zeeboost

I don’t have a solution for the crank nut, but I’ve managed to un-stick a couple of engines in the past by leveraging a pry bar on the flywheel. If it’s on an engine stand you can use one of the mounts to leverage against, but you may need a second hand to prevent unwanted rotation from the engine and / or stand. Otherwise a bolt through the block where the bellhousing would go has worked. I just work the flywheel both directions until it breaks free, but I’ve had to let the penetrating oil sit for a few days first. On one I also had to help motivate it with a brass punch and hammer. Just an idea, not sure what all you’ve tried yet.

This was back in 2014 when they just hit the market, so not sure if quality is still the same, but I was pleased with the set of Ataras I bought

This forum will mostly err towards the side of period-correct, so I’m willing to bet most will say to stick with the libres. If you post this in hybridz, you’ll probably get more recommendations of 17x9.5 rotas, or other modified larger wheel. What it boils down to is what you think looks best. And if you decide to get rid of those libres for other wheels then let me know, I don’t live too far from you.

Again, really need to know your hp goals and future plans with the car. Turbo stroker is cool to say, but not necessary even for 600+ hp. It also adds quite a bit in machining and other rotating assembly parts to build. You'd be better off reallocating those funds to fuel management, more efficient turbo, intercooler, etc. Or if you're wanting a stock build, then that money would be better towards suspension, brakes, etc.

Really need to lay out your hp goals or plans for the car. If stockish L28et hp is fine for you, then the factory computer system is stupid simple to install and maintain, and even though it's not optimum to today's standards, works pretty dang well for what it is. If you're wanting to push more boost, upgrade to larger turbo, run over 300hp, etc, then look at standalone options. Megasquirt is one of the cheaper ones and has been done so many times on these engines that there is more than enough documentation to help you out. But it still comes with a learning curve and a lot of other parts / modifications required to make it function properly. I also don't know if your engine is a factory L28et or if it's an n/a that you're looking to convert. Either way I would highly recommend installing an intercooler as these engines are already prone to detonation, and I've logged IATs over 200* after just one pull in 85* weather. I thoroughly enjoy this website but it's mostly for restoration back to stock. Go to www.hybridz.org, search search and search some more, and you'll find everything you ever wanted to know pertaining to the turbo swap.

Just for reference, I know of an all original 3/71 with an E31. Also has the side drain oil pan, but on a p30 block.

I haven't installed LEDs on Datsuns, but having done it for other modern vehicles, I just typically install resistors inline with the harness that mimic the return current of an incandescent bulb. Most newer vehicles use computers to monitor / measure return current, and it works fine with fooling them.

I've never opened up one of the 240z autos to be able to chime in with anything useful, but I have a 3 speed auto transmission you can have if you need any other parts or for testing purposes. I live in central texas, not sure where you're at though.

Did the warning system work properly before the dash was removed? Honestly I'm pretty sure the instrument cluster just houses a series of bulbs that light up when commanded by the control amplifier. So basically, unless there are broken solders or circuits on the circuit board of the instrument cluster (unlikely), I doubt it's the problem. I would double check all your connections, especially those running from the control amplifier (underneath the glove box) to the instrument cluster. If you want to start with the basics, make sure the control amplifier is being provided proper power and ground. 12v power is provided from the 2nd to the bottom fuse in the left column of the fuse box, through a green wire to the connector at your control amplifier. Ground is a black wire 2 cavities over from the green wire in the control amplifier connector, which goes through a junction connector and then to body ground. Since you pulled the dash, there's a chance you may have a loose ground or poor connection here. Page EL-83 in your FSM illustrates the wiring schematic you'll need to follow, but what I listed above will be the basics to get you started. If you suspect you have a faulty control amplifier, I have an '82 turbo parts car that I can send you a replacement for. I can't promise they're 100% compatible, but I doubt nissan would make changes to that particular system in 1 year. But I would first verify your harness integrity. And I can also assure you that mice, rats, squirrels etc. will absolutely chew up these harnesses, as I have seen first hand.

