cygnusx1

When the car is still warming up, like when the water temp is about 1/8 of the way up about 2 minutes after starting the engine it has MONSTER torque down in the lower RPMs. What is it exactly that causes that? I would like to somehow emulate that and keep that power even when it's warmed up. Anyone else observe this also? I know all the intake parts are still cold such as the intake manifold and intercooler plumbing. Is it that simple or is there more to it?

I like that one but where do I put my bike, golf clubs, and travel bags? LOL I guess you can't have everything. I once drove my 280Z from NY to Cape Hatteras, NC with two people, camping gear for a week, and enough windsurfing gear to rig up three sails and three windsurf boards on the roof! I have to find the photos... I re-read some of the tech discussion above. And yes, anything will deflect with any load applied to it. Also, everytime I accelerate going west, the days and nights get shorter lol. Fortunately, I usually make round trips so the change in the earths rotation gets cancelled out.

come on guys...this is supposed to be about squids! Jersey, I hear ya. The bar works to stiffen and has the added advantage of a "crumple-zone". In case of a side impact at the strut towers it will fold up and not transfer force to the other tower. Pure Genius!

I agree that nothing will make the Z rigid like a properly welded full cage but alot of us are not looking for that type of protection. The front and rear strut tower bars made a nice improvement in the dynamic steering response and they were a simple, reversible, addition to the chassis. With the fairly rigid suspensions that alot of us run on the street, we strain the chassis not only in the lateral loads from cornering but also from the loads due to potholes,bumps, and uneven pavement. Nothing makes me cringe more than when I have to pull into a steep driveway diagonally to keep from punching the nose into the ground and I feel a wheel lift off the ground as the chassis and interior creeks sweet mercy. Subframe connectors would help but there is alot more fabrication required to make those work on a 280Z than meets the eye...especially when the frame rails are already replacements and nothing is level and square under them anymore. The way I look at it is, if I take the roof off, so to speak, and try to fold the car, it's going to fold at bottom rear edges of the door openings. That's right about where the floor frame rails are ending. So besides the roof, there isn't much to keep the car from folding. That's where forward diagonals down from the rear towers would help...IMHO. Make sense or am I just making scent?

I already have a home-made bar between the rear towers and I figured it would be simple to tie it down (fore-aft) to the trans tunnel with some bolt-in bars bent to fit. If I insert a steel hoop under the tunnel and bolt the forward bracing into it, sandwitching the tunnel metal, it should be pretty rigid. I don't have welding capabilities so I do everything with borrowed milling machine time and simple hand tools. It appears to me that the metal in the trans tunnel is a bit heavier gauge than the floor pans. It seems very strong but I have never seen a 280Z stripped down to bare metal so I really don't know for sure. A four point roll hoop for the rear would tie in at the rear towers and the floor pans just behind the seats. I have heard that the weekest point of a Z chassis (besides rust) is the weak connection where the floor structure meets the vertical section behind the seats. The subframe connectors that you mention span this weak section but they dont get alot of leverage being so close to the moment arm. I feel that a diagonal from the rear strut towers to the tunnel, or floor pans, for that matter, would have alot more leverage...the further forward on the floor structure, the better the leverage...of course the seats are in the way which is why I opt for the tran tunnel.

I had an idea over the weekend that might do a good job of tightening up the mid to rear end of the chassis. I wanted a simple bolt-on reinforcement to help minimize that pesky roofline crack at the rear quarters. I am considering running two diagonal bars inwards and forwards from the rear strut tops down to the tranny tunnel in between the two seat backs. I would connect to the tranny tunnel as far forward as possible without creating an interference with the seats and/or my elbow. I would use a backing plate inside the tunnel and bolt through. It probably wont do that much to prevent torsion between the floors and the rear deck but it will help bending loads on the rear half of the chassis. The advantages are, easy install, unobtrusive, and light. Any thoughts?

I am using a Mr. Gasket 16" fan super thin. It is awesome and fits perfectly behind a Z radiator. It even has an adjustable temp switch. It cost about $100 with shipping. I think it was from Summit....or Jeg's. I run an A/C condenser, Oil Cooer, Intercooler all stacked up front in of the radiator and I never overheat. EDIT: I think the thermo switch was extra$. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&Ntt=Mr+gasket+electric+fan&N=0&part=MRG%2D1988&autoview=sku&Ntk=KeywordSearch

Check the load rating of that pillow block bearing. Also, is the roller drilled through or is the shaft machined into the roller. I would use a larger through-shaft and bearing but I like overkill. Nice work. Does your buddy build ship engines or something?

Im also a NASA member now and actually could use a set of track day wheels so this will be perfect. I hope it holds true. I like the 17" Black Heliums but I'm not sure what I can get to fit until I hear from Konig. http://www.konigwheels.com/catalog_product_details.cfm?CategoryID=1&ss_id=201

When I was 15, my dad gave me the 1972 Alfa Romeo four door sedan with 100K+ miles on it. It was a major rust bucket and had all kinds of mechanical issues. I tore apart the motor and made it run. I ditched the mechanical injection and picked up a pair of junk webers and an intake for $65. I took apart the carbs, cleaned them and made scissor cut, home-made "paper" gaskets. My previous experience with fixing mowers for fun gave me the confidence to work on the car. I even used a hose clamp on the fuel return line as a fuel pressure regulator....The tricks and mistakes go on and on and on. It's the only way to learn. In your ZX I would keep the stock motor for now and plan a long term upgrade path. It is fairly expensive and/or difficult to repair rust properly. For now, focus on controlling the rust. Plan to fix it right later. Make the car reliable first, then plan the upgrades. If you need parts, post here and you will probably get some good deals. Good Luck

OK put your pencils down. Let's see what you've accomplished in five years! HAPPY BIRTHDAY HYBRIDZ

-when you know the exact wrenches to bring under the Z for every job. -you ask the waitress for a different seat so you can see your car outside. -you step on the throttle harder whenever you pass people that are watching. -you pick on motorcyles. -you tell the cop that you have no idea how fast you were driving because of all the unknown ratio changes between the engine and rear tires makes the speedo untrustworthy.

