A Project Is Brewing...

[HuD 91gt]

Well it's just new to me   Tacoma actually.

[Patcon]

Love it! I use to ride a lot but ended up getting hit a couple of times. I stick to convertibles now, but I love beautiful bikes...

Charles

[rossiz]

goodies just arrived - almost done amassing bits to start the build...

 

[Captain Obvious]

So you're switching to carbs for this next engine build? Did you mention that before, or is this a new revelation?

 

I've considered the same... I find beauty in the simplicity of operation.

[Mark Maras]

 You're going to love them. As the Captain says, the simplicity of operation is a thing of beauty. Having sorted out your own fuel injection issues, it will be interesting to hear your comparison of the two fuel systems in the future. Should you find you are missing anything in the new set-up, let me know.

 Congrats on the great find.

Mark

[rossiz]

yes - since our efi systems are not very adjustable, and the new build will a platform for more performance, i'm going carbie.

in addition to this, my goal is to rip out every possible wire and sensor and strip things down to the absolute bare essentials. i know some of you folks are very comfortable with electronics (Captain, SuperLen & FW for starters) and i mean no disrespect here, but the more grass i can see when i look down into my engine bay, the better!

 

in absolute contrast to the above, i do plan to weld a bung into the exhaust and install a wideband o2 sensor to assist w/tuning. that sensor doesn't bother me, as it is a diagnostic tool and if it were to crap out for some reason it wouldn't leave me stranded (again!).

 

i'm very happy with the condition of the su's i found and will be ordering the ZT DVD to start the learning process...

[240260280z]

Temptation to be a hypocrite:

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.autosportlabs.net%2FMegaJolt_Lite_Jr.&ei=V94eVd7TK8L2yQSdrYKgCw&usg=AFQjCNGpJIB15_DVs_6XxY1CunXyN3vGkA&bvm=bv.89947451,d.aWw

I want one with carbs later this year.

Edited April 3, 2015 by Blue

[rcb280z]

While I was in Vegas (17 years) I ran a set of su's on my 77 and loved it! Back to California and had to put FI back on. If you are a carb man you cant help but love the su's. I bought my su's from ZTherapy in 1995 /6, somewhere around then. Never had any problems that couldn't be remedied right away. 

 

Wish I could get away with it here.

[Mark Maras]

  I feel the same when it comes to electronics. Take a look at the first gen. wiring diagram. It is simple & easily understood.  I would think that it would be a good starting point if you want to get rid of the extraneous bull$hit wiring that kept increasing year after year. Probably would be easier to eliminate some of the unused wiring rather than going to a 1st gen harness although it wouldn't be that difficult to make your own. Throw in some relays for an update & you'll have a clean engine compartment except for the "grass".    The more the better.

[rossiz]

Temptation to be a hypocrite:

I want one with carbs later this year.

 

Ahhhh yes.... to be clear, the engine does in fact require an electrical system to run - and i have been looking at a distributorless system for a while. i fit up an msd system for the bike shown above and love it. this is an example of a small bit of electronics that is actually simpler, more reliable and easier to tune in my experience. using a coilpack and crank trigger actually removes even more clutter from the engine bay, and i can mount everything on the plug side of the engine (fuel on the drivers side, ignition on the passenger side).

 

while i don't think i'll realize significant performance gains with it, getting rid of the distributor, vacuum advance and rats nest of plug leads does have it's appeal...

 

the trick is to find the right system that is small, simple, and affordable. i have no issue fabbing up the crank wheel and sensor brackets, but i'd like to keep the rest to a minimum.

[Captain Obvious]

Back when I had my first Z, the fuel injection used to scare me. It doesn't scare me anymore. The only things that bothers me now are 1) The lack of visibility into what is going on inside the black box, and 2) the ability to do anything to change it.

 

In my limited Z experience, I've found the performance of the carbs (once up to operating temp) to be about the same as the FI. The FI seems to be a lot more stable when cold, but other than that, I've not noticed a huge difference. I've found the fuel economy about the same as well. I don't have any insight into HC, NO, and CO though. The published belief was that the FI systems were put into operation as a result of continuing stringency of the emissions standards and even the open loop EFI systems we have might be better in that regard. I don't know...

 

I do know that neither system work right unless you do it right and pay attention to all the little details.

 

Personally, I'd love to have my Z on a dyno with the original EFI and then swap to SUs and run it again to see what happens. Of course, I'd also to toss on a pair of flat tops and run it a third time! 

[Jeff G 78]

I like SU's because the stock EFI doesn't work well with a performance cam.  My '78 280 ran like crap with my Web Racing cam, but the same cam works awesome in my L28 SU 260Z race car.  For a stock engine, both work well when properly functioning.