Meanwhile a numbers matching 8/70 on bat a few months ago sold for $1k, and was less of a project than that. Pft, forget craigslist, I’m just going to sell my parts cars on copart. That’s crazy...it’s hard to believe those are real bids for that car.

I’m not sure where you’re located, but in the US they’re dime a dozen. Can’t speak for other countries.

The e in the engine designation is for electronic fuel injection, so the engine is an L20e. As far as power goals, you need to establish your hp goals, driveability goals, and budget. Best bang for the buck will be to swap in an L28e from a 280zx, look for f54 block / p79 head combo. Realistically any L series engine will work, but those will give you a good starting point from stock. It will take a lot of work and money to make the L20 output the same as the stock L28. The more labor you can do yourself, the less this will cost you. I wanted to build up an L20 years ago, but looking at the costs involved, I just went with the L28. If you want to keep the stock engine in there, then put a performance exhaust and intake on there, and enjoy the new sounds of the engine on top of the added 6hp.

These aren’t OEM, but I’ve used these on a few L28 and L28et engines with good results https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F151767850087 I think different (slightly thinner) washers are required to use these, as there weren’t enough threads to run the nut all the way on the stud with the factory washers.

Unfortunately I do not

Yeah that belonged to Justin Owens. Ironic that he survived a tour in Afghanistan, only to get killed while enjoying his hobby. I know they say “at least he died doing what he loved,” but it’s still sad. RIP Justin

Brief follow up: Replaced all of the valve stem seals, the old new ones were brown (didn't find part numbers) and my replacements are black (Ishino Stone). When I held the brown one side by side to the black one, the inner diameter of the top opening was definitely smaller on the black, but it could just be because it hadn't been worn in yet. As I popped the brown ones off, they still snugly rode up the valve and caught the lip of the valve stem. I did notice a under a few of the valve stem seals, small pieces of what appeared to be old carbon build up or sludge were on the valve or guide. I forgot to bring my micrometer to measure the side-to-side play, but it seemed minimal, to the point that I couldn't see it preventing a new stem seal from doing it's job. I understand that concrete numbers and measurements trump how I feel about it, but I can go back in and measure it some other time if I need to. So the new seals are in, still smokes, though it does seem to be a little better at idle...but probably just my imagination. Friday evening I pulled all the plugs and have had ATF soaking on every piston. Today I rotated the crankshaft a couple times, and I'll mess with it after christmas break. I remember when I first opened up the engine, it had a bit more sludge and oil buildup than I care to see. So there's a chance the oil rings have too much buildup to do their jobs, but again, the oil consumption was a recent development so I didn't think rings would be an issue. I also "rebuilt" the lifters as per cygnus's write up. This should be a mandatory service with anyone that has a p90a head; lots of nasty gunk built up inside of there. I had been reading that these lifters can have a tendency to over pump, so to speak, and it made me wonder if that was the reason for the initial intermittent loss of compression while cranking. I'll keep this thread updated, until then, Merry Christmas to you guys!

Thank you all for the replies, I'll follow up with this thread once I get time to tear into the engine.

So you're thinking that the sticking is more from the guide, but not the seal itself? At this point I figured at a minimum I would be removing the changing out the stem seals, since I'm suspicious they're the culprit for the oil burning. With the seals off I can do a rough visual on the movement of the valve inside the guide to see if there's any obvious excess slop. If I have to pull the head off then it's going back to the machine shop, and I don't know how long that will take again...frankly I'm really just hoping the stem seals will do the trick. Though it was kind of odd that literally all cylinders had no compression on startup towards the end of this issue. Thank you all for the replies, sounds like it's pretty narrowed to either valve stem seal or guide.

Yes you are correct, that's what I was referring to. I was curious if the valve guide seal / valve stem seal could be so tight that it can actually cause a valve to hang open. I have not experienced any misfires or running rough within the last few hundred miles, so a leakdown test should pass through all 6 cylinders at this point. It can still pass with bad valve guide seals though.

