randy 77zt

havent been doing any major work to my z-just minor maintenance-see post.enjoy your honeymoon.what kind of wine do you like-red or white?randy

sean-the stock 280zxt head pipe is 3" at cat flange.i have all 3" pipe-i put a magnaflow 3" muffler under cat heatshield and used to 90 degree mandrel bends and a chrome tip .for smog check i have a 2.5 " pipe with cat and no muffler.you should run all 3" with a muffler that has no baffles-like a magnaflow or borla-you know what my car sounds like.at 14 psi boost you are running the air flow of a 5.6 liter engine.a good muffler shop can make a 3" pipe with a flange to bolt to stock head pipe.my pipes take about 10 minutes to change when car is on rack.

i wouldnt try doing fiberglass in california-the enviromental regulations would kill you.but you get get fiber glass parts made in mexicali cheap.thanks to nafta they make everything there now.sony makes tvs there-makita makes powertools there.plus no worrys about evaporative emissions.

a 302 with aluminum heads is lighter than l28.i can carry a bare 302 block-i can only drag an l28 block.

there arent any accesory drives on this motor-nor are there any brackets.the ac,alt and ps pump bolt directly to threaded hole cast in block.its a serpentine system.complete unit is shorter than 5.0 in length and has rear sump.newer units dont even have spark plug wires.the cop (coil on plug) are hiding under covers.i have been thinking about a ford engine because local shelby club has good track events in my area and they accept cars with ford engines .the newer 2000 sohc 4.6 hade some upgrades from factory -i drive new mustangs at work.alternat source is a lincoln mark 8 but some parts are different.

a suggestion for 4x4 z-ditch the z crossmember and build a new one.get some front struts from a fwd car.when you get it all together have some shafts splined to fit the cv joints.for inspiration i spend time looking at parts cars at local pick&pull-lots of parts to look at.also look at world rally cars .i used to be on a pit crew for a offroad racing team.the more different types of cars you look at the more possabilities for solutions you will get.

i have got prices from 2 different sources for 20bt at $3500.the best way to make rotor seal last in these is to use some 2 stroke dirt bike oil in the gas.most mazda engines had a little pump that uses some of the crankcase oil and injects it into intake.so if you wind it up you burn oil.best to run oil in gas and get rid of oil injection.i have watched a late model rx7 at thunderhill run with a 3 rotor.it sounds like f1 car.

for picture of 3 rotor 20bt twin turbo goto www.corksport.com.3 rotor would fit easy in a z.i have lots of l28 turbo parts laying around but i think i would buy a 20bt before spending a lot of money on l28 motor.

i have been working on my suspension and trying different parts for 5 years.i use car for daily driver and for driver schools/open track events at sears point,laguna,thunderhill.i have a pile of parts i have tried and removed-not happy with results.my car usually is in the top 10 in lap times at track.i am trying to build car with no squeeks and rattles but hauls on track.i just put new oem nissan bushings in rear-the urathene bushings wre actually hogging out the unit body.i want car to drive like new m3 or z06-so i am doing reasearch & development 1 piece at a time with track testing.the only rattle i have right now is rf camber plate-but that is going to be removed for inspection soon and a return to ground control.but i cant fault them because part has been in car for 4 years and car is used for a work car-52 mile commute.i got rid of camber plates in rear-to noisy.i use coil overs though-buy a wierd set up.12" long springs from ground control.if you lower car too much it will push-best place to check set up is turn 6 at sears.most people dont use their z as hard as i do-but i didnt buy it to look at.if you ant my complete set up email me.

i dont know much about this alternator but i know it is not a 1 wire unit.the plug in the alternator has 3 or 4 wires but you will need at least 2.1 wire will go to key on and 1 wire will sense battery voltage.get a wiring diagram from a car that used a cs130 altnand trace wiring down-you will find the answer to the puzzle.some of the newer cars use the ecm to regulate the voltage on alt.i am a fird tech and we have be reprogramming windstar ecm to supply more charge to battery.

i am a ford dealer tech-i have worked on these engines.they make lots of mid range torque bit die at about 5500 to 6000 rpm.if you get it hot it blows head gaskits.but the radiator was to small in tbird-ford made it more narrow to put intercooler beside it.the tbird would overheat if boost was kept on in a road race use-we tried it at sears point twice on a lowered tbird that had some sticky tires on it.it would probably make a fun street engine in a z because of fat midrange torque -sideways driving at 2500 or 3000 rpm with a 3.7 lsd.the tbird we played with had the supercharger overdriven with aftermarkit pulley and no cats.tbirds are heavy-3600 lbs.trans has a wide ratio spread-best set up would be a 3.8 mustang bell housing with a world class t5.not oem ford t5-the trans will be granny gear in 1st if you use oem trans.we switched the tbird to 3.55 from 2.83-first was good for launch only.this engine would work in a z with a good radiator and move intercooler to front.actually i am not a fan of this engine-it sounds like a tractor or something like that.i would rather use supercharger for a l28 motor and toss the rest-maybe keep intercooler.but my 77/81zxt car beat my buddys time at sac raceway so i am prejudiced.

try keeping track of weather-if it is colder out you will probably be getting more of a pressure drop because of cooling of air.most hardcore drag racers have one of those mini weather stations in the transporter.at glamis dunes i burned a 1/2" hole in the piston of my cr500 powered quad atv.it was cold and the gaint transporter i walked too had a weather station in it.owner said we were equal to 1500 below sea level at that time-he told me what was wrong with out even seeing what i was riding.

