240ZMan

Actually Mike, in the last few years I haven't spent much time on any site, just a lot of work travel The story Mike refers to is the following: I was about to turn in one Sunday night and decided to take one more look on Craigslist and found an L28ET engine with T5 and driveshaft for sale with less than 100 miles. The story is that in 1982 a kid stole a 280ZX Turbo off a dealer lot and took it for a joy ride. He totaled it and the dealer pulled the drivetrain which it sold to a guy with a NA 280Z. This guy intended to upgrade some day, but as with most some-day projects, he got married, bought a house, had kids, kids went to college, and he sold the house. The drivetrain sat in the garage for all those years. He gave it to his dad when he moved who put it out in the field behind his house under a tarp for about 5 more years. Eventually son #2 said he could sell it on Craigslist where I picked it up for $400. Best deal I've ever found I kept the block and head, put in a cam, bigger turbo, managed the engine with Megasquirt, and eventually installed the T5 (again, <100 miles!). It's pretty strong and I have fun on the local road course (High Plains Raceway) where I can run with most of the modern machinery out there. On the topic of the lifters, I would have liked to use them myself, but apparently they will only stand up to a stock cam, not the more aggressive ramp speeds of a longer duration/higher lift cam.

Fixed; was sloppy with the copy/paste

These came off a head with less than 100 miles. I don't know what they are worth hence have put them up on eBay. For those with worn adjusters on a factory turbo, there's always the option to convert to solid adjustors, but for someone who would prefer to keep the hydraulic self adjusters, here's a unique opportunity. These have been NLA for some time now. http://www.ebay.com/itm/131272513446?item=131272513446 Daniel PS. It has been a while since I've spent time on this site so my apologies if this self-promotion of my eBay auction is inappropriate or in the wrong place.

Here is the best 73 wiring diagram I have, but it does not include the fuel pump harness unfortunately. 73 Wiring Diagram 240Z.pdf

Connect the battery with the key out of the ignition and wait for 5 minutes. The offending relay will be warmer than the rest of them.

The relay is under the dash on the passenger side near the pull handle for ventilation. It should be easy to find - just feel for the warm one.

I used to run an N42 head with .030" over flat tops and a Delta Cams regrind (probably not quite as much overlap as the Isky cam you're considering). I was not able to run full advance in the 4500 rpm range on warm days due to detonation and had to back timing off. Shaving the head .080" would obviously make it worse. I later swapped to a P90 head which I did shave .080" and using my butt dyno could not tell the difference from the N42. Head gasket in both cases was Felpro. Unless funds are unlimited, I would recommend you use your N42 head, a stock HG, and take the money saved by not shaving the head and buying a metal HG and use it to have the head ported. I suspect you will gain far more from that. Edit: just thought about this a little more and you might want to go with the 2 mm HG to lower the compression a little more, at least based on my experience. Better to have a slightly lower CR and be able to run full advance. As for lightened flywheel, I had a stock one machined down to 16.5 lbs which I'm still running and love it. But if I had to do it again today, I'd spend a little more and buy a Fidanza given they can be found for around $250 now and then. Back then they were never less than $400 so the $150 for machining/resurfacing was a good deal.

Dave, I did the ZX Alt swap before you offered your plug-in version and made my own with the diode using the connector from the old regulator. On my 73 with a 2/73 build date the electric fuel pump relay turned on as soon as the battery was connected and stayed on. At the time i wasn't using the electric fuel pump, so I just removed the relay and never had an issue with the battery draining, even when not driven for a month.

I just checked one of my old engines to confirm that the tensioner is on the plug side, so I think something else is going on. The rotation of the engine should keep the manifold side tight.

I'll just add/clarify 2 things: - the L28 can rev just as well as the L24. The shape of the torque curve is mostly a function of the cam you choose. The L28 with the same head/cam combination as an L24 will just make more torque at any given rpm. - When I ran triple webers here in CO I never had any problem starting them cold, even in 25 degree weather. I never used the choke function - it's really not needed with a cam that's reasonable for the street.

I ran triple webers for a while and never, and I mean NEVER, got over 20 mpg on a tank, even with steady freeway cruising. They sound fabulous and make great power though. Since you seem to care more about fuel economy, I'd take those off your list. You should think of the drivetrain in terms of the transmission, the diff, AND the cam. A stock cam is pretty much out of torque by 5k while a regrind that's still very street friendly will pull to 6500 or more. With that type of cam, 3k rpm for cruise at 75 mph is no big deal. Add programmable fuel injection and you can still get 25 - 28 mpg at a steady 75 mph. You should also assess what type of engine you like: torque vs. revs. If you prefer to shift sooner and keep the revs down, then stay with the stock cam and choose the gearing to match (ZX 5 speed and 3.36 or 3.54 diff is a good way to go here). But if you like shifting a lot and turning revs, then the ZX 5 speed with 3.9 or 4.11 diff will be more fun and will do best with a new cam. I prefer the latter, but it's more about what you like best that should guide you here. You also should take into account how difficult it might be to find the higher ratio diffs. It's pretty hard to find a 3.7, 3.9, 4.11 diff these days for less than $500. 3.54s in both R180 and R200 are common though and you already have a 3.36. In short, you can get good acceleration AND decent mileage if you choose carefully. And if you haven't already found this site, spend some time there with various combinations to see what revs you'd be turning in each gear at various speeds: http://webspace.webring.com/people/cz/z_design_studio/transmission.html

I found a compact spare at the local pick n pull. It only fits over the rears (240sx caliper conversion), but if a front fails, then I'll swap a rear to the front and put the spare on the rear. I can't tell you what car it's from since it was loose. Measure the min diameter to clear the inside rim, the max offset of the caliper from the hub face, and the diameter of your current tires. Then walk the JY with a tape measure

Adding a reground cam can be done without otherwise changing the head, and in my case noticeably increased max torque, albeit at a higher rpm. The engine also pulled well to 6500 rpm compared to about 5500 with the stock cam. I had Delta Cams do the regrind along with resurfacing the rockers and it was about $150 IIRC including shipping. There was another $40 or so for lash pads. At the time I had the head off anyway, but it could be done with the head on the engine. I kept the stock valve springs as the head had been freshened not too long ago and the lift was only about .440" IIRC. Of the many things I've tried, that one added the most power (and fun) to the engine - except for the turbo, but it's hard to call that a "single step".

I run a late 280zx 5 speed with 4.11 and love it. When I ran NA with a medium cam it was great because it didn't take long to get into the power band, and the cam pulled well to 7k so there was still a usefull rev range. With 225/50-16 tires (almost identical to the stock diameter) it's turning 3100 rpm at 75 mph. Given how loud the rest of the car is (it's a 73 so not much sound insulation) the revs really don't matter. And on the track it's great. 2nd is good to about 65, third to 95, and fourth to 125. Now that I've gone turbo it does seem a little short and if I was to do it again, I'd go for a 3.9 if I could find one. But the benefit of it is that the car can easily be left in third from below 25 mph up to 95. Given how hard it is to find these diffs, I'd suggest you go with whichever one you find first that is in good condition and hold out for a 81-83 5 speed.

A healthy LS1 and T56 is worth more than $2k all by itself. I hate to say it, but it has that "too good to be true" sound. But if it's just that he wants to get rid of it and has dropped the price because it isn't running, it could be a sweet deal. You really need to see it in person to assess it. Probably would be good to see/hear/smell the engine running too. FYI, with the improvement plans you have and a $2200 budget, I think you're going to quickly find yourself in deficit spending pretty quickly