Guess I should've clarified, the intermittent compression I'm referring to would be from excessive cylinder pressure leakage, thus causing the "skip" or lack of resistance inside the engine while cranking. If the lifters were not pumping up, that would result in low compression numbers if I had a gauge connected, but I should still hear resistance while cranking. Hope that helps.

That's a good question, I had assumed since the head is over 35 years old that they would've been replaced, but I'll see if I can get my friend to dig up the receipt and see what's on there. This head still has the hydraulic lifters, which the machinist thought I was just misinformed when I told him that, until he saw them for himself. Considering all the other Z heads were solid lifters, it's understandable. But if they were a problem then I would still have compression when cranking it over, it'd just be running rough.

So this one is an odd one to me as I've never experienced symptoms like this, and I'm curious what some of the more experienced L28 gurus think. I recently rebuilt an L28et for a friend of mine, which started from an external head gasket leak. Took the head (p90a) to a reputable machine shop, partly because they were the only ones around here that would actually straighten the head before resurfacing. He had the head for a few months (I believe he worked on it in his free time), but once I received it back, took roughly 3 months before it was running in the car. First startup everything was great, drove it easily for a couple miles, brought it back and parked it. Next day while cranking, I could hear one cylinder skipping (no compression), and once the engine fired up it had a dead misfire for roughly 10 seconds, but then it cleared up and drove great. This happened a couple more times, only after the engine sat. During the misfire, I did hear a slapping sound every once in a while that I've heard in the past from sticking valves when trying to resurrect an old engine. I never confirmed that's what it was, but the sound is very distinct. Finally the condition got to the point where I had no compression on startup (sounded like a blender), took at least 30 seconds of cranking on it before it would start to pop, then finally catch and fire up...which again after a few seconds of running rough, would smooth out and run great. That weekend we ended up taking his car on a 200 mile trip, mostly highway cruising, but also some mid rpm pulls under boost as I was tuning it while he drove it. The next morning I noticed it fired right up, didn't skip a beat, and it hasn't acted up ever since (this was a month ago and there have been a few hundred more miles added to the car). But a new symptom appeared, lots of smoke, especially on startup and high vacuum conditions. It's burning oil, and I'm suspicious it's the valve guides as it has the classic symptoms of it. The engine never smoked before I tore it apart, so I don't see it being the rings. Those were the only parts on the bottom end I didn't touch during the rebuild because compression numbers were good and the engine had no oil consumption. I did replace the turbo with a low mileage used unit, but they usually have different smoking conditions than high vacuum. So I'm wondering if the valve guides were initially too tight, causing the valves to intermittently stick open, and now that they're worn, they're allowing oil to enter the cylinder. I've never really seen that happen before though. I plan on popping the spark plugs out and going in with a borescope to see if I can find evidence of oil running down from the cylinder head. Has anyone here had experience with similar symptoms? I'm assuming the p90a valves are identical to the p90? Curious if maybe he installed the wrong guides by catalog error or something. Anything else aside from the guides that could be responsible for the smoke? If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

I’ve gone through 3 datsun 5spd transmissions in my 240z l28et, but it’s modified. The next trans will be one from a z32, but I’m not sure if those adapter kits are still available. Pretty sure the thing now is to mate a 350z 6spd to it, but I havent done any research on that swap. Last I checked, parts are still readily available for the T5 trans, but im not sure if the 280zx T5 uses the same internals as say a foxbody mustang T5. A rebuild kit is more than likely just seals, synchros and bearings, but you may still be able to find replacement gears for yours. If you’re running a stock L28et then a stock T5 should be fine, as thats what they were rated for. But to answer your question, I’ve seen those 4speeds take quite a bit of abuse and keep ticking, so if you’re in a pinch and you can get one cheap, it should work fine.

Curious, was this one Andy’s 240z from Maysel?

Someone stole that one...