Marios280Z

What did you have previously for a muffler, and how does this SS dual exit exhaust sound?

CO, I'm new to the aturox racing as well, so I'm not really competitive, yet. I participate to have a little bit of fun and learn fine car handling skills in a controlled environment. Because my car has some modifications done compared with stock version (springs, shocks, bigger and wider tires and brakes) I cannot compete in a stock class and therefore I get put in a more competitive one. The 280 is not super competitive car in its class unless you really heavily modify it. For example where I am right now SCCA rules put me along side with BMW Z3 M coupe with famous S54 engine. That car easily makes twice as much horse and torque and handles better So, as I said I don't go for trophy, I go for an experience. If I want to win a trophy I sit on my race bicycle:) Back to the wire, pushing through the grommet was one of the options I was thinking off. just need to find one that will lead to the cabin and I can find it without dissembling the dash.

She did well yesterday. Didn't even brake a sweat. Now I need to find a way to bring in a wire form the engine bay to inside for my manual switch. Any good that will not cause me disassemble half of the dash?

Well folks, it has happened.At autocross this morning. It was only 8pm last night when I filled the rad with coolant.Here is the final product And here she is this morning Still few small things left to do but I will write about it later.Time to race...

I have been thinking about it a lot. Perhaps stupid question, but how would I know that my alternator is struggling to keep up with power demands when i have my lights on and the fans are spinning (dimmed lights? slower fan operation?engine problems due to less charge capability of the system, including undercharged battery? blown fuse?)? One of the things I have been thinking about doing to offset the power demand is to replace light bulbs with LED bulbs. All for marker lights, and rear lights. What would be left are the head lights, which frankly draw the most. But I think if I was able to find replacements for the side markers and rear that would help some. Alternatively, what do we have as an option for a replacement, more powerful alternator that is drop in replacement? I hate to go this route because that sounds like an expensive rote and i have already spend more than planned on the radiator project. On the other note, there is a progress. This car will race this Sunday!! Did some wiring Fits nicely now. Still quite a bit room left

Fantastic, I will use that for the thermo switch connection. Fantastic again, I will use the BLUE (hot in ON and START) or WHITE (hot at all time) wire to connect my manual override switch that I will also install inside the car. If understand it correctly, if I connect it to hot at all time wire, I should be able to turn on the fan even if the engine is off, do you agree? It is shown on page two of my harness install manual.

CO, yes this is what I'm looking for, a low current to activate the relay. Take a look at the wiring diagram of my harness (attached). The connection in question is circled in red on page two. 16720 (1).pdf

Guys, I am still looking for recommendations for where to pick up 12V ignition signal to run the fans.

Mike W, I went similar way you did the fist time around. I got Champion 3 core radiator. I also got their dual fan shroud that they just recently started to offer(which I had to modify in order to really fit tightly, it was a missed opportunity on Champion's side and I let them know about that). I got two SAPL 11" fans that draw 9.5 AMPs each (I got the 12" first but hey were just a pinch to large and they were sticking about 1/4 " outside the radiator on each side). I used inline radiator hose adapter to mount a thermo switch. I found one that had 1/8 NPT threads that matched my wiring harness that I got from Derale: http://derale.com/products/electric-fans/fan-controllers/single-stage/standard-transmission-cooler-mount-kit-11-32-detail I have seen the Dakota fan controller, but that was just a bit too expensive for me at this time. I'm still putting all this together. Here are few pictures of the shroud modification and the sensor adapter. This is the shroud on the radiator. It has long sides that wrap the radiator and use radiator mounting holes As a matter of fact the sides were a little to long and created gaps on top and the bottom of the radiator as shown here So I decided to shorten it a bit And here is the sensor adapter on my new silicon hose

What would be a good place to pick up 12V ignition signal to drive my electric fans?

Thanks rossiz.

How do I remove freeze plugs? Should I do it if I have not seen a sign of crude or rust (at least not in the drained coolant, not sure how else I could check for that)? To me they look like they are press fit. Also, a newbe question, but is that engine block cavity separate and sealed from the rest of the engine internals (cylinders, crank shaft, etc)? As I think about, it it has to be because that is where the coolant is flowing so it cannot mix or otherwise leak into engine internals.

