djz

Hey, yeah I don't think that is going to work, here is a picture of a flange like mine next to an SR20 throttlebody flange which is ths same bolt pattern as the KA and RB ones.

L20ET rods are the same length as L24 rods and have 9mm bolts. The throttlebody is small, its not as easy to adapt a new throttlebody onto my manifold due to the shape on the flange for the dual butterfly tb. I'll be making a new inlet manifold as soon as I get time. I did just discover this as I was cutting the 2.5" exhaust off, can't have been helping much. It's the inside of the hotdog muffler I had in the middle. Bit of a pity, the exhaust is only 3 or 4 years old.

I'll sort out the wastegate at some stage, it's far enough away from the air filter that I don't think it would be affecting it that much, the dyno runs were done with the bonnet open and a big fan in front of the car. Kash - the compression ratio is approximately 8.5/8.6:1, the head was skimmed and the block was skimmed very slightly. What turbo are you running?

Hey, thanks. I've been sorting out the bits and pieces today so I can build a new exhaust on the weekend, then I'll try and get it back on the dyno the weekend after. The inlet manifold had the ports matched to the gasket, but not that far up the runners, other than that it is stock, the throttlebody is small. I'm working on building a new manifold with a much bigger throttlebody. I didn't really notice much of a change when I went from my old intercooler with 2 less 90 degree bends to the current one I'm using, I know its probably not the best flowing thing in the world. I'm not sure about air temps, next time I take the car out for a good run I'll monitor them and let you know. The air filter placement is tricky, I can't really cut up the radiator support any further without causing trouble when my car gets inspected every 6 months so I've just had to leave it like it is. The engine was dyno tuned with a wideband sensor in the downpipe, I don't run one on the car normally as I don't like playing with the tuning myself. The cam timing is one thing that I haven't had a good chance to play with, it seems to run better with the cam pulley in position 3 instead of 1, but I really need to get around to degreeing it properly and getting an adjustable cam pulley.

Hey, thanks I had to have something to cover up the hole. I'm running a standard L20ET optical distributor with a Z31 chopper wheel, the computer handles the rest, the ignitor is on the right hand inner guard next to the coils.

Thanks for all the input guys, a couple of you have pretty much nailed what I was thinking, people are making just as much power and in a lot of cases more than I am with stock blocks and heads, it just makes me think that something in my setup is very wrong. Anyway, here are some pics, as I said it's not much to look at and I went in a Grasskhana on the weekend that was more like a dirtkhana so everything is covered in it, had to make some last minute repairs after one of the radiator fans failed so thats what the messy wiring and cable ties are. The car is a 1978 280ZX, converted to 5 stud all round, R32 Gts-t calipers up front, Z31 brakes and half shafts in the rear, R32 Gts-t gearbox and clutch, R31 LSD, '83 R&P powersteer. And a little movie of the dirtkhana if anybody wants to watch my terrible driving, it was my first time actually racing my car in any sort of event.

Thanks guys, I've been meaning to redo the exhaust for ages but have always ended up spending the money elsewhere. AFRs I'm not too sure about, I never asked the guys that tuned it and they aren't on any of the dyno charts I have. I'll take some pictures later on today - its not much to look at. And I'l get a screenshot of the timing table too.

Just remembered I'm running 3 dual post coils in a wasted spark setup too.

Warning - huge post follows. I wanted to get some input on my setup and how much power I should be expecting, I feel that it is a lot lower than it should be putting out. To be honest the engine was built cheaply and assembled by me, it has run very well for the last 2 years and I have always driven it hard but it has never made the power I thought it should have made. The engine is made up of: N42 block, 3.5mm overbore Z24 standard cast pistons 0.5mm oversize L20ET rods LD28 crank N42 head with a minor clean up of the ports, I'm not really sure whether it was done very well or not, the sharp edges in the combustion chamber were removed as well. Cam was reground 212 degrees @ 0.50 lift and valve lift of .439/.437" Stock exhaust manifold that had a minor cleanup Inlet manifold is stock except for a minor cleanup, stock dual butterfly (Jap spec) throttlebody Pallnet fuel rail, 444cc injectors TA51/T04 hybrid turbo (the compressor side is probably a bit too big for the motor) 2.5" crush bent exhaust (too small I know) HKS T3 to T4 adaptor with built in wastegate Large intercooler & 2.5" plumbing, blow off valve The ECU is a Link stand alone There's probably a few things I've forgotten and I'll add them if I remember them. The car has been tuned on the same brand of dyno twice at two different workshops, once when the engine was built with a smaller T04 turbo and smaller injectors it made 278whp on 12psi, and again a few weeks ago with the new turbo and bigger injectors it made 288whp on 14.5psi. I completely trust both workshops. Can anybody think of anything obviously wrong with my setup? Below are the dyno charts from both dynos. The last one is in PS and not HP but it works out at about 288hp. Any help would be muchly appreciated.

