chickenwafer

ahhh, Red Green, my hero. Some of my favorite Red Green quotes: "And remember, I'm pullin for ya. We're all in this together." "Now I'll use my handy-dandy duct tape......" "Electrical systems confuse me, and based on previous knowledge, you don't really need to get voltage, or amps, or any of that stuff right. Just splice the line and and you're good to go!" "And remember, if the ladies don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." "I am a man. And I can change. If I have to. I think." Oh and Mustang chick- I doubt he meant anything by it. Please feel free to stay in this awesome forum. Dave

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" -Wayne Gretyzgree (I can't spell his name, but you know who I'm talken about" "At 200mph, you have no friends" -unknown land-speed record holder "We have meet the enemy, and he is us." -Napeloiean (can't spell this either, so sue me) "God is a comdiean, playing to an audience too affraid to laugh." -Voltaire (old philospher back in the, um, old days) "To be on time is to be late. To be early is to be on time. To be late is to be left." -my high school shop teacher "Why should I be in the NSA? That's a good question, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm in the NSA and I'm doen real good and a code lands on my desk they ask me to crack and no one else can crack it. So I take a stab at it and I crack it, and I feel real good because I'm doen my job, right? Well, suppose that code I cracked was the position of some rebel army hiding out and they decide to bomb the village they're staying in to kill the rebels, killing hundreds of innocent people I had never meet or have any problem with. Then the polititians get on saying 'send in the Marines to secure the area' because it ain't their kid getting shot at and it wasn't them either pullin a tour when they were picken numbers. So then my buddy in the Mariens is sent to the village and gets shrapnel in leg from a bomb and is sent home. But, while he was over there his job lays him off and ships it overseas to the very village he's at where the same person who bombed him gets his job because he's willing to work for a quarter a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile, they decide to ship the oil from that village over, which was really the reason we bombed there in the first place, and say the skipper of the tanker likes to drink martini's or something and play salom between the icebergs and he hits one spilling tons of crude oil into the Atlantic. Now my buddy gets back and he can't get a job because of his disabilitly and now cronic hemroides he got from the third-world $^!# jungle. He has to sell his car for money which means he was to walk to his job interviews which sucks because of the shrapnel in his arse. And he's broke which means the only food he can get is the Blue Plate Special; trout with Quaker State. So I figure, why go through the trouble? Hell, I could just bomb a village, club a baby seal, shoot my friend in the arse and give his job to his sworn enemy, and cause on economic melt-down. $^!#, I could be elected President." -Best line ever, from the movie Good Will Hunting. Last but not least; "It's hard work." -our President, George W. Bush Dave

I think the fabrication and body work is nice, but too extreme for my taste. The kicker is the engine is stock save for the 4 1/2 inch (!!!) exhaust and hood intake, which probably gives 10 horses at best. But you can see there is a good amount of talent in the body work, but the fuel filer lid in the roof? You can actually see the hose running down through the hatch- that's a rear-end disaster waiting to happen. Not to mention the car better be damn low to the ground to avoid spilling fuel all over the roof. Dave

my 4-cyl 1999 Toyota Camry is auto and cuts out at 119 or 122mph. It actually accelerates decent too- everything thinks it's the V-6. Here's my list for qualifications to be a ricer: -Have someone else install EVERYTHING on your car, including the shift knob -Have a bowling ball-sized exhaust tip -Think the exhaust tip will give you horsepower -More stickers than you have torque -Putting a "Type-R" badge on anything other than a genuine Civic Type-R (and no, you don't have one) -Putting a "GT-R" sticker on anything other than a genuine GT-R -If you think adding a body kit improves your aerodynamics enough to give you an extra 20mph in your top speed -If you install one body kit piece at a time -If you install your kit and don't paint it -If you more than 1 set of fog/driving lights -If you car is an automatic but you shift it netural abnd Drive 2 and Low to make people think you're working a clutch -If you don't know how to drive a manual -If you think looks are more importaint than speed -If you don't know who Nickolius (spelling) Otto is -If you can't name more than 10 engine parts -If you have a fake electronic blow-off valve speaker mounted under your hood -If you have a fake intercooler mounted behind your front bumper -If you have a turbine-shaped impeller mounted in your exhaust to get the "whirl" sound of a turbo, but you're too stupid to know that the "whirl" is supposed to come from under the hood you moron -If you try to race every single person and their mother at a stop light -If you think you're hard because you can sqeaul the tires -If you have 18 or larger inch wheels on your Civic -Your knoweledge on suspension consist of "It has springs" Damn, I could go on, but I don't want to make too big of a post. Ricers wizz me off. I don't hate Civics or Integras or anything, just the drivers. That's what pisses me off. Dave

