ZR8ED

http://www.marcsgarage.net/zr8ed/tnt by mib low res.mov Well here is the address of the video. Anyone care to see if it is working? Enjoy.

Thanks Wags! My imagestation site is pretty good so far.. The max video size they will take is 3min. My vid is just over 3.5min I really don't want to cut it down. The file is currently in two formats, mpeg1 @ 54mb, and quicktime format @ 20mb. I'm not even sure if my email will send out something this size. I don't have any other new vids..at least nothing worth watching..hehe I'm saving some clips for my next vid. "MIB Tag Team" hehehe should turn out good.. My buddies supra is meaner than ever now. He is finishing up an install of a modded and very rare jdm 7mgte. The thing is going to scream. It will make for some cool vid... we are going to need a faster chase car. Drop me an email, and I'll see if it will send? ZR8ED@rogers.com

Not so new video, but its too big to store at my imagestation site (longer than 3min.. its 3:33 min) http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290955091 Older vids are here... It is my most recent runs with the car at an old 10psi, stock injs, stock ecu... I'm pretty much out of time for any new footage of the monster as it stands... lets just say that 15psi, with new inj, new ecu is very interesting. Anyways its an addition to my "MIB TAG" video of last year. This year it has some brief clips of a Gnose 260, a couple of MkII supras, and my usual fellow MIB'r in his ultra black baddass modded JDM MkII. Could someone host this? ZR8ED@rogers.com

If you are running more than usual vac readings, check your timing. My BOV would stay slightly open at idle and cruising. when I'd nail it, I could HEAR the BOV slam shut. It would also slam shut when reving in neutral. (looking directly at the BOV) That is how I figured where the sound was coming from. It turned out my timing was wayyy retarded. A real fluke, as it didn't appear to have manually shifted... ( I did however install a new ecu for what its worth, though it "should" not affect anything) If your timing is OK, then check for a vac leak... Good luck.

Just had to say it. I got pretty much everthing working and found an easy going mechanic. I have pretty much got everthing working again, mostly due to some rewiring. Sudden stalling issue is totally fixed. It was the ign module on the side of the dizzy. whew! Time to go out for a drive!

Well just another follow up. Anyone who is looking for Stalling, Stalls, Stall with an L28 280zx Dizzy, Distributor will hopefully find this thread and gleam some info. Car is still running fine.. Not one problem with the car stalling. I have rewired the headlights with a new switch on the dash.. headlights and heater blower and dash lights are all working again????? Go figure...I think I will leave well enough alone for now.. Scott

Ok so the Z is running way quicker, boost is still going to be set higher. My brake setup was in my personal experience pretty wicked for a high reving N/A six. Turbo'ng the car now, I'm reaching hp levels coming on 30%-50% higher than I was before, which already was 100%+ more than stock. Its making me think that my brakes may only be "enough" if you know what I mean. I have a 280Z master cyl, ss brake flex lines, stock drums in the back, and 300zx vented rotors with the 4Runner calipers and metal master pads. It still stops pretty darn good in my opinion, but I'm thinking about my next upgrade Should I do the back? or should I go the extra step out front. I've always been against the rear caliper swap because of the $$ and the expected use (for a street car) I felt that the stock drums were plenty good for all but serious street cars, and full on racers. I've been hearing that for many years, and lots of racers STILL use stocko drums. So should I think about the next front upgrade, or the rear? $ is no longer a major drving issue, I just want the thing to stop, and I only plan on 1 upgrade.. front OR the rear, not both this year. I'll upgrade the other end in another year or two, unless I have something break.

I'm not complaining about the traction. It was just funny how I could build some boost and spin the tires. The car is very streetable. It was just funny how in my N/A days, I'd have to downshift and smash the throttle to chirp the tires going through the gears. Now in the first three gears, I can just be rolling along, and smoothly go WOT, the car starts to cause my eyeballs to sink towards the back of my head as the boost comes up, and as it hits 15psi and pulling HARD, I can feel the car squatting more, and then getting ever so slightly sideways, while still pulling hard, then straightening out as the tires stop spinning as the car really gets moving. Easy to modulate. VERY fun These tries don't have the grip of my 265's Khumo Victoracers off the line, but are a much better street tire. I went sub 2 sec 60 foot times last year, so I know they are pretty good. (good for me that is) Its way to late in the season for me to dyno, but would anyone have any idea as to how much power would it take to do that? I'm hoping to dyno more than 300 rwhp next year 350 is my approx goal (just to have a number for the bench racing wars that are extensive with such a long winter season) hehehe It won't be long though.. couple of weeks, tops before it goes away.

Uh.. Are these cars hard to find? I see them around on the street around the GM plant all the time. In fact there are a few sitting in their parking lot right now. No masking on the fascias. Also the new G6's.