Hey guys, can somebody tell me the difference between a single terminal/pin fan thermoswitch and a double terminal/pin switch? I have seen both, but a lot of off-the-shelve fan wiring harnesses use a single terminal switch. I wonder if I could substitute a single terminal for a dual terminal and still use the harness. I have seen this sensor for 280ZX that has two terminals ( http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/CatalogItemDetail.aspx/Coolant-Fan-Switch/_/R-ECHFS140_0198968791%C2'> I'm wondering how it works on the car. Where does it screw in? In my 280Z I have the temperature sending unit for the dash coolant temp gauge with a single terminal. I'm wondering if I could replace that one with this one for 280ZX. I'm guessing it will not work because the sensor I have works on a principle of resistance change with the temperature and the switch from 280ZX just closes the circuit as certain temp is reached. I also have a lot of plugged ports on m thermostat housing. It looks like a good idea to repurpose one of them for thermoswitch. The trick is to match the thread on the switch with the one in the housing. The one for 280ZX I found has these specs: M16 X1.5". Guys at Blackdragonauto also have a thermoswitch, p/n 71-610 (page 73 in the catalog) allegedly for 75-78 280Z and it looks very similar to the one for 280ZX . However, they have a separate p/n for the 79 280ZX. Any ideas? BTW, I removed my water pump with out any problems. Perhaps the fact I let is sit in a PB Bluster solution for couple of days helped. The Asin pump that was recommended for me has nearly identical design to the OEM one.

Quick update...or lack of it. Not much progress, just cleaning front of the engine little by little. For the second time now they sent me the wrong radiator shroud. They are on their third shipment now and hopefully it will arrive by the weekend.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this post covers it all: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/36956-engine-water-drain-plug/, for both 4 and 6 cylinder engines

Hey guys. In the process of replacement. Things are not going too fast,just can't find time to get going. However, I started to drain the system. I have been reading that not only radiator should be drained but also engine block.FSM says that there is a drain on the cylinder block. For life of mine I cannot find it. Can somebody explain me where it is? My radiator is empty but there is still coolant in the system. When I spin my water pump that is still attached to the engine I can hear coolant splashing.

wheel, I was hoping to develop this post into something helpful for others. When I start installation I will try to post some pics and perhaps even do a little DIY.

Green AF it will be.Here is the pic of the pump: And here is the radiator: It's even polished! And it It does have the drain plug at the bottom, which is nice. also ordered this stainless steel radiator hose set, but after seeing in person I'm not sure I'm liking it: As I mentioned before, I wa in the look out for a shoroud and a fan kit. I was upset that Champion would sell one for 240Z and 260Z radiators but not for 280. So I messaged them today asking why it was so. Well, I got a response and the guys said that they actually do have a set either with a 16" fan or double 12" fans, but it is a new product and they don't have it on the website yet!! I was happy to hear that but at the same time pissed a bit because I could have order it all at once (I like their clean 240/260 solution: http://www.championradiators.com/Datsun-260z-radiator-shroud-1974-1975 ), pay one shipping and would have had all I need to do the full project...I; going to try and negotiate shipping costs with them. Anyway, so there. Now you know. There is a shroud and fan set for 280 if you are looking for one. I'm guessing it will look very similar to the one on Champion website for 240/260Z. They also sell thermocontorl wiring that utilized thermostat sensor and relay: http://www.championradiators.com/Thermostat_Relay_Kit_185/170. The sensor is actually the type that can be screwed in (radiator hose, thermostat housing, etc) rather than pushed through a radiator. I did notice that I do have two openings in my thermostat housing that are plugged with a bolt now: The problem with that is that I don't know what thread is in my housing and what thread is on the sensor. I have seen some posts on interwebzz where people had to re-thread their thermostat housing to make this work. Not really something I want to do...I also saw people installing special adapter in the upper radiator house that had threaded brass insert to hold a sensor. Fex-a-lite makes this adapter but it cost some $40!! Any comments or ideas?

rcb280Z, I'm glad tat Iowa does not even heave emission control... Yeah, in a retrospect I'm lucky. There is one more thing that needs investigating, but I won't get on that subject until the starting is resolved.

