randy 77zt

idea i have in my mind is to run shorty headers backwards.stuff motor as far back as possable and put turbo in front of motor.would use 97 v8 explorer serpintine belt drive -it makes engine 3" shorter.it should work on a 3" exhaust-i have 3" mandrel bent exhaust now.not planning on using crossmember for motor mount-i will build another crossmember for motor.only question in my mind is how much cylinder head flow is needed-are those $1100 heads needed for turbo engine.the late v8 explorer have good heads and camshaft.when we do warrenty work the parts are held for 90 days and then thrown into scrap bin.

i havent tuned an sdsunit but i will guess-what is timing at 3000 rpm with no boost-should be about 32 to 36 btdc.14.7 is ideal but alot of engines wont run this lean-it depends on combustion chamber design.go a little rich then lean out.22 is a little advanced for idle even though oem zxt ecm ran at 20 btdc.i would probably try about 15.tune off boost first.after engine gets about 5 psi boost timing should retard to 22 to 24 degrees.try tuning for power then lean out at rpm ranges you use for cruise speeds.

i have a l28 turbo in my car-but since i work at a ford dealer i have been kicking around idea of a turbo 5.0.i like the smoothness of turbo engine-you dont need a big rough cam.a well thought out turbo car will easily handle commuting to work but the power is always there if you push the pedal a little more.another turbos like is pulling a taller rear gear-the boost build better if motor is pulling hard.my car with stock l28et passes 4 cars in a row on a 2 lane highway great now-55mph to 100 mph is no problem.its hard to imagine what a good v8 with intercooler and 10 psi boost would be like.easy to build-they sell forged 8 to 1 pistons in summit catalog.i would spend the money for a good custom for your appplication turbonetics ball bearing turbo though-those dont have much lag.

same car as mine -i have a 77/81zxt car.i actually spent more time on wiring than i did on nut&bolt work.if 82 harness wasnt extracted carefully and tagged with notes written on masking tape you will have trouble.you have to use the turbo ecm to fire the ignition too.i did not cut any wires-i made adaptor plugs with pigtails of harness connectors i got at pick&pull.all connections are soldered & shrink tubed or are oem connectors.the oem 77 fi harness was completly removed.there is a coil/power transistor that you need to run ignition-came from zxt.the only 77 wires for ignition used are key+ and tach.module buy heater was removed.the only place i connected to car harness is at 6slot/5 wire connector under stering column.that is where you get key+,b+,crank+,and connect to wire to trip fuel pump.my ecm is mounted were 77 ecm was and i used the stock fire wall hole for harness.be aware that afm has to be mounted in oem upright position or gate inside will hang up.email address and i can send you copies of wiring diagrams and some pages from nissan zxt supplement book.i could have made money of this if i would have documented it better when i did it.i have a 2 year degree in electronics and i am an ase certified auto tecnician-it still took me awhile.i have had no wiring problems since install-5 years ago.

unit body of 280 is heavier and stiffer-body had to be beefed up for 5mph bumpers.some times switching doors from different years the gaps wont line up.to raise ride height on 280 the spring cushions on struts were taller-the rubber part on top was thicker.i have found many parts different on 240 vs 280.if i was giong to build a v8 car with no added bracing i would build a 280-but you cant in california thanks to smog regs.

what makes a 9" so strong is that the pinion is supported behind the pinion gear.the $2000 gor a currie rear end is for a complete custom built axle ready to bolt in with all new high tech parts-no old junk.i just check on a custom built 9 for the 66 nova /96 lt1 project in my garage.i am using a narro0wed 8.8 out of 87 tbird turbo-has 3.55 and trakloc stock-i am having a set of custom axles made .

thanks for tips & pics-i relly didnt want to out ic on top of engine under hood scoop.

on lug patterns-you will need custom axles made-like strange engineering.places like currie will build a custom width axle to your specs-try $1500 to $2000 for an axle.9" had axle retained by pressed on bearings-you have to get special retainers to hold axle in .if you are really serious about drag racing the $2000 axle is worth it-by the time you piece some old junk together and narrow it and put in detroit locker or arb air locker you will have almost that much into it.for a drag -street car i would run air locker.

it is a 8.8 inch ring gear that loads from rear like a chevy.ford hasnt made a 9" in years.last 9s were in half ton vans in late 80s.you can get a 8.8 irs rear from a late model v8 tbird or mark 8.8.8 is good for about 500 hp.most 9" stuf is aftermarkit now and is bucks but you canstill get a 3.55 9 from a van.

my 77 needs your set up-i wont remove my a/c.are those welded up exhaust pipe mandrel bends?what is core size?please post in car pictures.

answer to question about waste spark ignition-all 4 stroke engines have 2 pistons at tdc at same time but one spark fires into exhaust stroke and doesnt do anything.most motorcycles are built this way.i am a tech at a ford dealer-ford hasnt used a distributor on anything for a while.all the 4.6 ohc v8 have direct coil on plug now-no plug wires.most ford engines are waste spark.my 96 van was last truck to have a distributor.i salvaged a efi harness fron a new 2001 4.6 truck with the cop coils -if i ever change the ecm to a programmable unit i will run coil on plug.some of the motec and the datafast units will fire coil on plug.i downloaded datafast sample -its great.it has a 3d graph the you can move fuel curve around by picking a point on graph and dragging it with your mouse.ignition is this way to.sample is at www.dtafast.co.uk

as far as trans ratios go i prefer the 82 or 83 na zx trans best-best 1st to 4th gear spacing and best 5th for freeway.when i had 77 5spd trans i noticed a big jump from 2nd to 3rd.i would be wound out in 2nd or bogging in 3rd between turn 2 and turn 4 at sears point.

