Pharaohabq

Okay, before you keep just troubleshooting by replacement. Look at the clues you've got: A little white smoke Low pressure in 1 cylinder Excess heat You've replaced your thermo (a 170deg thermo might be a better choice, there's a thread on it) which is good, but it didn't fix your issue. You pulled the head (Again) So why didn't you send it for resurfacing and valve work? It was off. That would have been the ideal time. If you have a bad valve seal, or a bad valve in that cylinder then it could account for all three of these issues. Yes it could be the rings in that cylinder too, but unlikely since the other cylinders are all showing good pressure. Unless one of the rings cracked, which is a possibility. If it's the valve/seal then it could be allowing oil into the cylinder, and keeping it from holding pressure. The lower pressure could be causing the fuel not to burn completely and heating the engine. Though I'd expect some black smoke if that was the case. I still suspect the head. If you pull the head again, get it rebuilt, and blow out all the water passages before you put it back together. It's possible the block may need to be leveled too, but you can check it with a straight edge. It's really not that much work to pull your engine and/or rebuild the original engine. Taking the head off is 75% of rebuilding an L series motor. The rest is pulling the pan, dropping the crank, then pulling each piston, replacing the rings and bearings, then putting it back together. You can replace the oil pump with an L28 turbo pump at the same time. You'll need to use that crush gauge stuff to make sure the bearings aren't too tight/loose. and feelers for the ring sizing. @ 75K miles it shouldn't be in bad shape. It's good to replace stuff while you have it apart, not reusing of parts. Since once you remove a part it's no longer mated to where you removed it. If you mix the bearings up, then you'd be asking for trouble because each had worn in place with where it came from. A new bearing is ready to be broken in. Assembly lube is definitely a good idea, it is used to keep things from going bad before the oil has a chance to circulate. A good Haynes manual or the FSM are both your friends in this. They'll tell you the torque settings. New head bolts are good because each time you tighten them they stretch, reusing them can stretch them too far and cause uneven pressure or snapping. I love brake parts cleaner as a degreaser, but keep things well ventilated, that stuff is BAD BAD to breathe, and much worse to burn. I know this is probably not what you want to hear, but you've covered a lot of the other troubleshooting and identified real issues. Spending money on other stuff w/o addressing the issues won't fix your trouble. Phar

no window? Yeah, you'd get a lot of fumes. it would be more drag since you'd actually be drawing in air rather than letting it eddy beneath each louver. But again why?? Racing weight?

Now where have I seen that Z before? Rebekahz? Dunno. It really sounds like it's had a lot of work done to it. though I'd guess it's seen some time, if the 5 point harnesses are worn. What are you planning on doing with it? Racing? Daily driver, Resto-mod? At this point, you could do about anything and be really happy with it's performance. Getting it running is a priority, but be sure to check the brakes. I think you'll be really happy with the MS setup. it's awesome once it's all setup.

Hehe, Yay! I can steal Jesse's car now... okay, no way I'm headed to NH anytime soon, much less do it to steal a car. Might be a good idea to stamp or inscribe that code in the glovebox door. or write it in your service manual, if you have it still. (I do ). It would be interesting to know what range the codes Datsun used back in the day, Do you think it was the full 10K codes, or just a specific subset. I'm sure they'd eliminated the 3333,4444,5555 etc combinations.

Yeah, Should bolt right up, The 280z 4 speeds and 5 speeds both bolt to the same block, and use the same clutch. If you have a 2+2 then things are a little different, but should all line up fine. The 2+2 clutch is slightly larger. Your driveshaft should be the same, though while it's out you may want to replace the oil seal where the slip joint plugs in. Also if your driveshaft has a different connection point where it slides into the tranny, you'll want to clean it up really well so you know you'll have a good seal. all 280Z trannies used a slave cylinder/fork, rather than an internal concentric clutch like the 350Z has.

I was going to mention on this too that the VQ35HR also has VVEL, using the stock wiring takes care of all the worries with making it work. The NATS stuff isn't too tough if you've got access to a Nissan Dealer with/or a Consult III interface. Remember all these parts just plug in together. There's not too much guesswork if you're sticking with Stock parts.

Hmm, No fun about the engine being no good. Are parts hard to find to rebuild that engine? Rings and pistons aren't too hard to replace, but if they're bad then the bearings are probably bad too and need to be replaced. It can be done, but it's not so cheap. In Dubai, I don't know... If I was you, I'd go ahead and turbo the vq30dd and just run low boost. The tune will be very important at that point to prevent detonation. That or just run it as NA and rebuild the VQ30DET when you get time and $. your intercooler will work fine with an NA, it just won't make much difference. Why worry about ITB's? That would be a lot of work for very little gain.

