Tony D

I talked with some people in the Engineering Department at Nissan North America to get them to nail down why the Automatic Frontier has a tow rating of 3500# with a manual, and 5000# with an automatic. Long atory short "The American Public is too litigious, and some idiot will try to tow a 5000# load on the stock clutch, in fifth gear, and burn out either the clutch or the fifth gear synchro, and we'll get held liable." SOOOOOO.... Don't tow in fifth gear (overdrive) EVER, and if you use the stock clutch, keep it in FOURTH gear, and a STOCK Frontier with a standard transmission will easily tow the same as the Automatic will: 5000#! Now if you modify, after towing a small trailer with my 75 2+2 almost 20K miles in two weeks one summer, I would add the following: Differential and transmission cooler! That's right, for the manual transmission! The Z31T's in Europe had Transmission Coolers on the manual boxes, as did the S130T's with their Differentials. Towing my little trailer with an R180 differential got enough heat generated to MELT the plastic vent off the top of the differential, so I would HIGHLY recommend getting someone in Europe to send you a set of cooler pumps from those models, and rest easy that nothing will get overheated if you tow heavily. The pumps are thermostatically controlled with snap switches in the casings, really easy to retrofit to the US Spec stuff. I have a set of four on the way from the Netherlands for some projects I am involved with currently---so I will rest easy that a Nissan L with turbo power will not fry another differential vent off the top of an LSD R200 which is a bit more costly than a stock R180 3.90 setup!

Yes, the stock MSS code allows a "soft limiter" to retard the spark to a user configurable figure (mine is set to 5 degrees BTDC) for a user configurable number of seconds (mine is set to 2) at a user configurable RPM (mine is set to 6800rpm) with a "reset time". On the same screen, the "hard limiter" is a fuel cut, that shuts off fuel at a user configurable rpm (mine is 7100), with the same parameters configurable as above!

Everything hooks up same as stock. NO changes. Search out hte original wires, and go from there, hook 'em back up!

Is that alternator bracket on upside down?

Hunting and darting of the front end can be solved by adding weight, true enough. But the only place that usually is acceptable is in land speed racing. Moving the engine 1.125" will not make that much difference either way, IMO>

15psi is about half of what Jeff is running. Even with good piston ring seals, there will be some blowby---the key is to minimize any oil migration whatsoever. After several tens of thousands of miles, when deciding to turn the wick up, Jeff decided he wanted to make ABSOLUTELY there was NO chance of getting any oil in there! One good surge on the compressor, and a wiping out of the carbon seal ring in the turbo, and everything on the PCV end of it is all for naught anyway... Once oil gets into the stream on boost, and detonation that will result is baaaaaad! The L-Series sealing is FAR supreior to the problem with a Z32. The Z32's are notorious for it, and I understand his concern, I was just letting him know the maximum legnths to go through if he's really concerned. This keeps a functioning PCV system, and really, with an EGR attached, Jeff's car could pass smog... Not many 500HP Turbo L-28's out there that could pass both a visual AND functional test in the state of California...

Jeff Priddy was experiencing some oil in the intake tract, but was a function of the T/B he used and incomplete separation on the in-block screen. Most people don't have a problem, but go from full on boost blowby at 30psi, to full vacuum of almost 30"Hg on snap-throttle closures and you tend toget the idea that something will get sucked in eventually. So what Jeff did was to 1) Install a separation tank on the PCV 2) replace the stock PCV with a TRUE Check Valve 3) Make another baffle in front of the stock baffle inside the block to keep oil from being slung into the stock separator 4) Installed a restrictor orifice in the PCV line to limit how much vacuum can ultimately be applied. I have seen the restrictor used before on ITB setups. Herve Oluette on his TWM Triple TEC2 Injected N/A 3.0L engine used a .063" orifice in the block, running straight to his idle air manifold log for a PCV system. This kept his oil sucking to a minimum using Individual Throttles---probably the most severe service for oil sucking available. Any combination of the above items can be combined IF you run into a problem. There is nothing that can't be overcome...

