randy 77zt

I have built 2 cars with engine swaps that got bar certifed -it wasnt that hard but you have to know and understand how all the smog systems work.But that was before engines with the obd2 computor system.An engine with obd2(1996 up) would be more of a challenge.The law about 1975- earlier cars having to retain all equipment probably will never go away-but enforcing it will be up to your local leo's.If you build a flashy car(japanese tuner parts stickers,wings) and drive stupid you will get stopped.If you build a build a z with a clean paint job,nice wheels,drive normal and have the front and rear license plates on you probably will get left alone-even if it does have an illegal swap as long as its not loud.

Not all counties in California require a biannual inspection.But if you do something to piss off a leo you will probably be asked to open the hood. Then get referred to the smog referree station and the snowball starts from there.I used to be a ford dealer tech and have a smog license.A 88-94 mustang efi would be a fairly easy swap and would not be hard to certify if you know how ALL systems work- like the evap system on the fuel tank.I had my turbo swap certified in my 77.The problem is then the engine has to be left basically stock and you will have to do that biannual inspection.

My turbo engine was origially a 1981 motor. I converted the 90 tooth wheel to a 30-1 wheel by grinding every 2 teeth out of the wheel.I welded a tab on the a/c tensioner bracket and run a cherry brand industrial gear tooth sensor

My empty much abused 1500sq/ft tract house man cave is getting a makeover.bathrooms and kitchen are getting gutted and replaced.I have noticed modular style + Ikea cabinets where you buy the sections you need.I dont really want to spend $10k just to have custom cabinet work done.Any of you guys ever had experience with theses types of cabinets?

The stock 280z 5 speed trans has a big ratio jump between 2nd & 3rd gear.And 5th is too close to 4th.The t5 has some wierd ratios.I have a built turbo engine but i used to use my car on road course track days.I use a 83 280zx na trans.nice ratio spread and best 5th for freeway running.run this trans with a 3.7 or 3.9 rear

A cat convertor makes alot of heat.my 77 280 had a cat just below the drive shaft with a long heat shield above it.If the original car didnt have a cat you will have to install heat shielding .Do you have any sound deadening under your carpet?Most newer cars have a big sound mat on the firewall inside the car.I used to run a big magnaflow 3" pipe X 21" oval offset outlet muffler in the space where the cat used to be but i bottemed the car out and now have a shorter dynomax .my car is a 3.0 l series turbo engine.I liked the longer magnaflow better.A friend of mine is putting a 5.3 gen3 chevy in his z and we talked about using 1 of those magnaflow oval mufflers that have 2 pipes in and 2 pipes out and mounting it under the drive shaft.

have 2 p90 in central california

johnc's engine is probably built for a certain scca class .When the rules limit what you can do you have to find all of the horsepower you can get.Very carefull assembly(not like me-I run junkyard parts) can get some extra hp but you pay the $ for the talent..My opinion is the biggest horsepower loss is the power it takes to open the valve springs.Engine builders like Sunbelt or Rebello have built enough engines to know if a valve spring with lower tension( and less hp loss) will work for a certain customers intended use.

They (oil companies) are lowering the zinc levels in the diesel oil because the newer diesels have cat convertors.The camshaft is really what needs the zinc.I have beenrunning valvoline 20-50 racing-supposed to still have zinc.Another critical application is motorcycle oil-the same oil runs through the motor and transmission gears.The main problem is that most of the oil on the rack now at you local autozone store really isnt designed for old nissan engines or engines that dont have rollar cam followers.If I was on road with my z and needed oil I would feel safer running 15-40 diesel oil or motorcycle oil than that 5w-30 watery stuff that is easier to get.If you had a completely custom machined engine with known clearences on all parts you could get more hp with a light weight synthetic oil .But my engine is a poor mans stroker build with pick&pull parts so it gets the 20-50

I think the idea is about more accurate cam timing + possably less friction from losing the timing chain tesioner block.If you had a cylinder head that was milled alot and had an adjustable top timing chain sprocket you could easily adjust for your combination of parts.

The car is basically a fancy camry.The engines were known to have an issue with generating sludge if the oil wasnt changed.Short trip driving and sitting can make a sludge problem worse.

