280zgod

twice pipes are very loud ill vouch for that i keep getting pulled over for it

i have a 75 280z with FI and some mods and i just finished my install of all new timing components and a stage 3 cam kit from MSA and was wondering if the ignition timing still should be set to stock or if it should be altered? if so does anyone know how it should be altered? i ask this because today when timing it it seemed to run not as well with the factory setting of 10 degrees btdc it ran smoother with a setting nearer to tdc but im no expert and wouldnt dare leave the timing at anything but stock unless its alright to do so. thanks.~Jerrod

when my 75 did that it was an air leak. except mine was a big airleak and mine idled from 2500 to 500 constantly man that was annoying. so yeah check for air leaks and if that isnt it im not sure what else would cause it. anyway good luck

my mechanic told me it would be ok to drive home and i trust him. he used to own two of these and has worked on alot of them. also it would have been one tear down but my crank pulley broke after i put the thing back together and started it (rediculous two piece crank pulley why couldnt it just be one piece it makes so much more sense then having a second pulley stuck to the first by a thin rubber seal) and the non nissan timing plate gasket sprung a water leak because it didnt have the necessary "divet" in it. my mechanic told me i should get a new timing chain even tho mine hasnt stretched much because its a high end cam and will stretch more if i dont change it. so no matter what the case it needs to be taken apart twice there was no way to foresee the breaking crank pulley or the worn out chain, since i have no idea what a worn out chain looks like, but i would assume it is since it is the original like most parts on this car. im amazed it runs as well as it does or at all sometimes... yeah but i dont mind the tear down it took me an hour to get it apart again it isnt hard and my mechanic ordered me factory parts through his source so it isnt costing as much as it would have with nissans astronomical prices. i enjoy the learning experience anyway. yes i am concerned for my car and that why i only drove it the 5 miles home and then pulled it apart to fix the few problems i made or that occured on their own. Anyway good times good times. working on the z is what im off to do now later everyone and btw your opinion was appreciated stephen. ~Jerrod

oh yeah i know i only drove it home from the shop, not even going above 3000 rpms, which is like 4 miles to 5 miles, but that last 1/4 mile stretch from the stop sign to my driveway, oh yeah that was some good ole fashioned acceleration. the engine is already dissassembled again i took it apart last night. thanks for the concern, later. ~Jerrod

well i i fixed my compression problem. head gasket was ruptured on the two cylinders. had the head completely redone and polished and had a stage 3 cam installed for 400 dollars. im waiting on nissan for my new timing chain and sprockets and a new crank pulley since mine busted. but i drove the stage 3 cam with no radiator or fan and my bad timing chain on the cold lash settings and wow the difference is awesome im loving the speed increase. shorter gears and my new throttle body and ill have a beast. some said my idle wold be terrible but the MSD controls it nicely. it sounds drag carrish but the ride is smooth even with off timing. so this weekend im gonna try and put it together with the new parts and take it to the track. thanks for the earlier info on the stroker. ive decided to leave this one as is for now. the stage 3 cam is quite nice with my setup. my next z will get the stroker and im saving up for that supercharger from jim cook racing if its still available cuz that sounds like it would be a good mate for the stroker. anyway thanks again guys wish me luck on the repairs this weekend.

the early 80's maximas had L24's in them so im guessing it was one of the heads from that era maxima

my speedometers is accurate to about plus or minus 3 mph according to those radar guns the cops have

i have a 75 280 but with just headers and exhaust and a zx 5 speed i got it up to 151 on I-5 heading back to college at 2am a few weeks ago... the radar machines the chp have out on the roads here in stockton verified my speed took me probably 5 minutes to get it up there from 85 mph all ion 5th gear. i was pushing 5700 in fifth. no power left, which was weird the car just wouldnt go any faster. this led me to put in the stage 3 cam last weekend, but i botched that job and now my car wont run oh well. it was fun while it lasted

