ZR8ED

Man I love that sound. Hanging around the NEW local street rod /racer hangout (coffee shop) this past weekend. I got a lot of attention when I pulled in. Seems I've been spotted around town and attracting some attention and curiosity among the racer crowd. I live in a huge muscle car town, and respect is something I have never got much of from these guys so I have been on a personal crusade over the years to rack up a kill list of domestics. Imports are not safe from me either. Kinda like a lone wolf... or rabid wolverine hehehe Talked to a ton of guys asking "what the heck is it?" or "is that a Z? I always liked those cars" No offers/challenges for races though. They have heard the car before and they ALL say the same thing.. loudest turbo they ever heard, and that BOV is the wildest thing they ever heard!! SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! PPSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!! Had a friend leave after I pulled out. I got a cheer and applause as I pulled out! he said. AHHHH "I love it when a plan comes together" oh.. I was running 16psi.. big difference from 13psi. Enjoy your Z's guys and gals. ZR8ED.

That would be me then. I did the swap last year. I wrote a large article that is posted at zdriver.com It is not for the lighthearted or light wallet. custom motor mounts, modified frame and steering system to clear the turbo, trany mounts, custom driveshaft. custom alternator brackets, oil cooler lines, intake redesign, exhaust, 124 wiring connections. modified/custom rad, throttle linkages, fuel delivery, brake rerouting. This is a pretty good idea of what is needed. http://zacksz.homestead.com/projectboost.html I also have a similar article, and task list at this site. Email if you have any other q's Scott.

Hey all. I'm just kinda fishing here, but my wheels are not going to "cut the mustard" in the long run. I want WIDER wheels. WIDE. I'd like to see 295 or 315's on the back of the Z. Yup there is room. Was thinking of trading or selling mine and buying others????? I have a very nice set of 16x7 and 16x9 Epsilon 3 Piece rims with brand new rubber. 225/50/16 and 265/45/16's Anyone have some wide 15's or 16's they can't fit under their Z? something like a 15 16 or 17x11? lots of offset? 15 16 or 17x 7 or 8 for the front. I really want new 17's but I just can't see spending 6000.00 on tires and rims right now or even next year... (I've priced them out.) Anyone know of any? I don't have a lot of cash, so a trade or threeway deal would be most practical. Email me if you like. Thanks, Scott

Doh! Scottie you may have hit the nail on the head.... fuel pressure... I don't recall setting it with the vac line on, but ya never know.. that, and I recall having the pressure set slightly higher than stock..to fight detonation, back when I was not I/C'd... hmmm I guess I'll haul it out and check the FP again to be sure... I've been spending some time reading the FSM on this engine. I read it 10 times+ cover to cover before I did the swap...I guess I need a refresher. Thanks guys. I've been working on so many different problems as well as a new job etc.. Just needed some ideas to get the brain working again in Z mode.

Your right Scottie. The pipe that pops doesn't have a lip on it. hmm more adjustments. I'll check for those clamps you mention..the only ones I've seen like it are for exhaust systems.. (really heavy looking) So far tho, the pipes are holding the increased boost. Amazing the effect of using a properly designed i/c hose. Though I'm only using 1 piece of high temp silicone stuff. The BOV is a done issue. its stays.. too much $$. I'll just deal with it. I'm more interested in solving the running on the rich side all the time. There are so many customized connections, and deleted support equipment/emmisions stuff, it is very hard to track down why the engine is running rich during normal drving (ie highway cruise) The 300zxt had a lot of weird ancillary junk on the motor, and about a thousand vacuum lines many of which did not make the swap to the 280Z. My motor looks very simple looking under the hood. Any ideas of items to check for rich condition? ecu codes are good. ecu is stock for now I do have a head temp sensor fuel tem sensor fuel pressure reg and vacuum knock sensor crank angle sensor timing is stock. o2 sensor air/fuel ratio guage from o2 stock 300zxt afm start up air bypass. (for high idle) not sure if injectors are firing in group or sequential... manual says it starts sequential, and switches to group when at temp. don't know what controls that? EGR valve works (new) no cat not much else on this motor.. suggestions of what else to look at that controls fuel? Thanks guys for the advice.

