No serious mods quite yet, but what would be some good bang for the buck upgrades for my ole 81 280zx? I'm going to be a lame and say that i'd love to go out all with this car, but can't unfortunately unless gas prices decide to drop a few dollars, haha.. So mileage is a concern.. So I should say Performance/price/mileage ratio... annoying. I know thats pretty broad considering all the different kinds of mods/parts/tweaks but anything with atleast 18mpg would be great, and any types of tips and suggestions would also be very helpful. I don't know very much about these cars, but I have been reading topics and posts for the past week or so... so hopefully i'll know this car inside out in due time.

Thanks guys.

Welcome to the club. Make use of the search feature and you will find a wealth of information. If properly tuned you should be expected to be getting at least in the mid to high 20s. As you modify your Z for additional performance you will generally find a decrease in mileage.

Thank you, I think i'll be browsing around here for an hour or two checking out and getting some ideas... I want to go carb, but don't know...

What do you think of going 4 barrel with secondaries?

If you really want performance I'm sorry to say but you have bought the wrong car

i say nopers on the 4bbl. a downdraught carb is a poor choice for performance IMHO. if you DO decide to go carb'd, go with triple sidedraughts. i recommend mikunis, but dellortos and webers are also available.

honestly, EFI is probably going to give you the best overall performance, though

There is some truth to what Bill (F-I-M-Z) says, an auto trans ZX would be tough to base a performance car on, and a lot of truth in what Jason said. Tripple side drafts won't give you the mpg that EFI would. But they look and sound neat as well as perform well when they and everything that surrounds them is right. Cam, ignition, headwork, etc.

Well, im getting ported and headers/exhaust.. was just curious on the intake situation.. as for automatic? i'm getting rid of that as soon as I can get ahold of a manual trans. =[

I'm just aiming for a daily driver with some go, nothing tooo serious...

I'm just going to stick to EFI, thanks for the help guys. =]

again, you should check out hybridz for some cool EFI mods. JustinOlson is making some killer intake manis from rontyler's design.

link to ^ : http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=111342&page=2

and the original: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=117607

That is some sick work... I would love to have one of those, despite the price. =/

I'm going to check out some mods, thanks for the links.

no prob