HB280ZT

Something with this setup does not sound right. When I did my 82 280ZXT timing I did this. Went to TDC on the crank and verified the distributor and cam where all correct, #1 TDC. Rotated the crank back 60 BTDC and moved the distributor so that the window prior to #1 plug/rotor were set and that I got the light on the MS unit. This is what I used as my reference for the #1 cylinder. Now when I run the car it is set to 60 deg on my trigger angle. I am running 16 BTDC as my fixed idle setting, verified on the crank with a timing light. Now not sure if my way of doing this is correct or not but i know that I can run a full 39 deg when I need it. HB280ZT

I had a friend of mine that had a problem like this and it was the line from the tank to the fuel pump. Basically it was twisted and compressing at high rpms when at the track, which was reducing fuel flow at high rpm's. Also another trick you can try is to hook a light up to the fuel pump and see if the light is changing when you are at rpm? I am running my pump directly off of the battery by using a relay from MS just to make sure I am getting good power to the pump at all times. Also have a clear filter betwwen tank and pump to make sure I am getting fuel and no stuff in the pump. Just a thought or two! HB280ZT

I would start with timing also. Use a timing light to verify that you have the same timing on the crank as you have set in the MS at idle. If it is the same then check the initial settings and try to get the kpa down to around mid 30's or so. Also your fuel map could be way rich. I am running about 8.3 on initial and mid 30's on map and I am running at about 14.5 or so on my LC1 at idle. Also remember that you will have to let the car warm up if you have an enrichment setup for cold starts. Just some things to check. HB280ZT

So if the shifter sits 1" forward then you can see about moving the motor and tranny back 1" to compensate for it, at least that is what I would like to do in my car!! I just picked up an 82 280ZXT T-5 to eventually put in 77 280Z. So if you can post any pictures it will help me in the long run. So what did the tranny shop do to your T-5? HB280ZT

Well all I have been running the car with the 91mm head gasket for about 2 weeks now, 500 miles or so and so far no water in the oil. Now during this time I did put it on the full course at VIR and hammered on it pretty good. You know full boost 15 psi and full rpms 6000 in the straights. So I am please with the fit and all so far, 91mm x 2mm metal gasket on a stock turbo bottom end . As for the mfg not recommending it then ask them what to use and see what they say?? Because I looked and could not find anyone with an 87mm metal head gasket. Matter of fact when I checked my Felpro gasket it was right at 90mm. So not sure what to tell you other then to try it. I will stick with 91mm metal head gasket and run the like crazy and we will see if I have any problems. Right now the car is running very rich so I need to get that problem fixed. Plus I had to pull the exhaust manifold the other day and send it back to Jet hot as I cooked off the coating they recommended and I am getting the next step up to try. We will see if it works or not. Hope this helps. HB280ZT

Well time to bring this back from the dead. I am very interested in running a COP with my MS V3 using the stock 280ZXT distributor. We have a good bit of information going on this L28 post about using a 280ZXT dissy CAS to power a Wolf 3D EMS so why not use MS?? http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=119783 So if we can use the stock dissy with modified CAS and say LS1/2 coils will we need to use VB921 for each of the coils?? If so what will be the output for each of the 6 coils, also what will the wiring diagram look like? Hb280ZT

This is great information. So will you be making anymore of those nice distrubutor caps? Now because some of the coils have ignitors as part of the coil do you need drivers such as the VB921 from the MS system to drive the coils? HB280ZT

But one of the problems with the stock 280ZXT distributor is that it does not have a reference mark for #1 position. That is why people keep telling me that I would have to use a 36-1 crank sensor. So how do you accomplish this with the ZXT dist? Could you install a 300ZX CAS unit to give you the #1 position? HB280ZT

I was wondering the same about the optical sensor providing the signal to the COP system. Inquiring minds want to know?? HB280ZT

BJ, I had an ultrashield in my 280Z before the SCCA got a hold of me, but that is another story. I picked up a 16" 20 deg seat and I like it alot, makes steering and shifting much better then the stock seats. I have a 35" waist am 73" tall. Now I am mounting mine on 1/8 flat steel directly to the 280Z slide rail ends and my head clears the roof by about 1/2" with my helmet on. With the seat cushion in place my seat is 15 1/4" wide at the harness thru points. I would go with a 15" 20 deg and I hope this helps some. HB280ZT

Another item that you should check is that the valves are adjusted correctly. Because if they are adjusted to tight then you will have some of the problems that you are mentioning. Just my .02. But I have to agree with the first guy, it is a ford thing!! lol lol Good luck and I hope you get it running correctly. HB280ZT

rdsk8ter, I have one question for you. How much track experience do you currently have? If the answer is nil to none then I would not worry about the car at this time, because your car is more capable then you. You see I have been working on my 77 280Z turbo for quit a while now and have just started the High Performance Driving Education (HPDE) training. I really wish my car had not been modified as much as it has, because I think it is hampering me some in my learning. That is why I have stopped working on the car, other then normal maintenance and safety items. I want to learn to drive the car in its current condition to its fullest, and then make improvements to help both with car and driver performance. Now planning the cars future is not a bad idea, but I would not go over board until my driving skills were at that level. So go ahead and figure out what you will need to do to the car get there but worry about learning to drive first. Now this is the advice of a level 1 HPDE student with only 5 events under his belt, so take it as you will and enjoy yourself because the training and track time is a lot of fun!! Also do you really need that much power on a track?? If you are driving on a road course I am not sure it will benefit you with the car you have. We have a 240Z over here called the Red Bird and it is just plain fast on the track. It only makes about 300 rwhp so how much is really enough on the track, who knows!! Good luck. HB280ZT

