Ineptitude01

I convinced my poor dad that more Z's is always a good thing, so we've been fixing up an 83 Turbo. He was driving it around town, getting a new muffler welded on, etc etc. when he killed the car (slave cylinder seeps; slowly came into gear) in the parking lot of the exhaust shop and couldn't get it started again. It would crank, but not catch. We brought it home and since there was no spark from the coil, decided that the thing that must be happening is that the CAS stopped working. Replaced his distributor with my known good one from my build, car fired up on the first try. We then started trying to time the engine, and just when I was homing in on 24˚BTDC, the timing mark disappeared and the tone of the engine changed. I figured "Oh great, I must have advanced it way too far." Turns out I couldn't find it because the mark was at TDC, and now will not advance properly. It sort of wiggles around a bit, maybe 3˚ in either direction, but definitely isn't advancing. The car runs and drives well enough, and the turbo spools, but it's just... gutless, and awful. Is there any common problem that would account for this? Other information: Plug wires are OLD. Old enough that they've gone from black to gray. I keep telling my dad that he needs to replace them, but he's convinced they're fine. Plugs are new and clean. The four pin EFI connector is connected well, and making contact on all pins. The black wire with the spade lug is similarly well connected. The distributor is turned 'full advance', and the motor sputters and dies if you turn it back. We've ordered a reman'd dizzy, but I'm not convinced that will fix whatever's wrong with this.

Yup, you're totally right. This was my guy. His prices seem to go up and down. I remember getting them for $185 shipped, could be wrong. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NISSAN-280ZX-300ZX-TURBO-Injector-set-6-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem48353e6b44QQitemZ310130928452QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_1318wt_941

I feel like I got this set also. Is this 'Dr. Injector'? If so, I'll back up the statement that they're worth the money. All the seals were included, and the units themselves were in excellent shape.

Does this mean that 'uncracked dash' was a factory option? I don't see it on my 82's equipment list... This explains a lot... :D

I was actually thinking about this thread last night, since I was removing my exhaust manifold studs. The trick I was using there required one 17mm nut, one lockwasher (smaller than the 17mm nut) and one 14mm nut. I tightened the nuts together with the lockwasher in between, and then, since the 14 was on top, it's dead easy to get the 17mm socket on an air wrench right over the 14 to grab the 17 and blast it out of there. And hey, if it works on a 30 year old rust-welded exhaust manifold...

Ditto! I wish I'd done something as interesting with my build. I'm going to finish, and it'll be "Oh, here comes Corey with another T3/T4 L28ET. Let's go look at Clive's car!"

I have to figure it must. There's a little captive ball bearing. I can get a picture in just a bit. I mean, it wouldn't really make sense if it was cooling the oil all the time.

Huh. I was in a Pick N Pull, looking at a 280Z, and trying to convince myself that it would be the easy thing to do, but I didn't grab it. I guess I'll do that after all. I'm just concerned that anything that's been sitting in a Bay Area yard is gonna be pretty rusty on the fittings. Maybe it's time I jumped over to the parts wanted section?

For those of us converting auto to manual, does anyone know how long the line needs to be?

Oh, the other trick that sometimes works is getting under it with a razor blade. if it's stiff enough, you can peel it off in chunks. My head wasn't gunked too bad, so I didn't have a whole lot of trouble getting it perfectly clean.

Bump. It also looks like the Z31 shift knob was the same for a while.

Huh. I would've figured you could just Pick N Pull for that stuff. I doubt they'd charge you more than $20.

Okay, so... I take it the engine with no stud look(ed) like this: http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Disassembly/8.%20That%20was%20quick.JPG I'm pretty sure every automatic ZXT came with one of these sandwich adapters, and consequently an oil cooler and lines. Wouldn't it be easier and more effective to just get the sammich and oil cooler? Sort of like: http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Disassembly/7.%20Your%20turn.JPG Om nom nom?

Hey, I cleaned my whole head with a toothbrush! I mean, it TAKES a while, but if you're being real cheap about things...

Got 'em. This is a totally stock 1981 L28ET, before I disassembled it for parts (thrown rod. ) http://ss.vix.com/~corey/1981%20L28ET/Turbo%20Picture%201.jpg http://ss.vix.com/~corey/1981%20L28ET/Turbo%20Picture%202.jpg http://ss.vix.com/~corey/1981%20L28ET/Turbo%20Picture%203.jpg

Something like http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Removal/Lifting%20out%206.JPG ? I'd take a picture of the new T3/T4 on the rebuilt engine, but I'm having a 'my turbo is too big' problem. I'll get a spacer tomorrow, hopefully... I think I have some closeup pictures of the turbo as it sat on my 81 longblock, want me to dig those up too?

Haha, oops! I didn't notice they were electric! My bad. I've never used an electric one. I just use the cheap Rite Aid ones. But now that I mention it... Maybe something to try?

Again, I'm with Tony D. I didn't resurface my head at all for my build. I checked it for warpage or other damage, and it passed by any metric. Strong degreaser and a razor blade got the deck surface smooth and clean, and a toothbrush got the nooks and crannies. The only time I've ever resurfaced a head was for my CRX Si, which overheated badly in a previous life, and even then, it wasn't warped by much. "If it ain't broke..."