Thanks 980mak on the adjustment. As far as plumbing it back in..?? mine has several openings all around the base of the BOV (the bov is approx 1 &3/4 inches in diam) each opening is blocked by an internal piston, when the BOV opens, it retracts this piston and reveals these 4- 1/2" dia holes which let out the air. I don't think I can plumb this BOV back to the intake. I do have it located approx 12" from the throttle plate. Darn.. I don't want to buy a new BOV. They aren't cheap.. and this one is loud as hell.. scares people on the sidewalks and other cars!! I guess I'll just dive right in and adjust that bov.. Though my motto has always been to "GO FOR IT!!!!" I have learned with experience, that this is not always the best way..or cheaper way.. So I'm a bit more hesitant these days.

OUCH. I know how that feels. Sorry to hear your having some probs with that kick a$$ Z. I may be newbie to turbos, but my high reving N/A sported chromemoly rings. Even having a piece of spring steel get sucked in didn't break a ring. Pistons and ring lands, yes, rings no. I'm using NISMO rings in my new VG.

Hmm I'm having some troubles with fine tuning the VG. Its running pretty rich most of the time. My air/fuel monitor is telling me I'm cruising around 11-12.8 to 1 fuel ratio. when ever I shift, my BOV blows, and the reading goes straight to 10:1 then works its way back. Under WOT it goes to 10:1 that part I know is good for fighting detonation. Getting terrible mileage.. everything seems to check out. so far, can't figure why its running so rich...it used to get good mileage...28+.. I've been battling I/C pipe connectors popping off. I have it down to only 1 popping off for the last few weeks..now they are all holding. They held 10 psi no probs.. but 15.. it would pop off eventually. that is a big monkey off my back. I was ready to shoot the car there for a while. Ok heres the current issue.. I think it may be because the car is running rich, or my BOV. When I'm running the car moderately.. as in running near the boost/vacuum threshold, any release of my gas pedal.. even just a bit, and the BOV opens up making the car a bit jerky to drive like that. also when under very light throttle, if I want to spool up just a bit.. 0-5 psi, the car wants to fall on its face and hesitate..the boost then comes on by this time my rpms are nearing 3-3.5K (in first gear) when this happens the car gets up and goes.. and with the stereo turned down, I can hear the tires spinning. WOT the car just hauls ass. 15psi makes for some fun. On a side note.. my Khumo Victoracers are working very well. I can't spin the tires when shifting gears now. 265's and an LSD are able to hold the power at this time... for now.. with a treadwear of 50, I can't afford too much wheelspin. BTW my BOV is a turboXS type H it is adjustable, but idon't want to play with it till I know which way to adjust it, and the effects it will have. It just seems like it goes off too easily. I had some club memebers play with it a bit, and I have no idea how it was set from the factory. (no I didn't let them touch it.. )

Uh oh... You mean that I'm gonna start breaking my volvo I/C with my new hybrid t3/t4? Man.. More work..more parts..more money. Mine so far is holding 10psi just fine...I've been plagued with an I/C pipe popping off near the outlet side of the turbo. I was running 16 psi, but it would pop off after a few runs. I was running the boost at 10 last night to test another style of pipe clamp, and is taking 10 psi no problems now.. I plan to check the pipe once more, for slippage, then turn it back up to 15 or so and see how it holds. Anyone have a close up pic of proper I/C hose? I'm using some different pipe I found at a hose mfg, and it 1/3 the cost. it has held no probs on 2 of the 3 connections...even with out clamps!!!.. a bit of a tight fit eh? The other one that gives me trouble is closest to the turbo and I think the heat is softening it. I sanded off the steel pipe it connects to, and I think that it is now slightly undersized, and is part of the cause of the pipe not holding as well. I found some silicone hose from a Detroit desiel parts/repair facility, and I picked up apiece of hose that looks the same as I/C pipe connectors, except they use it for watercooled i/c's good for 350 degrees. I plan to use it if this non-standard hose fails again. Yes i could forgo some of these probs just by buying proper I/C connectors, but when I've gone to order it, I can't seem to get the length I need.. This particular connection, the steel i/c pipe is about 2" apart, and I'm too lazy to remove the pipes again, and weld on an extra piece of pipe to bring them closer together..

The dealer had a sign on it for $6400.00 The online ad was reduced to $4500.00. and after some haggling got him to admit he would take $3500.00 for it.. No I'm not going to buy it. Can you imagine 3500.00 invested in my turbo engine instead? Nice car though.

hehehe. Took a 1982 MKII Toyota Supra GTS for a romp today at a local used car dealership.... It wasn't quite stock.. Looked stock till you looked under the hood. It had an inline six twincam motor, with a HKS turbo kit and IC strapped on. Pulled up along a new Z06 Vette at a light that had a lane reduction after the light +400ft. I wanted to race..figured the vette guy would not go. Light goes green.. I pull away 1/2 throttle, vette sees this.. then matches my speed.. pulls along side and floors it just as I do. We are now door to door and running out of lane. He finally started to pull away @90mph. Yea I lost..but I bet the Z06 owner was pulling his hair out at having an old supra hang on his $70K vette. shocked the heck out of me. I didn't think it was THAT fast. I wanted to run home and grab the 280 and run this dude again. First time at bat with a vette, and I'm test driving another car..DOH On a side note.. went to a supra meet 2 weeks ago.. racked up 18 kills in less than 1/2 hour. hehehehe I'm surprised these toyota guys still welcome me and my little VG 280 to their meets. All nice guys though.

