Mycarispurty

There is a guy somewhat close to me with a pretty clean looking 280ZX I'm interested in going to check out. He doesn't seem too familiar with the motor other than what the guy he got it from has told him. Anyways, here's what I've gathered from what he's told me. It's an N42 motor, with an N42 head. He said the p/o told him it needed a new head because it was burned up, so likely valves. Here is what I've kinda figured is the problem: Way too big of a turbo, stock injectors, stock motor, and 25 psi without any sort of fuel management or boost controller or fancy electronics...he forced way too much hot air into it without an intercooler on it, and melted the valves, and probably even damaged the pistons/walls, then once he figured out what he did, he passed the savings on to this kid that has it now. He says it'll run but won't stay running unless you spray some fuel into the intake. I'm thinking the previous owner pretty much melted the internals. Care to give your .02?

I'm going to keep an eye on this post. Have been considering the CX Racing mount kit for an RB25 swap, but if I can't find someone to buy my 1JZ/R154 or trade it for an RB25, then I always have the option of waiting for these mounts to come out, or use Freed Engineering's mounts for installing my 1JZ.

I've got a turbo manifold with an external wastegate tube welded on.

Oh ok so the flapper in the adapter lines up over that then. Good, just checking, I figured it would but didn't want to buy some stuff that wasn't going to work correctly.

I guess I would view more efficient as there are probably tighter tolerances in a Garrett, Precision, Turbonetics, etc than there would be a Chinese turbo, as well as higher quality parts inside. With that aside, will that hole in the flange where a w/g flapper would go cause any problems when using an adapter to turn it into a v-band exit with the w/g flapper built into it?

I am not so wise on my t3 turbos like I used to be, so I have a dumb question I just want to get some information on. There is a turbo that a guy on a car forum I go on is selling that I think would be great for the car I'm picking up. It's a Garrett t3/t04 and should be more efficient and reliable than the Chinese turbo on the car now. The car currently is setup for a v-band exhaust, but this turbo obviously has a Ford 5 bolt pattern. You can see on the exit side it has the hole, which I presume would be for an internal wastegate, but the turbo has no wastegate on it. I'm checking out the ATP Turbo (or similar) adapters that bolt to a Ford 5 bolt pattern, have a wastegate flapper in it to convert a turbo to internal wastegate, and then exit in a v-band. Will that hole being there on the exit side cause any sort of problem? https://www.atpturbo.com/root/releases/release103105.htm That's the adapter I'm talking about.

Well I don't know about that NewZed, just assumed they're similarly mod-able like the Z32 ECUs are, with Nistune or what have you. I emailed JWT and told them what the car has, what I plan to immediately put on it, and see what they offer with their modded ECUs to see about getting the car running right throughout the entire RPM range. I don't know what re-flashes for future mods run with JWT or whoever on Z31 ECUs, I just know that most companies in the Z32 world charge roughly $100 for the chip itself (assuming your ECU is already socketed) with whatever mods set on the chip. If you changed injectors, for example, at a later date to something bigger, then it's $50 for a re-flash of the chip to reflect the changes in the car that the chip was originally programmed for.

I'm looking at picking up a local'ish 75 280Z with an 83 swapped turbo motor. As far as I can tell the entire drivetrain was swapped over along with the stock ECU. The guy isn't really much of an import guy so he doesn't know all about ECU tuning, injector upgrades, good turbo choices, etc, he struck me as more of a good ol' boy that'd be more familiar with domestics and such. One reason he wants to sell it is it pretty much has reached its limits unless lots more money is invested, money he doesn't have. Anyways, the car fires up and runs and drive and idles fine, but falls on its face, he says at 5k'ish RPM, but when I drove it today pretty conservatively, it wanted to fall on its face at 3700'ish RPM. But I also only "got on it very lightly" one time. Under basic highway speed driving, it ran fine. He has a huge Chinese t3/t4 turbo on it he got from a buddy's 4 cylinder Mustang with who knows what a/r ratios, internals, etc. He also has a FMIC on it, and a Walbro fuel pump, but the rest of the engine setup is stock. So it has stock fuel injectors, stock rails, stock pressure regulator, stock ECU, etc. The car is pushing too much air for the stock injectors obviously and the rest of the fuel system can't keep up, and his plugs were gapped at 44 thousandths instead of 28ish. The nice people at JWT told him he's probably blowing his spark out by having them gapped so wide, which could be 1 cause for his problems but obviously not a final solution. Luckily, perhaps, for the engine's sake, when it runs out of steam, the car hasn't really built any boost because of the massive turbo which probably isn't that efficient anyways, so it's not like it's screaming down the road making gobs of power before the car leans out and sputters. Here's where I come in: I want to get the car and slap a Pallnet rail on it (and clean up some of the vacuum lines and excess crap while I'm at it), install some good clean Supra 440cc injectors, a good reputable brand t3/t4 turbo and either completely rip off someone else's parts list and use their maps on a Megasquirt, or swap to the Z31 setup and just send the ECU off to be flashed for the mods installed. I'm familiar with EPROM setups from having a mail in tune on my 300ZX Twin Turbo. I know a standalone is obviously better than mail in tunes but I kinda kinda just to make it be able to run all the way to redline and make safe, fun power w/o spending piles of cash. That can come later, I just want to make it proper until down the road.

