Gollum

the more i see the first gen z cars the more i want one. I really think they look a ton better than the zx cars. Props out too ya. It took me a whole week to get my car running... I feel slow now. But good work man.

well, i was just going over my 81 L28 Nox numbers. the 25 mph is kinda close. But it's also got 150k on it. I want to see what my 26k motor put out when i smog it this month. I'd recomend buying a L28et. More power off the bat, and you could probly smog over 300bhp easy. Turbo motors are much more forgiving with smog. Just make sure what's visible is leagal. If you change the turbo get polished aluminum instead of chrome. And if you buy a new intercooler i'd recomend cleaning the whole engine so you could eat off it. You don't want a couple of shiny parts and a grimy engine to may the test station say "wow, that intercooler looks clean. That turbo looks clean too. I'm gonna go check the part number on these." Put in a boost controler and hide it well. Make sure you have a setting with no turbo boost. This will alow you to basically be smoging a low compression all engine vehicle. And the CO & 02 is just a balance of air to fuel. So make sure it's tuned well. Oh yea, and only manufacture approved ECUs are leagal in california. Once again, i hate california smog. Hope i've helped. Just my .02 cents.

Yea, that engine looks too good in my opinio. Those hoses look brand new. They must have done a bit of work so it would be easier to sell. That would be my guess. But i could be wrong. I'd buy if the price was right and it was within 100 miles of home.

good point. Regardless on weather it's possible or not to take them out or not, the intercooler piping shuoldn't be put in in a manner that would prohibit them from being taken out with ease.

Yea, if you want that stock l28 to perform you'd better have DEEP pockets. I highly recomend just putting in a different motor. Now, what motor to use? What are smog laws like over there. What can you modify leagally? They're really strict about that stuff here in the states. It's basically illeagal to put a skyline motor in a Z in califfornia, unless it's a track-only car. There are a ton of motors out there i can think of to put in a ZX. I own a 81 and a 80 ZX, the chassis being identical to yours. I don't see a motor swap for me in the near future since my motor is uber low milage. But i'm sure everyone here would be glad to help with the process. First thing first though, get that suspention fixed.

WOOHOO! She's alive. I got her started, and with open headers she's a screamer. I'm taking it to the muffler shop tomarrow as long as i can take the cat off my gold ZX. So, this brings me to my next question. Is the o2 sensor in the exhast on the ZX series z cars? I'll ask my muffler guy about it tomarrow. I hope i has o2 sensors to put in. I'd asume he does. Any knowledge would be appreciated. PS the alternator belt broke on me, so i replaced all 3 belts beucase they're cheep. I also got all my interior put in. The car is really coming together. I've been at it for 7 days and i've put in at least 50 hours or so. But i've gotten alot done in that time. Let me see if i can list everything that i had to fix and.or switch over from my other ZX. Alternator Shifter overflow tank headlight mounts carpet seats ignition center console (all of it) fuel pump fuel pressure regulator idle sensor engine cooler belts driver side window driver side lock mechanism door interior panels t tops -didn't need to, but i know mine work. I'll kep both sets heater inlet hose full intake system hood springs - i HATE these now rear interior panels - rear, rear left, rear right t top cover sraps under dash interior pieces I'm sure there are a few things i'm forgetting. I might edit this later if i think of anything else i've done. There is still plenty to do though. But the car looks about 90% complete, if not more like 99% to someone who doesn't know any better.

Ok, i have an extra set of healights for my 280ZX. I read in another thred that the ZX series had relays from stcok. Now, if i wanted to hook up this extra set in the lower front air dam, how should i hook them up? Just splice off the current healight wiring? Or set them up on thier own relay and mount a switch inside? Give me input please.

I'm just a little confused. Would a relay replace the stock headlight switch, or would the relay itself have a switch that you would mount?

well, that crome ring around the headlight is what keeps it in. It's connected via 3 screws that if you loosen will free the headlight if you tunr counter-clockwise and ta-da. Now, you'll probly need a long srewdriver so the handle doesn't ruin your angles with it rubbing against the body. You'll probly also need to loosen the mount so you can reveal the screws. It think it's possible wit the right screws. I just changed mine and i didn't have any long screwdrivers, so my curiosity didn't get to be exersized.

