bigbreak_2000

So we looked over the front suspension and everything looked to be installed correctly. Those ate really beefy bilsteins. They must be doing their job there is no bouncing. So looking things over I noticed the engine mounting nuts are missing and the two bolts from the compressor is not on and the starter bolts are loose. Oh man .the guy who installed the engine really did not pay much attention . After tightening things up. The car drives much tighter and there is no longer the "crash bam' feeling and noises that I thought was caused by issues with the front spring and shock setup. I feel much better now

We got them in without much trouble and luckily there does not appear to be any wear or issues. Put in brand new seals as well

Somewhat off topic but let ask...would the issue of missing the clips add to drivetrain loss?

Allen you want to further lighten the flywheel you got from me? . On my car now I use a JWT one and is working out great. On the previous one I had lightened I got a core close to the shop that did the machine work and that saved me shipping cost. I would really recommend you have it done by a shop who has experience and its needs to be balanced and they need to know where to shave the weight

That's what I had though...worse case is a bad vibration from the rear end and possible premature wear on the spider gears?

On a 280zx with (non CV) how easy is it for one of the rear axles to work its way out of the diff if the c clip in the differential is missing? What driving or road condition could cause the axle to slip out? Unless the car actually goes airborne is it possible that a shaft can pop out? I found that both clips on my car axles are missing, and want to drive the car till I have the appointment to take it into the shop so they can install the clips (and new seals). I recently had a Quaife LSD installed and apparantly the guy who installed the diff did not know he needed, or forgot, to transfer the clips from the stock diff over, and Quaife diffs dont come pre-installed with the clips. Quaife recommends one secure the cips on the shaft before you push the shaft into the diff. After the first few days of driving I noticed the car had a very small oil drip when parked in the garage. It is lowered so I could not crawl under to see if the diff cover seal was leaking or if it was bleeding from overfill. When I finaly got the car on the lift at the shop we saw that the oil was actually leaking out the side of the diff and one of the axles was partly pulled out by about 2 inches. Axles on both sides are loose enough we can move them in/out by hand. I am drving extra careful now, slow speeds, wide turns, avoiding bumps and dips in the road where possible. Just curious to know what conditions could cause the shaft to move out.

sorry I don't know why all the pictures turned sideways or upside down when I attached them to the post. It is just to give you a visual of how much clearance there is.

the bilstein rear shock is part # 24-000574 and front insert is part # 34-002643 I took a few pictures this morning

I am still not certain if lowering springs, and not shortening the strut, will impact the wheel offset requirements? I think it does because I have more negative camber and it looks to me there is less space now between the inside shoulder of the tire and the spring perch. And this is with the lower 205/55 tire on 7 in and 0 offset wheels on the front. So has anyone experience with the Tokico springs on the zx with the 15 in wheels and the 205/60 tire, will it rub or would I need a spacer? the car before the conversion used the stock shocks. Both sets of wheels (the 14 in oem 6 spokes) and the 15 in Compomotives in 0 offset did not have any clearance issues. I went with the bilstein decision for the front inserts becuase that is what many folks in Australia run these cars with, the insert fits well and only require a small spacer, and I was told it is overall a more durable shock that the tokico inserts. Bilstein also still makes a rear shock for the 280zx, as OEM replacement. I got hold if a brand new set and just need to install them. I had to wait a couple months for them while on back order so in the mean time I went with the tokico blue shocks on the rear. I checked the front and have 5 coils in the tokico springs. top and bottom seated and then 3 inbetween. there is about 1/2 in clearance gap between them with the car stationary. John said the fronts are the wider OD, so if I look at the MSA product picture it then looks like the fronts are the ones with 5 coils. The rears are then the longer and narrower coil, so my installation seems to be appropiate. Then the question is just, is 1/2 clearance between coils on the front seems ok? Maybe I just then just need to let the springs settle and see how that goes, and get used to the harder ride. I still think the BFG 205/55 are a hard sidewall tire, so perhaps a softer sidewall for the winter roads will help make it more comfortable