The Borg Warner T5 trans also came in the 1983 280ZX Turbo, and I know BW made transmissions for Corvette's before they switch to Tremec brand. Dave

Go for a manual 240 or 260. They are more common in California than anywhere else in this country, and most examples are 99% rust free. You don't want to have to settle on the automatic 260- although it is nice- he is probably charging too much. And besides, it isn't the car you REALLY want, is it? Sure, it has nice paint, but it isn't stick. Although converting an auto to a manual could be done for under $1k if you do it yourself, for a garage to do it would be around $2.5k, and for that much, you can get the car repainted the color you want, and it will look mint. Dave

Why is it that more and more now we are finding Z parts made half-arse? Most of the MSA exhaust system don't fit good and hang low, some Victoria British's body parts require extra fabrication/modification to fit, and so-on. Why is it with the Z parts aren't made to the same tollerance levels as other cars? Like, you buy a Honda body kit, it fits perfect 99.9999% of the time. Same with an exhaust system or other part. It's just odd..... Dave

oh crap I spelled diary wrong.

to turbo an L24, the parts list would be insane. Off the top of my head I can think of: intake manifold, throttle body, fuel rail, fuel injectors (to convert to FI), custom ecu/fuel controller/ignition controller, low-compression pistons, 280ZX Turbo camshaft, 280ZX P90 or P90a cylinder head, turbo, custom exhaust manifold, custom downpipe, custom uppipe, intercooler, custom intercooler plumbing, blow-off valve, internal or external wastegate, upgraded distrubitor or convert to electric ignition (which adds even more parts), upgraded fuel pump, 280Z/280ZX fuel tank, fuel line and return lines, fuel pressure regulator, o2 and MAF sensors (if you don't want your engine to blow up), custom air intake, custom exhaust, and a larger radiator than stock. Whew- is that it? I know I'm missing some stuff. But the L24's E88 block isn't made to handle boost, but the block is still stout. You would also probably want to change the internals before adding boost into the equation. BTW: Adding a turbo on an L-series engine with a compression ratio of 11:1 would be diaster if you ever ran the engine more than 20 miles. It shouldn't be advised to run a turbo of any boost higher than 8 psi on a STREET engine with over 10.8:1 compression ratio, reguardless of the engine make or type. Dave

I have a set of flat tops- I'lls check tomorrow. PS: Are we talking about the ventire opening bore? I would assume so but just want to be possitive...... Dave

Whoa! Jim with a question! This is going in my dairy!!! Just joshing, Jim. But I believe they don't bolt right on- some custom modification might need to be done. But try it out and see if it works and let us know. Dave

Annual sale figures: 1970 240Z: 9,997 1971 240Z: 26,733 1972 240Z: 31,342 1973 240Z: 52,556 1974 260Z: 53,415 1975 280Z: 66,419 1976 280Z: 67,891 1977 280Z: 71,230 1978 280Z: 77,890 1979 280ZX: 86,007 (peak sales) [import car of the year by MT) 1980 280ZX: 71533 (first decline in Z sales) 1981 280ZX: unknown 1982 280ZX: 57,260 1983 280ZX: 48,980 1984 300ZX: 73,101 (top-selling sports car in America that year) 1985 300ZX: unknown 1986 300ZX: 52,936 1987 300ZX: uknown 1988 300ZX: 19,357 (fastest Japanese car sold in America) 1989 300ZX: unkown 1990 300ZX: 22,183 (Import car of the year by MT) (25% twin-turbo) 1991 300ZX: 23,981 1992 300ZX: 26,522 1993 300ZX: uknown (2,068 convertibles and 1,470 Twin turbo, total unknown) 1994 300ZX: 22,421 1995 300ZX: 19,189 1996 300ZX: 17,873 (Lowest sales sense the 1970 240Z) (Twin-turbo model peaked with a sticker price of $46,570) I don't know the sales for the years I marked "unknown" (obviously), but they're out there somewhere. But the '79 280ZX was the best selling Z ever. Sad, isn't it? Dave

