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Hi all, Some time ago a fellow member Lenny was in the process of making an aftermarket ECU which would be a bolt-in replacement for the standard ECU. It was a great idea and I was hoping it would be a success. Unfortunately Lenny was sided tracked and the project stalled. I like the retro EFI in the 280Z, but I would like to have something tunable and it’s getting harder to find good functioning parts for the 280Z. Now for so something I never thought I would do: Fit an aftermarket ECU. Now how to go about it. Which system should I use and should it be a complete swap or partial swap????? The choice soon came down to 3 systems. 1: The LinkECU G4+ Atom or the G4+ Storm. http://dealers.linkecu.com/atom 2: Spitronics Mercury 2. South African system for 2 up to 12 cylinders with lamba sensor. http://spitronicsuk.co.uk/category/install-guides 3: Perfect power XMS5B. German system for 4, 6 & 8 cylinders systems with lamba sensor. https://www.perfectpower.com/index.php/products/stand-alone/xms5a Megasquirt was not in my short list because I couldn’t find anyone locally with tuning experience. In the end I chose the Mercury 2 because a friend is using it in a Toyota and getting great results. The technical people at Spitronics are friendly and didn’t hesitate sending HEX files of different systems that would work on the L28. They had some files for a 280ZX and a L28 with EFI. You can also download a lot of stuff from their website. There are so many possibilities on the mercury(like the others) from single coil to coil on plug with wasted spark and injection pulsing twice per revolution to sequential injection. I would like to start simple with my single coil and running my Bosch low impedance injector in pairs on 3 drivers. I’m am now busy making the harness and brackets for mounting the ECU where the old unit was. To do list: 1. Assemble harness 2. Make bracket to mount ECU 3. Make adapter to fit Bosch TPS variable resistance sensor 4. Make bracket and fit MAP sensor 5. Remove AFM 6. Machine plug for Lamba and weld in exhaust pipe. 7. Remove all unused equipment. 8. Tune it enough to run and eventually dino tune. Need to drive it 45km to the dino shop with Spitronics experience. I don't have much time atm, but the car is now in for the winter, so that will give me some breathing space until March next year. I know it's a long first post. I'll post some photo's of what I have done soon Chas

I got the hood gas springs in the mail yesterday and installed everything today. In this thread, http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/91439-hood-strut-conversion-for-s30/?hl=zraceproducts I copied what Litman did in post #10. I used two 4477N10 gas charged lift supports from these guys, http://www.liftsupportsdepot.com/strong-arm-4477n10-gas-charged-ball-socket-lift-struts-supports-10176n10w/ The 43lb gas springs hold the hood easily in any position higher then 16" from closed, lower then that and the weight of the hood takes over and starts to close by itself. I cut off the bits that were used to hold the torsion springs onto the hinges and welded the ball to the hinge pin.

I did the smoke machine and vacuum trick .I glued a plastic layer over the opening and then installed panel . If you look at the hatch latch assembly you can see daylight right into the hatch area( panel off). For me - this was the majority of the issue

Zed I think his point is the track tech people don't want antifreeze in the cars on the track. Tomo Why don't you just drain the car until warmer weather shows up. Store the solution in jugs. This might be a problem if you plan on driving during the winter but you are pretty far North for that. The block can't freeze if it's not full of water...

Thanks, thanks! BTW zKars......our names crossed the finish line first at VIR last weekend with Morton at the wheel!

two paths you can take: replace/refurbish your efi or go carbs. both have their plus/minus... i did a complete rebuild/engine swap on my 78 280 and decided to go carbs because i wanted to be able to pick up performance with the engine mods (flat-top pistons, head work, header, etc.) and the stock efi is difficult to adjust - it runs quite well for a stock engine in stock configuration, but not as flexible as modern efi systems. the carb swap is not difficult, but there are quite a few things to consider: swap fuel pump (efi pump is high pressure, carbs need low pressure) choke cable, lever, mounting setup through firewall and into console (not cheap if it doesn't come w/carbs) air filter (also not cheap if it doesn't come w/carbs - and the 4bbl is down draft so you'll have to find a very short filter to clear under the hood) throttle cable revisions (takes a little doing - not hard, but certainly not just "plug-n-play") fuel lines (i chose to completely re-route, you'll at least need to do some mods) carb setup and adjustment (goes without saying, but it will take some fiddling to get right) different manifold bolts (not a biggie, but ya gotta buy 'em) that said, i love my su's because they are simple, rock solid dependable, old-school and the car runs great. but i spent quite a bit of time getting it right and i enjoy fiddling/fettling with my car... if you want to go the other route and re-furbish your efi, you can either chase the issues (electrical gremlins, plenty of time with testing equipment on your hands & knees squinting at the pins on the ecu) or i have an entire re-built efi system i could offer at a very reasonable price which is completely re-built with all new parts. not trying to be a salesman, i just know it took me 6 months of dicking around w/the efi system (find the many threads, often w/a pic of my car hanging from a tow hook) and replaced EVERYTHING one part at a time at considerable cost to get it running right/dependable and i wouldn't wish that on anyone. if i could have bought the re-built system i have sitting in my garage up front, i sure would have. the plus with this route is the stock efi runs great and you just turn the key and drive like a "modern" car - no warm-up procedure, no regular carb maintenance, you will pass emissions testing if need be, better fuel economy, etc. when it's working correctly. others have different experience, just offering mine...

I went through this exercise years back to tow a small trailer and dirt bike. Find a good hitch fabricator and it is certainly possible. But the limit is for SMALL trailers........its a z car!!!!

Ima just gonna sit back and wait for the group buy....