Every car at the MSA show that had similar bracing in the engine bay was done wrong. The bars from the firewall to the struts were all just attached to the firewall with some plate steel reinforcement. They were all placed way too far inboard. (near the hood latch) There is no suport there..just some sheet metal...and your wiper motors. I too have some plate steel reinforcement, but as someone mentioned above, if you remove the cowel, you can see two pieces of bracing behind the firewall that give the firewall "fore and aft" support. This is where you want to mount those braces. They can be found in the area of the cowel that has no vent slots in it. Many people use Heim joints to mount these things. What it does do, is give you the ability to adjust or preload the bracing... in a race car, you may want or have to have proper roll cage diameter tubes in there, as part of the "cage".. in that case you don't want them to move..ever. In my application, I use heim joints in my engine bay, so I can have easy access to my engine, and for removal purposes. I could not fit my tower brace bar back in after my engine swap because of clearance. So I have a giant "X" that goes from the towers to the front rad support. Those mounts have plate reinforcement, and the top and bottom rad support are tied to these by square tubular steel that join the left and right sides of the rad support together. No more flex. All are adjustable except the top and bottom rad supports which are permenantly welded in place, Which happen to be nice mounting points for my I/C HEHE

Big time DROOOOOL!!! I love Lincolns! 63-65 continentals Suicide doors... I'd love to have one...but then I'd have 2 summer cars... ouch...$$$ I've read quite a bit about them.. they aren't as heavy as people think, and they are quicker too! had a chance to buy one once... prob was..I had to take all three Lincolns..all running..8K for the lot.. too much $ for me just to play with..

Make sure when the guy who is selling them..or is taking yours to work on, that he says "shotpeened".. and not "shoppeened" The latter being a process whereby the machinist simply drops the rods on the floor of the shop... Therefore being "shoppeened" Big difference in quality..large difference in profit for machinist. Sorry for the lame joke.

"throttle" and "restrictor" are two words that do not go together in my language. hehehe! "Throttle" and "Fun" go together.... unfortunately so does "throttle" and "jail" Not poking fun at ya.. just an observation on a play with words..

Ah yes I have those files too. I added them to the 2 3" binders I have FULL of Z info I have found over the years on the net.. Yea I'm low tech...but paper doesn't have errors on it. hehehe Besides it take a month to scan this stuff. I surfed over 400 Z car web sites to get this stuff.. I'm sure some of it doesn't even exist anymore.

Hows this for primitive.. have you checked your fuel filter lately? I had a 1 year old filter and thought I was ok.. the car pulled as strong as can be.. took it on the highway..just fine..till I hit 55mph..then it would practically die..and would if I stayed on the gas.. changed the filter..no more probs.. Just an Idea ...

I like it. I run a solid mount.. the only problem is when it was last removed to install the lsd.. we found that the mount was one run away from breaking...a grade 8.8 bolt.. ready to bust..hmmm maybe I drive the car too hard...hehe I to hate the "whine" from the diff. Now that the car is put back together with full interior..it really stands out now...I don't like it at all.. I'm going to have to do something else..I like your idea tho..

Maybe the dude just wanted to lower the car and could not afford the lowering springs.. Just compress the heck out of them till they stay compressed..hehehe cheap eh? Ne needs a sign badly..

