Some of you may remember me, but I haven't posted here in quite a while. I bought a nice 260Z last November and have been working on it on and off since. It sat in my backyard perfectly still for almost 3 months, and I couldn't stand it. So.......I'm trying to fix the issues that kept it off of the road for that period of time. I ordered a set of Ztherapy round tops about a week and a half ago, and they will hopefully be here a little later in the week. In preperation for them, I am cleaning and detailing under the hood and will hopefully have it ready for them to simply bolt up once they get here. I am also working on building my own air cleaners for them because I didn't feel like paying out the butt for them and wanted something a little more custom.

The K&N part number I'm using for these is e-4518. They're 7" O.D. and 3" tall.

By the way, all you fabricators out there, if you don't have a hand operated shear, GET ONE! I got this one for under $100 on ebay, and it has been a life saver. It cuts this 16 gauge like butter.

A little decoration.....

Not really any purpose in it, other than adding a tiny bit more rigidity to the lid, but it's gonna look awesome painted black with the Z logo in the middle.

Plug welded from the back

Most of the fabbing done....

Started smoothing them up. You can also see the 1/4" hose barb welded on for the fuel bowl vent here. (Thanks for the heads up on that, Bruce! )

At this point, I tried out some of that "hammertone" paint in black, but apparently I got a bad batch or something.........it turned out like crap. So, I stripped that back off and went a different direction.

That was right after I sprayed the 3rd coat of clear. I'm still gonna cut and buff them as well. The picture makes it look a little lighter. It's slightly darker in person.

I also haven't decided between acorn nuts or wing nuts for the studs. I was thinking acorn nuts all along until I got it painted and tried them both. I think the wing nuts look better now. Not to mention easier removal.

Sat the decal on there to get an idea of the look.

Or........

What's your opinion?

I still have to paint the base plate and then start fabricating the second set. I'm very happy with the outcome so far!

Edited July 20, 200915 yr by g9m3c

well after all that work, the stock air box provides the best performance .

What you have built looks great , though.

Gary

I followed your posts about the car on the other web forum a while back. Good to know you're still working on it.

And definitely go with the wing nuts!

well after all that work, the stock air box provides the best performance .

What you have built looks great , though.

Gary

It's a 260Z so my "stock airbox" wouldn't work with the rounds. I could have sourced a stock 240 air box, but that would have cost me a lot more than it has to build these. I work at Advance Auto Parts, so I got the filters cheeeeeep. I reckon a cold air setup would have been better, but these will be perfectly fine until I stick a new engine in her.

I followed your posts about the car on the other web forum a while back. Good to know you're still working on it.

And definitely go with the wing nuts!

Yes sir, slowly but surely. Haha, I wasted a lot of time on those flat tops. Oh well, at least I know how their guts look now.

Go with the wing nuts..........go with the acorn nuts.............I get mixed opinions on eveyry site. :laugh:

It's a 260Z so my "stock airbox" wouldn't work with the rounds. I could have sourced a stock 240 air box, but that would have cost me a lot more than it has to build these.

On dyno tuning runs at Sunbelt - they found that removing the stock air cleaner top and filter, yet leaving the stock air cleaner base in place with the air horns - yielded about 10 hp.

I would suggest that you find at least the base of the stock round top SU air cleaner - and take the air horns off of it - then added them to your custom air cleaners. You can lose that 10hp without the airhorns - and that can translate to reduced fuel efficiency as well.

An alternative is to measure the diameter/length of the stock air horns on a stock air cleaner base - and then look for aftermarket air horns that you can modify to use.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Another way to go would be to add a pair of the www.aptfast.com stub stacks in lieu of the stock airhorns. I really like them on my 46's. Plus chicks dig 'em.... It's a bling thing...

Also don't overlook adding those 2 vent holes in the backing plate that lets air into the piston dome cavity....... Without them you'll no doubt fine things running really sluggish.

hi Bruce:

APT is very neat business - thanks

I like their Ram Pipes and at 1 1/2" tall they should fit neatly inside his 3" tall air filters.

http://www.aptfast.com/Images_Parts/SU/RP-HS4.jpg

APT uses "HS2", "HS4", "HS6" SU's in their part descriptions. Do you know what/which or how that translates to the SU's on our Z's? I'm guessing that for the OEM SU's on the Z's it would be HS4?

http://www.aptfast.com/APT_Parts/SU_Parts/a_SU_components.htm

thanks,

Carl B.

HS4s equate to the 38mm carbs that came on 1600 roadsters and sss 510 & 610 JDM

HS6s are the same as the 46mm carbs on 2 liter roadsters and Z cars.

Any and all of the APT stuff will serve to roll the air into the carbs versus breaking it over the sharp edge.

Another way to go would be to add a pair of the www.aptfast.com stub stacks in lieu of the stock airhorns. I really like them on my 46's. Plus chicks dig 'em.... It's a bling thing...

Also don't overlook adding those 2 vent holes in the backing plate that lets air into the piston dome cavity....... Without them you'll no doubt fine things running really sluggish.

So......I should have added other holes into the base plate in addition to the one I have for the fuel bowl vents?

These filters are only 3" thick............how tall should the air horns be?

Edited July 20, 200915 yr by g9m3c

The stock air cleaner is about 3", the stock air filter is about 2 1/2" and the stock air horns are about 1 1/2" tall - so the HS6 ram pipe should be about perfect at 1 1/2" height. At $32.00 each that is IMHO a very reasonable price...

FWIW,

Carl B.

Grant,

Any holes in the mouth of the carb needs a corresponding hole in the backing plate.