I ordered a bunch of parts to fix up the outside of this 2.8 I bought to put in my 240Z. I got a water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket, rear main seal kit, oil pan gasket, etc. I must have had a brain fart and ordered a timing cover gasket set thinking I needed to pull it to change out the water pump. I have a front timing cover seal coming with the kit I got and I definitely am going to replace the front seal while I'm up there, but do I really need to pull the timing cover for any of the freshening up? The engine was running and driving so it doesn't need an oil pump and I don't plan on putting on a new timing chain, so I thought I'd see if there was any other reason to pull it and reseal it to the block if there was no real need to.

Nevermind, saw where the combustion chamber dictates the M or regular N.

A guy is wanting my Weber DGVs and intake manifolds but doesn't have quite enough cash so he offered this head to help make up the difference. He said it isn't stamped MN47, just N47 but was told the difference can be told by the combustion chambers.

I decided against it guys. The one who posted about it possibly being run a while without air filters kinda made me think more about it. It may have been like that for hundreds of miles. So instead I bought a set of rebuilt Webers that look way cleaner and comes with a Holley FPR, and then went and bought a stock, running 76 Z engine from a guy a couple hours away. So for the same money, I have rebuilt carbs on their way, and an engine that was kept bone stock so no risk of a shadetree cam swap and "porting" job. I may miss out on the possible cam and portwork, but I have piece of mind. Plus, it has the N42 head so I can use my headers I already have, and I have a more desirable head. Plus, I can make a few bucks selling the N42 intake it came with

I figured it was a pretty good deal myself, just curious if you guys would have seen anything that raised suspicion and I should check out in further detail or something like that. Thanks for the quick response.

There's a guy local'ish selling an engine I want to possibly pick up for my 240Z. It's from a 77 so N42/N47 and is running in the car and I can go drive the car around before I decide to purchase, so that is a big plus to this option. He says it has a port and polished head, but hasn't personally pulled either intake or exhaust to see for himself. The only way he can back up what the p/o told him was that he's run it next to his buddies Z with the same setup w/o a cam and it pulls him fairly hard. Also says it has a cam. Other than that, stock bottom end but with triple Webers and an MSD ignition setup and header. I figured you guys would have much better eyes since I've been out of the Z community so long as to whether or not it seems like a good buy. I know the top end looks a little dirty but it's not a show car, also the carbs are a little dirty but once again it's not a show car. I am concerned about that gasket that appears to just be sticking out of the sides of the intake where it bolts up, I wouldn't imagine that's normal. I offered him $1350 pending for the carbs, motor, header, MSD, and fuel pump since I won't need the tail end of the exhaust he's selling or the 5sp since I already have one on the 240Z. He said he wanted $1400 at the lowest w/o the trans or $1500 with it. But he said if $50 was going to keep me from getting it, he'd take the $1350. I've got such a boner for triple Webers since I never got to run my last set on my last 240Z but still looking objectively. The other option is a much more local guy's n47/f54 so possibly a high compression setup unless someone went through the troube of pulling the oil pan and turbo setup from a turbo block, and he'd take $400 with the EFI setup and 5sp which I could sell for a few bucks. I could use my DGVs I have, or find a set of triples and still come out close to the price of the other guy's more complete setup.