I dunno.. you guys think my car looks like a Porsche boxster. I had the 280 out for a cruise last night... First real cruise this year... Guy speeds by in Turbo Talon 4wd. I meet him at the next light. Guy rolls down window and says "wicked car man" and his GF echos the opinion. I say thanks, and go back to watching the lights. Just as the lights are changing, I hear the guy rev the hell out of the car, and launch with 4 wheels squealing! I pull easily away, and nail 1st! I squawked third as I rocketed by this guy... He held it till I shifted to 4th but he was a long way back. We meet at the next light, and he says "that was F@#&*#@! awsome man is that a Porsche Boxster?" Hehehe I started laughing to myself and replied its a "Z".. he figured I meant a 300zx, and I mearly agreed not wanting to explain anymore.. His GF shouts over giggling "we kicked your ass man" hehehe Guy says nothing.. then Comments on my "totally wicked sounding exhaust..is it a turbo?" Now I'm really laughing. We are rolling along now and he punches it right beside me, I stand on 2nd, and put 1 car length on him before you can say "Holy S#@$" Now they are going balistic in the car laughing and yelling that he had some mods and I just wasted him badly. I tell him with a smile on my face.. "yea she goes pretty good eh?" Thumbs up and waves are exchanged and they blast off on in front of me. Next light.. guys folowing behind in nice pickup truck pull along side, and asked if I was driving a porsche and commented on how quick I pulled the guy in the talon.. I told them I was just playing with them a bit. Another "wicked car" comment and some thumbs up and they took off too. Later still. Sitting in parking lot at local coffee shop. overhear some guys walking past talking about my wicked looking Porsche and arguing if it was a 911 or Boxster or something.. Geeez. not many z's go cruising around here.. almost no one knows what it is. Maybe I should find a Porsche badge? I'm pretty sure My car is a Datsun Z.

Heck Chase, 82 and up Supras all had LSD diffs. 3.7-4.10 ratios are common. Pretty bullet proof as I have several friends running older supras with lots of mods. Not sure on mounting the darn thing.. it sure would have to be custom. Certainly doable.. I know of a 3.7lsd sitting at my friends house.. I can go and take some measurements if ya like. It is shorter than our R200's.. similar in shape and case dimensions. Hey and they use CV shafts too...hmmm some thing to look into. Pretty cheap too We picked up a 4.1 lsd for 150.00 at a scraper yard.

Rules of racing is right. GT2 is very sticky with mods.. ie in the under 3.0L class.. the DCOE webers on a z were restricted to 34mm chokes... kinda restricts power eh? A fellow in my club is a 5 time Canadian GT2 champion with a 71 240Z. He moved up to the GT1 class.. essentially unlimited..and unlimited budget.. even with all the power of his N/A L28, he simply could not out pull a 63 vette tube chassis with a full tilt V8 in it.. he could kill him in the turns....but in the straights...the V8 could pull him.. He solved that problem.. He dropped in a Vortec V6.. 4.3 or 4.6..I can't recall.. He doesn't lose to the vette anymore.. and this is a guy with what might as well be (for the average guy) unlimited funds.... BTW this is the same guy who said his 1/4 panel flares were too big....so I got them...hehehe hmmmm so I guess I should vote on a the Vortec.. I've seen this car up close and personal..VERY competitive to this day..

I had my POV shimmed with an extra spring (VG motor remember) it worked great to about 10-11psi.. I could not find an adjustable one for a VG motor. MSA discontinued it.. Anyways..I'm boosting more than that now..so what did I do?...rather drastic "Tim the Toolman" fix.. I simply hacksawed it off right to the nut part.. put a washer over the last bit of hole opening, and welded it up solid..hehe not the smartest thing to do..but I'm conservative with my boost. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. boost creep..I had probs with boost loss. I could not get full boost till 3rd gear or higher.. ended up swaping the diff out to taller gears (smaller numerically) figuring it was lack of engine load. Seems ok now.. Yea Yea.. I know.. Amateur.. But I can rebuild, Jet and Tune a weber DCOE with my one hand tied behind my back....ok ok my ego is ok now....hehehe

Hey all. My VG30det engine rebuild is under way. I purchased a spare turbo motor to rebuild, so as not to take my 280 out of action during the rebuild. My question is, I'm building the motor for a goal of 400hp. Is the stock head gasket good enough? or should I go for a metal head gasket? I sure don't want any head gasket failures at 15psi! Any other recommendations for the motor? It is getting a pretty extensive rebuild, including port and polishing the heads, intake and exhaust and the combustion chambers. polishing, shotpeening, and balancing the bottom end. Larger turbo, injectors, etc... Oh one last Q anyone know where I can get a lightweight front pully for a VG motor? Thanks,

No 200sx had an lsd diff. They did have R200's though. turbo's had 4.11's and v6's or non turbo's had 3.9's 1987-89 300zxt's had lsd diffs. they are identifiable by having a larger rear cover with large cooling fins. Modification to the rear crossmember if you want to use the finned cover. Or you can just swap covers to the smaller r200 cover. I kept the finned cover and modified my rear crossmember. I figured they added that extra cooling for a reason.