well of course i get the engine all back together and ready to go but... it wont start. ive got spark, my injectors say they are firing, and i have compression. although its weird, the spark plugs are completely clean but smell like gas. everything should be close to time since i took the engine apart and put it back together the way the FSM said to (i.e. putting the correct cam chain links on the timing mark of the crank sprocket and cam sprocket and installing the distributor in that 5 degrees position at TDC) My mechanic gave me a noid light to confirm my injectors are firing and they are. he also gave me a test light to check all my grounds but im not sure how to use it. fun times. anyone have any ideas why the car wont start with what ive said. for some reason i dont think my fuel pump is working and that may be the issue but then again i can smell a ton of gas when i crank the engine. so i dunno. gunna go check the fuel pressure once one of my friends can help me do it. but any ideas as to why the car wont start would be much appreciated. thanks for your help. ~Jerrod

yes there is a key but what about the alignment of the alternator and water pump crank pulley that is factory sealed to the main crank pulley by means of a rubber gasket between the two. it can come off and mine did. do you know the correct alignment for that pulley(the one with the timing mark in it) to the pulley that is keyed in to the crank? if im not making sense dont worry bout it ill figure something out but thanks

yeah i got a 2ft racthet 1/2 " drive with the 27mm socket and then took a big hammer to it that worked instantly. put the engine back together and have a water leak from the timing plate im pissed.

yeah i have the car apart the radiator is out... it was broken anyway... im down to that pulley so that i can take the timing cover off. yeah ive tried both ways. the ebrake and in gear; and the brakes and in gear. both times when i turned the bolt the crank seemed to rotate with it and the car went forward. i'm using about a 2 ft long ratchet and its a 27 mm socket on my car. the bolt is extrmely easy to turn with that but it turns the whole engine. i guess ill just remove the starter and jam my crowbar into the flywheel since that seems to be the only option left to me. not that it really matters cuz nissan out here in california cant even get me the gaskets i need to put it back together so i dont know why im bothering. anyone know a good place to order the inspection lid gasket, water pump gasket, distributor gasket, and timing plate gaskets? ill be calling around town today for the cheapy gaskets from autozone and stuff but i prefer nissan ones they are better IMO. thanks for the help guys. ~Jerrod

no the cam isnt connected that is why i have to take the engine apart i need to remove the chain tensioner so that i can get the cam attached to the crank again... i dropped the cam chain trying to install my new cam and now the chain wont reach

i have the radiator apart the only part still on the engine is the head and the timinplate and that pulley. i tried putting the car in fifth gear (i have a zx tranny) and putting the brakes on i had my friend hold down the brake and when i turned the bolt with this huge socket thing i have it seemed to turn the whole engine and throw the car forward. my uncle said something about taking off the bell housing lower plate and jamming a pry bar into the flywheel to do this anyone know how that works on a z ill try the brakes again but any comment?

anyone know of a good method to loosen the crankshaft pulley bolt while the engine is still in the car?~Jerrod

well it took me 7 hours but i got everything apart and am at the point of reinstalling everything. But. my radiator is bad and my oil pump is as well (which would explain the low oil pressure i think). so im looking to do some more upgrades before it all goes back together. im in sacramento california. im a youngin and the only other mechanical experience ive had is a little with this z of mine and before that i put together a Z24 engine and installed it into my 720. but i had a lil help with that from my mechanically oriented uncle. the z is my own affair. but anyway so far so good. i also was able to tear out my broken A/C. man that thing must weigh 50lbs and i also decided to switch to an electric fan. so all in all i guess it was good to have screwed up the cam install but the extra stuff i have to buy is costing me 600 more dollars. but eh the pros outweigh the cons if my car gets as much faster as im expecting or at least wanting it to. oh yeah by the way anyone know of a good way to get the crankshaft pulley boly off of the pulley? thanks for the help guys.

