Gollum

Well the L28ET came with a T-5 that was pretty similar to the old ford T5, but I might be completely wrong in that. Even in the 280ZX the T5 came insanely close to the shifter opening, so close that it's nearly impossible to get the shifter plate off without dropping the trans mount to give you some clearence to work. It pretty much sits about less than an inch from the tunnel itself in the 280ZX car, which as far as I know has a very similar trans tunnel in shape and size compared to the S30 cars (they use the same transmission mount even). If it were me: If it hangs too low = Cut and weld it to clear If it hangs too low for comfort, but is probably ok = Make some support bars to go in front and back of the sump to act as protection so if you bottom out the weight hits the bars, not the oil pan.

There's also a chance if in your state NOx was tested for that the wide gapped spark would result in higher NOx numbers. Just an assumption, maybe wrong maybe right. In my experience it's very hard to do anything that will adjust just ONE aspect of emissions, and the more things they test for (like 3 gasses here in CA) the harder it is to find that balance point. If you put on a cat for test passing purposes and ran a test pipe the rest of the time I'd guarentee you'd have an easier time passing. But you passed, that's all that matters. BTW, the law is being put into effect right now in CA, but now we have to pass a test on the EVAP system that pumps nitrogen into the gas tank and checks pressure stability to varify there are no leaks in your fuel system.... greeeeeat.

Great info jgkurz! Though I would like more info about the testing. What were you using to measure the AFR? I assume the smog machine? Also, did you have a cat installed? I personally think that you could get nearly any street modified vehicle to pass with the right scenarios. It's all just a matter of dialing in the AFR and the timing and tweeking other things if they need to be. Things like the spark plug and gap shouldn't even make a big enough difference compared to the AFR. I just got my CRX to pass WITH A MISS and a super super lean mixture. (16+ ranges) How did it pass? I honestly have no clue, but with super retarded timing and reving the engine as hard as possible pretest to keep it hot we passed with CO at .00% at 15pmh and .01 at 25mph, NOx was within 5% of max number, and max HC at 25mph was 108 and we measured 107... My next big challenge will be getting my 200k+ L28ET swap to pass the L28E emissions with what looks to be a gutted cat. Fun fun fun

I've ridden in... lemme think... 7 280ZX cars, and ALL of them read in the middle or down where yours is. My conclusion is what tony D said... the stock guage sucks like a tornado. It's calibration is off at least a good 10% from car to car, but it'll show you a reliable "relative" temperature. If you check the temp with a reliable calibrated meter like johnC said just know that it's fine and watch out for anything higher.

Hmm, I'd kinda like to see pictures of that. Guys here fit the T56 six speed into those cars without there being too big of a problem. How far back do you have the transmission? Where exactly are you running out of room? Worse case scenario I'd imagine you could notch the crossmember and mount the engine forward a bit more to give you more clearence in the tunnel. Just seems strange to ever have a problem fitting a T5 in there as it's been done plenty of times before with no issues. EDIT: Maybe now is a time to look into how much a DIY dry sump system would cost? Usually people try to get their motor as lowe as possible. You've bypassed this issue all together. Maybe that's a good thing? Or is this motors oil sump really that low? Seems a bit extreme.

Hey, just because there's other people crazy like you doesn't mean you're not crazy. But I think it's a great idea. I think BMW has the right idea, and to me it looks like they're working off of the patented idea that was created by bruce crower (owner of the cam company which shares the same name). His design is a 6 stroke that adds a 3rd cycle that's a steam cycle. The idea is that it cools off the chamber wich A) Allows for higher compression/boost and significantly reduces emissions. I'm not all that for "green" in the conventional sense, but if an engine produces less emissions because of a design, then in theory that engine can run a bit more power to bring it back up to market standards. Imagine if the first 6 stroke engine on the market was a 600HP corvette that produced the emissions of a honda... The really nice thing about this idea is that the steam cycle is actually a dual purpose cycle. It DOES create power, all while cooling the chamber. So in future modification there's two power cycles to look into for extra power, and in theory the hotter you make the water (via more HP like in the BMW system) the more power the water could create.

Yea that's a power rack n' pinion. Becuase it's a power rack i'd suggest a smaller diameter wheel as you won't need the leverage as much as speed. Then just go to the track and feel it out from there to see if more needs to be done.

Ahh, good point tony. Didn't know that about the eurospec models. Regarless of what they were rated at though, there's lots of power lying in ALL the EFI motors if they're equiped with a modern ECS system. MrFancypants also brings up a good point. As far as actual racing goes you'd be better off working on the suspension and brakes before the engine, and in the name of safety on the street, it's still a wise choice. There's tons of good info on those topics here, and if you just want something mild for the street it shouldn't cost much either.