Bernardd: I never did find out why.. makes me nervous a bit. I bought a timing light so I can keep tabs on it.. maybe it was a fluke. Slownrusty: The mount is brand new from Nissan. It failed the first time I rolled on to the throttle in first gear at 15 psi. BANG! Drax240z: I am running 315/35/17 Yokohama AVS sports. and an LSD with a 3.7. I just don't know how the high horsepower crowd can get their z's around? I don't know what a VG makes for torque with 370injectors and 15 psi on an i/c'd t3/t4 turbo. More than 300 RWHP???? ?? Any ideas? BTW no snow here, so I'm gonna keep driving till I see some white stuff...Or I get my 280zx running..

I mean really? I have fixed the diff mount in my 280. 15psi with my t3/t4 hybrid = A Smoking pair of 315's Roll into it in 1st second or even third 15 psi comes and the tires go up in smoke, and the car gets a bit sideways. YEEEHAAWWW!!! Car is running fine.. the front stock mount has less than 1K on it, and looks like godzilla took a bite out of it. Now running my old solid SS mount. Mucho happy at the moment! I feel good WAAHH!! duh na na na na na na na nuh

A bit off topic but where else can you talk about twin engines in a car. I read in Kit Car mag a while back about some dudes with too much $ take 2 350 chevy's and weld them together, joined the cranks and made a single V16 (no motor adapters.. it was a single unit when completed. Also up here in the Formula 1200 1600, and 2000 series, some wacko tried to get past the ruels with a v8 made from a custom block and crank and took two GSXR 750 engines and made a wicked and light V8 that could be lifted by one guy.. even with oil in the crank case!!! Got disqualified instantly! hehehe wicked car nonethe less.

Well another update. I've had the car out for two much longer drives, and its been 4 drives in a row with no issues with cutting out. It seems the ign module was the culprit. Well I have checked the park and headlights up front, and they all still work..still no parking lights or headlights using the switch on the column. I'd like to check the wires from the switch, but I don't know which coloured wire does what. No heater/blower either??? both went the same day... working one day, not the next... ahhhhhhhhh Scott.

I've got a manual on the way, but it is not doing me much good yet. My headlight switch may be faulty, and I'd like to know which wires are what coming from it. Does anyone have a quick description of the wires and which colour wire is for what. My headlights/running lights have suddenly failed. I have run power to them direct and they all work, so I think it may be the switch. I was messing with the wires on the steering column looking for another problem that I have since fixed. Thanks, Scott.

UPDATE Car seems to be running well since I swapped the little black box on the side of the dizzy. I will drive it for a few days and post again to let people know that this may be the first thing to check after checking obvious loose wire/corroded wire stuff. It seems in my haste to fix this thing, I have knocked out my headlight and running lights and heater/blower. Not sure If I have jiggled one wire too many or what? Any thing to check? all running lights and headlights were working, now none. signals/brakes, hazards all work. Scott.

All battery wires are brand new, new bat, all of the starter wires, grounds etc have been cleaned and are tight. Jiggling wires anywhere in the engine bay or under the steering column and ecu does not make the car stall. At least not repeatably. I tried the coils today. No fix. Car still stalled 3 times on my way to the garage. On the note of the rear brakes. The analysis was correct. Siezed up tight. I had them checked and they are fixable. They are being worked on as we speak. The rest of the car will be ready for cert, and yet the stalling problem is still haunting me. I will be trying some spare distributors from a friend tommorow or the next day. I'm hoping that that will be it. I'm starting to consider how to "hot wire" the damn thing to keep running. 1 Could I just run a pos wire from the bat to a switch in the car, and then to the coil? Would that keep the car running? (assuming its not the dizzy?) 2 There is something that looks like a resistor close to the coil and is attached to it on either the pos or neg side (can't remember now) does it go bad slowly, or just fail? 3 what if those wires were reversed? I noticed the black wire was on the pos side of the coil, and the blue wire was on the neg side of the coil. (I don't have a fsm for a zx. I have one for my 78 and for the 300zx vg engines, but no 280zx stuff. 4 Is the black box on the side of the dizzy replaceable? I'm running out of things to check, and its making me nervous..

BTW when the car does stall, I dont' even stop the car, I just put it in neutral, and give the key a quick turn, and just keep driving.

I've been jiggling wires tonight under the hood and dash right up to the ign switch. Nothing seems to be 100%. I've had more instances of the car stalling while playing with the distributor wires. I have found my extra coils, so I'm going to swap coils to see if it made a difference. Real funny how the car behaves. This morning on my way to work, no probs. On my way home from work, no probs. I go to my parents place to find my spare parts, it stalls 4 times on the way there, and at least 10 on the way back during the first 10 minutes.. the last half of the trip it was fine, till it stalled just as I pulled the front wheels in the driveway. ???? I've jiggled and pulled at the wires and connectors with the engine running, and nothing seemed concrete about making it stall. I'm not sure if it was stalling on its own, or because of what I was touching. I was even proding the wire connections on the ecu. Well its the coil next, and then I'll try borrowing some spare dizzies and see what happens. Other than that, the car is working out ok. I'm driving it to work again tommorow, and then its off to the garage to have the e brake looked at. Then I will drop of my GF's sentra to have its cv boots replaced. THEN I still have to replace my diff mount in the 280, and I haven't even touched my 240! AHHHHH I own three z's and none of them are working right...even my GF's very reliable Sentra.. till the other day when I found grease everywhere on her car, and decided to look around.

