turbo 260

Did you put them on the right sides? If the bleed screw isn't at the top of each caliper you will never get the air out.

They are exactly the same, except you need to fill it from the other side.

Just to add another tranny option to the mix, the late maxima (1983-4) has the following ratios 1st 3.321 2nd 2.077 3rd 1.308 4th 1.000 5th 0.752 This would be my choice for a normally aspirated car. You get the great launch of the early tranny, with the great OD of the later. plus many Maximas weren't beaten on like Zs were. you can tell the Maxima tranny from others because the fill plug is on the driver's side. The early Z 5 speeds were also known to have the bolt holding 5th back off and cause failure. the later trannys got a reverse thread bolt that solved the problem. Jim

I usually get BCPR6E-11 or part number 5632. Most places carry them as they are a common Honda plug. They are the larger gap (1.1) and by dropping the S (for standard tip) you get a V groove plug. They only ohter major difference is that it is the smaller socket size (that's what the "C" stands for). Down here in Tampa, Advance Auto carries them in stock. Jim

well, I have to go with turbo. Not only can you make more power at a lower cost, a turbo is the best of both worlds. Way back when san antonio held there first convention (2001?) iI drove my car from Tampa. In the pack of cars I was with, I got the best gas milage, about 28mpg. At the drag strip, the car ran 11.79 @ 121mph, and that was in 93 degree weather. Our lemons race car is an even better example. we bolted a stock turbo motor in the car using the 77 EFI. That car dynoed 235hp at the wheels on 9 psi. At the race, we had the fastest car on the straits, unfortunatly, we had very little brakes and questionable suspension. The great thing about a turbo car is that when your not in boost (which is most of the time) it is an overbuilt low compression, mild cam motor. A high compression, big cam, stroker motor is always just that. It's great, but durability and gas milage isn't there. If I was building a show or weekend car, a stroker would be cool. For a daily driver, give me the turbo. Jim

First thing we need to find out, is it fuel or spark. Next time it dies, take an extra spark plug and connect it to one of the plug wires. ground it out on the strut tower and try to start the car. Does it spark? If not, the problem is on the spark side. If it does, then we can rule that out and move to fuel. we really need to know the fuel pressure. Buy an underhood gauge. make sure it's mounted between the underhood filter and the fuel rail (not the return line). If the pressure is good, then you'll need a noid light. This plugs into one of the injector leads, and flashes when a pulse is sent from the ECU. No pluse can mean a few things ECU related. I would also check the voltage at the battery while the car is running. It should be between 13-14.8 volts. Less then 9 and the car may not run. One of these tests should lead us to the problem, or least in the right direction. Jim

One problem I had was using aftermarket lug nuts on a factory wheel. The aftermarket nuts are slightly smaller, thus you end up tightening them off center. To fix this you need at least two factory lug nuts per wheel. It drove me crazy for years. Jim

I have done it many times, at least 6. In all the cases, I used the factory harness in the car, NOT the turbo harness. I just made your job a ton easier! You will need to swap a few parts on the motor and intake. You will need to use the 75 intake with the turbo injectors installed. You will also need to put the turbo throttle body on your 75 intake if you plan to use the factory J pipe from the turbo to intake. You will need to figure out what to do with the head temp sensor. It's in the thermostat housing on the 75, in the head on the turbo motor. Either location will work, you would need to lengthen the harness for the head temp if you leave it in the head. The AFM will need a guts swap. You take the guts out of the 75 and install them in the turbo AFM. This is waht makes the swap work. The bigger fuel injectors will make the car run rich, but the bigger AFM leans it back out. The last swap part is the most difficult. You will need to change the distributer drive shaft. You need any NA L6 shaft as the turbo one is different. You eit by pulling the oil pump, it will slide out. Make sure the motor is at TDC. The shaft will have a mark that will point strait up. Make sure when your done that the dizzy is still right on the number 1 cylinder. Now install the motor, and use the factory harness already in your car. The last car we did this to is a "lemons" race car. It dynoed 235 wheel hp at 10psi. We were shocked, we expected about 175-190. we also did this to a bunch of other 280's my 260 and an 84 Maxima wagon. send me an email and I'll try to help you through this. Jim