I'll add this comment: my expectation was not that a 175 stiff spring should feel this hard. Technically 175 is near 50% stiffer than stock but in terms of performance tuning 175 is on the low side. On normal street driving the roads are very uneven in my part of town.Lots of new construction, lots of rain, the The roads are patched, full of bumps and dips. On normal turning the front tires squeak. Understandably there is more camber now, but with the hardness I just don't think there is good contact maintained when there is slight imperfection on the road surface. The car handles great at high speeds and road holding is good, no complaints in that area. Someone had suggested to me that I change tires. I have BFG G Force sports 205/55-15 tires on the front 15x7 wheels and 225/50-15 on the rear 15x8 wheels. My other thought was, if the strut/springs is not at fault perhaps for the fall and winter driving I should change the tires for a softer sidewall. Either mount 225/50 on the front or switch to rounder tires, perhaps all 4 tires to the stock 205/60 profile. the 205/60 is almost 1 inch higher tire and will give a softer sidewall, also a narrower footprint, and perhaps less unsprung weight, which will translate to a softer ride and less shock felt on the steering wheel. Does anyone here have a picture of a 205/60 mounted on a 15x8 wheel and is that going to be too much of a stretch and safety risk? All manufacturers for that size tire seem to recommend the max width as a 7.5. Is there a recommended tire brand with a construction more suitable for that extra 0.5 in stretch? The 205/60 on a 7 inch wide wheel should be ok. With the 205/60 having a 24.7 wheel height (and the 205/55 had a height of 23.9), will that cause rubbing issue against the perch or fender, now with the Tokico lowering springs? All my wheels are 0 offset. I haven't done measurements yet and would like to avoid spacers if I can. With the current 205/55-15 on the car, it feels by finger there is about 0.5 in gap currently between the top shoulder of the tire and the spring perch. I don't know if the height of the 205/60 will cause rubbing here.

I had the Tokico performance springs installed on my 280zx. The front seems too stiff and rides bumpy. What do I look for to determine if has has been installed correctly or if there is product issue with the spring itself? The shock inserts are new Bilstein (for a 300zx NA, 1984) with a spacer at the bottom. Strut housing was not modified. OEM bump stops. With the spring at static, how much space should there be between the coils, 1/8-1/4 enough? From product picture on MSA website where I bought the springs it looks as if the front and rear spring diameters are different (rear should be wider and less coils) and it will not be possible that the insaller could have mistakenly installed the F/R in reverse order, or is it possible? I ask becuase many treads comment the springs rates are 175F/200R. I even called MSA rep and that is also what he told me the rates are stiffer on the rear springs. However the guy who installed the springs told he he always put the stiffer spring on the front for cars with a front engine read drive since the stiffer spring in the front helps with dive under braking and control through cornering. With the car in the garage and wheels on I cant see of the coils are narrower and more in the front. Looking at the car it also appears the rear is slightly lower than the front which is another reason it is puzzling me if there is a product issue or if they've been installed correctly. If I press on the front bumper there is very little if any compression, the rear is much easier to compress.

Tony, can you try and repost your response please? I'm still without ideas. The intake does not have another boss for a purge line. I could add a manifold vacuum which will give me a couple more connection but then I also don't know where to pull ported vacuum from. Someone else told me the old vw beetles did not have a charcoal canister but the tank fumes ran into some kind of filter which breathed open , I'm nut sure what kind of filter would remove the fumes...

I'm looking for alternatives to the CDI (MSD) setup for my engine. Need to be able to support ignition pulses for speeds up to 7.6k rpms. Any suggestions on a reliable coil and igniter setup? Perhaps someone here have upgraded there engine to run using a basic coil, or COP/coil on plugs or coil packs, let me know which plug wires and coils you're using. I'm currently using a siingle channel igniter (adaptronics igniter and adaptronics ECU), MASD6 box, MSD Blaster2 coil, MSD tach adapter, NGK perf plg wires. Someone suggested to me that I could perhaps just delete the MSD parts and add a coil from a 2004 GMC Yukon which apparantly can support up to 8k rpms. In the rally racing circles also the 1984 golf gti igniter is considered a good ICM. I can also get my hands on a low cost set of COPs from a toyota celica gts/matrix/pontiac vibe but not sure if these will fit. The ECU support 3 ignition outputs which I could simply wire in pairs to the IGT (ignition trigger) inputs on these coils (they dont require seperate ignitors).

