jeromio

You're in Cali, aka car parts paradise. Just get a cheap used engine and splornk it in there. Don't do a rebuild as a temp solution. Those parts (HG, rings, seals, etc.) are plenty expensive - plus your labor. One thing to watch out for thoug, I bought a used motor for my Z from a salvage warehouse. Looked great and the price was good (I mean for the East Coast, aka car parts wasteland of despair) and had loooow miles. But it sat for a long time and the guy was up front about it. Basically, sitting for al ong time equals dried out valve seals which is very bad. i found that out the hard way. Put a junker L28 in there for now and save your dollars and sweat for the turbo....

Well then. I guess I am a dope. Sorry about that. I thought the problem only got solved with the move to the R200. Corrected equals me. See, and now I have to re-read my previous post where I make it sound all like I know what I'm talking about and stuff. Hey, there's no "tail between legs, sauntering quietly into the distance" emotive on this bulletin board...

Doesn't matter what year your car is. What matters is the year of the source for the mustache bar and transverse bar which should be 75 - 78. Also, it's important that the mustache bar be installed with the rings pointing towards the front of the car: &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspO| &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp| front&nbsp&nbsp| rear &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp| &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbspO| The 280 mustache has a little curve in it that the R180 unit lacks. This ends up pushing the diff very slightly to the front of the car so the diff output flanges line up perfectly with the stubs, making everything centered and happy. Just to be re-iterate, the R180 bar is installed from the factory such that the rings face the rear of the car. This puts the diff forward such that the half shafts are not orthagonal to the rear wheels. No one can be sure why they did this - it's a design flaw. It sounds like you may have installed your mustache bar backwards? Because I definately had to use the 280Z drive shaft which is longer, and the 280 transverse bar which has a big deflection in it to fit around the diff. [ August 12, 2001: Message edited by: jeromio ]

That's a picture from the 77 manual. BUT, I traced all the lines. If they criss-cross from the M/C to the switch, then "F" goes to the front and "R" goes to the rear. So, it was done wrongly in the past by someone, and I have undone their doings....

You need the R200 mustache bar and lower rear transverse bar (ties the rear control arms together). You'll also need a 280Z driveshaft since using the R200 mustache puts the diff back about an inch and a half towards the rear of the car. You can use either 240 or 280 halfshafts, although the 280 units are supposedly stronger. You'll re-use your 240 flanges either way. If you can find a set of 280zx turbo half shafts, I recommend getting them, along with the accompanying flanges. You have to kluge a seal by either shaving R200 pinion seals (didn't work for me), or using some PVC or other material to make the ZX seal larger. Oh, for the ratio, prevent one output shaft from turning (have a friend hold it), turn the other shaft 10 times, and count the number of times the input rotates. Then multiply by 2 (since the other shaft wasn't moving). IOWs, if it turns between 19 and 20 times, then it's a 3.9. [ August 11, 2001: Message edited by: jeromio ]

Well, it's not that I didn't understand the workings of the "doodad", just that I wanted confirmation that some previous owner had switched the lines on me. I actually confirmed the sitchatashun by blowing up the brake system diagram from my shop manual. It's hard to make out, but the lines are supposed to criss-cross from the master to the switch doodad.

Okay. Finally got all the right parts. Now I have a rather dumb question. There are 2 ports, the one nearest the firewall is labelled "F" and the one towards the front of the car is labelled "R". These each feed into the brake warning light doodad. The front of the doodad has t ports which lead to the front calipers. The back (closer to the firewall) of the doodad leads to the rear brakes. Well, on my car, the front of the doodad is connected to the "R" M/C port and the rear is connected to the "F" port (which also has a larger reservoir for the larger front calipers). So, this is backwards, right? Essentially my "R" port is feeding the Front brakes. So, I am going to switch this around unless I hear differently from anyone here.....

Second that. Also, brackets are one thing, but then there's the calipers. As Terry O has pointed out, the slip piston design is prone to sticking. Mine certainly seem to be stuck - hell I took mine apart (they looked great BTW), soaked them in solvent for a week and didn't even see that the piston was a 2 piece thing! IOWs, salvage yard 280ZX rear calipers are gonna be good only as cores, and rebuilt units are very pricey. Ross C's setup looks like the whole sombrero. And Nic, you may be right about the brackets being findable in Cali, but I doubt there are any at all on the east coast.

Are the NA 280ZX stub axles the same as the turbo? I'd actually be surprised if they were. Definately need to check that first.

Oh great, and you had that info right there in your other post above - Doh! But the 78 booster should be good, right? So, they did screw that one up....

