!)

On mine, I actually cut the holes in the same flange as the carburettor throats, same as HKS does. That auxillary jet cover thing is wierd, and unrequired if the proper gasket and plenum openings are used. Makes removal a snap, as well.

O.T. I see the Avatar you're using...that was the last news I got before leaving for Spain this trip. The loss of George Carlin is terrible. It's a reason to go see people in concert. I never took him in live, and now never will have the chance. He and I 'thought' a lot alike... Got to go se BB King, we're on borrowed time with him as it is! No reason for me not to, either...he lives in Vegas...it's only a three hour trip. I commented to my wife at the Kansas Concert a couple of months ago that George was supposed to be playing in Anaheim at the Grove in June and that 'we should go'... Shoulda woulda coulda never gains the life experience. DO it, don't think about it. "I digress"

My custom driveshaft for the boys 510 was done at Inland Empire Driveline Service for $150, with me supplying the trunnions and U-Joints for them to shaft to and balance. An aluminum one would run $275 or thereabouts because I can't supply them with the aluminum bits. IEDLS runs shops in Corona and Ontario. And yes, it's the same one you see in all the national magazines and they do supply the larger merchandisers with product (Jegs, Summitt, etc...) Locally, their work is reasonable. They did our Bonneville Car's Aluminum Unit, and it's balanced to 10000 rpms. Not much of an error factor when in fifth (direct drive) we may be turning upwards of 9500 rpms... Not bad for $250 (at the time...)

Your fuel pressure is where it should be, and doing what it should when you touch the throttle. You are basing this on plug reading alone? They are white at the base, up inside the metal body where the center electrode porcelan contacts the metal threaded body, as viewed through a plug loupe with illumination? If you are looking at the exposed portion of your center electrode, it runs CONSIDERABLY hotter, and will mislead you to the fueling conditions of your engine by up to three jet sizes. Most people who 'read plugs' do it wrong, and as a consequence jet too rich anyway. And this was on a WOT clean cut reading, right? If not, discount your 'readings' and see what happens as you drive. If you are not coughing out the intake and surging while driving along in top gear....likely there is nothing wrong with your fueling.... So the answer to the last line is probably best answered by 'overactive imagination, likely'...don't sweat it. If you don't have lean-running symptoms, you aren't running lean. "Reading the Plugs" is universally done wrong...fagedaboutit.... Just this past tuesday, I had ALL DAY to kill waiting on another flight out of JFK...sat in the darned hotel all day waiting for the appointed hour, HI Express Lynbrook...right up the street from the Train Store where the guy got Whacked in the 65th episode of "The Sopranos" entitled 'The Blue Comet'...or so the sign in the window said... I had time to play around on Long Island...

Had a persistent problem with my wife's 260Z where the car was jumped and crash damaged. I had replaced all front end components yet had a persistent problem with shimmy. Pulling my hair out for over 10,000 miles. When I replaced the tires, the problem went away. Even when everything is 'fine' a set of tires that is out-of-round can cause FITS. Normally it gets better swapping front to back to check...but if you (like I did) have FOUR of the wobbly wonders, you will NEVER figure it out till you swap wheels and tires with a known good set. This was so common in the old days, Ford would replace problem customer's tires with Michelins (Instead of the company supplied Firestones) as their track record for making tires that are actually ROUND (what a concept) was unrivaled at the time (late 70's early part of the 80's). So if everything REALLY is 'fine' then change your tires and rims and see if that does it. BALANCING only fixes dynamic imbalance and static imbalance. If you have a tire that IS NOT ROUND you can balance it all you want and you will shake like crazy no matter what you do. Just a thought...

Racer Brown made some good stuff for the Z. Pioneer in the Assymetric Grinds. Racer Brown proper understood the engineering of valve acceleration rates and made cams that took full advantage of an assymetric profile to give more stability with lighter springs, etc etc etc... This has been relearned by two other prominent Datsun Cam Grinders since R.B.'s passing. The R.B. legacy was up in the air for a good while as his Widow retained rights to the name, etc. The latest iteration of the R.B. Company is former employee who bought the naming rights and carries on, it's covered in the link.

Check out Ray Anderson's "Datsun Motorsports" page (He posts at ZC.C as 'DMS', also older posts as 'raayap') he has some nice links to the old Racer Brown Camshaft Tech Articles...more information than most care to try to comprehend. Sorry I don't have the link here on this laptop, I haven't had the time to import 'favorites' yet. JeffP liked the pages so much he hard copy printed them immediately so to keep them should the site ever go down!