Tony D

I could not even run with the stock N/A fuel pump through the stock 240Z return line. I am amazed you could run at all! Very common problem, and is usually solved by running fuel return through the vapor line from the tank to the crankcase. You have to do some jiggering with how you get the return line to that vapor line, as it runs along the left side of the engine / fender well, but is a full 1/4 or 5/16" I.D., and worked just fine as a return line for me---and several other people. Easy way to check it is to loop some EFI line back to the line and hook it into the tank out back. I had a return fitting in my filler neck from somethign else, so that is how mine is currently tubed up out back. If you already have a 280Z tank with the big pickup line and 1/4" return line, then you can run the vapor line to the tank return fitting. That should solve your problem. Good Luck...

You probably could get by with a very low-volume furnace setup and one heat gun, but I would think the heat source would have to pe piped into the center of the setup, and then diffused around the outer peripherey. It would just take longer to heat it all up. With a multiple setup you can heat the first window in less than 20 minutes, and subsequent sheets at intervals of about 10 to 15 minutes. The only problem I had was the Asbestos board sometimes leftfibers on the surface, or transferred some of it's texture to the composite being heated. I usually polished it out using common techniques. For something like the quarter windows, one gun is more than enough. I used two on the side windows, and four on the back glass, though I suspect I could have gotten by with two. Once the bricks and concrete of thefloor are up to temp, it makes it all happen much quicker.

The wiring for the simple N/A version will be soooo much easier! I figure I do this one first, and it makes the other two on the list go that much easier. This is going to be a daily driver, for short errands and etc while the N/A gets done. The N/A will only have two injectors, which will make wiring MUCH faster! Whoodathunkit that the stock wiring harness has 60 feet of wire for the injectors? Don't think you will wire an injector harness with only 100 feet. But the 1200 ft I've ended up buying will probably make my job easier on the next few...

Today I finally got the relay box mounted. Got a battery for the car and cranked it---engine is turning and has compression so that's good. All of the sensors are wired except for the O2 sensor which I bought today(from an 87ZXT Z31 vehicle for the three wire self-heated setup), and already have the connector, so I can connect and wire it tomorrow. Half of the injector wiring is in place, ready for soldering and shrink tubing installation, hopefully before the "Big Game" I can get the rest of the wiring for the injectors into place and start wiring in the injector plugs. Man, I never thought those stupid "helping hands" alligator clip dojiggies would come in so handy, but for holding two wires absolutely in place while you solder them together they are invaluable. Have to run the power and ground wires to the main connections on the relay board, and wiring to the fuel pump. (which is not installed yet either!) If I can get all this sparkie crap out of the way, I can concentrate on the mechanical stuff, which is cake compared to this! Heck, with no turn signals or even a combination switch on the steering column (stripper car I got for free!) I was amazed the thing actually rolled over when I connected the spare "cheater switch" I keep in the tool box! Well if it cranks, I will get it to run. All I want is the thing to show me some SPARK when I crank it. If it does that, I will be ESTATIC as it means I have succeeded in the Megasquirt -n- Spark conversion. Fuel and injector flow is easy, this pure sparks and smoke stuff is difficult! LOL Hopefully this will be done in time for MSA so I can actually drive a SHINY car to the event for once (at least for the first time in a few years!) Thanks to those who have answered my questions on this project as they ahve arisen. WE should soon find out the 81 CAS question!

I say strap it down and find out! Your thinking seems logical. Have you measured teh fuel pressure during the run to see if it si dropping during the higher rpm run? If you see it starting dropping off, there's your answer. There is a flow stagnation on the stock pump at higher pressures, and with increaded pressure comes decreased flow.... The only way to confirm it is to strap-er down and wring it out!

The O2 sensor whould not be in the loop at all during a dyno run as it's WOT, and the EGO circuit is disabled during such conditions. Only during partial throttle conditions, below 3500 rpm (or thereabouts) does the O2 Circuit have any effect on the mixture, and then it's only about a +/- 5% from the factory programmed hard-code.