Well my Fel-pro lasted about 1 year at 15 psi before it let loose the other day on the back strecth of VIR. I am running a turbo lower end with an N42 head, turbo cam, intercooler, 60mm TB, MS1 V3 and getting 300 rwhp. You know doing over 120 mph or so then get on the brakes and down shifting from 5th to 4th going into turn 14 then I notice this big cloud of white smoke out the rear view mirror. I manage to get the car to the paddock before it stopped running for good. The car had this very sickly sweet smell and when I pulled the plugs 2 cylinders were full or green water, go figure. The head gasket was shot and had been leaking for a bit. Replaced it with a 2mm metal gasket (getting hard to find) and now it runs pretty good and I am getting ready to take the car back to VIR this weekend. So standby to standby you will blow the fel-pro head gasket! HB280ZT

Ok, I will check that after I the motor cools down and I can retorque teh head, intake and exhaust bolts. Right now I know the timing is off because I have 16 in the MS and am reading 12 with a timing light. Thanks for the help. HB280ZT

I changed the oil to start with and found some water in it. So when I got the car back together again I ran the car for 30 minutes to clean everything out and drain the oil again. Now I am waiting for the motor to cool then I will check the torque on all of the bolts to include, head, intake and exhaust bolts. I did check the block and the head for straighteness and everything looked good. I did clean the head, block and new metal head gasket with brake cleaner before assembling everything. Now it will be tomorrow morning before I can see if the car still smokes but with the temperature down in the 20's - 40's it maybe hard to tell if the car is smoking or just cold.

Hi All, Well I got the 91mm gasket installed and the car finally running, had some MS timing issues! So the million dollar question is how long will I continue to get the white eshaust smoke out the tail pipe and the sweet smell?? I understand the whole exhaust has radiator fluid in it and will have to burn off but how long is to long or do I have another problem? thanks for the help. Harry

Guys, Thanks for the help but I just got it running again. What I did was this. Set everything up like factor with #1 pistion at TDC compression stoke, crank on TDC and the rotor (center of sweep) pointing at the #1 plug pickup. I then marked the next cas window that is BTDC and then moved the crank to the 60 deg BTDC. Then I removed the oil pump (several times) and moved the shaft so that it would line up with the cas window I needed for the MS to light the center light. Then I put it all back together again and it RUNS!!! I checked the timing and it is running at about 12 degs so I think I need to change my setting in the MS unit. I have idle timing set to 16 deg so I am off by a few degrees. Thanks for the help. Harry

Timing update. When I have crank set at 60 deg BTDC and have put the distributor to the next window and now I am like 90 deg BTDC when I try and run it. So when I put the crank back to TCD the rotor is no where near the #1 plug pickup. So it will not run. I did notice that the windows on the CAS are at 30 deg between each of the plug pickups. Plus the rotor has a swing of about 60 deg which is the same as the distance between each of the windows. So does the stock ECU use the 30 deg difference to fire the coil? So that being said do I really need to go over 60 deg to meet the timing window or can I just hit the window at 30 deg and then with a rotor that has 60 deg of sweep I should be good to go. That will give me a full 90 deg of possible timing????? Harry

I had to take the front of the motor off because the timing chain moved and would not line up on the cam gear. See post: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=119250 So I removed the oil pump and the shaft. That is why I had to redo the entire setup. Here is a picture of my CAS unit at 60 deg BTDC. http://album.hybridz.org/showphoto.php?photo=13290&size=big&cat=500 If you look at this picture it is taken with the crank at 60 deg BTDC but it still has distance to go before it hits the next window. When I checked the timing with a light it was lighting at TDC. This is using the setup I used when it was last running. So what to try now? Harry

Hi All, Well I did a search but did not really find what I was looking for. I did have the motor running really good but I blew a head gasket and it went down hill from there with the timing. However, I got it all back together again and set correctly. I did have the motor running before the head gasket went south but I do not remember what I did over a year ago to get this thing timed and running so I am at a loss!! Starting information. MS1 V3 with the extra code. 82 turbo motor with the 82 opti distributor I have the engine currently setup with the dampener at TDC and the rotor pointing at #1 plug. I moved the engine to 60 deg BTDC and the nearest window in the CAS wheel is still a bit off. So what to do? What to do next? do I have to move the distributor to the next trigger point? Also at TDC i noticed that the nearest window is at 30 deg BTDC or 30 deg ATDC. Harry

Also something to think about is metal head gasket availability. I just had to replace mine and the only one that I could purchase was the 2mm metal head gasket. From what I have been told the 1mm is no longer being made so this may change your plans. Just a thought. HB280ZT

Yasin, Thanks for the information. Now everything fits like it should. This is why I really like this site. You ask for help and someone comes through with some great advice. Thanks again for the help. Now I just need to get the gaskets that I have on order tomorrow and I can start putting the motor back together again. HB280ZT

Hi All, OK here is the basic information: 82 280ZXT motor with a blown head, see earlier theard: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=119166 it has an N42 head with a turbo cam. So here is the problem. I picked up a 2mm metal head gasket and installed it. I then tried to install the timing gear on the cam but it would not fit. So I then pulled the front cover and removed the tensioner but the chain would still not fit. So I pulled the curved chain guide and then the chain would install on the cam. But now I can not install 1 of the screws on the chain guide. Basically the chain is to tight all the way around!! So what can I do! Do I need to get a longer chain?? If so what is the part number? I really need to get this motor together so that I can run it at VIR next weekend. Thanks for the help! HB280ZT

The LT1 motor should bolt up to the T56 that you are looking at getting, so go for it. The only problem area with GM engine tranny combos is then you try and mix and match SB3 with SB1 or SB2 parts. Early GM V8's SB1 or small block 1st gen LT1 engine (92 to 96) is an SB2 or small block 2nd gen LS series 96 and later is an SB3 or small block 3rd gen I hope this helps. HB280ZT