Woa, that rebelloracing company is within driving distance to my house with ease. I should call them up and see what work they could do to my ZX. Yes, i know that the head is the main problem. This is what i was stating earlier. I belive almost any block is easily capable of handling 800+hp. Blocks can be extremelly resilliant with the proper sleaving. Now, i believe the stock head desgin is basically crap. This is due to it's ancient design. Some may argue about how "all those old motors had tons of HP", well the 6 cylinder in the mustangs in the 60's had less than 100 hp. So there. And 302s rarelly got more than 350 hp. That's just a little more than 1hp per CI, and now we have cars like the S2000 that gets 1.4 hp perCI (the older 2.0 model, i believe the new model is underrated. How do you keep the same HP & tourque numbers when adding .2 liters?). Now days you can get a 302 over 400hp with ease. This is because of modern technology. The old 427 drag cars had very little more HP than the stock cars. Now days it's very different. The new cobras run better than any mustang of the past. And it's a small engine( 4.6). The same thing applies to our z cars. It's an old engine and it's not going to REALLY made HP unless you modernize it yourself, or buy aftermarket tech for it. Unfortuatlly the Z market isn't poplular enough to support large amounts of support when it comes to swapping out heads. Maybe in the future we'll see a larger number of z car people and in turn more demand for performance parts, resulting in more new tech for our old cars. Sorry if that draged a little.

You really think the block would give out before you hit 800HP? Even if you have the proper sleaving done? This would proove that it really was a poorly designed engine. Look at other inline 6 motors. Supra blocks are capable of well over 1000hp, and i've seen a couple of skyline motors over 1000hp as track only cars. Same block, just extensivlly reinforced with sleaving. I guess it is a pretty skinny block. But still, i would still think all the limits you hit are in the head. To me though there should be no reason you can't just sleave, blueprint, balance the block, put in a forged steel crank, pistons, rods, ported the head, put in a really nice custom valve train, and put in a turbo putting out 40+ psi and then just see what HP you hit. It obviouslly wouldn't be safe if the head limits your flow, but i'd i imagine the block & bottom end would be fine. I've been amazed with what some people have done with stock blocks. I know a guy from another forum that got into the 9's with a 03' cobra with a stock bottom end. And he even got into somewhere around 9.6 before he started messing with the bottom end. Now he runs 8's with a fully build 03 cobra that he drives on the street. And i'd bet that the block would withstand running 7's, but there is just too much work to get an engine that small to that level, you're starting to hit the same HP per cubic inch as funny cars. Anyways, this is just my 02 cents. I really think it would be sad if the block itself couldn't withstand more than 600hp at least. But then again, my standards seem too high in this respect. I should just look to a different motor for REAL performance.

Ok, i changed the ignition over since the only key i had was REALLY warn down, like you could pull the key out at any stage. Now it turns over again (w00t), but the fuel pump still ins't turning on. So i'm going to figure out my electrical issues today with a friend's multimeter. I'm really glad i found out why it wasn't turning over. This really made my day.

will try for sure. A friend of mine used to work at a nissan dealer back when the z cars where popular and he was saying that he doesn't think it's the starter. He was saying that it's rare for a starter to just go out like that. So was almost certain it's wiring somewhere. I'll keep at it.

ok, i'm sad now. I went to start my z today (it's complete, woohoo) and it turned over and didn't start in about 4 seconds of turning over. So i stopped, since i didn't want to burn out the starter or anything stupid like that. I tried a couple more times, about 3 more times, and i figured i go and double check the connections on the fuel pump (since i couldn't hear it at all, wich i thought was strange). All looks good and i remember that there was NO fuel in the system, so it probly just has to pump fuel through the lines wich might take a while. So i go to start it and it won't turn over. The starter wouldn't make a single sound. It didn't turn at all. All i heard was that click (i forget what clicks, so sue me). I turn again and again and all i hear is click. It's not the battery, i tried jumping it. So, and bright ideas? I really could use some help. I'd like to have the car running by tomarrow (friday).

Hey, my friend who knows about 10 times more about cars than me says it's a jumper to reprogram timing, so that the computer accepts the changes. Problem solved.

