ZR8ED

My mechanic who installed my safc has gone the way of the dodo, and I have no one to help me operate this thing to get it tuned. I did some basic stuff last year, and got it running so I can cruise with it. Soooo I've been searching the forums this morning looking for some tips on the apexi safc controller (I have the gen2) I have it installed on my VG30ET with a slightly modded ecu (burned eprom) 370cc inj, big fuel pump, afpr, t3/t4 turbo big i/c etc etc. I had to install a GM map sensor to give the unit a signal for low/high throttle settings, as my TPS was a two position on/off unit. It uses manifold pressure to determine my engine load thus my throttle position. ( i did not install this stuff). Well I was able to figure out the high and low throttle position fuel mapping curve, but I don't know how to set up the rest of the unit. I don't really understand the other functions, and what I should set them approx for my setup. There are some menus with deceleration values, but I have no clue what they should be set at. I don't want to spend all summer experimenting with values till I learn how they affect my driveablility, and then work on fine tuning. I am searching for a mech that is familiar with these types of controllers, but so far I have had little luck, and those that have agreed to look at it, have not left me very confident that they understand them (i think they agreed to try and learn and experiment for me..$$$$) Anyone have one working that could tell me some base value ideas for the various controls? or at least how they work? Its no WOT for me until I can work some of this stuff out. I don't need any more engine melt downs 2 is enough. hehehe. Thanks for any advice. Scott

First the dip stick. Not sure why its longer. Second. The components from the 87 should work just fine. I switched all of my 86 components on an 88JDM no problems. Third. Ya need to check out the components to see if they are any good. What was the condition of the engine before? did you over heat the engine? Now is the time to make sure everything is working, and in good condition before swapping them to the new engine. Good luck.

Updates: I did some touch up body work, and got it ready for paint. I decided that I have enough paint knowledge (I work with robotic OEM spray applications.) I have a small compressor (2.5hp) and a small hvlp gravity feed cup gun. My garage is too small, so my best bud offered to convert his garage to an impromtu spray booth. He wanted to spray his new front airdam on his Supra, and was happy to help me experiment with mine. We cleaned out his garage, and put up plastic on the walls and ceiling, and washed the floors down. We waited for warm weather, and low/no wind, so we could spray with the garage door as open as possible. Sure not the best solution, and I know since I work with multi million dollar spray booths and equipment for painting 1000 + vehicles per day. This was the largest piece of body work I have ever painted. I have painted smaller parts etc on a bench etc etc. Well this post is meaningless with out pics, so here goes. This is the next day. I brought the car home, because it is now time to spray his air dam. I'm pretty happy with the results. I certainly have some polishing ahead of me. And I need to put in the mesh in the lower rear, and paint the gas tank flat black again. Materials total cost. $70.00 We did the work over 3 days. The pics are kinda tough with the car being all black. Scott.

90's model Sentra's had a slim 2 cup holder. when slid into the dash, it is approx 1/2 inch high and 6 inches wide. It is hardly noticeable. when it is in the out position it has a small thin piece of metal to hold the cup from falling through the opening, and another piece of metal on top that acts like a "spacer" that flips up and out of the way for a large coffee, and folds down to make the opening smaller, for a small cup of coffee. I have one on my G/F's 94 sentra. Scott.

Yes they made them, and were avail as an option (I think) on all 300's. I had one on my 84. Scott.

Thanks guys for the incredible effort! I'll try to wait patiently. I am very curious to see the results. I have done a lot of "seat of the pants" real world testing on my own Z. I have seen some positive effects, others have appeared to be failures. I too have mods to the car that I may be unwilling to change even if it hurts my aero. I still want the "look" that I desire, and it will ultimately be influenced, but not controlled by this aero data. I'm in the middle of body work right now, and I'm up for a bit of "while I'm at it" sheet aluminum fabrication work. hehehe Like it will ever end?! Any chance this will get loaded to a DVD? with video, pics, and computer useable data? I'd be willing to chip in $ to set up a complete package. Scott.

Hmmmmm Burrrrgerrrrs

How clean is clean? before they will accept the parts? I'm not looking to be lazy, I'd just like an idea of how much prep will I need to do before I could get parts done. Do they get acid dipped or something first? (I do not know what is involved with this process ) I too keep lots of little bits and pieces. Though at those prices, it could be a fun winter project to slowly work through the car getting things replated and nice and clean... Oh Oh my spidey senses are telling me to beware of the "while I'm at it" syndrome. Scott.

Great vid! That is from my neck of the woods. Mosport. I know the track well. I like to watch from Moss's corner (corner 5 hairpin) Best action spot on the track. I know the Z in the video as well. There are parts of that car in my own. It also has the smaller set of matching rear flares to mine. hehe It has a buick V6 in it. One of the fastest Z's I've seen, and holds the class track record back with the older L28! he used to run. Scott.