It is the reverse light switch-might be available from local napa store.Or if your dont have the back up light seal it up with jb weld

I used to run a lot of track days.I did my braking while the car was still rolling in a straight line .when I was done braking I turned the steering wheel for the corner and used a small amount of throttle to try to keep the weight even front to rear.My car handles well enough so that I really only turned the wheel and held the setting i turned it to-no sawing back and forth on the steering wheel mid corner.At the apex I would start to feed in power with the throttle.If you chop the throttle or brake mid corner you are shifting weight around and overloading the suspension .

I used to work as a ford dealer tech and repaired t5's-I really didnt see any problems from an overloaded trans.1 of the other techs was drag racing a 88 mustang with a t5.engine was out to 347" and had a supercharger.Car was running high 10's in the 1/4 mile.The trans broke at about 80 runs.After removal it was found the the owner had forgotten to install a pilot bearing in the back of the crank.Since I am more of a road course kind of guy I would have no problem running a t5

Any recommendations on a parts source for z or 280zx 5 speed trans parts?

I used a turbo block,diesel crank,vg30dett pistons,9mm l24 rods, ported n42 head to build my engine.Why? becuase i got the parts free or got them at the local pick&pull.Its my ghetto stroker.My machinest bushed the rods for the full floating pins on the vg pistons.The nisssan pistons can be set up with less cylinder wall clearence than after market forged pistons.My short block cost about $1000 to build..

When the original z hit the market there was still leaded premium gas at a reasonable price and most cars got 10 mpg.Combustion chamber design was still kind of a guessing game.If you are building your own engine it is up to you to get the correct combination of parts to suit the purpose of what the engine will be used for.Combustion chamber shape,spark plug location,Ignition timing,air fuel ratios have a lot to do with an engines likelyhood of preignition.most modern dohc 4 valve engines have the spark plug in the center of the combustion chamber .this allows for less ignition advance used and a shorter flame front that burns faster.with the amount of old datsun parts around you should be able to build an engine to run on lower octane fuel.I used that ozdat engine calculator to work out the combination of parts for my turbo engine.

Somewhere I have heard that these carbs will flow more cfm than round tops.As far as mixture goes I would get a 2 channel wide band o2 sensor gauge to monitor the carbs with.This would take out the guess work and give reliable data to work with.I have heard of people chucking the needles in a lathe and machining them with emory cloth.complying with class rules makes you use your brain instead of your wallet

For a daily driver i would put a late model 16v 240 sx motor in it-not big in a peak horsepower number but lots of torque would make it a good cruiser .I had a 1970 with the 2.0l and 5 speed.I wish I still had that car-the engine was eager to rev and liked to be pushed.

On the original z engine the intake and exhaust manifold flanges are close to the same thickness.when you bolted it to the cylinder head they were then clamped with the same pressure under the bolts with the shared thick washers.this is why aftermarket header gaskits are hard to seal on a z.the intake and exhaust manifolds must be the same thickness-this can be corrected by machining .get the original mounting washers-try courtesy nissan.holley carbs can be made to work but its probably jetted rich and the power valves are probably blown.my pic wiould be a set of z therapy su carbs with oem nissan manifolds.

Gauges and data loging all in 1 unit-kind of small though

Its probably just the bearing on the clutch and you could probably get this part by buying on old z compressor at the local wrecker and taking the parts you need off of it.next choice would be to change over to newer sanden compressor-which would take making custom hoses and a new compressor mount.the sanden compressor takes much less HP to turn.

If you dont shock load the rear diff(drag racing ,burnouts)I would leave the r180 in for awhile and drive it.With gas at $4 a gallon you will need all the help you can get .If you can get a wide band o2 set up on it to tune it that will help alot with gas mileage and the fumes in the back.If you just bolt on an old holley carb from a garage sale you are gaurenteed bad gas milage.

If the car will only be used on weekends in town it will work ok.If you need to drive it on a freeway for long distance i would get a 3.55 diff.The car set up depends on your intended use.the 4.11 with the v8 wil probably allow you to skip gears.

I kad what i thought was a diff clunk and it was a worn trans mount-the rubber was weak and metal parts were hitting together.bought a new trans mont from autozone-noise gone.about $20 and 10 minutes