S30Driver

Thank you and a big thanks for the great deal on the bumpers Terrapin! I also cleaned up the back of the bumper & applied POR 15 to keep it from rusting there. It was a fun project with a very satisfying end result.

Did you follow the correct bleed order for the brakes, driver rear, pass rear, pass front, driver front? Sounds like you know what you are doing with the brake system. Are you confident the master was bench bled properly? Pedal should be firm especially with the stainless flex lines. Over on zcar.com , do a search on fart method , a solid way to bleed the master, might be some help to you. Another possibility is the new master is bad, wrong one. I know there was a change in 72 vs the early master, ports were reversed.

Just about finished installing my 240z front bumper, replacing the large & heaviy stock 280z bumper. Just need to pick up some nylon spacers for the bumper end bolts tomorrow from lowes. I retapped the end bolt captive nuts to clean up the threads (they are indeed 6 x 1 metric. Fabricated the new main brackets from 1.5" x 1/8 alluminum stock, drilled & slotted them for a small amount of adjustment, & installed them with new stainless hardware. Drilled 1 new hole for the front of the brackets & utilized the stock rear hole for the back location. Now, on to the back bumper .... even more fun!

It is possible the TPS is bad or poorly adjusted & contributing to your problem. If it is sitting on the idle contacts too long, or those contacts are shorted, it will be telling the ecu to not give the injectors more fuel, hence no power. There is a simple proceedure in the shop manual to adjust it correctly. All you need is a vom to set the 3 contacts, idle, cruise, & wot. As a quick test to see if it is an issue, disconnect its electrical connector temporarily & drive the car. See if the problem improves & report back.

Verify and set the timing with a light, 7 or 8 degrees advanced at idle, warm. Fast idle is controlled by the AAR, maybe it is stuck open or you did not hook up its electrical connection for the heater in it.

If it is an S30 or S130, it will likely be the combination switch. Bet the front parking lights are out as well. Time to refurb it or ... send it to Dave for an expert repair.

In the process of converting my 280 bumpers to 72 240z style. Working on the front one right now. Does anyone know the correct size for the secret little bolt that threads into the bumper ends (thru the body below the headlight area) I did a search on bumper bolts and someone claimed they are 6 x 1.0 , bought 2 stainless ones, they do not thread in, feels like the thread is wrong. Are they special tapered bolts or just standard? If anyone knows or can verify the correct bolt size, let me know.... My car looks different with no bumper

Sure Tyler, sure.... You & Dave just wanted to keep all those trophy's to yourselves! Cut down on the competition! Right in my backyard too. Oh well, back to my 240 bumper project ....

I don't think you will be able to tell the brand of the strut inserts without disassembling the suspension & pulling them out of the tubes. Unless the springs are marked by the mfg, & you can see them with a visual inspection, no way to tell that either, possibly you can take pictures & someone like John C. may be able to id them. You may want to consider the Tokico Illumina's if you replace the cartridges. They are 5 position adjustable & position 1 and 2 will allow you to adjust for a softer ride than the fixed tokico blues or kyb's. Easy to change the setting with just a small slot screwdriver.

Car looks fantastic Steve, best of luck finishing it for the show.... What caught my eye is the T-5 installation, I will be swapping motors soon this summer with the BW T-5 & am curiious about the tranny crossmember for the s30. What is the best route to aquire this, does anyone make them for sale over on hybrid z? I know I will have to shorten the driive shaft & change the rear flange to accomodate the turbo shaft as well.

Congrats on the trophy win Dave!! Wish I could have been there. Wish I would have even known about it. Does that mean Tyler's car took 2'nd place in the classic imports?

Yes you can, some have upgraded to led's for the instruments as well as white face's. The stock lamps are actually clear with rubberized covers on them to change the color. If your zx has the 85mph speedo, another good upgrade is to swap the 130mph speedo from a 79. It was the only year with it & is a direct swap.

If you currently have the analog gauges, stay with them! Trust me ... you don't want the digital instruments - especially the tach. If I remember right, to convert, you would have to change the fuel tank sender & the water temp sender. Can't recall if the harness to the main cluster has to change.

So Z Tyler, any update on fuel consumption ..... or are you still in the category of an out of tune ferrari daytona 365GTB/4 pulling a heavy trailer uphill into a headwind ....

Also removed Z Tyler's dash pot & we took the car for a test drive. Seems to be running smoother & more cosistant thru the rev range. (consumed many krispy kreme donuts & some dr pepper which had no effect on how the car ran ...)

Install the headers yourself or have a local member help you do it. Its a labor intensive job that a shop will charge big $ for. Replace the bolts & studs with new quality hardware (you probably have a couple of broken studs that need to be replaced) & get a new nissan manifold gasket. Then drive it to the muffler shop to have the rest of the system done.

It is an interesting & unique idea, but in the end, I don't think the hassle of fabrication & wiring is worth it. I agree, the zx, gm alt, or even the zspecialties 105amp alt are the way to go, plus they eliminate the external regulator. Does the fan have a thermostat switch that turns it on & off at the proper range?

If the car was sitting a long time, the fuel system will need a good going thru. A good place to start would be a compression test. Check all vacuum lines & boots for leaks. Clean all efi electrical connections under the hood (thease FI cars are very sensitive to voltage drops & sensor feedback to the ecu). Check timing & advance is working in distributor. Verify fuel pressure & how clean gas is going into the filter (disconnect line & let it pump some gas into a suitable container. How many miles on the motor? Post the results & people here can help you narrow down the problem.

If you have to pay for the tow, I'd just go get a brand new battery for it & drive it home. At least you will have a new battery, then troubleshoot the charging problem when you get it home.

A great weekend event with perfect weather. Great turnout with lots of interesting cars to view at a well organized event. Always interesting to see others handywork, talk to them & get ideas for my own mods. Fun drive wirh Dave & Tyler down and back, camping, etc. All 3 cars ran great!

You only need to lower the fuel tank once to pull the passenger side bumper shock. The other area that is a hassle is pulling the rear passenger interior panels to get access to the area you will need to bolt up the passerger side of the bumper (fuel filler area). That you may have to repeat to tighten the bolt when you remount the bumper.

I think the easiest exit is 130 Dave. You will pass Krispy Kreme on the right, take the exit & come back up Tacoma Mall Blvd to it. See ya there ...

Sounds like its running great Dave! I think you made the right decision. Post a pix of the new motor. Do you plan to rebuild the old motor? Makes me want to get my swap from the blue car done even faster now....

Great story, very interesting read.... I'd leave that ecu in there & just look for a good used one as a spare for backup. Best of luck on the road trip. I'll have to test inflate my spare one day and see if it is servicable.

As bad as it was Dave, better now close to home, then half way to Canby in a few weeks .... The rubber freeze plug is a good idea, I may pick one up & put it in the kit with the spare tire for emergencies.