Pharaohabq

yeah, that EGR stuff is crap, most of the time they're clogged anyway for just Saw's all or hacksaw it, then if you have to have it, you can replace the tube with Copper and fittings from home depot. I just plugged mine. but I won't be using my L28 much longer anyway.

3 Kinds I love on the Z's the Panasport's, the Watanabi rewinds, and the Sportmax 002's all 3 fit w/ 0 offset. but you might need spacers if you go wider than say 215's unless you're running coilovers. I ended up getting a deal on my sportmax 002 16" so that's what I'm going to run. and likely only 215's since I think that's all that will fit w/o rolling or flaring my fenders. I'm thinking Dunlops, they have been great on my wife's Eclipse GST. Phar

that could be. maybe upplug the AFM and see if it does anything like before. maybe the AFM is stuck the other direction. If it thinks it's wide open then the injectors would be wide open, if it's stuck closed, then maybe it's shutting off fuel flow. A can of starter fluid could answer this question...

Maybe pull the driver fender and calk down the body seam on that side. Beyond that it must be leaking from somewhere, maybe pinholes in the floorpan, or maybe the windshield seal.?

yeah, 75/85 isn't very good. on my L28 I'm getting 125-145 and that I think is low. You might need to look at your oil. you could be draining gas into your crankcase. though with carbs you'd think it would just flood. You might try a much heavier weight of oil, just to see what it'll do with your engine. Maybe try that STP oil treatment and see if it'll help your compression a little. (Tho you'll need to change your oil more often. ) Another thing to check is to pull your plugs and see if they are oily/wet when you pull them, if they are then that could tell you you're running too rich and/or getting a lot of contamination from blowby. If your plugs are dry, w/ maybe a little brownish ash on them then I would think your compression readings are off, since that would say your engine is running more correctly. White ash is like he said too hot. The Gas smell, if it's strong, would definitely make me think leak. tho carbs always smell a little. (thats one big + of switching to EFI. ) Check, and maybe replace your rubber fuel lines. Go ahead and replace using hi pressure EFI hose since it's not that much more expensive and will last longer. If you have Gas smell at the back of your car, esp after you've parked for 5 min or so, then you probably need to check the lines at the tank, (which means dropping it ) good time to replace old fuel hose here too. not to mention maybe draining and cleaning the crap out of the fuel tank too. be real careful around sparks and flame while doing that. don't need anyone getting blowed up... it DOES happen. My guess at this point is probably carbs way out of whack, maybe not even sync'd. Phar

to check you timeing w/o tearing it apart, pull the #1 cylinder (front) and rotate the engine with the key off to TDC. You can verify this by taking the Dist cap off and the rotor should be pointing at the #1 plug on the cap. then w/ the cyl at the top and the rotor at #1. then look at the crank, it should also be at 0 degrees +/-. this would mean your timing is set correctly. These are interferance engines so hopefully it's not a timing issue, (unlikely, the chains don't often skip) It's more likely your AFM plug, or maybe a clog in the Fuel filters. Having spark is good. It doesn't try to start at all? Phar

Cool, so I guess Crown, and loid's will get back to you this week about fixing it? I imagine you probably took your Z to the Montanio Crown Coachworks location. Red should be able to fix you up. I just hope the insurance doesn't fight you too badly. Getting your own appraisal is your right, and if the insurance accepts and uses that appraisal, then you can ask them to pay for it, or at least count it tward your deductible. It's be interresting to hear what they say as to the estimate. Not to mention their stance on OEM parts vs repair of original.. You can use junkyard parts reconditioned thich is likely what you'll end up with, but SF will probably make you sign something to acknowledge that fact. Once that's done, you can help to locate parts (via Nelson or wherever, ebay etc) and the ins will buy them. maybe Nelson would even make you a deal That's kinda what we did with my 2+2 door. The dealer had a door, but it would take min 2-6 weeks to arrive and 899.00, so I looked around, nothing locally for a 2+2, so I looked and found one on Ebay, for $350, even the right arctic white. Had it shipped here, but stupid fed-ex dropped it. Farmers still paid for the door, and for the drop damage from fedex, and they took care of the claim w/ fedex. and Crown did all the work. No bondo either. they did an awesome job, you would never know the right door isn't the original (now the glass yeah, that got broke and is temporarilly replaced with the wrong color until I get off my butt and install the new window. again, Ebay, cheap part OEM removal. Eric

maybe you have a leak? Perhaps you're running super rich. You should measure our a Gallon of fuel and get a full gas can and see what your actual mileage is. It's gotta be better than 6MPG but if your Su's are way off you could be burning a lot of extra. do you smell fuel around your car?