I have to practically fabricate a whole new chassis to replace my rust bucket. The frotn fenders, frame rails, floorboards, gas tank and straps, side rockers, rear bumper, chrome trim on the bumper, left headlight scope, and fender wells are rusted rather nicely, the frame rails the worst. You can reach under and grab one and get a handful of rust and crumbs, it's terrible. But, the only rust hole is a baseball-size one in the right front fender down by the rear of the tire. Right now it's patched with the handy-mans secret weapon- duct tape! Dave

It looks to be good shape, but rust is our cancer. Check the frame rails and floorboards as they are common rust areas. And sense your California, 3k might be high for a non-east coast car (they're more rare on the east coast and rust belts, so thus the price is higher). I would try to haggle to $2500, don't pay more than $3000 unless the body is in perfect, and I mean mint, shape. It's a good idea to have a body guy or someone from this forum check out the car- some people have a nasty habbit of trying to rip people off by just covering rust spots with Bondo and/or paint. This doesn't fix the rust, it actually seals it in. Rust is like a bacteria and spreads, so if it's sealed in by paint of Bondo, it will just dissolve the car. You can sometime tell if rust has been covered if there is bubbling under the paint or rough patches that don't blend in with the rest of the coat. Z's aren't the most expensive cars in the world, but they aren't the cheapest. They're getting more rare and the price is slowly climbing. It's true, if you spend say 3k on the complete car and another 8k on parts and installation, that would total 11k and for that much you could by a complete Z-rod already done and in good condition, no doubt. But for most of us, tooling on the Z is half the fun. And, you will save money if you can do your own labor. I agree with jackbox that going to a muffler shop and getting a full 2.5" custom aluminum or stainless steel exhaust is the best choice, but it usually cost more than a pre-fab bolt-on system (I have heard some fitmit issues with MSA's kits). You don't want to have to get a custom-made header though, those usually price north of $600 and take a long time to make. The main deterent to this 260 is it's automatic. A manual swap can be done, but it's pricey on most occasions. I would say if you can haggle the guy to around $2500 go for it, otherwise keep looking for what YOU really WANT. Don't settle or you're end up kicking yourself in a few months, or when you're dropping that manual trans in and plunking down the cash for it. Just a thought..... Dave

If you were to pull a set of early SU's look for a set from a '70-'71. A '72 is good too, but in '73 is when emissions kicked in. The first '70-'71 Z's had virtually no emissions and were the most powerful of the carbureted Zeds. It's true if you were to find a set of these early SU's from a 240 in a junkyard, they would be much cheaper than the ZTherapy SU's, but you don't always know what you're getting. And, those Zed's are somewhat rare (but not as much so in CA but still a hard find) and with ZTherapy you're garrenteed a good set of carbs. (Not trying to plug ZTherarpy here: go with whatever company you want, but ZTherapy is the only one I know of that has early performance SU's for a good price). Oh yeah, I think you need a 240Z throttle linkage for the new SU's as well. As far as swapping a 5-speed, I'd wait. That's a big undertaking- converting a slushbox to a manual. You need the manual gearbox from a 280 (or 280ZX, but a later-year 280 will be easier, i.e. no custom driveshaft), clutch pedal and mounting bracket, master cylinder, clutch hoses, cut the transmission tunnel, a center console from a manual 260, and I know there's more I'm probably forgetting to mention. The slushbox, while frustrating, will do for now unless you are planning to race your Z. If you are, then the first 3 things should be 5-speed manual swap, rollcage (mandaited by SCCA or any other sactioning body for that fact) and other safety stuff like harnesses and sport seats. Here's a rough price list so far: -ZTherapy SU's: $850 I think without cores -Header: $200-350 (MSA has a nice one for about $260) -Full 2.5 inch exhaust: $300-$600 (Again, MSA has some for under $450) -Performance Cam: $250-$500 (MSA has a nice one as well, but be aware that changing in a new cam means "refreshing" the valvetrain with new lash pads so they can properly wear in. Some like to replace the valve springs and rocker arms too, but it isn't necessary unless you want serious power) -NGK plus: $40 for all 6 I think -spark plug wires go for about $50 at MSA (The Taylor wires) -a tire and wheel set will set you back about $2500 for good tires/wheels -front lip spoiler can be inbetween $150-$400 -electronic ignition; whole system can run between $600-$1800 -5-speed manual swap with Centerforce clutch and lightweight flywheel: looking at around $1000 -Performance u-joints from Spicer: $36 each, you need 2 per side or 4 per driveshaft Okay, as you can see, things are expensive. So pace yourself. With new SU's, header and exhaust you will get more power to keep you satisfied for now and slightly improve fuel mileage. I don't know what your budget is, but that alone will cost around $1500 plus installation if you aren't doing it yourself (some garages charge A LOT for installing new carbs, and some won't do it if the carbs aren't bought through them). Almost forgot; a lip spoiler will require painting and installing as well, so that's going to add another $250 to the tab. Plus, it would be backtracking a little to have a spoiler painted and installed professionally and not to get the entire car painted (kill two birds with one stone), so that's another $2500-$5500. Or you can not paint it and leave it in primer (or even worse, bare plastic or fiberglass) and cruise around like those ricers do with their unpainted body kit IMO. Dave

