83turbo280zx

hey i posted this on zcar.com haven't gotten any replies yet, so im wondering what you guys think I've been searching around on here but haven't found much. Im getting ready to run intercooler piping on my 83 tubo and the new piping doesnt have a bung for me to use the big hose that supplys vacuum to the AAR, AAC, and VCV. I have read a few posts about people deleting their vacuum control modules and giving the AAC a constant vacuum source without having any problems. I went a did a test run with the AAC hooked up to constant vacuum and the car still idled fine. I was wondering can i run this hose to the AFM boot behind the afm so that i still have an air source that is already metered air, that way i wont have to have a bung welded to my IC piping. I've suggested in the past just cutting the J-pipe before the bung and use that to mate up to my IC piping, but my piping is going to be welded and the few connections that i dont have welded will be joined with silicone couplers, t-bolt clamps, and bead rolled ends, so im trying to stray away from that idea of cutting my J-pipe. Any input?

yea i had a pusher and puller fan on my stock radiator, i think now im going to have to wire my pusher fan as an emergency fan incase it starts to get too hot, or to use when the ac is running. i went to purge the coolant system when i re-filled it with the new radiator and couldn't get the thermostat to open cause it was cooling so well lol

So i've been dealing with radiator problems for a while, so instead of spending the $200+ for a stock replacement, or biting the bullet and spending $300 on an aluminum radiator for my zx i invested in a 3 row aluminum radiator for the s13 chassis with an sr20 swap. The radiator cost me $89 plus shipping, CX Racing, its kind of like OBX another ebay brand but they've gone way up in quality since they first came along. A buddy of mine runs one in his 2jz powered s14 240sx. Anyways, here is a write up on how to adapt this radiator into the s130 chassis, im sure with a little more modification it could fit into an s30 no problem. Instead of running 3/4 of the way on my temp gauge with the stock radiator and a pusher puller combo of electric fans, i now have only a puller fan operating and it cools under halfway on the temp gauge, this is with plenty of 80mph plus WOT pulls down the freeway. I also live in Texas one of the hottest parts of the country. So start off pulling your old radiator out You have to make sure you do get the SR20 radiator for the s13 because the KA24 radiator has the upper radiator hose connection at the opposite side of the L28 Radiator. The S13 radiator is about 1/4" wider on each side, which is no problem, but you're not going to retain the stock mounting positions, the s13 radiator is also a little thinner, and shorter, so you want to make sure you mount it level and high enough so the radiator cap clears the radiator support. i made some brackets out of some steel from home depot so that it would mount up flush and level Your lower radiator hose will still work fine with this radiator, but the upper radiator hose doesnt extend far enough to the hose connection on the s13 radiator, so you have to substitute for a different radiator hose. Its gates part # 22165 which fits a 1994-1997 Mazda Miata 1.8L 4 banger. Once you get all that connected, hook up your electric fans and fill with coolant and you're good to go. I have my fans hardwired to key on for now until i get a thermal fan switch. Im not sure how the factory fan shroud would hook up to this radiator as i did the electric fan conversion a while back. If anyone has any questions or wants some brackets made, etc. feel free to e-mail me sk84life1122@sbcglobal.net

I have an interesting situation. I have an 83 Turbo 280zx I have one or two dead cylinders after i replaced the head gasket this weekend. It also wont idle unless i feather the throttle. I have not ran a compression test yet, i'm pretty skeptical that i wouldn't be getting compression because i torqued the head in the correct sequence of 20 ft/lbs, then 40, then 55 final torque. I also lined up the crank and cam sprocket marks with the dark link on the timing chain so my mechanical timing is spot on. I replaced all of that while the front cover was off. I have verified that i am set @ 20 degrees BTDC ignition timing with a timing light, and i have verified that all 6 cylinders are getting spark. I have checked all of my engine grounds, fuel injector connections, air flow meter, coolant head temp sensor, o2 sensor, tps, and aar. I've also connected all of my vacuum lines that go to the AAR, AAC, VCV, and VCM along with all of the VCM electrical connections. The knock sensor is also connected, along with the crank sensor. I've also made sure all my connections @ the ignition coil are there, including the power transistor. At this point im fairly stumpted because the car ran fine before other than the leaking head gasket. All my spark plugs are also gapped @ .040" Tomorrow i plan to run a compression test and put a noid light on each of the injector connectors. I should probably test the resistance across the crank sensor. I did a resistance test across the injectors themselves and they all checked out within spec. I dont think the oil pump being a tooth off is causing it because my timing light shows me @ 20 degrees BTDC. Any other ideas? I can't think of anything else i should check.

not to be a douche, but i said i put washers in it in my post, lol. anyways i've solved the problem, tonyd pointed me back to the pop off valve and it was indeed the culprit. it was on its way out i can open it with my fingers and after i put the washers on awhile back that was very hard to do. thanks for the input tho.