Hey it was good to meet you last night. I was waiting for you to post this thread. Yeah I too believe you can get it repaired. you mentioned Crown Coachworks. I definitely highly recommend them, Eric the owner there is now in their west side location. When my Z32 got backed into last summer they fixed it up all spiffy. He'll work with you too, as much as you need. I think the guy who's running the Montanio shop is Redd, or something like that, decent guy too, but haven't delt with him, I know both shops do an awesome job and don't cut corners. Eric at Crown fixed my wife's Eclipse and 6 years later the clear they used started chipping, so he re-did the whole car for free. so They definitely stand behind their work. He's not afraid of classic cars either. They had a 66 stingray in there when they were working on my car. I'd suggest you at least talk to him. I know they're not the cheapest repair place tho. They're probably going to be the ones to pain my 280Z when the time comes. I hope you can get it fixed 100%, I can tell it was an amazing car before if was hit. I wish I'd seen it prior. Too bad your Z32 is still apart too. So yeah, there will be a lot of hassle with the insurance, but you said you had Stated Value insurance on it, that much at least is still better than regular ins. hopefully Mr. Steele's ins will step up. Let us know how it turns out. Sounds like Nelson might have all the parts you might need, and let me know if I can help. Phar (Eric)

Okay, I've poured over the FSM, it looks like on page 53 of PG, there's a diagram, your Oil temp plug is supposed to be a grey (F242) 2 wire pigtail that plugs into (F39) A brown 2 wire plug. Theres a pigtail because there's a difference between automatic and MT. It's listed as "Engine Control Sub harness 3" This plug should be cheap from the dealer, cheaper at a Junkyard. you could just wire to it directly though. since you should have the brown (F39) plug. Phar Oh and looking at the manual, and your pict it looks like those 2 plugs you have are the alternate plugs for the rear O2 sensors. again AT vs MT. but I dunno.

My HR (07) Engine has a black plug going to the Oil Temp sensor. though my engine is a little different. It is pretty hard to mess up where they all go. my plug is at the end of the line off the left side if the engine. I found my Dash harness is from an earlier car, so I'll have to look for another of those. but it's those connections between the harnesses that I found to be most difficult. I got my FSM's off www.pdftown.com 06 manual I dunno if those will help. if not keep searching there's a few to be had out there. I spent A LOT of time reading the PG sections to know what plug goes where. Phar

Yeah, it should be nice. I just got the wife sparked about it yesterday when I showed her the Sportmax 16's I'm going to run. But that's down the road a ways. I guess I should take some picts though not much has changed. I got the HR air tubes and filter boxes. I'm going to mount them up by the radiator in that huge open space that will be in front of the engine, hopefully that'll be enough, unless I can fit them in front. though I might ditch the boxes for dual K&N's. I needed the tubes for the MAF mouting points and I think the HR looks good with both tubes in place. though I might use some polished aluminum to extend the tubes a ways. I also got a set of 07 Gauges cheap, but they might be all bad. I didn't pay much for them so no doubt I can sell them again if I can't make them work. I know there's some corroded connections. we'll see. Phar

what kind of lugs are you using with your SportMax's? I have the same rims and will be looking at tires soon. likely I'll go with 225/50/R16 all around. Phar

Thats awesome, It would be very cool to meet Derek, and especially get to see his shop. The few picts of the CNC were cool, but he mentioned a 3d laser scanner and such, really sounds cool. Yeah, I guess the picts and the video don't do it justice. it's very cool. I hope things go well enough that Derek will go into production, I don't blame him for waiting, it's not quick or cheap to produce them, not to mention what he'd be out if one of the castings went badly.

sounds like it's a 240Z, though the date seems a little odd. the 5 Speed is likely not the original tranny, likely it's from a later 280Z, the engine though we'll need a little more information. Look and wee if you can find the block number, and the head number. these will help us tell you what it is that's there for you. Pictures are a lot better too.. Make sure the title Vin matches both the vin plates and the Vin that's on the Firewall in the engine compartment. $500 is a really decent price for a Z so if the title checks out then you should probably buy it but look on here about all the areas you should check for rust so you'll know what you're getting into. Phar