That makes sense as Nissan built this motor much stronger than it needed to be for 7psi. I figure they designed the whole system to run it as lean as possible during cruise conditions as they had huge pressure from the gov to make it run clean and get high mileage. Fuels at the time were also changing. The knock sensor could let them get really close to the edge of "leanness" during normal highway cruise. It was probably intended more as a tuning device than a safety device. Up in the higher RPM's, like you stated, they probably turned off the knocksensor and just added a power-minded fuel curve. At 7psi even a bit of ping probably wouldn't hurt this motor much.

Wanna see it go? VIDEO: http://media.milkandcookies.com/media/wmv/g/gixxerkartsm.wmv?media=80720c14af744b99f70c0d6ae452b2a0 GixxerKart! INSANE!

I had some free time tonight so I turned up the fuel pressure and went for a run. I definately lost a little bit of power with the added fuel. I got it going up a hill on the highway in 4th at 5400 RPM with the windows open and along a stone wall. I didn't get any audible ping at all. I probably lost about 5-10HP but got no ping. I saw a little more smoke in the exhaust also. I think I'll leave it like this for a while and see how it goes. The air temp tonight was about 10 degrees cooler also.

I just want to add my 2cents...could it be made somewhat adjustable in the sense that you could toe in/out the rear wheels. It would add some more complexity but it would make a nice "selling point".

You need to answer these questions: How long do you plan on having the car? How much downtime can you afford with this car? How much time do you have? What is the current condition of the car? How much money do you have to throw into it? How skilled are you? What is your intended use? "Restore" can mean ALOT of things. Define it more clearly. Keep reading here and soon you will see the answers that you are looking for. Also, A BIG WELCOME TO THE BEST SOURCE OF FAST-CAR KNOWLEDGE!!!!

Yes it's the 83 ECU so I am 3 degrees advanced from stock. I will try turning up the FMU (fuel pressure under boost) to see if I can tune out the lean up high without getting fat down low. Last I remember, the FMU would go too rich too soon if I fattened it up too much. I could very well be at the injectors limit...

Yesterday I went for a 150mile cruise. At one point on the highway, I downshifted to third and mashed the gas. After about 5200RPM I heard ping from the motor. I shifted into fourth and then heard ping again around the same RPM. This is the first time I have ever heard ping in my turbo Z. I have it setup pretty aggressively for the stock EFI. At what point would the knock sensor kick in and bring back timing? Was the knock sensor doing it's job? How much timing would the stock ZX ECCS system pull out? Stock L28ET long block, 14psi TO4B, 27deg adv base timing, 60psi fuel@boost, stock EFI with Walbro pump. I had it on the race track last year and never heard ping but I was keeping the RPM's below 5K. I know, I should upgrade the EFI soon...no preaching please. LOL.

I just thought of another issue I had that drove me nuts for a couple of days. After I upgraded to the TO4B Super V trim, The car was pulling hard to about 4000rpm full throttle and then it was like someone turned off the key. The car would coast down to idle and then I would have power again. The problem turned out to be a collapsing intake boot from all the suction of the new turbo. I am using the stock AFM-Turbo boot which is shortened to fit everything in the bay. Make sure the steel coil is inside the boot and it's not shifting around.

Come on guys! It's the classic symptom of loose or incomplete electrical connectors at the ECU and/or AFM. Clean them and use dielectric grease. Mine was falling flat on it's face at about the same RPM untill I reconnected everything. Check all the connectors while your at it. Try 10psi to get the car running right. Then and only then creep up the boost and add some fuel somehow. One more thing...be 110% sure you have no vacuum leaks.

Vintage race Z I found while surfing. http://www.vintageracingservices.com/at_speed_archive/vrs-at-speed_2004.html# I like the paint scheme.

About three or four years ago I was at the Bob Sharp Z club (now defunct) Bob had one of those V8 Turbo ZX cars on display at his dearleship in CT. They were talking about how it had so much power that it was very difficult not to spin it out in almost any gear. I also had heard that he had sold one of the ex-racecars to a fellow whom was going to use it for vintage racing. About a year later, I heard that someone had gotten killed in a vintage race in an old Bob Sharp ZX car. http://www.endurancesportscar.com/other.htm about 1/4 way down is the article regarding the tragic accident. The car: http://962.com/other_racing_cars/nissan_gtp_zx/index.htm A side fact, they added a chicane a few years back to slow down the cars at Limerock park after a ZX left the track on a hump in the back straight and flew up into the trees. I think most of those "body kits" were formed by the crew with aluminum and rivets.

Not all grease is compatable with rubber. Not that it will be a problem if you wipe it clean quickly. I will be using silicone grease to try this.

Permatex #2. I swear by it. Put it on both sides of the gaskets and let it set up, assemble loosely for 12 hours and then full torque after that. The stuff is awesome. It is NOT crappy looking like silicones and hardens like licorice and stays flexible. It is holding Mobile 1 in my 120K mile Z motor without a trace.