Datto, take a look on the DRIVER'S side (I.E. Right Side) of the firewall, up near where the windshield washer tubes adn everything traverse just below the cowl lip. There you will find your VIN. It may be behind wiring, windshield washer tubing, and etc., but it's there! The Japanese were very particular about VIN placement, and it isn't always visible. On some cars they dput it right smack dab in the middle of the firewall! But that car came from the Factory with a VIN, it's in numbers like on an S30, with the odd slant and "0"'s with the pointy tops. I had a 73 like this with the short nose and a G20 four cylinder (you know, the four cylinder L-Configuration of the VG30? And I agree, this is a "Kenmary" or "Ken & Mary" Skyline, not "The Box"!

for now, it will sit in the shed. I have the triple mikuini setup for it along with the JDM manifold HKS sold, and the JDM fuel pressure regulator....everything to restore tehcarbs to their old glory. But alas, I have been bitten by the Megasquirt bug, and this was an opportunistic diversion! I will use it eventually, but for now, am busy wiring a 260Z 2+2 for a turbo megasquirt-n-spark setup. When that is done, I'm either going with the turbo for my 62 microbus, or restoring the turbo corvair to running condition, with real fuel control! Somewhere in there, I would like to get the black car with the turbo running like back in the day.... Maybe that will be the next project---I know that one forward and backward, and know all I need to do to rework it. Several months ago a set of HKS Throttle Bodies were sold on E-Bay, and I though "nah".... Now I kick myself as those would be SERIOUS old-school leading edge technology convergence circa 1985! It would represent state of the art for aftermarket power for that time. Which is the era where I built 'ole Sharkie the first time!

I was the winner on that auction. It arrived today via UPS. I finally have the final piece to my system built in 1986! FINALLY! Actually the twin inlets were made for twin turbo flowrates. RS Okinawa had one of these on 50MM OER carbs making 444HP to the rear wheels. I will be media blasting it and recoating it with the original Krinklepaint. It is a fairly rough casting externally, and the krinklecoating helps conceal that fact. I now am absolutely convinced the internal pressure baffle/diffuser was the key to the success of my first design, as this box is not just a box, but has a diffuser panel cast within it, allowing for better flow into each carb entrance. The downfall of my second design. Vintage, if you want some photos, let me know, and I can take some this weekend and forward them to you for your buildup. I think I have both my other tanks fairly accessible for showing how different they were from this box! He he he! I won the auction, I won the auction!

Only drawback to using the stock pack is that unless you have the tool to pull the spade terminals out of the plastic connector, you end up having to put all the shrinkwrap on the wiring in reverse order before you solder/crimp everything into place. Still got those injectors left to wire up. Can't find my connector tool, and got sidetracked shrinkwrapping sensors, routing the coil wiring, and pulling the FIdle relay off the relay board and resoldering in the jumper. Wish I had a spare box top that was unaltered, the spot where the relay poked through is open now, and would have worked well with a stock grommet for the engine wiring harness.... Maybe some lexan to block it up....Who knows.

It would help if I revisited Lances FAQ page more often I think! AND if I read Moby's post on the sticky where it plainly says "six ohm 25 watt resistors" DOH! Yes, I just went out an verified that the STOCK BALLAST RESISTORS are 6.3 ohms. They have a connector with seven connections in it (at least off an 81 ZX) so I ahve one power to feed the injectors, and will split htem three and three on the way back to the ground at the 20 position terminal strip. This will work well, as I am using stock components. The earlier vehicles I have seen use a funky 4+2 resistor pack, so I am pretty sure you can just hook the two power wires on that setup together to get a similar setup to the 81 Resistor Pack, with six resistive outputs to the injectors. Just like the stock setup---this lends me confidence... I'm off to do more wiring. Thanks all!

The Turbo ECU enriches the mixture while cold via the injector pulsewidth, there is no cold-start injector. What you are experiencing on cold warmup if you do not have an air bypass solenoid or AAR bypass is just a very rich mixture until it warms up. It's the round thing with water lines that sists on the manifold just behind the throttle body with the big 15mm hoses going to it. It should actually handle boost pretty well when cold being so rich! Incidentally, the JDM market Fairlady 280Z(X) had no cold start injector either, they used a stepper motor on the bottom of the throttle body to control total air bypassed at idle regardless of temperature. Pretty advanced, and probably accomodated because the Japanese emissions requirements wer much more stringent from 75 to 81 than even California! They got all the cool stuff in Japan!