So after replacing all the engine bay fuel lines, cleaning out the gas tank with acetone that came out just as clean and stinky as when it went in, putting fresh gas in it and putting a charged battery in it...I was able to turn the key to see how bad this engine knock was that got the Z parked 3 or 4 years ago from the previous owner. The engine would turn over, kinda slow but still turned. And it made a clunking noise everytime in rhythm. It's almost as if something in the bottom end were broken and when the crank's rotation would reach a certain point, the broken piece would pop, fall, shift, or whatever you want to call it. I went in on the car knowing it might need a new engine so it's no biggie, I've already found a guy a couple hours away selling a running 2.8 with a cam, headers, and triple Webers, all running that made a 3+ hour road trip home when he bought the car to RB swap it. So I guess I'll be paying him a visit and picking up a whole new drivetrain. Was just hoping the engine knock might have been something like an oil spray bar loose and rattling in the head or something and might have gotten lucky, but no dice

I went and looked, the 2 cables route underneath the carbs but aren't connected to anything (just hanging there) other than the cable itself being hooked to the choke linkage. The one at the rear has a rubber piece on the tip that looks like it might fit into something to hold itself into place but may have fallen out, while the front one has nothing like that.

I just got my latest Z the other day and it has the Weber DGV set from Redline Webers. I'm likely going to just sell them and get triples but in order to run what I brung for a little bit to see the overall health of the car, I do need to use them for a little bit. Here's a little back info (and fyi for you experts, I am carb illiterate to an extent). The p/o said his friend he brought it from (who put lots of $ into the suspension and stuff) daily drove it until one day it developed a knock, so he parked it, then had a stroke and couldn't drive it anyway. So I was getting stuff today to get it prepped to fire back up and see what the knock is exactly or how bad it is and was told to get some Lucas to put in with the fresh oil. I Googled last night and most people said all it really does is thicken up the oil for older engines. So I called a mechanic buddy to see what he recommended as an oil weight instead of typical 10w30, since Lucas is only going to thicken that up anyways. He happens to be a die hard Lucas fan too so I got no good info from him, but he was asking me some questions and I told him that when I pulled the oil cap, it did smell like gas in the head. He said if the regulator was bad or stuck open, or whatever, that too much fuel could have been getting into the cylinders and washed them out too much, which could cause problems, and perhaps even a knock in the bottom end. So NOW to info pertaining to the DGVs. I popped the hood to look for a regulator, and I didn't see one. There are metal fuel lines to rubber lines to a filter, then straight into the mechanical fuel pump, then off to the lines that go around the front of the head and into the carbs...then a return line (though I didn't think carbed cars needed return lines). Unless this is a pump that has a regulator built into it or something, I didn't see a regulator. So one of the questions is, are the DGVs supposed to have a regulator even though the mechanical pump isn't going to provide some astronomical fuel pressure anyways? The other question is, how are the choke cables supposed to work? I know what a choke does, and I have a choke lever by the shifter, but I also appear to have one on the dash close to where my left knee would be. I removed the filters on the carbs yesterday and see the 2 large flaps on top which the throttle linkage didn't move (but I did see the smaller butterflys down in the carbs opening and closing along with the linkage. However, when I move either of the choke levers in the car, the larger flaps on top don't move at all. They're not frozen as I can manually open and close them, but is the choke cable (and yes there are cables there to operate those 2 flaps) supposed to open/close them fully or just by a little bit? I'd hate for the car to be running on a way higher idle than it should be while I try and diagnose the knock.

I know what detonation is. It's been a long time since I've been around the early Z community, never looked into a high compression build because I always wanted to SBC or turbo swap a Z...now I'm at the point that I don't want to do any of that extra work, I'd rather just have a peppy Z without having to wire in an EFI system. Just figured someone might recommend one of the MSA cams or a specific regrind they liked that worked well.

I have the benefit of having 93 octane gas here in Chattanooga, so that's a plus towards the goal I suppose. I'm picking up a 240Z with the E88 head (2/73 model) this weekend and the guy says when his friend sold it to him, he was told the motor was knocking. I'm going to try and diagnose that first when I get it home. If it turns out to be a rod knock or something like that, I have found a nice clean rebuilt F54 bottom end with the flat tops. My plan is to purchase that bottom end and slap on the E88 head unless I find a clean N42. Anywho, I've seen where people suggest getting a cam with a longer exhaust duration I think it was to help with the higher compression, and I know I can dial back the timing to help with it too, but I don't want to turn it into a slug just to make it road ready. Fortunately, its just a toy as I have a 300ZXTT I drive around as a daily car so it's not a problem I have to sort out immediately. The car does have Redline Weber DGVs so it does already have better carburetors, hell it may even have a cam in the head since the guy he bought it from already hotrodded the intake, suspension, wheels, and exhaust. Just trying to get some information beforehand so I can try and compile a shopping list.

