rome03

Some cool shots someone took of my car over the weekend. Photocred:jazzymiata

I'm having similar issues. I have a 78 280 with a l28et from a 83zx. Currently, I had the alternator from the l28e. I have the alternator checked at autozone and they said that the voltage regulator was bad. Is this an easy part to swap? Should I just purchase a new alternator from a zx? regulator was about 12$ alternator was 50$. I was thinking that it just might be best to get a new alternator.

Thanks sleeperz. The tuner has a tap so I should get it done easily enough.

Hey guys. Im having the same issue. I have an 83 l28et in my 78 280z. I'm trying to figure out how and where to install the 3/8 GM temp sensor for megasquirt. For those of you that installed it on the head, did you drill out where the original sensor was to match the 3/8 thread? How did you mount it? For those of you that installed it in the thermostat, was this relatively simple? Can I just get it tapped at a machine shop for the 3/8 thread? My tuner mentioned that it would be best to have the sensor in a spot where coolant runs without the thermostat having to open. I've seen some people place it on the radiator hoses which I don't want to do. So would placing the sensor on the thermostat housing be ok as long as it's before the thermostat opens up? Thanks.

Thanks a lot for your input. I agree....I just needed some reassurance that what I'm doing is ok for my driving needs. I will probably see the track but not on a regular basis or drive my car hard everyday. I'm going to do a complete bleed, fix some lines, get some good performance pads, and do something with my rotors. I'm just not sure if I should have them resurfaced or buy new rotors. Part of me wants to get replacement rotors for the stock caliper because I can then use the 4x4 caliper with the solid stock rotor or drilled and slotted rotor. I think that if the rotors look good I'll have the resurfaced and call it a day. Thanks for the input. I'm sure I'll be able to do a legit refresh of the brakes and not break the bank haha. I'll have to read up on brake pads though.

Seattle, This would be a good question for you since I just finished reading a very good and intense discussion on brake upgrade options and the bias that the setups would have. You seem to really know your brake setups. I was really considering doing the Toyota upgrade but after a lot of reading, I think I'm going to stick with the stock set up for now. I know that the toyota replacement is pretty cheap compared to other performance setups and would be nice to have but I think its a bit out of my price range. I learned that it would be best to have the larger MC and a proportioning valve to adjust for the fluid pressure, something I wasnt counting on and added cost. Wilwood sells the MC for 200, Calipers are 170 for the pair since I don't have a replacement for the core, plus the 100 for rotors (if I went with the vented option), some number for the spacer, maybe 60 for pads, 70 for the proportioning valve. Roughly 600$, and as i learned, the proportioning valve does not really help to keep a good balance when you keep drums in the rear. If I did the Toyota 4 runner and 280zx rears then I would have a better balance based on the (rough, because other factors come into play as was mentioned) numbers you posted. I realized that if I want it done right I would rather do the swap when I have the funds to upgrade the fronts and the rears and maintain a better balance. I do plan on trying some auto-x but that would be sometime in the future and not very often. So I'm kind of convinced on doing some maintenance on my stock setup since I mostly use my car as a daily. I definitely need to change my crapy duralast pads and get the rotors turned, or possibly just upgrade the rotors to some drilled and slotted ones (they look nice). I've been trying to find some after market rotors for my 78 280z but have only found the ones on motorsport. I have also looked for hawk and porterfields pads but they don't come up on regular auto parts store like auto zone/pep boys etc. Do they have to be purchased straight from them? http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/classic21c Most of the members with a lot of experience have mentioned that the stock system with good pads and rotors have good stopping power for daily driving and maybe some light track times. I think this might be the best route for me at this time and would be really cheap. Any thoughts? Thanks

They look awesome! mine didn't come with cool stickers haha

Hey Guys, I found a non webbed non egr intake manifold.....I wish I had looked at the block and head to see what it was on. I believe it was a 76 280z. I'm considering getting it because I like how it looks, so my question is....are all of those style of intake manifolds the same? Or were there some non webbed non egr intake manifolds that were better than others based on the year and the style of ports it has? Thanks

Yea i plan on doing some autox and drag. I've done mountain cruises through some winding roads and it's handled well.

Hey kona, I'm one of the guys with the stance set-up from sakura. I can;t speak much about the technical aspects of suspension because I don't know much about it but I can give you my opinion on how the car feels. First off, the product is great and it looks awesome. It has a nice thick strut and its easy to adjust the dampening, even though I havent played much with it......maybe I should to see how the ride changes. My car sits really low but the ride is still smooth. I'm running 6k springs all around. I've gone fast through corners and fast through bumps and the car sticks pretty good to the ground. I would totally recommend this product. I have no regrets. I think it rides great.

NewZed, Yea I just picked up a halfshaft today. Im going to put it on and hope it doesn't happen again. If it does i'll start looking at alternatives. Rz, I saw the pics you posted, it just sheared off. I guess time will tell for the both of us ha. Im running 225's on 15 x 10's. I thought that all of that extra grip could be adding a lot of additional stress. Who knows. which clsd are you running?

I had actually replaced all four of them three months ago. They were new. I did about a total of four launches from zero within that time frame. Mostly I would go hard on the throttle from a roll. I just picked one up today that I'm going to slap on so I can get back on the road. My car sits pretty low, the lower control arm is pretty much straight, it doesn't angle down. What do you mean by a stock axle not binding? You don't think it can bottom out if the car is low enough? I started to think that it could have been that because the u-joint didn't just snap off cleanly. The eyelet of the half shaft was also twisted. I though that since the car is low maybe it bottomed out...... Do you think I should shorten them just to be sure? Should I convert to cv axles instead? I know that I can run the 280zx or the 300 zx cv's but which one would require less modifications. I saw that they have adapters that bolt up to the stock 4 bolt flange on both sides and them bolt up to the 6 bolt cv axle.

Hey Rebekah, I was rolling in first and then hit the throttle and went to second and it snapped the u joint. I was wondering if it could have been a weak u joint. I'm not sure. Some people say it's better to stick with solid u joints. As of now I'm looking for a replacement half shaft. My plans are to get a clsd r200 and switch to cv axles. I would like to switch to cv first and then get the clsd. I've seen some peoples threads about the conversion but didn't see anything about cost. My car is also lowered but not extreme. I wonder if I had a binding issue. I'm at a loss. Not sure where to go from here.

I recently broke a half shaft on my 78 280z. Stock l28et with a tune. 10lbs of boost. 211hp and 240tq. It broke the day after I had it tuned. It banged up my brake line a bit but it's an easy switch. I don't understand why some people are saying that a broken diff is better than a halfshaft.....what am I missing? My u-joint snapped and the ear in the half shaft was twisted. Could this be a u-joint failure? It was a greaseable u-joint with the hollow center. Would I be better off purchasing solid ones? I'm not making nearly as much power as many others and I'm trying to understand why it snapped.