unless you had a WBO2 box with a configurable switching output to the MS... Then you could set your EGO correction to any number you wanted. This is how the WBO2 worked in the original Electromotive TEC2 using target AFR. You set your cruise bins to the target and the O2 sensor did a correction offset to the programmed table. Actually, with that setup, it was pretty easy to rough in a table, turn on datalogging, and simple record the offset lambda number the ECU was giving to reach the desired AFR, and then go make that adjustment to the hard-programmed table. When you were done, a good table would have "0" correction no matter how you drove it (under most reasonable circumstances). But I digress... My plans for the future is to set up the AFR Switching output from a WBO2 unit and use IT for the EGO correction at cruise. For my long trips, even a few thenth's of a AFR will save gas money... Mind the EGT and all will be well. Another thing to remember is to cap the range where the EGO is active, and to put reasonable correction ranges on the adjustment the O2 will be able to make. But a narrow-band is a real limitation, the real way to go is a WBO2, and just skip the old technology altogether.

For Turbo Cam Information, read Racer Brown's Technical Article, and talk to Ron at Iskendarian Cams. Ron did the R&D for all those Nissan Grinds everyone seems to be using "L4, L6, L7, L9..." Ron was deeply involved with Electramotive in the camshaft development for their racing program in the early 80's. If he ground the cam on the #83 Turbo car, which made 580HP at 7500rpm on 20.6# of boost, and made 520ft-lbs of torque at 5600rpm I think he's got a real bead drawn on what can and can't be done on a Nissan Turbo Cam!

TWM has had True ITB's for the nissan L-Series under development similar to what they have available for the Hondas. That setup is not a set of "Weber Clone" Throttle Bodies on their old standard triple manifold, rather individual throttles on staight runners. They look sweet, and I bet the price is going to be easily twice++ what John will charge to replicate his manifold.... Last I checked a full setup of TWM Manifold and triple throttle bodies and fuel rail was around $3400, $4000.... So you really have to see if you "need" the complexity. Look on Indy Cars, and you will see no throttle shafts in there. They use barrel throttle setups to keep the flow disruption in the port nonexistent. This IS an advantage of a Plenum with a single T/B... You simply size your T/B for the ultimate flow, and play with linkage for tip in that you want, and make some nice trumpets on straight runners that run to a properly sized plenum... Makes for a nice Turbo setup...muahahaha!

cheap restrictor? In the bad old days of rubber hoses, you would use Rochester Jets. Nice calibrated orifice. Later, we would braze the hole shut on a Steel A/N fitting, then bore a calibrated hole in it using your now usless jet-drill set (or any number of number/letter drills available from Harbor Freight) On Aluminum Fittings, if you tap the inside of the end, and screw in a internally hex headed plug, you can drill that also for your orifice. This way, you can always change it by unscrewing it and putting another in there later on... You will be amazed at how small brass and stainless steel internally wrenched hex-head screws are available (if you have a decent hardware store nearby!)

I used 1/4 watt, since the 1/2 watt units looked damn big to me to fit and look decent on my relay board! I have not had a problem using them at that level, they do not get hot in the least bit, and after several hours of test running I could see no change in the waveforms on the O-Scope. Anyone else using anything BIGGER than 1/4 watt for the pullup's?

"I'm going to have a couple electircal engineers helpin me out on the install. " Oh crap, you're sunk! LOL

A quick trip to E-Bay to pick up a nice used Cannon Triple Manifold by itself should prove cheap enough, and there you have six, nicely spaced and arranged openings for an L-Head, along with a tapered runner and plenty of meat for adapting whatever TB you wish to attach to it via a simple plate adapter. For all the guys making their own runners, it seems to me taking a Cannon Manifold, welding some aluminum trumpets to the face, and then bolting a plenum to it with a single T/B somewhere on it would be a heluva lot faster/cheaper than fabbing the whole thing from scratch. Some MSD Screw-In Injection Bungs, and you're halfway there... Not that I ever gave this any thought, mind you! LOL P.S. I really like the looks of that BMW Manifold...

Ahhhhhhhh, Okinawa. I remember when that particular track was first built! I watched Jeeps jump, and Box Skylines go over the edge to get caught by a tree halfway down the mountianside. Man, that brings back memories! Come to think of it, I think someone sent me a VHS of these same videos...