The hard to get nature of these isn't a joke. My poor poor brother is working at target this holiday season and 2 weeks before thanksgiving they sold 42 units in 2 hours on a sunday morning. It's just gonna get worse the next 3 weeks. You might think that nintendo is purposely stalling production but that's not the case. If you look at unit sales and the size of the company nintendo is actually making these quite fast. I slept at a best buy all night for the debut to get mine. I can't believe more than a year later they're still selling out though. Way to go for the Big N.

Watching one of the latest top gears from the current season (series 10) I got a really good visual extreme of what we're talking about. Jeremy was testing a car designed by mclaren engineers (can't remember the name of the car) and it's basically a road going F1 car. Weight is measured in negative pounds and it has something like 575 hp out a 3.5 liter V8. He kept having problems driving it at low speeds because the handling was SHOT from the lack of downforce from the air speed. Basically without serious downforce the car doesn't have the mass to give the tires any traction. If you take a block of anything you have near you, (looking at a postit pad here at work) set it on a flat surface and push it. Now put a heavy object on it and push it... harder? duh. The lighter you make a car the stickier and wide the tires need to be to be able to create the same extreme loads on the drivetrain. There simply isn't the traction avaible. As mass changes traction changes. And simply hooking a car up to tow something wouldn't simulate this at all, the weight would have to be ON the tires in order to push DOWN towards the ground. So draw whatever conclusions you want out of this, but I think I've explained my idea of the physics involved in a very communicative and understandable manner.

I've been reading his posts for a long time now, and his write up STILL make my brain explode. It's hard to say there's any easy DIY power in the L28E (e for EFI). There's guys here than know a lot more than me, that's for sure, but IF you know how to tune a carb you're probably better off ditching the efi from some carbs. There's several options that you can research on this site. Something to consider though is that the L28E was only rated at around 135hp, and the origonal 2.4 liter version was rated at 110 (might be off, someone correct me if I'm wrong). Going to just a well tuned carb could get you up to as high as 160hp, plus a bit more with supporting mods like full exhaust and a camshaft. The nice thing is that these motors create decent amounts of torque and will move the car quite nicely. Though honestly if you wait long enough and keep hunting a turbo conversion might be just as affordable for the HP per dollor. But it really depends on how deep you want to get in mods and how comfortable you are with mods and such. Example: A completely stock turbo L28 is gonna produce about 180hp, but a COMPLETELY stock L38ET using megasquirt instead of the stock computer, with raise fuel pressure, and raised PSI from the turbo will be able to reach about 210 wheel HP (remember that the stock 180 I reffered to was crank, which would be about 155 or less wheel HP). At that point you're gonna want an intercooler because your air charge will be getting too hot from the turbo, add an intercooler and raise the boost and now you're at 250 wheel HP, all on a 90% stock motor and very low investment costs. But that's also very DIY and can be a headache if you don't know what you're doing (might even be a headache for some that DO know what they're doing). So for the sake of simplicity it might be wise to just carb the ol' L28E, do some small bolt on stuff and be happy with around 200 crank HP. Braap hails from the northwest up there and has some very affordable pricing on headwork if I recall correctly. I'm not sure where his prices start for mild work, but I remember his high end stuff was pretty decent in price and he's an honorable guy from everything I've seen. But even some basic headwork combined with well tuned carbs would make for one quick little Z.

I really would like to know how much modification that's really gonna require, and how similar in shape the water passages are. Might actually be a very interesting swap to look into as used LS1 heads can be much easier to come by than good aftermarket heads for a SBF. What are you gonna run for an intake and exhaust?

I agree that this wasn't the brightest thing, but people do 160+ all day long on certain parts of the autobahn and there have been plenty cases of 200+ speeds on the non-speed restricted sections. I'm 100% in agreement that this kinda action should be kept to the track, but I don't think doing 200+ should automatically mean it's a stupid thing to do. If having sex was made illegal would we call sex addicts morons? The REASON that these kinda speeds should be kept to a track is that: A) Our roads aren't designed and kept up to the quality that those speeds require Any traffic out there will have NO clue to expect a lambo doing 200+ comming up on it. C) If you cash on the street, there aren't paramedics there ready. I DO agree that these guys aren't that bright. 1: Pulling multiple runs, that's just asking for trouble. 2: There WAS traffic out there, which is a big no no imo. 3: They posted it ONLINE. That's the kicker for me, they ARE dumb. ...but I don't think it's because they did 200mph on a public road.

Yea, I'm betting this will die too. For it to work it needs to have people who actually check in on it regularly. I mean shoot, I met rudypoochris at ONE show nearly 2 years ago (i think... can't remember honestly) and we still talk all the time and go to junkyards together when we can. If we can just get even a small 10+ group of people dedicated to keeping in touch it would be well worth having. Should I send you an invite aux? You're still top on my list of HZ guys to meet in the bay area. One of the coolest swaps and seemingly nice personality. Another one is darius, but really, who doesn't wanna see that car in action?

