Rij Martin

I guess this means the search for flywheels is on! Should I lighten my stock one or should I just go ahead and buy an aluminum one?

After some more research I think I have a more clear idea on what I would like to do. ITMs (flat tops of course) with a 2mm head gasket and a 280ish cam. (Post #6 from http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/43671-n47-head-l28/) The thicker head gasket should keep the compression lower and hopefully keep the engine away from pinging. Thoughts on this build? Here are the threads I pulled info from http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/70335-n47-head-on-a-flat-top-l28/ http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/43671-n47-head-l28/ http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/85907-attn-flat-top-28-with-e31n42-head-guys/ http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/11398-raising-cr-on-l28-worth-the-effort/ Also I have read that when putting a new cam in you have to replace the rocker arms or else you'll annihilate your new investment. Is that true? I would also like to mention that I have been toying with the idea of leaving the motor, for the most part, stock. Just lighten the flywheel a little bit, and, as Steve mentioned above, play with the gearing. This way I would have a little bit more money to put into suspension work where the z is really supposed to shine.

Thanks for the replies! A thought to consider. With flat tops in the p79 head, wouldn't you just have a zx motor? Siteunseen, those are great reads, loads of information on there.

こんにちは, It's been a while since I have been on but we are finally in our new home and I have had some spare time to pull the z apart. So my question is, what would be the best build for a n42/n47 na set up? That's the block and head I have right now and I believe it shouldn't be a bad place to start. Any of you have experience with this build? I have read mountains on the n42 head but I can't find much on the n47. From the few things I have found some good ideas might be replacing the dished pistons for flat tops. From familiarity on the head I assume it would bring compression up to about a 10:1 and you would have to be crazy to not put a new cam in after that. (270 - 280 degrees on that cam, correct?) After that you would want your head matched up to your exhaust and intake for better flow. What else might you want to do? I currently am running round top SUs and the stock exhaust. The exhaust will be replaced for 2.5 and, if dreams come true, I will switch to some triples. What ideas can you folks dream up for this motor/head? I am not looking for any crazy power upgrade, just something to put a smile on my face. I wan't to make sure I can still daily it without putting racing fuel in it. Thank you in advance, the support I get from this forum by far makes it my go to place.

That's awesome man! Looks way clean. If you decide to sell those shoot me over a note, I could be a potential buyer.

When did the z's get the raised rear decks? I thought all 280s had the raised decks and didn't allow you access into the cargo boxes. Also it looks like this car has speakers in the rear, I have never heard of a z having that.

Jim, I live just down the state from you in Saint George and have been watching KSL and Craigslist pretty close for the past 3 years. From what I have seen this car isn't a very good deal at all. Haha I think that the other two for $6000 are a better deal than this one, although I haven't looked at them. 1977 Datsun 280Z http://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/3538177 1978 Datsun 280Z http://www.ksl.com/auto/listing/3580844 I traveled to New Mexico to get my z and I think I can be confident in saying that I got one of the best deals on a z you can find. I think you should definitely hold off from this one and just keep watching for them, one will come up eventually. And from watching the market I think the z's would be a pretty difficult car to flip here. Everyone is asking insane prices and there ads stay up for months. If you find a good deal on one I say keep it, it might take quite a while before you find another one. (And just a tip for when you are shopping on KSL, type Datsun in general as well as the cars section. You would be surprised how often people put there daily z's in there)

I actually still haven't done mine yet, I have been working on other bits. (I know I posted this thread forever ago) I know somebody that is going to make a tutorial of a redo so right now I'm just waiting on that. My door panels were not in terrible condition, just a few small rips here and there. The tops were peeling up pretty bad from the sun beating on them. While taking them off the car I tore the card itself were the clips go, that could be avoided by just slowing down while taking them off. Taking the vinal off wasn't too bad accept for where it got stapled into the metal bit on top, that took some time and a few cuts on my hands. Once I got the vinal off there was a bit of rust on the metal piece on the top so I just went over that with some steel wool. I'll let you know when that tutorial comes out.

Do you not get any pressure build up in the tank?

Alright I just bought some 1971 240z su carbs and installed them on my 1978 280z. I bought them from Holiday Florida (18') and are now on my car in Washington Utah (2792'). I have tried to tune them but I can't get past a lean mixture. I know this because when I lift the piston the engine rpms always go down instead of either soaring up or blipping up for just a moment and coming to a steady idle. I have tried driving it around how it is and it runs smooth up through 2nd gear but when I get to about mid 3rd it bogs and the car will no longer accelerate. (note this is when the car is flood) If I drive with a smooth foot I can get the car up past speeds of 100mph. I have the adjuster nuts on the bottom of the carbs all the way down and from what I have read that is supposed to give you a rich mixture, I have also played around with the mixture screws on the top and still can't achieve a rich mixture. Is there something I am doing wrong and or forgetting to do? Could the change in elevation play a larger role than just turning screws in this? Thanks in advance!

This is a awesome write up and I will definitely be using it to help me out with my swap. Just a couple questions for you, what did you do with the line that went into the charcoal canister? Did you just cap it off? Also as far as the gas smell goes from removing the canister, is it as bad as people are making it seem?

That's a awesome post, thank you. It looks like you aren't running a return line but from what I have read if you are using an electric fuel pump you need the return line. How are you getting around that?

That sounds like an awesome design, could you send some pictures over?

Thanks for that link, it should clear some things up for me.

What are the consequences of me leaving this disconnected, or not fixing it?