I have thought of this over the years of my Z ownership. (18 yrs) I still own my first Z, and many others have come and gone. I really enjoyed the look and feel of the car. Its performance for an "older" car was pretty good. Then I learned of the history, the racing heritage, the rabid following these cars created, and last but not least, I learned of the cars potential to be a near super car for less than super car prices. (at least super car performance back in the early days of my Z ownership) I took to the love of being the underdog, the little guy, “the little engine than could†hehehe. I slowly built the car into a low to mid 14 second, common V8 basher that would simply destroy most of the more common sports and muscle cars of the day whether it was the quarter mile or road courses. Rarely could another car beat me in both of those categories which I carried as a personal badge of pride for my car, and to an extent, my budding driving skills. The car evolved into a reliable, trustworthy street machine that I learned to trust as I learned how far I could consistently push the car. Maintenance was always a time and money factor that could never truly be avoided if I wanted to push the car to its or my limits. I then got the bug for more power, more comfort, more more more. I wanted to keep ahead of the newer more sophisticated, entry level sports cars that were being produced with stunning performance compared to super cars of days gone by. I took it as a challenge, and when I had the money, time and desire to force my old technology Z to try to be a front runner in performance. Ie MK4 Supra’s, c5 vettes, 1st gen vipers, low level modern Porsches and Ferraris, I succeeded in spending a ton of money and time to reach close to their levels (their stock to mild BPU performance ranges) I have now ended up with a monster of car, than can hang with them in many, but not all of their performance capabilities. I no longer enjoy the bullet proof reliability that I once had. Increased hp takes its toll on the rest of the support systems. I have enough time and money invested, I am not as eager to push the car to its limits, at least not for extended periods of time. The car is fast enough that I have now seen many of the cars old technologies limits, and to overcome them now will take significant $ and time. I can easily hit 150mph, but I just don’t have the technology, $ and time to build it to push past that limit. The car is now beyond my personal driving skills, as I can’t drive it hard on the street, and with little track time each season, I will not likely ever get enough seat time to be able to drive the car to its limits. Now don’t take this the wrong way. I love my Z, but if I could do it again, I would do it very differently, but I have enjoyed my Z ownership, and I would do it all over again! I think that if you really want a super car in all of the aspects of owning a modern sports car, I think that a Z is an excellent candidate for the challenge, but it is an extremely difficult road, full of more compromises than you may think. Z cars are best at being old school sports cars, that can more than hold their own with any other old school cars on the road. The fact that a Hybrid Z can smoke most under $50K new cars is just a bonus, and is not going to be a sustainable measurement for our cars performance.

Ok I have Fiero seats in my 78 280. I took the fiero seats, and removed their sliders. I mounted two pieces of flat bar between the fiero stock mounting points. (left to right) I did this because the mounting tabs for a fiero are further apart than my 280. I then simply bolted the stock 280 sliders to the flat bar. (using only 8.8 grade bolts) 12mm. The seat does slide, but not through the full length of travel. It goes all the way forward, but not all the way back. The seat rubs the tranny tunnel and won't go all the way back. The seat sits slightly higher than stock. If your 6ft tall, don't use them unless you want to do more mods. I wear a helmet on the track, and my helmet touches the rollcage sometimes. Hope it helps someone. Scott

Under body trays, belly pans, rear diffusers etc etc. Are not easy to build correctly. An underbody tray can be effective, but if not done correctly, can be down right dangerous. For bang for your buck, go for suspension mods, tires and weight savings are the most effective. Racing speeds will not likely be high enough long enough to require aero mods. There are many minor aero mods that are cheap/easy, and may or may not be legal depending on the racing class you are in.

Here is a fairly simple question that is likely not easy to answer. Background. Did some fibreglass work on car. I do not intend on repainting entire car, but I will be repainting upto seams etc to help with the paint colour match. Paint already on the car is DuPont Centuari Acrylic Enamel Black (99A) What type of cleaner/solvent that is readily available to wipe down the car where I will be priming and painting. I will need to wipe any waxes/polishes off of the parts of the car that still have paint on it. I know enough about painting that I need to ask before assuming that I know what to use. (I work with OEM paint only) Thanks, Scott

Sucks man. Glad to hear your alright. Don't let all this Sh** get to you. You don't need any extra stress than you already have. Goodluck. The evil side of me wants to see wreckage pics.....sorry.

The steering is not TOOOO hard. If you go to larger turbos, then even more work is neccessary. The setup looks similar to my VG30ET. I got a nice sit back position of the engine, but I had to notch the frame rail a good inch to give me the additional clearance for the steering shaft to maintain good angles. I see in your pics you just smoothed out the rails whehn you braced it with additional metal. Becareful about steering angles. I used another universal steering joint to get the steering shaft to go around the turbo, but you can't just change the angle to what ever clears the turbo. You may find some difficulty in the steering afterwards. Ie you may find the steering is not smooth, and that steering effort is not the same as you turn the wheel from lock to lock. It took a lot of playing with the steering u joint position to find a smooth steering motion. I did the the tests using temporary mount for the steering shaft to keep it from binding. I used a heim joint, that the steering shaft slid neatly through. I then tried various 3 dimensional positions, until the steering was smooth from lock to lock. Good luck!