I have to agree with Synlubes. I work in an industry where my opportunity to sell this to customers would be a conflict of interest, so I have stayed out of it. But I have used it about as long, and had I not gone overseas from 84 to 89, I most likely would have become a dealer back in Michigan. Now that I'm here, servicing my fleet keeps me busy, and I may still do that. When I started, Amsoil was THE synthetic. And they didn't cut corners. They are not a 'Big' player in bulk lubricants per-se. But in the Niche they pioneered, they have a sterling reputation. This stuff came straight out of the Military Aircraft Industry work in the 60's.

The rear bumper is almost 6" on an early 240 from what I remember. If you ever watch a land speed car run on the dry lakebeds, you can see the airflow on the back of the car, and having that tip out that far puts it in a different portion of the airflow that goes up and AWAY from the back of the car. Anything closer, and you are in the layer of air that turbulates RIGHT BACK TO THE TAIL LIGHT AREA. THAT causes one hell of a problem with fume re-entry unless EVERYTHING is SCRUPULOUSLY sealed. Note the 280Z's as well as later cars all had fillers inbetween the bumpers and the body? It's more than astetics... They were doing some blocking of airflow there, also. Wierd things happen out back, you just have to observe some "dirt studies" or light a smokebomb out a tube under the car at about 30mph and you can SEE exactly what I'm talking about. Once you see it in action you make like Homer J. and go "D'OH!"

mouser also has them. I believe I posted a link at ZC.C some time ago. They are cheap. Frys electronics also carries them, nice aluminum bodies with fins and terminals on the end making for a nice installation on the back of a finned extrusion, or even a plate of 1/4" thick aluminum... The STOCK 81 280ZX Resistor pack also works VERY well. I used that myself, since it was easy to adapt and the wires were plenty long for my application.

Guys. Guys. Guys. Take a look at a dimensionally correct drawing of any S30 vehicle. Pay particular attention to the chrome tip that Nissan has on the stock exhaust system. It exits to the REAR of the bumper. Many people run performance exhausts, with the tip all nice and sanitary mounted right flush with the body. No no no no no no no ! This allows fumes to accumulate UNDER the car, and ANY gasket or hole under the car near the spare tire will let fumes enter the vehicle. And the faster you go, with the updraft under the vehicle, the worse it gets. Open the windows and you quickly realize drawing a vacuum inside the car doesn't help! But put that tip out back of the bumper where fumes are drawn UP and AWAY into the turbulent airflow behind the vehicle, and amazingly all the problems go away. Take another gander if you can find one of the tips on the Fairlady Z 432. They are cut in a way that the lower pipes fumes are drawn up, and pushed out by the upper tubes' flow....which is convienently to the rear of the bumper! People have had Performance exhausts on these cars for so long, or bad replacements it never occurs to look back to the factory spec to see just how critical they were on placing the tip. It's the little things that get you. And on a long trip.... this one could actually GET you, if you know what I mean! P.S. Extending the tip helps greatly, but is not a substitute for proper gaskets and seals on the rear of the vehicle! P.P.S. I also own an RHD 77 2+2, and trust me, it infects that body style also! It's not a US Market only problem. You just have to dot your "I" and cross your "T" when dealing with these type of problems. Attention to details and a good nose is all that you need to solve it!