76 was cis system-a constant squirt controled by flap in air cleaner housing.75 was k jet electronic.i have a vw bug place in my town that has a direct line to a major bosch importer.if i feed him a bosch number he doesnt care what it fits-he adds a little mark up and sells it.question-what is bosch part #?

if you used a early z it would be a good race car.weight is less.the late model acura integra weighs more than early z.another motor is a mazda rotory.

turbo kit would probably be ok-but you need to make insure that engine gets enough fuel under boost.if you have to be really cheap the z31 middle 80's efi system from turbo 300 zx could be scrounged from a pick&pull.best bet would be a sds or other aftermarkit efi unit.stock efi will burn down motor.

donna-it is easiset for me to come by after work since i am already close by-i might go look at another speed toy next saturday.or come by my work -bring your car up to back door next to truck shop.door has alot of firestone tires piled in it.

you will be trying to efi a v8 i guess.my suggestion would be to talk to users of different systems and get their likes & dislikes.i downloaded the dtafast sample program & liked playing with it.i got the old haltech dos program and disliked it.will you be welding injector bungs into a victor jr or performer rpm manifold?get a kinsler efi supply catalog.from my point of view i would probably piece a system together.if you have a monster engine you want to be able to feed it with no more then possably an injector change.ay this time i am trying to create a system to run that will make my car paas smog on dyno test with out high nox emmissions.will need to adjust timing and add egr at specific rpm points.

olds 403 was a big block-you wil be out on your own on this one.if you do this go 455-it will weigh the same.tons of torque.parts are not cheap like sbc.

i run 15x6 turbo wheels for daily use.wheels fit over toyota calipers.i run 205/60-15 on them.my track tires are 0n 15x7 wheels

donna-if you need some chassis dyno time for tuning i might be able to arrange it-i run the smog dyno at work but it has a menu with more functions than just smogbut peak hp isnt accurate.but its better than nothing.

i dont run the aac valve on my car except during smog test.the warm up valve has a bimetal strip that closes gradualy if 12v is applied to it.if you run an iac valve it should take the place of warm up valve-it bypasses air around throttle body.if you need any help or suggestions email me -i will be happy to come to you house to help you out if invited.

i have a copy of that mag somewhere.car was white in article.if anybody wants a copy of that article email me-but only if you are serious about doing this.i dont have a scanner-i will have to copy it and send it snail mail.

i would bolt on a head wwith about 20ft/lbs torque and put some clay on piston and turn motor through by hand.measure depth of clay where valve hit.it is better to know for your self than to find out the hard way.edelbrock probably has a cam to match the heads.best to find a good 5.0 shop and see what they are running.the problem with hydralic roller lifters is weight-6250 is about the limit for revs because of reciprocating mass of lifter.the after markit heads moved valve position slightly-that is why you should check it.

a bolt on 4 valve head for l28 with electronicly actuated valves?no need for pesky timing chain.spark plug in middle of dome-hemi head.as soon as some company works out a valve actuator it will happen.more cars will have engines that rev like honda s2000 sports car.tuning will be easy-just reprogram it.

found a problem in my 77 z-it was riding hard.i thought the tokico illumina struts were out after 5years.but after checking things out on alignment rack a found out the sway bar bushings on car body were not allowing bar to swivel-bushings were acting like a torsion spring.removed them and applied 3m silicon paste.ride is much better now.then i tracked the problem of the rear steering sideways slightly when i got off of gas on freeway.the urathene bushings were wearing out the mounting points in unit body.i put oem nissan bushings back in .i am still going to contact tokico about warrenty on struts -supposed to be lifetime.the 250"lb springs are hard on struts .my car is a reasearch and development vehicle.i have tried a lot of aftermarkit stuff and alot of parts have been tossed .i am trying to make car like a new corvette -no funny noises just results.most people probably wont have these problems if car isnt driven much.another problem is old paint and corrosion on wheel mounting faces-cleaned these parts up and got rid of alot of high speed vibration but i am changing rear tires soon .i still have the cv adaptors laying around that i got from scottie.i am going to try these soon after i get a machinest buddy to weld them to the 280z flanges .i have a good welder but i dont have a lath to spin the unit after tack welding to check run out.car is used 50 miles a day at 80 mph.since i am a ford dealer tech i am sensative to vibration-i work on brakes and suspension.