hey guys, i have an 83 turbo 280zx with a WEIRD problem. I have a boost leak that i have never seen before, here's the scenario Im @ WOT in 1st gear, my gauge shows my boost levels spiking between 7-10psi rapidly, and also a loud hiss can be heard from under the hood in synch with the boost spike to 10psi. I shift into second gear same thing, and as soon as i shift into 3rd gear it spikes to 10psi once, and then hits a steady 7psi with a loud hiss. I have a NSX Manual boost controller made of basically home depot parts, bought the whole thing on ebay, i checked the bleeder hole which was free of any dirt or clogs, checked all of my wastegate lines, good, checked all vacuum lines, good. Reseated my jpipe couplers, also replaced the line from the Jpipe going into the vacuum control valve, aac valve, etc. There was a tear in that line so i replaced it, tightened all clamps, still have this spiking problem. I am lost as to where to start next. I dont think its my Emergency Relief Valve because i put washers in it awhile back to keep it from opening under 10psi. Here's when it started happening. The other night i was on a cruise driving around with a bunch of imports in the area when i started running only 5 cylinders, i pulled over and checked my wires, #6 came undone, so i re-seated it and everything was fine. Then on the way home i was reaching full boost no problem, 10psi every WOT pull. Then out of nowhere in one of my WOT pulls getting on the freeway i hear a loud hiss and it shoots down to 7psi. And ever since its been doing this sort of problem. I can give it 3/4 throttle and it will creep to about 9psi, but as soon as i go WOT it will shoot down to 7 and start hissing @ me. Anybody have any clue? I've tried searching all around for common problems with the VCV and AAC valve and haven't seen anything like what i have. If i haven't given as much info as you need, please ask and i'll answer any questions that you have that can help you help me out. Any ideas?

Here's an exhaust clip some of you have been asking for. Let me know what you think (:

i have the p90a head that doesn't have hydraulic lifters, some p90a's do and some dont, for whatever reason, lol but yes i do have solid lifters that would require an adjustment, but i think i'll do what TonyD said on zcar and just tinker with it on the dyno and see what my best result is, thanks for the input guys!!

well back from my nice "vacation" lol now off to asking questions again so ive read numberous posts over this but i never got a straight answer. to get the best performance as far as engine response, a little more power at take off, etc. what should i set the valve lash at? i've heard like 0.003" wider than factory spec when adjusting the lash with the engine hot is pretty much the best lash you can do, but i wanted to get a second opinion. any takers?

haha ok well in that case i'll get geo metro injectors and run 30 psi of boost

when people buy supra injectors for their L28, are they coming from the 1JZ or 7MGE motor? and if so, what is involved in fitting these injectors to work with the Z efi connectors, and also the intake manifold. and how much psi of boost can i run in them given that i've already upgraded to a walbro 255 fuel pump, intercooler will be installed saturday, and so will the greddy adjustable pop off valve?

this is for my 83 zx turbo ok so i ditched my fan clutch and put on an electric fan w/ the same diameter as my fan clutch, i believe its 12". for the power source i used the boost sensor since all it does is provide a signal to the stock boost gauge (as far as i know) and i have a better analog gauge anyways. so im driving home and its getting as hot as it does during the day here in texas, and it never gets that hot at night, does it have anything to do with the fan shroud being off, i removed the shroud to get to the fan clutch and what not, but i never put it back on. could it be this alone? or do i need to get another fan to put next to it? i tried to do dual 12" fans but they wouldn't fit, so im either going to get a smaller 10" fan and put it next to it, or use my other 12" fan as a pusher fan on the other side of the a/c condensor. what gives? any help @ all would be greatly appreciated!!

yea me too, i dont remember where on facebook i saw the wheels painted like this, but as soon as i saw them i knew thats exactly what i wanted. so this will do until i get my 6 spoke konig's 17x7's with a 2" lip

yes i will get a hi-res photo up soon, when i take some good pictures during the day and suprisingly i was suggested this paint by one of my co-workers its industrial grade high gloss black rustoleum he painted his motorcycle wheels with them and he said they turned out great, so i tried it and ouala. All 4 wheels, 3 coats in four directions with one can, not bad, not bad at all

before After Side view whatcha think?

ok i pulled my plugs to look @ them since i've modded my ZX a little. I have an 83 zx turbo, running 10psi of boost, soon to be 12 w/ a fmic, cold air intake, and full exhaust, and just regular factory spec NGK spark plugs which have a white film over the electrode, presumably too hot of a condition. my question to you is what plug number should i go to, and what gap? i want to stick with NGK cause they're the only plug i have luck with as far as oem replacement goes, how about hks plugs, are there any that will fit an L28 head correctly? so basically, what heat range plug, plug # if you can get me one, and the gap por favor

well those wheels are crazy, oh here's a vid me and my friend made, a quick lil somethin somethin, lol so you can hear my exhaust

DAMN those are some big ass wheels! how the hell did u get those to fit? that is your Z right?

yea i see them alot in Z parts catalogs, they have pics of em the tips would have an angle to them so it would look proportional to the car

oh, haha yea its pretty late, so i mis-read that, my bad

why would you use 1" piping? you're choking your car. the least it should be is 2, i'd go 2.5" minimum personally, you can find nice dynomax or flowmaster mufflers that have bigger piping if you're going for the OEM look

yea if i do the rb26 swap, im going to use a hks hi-power turboback muffler with 3.5" diameter piping. but for now 3" is plenty good, its amazing how much exhaust piping and less harsh bends will improve your car's pull. with the new 45 degree mandrel for the downpipe instead of a 90 degree, it pulls a lot harder, and i hit full boost @ 600 rpms lower

yea dude it looks sweet, i love the way it sounds, it like almost roars @ WOT, and thanks big-phil, i can't wait to see what it will sound like with the rb26 when i swap it

yea its extremely loud @ higher rpms. but towards the low rpm ranges its a lot quieter than when i had open cat. probably because the noise isn't coming from underneath the drivers seat anymore, lol. but pretty soon im gonna knock all the ♥♥♥♥ out of the cat again and make a poor mans straight pipe, since im carb exempt in the great state of tejas, lol

what do you guys think? full 3" Apexi Turboback Exhaust overall parts and labor totalled out to be $550