The exhaust wheels don't come off the shafts, try assembling everything using the T04 compressor section and the T3 rear section, the thread is longer but it looks like the rest of the shaft is the same length, pretty sure it'll work okay. You should get it balanced.

Boring or honing? You shouldn't really need one if you are just honing.

I'm 99% sure they are the same for all years of ZX, have you got the struts in the correct sides of the car?

One wire gives you 360 (the outside notches in the wheel) trigger signals, the other gives you 6 (the inside notches). I can't remember which way round it is but if you hook up the red and black wires to a battery then put a multimeter (set on volts dc) on one of the other wires then spin the dizzy you should be able to tell pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure that white is for the 6 trigger signals and green is for the 360, for my ecu I had to end up using both but with a Z31 wheel as one of the 6 slots had to be slightly wider than the others so that the ecu knows where cylinder 1 is.

On my Z the wiper amplifier kept crapping out I think the wiper relay is built into it, I'm not sure about LHD drive cars but on my right hand drive Z it is located behind a plastic panel in the back right hand side of the engine bay.

Whats wrong with a heavy duty clutch to fit a Z31? What are you trying to achieve exactly?

I think the SR20 flywheel will have the wrong number of bolts to hold it to the crank, I think the VG30ET has a 6 bolt crank and the SR20 & VG30DETT will be 8 bolt. Might pay to double check though.

From what I can remember, running it off ports a & b is supposed to provide a more accurate boost source, the pressures at port a and b port will be different to each other by a little bit, but to be honest I don't think it really matters, I normally just run it off port a or off the inlet manifold.

If its an early motor that takes the longer filter (R32, R33) then it should be the same as the earlier VG30Es and VG30DEs, and lots of other Nissans.

The cheap way is to get a later model ZX shifter, take the bushes and spring out and put them back in upside down, shortens the throw a little bit.

I used to work for a parts store here in NZ, we sold Gates, our competition sold Dayco, Gates belts seem much better than the Dayco ones. As for the difference in the hose, the rubber seemed different and the trans cooler line had more reinforcing from what I can remember, its been a while though. Both were pretty expensive, we were selling FI hose for $60NZD/meter I think.

I wouldn't, it will work but not for very long. Gates say in their catalogue that their fuel hose definitely isn't to be used for oil. Trans cooler hose I'm not so sure about, it might be alright.

Yeap they can be swapped, it should fit straight in. If its a power steer rack it can be a bit of a pain getting the pump out if you leave it attached to the rack but it is do able.

SD30? A diesel with spark plug leads? Its probably an H30 I would say.

I've only got this really old picture taken a couple of months after I bought the car

I haven't got any decent pics of my car, but its constantly a work in progress. Its a '78 Fairlady 280Z. I want to keep the body reasonably stock, except for the front kit. The rear wiper & washer have been removed, other mods are: '83 front crossmember & rack and pinion power steering '83 rear crossmember & CV half shafts, brakes, R31 Skyline R200 LSD R31 Skyline front struts, Z31 5 stud hubs, R32 Skyline 4 piston calipers New KYB front inserts, new KYB rear shocks w/lowered springs all round 17x8 & 17x9" wheels, 235/45/17 front & 255/40/17 rear Toyo Proxes Motor has been bored 3.5mm over LD28 crank, Z24 pistons, L20ET rods, N42 block & head 2mm metal head gasket Head has been port matched, cam has been ground, VG30ET valve springs Stock turbo exhaust manifold, HKS T3/T04 adaptor w/built in external wastegate TA51/T04 hybrid turbo, 0.70 a/r exhaust housing Pallnet fuel rail, Mitsubishi GSR injectors (370cc) R32 Skyline RB20DET fuel pressure regulator Mitsubishi VR4/Evo twin post coils R30 Skyline L20ET distributor, Z31 VG20ET chopper plate Link V5 computer Remote mount oil filter & cooler 450x300x76 intercooler (have a bigger one to go in, 130mm thick!) 2.5" intercooler piping 95 amp alternator, off a Maxima or something HKS blow off valve Exhaust is currently 2.5" but I'll be getting a 3" mandrel bent one made after Christmas. R31 RB30 flywheel & heavy duty clutch R32 GTSt Skyline gearbox (FS5W71C) Thats about all I can remember at the moment, theres probably other stuff. Heres a little video for your viewing pleasure, this is before the 5 stud conversion and with my old (tiny) T04B turbo, with this setup it was making 278hp @ the wheels on 12psi. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZGvQHMHrWU