inmocean

Short of addressing the post to you sir, this post was really meant for your expertise. thanks again.

thought I'd add a photo of old CSI along with drawing of replacement CSI and the spray location. arrows indicate where nozzle is on old CSI, (parallel to inlet) Thanks

78 280Z, 9000 miles on engine rebuilt to stock. Only mods are twice pipes and K+N air intake. While wiping down and inspecting my engine bay I noticed the plastic portion of my original Cold Start Injector (CSI) was slightly loose where it met it's metal base. I've gone too far under the hood to stop now, so I ordered a replacement, although I tempted fate by getting one from Ebay... The new CSI has it's fuel inlet in the correct alignment, however the fuel nozzle (where it enters the intake manifold) is shorter than my original, and the fuel outlet is straight down instead of aft, like my original. I installed it anyway, and the car runs fine through its warm-up cycle, but I'm wondering if this Ebay gamble failed...MSA shows a match for my original CSI, do I need to order it or is the slightly different replacement acceptable? Thanks

Is there a test to determine where these fuel leaks might be occuring? I have no drips or smell of fuel anywhere. My Z starts perfectly cold and runs great until it is shut down and the underhood heat gets to the fuel rail, or so I thought. I removed the drip pan from the left hood vent, for more air flow, and added a ZX fuel-rail cooling fan on a thermostat switch...It only operates when the car is shut off after a hot run, and cycles until it cools off. This has improved my hot starts, but like SBLAKE has pointed out, might only be a band-aid, like wrapping the fuel rails...If there is a leak or a weak fuel pump, I'd rather fix it. As a side note, the car fires right up when its hot, but after a couple seconds idles very rough for about the amount of time I'd imagine colder fuel would take to get through the rail from the fuel filter...I don't have to crank the key like there is no pressure, and the car never seems fuel-starved. The fuel rail is hot to the touch after the car has sat. (The engine is currently at 8000 miles, and the fuel rail recieved a full restoration last summer, with no effect on this "vapor-lock." ) Sorry to thread-jack, but this seems relevant and a common topic...

I held onto 35mm cameras until about a year ago, minolta srt, olympus, and canon rebel amongst others, until the expense of developing film and the generally poor quality of developers forced me to digital... and this year for my birthday the wife surprised me with an olympus pen ep-1, the camera i've been lusting after...bought the optional digital viewfinder and am getting back into shooting...also bought a fisheye lens, an accessory i'v also always wanted...time to retake every picture of the Z...already started on the garage photos...

The only exterior modification a Z needs are headlight covers...that's how I felt for 7 years but then got the itch to play with the 280 a bit. I knew my stock bumpers had to go, and the front end is about where i want it to be visually, although I'v begun to lean back to a chrome bumper. The rear however, needs some attention. I had wanted a shaved look or perhaps a fiberglass 240 bumper, but got lazy and put on MSA's rear skirt. I like the bumper look but it's bulk really kills some of the body lines back there...I'm about 60/40 in favor of my current rear spoiler, I'd rather have a BRE-style, but mine is very functional and adds a cool profile from behind the car. As soon as I'm settled into a garage of my own the rear skirt is coming off...

Going on the calender...this will be a good oppurtunity to show the wife the Spruce Goose down in McMinnville as well.

www.datsunsnw.org shows the run on saturday the 5th, not the 12th...sounds like fun, but which day?

thanks for the info...no excuse for first-hand, real-world knowledge. love your car photos, by the way. very creative.

Looks like the Wife and I will be moving to Greensburg, PA, sometime next summer(2011.) (She got into her Med-school of choice.) Its still a little ways off but I thought I'd get online and look into the hoops I'll have to jump through for vehicle registration, and it looks like PA's requirements are much stricter than Washington's. Example-vehicles over 25 years old don't require any inspections or testing here in Seattle. My Z is a 78 280, and while not a daily driver, it sees regular use for commuting and weekend drives. In Pennsylvania my 280 will require yearly safety checks and visual inspection of all systems, from what I can tell. The safety checks are easy, everything on the car is new or gone through, within the last year. but I am wondering about how picky they are on the visual inspection... So reading through PA's info it looks like I'll have to replace my MSA twice-pipes with something a little more restrictive(a muffler:paranoid:), but luckily I have a Federal Car so no Catalytic Converter. I'm also wondering if my K+N cone and intake will fly or if my stock air filter will have to be reinstalled...otherwise the few emmisions components the 78 had originally are still installed and functional. I began a 240 bumper swap but then went with a Fiberglass 240 bumper in the front and a rear fiberglass Skirt with "bumper impression." In Washington this meets the letter of the law, but not in Pennsylvania, from what I'v read online. Otherwise the body is stock, lowered slightly, but not enough to be obvious or an issue. My garage has several current photos of the car's exterior and modifications. So the reason for this post is to get some feedback from Pennsylvania Z owners and any issues you've faced registering your Z's. Bumper swaps are pretty popular, as well as my exhaust and intake setup. Any of you have issues with these specific things or others I'v overlooked? I'v emailed the DMV out there, but would also like some real-world info. It would be a lot easier to do whatever work the car needs here in Seattle, than figure it out in PA. Thanks in advance for any info.

Thanks for the info. Looks like the Z just spent its allowance this month...

That sounds like a great deal, just a couple questions for you: Did you reuse or replace your windshield seal? If it was replaced, did you provide it or did Safelite? (-I would prefer new, and would supply them with a new one from MSA if need be...) Was removal + replacement of the stainless trim included in that price? Thanks

I had noticed these vents at MSA awhile back, but decided against them...just not the look i was going for. fast woman, MSA sells stock hood vents, http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SBC1A05B/30-7091, i had thought about ordering a pair to paint black, and keep my originals in the correct color. I still might, just down on the list of priorities... I had been having issues with starting the engine when hot, so i removed the drip pan from the driver-side vent, and installed the manifold cooling fan from an 83 280zx turbo. the fan bolted right up to existing points on block and valve cover. i bought a thermostat/relay sensor and set it to run a little above operating temperature, so when the car is running the fan doesn't, but after shut off and the radiator heats up a bit, the fan kicks on, cools the fuel rail, and if i go to start the car when still warm i don't have any of the vapor-lock-rough-idle i had been having.

high hopes-pink floyd i am the highway-audioslave on call-kings of leon here i go again-whitesnake-bad! big log-robert plant saving grace-tom petty lost in the flood-springsteen:cool: werewolves of london-zevon serenade-steve miller band radar love-golden earring high road-broken bells copperhead road-steve earle extreme ways-moby major tom-shiny toy guns run-collective soul amongst others...

i also like his set-up...for years i had two speaker boxes between the forward L-shaped trim and the shock towers...got rid of them for space and appearance, but with a cut-out like that it might have been better...oh well... and it would be easy to cut a stock kit as you say, and even if there wasn't enough carpet left to fill in the cut-out area, it wouldn't be too hard to find a piece of carpet to match a kit's...or even black vinyl glued to particle board or black starboard by itself...(marine plastic in sheets, 1/4 in this case would work...fisheriessupply.com) actually the black starboard would be sweet, it has a molded finish similar to the texture of the dash and console...it's pricey but cool... so many options...

i was hesitant to offer an opinion on changing it back without seeing what was under the carpet, but i would guess that if you could find the brackets and particle board you'd be in business. a 78 at the junk yard would be ideal, or just another one you could look at in your area. anythings possible...the extra space you've gained might be a good spot for speaker boxes, though... good luck with your project.

here are a few more stock pics, as well as the deck under the carpet.

here's one shot i had handy of a stock 78. i'll look for more. took this while installing msa's carpet kit in march.

I can't comment on improved performance, the twice pipes went on during my engine rebuild, and while my car is definitely stronger, I don't know how much is due to the exhaust. I'v seen lots of info on exhaust options here and over at HybridZ, when I was over there, if you need comparisons...

I installed the twice pipes with my stock header on my 78 280z. It sounds awesome. Not obnoxious Honda loud, but definitely attention grabbing, and a great bubbling when coasting or idling.