Get some ZTherary early performance SU's, but keep your 260Z N36 intake manifold (it's better than the 240 intake manifold). Then you can add a header and 2.5 inch exhaust with performance muffler (and depending on where you live and your emission laws, you can remove the cat). But don't overlook the basics. Get new NGK Power spark plugs, new spark plug wires (Taylor Hi-Po or Magnacore wires are good), change ALL the fluids including oil (and get a new oil filter, of course), drain the radiator, everything and refill. Never trust somebody else's matinence schedule. Horsepower sounds nice, but it isn't everything. New performance tires (depending on how the tires are currently) mounted on lightweight wheels can do wonders for performance, especially handling and off-the-line speed. Also check the brakes and consider replacing brake pads and brake lines. Unless you get a lot more horsepower (like over 190) or plan on racing your car at the track, the stock brakes are fine, but just make sure they're up to s'nuff. Check the u-joints as those are common wear areas, and Z's are known for having bad old bushing on the rear suspension setup (causes a "clunk" when driving). It's easy to get carried away when getting a new sports car, but don't forget to overlook the little things like matinence and such as I pointed out. You don't know how the PO took care of the car (reguardless of what he told you) and it's always better to be safe than sorry. Remember, this car is over 30 years old! Things wear out, and might need attension. Dave

Well, obviously, if you want to go turbo you need fuel injection to keep up. And more power is always a better thing! Burning 1 quart of oil a week!? Is this car your daily driver or just a weekend warrior? Reguardless, you have a serious problem on your hands. You could have a bad head gasket. And I would advise to rebuilding the engine BEFORE you add any level of boost to it. So, if possible, you should pull the engine, rebuild it, convert it to FI (or EFI from a ZX would be better) and then add a turbo system. Dave

fuel injection offers better reliabiltly, but depending on your set-up and horsepower goals, they're aren't the best for performance, but usually are. At the least, you will need: intake manifold fuel rail fuel injectors ecu throttle body air filter o2 and MAF sensors and a gas tank, fuel pump, fuel line and return line from a 280Z. Hope this helps. BTW: When you got the L28 was it just a short block so you added a carb intake manifold and SU's, or did you convert from FI back to carb for some reason? Just wondering, because L28's are FI stock to begin with. Dave

Very nice setup. I'm sure if you go with the headers like you mentioned you will get some more ponies and responiveness. BTW: Does Rebello work on turbo motors, like an F45 from a 280ZX? Or is Rebello stricky an NA worker? Dave

Nice job so far. What other plans do you have for the Z? Just to restore it or to modify it for performance? When I was in high school I had a good friend who was an exchange student from Norway- he lives very far north, above the artic circle. Very nice guy. Are Z's at all common in Norway? Dave

