Gavin Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 My father agreed to let me go to work on fixing up his old 78 for myself. A few months before he had passed out at the wheel (blood sugar dropped for unknown reasons), french-kissed a guard rail with the rear 1/4 pannel and smacked the nose into the bottom of a ditch pretty hard. Luckily the damage was essentially only cosmetic. He had purchased the car from a friend of mine's father actually, who got it from a friend of his who drove it out of a junkyard.. So the car has been around. It was red at the time, but we later discovered that it is actually one of the rare Black Pearl Edition Z's - the first Z to come in black. We were planning to restore it before the accident. Since then my dad got a nice shiny orange Texas 78, so hes not missing it that badly. I'm going to use the car to get into racing, starting with Autocross and then building it to be competitive in a certain class - playing it by ear pretty much. Keeping it on a low budget untill I find the right places to put the money into. For the engine I am going to try to use mostly stock parts to build it up like the MN47 head to boost my compression, with a cam to match that. Thats far off though since I'll be making it handle first. I started by stripping out basically everything, and then MegaSquirted it from there. I did this mainly to learn how to tune in preparation for my turbo 20v AE92 Corolla wagon project. I wired everything up using the relay board and on my first time cranking it over it completely unexpectedly fired right up and idled almost perfectly on the stock MS configuration for a Chevy V8. I expected to be troubleshooting for months so it was a very pleasant surprise. So I quickly prepped and blew some primer on the body pannels (still have a good amount of detailing to go) and slapped them back on. Anyways, here are the pics. Sorry about the quality I used my Motorolla, I'm just so excited over it. Specs: 78 280z Black Pearl Edition 104 k miles MegaSquirt 2.2 board w/ standard processor and code, relay board. PLX M300 wideband O2 sensor Sick homemade 3" to 2" intake w/ JB welded-in GM IAT sensor Removed all emissions stuff I could get my hands on Removed A/C Removed stock mechanical fan Honda Civic auxiliary electric fan AE86 oil cooler (sandwich plate setup) Stripped interior Removed dash (only a shell attached to the frame) Removed interior heating/AC parts 83 ZX Turbo wheels on loan from my brother Push-start ignition Anyhow just wanted to share. Whatchuguys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silent Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 ah yea the never turning off brake light must be a s30 thing, every s30 i have worked on, or ridden in,that light is always on, and im gonna cry if you tell me it still works right i like the front facia too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 Nice project! With that WBO2 setup I doubt you'll have much trouble tuning it. As for it starting right up, Tony D mentioned something about that before... Intake looks awesome, as does the minimalistic engine bay. What are you thinking in terms of suspension? I'm restoring the suspension on my 78, but I don't know whether to go coilovers or just springs and shocks. Good luck on the project! Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 ah yeathe never turning off brake light must be a s30 thing' date=' every s30 i have worked on, or ridden in,that light is always on, and im gonna cry if you tell me it still works right i like the front facia too![/quote'] Mine works perfectly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zwannabe Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 wish i knew if mine worked, my Z is completely bare of everything but differential and half shafts:mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted December 31, 2005 Share Posted December 31, 2005 Gavin looks great bro...great work! You are going to love the turbo 20V, I miss mine dearly! Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 It has been very easy to tune with the WB and MegaTunix on my iBook. I have it just about perfect I think. Im going to start with Tokico Blues and the matching springs. The light has gone on and of a few times since it has been running, but it had nothing to do with the handbrake position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Cool, nice shots and looks nice with the MS in there! But... "but we later discovered that it is actually one of the rare Black Pearl Edition Z's - the first Z to come in black." Add to that a disclaimer "In the US Market", they were available in true black on Fairlady Z's in Japan for years before they offered "The Pearl" here! On that never turning off brake light, make sure you are using the correct master cylinder caps---the 77 and 78s had those funky level floats, if they stick or the mag switches go bad you get that. I used ZX caps on my Fairlady to fix that after the P.O. put in a standard, earlier MC in the car. Two outher sources for the light: Handbrake Switch being bad, or the wire being sliced and grounding, and the little switch on the left fenderwell down by the frame rail---not the switch so much, but the exhaust heat making the wire insulation melt and it grounding out... I digress. Hope those ideas get your brake light to go out! Boost On! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom'sZ Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Tony D: Thanks for the ideas about the brake light. As soon as I saw that picture I was like hmmmmm... his is stuck on to. Mine came on when I was working on the suspension and had the brakes apart. I figured it would go out once the brakes were properly bled. My understanding is that the switch down near the frame rail senses pressure difference between the front and back and lights when there is more then some amount. (I searched it a couple of times here) Well I've bled and my brakes are good, but the light is still on. (78 BTW) When I apply the hand brake, it gets brighter. So when the hand brake is applied, the switch gets grounded? Same thing with the one in the engine compartment below the master cyl.? Anyhow, sorry to org. poster for thread jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bastaad525 Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 My brake light works the way (I think) it's supposed to. I only see it come on when I'm flushing/bleeding the brake system, when fluid goes below a certain point I guess? '72 240z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Tony D:Anyhow' date=' sorry to org. poster for thread jack.