Okay, so I had to order the booster. I specified a 78 280Z unit. They listed 2 sizes (?) - I chose the smaller - 7.5 inch I believe. I also got an 82 280ZX MasterCylinder. So I tore everything apart tonight and the MC is just wrong. It looks similar, but it's got smaller reservoir fittings and the flange, which only has 2 mount holes, doesn't fit (the top and bottom have no holes and both hit the bolts on the booster). The old flange was a 2 piece thing and it also had "7/8" cast into the side. The new one just has some gibberish numbers/letters. Aargh. The booster is just too big. It looks like the bolts are all the same, but they must've slipped me the big one (ew, that sounded bad) instead of the correct, smaller one. It won't fit between the throttle linkage bracket and the clutch master. Aargh again. So, I'm presuming that this is just the typical chain store screw up - they gave me the wrong parts. Because that combo, 78 booster and 82 MC should work fine, right????

Zs are 4 on 4.5, so the holes are okay, but you'd have to go with the Evan (with it's own studs) style of spacer and I'll tell you why: In order to swap out the studs in the rear, you have to remove the stub axles. This is a BIG job. Plus, when you do remove the stubs (which you will do at some point I'm sure, regardless of this current wheel situation), you need to replace the bearings and the seals which are not cheap - between $150 and $200. The spacers are not cheap, but if it means a "free" set of wheels, it may be worthwhile.

It's exactly that "misc" money that limits my outlay for the engine/trans to under $1200. This limit completely rules out Chevy and the Buick (I also want a manual which eliminates the Buick anyway). The L28Turbo is crazy cheap - I can get everything for $600. But, that's an old, high miles motor that will likely need a rebuild at some point. I've checked this out and parts (pistons, rings, etc) are way expensive. Also, no diss to those who have this powerplant, but I want cross-flow chambers and something that is just different from what I have now (besides, I've already swapped in an L28 once - car had an L24 when I got it). I can get a complete Mark3 Supra Turbo - the whole car, for probably $1500 - $2000 (These cars have terrible resale value). If I can get into an insurance auction, I bet I could get a wrecked one for less than half that. That would guarantee me everything I need for the swap - including the crossmember which I could hack up to make some mounts. I know there's alot to beware of with these motors - primarily the HG. But there's also alot of parts and support out there for it. The 5.0 can be had pretty cheap too. And obviously there are entire magazines devoted to it - plenty of support. I'm pretty impressed with SCCA's photos and encouraged that he was able to knock it out so quickly. Both motors seem to make about the same power in stock form. There are some BPUs for the 7M that can bring it up 50-75hp pretty easily though. I have seen used blowers for sale, but all for $1500 plus. That would put my next power upgrade waaaay into the future. Granted, the next stage of the turbo motor would be into the multi-thou area as well. It just seems like the term "BPU" (basic power upgrade) only really applies to a turbo motor: more fuel + more boost = more power. With the NA, the non-invasive mods (intake, exhaust, ECU) don't really boost power all that much relative to their co$t. Any links to 5.0 sites besides stangnet.com? Is my estimate of the 5.0 stock hp of around 225 accurate? As to the fuel system, I've considered going to a fuel cell. But initially I'll just upgrade to a better fuel pump, mounted next to the tank. The car already has the return lines, etc.

For some inexplicable reason the breakage of my hood release was followed directly by the death of my vacuum booster. Manual brakes suck, lemme tell you. Odd that when I press the brake pedal, the idle goes up considerably. I guess that is a pretty beefy hose going to the booster - giant vacuum leak. Anyway, since I am replacing the booster, I'm thinking I may as well replace the MC as well. I have 82 280ZX NA calipers up front and 82 turbo calipers in back - should I just get the 280zx unit? IS the turbo or even 2+2 unit appreciably better? Thanks.