i began removing stuff today i almost have the radiator out and i dont even know how to remove the dizzy and stuff but i guess ill find out somehow. but i have to head back out to college tonight so the z is going to be chiiling at home in the garage for at least another week til i can touch it again. its gonna take me a few months i bet to do this but oh well next time ill just need to make sure that i pull the chain almost tighter then it should be once i remove the sprocket.... do i really have to remove the sway bar to do this? ~jerrod

well that was a whole waste of 900 dollars and three weekends of work. why would anyone make a car where you have to take the whole engine apart basically just to install a new camshaft? does that make sense or am i not seeing the beauty of the L series design anymore. I have about as much as i can stand. i try to do things myself i try to read through the manual and use its wisom and yours but the Z just does not want me to succeed in life. I'm afraid this cam business is leading me to putting the Z "down" cuz i'm screwed now. i was not aware you had to remove the radiator, fan, pulleys, distributor, oil pump, timing plate, cam chain, chain tensioner, head, sprocket, and cam just to install a new cam. why is the cam even on top if you have to remove the whole bottom end to do anything with it? is it some form of japanese mind tricks or something? the manual said if all you were doing was removing the head that you just needed to hold the chain somehow to keep its tensiopn while you got the valves fixed and stuff then put the head back and be on your way but no. it isnt that easy. so yes if anyone might be interested in buying a freshly valve jobbed, resurfaced, straightened n42 head with a stage 3 cam kit also freshly installed in it by a professionl machine shop not me, we just might be able to work something out. cuz i aint paying a mechanic no 1200 dollars to make this work and i aint taking the 20 hours of labor and posiibly(knowing how nissan is) 100's more dollars to fix it myself. because right now i have no time or money left for that. ive been pushing my beat up 720 these past few weeks trying to fix my car so i could drive it again and fix the 720 but now that isnt happening. looks like both nissans will fall into the abyss in a few weeks. oh well. things like this just seem to happen to me alot. guess im dealing with it haha. anyways just felt like venting cuz im too pissed after these past 40 hours of rediculousness and dealing with machine shops and discontinued or hard to find nissan parts that were all for nothing, not to mention all the money those things leached from me. alright the vent is finished. sorry everbody dont take too much i said as truth cuz i know in a week ill be back asking you how to fix my Z. so until then let the venting continue in the form of road rage in the 720 bahaha....(its been one long rediculous week ) :dead:

ok i pulled out the old cam in my 75 280z and it had the code e30 imprinted on it. im guessing thats some I.D. code to tell info about the cam. Question: is E30 the stock cam for a 280z? just wondering... thanks ~Jerrod

well got it all off the head is out and heading to machine shop city. is 400$ a good price for resurfacing, valve job, and port n polish, plus installing a stage 3 cam kit? but anyway got everything ready got the cam out and tried to pull the head off. nope. there were these two tiny bolts in the front like half hidden underneath the top lip of the head took me a while to see them man that was frustrating but its off so yay me. thanks guys you all helped alot. ~Jerrod

alright i ordered a stage 3 cam and wanted to put it in so im wondering do i need to take the whole engine out to swap cams? Also, ive gotten alot of it apart on the head but i cannot get the cam out of the head... the sprocket bolt will not loosen and every book ive looked at doesnt say or show a good way to loosen this bolt. they all just say loosen the sprocket bolt and remove the sprocket to remvoe the cam... but how do i remove the sprocket bolt????? anyone a pro at this and have a foolproof way of doing it? please help me ~Jerrod

hey everybody, my 1975 280z was having a problem where only the left turn signal worked. then, all of the sudden about a week ago, it stopped working and now the right signal works. anyone have an idea on what is going on? should i take the steering wheel off and do some cleanup and hope that works? cuz im not so confident in my electrical skills so any input is appreciated ~Jerrod

shouldnt it have badges that say 240 instead of just Z like my 280 badges do? other then that i dont notice anything but i dont know much bout 240's either heh