I don't really want to put you off saving a Z. But, you know for the cost of what it'll take to get that one looking halfway decent, you could likely find yourself a better one where you are that doesn't need as much work. I don't know how common they are where you are but it would be worth looking around to consider. Especially since you're not into that one with any $$$... It's easier to fix your Z when you're in the same geographic location. Usually cheaper too.. hehe

uh. I'd go back to stock... It'll be good they can weld, that'll save you a lot of $ if you have to replace sheet metal. Keep the pictures coming.. Phar

DUnno. Why, they must know something we don't. Yeah, It's decent for $650, Though it's got that big hole in the roof, and wow that be a big booty on that one! The rear deck tells me it's likely got a lot more rust that your realize. You should pull up your carpets and see how your floorpans look, and like they said, look at the frame rails and below the battery. All that can be fixed. though it's a lot easier if you know how to weld, or have a friend who'll weld for you. It looks decent. You should know though, that $650 is just the start, you'll spend a lot more than that fixing her up.. Oh the good side, insurance is cheap, but you should carry Antique/Modified car insurance on it, otherwise they can total it for a bad paint scratch.

Yeah I dunno about the 260, and the L28, I'd heard of an L26, but most all I've seen of 260Z's have the L28 or at least it's the same block and head, the internals must be different to make 2.6L as compared to the 2.8L. In anycase, Your brother not working on it and taking picts is a bummer. but at the same time, he's not getting paid either is he? so I guess you can't really complain. It would be nice to know a little more to see what you've got to deal with to see if you really want to continue with this project. He might be trying to tell you to look for another car, or maybe he sold the Z from under you. Phar

yeah, is that hood scoop off a Z31? and okay... what's with that ant ball, yeah esse,' it's all good. Still looks pretty good. It's great that it runs, and your interior is in good shape. Keep the picts comin... Phar

Sounds like business is good. Do you make castings from photo-overlay, or impressions? I imagine doing stuff for Disney could be lucrative, tho I hear they're slow to pay, at least the movie side of things. So how many sets do you think you'd need to sell to make it worth your while? You were thinking like $2k for a set right?

Hehe, little plants. I guess it's been sitting a lot longer than I would have figured. Did he ever get it up on a rack to show the bottom of it? Get us some more picts, underside, inside and in the engine compartment. the L28 it's got is likely salvageable. There's not a lot you can do to kill these engines stock, aside from no oil, but even then they're easy to rebuild. especially with your dad having a shop there. You can still buy a lot of the parts at Autozoneor checker or any number of chain parts stores. and online if you don't have any locally. Parts are cheap too. biggest thing I can tell you before you try to tear it all down is to see if it'll start, if not, then pull loose plugs in the engine compartments and clean the contacts especially on the injectors and AFM. These will make a world of difference. Aside from that, you could look into MegaSquirt. With that, you will get a little better gas mileage and more power. There's tons of guys on here who'll share their fuel maps for the L28 too. So there's a lot you can do. Just gotta get on it. Phar

Good Point, I need to remember that for when my wife gets tired of seeing the pieces in the Garage. " Honey, I need to finish this, we can't just sell it all, we'd take a huge loss. " I'm sure once I get the paint on my Z she'll be asking to drive it. hehe. Phar

yeah, look for a thread on dash repair here, you can make a custom dash that looks like stock pretty easilly for a fraction of the cost of suede. You might need to do some fiberglass, but the "great-stuff" and bumper goo should work well, and so far we haven't heard of any cracking.

Well, there's a lot of room under the hood. Here's a BIG word of caution when planning a swap. the not only the engin but ALSO the Wiring harnesses ECU and BMC and ANY other enectronics you can, Fuseboxes, Meters gauges etc. It's best if you have the junked donor car availiable to pull parts from. I've spent the past 2 months gathering parts for my VQ swap and I still don't have it all. Have you thought about a VQ swap? almost 300 HP stock, and setups can be found for ~$2K unless you really look. I found my 07 Vq35HR for $550 on Ebay. 800 for tranny tho