Happy Birthday to me (280z build)

[drummingpariah]

UPDATE
This shouldn't be as exciting as it is, but I feel like this is the first time I've installed a part with the intention of keeping it there. For once, I'm done removing components and get to add stuff! Excuse the crappy cellphone pic (the sun was just about to set, and it started to rain, so I just wanted to snap some progress) and the lack of a throttle body (it's in the garage, ready for install).


The other intake manifolds that will either be sold or hacked into:


I'd like to start cleaning the interior; Does anyone have any experience with the small Harbor Freight shop vac? I've been putting off buying a shop vac for awhile, and now that I'm more-or-less ready to take the plunge, craigslist is failing me pretty hard. It'd be nice to know what's under all the sediment and grime and be able to actually paint my floors before they rot through.


After it's running reasonably reliably, I'd really like to visit suspension and wheels a bit. I'm not sure how much time I'll actually be able to spend thrashing, especially since I'm in the middle of moving right now, but I'd love to pick up a set of these and a set of Konis:
https://technotoytuning.com/nissan/280z ... z-and-280z

[drummingpariah]

Finally moved into the new apartment. A little cleaning goes a long, long way. Now I can SEE where the rust is (and isn't, this car is full of surprises!)

Two weekends left to get it running/inspected for Ascutney. The time-crunch is most definitely on!

[drummingpariah]

I haven't given up, I swear! I just got distracted by the race season, and already had a Miata that I could drive. I finally brought the car down to makeitlabs, and have been thrashing on the body for the past couple of weeks. I think I have all the rust cut out, along with the previous owner's "rust repair panels", and have started adding material back in. If I trim down my 'needs list' quite a bit, I might just be able to bring it out to Philo. It won't be fast, and it won't be pretty, but it'll be a major milestone just the same.

The current push is to get the unbaffled, rusty fuel tank out and replace it with a proper fuel cell. I made a fair amount of progress last night, but don't plan to make the fuel cell cage until the fuel cell arrives and I know I can mock it up.

[Super1303]

This thing is going to be/is sweet dude.
Can't wait to see it, Trash Or Die!

[drummingpariah]

I finished a fair amount of work. Lots of phosphoric acid, lots of wire wheel, lots of welding



The to-do list on my whiteboard is kind of huge though.

• Finish wiring all Megasquirt sensors
• Build splash guard (splitter?) to cover the engine bay
• Purchase race wheels (14x7 isn't exactly a common tire size)
• Install new tires on the race wheels (15x8 should be right for 225-50-15 tires)
• Plug all the holes in the intake manifold
• Run turbo inlet ductwork
• Run fuel lines
• Install fuel cell (due in today)
• Install fuel pump (due in today)
• Finish major rust repair
• POR15 the chassis
• Fabricate seat bracket
• Install roll bar
• Install harnesses
• Install new bushings
• Replace fluids
• Install bumpers (maybe?)
• Fabricate exhaust

As it sits, I'll be in an uncompetitive SP4 if this car makes it to Philo. I'm not willing to take this to a hillclimb until it's had a firm shakedown, so I registered for a Devens autocross on the 12th. That leaves me with 2 weekends to thrash it together. It's still not likely, but there's a possibility that I'll get it together.

[walterclark]

It took me a good amount of time to get my Megasquirt set up from its first power on to where the engine was starting, idling and driving acceptably. And that doesnt include the time on the dyno to get the timing and fuel tables dialed in for power. If you can drive it on the street some of the self tune features can help get the drive-ability stuff pretty close. I didnt have that choice with my car.

Before I started with Megasquirt I figured that with all the 16V Golfs and Jettas around there must be some good tunes I could copy and load as starters. I was partially right. I downloaded a bunch ofthem. What I learned was that different peoples "tunes" were all over the place compared to one another. Based on where I ended up, I was better off to start with the default stuff populated in the tables, and that I needed to just go thru every setup menu and get each item set right for my car. Some of the other tunes were different for good reasons of hardware or sensor type, location or implementation and some were just plain wrong (or dumb). My advice to you is to not try to start with someone else's set up parameters and tune, even if they appear to have the same engine and other stuff as you. It will just slow you down trying to figure out what the he!! they were thinking when they did theirs.

The end is worth the trouble. When set up and dialed in for your engine the MS will let you reliably and consistently get the the most power from your specific engine.

[drummingpariah]

... If you can drive it on the street some of the self tune features can help get the drive-ability stuff pretty close. I didnt have that choice with my car...My advice to you is to not try to start with someone else's set up parameters and tune, even if they appear to have the same engine and other stuff as you...

Duly noted. I've done my best to frontload as much work as I could on this project, and I built an .msq tune (off the base .msq). I have the basic settings like injector size, safe ignition timing tables, etc loaded into it, and I THINK it should run out of the box. Assuming I have the mechanical aspect of everything correct, and there aren't any leaks or anything, I should be able to dial in my VE tables right away, then drive over to Marc to tune ignition for best power. At that point, I'll call it 'good enough' as long as my temps don't go haywire and I have more throttle control than the engine does.

I'm doing my best to avoid headaches in the future by utilizing known-good sensors, like the GM open-element IAT, the known-calibration CAS, an LC-1 wideband (I haven't decided on a coolant sensor yet, I think I can reuse the stock Nissan component).

Every other l28et I've seen running Megasquirt is far from OEM, and far from what I'm building. I fully accept that I'm off in my own little world out here, I just want to make sure I don't burn up any wires or anything important. Based on my math and my testing with the stock ECU, this engine should be able to pump out ~300hp reasonably reliably if I can get the tune reasonably good. My plan is to spend the winter making that very reliable, possibly with an intercooler and/or water injection and a bit of head refinement on the spare head I have. We'll see how it goes, but hopefully I'll have a new powerplant altogether for spring!

[sdwarf36]

One more thing on the list:get rid of those gawd awful tail lights!

[drummingpariah]

One more thing on the list:get rid of those gawd awful tail lights!

Agreed. I have two sets of lights that'd fit, but that's one of the after-it-drives projects. It's not happening before Philo, I can say that much.

[drummingpariah]

The lights are still there, but other parts of the rear end are changing! I finally hitched the trailer to the miata and picked up the 'fun stuff' I've been meaning to put into the Datsun. I've always been a little unhappy with the u-joint axles, the diff mounting situation, and to a lesser extent, the rear suspension geometry of the s30. I wanted something a little more burly and tune-able, so I picked up the rear end from a 240sx (s13). It's better than the s30 in virtually every way (but is a bit heavier, admittedly). Finally, the short-nosed 240sx r200 end has actual limited slip options, where the long-nose s30 r200 options are pretty barebones (and extremely expensive). If I wanted to keep the s30 rear end stock, I would probably go with an STI helical rear diff with custom axles and I'd STILL be stuck with strut suspension and drum brakes.


I'm doing some light cleaning to it now, to make sure the rust isn't too bad. Once I weld some mounting studs into the s30, I'll measure the driveshaft difference, order a new driveshaft (recommend a decent shop, anyone?), and start tearing this apart for new bushings and a fresh coat of por15.

Getting everything aligned initially is a daunting challenge. I need to make sure the diff is pretty damn close to perfectly inline with the transmission output shaft. I also need to make sure the hub centers are where they were originally (I believe the track width will be a little wider, which is perfectly acceptable).

After that's all done, I need to decide exactly what I want to do for springs and dampers. I have a few ideas in that regard, but am not completely sold on any one course of action or another yet.

More to come soon!