You might be able to find this somewhere on this forum... Was working on my car and notice some oil leaking from the engine (stock L28E) So I pulled this part off, cleaned it off, put some gasket maker on it and bolted it back up... ...turns out it was the oil pump. Engine didn't want to rev right after that and I drove it for a week like that because I didn't know any better and it still felt fine for the most part. Well I was also running without a fan and would just watch the temp normally. Well since this "fix" i performed it overheated a couple times BAD. Later the week the starter died. Got a new starter, went to change it and had to pull the dipstick out of the way and "WHAT THE @#$^?!" coolant in my oil!!!!" was my exact language working on my car out on the street. So it turns out I'd knocked the timing WAY off when I put the oil pump back in, and the overheating warped the head. Gasket was fine when I pulled the head off but one piston was obviously leaking. So now I've got a turbo motor in the car (though not running yet). Quite an expensive mistake depending on how you look at it. In hindsight I only had $700 max invested in the vehicle. I should have parted it out and bought either a 240Z or a 280ZXT. Would have saved me time AND money. Oh well.

Hey everyone, I'm starting up a google group for people in the bay area who want to keep in contact. It's private so that we don't have to deal with BS kid idiots joining or purists who wanna call people names. This is intended to be pretty low key, just a way to keep in touch, go to the track the same days, setup meet and greets and keep everyone informed about local Z news (such as the GTR unveiling at moscone tonight). I'd really like to see lots of interest in this since I think there's enough people in the bay area to eventually put together a small scale SEZ type event (even if it's just 20-50 of us showing up at a drag strip on the same night and going out for food and drinks afterwards). If you're interested, PM me your email and you should get an invitation.

I was praying I misunderstood something alone the way. When was using both mentioned? I guess I might have found it so obvious you wouldn't use both that any mention of it might have gone completely unditected. I'll go back and read the first few posts. Thanks for the clarification though jon. Back to your regularly scheduled thread... EDIT: You're right jon, the title of the thread clearly states... Geez, way to pay attention...

As much as I love the S130 platform I think I'm happy they'll only be testing the S30 chassis. The more I think about it the more I just want to see a huge catalog of S30 data, and from that we can learn more and more about making aero mods work on the S30. It'll be better have a huge use run of S30's blown in the tunnel then a few tests of many platforms that basically gets us nowhere. Basically, I think it's better to know everything about the S30 aero then a little bit of every car in the world. =============== What I'd love to see: =============== I'd love to see someone do some super cheap paneling on the underbody to make the underside as flat as possible without extensive care taken to how perfect it is. I know that for aero mods to work well they have to be done well, but I'd love to know how much just closing things up a bit will help. Getting the front end flush all the way from the floorpan to the chin spoiler, and getting a cover made for the rear to minimize space for air to move around the suspension. But I'll be the first to admit that you shouldn't give a crap about what I say, listen to the people actually donating time and money first, THEN if you can make people happy. That's just the way it is. (hopefully I'll be able to donate at least a good 50-100 bucks for ya guys)

I really hate to disagree with you jon, because i know you know plenty more than me, but my gut just doesn't let me let this comment pass/slide by. Subaru and Mitsu have put more engineering work into the sti and evo than many companies put into entire platform lines. They get down right anal about the creation of these cars and their performance proves their work. I'm no expert so I can't say for sure, but I'd be very surprised if the dual wing stock STI setup WASN'T for performance FIRST, and possibly looks second. And I'd be shocked if subie didn't do extensive testing like mitsu did with the VGs in making sure it works well. Besides, have you seen how hideous the new STI is? How could they be doing anything for looks....

I think I can bring up a better point that's worth mentioning. If louvers are going to seperate air from surface of the car (which we can be pretty certain it will) then it's going to FORCE you to have a higher spoiler/wing to get the same downforce than you would otherwise. You'll also be creating turbulence wich will probably make your spoiler less efficiant. It also might be worth noting that many tracks won't let you race with louvers on because it's deemed a hazard, thus removing the point of the topic from that one particular area of vehicle use. On the front and sides I can't imagine it'd have a terrible effect, but on the back of the car it's lying right in the path of all the air comming down off the roof of the car. Though if you get the air to start separating from the car sooner than the effect of the louvers might be held to a minimum. Though I feel like I have to give the same warning as daeron in my post and say "hey, what do I know?". These are just my opinions about what I've learned on my own about aero, doesn't really mean much.