Ok, so we know it's fairly easy to put over 300 to the wheels. So why doen't the motor like to get over 500? Is it due to head design? Or something else? It makes me really curious. Now that i think about it, it must be the head. What else is there that could limit the motor so much? You can't say it's the bottom end, the bottom end with forged pistons, rods, crank and such should be able to handle 800hp easy. So our restriction is in our flow of fuel and air. We're talking about pretty big injectors that some of you are using. So what are the stock port sizes? And are there any aftermarket heads? (I know there is that one guy who built his own, but i'm not sure if he's selling them or not) Did nissan make any other inline 6 heads that would be better for boost? (and fit of course)

well, half of my issues with the system is that it's poorly laid out. It's just plain idiotic to have the metal fuel lines covering the injectors so you would have to tear apart the whole FI system just to work on them. Lots of things like that i look at and think "they did this why?" Oh i'm sure it's stable, and i'm sure it's reliable. But is it easy to work on? No. Is it easy to work around? No. Is it easy to design a better layout? Yes.

ok, i'm SO close to getting my Z started. I'm hooking up the ECU because someone toook it out and thought it looked better on the floor. So i'm hooking it back up and i got an extra wire i can't find a mate too. There is the main HUGE connector, then there is a single blade male female connector. The one i can't find the conneection to is this double blade male female connector that's in a T shape plastic connector. "Note, this is on the ECU, not the other way around". Anyone know where this wire is i'm looking for? Edit: it's a 81 280ZX N/A

i don't think i can do that since i have to smog it in california

well, i'm right about 5' 11.5". I've only sat in one earilier model Z, wich was a bit lower, but in my ZX i have TONS of room. All i have to say to chevyz240 :hail: :hail: OMG. I can't believe it. That guy is da MAN. He's got more fabrication ability in his big toe than i could ever hope to have. DANG!!!! I can't get over that. That's amazing. Wow, i want to see that thing in person. Those lines are so perfect. The gaps are prefect. The wiper convertion is B.E.A.UTIFUL. That fibergalss hod A+ for sure. The door fab, very nice. The roof mounting WOW. I can't say enough about this car. I owe my wet dreams for the next month to this guy. Oh, i must be an idiot when it comes to seatching or somthing. I was just searching hybridz and i searched for choptop, chop top, chopped top, and i didn't see this thred. I must be blind. Sorry about that.

ok, so i couldn't find anything in the searches. Sorry. I didn't think this would really fit in the "bodykit and paint" section. Has anyone chopped a Z? Personally, this is my only complain with Z cars. I get in and think "well there is 5 inches i don't need". I'm a hair under 6 feet and Z's have more than enough headroom. And I think they'd look WAY better chopped. So, anyone done any research on this? How hard do you think it would be? Custom glass is a must. welding skills is a must. Metal fabrication is a must. Anything else?

heehee, that reminds me of my firend that ran his supra on 5 pistons for 2 months.

Well, i've accually thought about it before, but my brother said i was crazy. And once i looked at that front end again i thought "yea, that is crazy, but duable. I thing i might end up being rear engine instead of mid engine though. I personally would put the gas tank in front, with lots of reinforced steel.

Well, as some know, i started working on my Z this last weekend. I spent half my day today thinking of ways to design a better EFI system for this thing. And i really think that whoever designed the EFI in these cars had never accually worked on a car themselves. Seriouslly. I felt like i was working on a 80's Jaguar engine. So, does anyone else have some mager complaints about the L28 latout like me? Please, share your anger.

Well, the when the previous owner used it as a parts car they let gasoline get all over the engine bay, and it sat outside for over a year, thus leaving it ugly. The interior looks like it went to the tanning salon a few too many times. My gold Z was garage kept, and the interior minus a few issues looks great. I'm thinking about calling up the guy i bought it from and asking for more of the history on this thing. Becuase i can't think of any reason it would have such low mileage. It calculates to 1130 miles per year. I put that on a car in a month. But i can see why i got it for 500 bucks. Crappy interior, missing fuel pump, missing fuel pressure regulator, missing alternator, missing air intake (only thing on it was the actual manifold, all else was gone), center console was disassembled, spare cavity was rusted (due to hatch being open during rain), missing hood springs, and a few other random things i can't remember. I've done alot, and i should have the motor running tomarrow. I started this all saterday, so that doesn't seem too bad. I hope to have it down at the muffler shop to get the exahst done by friday. I hope to have the interior done by next monday. So, is my calulation correct? $2,200 donor car(gold Z) + $500 unfunctional body (black Z) + $350 Misc. parts + Value of complete Z car. PS. The cali rainy season has started, this could be why no one can understand my posts. Sorry for the influence of bad weather on inoccent young men like me.