That's what I thought, thanks! From memory, somehow 6.3ohm seems like the number people were using for the ballast resistors---is that the range for yours? Maybe that was the stock ballast setup. I just stripped out a wiring harness from an 81 N/A ZX, and the power lead and ballast resistor on that vehicle is VERY nice. I may run that for the power supply for the injectors, as the wiring is all ready long enough for my purposes. Matter of fact, that's what I will do---it can only smoke some small components, I have three more boxes ready. If it works, it will make the Corvair and VW installation much easier as pre-wired harnesses already exist! The 81 did not use the funky 4+2 resistor setup, and has a nice big power supply wire I can split out to the "INJ1 & 2" power block, and them return them conventionally to the 20 screw terminal block as needed. If is set it up as "simultaneous" firing of the injectors, the ground load will be separated three and three via how I wire... Nice sunny day to do the wiring---how nice! Maybe I'll go do the calculations like in the FAQ just to make sure my amps are good. Maybe I only need one FET to drive the whole works---that would be nice for "spares" standpoint if the original should fail on the road one dark and stormy night... Lets see, 6.3+2.8=9.1 ohm load per injector, across six injectors, E=IR...

260DET, that is exactly how I made the rear window for my Fairlady Z racer while I was in Japan. Did the 1/4 windows and Roll-Up door windows, too. I never got spunky enough to try it with the windshield, though. The relatively easy shapes of all these galsses lends it'self to the "heat and drape" method. I heated mine on an Asbestos Board (cough, cough...), inside a sheetmetal enclosure that had diffusers on it, and six heat guns blowing in under the asbestos sheet... I scabbed an oven thermostat to a relay to turn the power strip on and off to control the heat guns (which were set for "high" which I believe was 1100 degrees...) I agree, the key is even heat that final setup was NOT what I started with, and I'm sure the first few windows had severely degraded stregnth from being heated several times to get the sheet evenly heated. In the end I held the temps at 250 for 10 minutes, then turned it up to 350. When I could see the temp gauge (oven thermometer) over the center of the sheet read 370 I would shut the works down, wait until the temp dropped to 350, and pick it up gingerly with tongs and place it on the window next to the "furnace". Now all me secrets are revealed... I never tried the cvacuum forming, but I would think the complex curve, and depth of the item would require some sort of pressure differential device or an A-B mould type setup. Harbor freight is selling heat guns for $19 (and below $10 on sale!) so I might try this setup here in the states just for some fun. McMaster Carr has Lexan in a thickness very close to the Stock Glass, so it goes into the stock rubbers without leaking if you trim it closely to the original. Very Nice, especially if you get the 90% light blocking tinted stuff!

I'm wiring again. 2 hours and most of the sensors are done in rough layout. Will do the CAS tomorrow afternoon. Having a brain fart, and the Yahoo Groups sites are down right now so I figured to post here and see if someone can run the Injector circuit for me. I am looking at the "Inj1 and Inj2" Blue terminals, and these are supposed to be power.... And then on the 20 connector on the relay board, "Inj1 and Inj2" which are supposed to be the return? So where are all your resistors positioned in relation to each bank>blue power source, split to resistors, on to injectors, then run back common to the connector terminal? Cause I'm wonderin' where ground occurs---back in the MS at the FET's? The circuit function was nothing I ever looked at before, I know how the stock works, and was planning on running the stock ballast pack until I learned there's only one power wire in, and I would like to use two banks alternating. BAH! So close, now this... Either way, the stuff is coming out nicely, and the harness should look fairly stock, so that will deflect any suspicions. hell, I still have to do the interconnect between the MS and the Relay Box... But that's incidental, as it's straight pin to pin stuff. Are you guys using S1 through S5 for anything?

Man! Those are some serious cables there Sims! I have some of the gold resistors like you have, and was thinking some sort of plate arrangement like Moby suggested, I just wanted to hide it outta site, ya know? I wish the stock Ballast Setup was more conducive for re-use. Either that, or I am brain-farting because I swore someone said they were using the stock ballast pack. Doing that would be cool, way cool.