I was thinking about the same thing clifton, but I wasn't gonna say anything as I was gonna let the more experienced people chime in. If it's torque transfered into load that kills trannies and diffs, why wouldn't it be torque that kills internals? If I'm correct in that then maybe running a dyno in 4th gear is more likely to break something than in say, 2nd. Maybe I've got my logic all screwed up though. At any rate I'm more excited about this project than ever and I really don't wanna see it all end because of a rod failiure that could have been prevented.

I'd echo some other thoughs here and say get a turbo+manifold via ebay, and some injectors IF you can get them. If not then mod the FPR a bit and raise the fuel pressure to 60+ psi to get the fuel you need. The stock pump won't like that very much but if you get a secondary pump and run it in SERIES OR PARALLEL you'll get double the PSI at the same pump load. Even with turbo injectors that's $400 tops, and 10psi should be safe enough if the motor is in good shape and you keep it rich, and 10psi on the stock NA compression should move quite nicely. Should put you into the 13s even in the hands of a bad driver. As far as the handling goes, the tires are probably more important than the suspension itself at this level. If you have crappy 5+ year old tires that have been baking in the sun and beaten to a bloody pulp then they're not gonna do you any good regardless of how much you mod the suspension. Dropping $800 on nice tires would see more difference in this scenario than spending $1500 on brakes, springs, struts, bushings, etc. I'd personally run an open header for the event, but I'm not sure if you'd be marked down for the noise. I'd even run without a filter, it'll survive the day as long as you're not in a dusty area. Plus that's more weight you can pull off the front end If you're not doing anything high speed for the autox type challenges take the hood off. Shouldn't kill aero unless you're hitting 50mph+ and that hood is a heavy son of a-. The seats aren't light either. Take the passanger seat out for the event if you're allowed. Spare and jack as well of course. If your car has t tops i'd remove those as well, glass is heavy and the rigidity they provide while in place is minimal imo. If you go turbo though MAKE SURE that it's running as rich as you can get it without having noticable power loss. There's several ways to make it run richer. Popular ones to look into are: Air Flow Meter (AFM) Coolant Temp Sensor Fuel Pressure Regulator (FPR)

Well it really depends on quite a few things. A) How serious of a hobby is this going to be What kind of steering rack does your S130 have (there's three kinds that I know of off the top of my head) C) What speed drifting are you looking at doing The manual rack might be a bit too much work to drift with if you quicken it (decreases leverage). The manual racks might take to it just fine. Usually it's not that you need MORE angle, but rather the ability to get there sooner, ie making the steering quicker lock to lock. Unless you're getting pretty serious as I hobby I can't see why it would be NEEDED, but you might prefer the feel of it if you're spending enough time drifting.

Ok, lets see how NOT long I can keep this... Here's my current ZX back in 05 before she became a drama queen But that wasn't my first ZX. I had a previous one that had an e-brake that woldn't work and it popped out of gear while parked on a hill (rounded curbs). So she went about 50 feet into a tree and totalled herself. This second one I picked up for $500 not running, got it running with parts from my 1st car, and now i'm doing a turbo swap with a donor car I picked up for just over 1k (running with plenty of refreshing work done, worth the price). So now she's sitting in my backyard rusting away with a new motor I can't get running (I've got a + grounding somewhere and I havn't had time to work on her). But SOON I'll have her running again with a new heart and some new body panels. I'll take off the rust that's come from having the fenders and hood off and then get the body preped myself, and then painted cheap. I'll leave her 90% stock, and eventually sell it for around 2k (i hope.... hahaha). I do hope to do an extremely custom S130 build someday in which I'll do 100%of the work, but that day isn't comming soon. I'm gonna wait till the smog laws are changed and these cars become testing exempt. Then I'll go wild and get a 79' all manual ZX and go crazy. But until then I'm just gonna keep saving for a 240Z build that I hope to start around early 09'. I'll keep the ZX for a DD until that project is on the road. Some more photos of the car The green monster behind me in this pic is a Zcargarage vehicle with a RB25DET. VERY clean swap.

Wow, thanks for the responce KRAYZ. I think my big question still is what it's gonna cost to get good performance from it. My idea (if it were me doing the swap) would be to: 1) Get a Supercoupe motor for cheap ($500 or less I'd hope, more if it comes with ALL the wiring + ecu + ALL sensors) 2) Get some newer heads from a 99+ stang and change to a metal head gasket while I'm at it. 3) Raise the boost a bit and tune it the best I can and pray for power. Of course there's other things that'd need to be done, like custom exhaust (or aftermarket that magically fits.... riiiiight), could fab up a nice intake system for it, fit the intercooler, etc. But I'm wondering if it could reach 300hp cheaper than a 5.0 motor, based mostly on the fact that a 5.0 costs quite a bit more for an initial investment. Even if it was slightly more expensive the weight savings might be worth it.