Site, The roadrash is probably from hanging off the side of the cycle in those high speed turns in your youth. Glad you don't do that anymore! Remind me the next time we get together to tell you about my experiences with my drupes while on the track at speed on two wheels. Nick Mason as in Pink Floyd? I knew he's a car guy, but didn't know he had one of those. Good for him!

Well time for a major update, the car has finally arrived into our possession! We went down to Fourways Engineering on Friday afternoon to collect the car with all of the works being completed. We are really pleased with how the repairs to the front of the car have come out in particular. We decided to contrast the front end and a Euro looking front chin spoiler was acquired from MJP to replace the damaged orange spook spoiler. Amongst other bits, a new brake servo was fitted (big thanks to Ryan at Zcar depot), new headlining, new chassis rail fabricated and welded in, MOT light conversion, fuel sender etc. A big thanks to them for their continued efforts :thumbs: By Saturday afternoon we had racked up 140 miles before having to put her to bed in the lockup due to family commitments. Its safe to say its been a roller coaster ride all of the way and quite an experience having now been able to pick up the car. Having never driven a classic car with no power assistance or driver aids before it was a bit of a shock to the system, in particular the lack of power steering was entertaining to start with however I'm already getting well used to it now. The brakes seem positive albeit they currently pull to the left and are slightly lack luster compared to the setups I'm acclimatized to using, that being said its all part of the experience. I've been told before by my dad that driving the Healey requires concentration is genuinely a tiring experience, and I must admit I've never really fully appreciated what he meant before getting behind the wheel of the Datsun and must confess to have felt very tired having done 90 odd miles on the Saturday. I will in part attribute this to getting used to driving a LHD car as well learning about road positioning and spacing along with all of the other factors, so call me a wimp if you will but I'm leaping into a different world of motoring from all of the 90's cars I've owned! :driving: The thing that has amazed me most though more than anything is the attention the car gets wherever it goes! :eek: I know its an unusual orange classic sports car however everywhere we have stopped people have come and talked to us, complimented the car, taken photos. The amount of turned heads as it cruises on by is hilarious, I'm convinced I stopped most of the commuters coming off of the Friday evening train picking my sister up from Surbiton station in the evening. Its something I'm loving, I just hadn't realised how much attention it would draw. There will certainly never be such thing as a below the radar drive in this car! :lol: The soundtrack of a 2.6 straight six is also to die for :bow: I can't get enough of working the car up the gears and dropping back down them for tunnels. I can imagine how good some of the sounds tracks on these cars can be even when mildly tweaked. Its everything I'd hoped it would be in that respect. Unsurprisingly the low down torque is fantastic with the car pulling well in 4th even below 1k rpm, certainly a lazy car to drive if you want it to be. Most remarkably as well even with some very spirited driving the car comfortably returned 20 mpg much to my surprise, and the smiles per galloon were just off the chart! :coolgleam: We took the car down to Rawles Motorsports open day on the Saturday where I met a friend who also has a 240z and compared notes, and did back to back drives to see how the cars compared. Different setups certainly having their pro's and cons. I also met another owner who is local with an ex Nissan press car, albeit his car wasn't present due to ongoing bodywork. Lots of other classics to peruse over (predominantly Healeys due to the specialist), it was nice to have two cars together though. After all of the positive news there had to be some negatives to balance everything out We've had some developments on the insurance claim with CFR, who after much chasing with unexplained several week delays (both myself and dad work within the insurance industry and cannot understand this when they had all of the required documentation) agreed to settle our claim per our repair quote minus the policy excess ($500). We agreed this with the insurance company however felt the need at this point to remind CFR of their negligence and rightly requested that they reimburse us for the policy excess which we were having to pay. This email request was then ignored for several days (having previously had daily responses to our emails). In light of this my dad decided to make a phone call to pursue the matter with the very helpful CFR claims manager. Having explained the situation to him, our contact turned from his usual extremely helpful self to completely turning his back up at us. He tried to stipulate that it was only by his grace that our claim was processed, and even tried turning the tables on us that our claim was weak despite all of the evidence and photographs. To cut a long story short he went on to say in as few words, and without directly saying it, if you wish to claim the excess from us then you will have to sue us. Its safe to say we were both completely shocked to have had this sudden transformation in customer service! Despite being well aware of our right to pursue the excess claim (in our view) and considering the morality of being fobbed off we have decided it isn't worth the stress and hassle of pursuing the matter further. With the above in mind we signed the release and requested the insurance payment was made by bank transfer (for which they added a $50 charge), as if to add insult to injury we were sent a response to the completed release stating that the payment request would take between 30-45 days! :banghead: We were left speechless at this point and with no avenue to protest the ridiculous timescales suggested. Currently as it stands we are still awaiting the settlement payment despite having picked up the repair bill, and I can only summarise this by saying we have only been left with a bitter sentiment towards CFR having previously received fantastic customer service up until this point. They have fallen seriously short in our estimations on just the last hurdle. Both our experiences with the damage not being reported or observed, and then the handling of the claim has left us with low estimations of the company. I know various people have used this company over the years and received good service and had no issues, however I felt the need to share this so that others are forewarned of our experience before choosing a shipping company to use. We're planning on taking her out tomorrow for a cruise down to the South coast to get better acquainted as the next stage of the adventure. Anyway there's loads more positive things I could say, however that's enough for now. Here's a few pics for you all to look at, I'm sure there will be lots more to follow as things develop and we get more experience with the car :driving: :thumbs: Some of the remnants of our chassis rail (Usual rust free 240Z) Pickup at Fourways Rawles Motorsport with company

After 8 years of the same wheels - I thought it was time for a change........