Yup. Consider it a gift. Tell him (calmly) that it was a big deal to your G/F and that she was trying to help out and gave him a deal. Tell him that you have now covered her off, and he can now repay you when he's got some cash. Don't make it into a big deal with him. You now know where he stands with you. Don't burn a bridge over 125.00. ya never know when you may need one. Cut your losses, and distance yourself from any $ deals with him again. Cheers. Scott.

For the low frequency noise from the exhaust, you can use header wrap. When I put in a 3" ss exhaust, the noise in the cabin increased. I bought a roll of header wrap, and wrapped the section of the pipe that started at the tranny, and wrapped it back to the diff area. I used SS safety wire to secure it. It helped kill some of the droning sound. It was noticable, but not a cure all. I have a combination of the aluminum foil that is attached to some type of jute. I don't remember the brand name. I saw a roll in a speed shop, and bought their last roll. I put it under the carpet, over the trans tunnel, and under the rear decking, and also lined the sparetire well, and the storage bins. The 280 still has the storage bins like the 240. They are just under the decking, and not functional, but the cavity is still there. I plan on going a step further with my roll cage. I plan on drilling a few key holes, and filling it with some type of cavity filler. Sometimes I drive over sand/dirt/stones etc, and they echo throughout the roll cage. Really annoying. Scott.

I surfed just about every Z site I could find back in the mid 90's. I bumped into zcar.com early on. I have a 280z so that put me in a class not far from the despised lowly 260z. The fact that I modded it made it only slightly better that a bastardized 240 (because it was ONLY a 280Z) I stayed for quite a while, and I remember the massive flamer wars, and the V8 boys left town to build their own fort. Many of the original pack of zcar.com'rs filtered off, and were replaced by teenagers trying to make a mustang/vette eater from an unrestored poorly maintained tired Z with less than 1K$ to spend. My quest for improving and personalizing my Z caused me to follow where the knowledge, experience, talent, openmindness went. That led me here. Been hooked eversince. Cheers,

I have gotten into the high 20's on the highway. I'm sure if I kept it just under the limit, with smaller less sticky tires, no flares I could break into the low 30's. I have an adjustable piggyback ecu, and I could lean it as much as I want for strict highway mileage, so I assume it could do even better if I like.

I have an 02 civic 4dr with an automatic. I have had a 97 5spdhatchback, my dad has a 96 hatchback auto, and my sis has a 94 hatchback auto. All have gotten pretty good mileage on the highway. The 94 being pretty close to the others. It is lighter, but the auto is not as good. My 97 hatchback was rated at 49mpg and my dads 96 auto hatchback was rated at 50mpg. Automatics are no longer the underdogs. I have measured my mileage multiple times, and I keep getting the same basic results with variations only due to the type of driving. I don't really do the mpg conversion, as everything here is in metric. My car is rated at 5.5 litres per 100km's of distance traveled. I routinely get 5.8 L/100km commuting to work accross the city. I typically drive between 110kph and 120kph, with times going slower and faster depending on the traffic in the city. I keep getting these numbers every time. I got a 5.6 on a very long trip without stopping, and doing the limit, and trying to get good mileage (ie letting the car slow naturally up hills, and letting the car accelerate going down them) etc etc. I have never measured more than 6.1 Litres/100km with my car. BTW 5.5 L/100km's is listed on the sales sticker which also read 50mpg highway mileage. Mileage gets worse above 140kph, and also with the a/c turned on. I've been extremely happy with the mileage. Scott

I hear ya Matt. I just paid 1.02 this morning. And as you certainly know, I have had to ration my driving due to the gas shortages around here the last few weeks. I have had to wait in line as long as an hour to get gas. Its much better now, but the odd station is still running out. Glad I drive a Civic. 50mpg is great when gas is this expensive. Heck i can still get mid 40's driving the $hit out of the car. For $3K go buy an older Civic. I know you live in the north, but buy some snow tires and you will be fine. i have had excellent success in the worst storms this season with snow tires on my car. Zero issues. Gas ain't gonna get cheaper! Scott

Yummy. Those would fit great on my Z!... they may actually stick out a hair! Congrats. Lets see some more pics! Scott.

You can try Adobe Premier 3.0. That is what I use. I just got it. 100 bucks ain't bad. I'm still learning, but from an amature point of view, I am very pleased so far. I hope to learn a few more tricks, to make my vids even better. Good luck. Scott.

Well at the moment my daily driver is an 02 Civic 4dr. And before you laugh....50mpg! baby! I had other cars that I was more proud of. I've also had lots of Z's as daily drivers year around.

There is already an Ontario Z car club based out of Toronto. ZOOM is in Montreal, and the Thousand Island boys in well you guessed it, the thousand islands area. Ontario Z Car being the largest of the groups. There are a lot of guys in the Ottawa area with Zeds. It would be great to get them organized. It'll give a good reason for a weekend cruise out that way! Good luck!