Wondering what the thoughts are on this. The way I see it there are several different issues. For a baseline, I'm not really referring to a "scratch built" powertrain. What I mean by that is, starting from a stock, readily available drivetrain from a salvage yard. Put another way: cheap. That, I believe, rules out both ends of the spectrum: no huge dispacement, high compression strokers and no ceramic turbo'd, forged pistoned aftermarket electronics motors. The way I see it, there are turbo motors that can be installed, used "as is for awhile and then perhaps, down the road, one can play with the ECU or sensors, upgrade the turbo and or intercooler, and achieve a pretty big power to dollar ratio while maintaing day to day drivability. The cons on that would be added weight (piping, intercoolers, etc.) and definately complexity. Also, I'm pretty naive about the subtleties and dangers of tuning turbo'd motors. I can definaly learn, it's just that I seem to have gleaned most of my automotive knowledge the Hard Way. The pros of the NA driveline would be simplicity, drivability and probably reliability. But I can't help thinking that, for the most part, whatever power that motor makes, I'll be stuck with. As in, I could increase power by moving to more aggresive, higher compression heads, but then there's the $'s and extreme labor for that upgrade. Am I wrong? Basically, for my particular situation, I'm poor. I'm not looking for extreme power right away - I'm used to the L28, so whether I go turbo 6 or V8, it's gonna be a huge boost in power straight away. But, like many of you, I can imagine a time, probably a mere 12 months later, when I'll be ready for more power (and with all my chassis mods and by then a full cage, why not?). With a turbo (such as an L28T or, my preference, a 7M-GTE), I can foresee buying an ECU mod, larger injectors, a bigger I/C and/or a larger turbo. For the V8 (I'm leaning towards a Mustang 5.0 due to high availability and low cost: around $1300 for engine/5sp vs. around $2800 for the equvialent SBC/6sp!), the uprades are pretty extreme and tend to involve rebuilding the whole engine. I welcome any and all discussion on this and I think I am, at this point, open to most any idea. I'm still in the "save up the dollars" phase, but I'm getting close enough to a decision (barring the inevitable unforeseen, savings sucking event that I should, in fact, just count on ) that I've been cruising every possible classifieds/auction site 6-7 times a day.... Thanks. [ August 06, 2001: Message edited by: jeromio ]

Obviously Drax has no troubles with hoodlatches since he can just use his python whenever this issue arises, without even getting out of the car. Sounds like walking from one place to another might give him trouble though....

Well, I never read it. But though it was probably crap, I'm now just dying of curiosity....

I did a Painless 18 circuit on my 55 F100. Took about 6 hours - wasn't in a hurry. Went pretty well. That includes the time it took to make and install a mount for the panel. I just put an American Auto wire kit in the Travelall. I definately DO NOT recommend that one. It was about $80 more than the Painless and seemed, from the literature, to be a better kit. Wrong. The quality was okay, but the inkjet on the wires was spaced way too far apart and there were <b>several</b> errors. That one took an <b>entire</b> weekend. As to column mods, have you checked out Owen's page on fitting the switches/etc from the 87 Maxima? Here's the link: http://v8zcar.topcities.com/s30z/turnsigassy.htm . I plan on duplicating this in my car as soon as I have a spare weekend. There's no "out of the box" connection to the wiring kit, but it only took me a few minutes to map out the wiring in the Travelall column. I'll be posting wire colors when I do this mod.

I got it. Drove it up on some ramps. Tried using a long screwdriver, but I couldn't angle it enough to pry the latch. Ended up using a smaller one and shoving my hand waaaaay up there. Took awhile cuz I couldn't see what I was doing. But, I got it. Now I have to replace the cable.....

http://abacus.sj.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/339b753de80fb3a51934e30b86/i-4_B.JPG It's from an over-the-top Supra, but, it certainly gives me some interesting ideas. What comes to my mind is a sort of Z version of this, with the same smoothed treatment and the addition of the classic triple "humps" - perhaps even 4 of them instead of 3. I don't think I could handle a shiny dash though. Maybe get it anodized black? Or perhaps not any of this at all. Just bored.....

Went to check my oil this morning. Broke the damn hood release cable. Ugh. So, anyone have any ideas?

Stupid newbie question: how modular are those Mazda rotaries? I mean, can you just make a new "crank" (what's it called in a rotary?) and keep on bolting on more rotors and cases? Long ago I did have an 85 RX7, very briefly (6 months). I had to sell it for the downpayment on my first house. Great car. Terrible mileage though.

Cuz the 280ZXturbo companion flange slides onto the 240Z stub axle whereas the 280Z stub axle requires the adapter (since its stub has 2 more splines than the 240Z/280ZXt). Certainly you could use 280Z stubs on a 240 and then use the adapter.....

Yes. The only issue is the ebrake cable - but I think that's a problem with either style shaft. I welded some washers to the sheetmetal to attach the retaining springs to. Keeps the cables away from the spinning shafts.

All the info I have read, esp. here, points to the R200 being plenty stout enough. You may want to switch to CV jointed shafts though. If you have a 240, you can simply get the 280ZXt shafts and companion flanges from a salvage yard (I got mine, along with rear calipers, for $125). You have to use the 240 dust shields and modified 280ZXt seals. If you have a 280Z, you'll want to contact RossC about the adapters. I have an 85 200sx turbo 4.11 R200 in my car currently. Got it for $125 from a local yard. They actually had another one that I was going to grab just to have or pass on to others, but they crushed it .