75 & 76 are the same.somewhere in 77 nissan changed the rear floor and used a bigger tank.i have a 77 car and a 76 parts car and have niticed big difference in rear floor.77 tank is bigger but wont fit in early cars i think.owen has the 76 tank.do not weld on gas tanks unless rinsed many times and filled with water or c02.or if you are going to sue me for this advice just dont weld on gas tanks.75 or 76 tanks are great because the hose out is large-11 mm .plus a return line and baffles.if you are on east coast you should buy z parts in ca-they have pick&pulls where they just about give the stuff away if you are willing to get dirty.

from what i have read on other websites a 5/16 or 8mm line is good for 400hp at 40 psi.that pump is a good pump-runs forever.mount close to tank and use a filter before pump.if you need a selection on pumps for reasonable price get a catalog from kinsler fuel injection.other junk yard option is a bmw pump from a car with cis injection-like an old 530i.

i had a 1.125 sway bar on front but changed it to 15/16 because car has bad push in turn 6 at sears point.most people wont run a car this hard (to the limit ) though and trying this on a public road isnt good.most race cars tune first with spring rate then fine tune with sway bars.i know a guy with a v8 z with no sway bars-it has 350 in/lb springs.the more spring you run then you can run aa smaller bar.sway bars actually bind the suspension.

i run my car on road race tracks and just switched to 3.7 lsd from 3.54.with a 5.0 you would want a 3.54 if the car is a daily driver.i just put a set of 3.55 in a stock 89 5.0 and it works great.the oem t5 needs a world class gear set kit installed though for road course work.the oem t5 has a 3.35 first to use with 2.73 or 3.08 rear.the ratio spread id too wide for track use.the ratio you use really depends on if you use car for daily use or just a weekend car.my car sees a very fast freeway commute so low gears are out of the question.

most noises from camber plates on car come from play in part of plate that the monoball bearing sits in.i have ground control camber plates in front and left side has always been quite.right side has a little play vertically in sockit that bearing rides in and as time goes on its getting worse.i will probably pull it out for inspection soon.just got all of the noises and vibration out of rear suspension.i am trying to make the car ride like a new car.

350 hp at the wheels?

been there -done that.couldnt take the noise.i put the 240 z spring cushions back in with coil over spring seat resting on rubber.you have to remember that strut tower is directly behind your head.these parts are made for racing-i use car for race track/driver schools but also for a daily driver.i dont change set up when i get to the track-car is set up on alignment rack the day before.buy the control arms.i am taking out the urethene bushings-they are worn out faster than oem bushings and now i have toe change in rear getting on and off the gas.when you cut out strut tower for camber plates you get road noise from tires too.

best bet for performance is to have injectors cleaned & tested.if you advance the injector pump timing it helps some.you can also have the fuel rate on pump recalibrated.i worked on a 300 mercedes a long time ago and we cleaned injectors-it ran like a new car.bmw has a european 5 series diesel car that is speed limited to 155 mph.i had a ford diesel truck that i turned up fuel rate and advanced timing and people thouht it was turbocharged.there is nothing wrong with diesel engines-it is just a learning thing.i wouldnt mind putting a maxima diesel in a z to use for a work car.

i have never had a problem in front but the camber i run makes the fender clearence.i scrape in rear while on track when hauling a passenger.i run 225/50-15 kumho.

as for broken headbolts-if you spray them with liquid wrench and let it sit for a while you can push the bolt around with a hammer and a small chisel or punch.if some of the bolt is sticking out add oil and hit it with hammer.i learned the hard way about pitted head bolts-do not reuse.i usually run a tap through head bolt holes and clean with brake cleaner and compressed air until it is very clean and head bolt screws in easy.everything should be clean.

if you goto datafast's website you can download a software sample -it is very easy to use .i have been playing with it for a while and is 10 times better than haltech's dos program.datafast has an ad in racecar engineering magazine for a unit for 350 quid-i think thats about $750.depends on the features you need .somebody that actually works in the computor industry shold have no problem with the datafast program.

i am collecting parts to build up a turbo engine with more hp.has anyone sent an exhaust manifold to extrude hone?this gets places where you cant get grinder into.

i have a rear disc brake set up from dp racing that uses a 84 300zx rotor ,willwood dynalite single 2 piston caliper and billit caliper brackit.no problems in 4 years of use except for pad squeek .no e brake though-i got rid of all that stuff.mike scca is building almost same set up except for outlaw caliper.car is driven hard on road race tracks-try 105 mph into turn 10 at thunderhill.rear brakes always work-have to keep line pressure down or else get rear lock up.easy install with cutting torch-cut off old backing plate and bolt on brackit with 3 bolts-20 minutes per wheel.