Zed Head

Wheee! defines one end of the spectrum - https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/50908-1976-280z-restoration-project/ Smackhq has a simulator. So he'll get many of the bugs worked out from the beginning. I think that many options depend on what's nearby. If he gets on CL and finds a four barrel carb setup, who knows. Quick and easy, a drivable Z while he's messing with MS.

Wheee! defines one end of the spectrum - https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/50908-1976-280z-restoration-project/ Smackhq has a simulator. So he'll get many of the bugs worked out from the beginning. I think that many options depend on what's nearby. If he gets on CL and finds a four barrel carb setup, who knows. Quick and easy, a drivable Z while he's messing with MS.

You guys seem to be on a different page about why people take on car projects. I can't imagine paying somebody to put together an engine management system. What's that leave for me to do? Why not just buy a FAST EFI self-tuning, throttle body based setup? A manifold change, some money, a couple of wires and it's done. Or just buy a four-barrel manifold and an old Holley. That's probably the very simplest way to get on the road. One carb, very simple. Again - a multitude of "what I would do" s. Since I've sorted all of my car problems out, it's kind of boring. I barely drive it any more. I miss my problems...

Fuel pump relay. It gets power when the fuel pump gets power. Learn, learn, learn.... Edit - but, apparently, the ECU grounds the circuit. I'm still learning too. Although, I have faint memories of some weirdness with the diagrams. Can't remember the details. I had my fuel pump on its own power once, no power through the relay it was bypassed, and my idle stayed high until I remembered to switch it back to relay power. That was on a cold engine.

There you go smackhq. There will be ten opinions for every possibility. Some people breeze through an MS installation, some never get it done. If you have a hoist and space an engine swap is a "pop in", if you don't then it might not even be an option. If you have good knowledge of how engine's work, you could have a set of carbs installed in a day. Once you know the 280Z EFI system, it can be done in a day or two also, but you have to get the right parts. How soon do you want it to be running, how well do you want it to run, what are your capabilities, how much do you want to spend or not spend, etc. Good luck. Pick one and go for it. The FMS's are great educational tools, Nissan goes in to great detail about how things work. The Engine Fuel chapters and Engine Mechanical are worth reading even if you stick with Megasquirt. You can download them from the Resources section.

Actually that's pretty spendy for a used L28E. If you're not in a hurry you can find better. The engine in my car is from a $300 parts car that I bought mainly for the transmission. Runs great. You really could just use your turbo engine without the turbo until you're ready to returbo and Megasquirt it. A distributor, an EFI harness, an ECU and some odds and ends and you'll be on the road.

Unlimited question quotas. Your turbo engine has all of the same bolt patterns as a non-turbo, or NA, engine. It's the electrical and electronics that are different. Nissanintroduced a new and different engine control system iwth the turbos, acronym ECCS. You could remove the turbo and bolt on NA parts or carbs, while you work on and learn about Megasquirt and turbos. Your turbo engine has lower compression than an NA engine but it will still run fine. An option or two.

That's Oliver, a member of the club. He runs zspecialties. He has a lot of parts and some are of good price but he really values others. http://www.zspecialties.com/

The guy on zcar said that his email got returned as undeliverable. Maybe he had a typo. Is there a reason that you don't have the web site address in your sig? Seems like a good place for it. Good luck.

There should be a letter stamped in to the back. http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/cam/index.htm

Well, that's a bummer then. Apparently his email address is down. Someone on zcar tried to use that web site. I was going to send him some business. Thanks.

Thanks. I don't know why I never tried to find one of those ZX timer units. Probably because I never found a good coolant switch.

Mr. Irwin, I tried to find your web site address for your alternator swap kit but there's no links. Are you out there, still making them? How does a person get one? I'm looking for someone else. @Zs-ondabrain

I like it, it's a good idea. When I was looking for a switch like that I was focused on finding one for the thermostat to use coolant temperature for a cooling fan I had rigged up. But, using air temperature seems just as good, maybe better. When air is flowing because the engine is running the switch is off. If heat builds up with the engine off it kicks on. My other concern was always about it staying on and running the battery down. Have you watched it while the engine cooled off? Seems like it would turn on and off as the fan turned on and cooled the switch. The other "fix" that many of us have found is an aluminum fuel rail. It seems to act like a heat sink for the injectors.

What do you mean by "tighten down"? Could mean many different things. Your headlight problem might be at the dimmer switch in the turn signal stalk. Pretty common. Squirt some contact cleaner in to the base and work it or take it apart. Make sure the ground wire is grounding. The dash light problem could be the rheostat. There's a nice diagram on page BE-4. Download it from here. https://www.classiczcars.com/files/category/11-240z/ I think that CanTechZ's is the "good" one, with individual files.

I was going to post this link earlier. Many people have problems getting the stock Nissan trigger wheel to work right with Megasquirt so DIYAutotune made their own. https://www.diyautotune.com/product/54-mm-optical-trigger-wheel-for-nissan-l28et-or-vg30e/

Do you have a link to the switch? It's not really clear where you put it or what kind it is.

Basically, getting Megasquirt to run your engine is a whole separate world from getting your Z to run and drive. You have to get pretty deep in to the principles of engine control, not just getting the correct parts in the right places. It's like the difference between painting a picture on a blank canvas compared to putting together a complicated jig saw puzzle. They both take skill and time and the end result looks the same but they take different skills. Browse through the Megamanual. If you enjoy reading it you'll be fine. If it looks like a bunch of gobbledy gook, maybe not.

https://www.diyautotune.com/ http://www.megamanual.com/MSFAQ.htm

That's a CAS for a ZX turbo engine. So that's good. Many people have better luck replacing the slotted disc with one from DIYautotune. You don't need any of the ECU's or the AFM. You do know that you put somebody else's personal info on the internet, in your picture? Your manager, I assume. Might want to do some picture cropping. You can edit in the meantime.

I have an 81 280ZX engine with all the parts to swap right in, including EFI harness. Down in the Portland area. Playing with MS looks like fun though.

The brake fluid looks clean. Looks promising. I see that you said that you have a new distributor but the turbos have the CAS in the distributor. You might make a good list of your engine parts to be sure of what you have and might need. It looks like a complete turbo engine was swapped in, not just turbo parts. It has an oil cooler.

The Gallery Image dumps just kill the site action. "Topics Last 24 Hours" to be specific. Every topic is an image.

I saw a car the other day on the internet for about $15k I think, and thought of this thread. For $15K and another 15 you could have about the same quality and a "rich" history, and drive it without ruining it's provenance. The car here is nice, but it seems like a person would be afraid to drive it. It's set up to be a museum piece. Once they fix the few errors.