NewZed

Where do they rub? Which springs have you looked at so far? Make a list, so you can avoid the "already saw those" cycle. "Coilovers" only offer adjustable ride height, if they're the design that just moves the spring perch up or down. Otherwise, they use the spring the same as a fixed perch.

http://www.herningg.com/projects/groovyheads.html Edit - sorry for loading up your thread. I see that you decided to avoid the wild stuff. Good luck.

Speed Secrets (capitalized). PipeMax version 4.0. Magical dimples. All of the below is true? Dryer exhaust ports? Because the fuel is burned so efficiently? Can't believe it. " 15-25-plus horsepower increases, a wider power curve, sometimes 100 to 300 higher RPM point of peak horsepower, less fuel consumed on the Dyno ( lower BSFCs ) and dryer exhaust ports. On the flow bench, basically no flow gains I can measure from roughing up the entire heads/manifold surfaces." There's a psychological factor involved when people do these "experiments" and odds are that other things were changed that affected horsepower in those hot rod magazine tests. "Oh yeah, I advanced timing 10 degrees, but it shouldn't matter" kind of stuff. Subconscious. That's giving the guy the benefit of the doubt. It might just be pure BS, to sell Speed Secrets. Just saw that Naptown Dave already commented re the golf ball. I didn't see the actual "theory" either, that better atomization caused all of the described benefits. The best explanation for something that can't be explained is in terms of something that can't be measured.

I thought golf ball dimples were for consistent air flow over the surface of the ball, so that they fly true. Not for more distance, from lower drag. If dimples helped flow, airplane wings and fuselages would definitely be dimpled. Sounds like voodoo.

Open up the mini-junction, look at the distributor wire ends, and all will be clear.

I pulled all of the "red flag" statements from your post. That engine combination is an odd one, not what an experienced "Z" person would put together unless they had planned for a turbo. (EDIT - actually, with the flat tops, that's a typical ZX engine. 8.8 CR. My mistake.) Makes you wonder. The "new" head (not rebuilt) makes me think it came from California Datsun (formerly Datsun Parts LLC), one of the only suppliers around, but one who hasn't mastered the art of the Z. I wouldn't drive one of his engines or heads across the country without making sure everything was in spec. "New" just means clean and worked on. SUs can be finicky and many people spend a lot of time getting them dialed in. Considering the odd assembly of parts you have it would be surprising if they were ready to go. The air temperature sensor is in the AFM already (on most AFM's). But most people don't run an AFM with Megasquirt. The cold start valve is described in the FSM. This kind of shows where you're EFI knowledge is at this point. Most people have a hard time learning EFI, so learning EFI from scratch, and Megasquirt, and getting it all sourced, and installed, and tuned, in one month is really a ludicrous proposition. Michael Wales says that his EFI swap can be done in a couple of days but it took him a month and a half just to source all of the parts. His buddies probably knew something about 240Z's or cars in general also. Forget about 12 hours. Finally, it's a 1971 240Z. The rest of the car is probably worn out too. Best to focus on bearings, and bushings, and transmission, and all of the other parts that get hot and fail on long road trips. If you do get lucky and make a choice and source all of the parts you need in just a few days then you could revisit the idea. But you'll probably get stuck on just finding a 280Z intake manifold. Don't disassemble anything on the engine until you have all of the other parts you need. Odds are though that you're going to find a problem on your new car that throws a wrench in to all of your plans. The EFI swap will be irrelevant. Welcome.

Miles has a 240Z which has weaker hub axles than a 280Z. Here's some threads re your question. Search the names to get more information. Rebekahsz is another who was drag racing, but on the stock axles. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/109324-ford-88-irs-conversion/ http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/121328-snapping-stub-axles-now-what/?hl=sunnyz&do=findComment&comment=1135160 And here's a guy supplying the market - http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/121613-s30-ultimate-88-irs-swap-kit/

Everything is shown n the two links below. You might need something bigger than the phone you're pecking at, to read through them. http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/1980/RA%20Rear%20axle%20and%20Suspension.pdf http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/280z/1980/PD%20Propeller%20Shaft%20and%20Differential.pdf

It still has the wrecking yard mark on it. Added two pictures just to confuse things, hard to tell what's right but it does show options. One from a parts web site and one from the FSM. Might as well flip it over and see.