Well as I understand it. The theoretical optimum ratio is 14.3:1 (off hand I think). That means whether at idle, off idle, or WOT. I think most people talk ratios in the 11:1 range are doing so because of the large investment in parts/time, and the lack of ability to fully control air/fuel ratios and knock/ping. (hey I'm no better either) I'm just stating my thoughts on the reason for the richer ratios. It is a built in safety margin. Also remember not everyone on this forum has access to the same types of fuel. I can run 94 where I live, but some only have 91 octanes Turbo Moto: When in doubt richen it out! hehehe

Thanks Jon. I suppose I'll have to have the back wheels off this week and have a look. I only have 6 more days on my temp tag, so I'm running out of time for my cert inspection. Well I replaced the connectors on the top of the black box on the side of the distributor. The car doesn't stall when i jiggle them.. (unless I pull them off) The car stalled 8 times going out last night. I replaced the last connector on the black box while at my parents house (for thanksgiving dinner) The car stalled 3 times on the way home. I have now gotten up this morning for work, and drove 10 min to work without it stalling even once. I doubt that it is solved, but I'm slowly working through each idea. I have not replaced the coil yet as I need to dig through my parts in my attic to grab a few coils to try. There is another plug on the side of the black box on the distributor that I have not pulled off and looked at yet. I looked in the distributor, and saw nothing missing or out of place. It is a different looking distributor that I'm used to seeing on a first gen Z, but I still couldn't find anthing obviously wrong with it. I think I mentioned this already, but when it stalls, and I'm just driving along, the tach drops to zero instantly like all of a sudden it doesn't have a signal. Same if the car is sitting in the driveway.. The tach just drops to zero instantly.. no fuss, no stumble, just like you shut if off with a key. I pretty certain it is electrical. I think today when I get home, I'll idle the car and start poking the wires (not with my hands or metal utensil) hehe and see if anything else is loose. A cracked wire will be really tough to find. Thanks, Scott.

This is an idea talked about in another thread here. I used my new 280zx as my model. This is a pic of the roofline of a Z. The theory is similar to that of a rear spoiler on the back of the car. It is to spoil the smooth air flow over the car to reduce lift. I'd like to see this effect alone on a car to see if it works or not. I'm sure it doesn't need to be too big to have some kind of effect on the car besides worse fuel economy. hehe might reduce the dead air behind the car? I thought it may even reduce some of the fuming smell in the car. who knows.. I just thought I'd post it and see what you guys thought. It is super easy to build and test. A small piece of aluminum sheet would be enough. Test that in a wind tunnel. or am I just nuts?.... don't anyone answer that last one...hehe

Well more news I picked the car up from the garage. Nothing wrong with the tie rods. They put new boots on the steering rack. turns out I had missing wheel weights on the front tire, and that a belt had let go. I had two tires installed up front, and the wobble it gone. Next: I have been checking out some of the ideas you guys gave me. With the car running, I was poking around under the hood, and I was able to make the car stall by jiggling the wire connection on top of the black box on the side of the distributor. I tested again, and the connection was loose and the connectors were very dirty/greasy. I've redone the connections, and so far so good. I need to drive it for a while to see if that is the fix. It sure made the car stall the same way..(instantly) I'll post again if the problem with the stalling is fixed. I'm on to the next challenge.. make sure the brakes are good, and check to see why the E brake is very hard to pull... Thanks, Scott.

I took the car to the garage today to have the steering checked. Looks like the tie rods are bad.. I don't know if its inner or outer or whatever..Ill find out the part name when I call the garage later tonight. On a note of the stalling. It died 2 times on the way to the garage (one time was precisely the instant I drove over some bumpy train tracks). Both times I happened to notice the tach. I was running at 3k, then instantly, the tach went to 0 (car was in gear and under load) It restarted fine. both times. Thanks for the ideas. When the car comes back tonight, I'll check the dizzy wiring and clean the connectors.

2 problems now on my 82 280zx. 1 is the stalling. I replaced the battery, the pos cable, the neg cable was in excellent shape. I cleaned all the connections on the battery, grounds, and fuseable links. The car starts fine now with the new positive bat cable. Problem is it just randomly dies.. you don't even notice it, till the gas pedal no longer makes the car go faster. you can't hear it stall while driving... It does it within 2 min of driving or idleing in the driveway, all the way to not stalling for an entire drive???? I'm planning on trying a new coil next..I'f I'm desperate, I may rewire the car to keep running.. Problem 2 The car has a wobble in the steering while driving. I checked the power steering fluid, and it was low, I topped it up, but no luck. I do notice the steering rack boots are leaking, and I found some brand new ones in the trunk.... The steering wheel moves back and forth a few inches, rythmically, I have not gone too fast, but it sure appears to be speed related.. the faster I go, the faster the wobble. I can feel the whole car wobbling.. I'm not sure where to proceed yet, other than to a garage... Help. I have 10 days on my permit as of today before I have to start towing this thing to garages. Thanks, Scott.