cgsheen

The Kia "squirrel cage" fits the blower box well when you remove the stock spacers - no rubbing anywhere. As you can see, It's also quite a bit larger and has more fins than either the stock fan OR the Honda fan. (that's why I chose it initially... While at the P-N-P years ago, I had a Honda blower in my hand (looked kinda wimpy to me...) and came across the Kia (it's also not just the Sportage that uses this blower) - there was just no comparison between the two blowers. The only downside is the modification to the blower box to get the larger cage through the hole. It moves a lot of air - definately a huge improvement over stock. If the S30 vent configuration wasn't so stupid, it would blow you out of the cabin. As it stands it overcomes many weaknesses of the ventilation design through sheer force... Don't forget to seal up the spaces between vent parts with new foam strips and check the hoses & tubing for leaks behind the dash - get all that air blowing out the vents not lost behind the dash!

On the US models, the early series used a smaller brake booster and the pedal box was narrower. The clutch pedal was made of thinner metal than the brake pedal and had a bend along it's length to add strength. When they went to the the larger booster, they had to space the master cylinders farther apart. The box is slightly different, the pedals farther apart at their mount point, and the clutch pedal "bar" is as thick as the brake pedal. It also has a bigger bend to get the foot pad back next to the brake pedal. Here the "early" box was in the '70-'72. IDK about the '73. The later box was definitely used in all 260's (1974) & 280's. But, what made the difference was the brake booster being used... IDK if the booster change was at the same time in all markets'.

Really Jon? I agree completely with your first sentence. I'll take your word for the first half of the second sentence (and I think "mistafosta" probably does know). I can't agree at all with the latter half of the second sentence. Your third sentence is spot-on. The guys at Stance-USA take racing seriously, are very accommodating when it comes to special projects and custom valving, shock dynoing. I'm very interested to see what they come up with.

It's been a while since I bumped this - so, here's a bump...

While you're checking the sensors, check the wiring and connectors - clean, clean, clean them, both sides. JavelinZ has a late 280 that he dailies and gets through emissions every year. His is ALL stock though... If you end up needing a mechanic, go see Scott - he's a few doors down from us. 1985 E 5th Street, Suite 10, Tempe. I can get you his phone number but I don't have his card on me right now. He's sorted out a few Z's that we've sent down there - both EFI and carbed. He knows Bosch L-Jetronic - very knowledgeable about vintage imports.

Ya. Mine originally came from a pick-n-pull because I was there to "do the Honda blower swap". That's when I discovered the Kia blower. (I actually looked at every import in that yard because I thought the Honda blower looked kind of wimpy...) Mine has worked great lo these many years - but now that I know, I'd just buy a new one rather than go back to the junk yard...

Dude... That wasn't a smart-a$$ remark - just a very true observation about many people and their Z cars. Not condesending, not a "put-down", just an observation... I love (no... LOVE!) my L28ET. But my situation was nothing like yours is. My L28ET was given to me by my youngest Son. I had no Z at the time - didn't expect to ever own one. I had to find the frame to put this engine into. I didn't have a Z Car with an engine that I had put a lot of work into. My advise would always be to swap an L28ET - that's my thing. But, I didn't have an engine that I put a lot of work into before this engine appeared in my garage - and thus my advice may mean nothing to you and your situation. Would I personally turbo a "non-turbo" engine? Nope. I'm not that smart. After working on this thing for several years, I've come to find the wisdom that the "old timers" speak of - and I now agree with them. My true enjoyment of this car came when I got the suspension & handling sorted out. Now the power that I add will have something worthy to do.

But it's the first thing they always want to do...

Isn't there a light bulb in there? (or a light socket...)

Correct - the stock early Z Car never had a starter relay. The starter "signal" comes straight from the Ignition Switch (Black/Yellow). The addition of a relay is a modification many - if not most - early Z owners have done over the years. It cures a common problem these cars develop as they age. TONS written about this on all the Z Car sites. You can either find the relay and figure out why it's not working, replace it, wire in a new one, or rewire the start signal from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid. A Factory Service Manual may help - you should download one... (OR... Always park on a hill or something with a grade, turn on the ignition, put the trans in 2nd, let it roll down the hill, pop the clutch. At least that's how we did it in the "olden days"... Meh,, who needs a starter )

How far down the road is the RB? IDK if I'd go through that much to "get this thing moving" with the parts you have if it's only a short while before the RB is ready... If it's years - maybe.