Yeah, I saw the specs on the resistors somewhere. I think I will mount the resistors similarly then, maybe amke a combination mounting plate for the relay box and everything. Right now I am debating pulling the socket off the board totally and soldering in the jumper for the F-Idle, as I will be soldering in the leads for the Ignition Module from below the board, as well as adding the two pullup resistors and soldering in the power wires anyway... You know, once the soldering station is fired up you may as well do it all---which will probably entail me assembline one of the Megaview kits I have sitting in the box right now... I am running the Z31 Turbo Coil and it's connector, so I am making a harness from the relay box to the coil, and will run some ground wires to make sure everything gets landed properly. Thanks for the reply, I'm off for some connectors and mounting herdware right now.

Did you place your resistors in the harness itself? I am to the wiring part of the MSS install, and am debating the Stock Ballast Pack -vs- the big resistors in the lines, as well as figuring out how to make it neat looking. I mounted the GM Ignition Module to the bottom of the Relay Box as a heat sink, and ran a few ground lines to make sure everything is grounding properly. I am wondering about those who wired MS or MSS how they overcame the resistor question, or should I gut it out and do the PWM figuring? I could post there, but this seems to get more "Z" related postings, so the post here will probably be more productive. Wiring of the 81CAS was the easy part, once this other stuff is done, I can hook up power and see if it all works... Thanks in advance!

and if you use the Techedge DIYWBO2 with the ability to set the switchpoint, you can have the O2 sensor correct to something much more mileage-friendly like 15.7:1 for some really impressive cruise mileage figures!

wow mate, sorry to have missed you! Was in the area making sales calls last week (started in Phoenix, travelled through NM, and made a big loop thru elpaso and back to so cal. don't break anything, and good hunting! Cheers!

I wanted one of those badly during my tennure in Japan. Unfortunatelt it was 100,000 yen, and that was close enough to $1000 for me to say "knock it off". So I went over to the local speed shop, and did just that. Made my own, which worked much better than the 2X4" aluminum box tubing I subsequently replaced it with... Why? I didn't pay attention to the sloped end on that tank. If you don't slope the tank, and simply make a big rectangular box with pressure baffles in it, it knocks a corner on the inside of the hood... BAH! Afterwards I learned the EFI route was much better. Much Better...

make sure your jetblocks have not vibrated loose. Mine used to do funky surging and I found several have vibrated loose. Finding a screwdriver to fit the jets correctly so it doesn't cam-out of the groove is difficult, but worth it. I ended up with a 1/4" drive flat blade that was hollow ground that fit well, and the small ratchet lets me torque it so it won't come loose again. I agree, you should be on mains and surging usually indicates a lean mixture. Are you sure you are not having a spark issue (ground problem)? I've seen that, too! Good Luck.

so that's how it works, and what it does. Thanks, from me, also. now I seewhat I am doing. Wiring the engine bay this weekend. Dropped the engine in last weekend, but due to jobs out of the area, am not able to peck away at it for an hour or two each night like I have been doing for the past few months. So soon I will post the results. I feel confident it will work the same as the late models, but this will dot the I's and cross the T's... Again, thanks for the theory, I followed it.

"Horses?" Are you telling me all those books my wife has been receiving in the mail recently from the "Equestrian Book of the Month Club" portend bad things for my Z's? Maaaaaan! The 81 CAS is sitting on the engine, hopefully I will have the motor dressed this weekend, and ready to go into the car for wiring to commence. Have all the bits, just need to hookem all together.

This may be a bit odd of a suggestion, but why don't you have them Cermacote them on the INSIDE, and after it's cured and baked on, have them cap the ends with some silicone plugs and wrinkle-coat the outside. The ceramic coating need only be on one surface to perform it's heat barrier function, so do it on the inside, and then you can wrinkle the outside so it all looks stealthy... You of course have the shortest run fof piping from the intercooler to the T/B on the T/B side of the car, so it minimizes heat soak. I can't tell you how many cars I've seen run the hot turbo outlet into the closest I/C connection, and then run the COOLED piping all the way across the front of the radiator back to the throttle body! Uh, when the turbo outlet is 230+ degrees, running it another 18 or 20" before it enters the I/C will not make any difference in heat getting into the airstream--if anything, it lets it cool slightly beofer it hits the I/C. Of course leaving the I/C, the best thing you can do is go with the shortest run straight to that T/B! Come to think of it, I'd only cermacote the piping to the T/B, as I don't see heat soaking into the hotside pipe as anythign worth worrying aobut. That would be cheaper, too!