I'm looking for alternatives to the CDI (MSD) setup for my engine. Need to be able to support ignition pulses for speeds up to 7.6k rpms. Any auggestions on a reliable coil and igniter setup? Perhaps someone here have upgraded there engine to run using a basic coil, or COP/coil on plugs or coil packs, let me know which plug wires and coils you're using. I'm currently using a siingle channel igniter (adaptronics igniter and adaptronics ECU), MASD6 box, MSD Blaster2 coil, MSD tach adapter, NGK perf plg wires. Someone suggested to me that I could perhaps just delete the MSD parts and add a coil from a 2004 GMC Yukon which apparantly can support up to 8k rpms. In the rally racing circles also the 1984 golf gti igniter is considered a good ICM. I can also get my hands on a low cost set of COPs from a toyota celica gts/matrix/pontiac vibe but not sure if these will fit. The ECU support 3 ignition outputs which I could simply wire in pairs to the IGT (ignition trigger) inputs on these coils (they dont require seperate ignitors).

I have the ceramic coater pacesetters on my stroker motor, in the 280zx. work fine

I've recently installed a TWM/Borla ITB setup on my 280zx(3.2l) with a fiberglass intake and found out that the TWM intake is not sized correctly for the 280zx has a larger brake booster. Had to slightly modify the back end of the intake for it to fit. Good thing I opted for the fiberglass intake (they do offer a CF version but that would have been a pain to modify). Another question would be , what design/size airfilter will work on this intake and provide the best flow? For autocross you're better off without the airbox, it will give more torque lower in the rpms. Lesson learned.

I've used POR-15 with tie-coat primer and it worked very well.

the hose I am puzzled to where it needs to connects to is described in the FSM as "to throttle chamber (ported vacuum)". per the diagram it appears to connect to the throttlebody, at a location pre-tb plate. So I'm assuming this hose can connect to any point in the intake system between the airfilter and the tb's. The purge hose though has to connect to the manifold runners after the tb's. So perhaps the purge hose can be T'd to either the brake booster vacuum hose or the vacuum hose to the MAP sensor. Does this sound right?

the PO had the one hose of the canister connected to the vacuum control valve on the distributor, on my setup the distributor does not have a vacuum control valve. Perhaps the PO had it wrongly connected but that is why I am now not certain what to do with the one hose that is suppose to connect to the canister. the purge hose I can still connect somehow to the intake box which is a fibreglass box

john, what do I do with the hose that in the stock setup was connected to the distr vacuum switch?

threat the spot with boeshield t-9 until you have it repainted. They sell it at Sears. Colorless application, does not harm your paint. I have a quarter size bare metal spot on my passenger door where the paint for some reason peeled off, and applied the boeshield product and it has not rusted for over 2 years now. And it is humid where I live.

The the car stands in the garage it smells fuel for days on end. I've checked for gas line leaks but nothing. The OEM gas cap also seems to be in good condition. I suspect there is an issue with missing connections on the charcoal canister however with the distributor I'm using, and intake system the is no connections points to get a distr advance signal or to run a purge line back into the intake. (the engine is modified with ITBs and is EFI) If the car is not running, is it possible the fume from the tank breath straight through the canistor into atmosphere? I thought there is a valve in the canister thats suppose to hold the fumes so they cannot pass through the purge valve unless there is a vacuum signal from the distributor...Regardless my weak understanding how it works, can someone give me an idea on how to setup a functional charcoal canister for an engine that does not have a distr vacuum switch and used a modified intake system? I have the one line that comes from the tank and connects into the canistor. Right now the other 2 lines on the canistor, one for distr vacuum signal is open ended, and the purge line is also open ended. One thought I had was to install a swith that runs off the MSD box (thats activates at say 2000rpms) and have than connected to a electrical purge valve, as they have on Fords/Volvos. Then I would just run the purge line from the canister, through this purge valve, to the filter element so that when the motor is running above 2000rpms the valve would open and allow the fume out of the canistor. With the location of the open end of the purge line right by the intake filter the fumes would be sucked right into the motor. Would that not work?

yes it is a high CR motor, 298/298 cam, I forgot the exact CR, running on TEL fuel and max power is at 6700rpms.

sorry I said it wrong, the 340hp was on the engine dyno.