The pedals are different between the 240 and the 260/280. It has to do with spacing of the master cylinders (with the small booster in the very early Z's, the master cylinders were closer together. They had to change pedal design when they started using a bigger brake booster...) Just make sure you get the correct pedals. The pedal box itself is the same between auto and manual, so only the pedals and their hardware need to be changed. The aluminum plate ( "dust cover" ) between the block and transmission is definately different between manual and auto. The plate is split on the auto to allow access to the flex plate and bolts that hold the torque converter to the flex plate. Get the proper plate for the manual transmission. Take the speedo pinion gear out of the auto trans and use it in your manual trans. It should be the correct gear for your rear-end - unless you're replacing the differential also... When you take the auto out and get the flexplate off, be sure to remove the spacer that's behind the flex plate before you try to mount a flywheel. That's a good time to install you new pilot bushing as well. With the "later" transmission, you may want to get a rubber shift lever boot and steel clamp down "ring" from a 260 / 280. The very early Z's used a different trans and had a different hole and boot configuration in the trans tunnel. You'll need to mimick the later trans tunnel hole and boot for your 5-speed.

Remove the latch and catch mechanism from the underside of the hood. Set the hood down. How does the hood fit side-to-side? Gaps relatively even? How does the hood fit front-to-back? - What is the gap between the hood rear and the cowl? (normally about 1/8" or so...) - How does the front of the hood mate with the headlight buckets? How is the elevation at the nose? Does it mate with the height of the fenders properly? (personally, I would go so far as to remove the torsion rods as well and check the position of the hood...) Pictures of fitment would help a great deal. Pictures of the hinges would help a great deal. IF the hood sits properly in it's "hole" (without spring or latch), and the gaps are pretty consistant, and it doesn't "poke forward" at the front corners past the headlight buckets while it's sitting relatively even with the fenders in height - then your latching mechanism is wrong. IF the hood (without spring or latch) has too much gap between the hood and cowl, and the front corners poke out farther than the headlight buckets - then it's too far forward and the only adjustment for that will be in the hinges. I'm wondering if you may need different hinges - did they replace those too? The "Nissan Tech" loosened the 3 hinge-to-body bolts on both sides and "adjusted" them - as well as the 2 hinge-to-hood bolts on each side? Worry about the height fitment after you have proper gap and latch.

Try bleeding the master cylinder again. Just like bench bleeding, use 2 short tubes from the bleeders back into the reservoirs and pump the pedal 3 or 4 times. Tighten them back up and check it again.

If the engine is not running your fuel pressure should be around 36 PSI. When running it'll drop with (by) the amount of vacuum in the intake manifold. (the FPR is supposed to maintain a 36.3 PSI pressure differential between the fuel rail and intake manifold. If you have 10 PSI manifold vacuum, you should see 26 PSI in the rail - if you're boosting 5 PSI, you should see 41 PSI...) You weren't clear about where you were testing spark. At the plug? But, ya, you should check timing. Then make sure you're getting fuel. You can try starting fluid...

Did they remove the hinges as well as the hood? There's quite a bit of adjustment there between the mount to the body and the mount to the hood - but it does help to have some experience taking it off and putting it back on. If you're ever on the East side of town, stop by the shop and we'll have a look.

I've never had any luck testing the ECU "signal to fire" with the crappy multimeters I use. I never get a voltage reading - it happens too fast - I think you'd need an oscilloscope. "There are two yellow/white wires coming from the computer" - The Yellow/White you're looking for comes from ECU pin 5 and only runs a short way to a connector under the dash in the stock harness. The 1982 280ZX FSM shows the wiring (without colors unfortunately) and how the ECU connectors and pins are laid out in the "Engine Fuel & Emission Control" section: EF&EC-96 . You don't need colors, just match the connector, it's clip, and double check your "orientation" with the missing pins (spaces with no wires) in the diagram... You'll find "pin 5" right away. (outermost two-row clip, pins 1-10 are on the clip side, pin 1 has no wire, pin 3 has no wire, pin 5 is right by the clip, pin 7 has no wire) You can test the CAS, but if you already have a replacement, you may as well swap it out. Be sure to test your components AND the wiring back to the ECU. You can pull the plug out of the distributor and test voltage (with IGN ON) and GND (red and black to the 4-pin plug). Also check continuity of the Green and White wires back to the ECU (they change colors in the ECCS harness) but one goes back to pin 8 and one to pin 17 - use the above diagram. Double check your HEI wiring. It's nearly as simple as the original coil/ignitor. It needs power and GND. It has a signal input from the ECU and an output to the coil "-". Disconnect the stock Blue wire to the coil "-" terminal until you have spark and/or the engine running. Remember that the GND on the HEI is actually the body (and bolt holes). Make sure the Black/White to the "+" coil (and thus the HEI) has power at IGN ON. Check and clean all the connectors in the harness. Most ECCS problems turn out to be electrical - wiring and connectors... Have fun!