If I'm understanding you correctly. The ECU (brain) does need all the engine sensors to run, That is the CPS, the TPS, the o2 sensor and the MAP. Some other's may be required like the Water temp, but it should start w/o that. As for the speedo, it only has to have the Wheel sensor to be read through to the BCU, then to the ECU for it to control the Speedo. If you have the rest of the gauges working, then supplying the Wheel signal should allow the speedo to work.

I imagine you'll just want to leave them disconnected, the Stock HR has them connected to help normalize the air flowing into the plenum. That's actually extra heat since it's engine coolant that's "cooling" them. In a car like yours that's heat you don't need after the IC. So unless you're going to make a secondary cooling circuit with an extra pump etc, I'd leave them disconnected. I don't think they'll effect the Idle Air settings. (See FSM pg EC-77) It mentions warming up the car, but I don't think that's going to make a big difference. just hose around them or close off the connection.

Yeah, $3K might be a bit much. Tell him you'll leave a standing offer of somewhere between $600 and $1500 depending on those floor pans. Bring a screwdrivers and see if it pushes through. From there, let him say no, then tell him to keep you in mind, and walk away. I wouldn't pay more that $1500 for that with decent floor pans. But you're in Cali and people are crazy rich out there, so with a fixed hood, it might just bring $3K. that hood you can unbend by taking it off and standing on it with a couple 2x4's if you're careful. It's almost December so if you show up with a thick stack of $20's he might go cheap!

yeah, steer clear. It's frame torqued. See the passenger side front fender in front of the door? it's been pushed over at least 1/4" for that interference. Just from the picts, at the MINIMUM I can see it needs both front fenders, Hood, left sugar scoop, headlight assy, both lower fenders, front lip, Signal lighting, maybe grille. If you could get those at a JY you'll spend $1000 bucks, assuming there's no shipping. Also, That rust isn't good. If you see that much there, then likely there's a good amount hiding all over the car. Those panels from tabco were I think $65 each if I remember correctly. How are the floor pans, the rear deck, the rear arches? Get a weak magnet and do the bondo test. I'm thinking that car is probably a junker, parts car at best. Sure it can be fixed, but its parts could help another bunch of cars live a bit longer. keep looking, especially in cali and the southwest craigslist sites. It's worth paying a bit more for a lot better condition.

Wow, Well Hey Welcome to the Forum, Kai. All these guys have great input on this. all are valid points. The biggest is READ READ READ, it's all here on this forum and others of course. There's guys on here who bought their 240Z's brand new off the lot 40 years ago. So there's a wealth of knowledge, but just like GOD we help those who help themselves, so please try to be specific in your questions. Before you buy a Z, you need to read and learn where all the common rust areas are, Read and learn what to expect for common problems. Read and learn about the costs of Stock parts, as compared to upgraded performance parts. Read and learn about the differences in safety between older cars and your modern cars. Read and learn the areas that age itself can hurt your car, cracked rubber, electrics etc. Are you getting my point yet? READ READ READ. I was 15 when I bought my first Z car, a 74 260z back in 86'. I didn't even have a license yet, but I wanted the car. it needed a lot of work, and I learned to drive before it was running. But run it did. I read the Haynes manual probably 50 times. There was no internet back then for me to ask questions on, but there was a Z car club. (I would highly recommend you look up your local club) I found a lot of information about the Z's through them. But mine was just stock, and great for school (and embarrassingly, I abused it, delivering pizzas in it for work). I didn't know that much about fixing Z's at 15, but I read and learned what I needed, you can too. As for upgrades, don't even start thinking about upgrades at this point. You need to be serious about getting a safe car that runs well. only then when you're happy and comfortable in your Z, THEN you can start looking at upgrades. Getting the car and getting it running is all you should be thinking until you're VERY familiar with your car. Remember you have a future beyond highschool. There's College, you're going to need to pay attention to that. you're going to need to pay for that, not to mention girls, they're costly and jealous of your Z.. Upgrades are expensive, fun, but not cheap. Getting the car in good shape BEFORE tearing into it will ensure you don't have a nightmare of things to fix to get it going. Each upgrade project needs to be addressed ONE AT A TIME, if you take on a lot at once, it's easy to get overwhelmed and your car could join the ranks of the uncompleted projects, for which there is far too high a population. You can buy a project Z, but you're going to spend a LOT of $ just to return it to stock. #1 thing I'd make sure you rebuild on any S30 Z project is the Brakes. Moving is one thing, even slow, but if you can't stop, you're screwed and so is your car. Sure you can swap an engine, but it's not simple and not cheap, even if you got an engine for FREE, everything that you'd have to pay to get it put in can easily run in the $1000's. So until you're VERY familiar with swapping engines, don't even think of it. Read my VQ primer in the V6 section. Lastly, They mentioned insurance. Well if your family has newer cars, such as your 2007, then you can likely get Hagarty classic car insurance for your Z., it's cheaper than most, but has limitations. One might just be your age, so keep that in mind. But if you can get classic car insurance, Then you'll pay a lot less than regular insurance, for a lot better coverage. This is assuming your Z is not a daily driver. If you don't Turbo the car, you'll save a lot too. Either way, the coverage is much better than standard insurance, where standard insurance would total your car for a couple hundred bucks, classic insurance will actually cover the car for it's real rebuild value. something to keep in mind. You'll need to call them BEFORE you buy a car. So all that being said, READ READ READ then ask specific questions that we can provide real answers for. We will expect you to educate yourself on what to look for, then if you find a car, then post us some pictures! We can all take it from there. Check out "I blame Chip Foose for this" on You tube. It might give you a little idea of what a mild restoration can take.