[/quote'] Its OK I actually just found that I have a minor ebrake cable sticking problem on the drivers side so maybe that will fix my problem at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lincoln Posted April 7, 2006 Share Posted April 7, 2006 Hey Gavin, I like where your headed with your z. I hope to go the same direct.... just starting to learn about megasquirt and I am mac user as well. I was hoping you might share some details of how it works. Did you put it together yourself? What mac are you using/osx version, how are you connected to it - what type of cables/software did you use? Do you feel up to giving a 'how to" for a mac user... Im stripping the interior of mine, but not for racing, just becuase i want a spartan look, going with a racing ignition as well... I want to keep the efi but make it easier to deal with, looking at the pallnet rail and some other upgrades... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted April 8, 2006 Author Share Posted April 8, 2006 The install was really easy because I used a complete kit from DIYAutotune, and yes I made everything myself. I am using a Keyspan 'USA-19HS' serial adapter and MegaTunix in the latest OS X. Installing MegaTunix can be a little annoying. Basically you need to download a program called Fink and another called Fink Commander which allow you to download and install the other required Unix software. A list of the software you need to install is provided with MegaTunix, but often when you install this software it doesnt automatically install whatever software the new software requires..... So ya, that can be a headach but worth it of course. Check out msefi.com for walkthroughs. I did have to use a program called EasyTherm in windows to calibrate my coolant temp sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted April 9, 2006 Share Posted April 9, 2006 congrats! lookin' good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alissa280z Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 The install was really easy because I used a complete kit from DIYAutotune, and yes I made everything myself. I am using a Keyspan 'USA-19HS' serial adapter and MegaTunix in the latest OS X. Installing MegaTunix can be a little annoying. Basically you need to download a program called Fink and another called Fink Commander which allow you to download and install the other required Unix software. A list of the software you need to install is provided with MegaTunix, but often when you install this software it doesnt automatically install whatever software the new software requires..... So ya, that can be a headach but worth it of course. Check out msefi.com for walkthroughs. I did have to use a program called EasyTherm in windows to calibrate my coolant temp sensor. Hi Gavin, I am a mac user and own a 280z as well which I plan on installing Megasquirt in. I hope you don't mind if I contact you in the future if I have some questions. This post has been a great help already!! I found this link on the megasquirt info page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280zNHChris Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 Looks good. Last weekend at NHIS COM had a 2 day session up there was nice. You can check out there site at http://www.comscc.org Also I'm a member of http://www.zccne.org and we are doing some cool stuff this year. We'd love to see the car. I just registered my 72 240 w/turbo today and took it out for a run down 93, was nice. I'd like to go megasquirt also, I'm using a 77 elec system. Hope to see hte car around. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Gavin, alissa280z, 280zNHChris We should get together. I'm in NH, and have done a number of Megasquirt installs. I may be able to help you out. I'm building up a supercharged L28 with MS and EDIS for ignition now. You can see more in this thread: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=103781 Also, we should get together and do a dyno tuning day. A fellow Z Car Club of New England member has a dynapack, which is a great tuning tool. Thanks for taking the pics at COM last weekend Chris: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin Posted September 9, 2006 Author Share Posted September 9, 2006 Hey Z-Ya, my dad signed us up with the Z-Club. Been too busy working on her to make it to any events. Just painted it yesterday. Hope to be able to make it soon. A question- So Ive been reading up on the SCCA classifications. I guess I'm going to go for SMII, but for now, do I need to have an interior to race, or would that mean I need a kill switch on the outside of the car and the other stuff that goes along with the class that would put me in? Basically, can I still AutoX if I dont fit into a class? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Yes, you can autocross with the SCCA. SM2 is probably a good choice as far as class. The SCCNH is doing an autocross in October. Check their site for more information: http://www.sccnh.org/events.php . The SCCA events are a lot more crowded than the SCCNH events. Come by our local forum if you want to see what events we are planning next. We had a dyno testing day today: http://zccne.org/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nismo280zEd Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 ah yeathe never turning off brake light must be a s30 thing' date=' every s30 i have worked on, or ridden in,that light is always on, and im gonna cry if you tell me it still works right i like the front facia too![/quote'] mine works fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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