The stock springs are preloaded. That's one of those areas of suspension that isn't often discussed. Ideally, ride height, preload, and spring rate all converge. More preload gives a stiffer ride over the small bumps, I believe. Something to remember if ride has problems. Not a suspension expert. I thought Prime might be involved. Oh well. Looks promising, your pictures came up full-size, pretty quickly.

It will run on the lower CR, it's been onde. Just thought you should know. You saw my post on other possible effects though, right? If the head's corroded, other parts might be also. Corrosion is usually from running water without antifreeze.

Nietzsche's unquoted works....

P90 and N47 have different size combustion chambers. N47 gives a higher CR than P90. In case you were looking for a direct swap. P90 on dished pistons is the turbo CR. P90 on flat tops is stock. N47 on flat-tops is "performance".

Photobucket links take you off the forum to another web site. If you Attach the files, they get saved on the Hybridz server and become part of the post., I think. Attached a couple to see..

Second the 280Z insulators. A common "fix" to raise the car, or vice versa with 240Z insulators. What is this Amazon Cloud Drive thing that you posted your pictures from from? I clicked it even though it was going to try to sell me something. Looks like a Photobucket type thing? But much faster than Photobucket. Does it cost something?

It's been described here and there. Some guys use a press, some use an air hammer, I believe. And a big oven, sometimes. Seems like an easy job to do in principle, and an easy job to screw up in practice.

Wow, that's pretty cool. You could try borini63, 88dangerdan, or zentech by message. They all sell parts. I think that borini63 might be in your neighborhood. That's a lot of corrosion though. Makes you wonder about the block also, like the core plugs. They're thin.

My mistake. I thought there was more space between the block casting and the plate. Could be that you have two leaks. The stuff in the transmission might be gear oil, leaking from the front cover seal.

If the rear seal is leaking the crankshaft could be throwing oil all over that area between the plate and the block. From there it can follow many paths. Remove the plate and take a picture of that area. That might be more informative than oil in the transmission bell.

What are Airtex injectors? Or is it Airtex hose? Not really clear what you're describing besides a hose failure.

It's not combustion that's the issue, but fuel quantity available per cycle. Not often thought of as "fuel" but oxygen is part of the equation. With good engine management, less oxygen used means less gasoline used. Of course, that's what turbos are for, so it may be moot. Depends on boost level, I'd guess.

When things jam and break and the broken pieces then jam between other parts, damage can be subtle and hard to see. Looks like you'll need more than just a $250 rebuild kit by the time you're done. Good luck. I'm interested in how much it ends up costing and how well it works when it's done. I'm no expert. It just seems like you could find a working used transmission and get it rebuilt, and be ahead when it's over. Yours look like it needs to be repaired by an experienced professional. I wouldn't take it a shop that will just install the parts from a rebuild kit. Start a thread on rebuilding T5's, with those pictures, and you might get some good input.

There's more to good transmission operation than just synchros. The teeth on the gear itself, for example. The teeth on the coupling sleeve. They're on the inside. Proper alignment of the shafts. Proper alignment of the gears. Shift fork wear. Synchro replacement makes slightly worn transmissions work like new if you get there in time. You are way late. The odds are against you.

A few more things, that get overlooked but could explain why some get high mileage and some not so high. Altitude. Higher tends to give better mileage, in my experience. I lived at 5,000 feet for a year, and 300 feet for four, with the same car. But if you try to find supporting words on the internet you'll get way lost in numerous bizzare explanations of what happens at high altitude. The most general explanation is that high altitude air is at lower pressure (fewer air molecules per unit of volume) which means less air enters the engine for each cycle. So, basically, the engine is effectively smaller and creates less power. Power comes from fuel. Do a Google if you want to be entertained though. Engine temperature. Hotter tends to give better mileage. Probably for a combination of reasons. Again, the Google will entertain. Thermodynamics and engine theory is hard. Air temperature - summer vs. winter. I've had my car long enough to see ~18 mpg in the winter, and 20-21 in the summer, consistently. 1978 engine, 1976 system, no EGR, essentially stock. This might just be from the fuel maps in the stock NA ECU. But 1987 is still fairly primitive. Could be a combination of air and engine temperature, but my cooling system seems to do its job well. Seems mostly air. One other thing I wondered about, that I've seen overlooked in these swaps, is the wire cleaning step for the MAF. They can get dirty. Don't know much about it though.

Pretty sure that I mixed backs and seats and sides when I pieced together a good set for my car. I think that you just have to take more parts off if you're having problems. You'll end up with just a cushion with some holes in the sides and bottoms. Rebuild from there.