Being a fan of good looking Zs, naturally I'm against 2+2s lol However, I was offered a 260Z that isn't too bad looking for my Lexus. Who on here wants to post up some pics of their lowered, modified, and just all around badass 2+2s so I can check them out?

Ok this question mostly applies to guys who really know building cars. So I'm working on this 54 Chevy pickup and going 5 lug and trying to figure out which rear end I'm going to use. The choices are mostly between a 74 Nova which is 60.25", or a later model G-body which is 58" even. These are rough measurements and not dead on (except on axle widths), I'm just seeing if my theoretical math and calculations are correct. When it comes time to pick up the rear end and wheels, my measurements will be dead on, so keep in mind these are rough but very close estimates. On the bed of my truck (no fenders on it right now), from outer wall to outer wall, the bed is 50" wide. So if the G-body unit goes in at 58", that gives me 4" on each side from wheel mounting surface, to the side of the bed. If the Nova unit goes in, that gives me 5" of space between the wheel mounting surface, to the side of the bed. So going with the G-body unit, I can mount a wheel as wide as I can, until it reaches the fender and rubs on it, as long as I have a wheel with about 3.5-3.75" (4.5-4.75" with the Nova unit) of backspacing so that it won't rub on the side of the bed. That way, with the more narrow G-body unit, I can run a wider wheel than I can with the Nova unit, and get more of a deep dish look. Does all that sound correct to you guys? I'm really digging the Summit Racing wheels that look like the Torq Thrusts, because they come in a variety of sizes and are pretty cheap. I'm looking at the 18x8.5 F and 20x9.5 R. I don't want a bulging sidewall, so a flush sidewall is all I want on the tire, so as long as the wheel itself won't rub on the fender or bedside, I don't have to worry about the tire rubbing either. That is a post I copied and pasted from a local car forum. Afterwards, I actually went to Summit and Jegs since they allow you to narrow down wheels by diameter, offset, bolt pattern, etc, and looked for 5x4.75 wheels with 3.5 and 3.75" off backspacing and found that the only thing I can get is either plain ol wheels like white spoke wheels, d window steelies, things like that which I could get on the current axle the truck has....or $400 plus dollar wheels from Centerline and places like that. I could always go Diamond Racing, having them make a set to whatever size I wanted, but that's not exactly a custom looking wheel like what I'm after. With putting in 4.5" of backspacing like for the Nova rear end, the options are MUCH better, but then again I can really only get like 8" wide wheels more than likely before I'd have to do tubs. I guess I can halfway mount one of the fenders and see the depth tomorrow and have a better idea of how wide a wheel I can get on there should I go with the Nova rear end and 4.5-4.75" of backspacing. Just thought I'd ask since there are some really good suspension/wheel/total car guys on here. Anyone got some tricks to pass along, maybe something I'm not thinking of aside from spacers? I really would like the G body rear end as it's free, but the Nova unit which is a little wider is only $75.

How bout a Sunbelt ported/polished N42 head or F54 flattop piston motor? I'm just down the road in Chattanooga, TN. On Hwy 58 actually, a straight shot to Kingston.

More than likely picking up a trade on my SC400 for a 1jz powered MK3 Supra. It has an Ebay turbo on it and said he's had it on about 3k with no problems. Naturally, I don't trust Ebay turbos and would like to pick up a good used branded T4 turbo, like a Turbonetics, Garrett built, Rotomaster, somethign I've heard people have good luck with. He said it's a 66mm with a 100 hot side, I'm pretty sure that's a little too big for what I'd like, so if anyone had something slightly smaller where the boost came on a little earlier, let me know what you've got. Also if anyone has one and into Zs, I may have some parts I could trade towards it with some cash...such as my Sunbelt worked N42 head

Good call...thanks guys!

So stupidly a couple weeks ago I made a post about having trouble getting the Cannon intake to fit with my header. It was a brain fart retard mistake and forgot the intake and exhaust shared studs/nuts. So I got that straightened out and got it set up the right way, and it appears my Cannon was either cast or modified to where the extra material the nuts would bite against, has been adjusted to taper down. So now the nuts/washers won't bite against the intake. They're only off a little bit, but it's not as thick as the exhaust flange, so there's a gap. Just curious if anyone had run into this before and figured out a way to fix it.