Yes...this is frustrating. I'm almost to the point where I want to load up my gun and start the shotgun approach by replacing parts, one after another until she starts properly...OK, fine, I will probably not do that but you get my point

My new Aisn water pump (thanks for the recommendation siteunseen) came in yesterday. It does have a cast iron impeller. I did order it form Amazon. I ordered the three row Champion radiator. Should be coming in tomorrow. Still trying decide what to do about the fan situation. Does anybody have a recommendation for the coolant fluid with this aftermarket aluminum radiator and L28 engine?

It's been few weeks since I looked into my starting issue (family vacation, and other car work). CO, I'm guessing that one way to check leaking EGR would be to spray the starting fluid at it while the engine is running and listen for change in engine operation. I did just that, but there was no reaction form the engine. When I stuck my finger underneath the valve and pressed on the membrane the engine would drop RPMs significantly and almost die. SO I think my EGR is working properly. Just this past weekend I got a chance to look into electrical signals some more. I used the 280 Z EFI Troubleshooting and Theory and the FSM. However the EFI book was last revised in 1975, so I know there are some things that do not apply to my 1978 model, like the fuel pump trigger, which used to be in AFM and I have it in the Oil Pressure Sending Unit. Anyway, CO, yes I do get the START signal. I performed three tests for AFM Resistance (tests 1 -(3a-3c) in the EFI book)Resistance between pin 6 and 8 as well as pins 8 and 9 were showing 180 and 100 Ohms respectively, as indicated by the book. However test 1- (3b) for resistance between pins 7 and 8 should be showing continuity (or small resistance) but in my car it shows around 180 Ohms. Not sure what these pins are for and if this is perhaps because of the relocation of the fuel pump trigger or what. Perhaps this is the result of the previous owner adjusting the fuel mixture inside AFM?? Other than this one discrepancy, everything else I checked returned correct results: Air and Water temp sensor resistance, Control Unit ground circuits #1- #4, Ignition Coil Trigger Input Circuit, Control Unit Power Input Circuit, #1- #6 Injector Circuit, Start Signal Circuit. I was hoping to find something out of spec, but with the exception of the AFM, everything seemed to be OK...

ZedHead, ha,ha, yes I saw that...Probably a good practice. I will sure do that (submerge) before installation. Siteunseen, I think I will use Rockauto is shipping is not too expensive. I also need to order a starter, as indicated in my Hard Starting Issue post, and Rockauto has recommended ACDelco unit. I think I can get free shipping on amazon if my purchase exceeds $35 (my wife always has something to order...).

Thanks siteunseen, I will order it!

Hi All, First off I apologize if this topic has been covered elsewhere. I though I've researched the forum good enough, but I have not been able to find good discussion that would cover this topic extensively. If there is a threat out there that you know of, please point me to it. The problem My 280Z radiator is leaking slowly at the very top. It does not leak when sitting in the garage, but shortly after I fire it up is sips and splatters the coolant in the engine bay and on the hood. I'm looking at replacing it with an aluminum radiator. I plan to use the car form spring to fall, no winter driving. Mostly for driving to and form work but also for weekend SCCA autocross type events. I also would love to be able to take the car to the track even and not be afraid that it will overheat or brake mechanically on me. That's my ultimate goal. I have done one autocross even this year and the car had no overheating problems. However after discovering the leak I have not take the car anywhere outside town :/ I typically have to drive 1-5 hours to get autocross or track event, so I need to be able to do that as well in this car. The options From what I could find online, there is couple of options on MSA website: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/16-6967 three row http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic15e/16-7017 cross flow (expensive!) Here is the Champion, 3 row option: http://www.championradiators.com/Datsun-280z-radiator-1975-1978 Here is the Koyo cross flow (2 row I think): http://www.koyoradracing.com/news.asp?id=61 Here is abalcdragon options, however I think it is not aluminum: http://www.blackdragonauto.com/icatalog/ZR/full.aspx?page=51 Anybody has any other piston to consider that they had food experience with? Did anybody worked with any of the options above? I also would like to consider to install electrical fan instead of the stock engine driven one. MSA, Champion, and blackdragon have options for electric fan kits. Did anybody used them in their installation? What about the the fan shroud if I change it to electrical? From MSA: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic15p/16-7052 From Champion: http://www.championradiators.com/cooling_fans Another thing I need to consider is new water pump or at least water pump gasket since mine is leaking. I have been reading that the original water pumps give up easily, so since "I'm there" and have good access I would like o replace it. MSA has a water pump for about $50, which seams reasonable. Any thoughts on that?