B, Your poll doesnt have enough options! First Shockproof is NOT for transmissions. Usually the MTL is what people use. I have it in one car. I have Neo in another. Royal Purple in another. I have AMSOIL in a fourth! What I have found is that for my VW and Corvair, (which have had AMSOIL in them for going on 25 years now!!!) it works fine. I took the Amsoil out of the VW Bus because I convinced myself that since it wasn't 45 below zero anymore, I would not need synthetics to even get it into gear and moving in the morning. But after three hours of 75mph+ driving and the reduction gear boxes started making noises like they were locking up due to the 140Wt Dino oil breaking down.... Back in went the Amsoil. Same for the Corvair. It shifts easily without the clutch using Amsoil, and it was recommended by the Corvair crowd during the 70's, so that is the way I went. For the Z, it's been an amalgam of what I can find universally. I drive them cross country, and regional availability for a refill is not great with AMSOIL unless you can get the local dealer on the phone. I have to say, I have had great luck with that, and in some cases they have DELIVERED TO AN INTERSTATE REST AREA... But since I feel kinda guilty waking a guy up at 7am on a Sunday morning because my car took a dump on the road in BFE, I now use other synthetics. The Royal Purple was put in the dify of a car while I was in Michigan, and it was the only FULL synthetic they stocked ANYWHERE.... The Redline is in my all the trannies. The Neo is in two trannies, and when I go racing at Bonneville their water-like 0-140 is what is in the diffy. What I have found is that FULL synthetics are what makes a difference. BLENDS are a waste of money. I would NOT recommend Valvoline "Synthetic Blend" specifically because of problems I had in a STOCK car during enduro events. I switched to a Castrol Synthetic (oh shite! Put THAT ONE ON THE LIST TOO!) in Mobile Alabama and all the problems went away, and has been running in that car ever since (Diffy Temps got to over 350 degrees! Melted the plastic plug off the top of the diffy!) Whatever you get, make sure it's for the specific APPLICATION you are intending (I don't think Shockproof is intended for Transmission Service, only differentials), and make sure it's a TRUE full synthetic---the ones you mention in your survey are all full synthetics, but there are posuers out there and you really have to be careful!

Got Dyno Time Reserved? Get a Tomei, Arizona Z, or Kameari adjustable cam sprocket and start fiddling. On our Bonneville car, playing with the timing 4degrees made a WORLD of difference in the N/A application by opening up torque on the bottom end (where WE needed it). The Adjustable Sprocket gives incremental changes because slippingthe chain a full tooth is like 9 degrees. A combination of tooth slippage and camgear adjustability compensation would give a fairly large change on WHERE your power occurs. But getting it on the top end is harder than getting it back on the bottom. Moving the camgear one tooth will make one heluva stout bottom end that drops FLAT on it's face at 5500. Slipping it in the other direction doesn't seem to have such a dramatic result with an N/A. But with a Turbo, you might have some hope. Just check valve to piston clearances before any fire up---shouldn't be a problem with 9 degrees, but better safe than sorry!

I got to ask.... Did you bend the throttle lever IN the car? It sure looks like someone was up there with a blowtorch! LOL But yeah, that is about what mine looks like. On a technical note, I read somewhere that the quadrant should have the throttle cable heading towards it tangentially so I try to set mine up like that and it worked O.K. how is tip-in with your setup, as it looks like the cable mount is a bit higher than it "should" be for the TB position. I considered setting up like that, but with the quadrant on the TOP of the manifold... Gives you a few more alternatives for mounting that cable with the correct angle. Especially if you whack the stock linkage holders off the top of the manifold...

Too much oil flooding the ball bearings will make the bearings ride up on an oil wedge and start sliding. This is NOT how they were designed to work! It causes them to flat-sopt (seriously!) and this causes vibration, and possibly a crash of the impeller due to the bearings shelling out. Ball bearings only require a light fluid (the lighter the better) to remove any built up heat from them---after that, it starts causing problems! I agree that a strainer inline would be a good idea for any turbo to keep big stuff from catastrophic failure out of the turbo, but IMO a dedicated filter is overkill. If you install one, use something with a tattletale so you know when you have to service it!

I would be VERY wary of any potential restriction to the turbo oil supply. If the bypass of the filter was to lift during warmup (for instance) any trash passing through the turbo at idle will not be as damaging as if it was caught up in a filter, restricting oil flow later on during engine operation. OLBERG used to make a pankake screen-type filter, with a tattletale light. The ONLY way I would run a filter onthe turbo oil feed line is if the housing had a provision for a tattletale for delta-p across the filter. A restricted oil filter from any trash in the line will be the same as a coked up feed line starving it for oil when you need it most! Most failures on the stockers are from coked lines not being replaced when the turbo is replaced. Either the hard coke goes into the bearing and scores it longterm, or the thing is so restricted the flow is so reduced that the bearings cook from lack of lube. Being I almost wasted a VW engien putting a filter on a suction line once , I vow I will never do that again. Get a good primary filter that will hold up to the higher delta-p duing cold startup (no bypass valve lifting) and filter all your oil well, regardless, and it will make the secondary filtration unnecessary, IMO. Now a strainer with a larger mesh to keep some catastrophic pieces from landing in there, that might be a different story...