Every time I talk about my car in another thread, I feel lame for not having done a project thread yet. I'm a little late to be doing a progress report on the whole thing, since I'm (hopefully) nearing the day when I can start this car again, and have everything work. Disclaimer I really like the 280ZX. Really really. I know that's not as popular a choice as the S30, but, god help me, I love it. I also really like the look of the 2+2. I have 3 of them, and now I've even got my dad in on the '83 turbo we picked up. I realize (more than ever, looking at coil spring options) that this setup screws me on a lot of really neat parts options, but I've resigned myself to just trying to build the ultimate GT. I hope you guys will understand. The Story Every car buy comes with a story, and this one is especially good. My Z experience started in 2007, when my CRX Si took a crap, and I needed something to drive to work and back. I had always wanted a Z car, but at the time, my foreknowledge was basically changing oil and having read the S30 and 280ZX wikipedia entries a dozen times each. I found one on craigslist, went out to look at it, and then... Long story short, I actually looked at the car, popped the hood, looked at the engine, and then asked the lady, "Is it a Turbo?". No, no it was not. Boy, I've come a long way. Sometime later, maybe 6 months out, I saw a craigslist ad for "280ZX TURBO $500", and immediately called the guy and drove up to Oakland with my friend Sam. Boy, oh boy. You NEVER saw so much lipstick on a pig. It was very clear that everything that could have been done to make it look right had been done, and everything that needed to be done had been ignored. New plug wires, lots of degreaser, and new air and oil filters did nothing for the fact that the PO's claim of "It burns some oil" turned out to be a thick, greasy black cloud that shot out from the turbo area. Other things like minor body damage, torn up seats, and the fact that the driver's side lock was drilled out led me to be less than optimistic about this being a gas and go car. The thing that really told the whole story about this car was the 'new injector', decidedly for an NA. Insult to injury, it was an '82 with an automatic. I was still slightly interested, if only to use the parts for my own car, in attempt to make that the eventual winner. Sam talked me out of it, and we agreed then that $500 was no good for this thing, and we walked. Time passed, I got a bunch of parts, including a T-5, from a junker in San Jose, and an entire 81 L28ET longblock (with a thrown rod) for what seems like $150. Then I saw another craigslist ad (I check it twice a day) for "280ZX Turbo - $700" in San Francisco, and I figured "Okay, if $500 was a worthless car, maybe $700 will be a better thing." I was also excited, because it had the same layout (same two-tone paint, T-tops, 2+2) as the Oakland car, but just looked better. I got there, and the kid who owned it skateboarded up, and twiddled his thumbs while I checked the car out in detail (since at this point, I could actually tell a ZX from a ZXT, and was willing to tell people "Actually, the turbo intake manifold is 17% longer" type stuff. In short: I knew it was a turbo, this time). And I was looking at the car, and thinking "Well, it looks better than the last one, but it doesn't run as well. A lot of the same minor problems..." And then it hit me. Oh my god, it's the same pig with MORE LIPSTICK. I called my dad over, and told him the story. He said "You're s***ing me." We then went back and talked to the kid again, and told him "Look, I walked on this when it was $500, and it ran better then. He went chalk white and was like "Oh god, I have to move it, I can't leave it here any more, and my parents are so mad already." My response? "How about $300?" And we loaded it up on the trailer, and celebrated my catch with Pirro's Pizza. It then came back to my house and sat while I tried to work out what I was going to do with this thing. It ran so poorly that it wasn't able to drive up a slight incline. I had to pull it up with a John Deere tractor. In the end, I decided I would just 'rebuild the whole car, and do the engine too, while I'm at it.' And that's how it got started. Here are a few holdover pictures to counter my wall'o'text, and I'll continue tomorrow with the teardown and my discoveries. http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Car%20itself/280ZX%20Turbo%20Badge.JPG http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Car%20itself/Hood.JPG http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Car%20itself/Interior.JPG This was the only picture I took with the whole car. I dunno why. It's the one further away from me. http://ss.vix.com/~corey/280ZX%20Turbo%20Engine%20Teardown/Car%20itself/TheOneInTheBack.JPG I'll probably resize these and them tomorrow, but tonight, it's 2AM, and HTML is off, so boo. (I just wanted to use , I swear!)

That's good to know! I've been using Lynn Automachine in Redwood City, and they've never done me wrong.

Pressure washers will take the paint right off of most surfaces (ask me how I know). If that's not going to be a big deal, you can try, but it's going to be time consuming and just plain not as good. Hot tanking is great, but if it's just not happening, I recommend the following: + The choice of champions. Happy cleaning!

Isn't that where the sandwich adapter for the oil cooler goes? I was looking at the same thing on my car, and I figured "I have all the parts, and the oil cooler is just sitting there looking at me, may as well use it." I bet you could score an oil cooler setup in a junkyard or in the wanted section, easy.

Man, it really says something about a member's attention to detail when everything is so clean and spiffy. Car(s) look(s) great! I've always loved the idea of the L30ET and after seeing this thread, I regret not getting my cylinder head done. I didn't notice if you said anywhere else, but what are you going to do for the drivetrain and suspension on this bad boy? I'm really jealous of that garage space, too! It must be nice to be able to work indoors. The Bay Area has been damp and unpleasant lately, and of course, THIS is the week my suspension comes in and I need to get the rear subframe back up. Blech.

I'm with BRAAP and Tony D, but if all you do is a head gasket, even if there's still some underlying problem, a head gasket is a pretty cheap part, and this would give you a good excuse to do the manifold gasket, valve cover gasket, and have the head checked. If it's good, you don't need to resurface it, and having that knowledge is always a load off your mind. And if you do... Good machine shops shouldn't charge too terribly much for a refresh, especially if you supply your own stem seals, which you'd get in the head set that included the gaskets I just mentioned. My local shop, Lynn Automachine in RWC, charges $10 a valve, and there's just nothing like seeing the head completely clean. Then you're a valve adjustment away from fun times (potentially). A compression check is a good idea, too. The more you know about your engine, the better equipped you are for whatever it might throw at you (rods? ) in the future. Bottom line: Changing the head gasket won't make it run *worse*.

Too late, hot plate. I went with CamH's. Thanks guys, HBZ is fast, as always! (pun not intended)