Alternatively, I could print you up a cover on my 3D printer, cheap, if you give me the dimensions/photos

Hey Docaam, Yeah, if that Crank sensor was bad then on your stock electronics, you would not get any spark. I really should have mentioned that, it slipped my mind. A Consult reading would have picked it up quickly. It's a shame you already went ahead with the aftermarket EMS, only to find that CPS was bad. I bet if you put it back together with the stock ECU that it would fire right up. You wouldn't have to worry about the tune much that way either. It's too bad about the oil pump, but really with how dirty the inside of the valve covers were, it's not that surprising that the pump was bad. You said people don't change their oil since the cars don't last so long out there. that's a real shame. I wonder too, how much crud is in the oil passages. When you get it running you might consider pulling the valve covers to verify oil flow over the cams. (yes it's messy, but it's cheaper than replacing cams) For the Revup Oil pump: The http://www.turbo-toys.com/ guys should have one they could ship out to you pretty cheap and quickly, unless you wanted to buy one from the dealer.

Those are some pretty sexy plenum "bottles" Mark. I see you're sticking with the stock TB's. Were you going to leave them dry, or are you going to extend the water circulation to them. I imagine, you're not going to want to let those heat any of the air entering your plenum since it's already been cooled.

Hello. I can't tell you much about the VQ30DET other than you should try to get the service manual for the Cedric Y33. That will help you in replacing what parts are not working. I'm not certain if the Cedric uses a Cable driven Speedo or an electronic Speedo. If it's an electronic Speedo, then you would need a Hall -Effect sensor and a toothed wheel similar to what's on the 350Z differential. This allows the computer to read the vehicle speed. I assume since your gauges work that you're using the AC Amp and stock gauges. The Tach should work when then AC amp is setup properly since it's timed through the ECU. You really need to find a factory service Manual for the Cedrick, it will help you understand the Stock wiring. Do not worry. You will not need to cut any wires with the Manual to guide you. It should all just plug in. DocAAM in this v6 forum is installing a VQ30DET as well so he may be willing to help you/ share information.

Ouch! Delivering Pizza in the Z. I did that with my first 280Z. Beat the hell out of my car, 100+ miles a night of city driving. Not that the Z didn't handle it, but often people asked why I was delivering in a Z? Mind you this was in 1988, so that's a different reference. Parts were available, and my Z was barely 10 years old. It's your car, do what you want with it, but It can get expensive if something breaks.

Hmm, the 2+2 hatch is different? I thought they were the same as the coupe. Where's Wiki-D when you need him? TOOOONNYYY!

Naw, I haven't got that far yet, it could be a pretty easy mod. I'll get to it one day, but first I need to finish getting the Z painted.

Hmm I wonder if there's a market for the 280Z plug connectors. I may be able to print those... Anyone got pictures?

Not too bad.... I hope it's held on by more than just tape though... I've often thought about alternate Rear Spoilers. The wing from a hyndai Elantra with a couple pegs fabricated to adjust the angle might not look too bad.

Well There's a couple things that normally happen when you turn on your lights The Current draw on your Battery/Alternator combo is increased The engine Idle drops as more load is introduced to the engine. Datsun added a dashpot to "manually" adjust your idle under load. (this is primarily from the load the AC compressor put on rather than the lights) Aside from that, They figured at idle you're not needing bright lights anyway. Other ways to fix this include: the headlight relay mod, but likely you'll still see some drop in idle. A larger battery, allows for more draw without the engine working much harder to replace the power. Upgrading to Megasquirt with an IAC so the computer will compensate for the added load and up the airflow to keep the engine steady at idle. For brighter lights, you can use the Relay mod with thicker wires to allow more current to the lights. They should be plenty bright. Really though, If your car stays running at idle when you turn on your lights, then why mess with it?

$6 at walmart, go pick one up. then show us pictures!

I was going to say google search SoCal Z Car clubs... looks like you're set tho.

I don't think the nipple size matters so long as you match the threads, A zerk fitting is pretty standard, but best to replace the bellows while you have the rack out. If you take out the plug you can always screw it back in place. Autozone/Napa etc should sell all the Fittings you need.