Like everyone else here covered, www.hybridz.org is the place to go. There are A LOT of options, here's a short list: turbo L28 twin turbo L28 stroked turbo L28 RB25DET RB26DETT RB20DET SR20DET VG30DET and there's plenty more including Mazda's 13B-REW twin sequential turbo rotary. A lot of nasty engines fit in the Zed's big engine bay, so look around. On the cost side of things, there's a few members here who have done the rb26 swap and spent well over $10k. The cheatest TURBO swap is an L28 pulled from a junker 280ZX turbo. Long block and trans could be had for under 1K, and it's almost a bolt-on. If you were open to an 8 cylinder, the Chevrolet LS1 fits with ease, along with the 350, a 383 stroker, or more. Also a Ford 351 Cleveland fits. Any small block V-8 will fit, just about. Or you could take an original aproach and try the SRT-4's 2.4l DOHC turbo 4 cylinder. I don't recal of anyone doing that swap yet. Or a Mitsubishi 4G63 (Evo motor) swap. Haven't heard of that one yet either. The choices are basically only limited by your imagination; and wallet. Dave

What I am failing to understand is what is "prototype" about your engine? It seems all you are doing is modifing timing, spark, ECU, compression ratio and valve angles. Then you mentioned something about firing the piston on the downside- what does that mean? When the piston is on the stroke heading down? On the intake or power stroke? Unless you are altering the way the engine works, it's nothing more than modified- not a "new" engine. Dave

Taking all the information in, I have realized that we are living in the mist of one of the greatest motoring decades (or longer) in a very long time. Sure, gas prices are outreagous and the environmental tree-huggers keep winning the "war on emissions" (espeically in California), but the cars auto companies are producing today are some of the greatest to grace God's creation. Here's just a few that I think stand out- feel free to pitch in your own ideas: Ferrari Enzo - Need I say more? This is without a doubt one of the greatest Ferrari's, or car for that matter, ever to be built. It has a price tag to match, but the performance is unrivaled. Porsche Carerra GT - Holy Zufenhasuen! A comet smashed into the rear of a 911 turbo and created this morphed holy grial of Porsche enthusiasim. A screaming V-10 and one of the fastest laps at the 'Ring- ever. Porsche will have a handful out-doing itself again on this one. Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZO6 - Without a doubt the best car for the money. 505-bhp 7-liter V-8. Tremec T56 6-speed manual. 3147 pounds of lightweight aluminum. 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds and the 1/4 mile in 11.6 seconds (as tested by Motor Trend ). For only $65,000 and change, you can have one of the worlds most volitale sports cars. It power-to-weight ratio puts it in some high company- better power-to-weight than a $400,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, better than the new Ford GT, Ferrari F430, or Dodge Viper SRT-10. Eat your heart out. Bugatti 16/4 Veyron - It's finally here: 16 cylinder, 4 turbochargers, 1001-bhp and 987 foot pounds of torque paired to a 7-speed DSG sequential transmission and all-wheel drive. 0-60 mph in under 3 seconds and a top speed of at least 250 mph and a starting price of $1.3 million. Get out'a town. And there's a lot more. The new Honda Civic Si returns in coupe form with 197-bhp and a 6-speed gearbox. The NSX has been retired which will giveway for a V-10 powered updated version in 2007 (yet to be named). The Jaguar XK coupe is knocking at the door with a new 4.2 liter, DOHC 300-horse V-8 and an all-aluminum chassis. Audi is going to be selling the V-10 Le Mans R9 soon as well. We can't forget the Japanese turbo terrors, including the screaming Subaru WRX STi, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, Mazdaspeed6, and more. Of ocurse the RX-8, the Nissan 350Z (which gets 300-bhp for 2006), and the Honda S2000 are players too. Yes, indeed, it is a good time to be a car guy. Dave

I think he should connect that coke bottle candle turbocharger to the cold-routed water-to-mars intercooler that he mounts in the fridge up to the intake of the fludidigy that connects to the new flux capacitor! Think about it- you get another 20kw of power at only 50rpm with no secondaries! (Sorry, I couldn't resist being stupid.....) Dave

I wasn't saying this was Bush's fault, but instead taking a crack at him. Besides, you already pointed out that we should have been more prepared. And you also right, that we DID NOT elect him the first time. Oh, and that he's a dumb moron- you were right about that too. And when did Bush attend Harvard? He went to Yale and graduated in the bottom 2% of Yale history- ever. The only reason he got in was because his daddy made a huge donation to the school- Bush virtually got an honary degree. Dave