Sounds like fuel to me also. You can help the situation by using vice grips to pinch off the fuel RETURN line. This will slightly help a weak fuel pump and help diagnos a lean condition. This isn't a substitute for getting a fuel pressure gauge. If the pump is original, you could just swap it out and see if that fixes the problem. Chances are that if it is old, it's going to go out soon anyway. Jim

Arne, Glad to hear it's running. I had a friend who had someone else put in his electronic ignition, actually it was a Z shop, and they never bypassed his resistor. He drove from Tampa to dallas and back. He stopped by my place to see if I could figure it out. Once we bypassed the resistor the car ran noticably better. I set my car to 10 degrees BTDC with the vacuum advance disconectted ( I am running fuel injection though). May I also suggest NGK 5632 which is BCPR6E-11. The "C" means it's the smaller socket size. Drppoing the "S" changes from a standar tip to a V groove and the "-11" increases the gap to 1.1. These are a standard honda plug, so everyone usually has them in stock. Jim

You won't need the fuel pump or any of the electronics, except the AFM. If you haven't replaced your fuel pump, I would suggest doing that with the swap. Your pump may work fine with the demand of your current motor, but with the added requirements of the turbo injectors, it will probably fail soon. I suggest a walbro or a good in line pump. I'm using a lifetime pump from AutoZone. It was originally for a turbo volvo or a caddy motor. It listed for a higher pressure then the ZX turbo pump. If you stick with your EFI, then this is pretty much a weekend swap, other than finishing the exhaust. I would also look into a good clutch, and not a centerforce. I have an ACT and it seems to work very well. We are now running a spec clutch in our lemons car, and that has held pretty well. jim

Anthony, I would recomend finding a turbo motor. To turbo your motor you will need the turbo exhaust manifold, turbo, downpipe (prefferably back to the cat), turbo injectors, turbo AFM, J pipe from turbo to throttle body, throttle body, turbo oil pan, turbo oil supply and return line. By the time you get all that, you might as well just get a turbo motor. The stock motor will hold up under low boost, 5-6 psi, and will be much faster. The turbo motor can handle more boost and will live longer. I run my car with 77 EFI, not the turbo stuff. You will need to swap the fuel injectors, and do a "guts swap" with a turbo AFM. With a turbo motor, you will need to change the distributer drive shaft with a one from any non turbo L6. That way you can use your stock distributer. I'm sure that there are a few other little things that need to be done, but that it the idea. We recently ran a 77 280Z in a Lemons race with this turbo swap. We dynoed the car before the race, and it put 230hp at the wheels. That surprised all of us as we expected about 180. My advice is to find a turbo motor, pull the head and have it checked out, then put it back together with a metal headgasket. Jim

There is another difference. The early 5 speeds had a tendency for a bolt to come loose. The later trannys used a reverse thread that fixed the problem. A third option is the Maxima tranny. The fill plug is on the driver's side, but otherwise the same. It has the wide gearing to get the much heavier Maxima moving, with the better overdrive of the later 280ZX trannys. Also Maximas usually aren't beaten on as much as Zs. Jim

The easiest thing to do is what I have in my Z. It will be even easier for you because I added 75 fuel injection to my 260. Get a turbo motor with injectors, turbo, exhaust back to cat, and AFM. Swap the injectors off the turbo onto your intake, do a guts swap in the AFM, bolt your intake onto the turbo motor, use the turbo throttle body. I know I'm missing some small stuff, but that the majority of it. In stock form with 10 psi, you will be very happy. Add an intercooler, methanol injection and a bigger turbo with 17 psi and you are at 400 wheel hp. Jim

Randy, My brother has a shop just outside Knoxville. He is very knowledgable in the S30 cars and should be able to have it up and running without a problem. He has owned a couple Zs and currently has a 280 of mine up there. You can reach him at 865-269-4667, ask for Dave. I think that your car will bring more money and less headaches running. Jim