You have a PM.

Just wanted to give a "shout-out" to Vintage Spirit Garage. They did an awesome install for a common customer of ours. Here's a couple of pics of the Stance-USA coils and our Sakura Garage Camber Plates being done up by the great guys at Vintage Spirit.

To crank the engine and check compression just unplug the start signal wire from the solenoid and use a remote start switch. Search for Bosch and/or L-Jetronic connectors and you'll find more of what you're looking for: http://www.ebay.com/itm/B1-Rectangle-Bosch-Style-3-wire-TPS-Sensor-Connector-Pigtail-With-Rubber-Boot-/331015323139?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d120cfe03&vxp=mtr 90+ percent of the L28E & L28ET problems can probably be traced to wiring and connectors in the ECCS harness. There's a very good troubleshooting guide in the FSM. You can test every (well, nearly) component and sensor with simple tools PLUS their connection back to the ECU. Look for AFM tampering - if someone has opened it up and "adjusted" it you may be fighting an uphill battle... The AFM is the LAST thing that should ever be screwed with and it seems to be the FIRST thing noobs go to. The TPS on an L28ET is nothing close to what we think of as TPS in modern cars. It actually only uses one of the two switches - the "idle" switch - and it merely signals "throttle open" or "throttle closed". It cannot signal actual position otherwise and does not use the WOT switch.

Looks like one of the fusable links blew and they wired in another type of fuse. There are a bunch of threads on how to wire up the HEI, just search here or Google it... Get the '82 FSM from http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/1982/ or at xenons130.com - it might help you understand what this engine needs in order to run properly. I'm with FricFrac though - your time (money, education) would probably be better spent on a different engine management system. I do understand the desire to know how it runs before you swap, but getting it started and running with the stock ECCS may not actually tell you. Normally we spend an inordinate amount of time getting the stock engine management (ECCS) to work like it's supposed to (so the engine will run like it's suposed to...). These L-series engines are pretty hardy though and if they're maintained even half decently, they run for a long time. How does the top of the engine look with the valve cover off?

What do you mean "It's losing power"? Do you mean it's actually losing battery voltage (I can't see how that's possible if you wired it straight to the battery...))? OR are you talking about the LED turning off during cranking? If so, that's normal - the LED is NOT an ON/OFF indicator... The FSM covers this behavior.

Yup.

The stock 280ZXT fuel pump relay is a simple single switch relay. It takes four conections: 1. "Source" voltage to one side of the switch. - - - On the stock '76 280Z: Battery -> Fusable Link -> main power to IGN Switch (tee off this wire for source power to fuel pump relay) 2. "Output" power to Fuel Pump on other side of the switch. Relay -> Green wire to Fuel Pump 3. GND to one side of the relay coil. 4. Blue/Red from ECU to other side of the relay coil. The way this simple relay works, it does matter which side of the "switch" is wired to "source" and which is wired to "output" and the same holds true with the coil - as long as one side is GND and the other is the "control" wire from the ECU. The ECU controls the relay with the L/R wire. So it "turns on" and "turns off" the fuel pump using the relay. The ECU controls the fuel pump for safety. It knows when the engine is turning (C.A.S. signal) and will kill power to the fuel pump when it's not turning. In a collision, ("we don't call them "accidents" anymore" - Hot Fuzz) it keeps the fuel pump from running on and possibly spewing fuel where you don't want to be spewing it... A relay is just an "electric" switch. It "makes" or "breaks" a circuit. The simplest example is having two wires in your hand - touch them together and the circuit is "complete" or "made", remove them from each other and the circuit is broken. The relay has a "coil" which is an electro-magnet. When it is powered, it pulls a bar down that connects two wires together (that's the "switch"). When it is unpowered, it releases the bar and the connection is broken.