Matthew Abate

Was quoted $10k and six months. Paid $16k and took three years. Granted, there were some surprises, but mostly created on their side, like when they waffled the hood over-blasting it so I needed to find a replacement. It was just not a great experience for me. Maybe that’s because my expectations were off, but they didn’t manage my expectations at all.

The car is home! Its been... and experience? A saga? A trial? I’m not sure what to call it. The work is beautiful, except where it isn’t. There were a few things that needed to be fix after it was done, and then a few things that needed to be fix after that, and then some things that are being fixed now, and some things I’m going to just have to let go. After three years and many dollars, I’m really happy to have it back and be moving onto the next step. Here are a few more shots from before it came home: IMG_5843.MOV IMG_5844.MOV

Google says no one has posted anything about the Pro TunerZ intake manifold/fuel rail + throttle body kits on this forum, so I thought I would, and also ask what people think about these vs the Jenvey ITB setup. Pro TunerZ L-Series Intake Manifold /Fuel Rail / 75mm Throttle Body Regular price - $799.00 (plus injectors) vs Jenvey Nissan Datsun L28 Throttle Body Kit Regular price - £1,373.00 The Pro TunerZ kit comes in 90mm, too. I am going to run SUs for a while but I’m curious about the FE options. I know the factory NA FE systems won’t work with my cam, so it seems like these are what I’m left with.

Couple more pictures just to keep the thread alive. Not much progress, but with the quarantine it’s nice to seem ANYTHING happening. I found a couple of small issues in my last inspection (some undercoat overspray on the top and two bare spots in the front wheel wells). In my experience (4 cars) this is better than usual at this stage. Once those things are fixed it gets wet sanded and bugged, then it comes home. Also, I’m really please with my decision to close up the antenna and hood Ornament holes. *** So here’s the question for today, do I just reverse my disassembly process as I had planned, or is there some better order of assembly people recommend. I was going to start with fuel and brake lines, then put in the differential, then start the wiring process.

Hopefully just on to get the room to temp. Once my car is out of there I do not care. You have no idea. He’s had it for two and a half years! Yeah. Well, matched to a panel, so maybe not perfectly 918.

AND TODAY!

UPDATE FROM THURSDAY

More progress from today:

Been slow with the new job and all the craziness lately, but here’s where things are at the moment:

I am interested in this specifically! It is the opposite of what we normally hear about, and this compared to the full system should isolate the impact of the header on performance. Any first impressions? if you have dynos for all three setups I think you have data that tells us what Z Story gets us (or doesn’t), which can be quantified and also assigned a dollar value.

87mm bore The crank is from the L28 F54 block, so factory 79mm The L24 rods are 133mm long The pistons are designed around these mods and the P90a head and relieved for valve clearance. Edited my previous post for clarity.

Here's a quick recap of the engine @Takhli is building me: F54 block with 87mm bore L28 Crank with factory 79mm stroke L24 connecting rods (133mm long) P90a head converted to static rocker pivots CompCams Stage 1 camshaft Custom JE pistons designed for 9.80:1 compression and relieved for valve clearance Round-top SU carburetors on a European balance tube Various other optimized parts (flywheel, etc.) Deleted smog system Things I may do in the future (if I don't do them for the initial build): Replace the mechanical fuel pump with an electric one Switch to FI Switch to COP/DIS

I did not know that. Everything I’ve read about this pushes the ‘79 specifically. It’s been maybe 27 years since I rebuilt a distributor so I kinda forgot how they work. Clearly I wasn’t paying attention that day in class. I’ll dig into it. i still want to know what people are asking for one, though. What I’ve found online isn’t great, but I’ve found a bunch of scrap yards quoting $40 to 125.

When I looked at the advance curves spreadsheet that Walter Moore put together I saw that he recommended against the 80-83 distributors because the mechanical and vacuum advances together were potentially dangerous, so I was prioritizing the 79 in my search. However, I have found one or two errors in that data so maybe it’s not the case.

I’m starting to research my options for the ignition on my car and the ‘79 distributor swap is one of the paths I might take. Since total cost is a factor in this, I thought I should see what they run. Do any of you have one in good shape (preferably with minimal to no refurbishing required) to sell? If so please send me a direct message with your asking price. I’m not ready to jump on it yet, but finding one here and getting a good price could push me into a decision.

I’ll admit that I’ve only been looking for about a week and haven’t posted a WTB in the classifieds, but so far I have not been able to find a rebuilt ‘79 at any price. In an effort to get back on topic and make this thread helpful, here are some questions to the guys who lost the distributor: Why did you do it (frustration, experimenting, parts availability, etc.)? If you were starting from nothing and could choose anything, what would you do and why? Was a DIS “worth the cost” to you (someone dependent on your previous answers, I guess)? Are there any big flags we should be aware of before choosing the DIS path (outside of the technical details of doing it correctly)? Did anyone revert to a distributor? Why?

@siteunseen, This thread? Back to my question above: given the options I listed and the additions from @Zed Head, are there any general recommendations or categorical options? The ‘79 distributor seems very hard to find, putting it in the same bucket as any S30 distributor. The HEI options seem interesting, but I wonder if it wouldn’t be nearly as much work/money/time to get it going as the COP/DIS options. Obviously the specific parts chosen can drive up costs, but I’d love to hear from someone who has tried a few or several options. I know there is no “best.” Just looking for sign posts to point the way.

Oh, cool. I’ll search for it. @Zed Head, thanks for filling in the gaps!

Question for @z32 fairlady: why are you considering this modification? The reason I ask is that I am also considering it, and your answer may help me clarify my own situation. I’d like to just do this once. Right now I have an engine being built with no ignition system at all, so anything I get will be new parts. I’m trying to make the right (for my situation) decision the first time. The new engine is an F54 block with P90A head converted to mechanical (non-hydraulic) rocket pivots, running a stage 1 cam and rebuilt SUs. I may convert to DCOE FI (Jenvey) or the like later. For posterity, these are the options I’ve identified so far: A 240z distributor (hard to find, hard to get parts, solid performance) A 240z distributor + Pertronix (easier to maintain, no real performance improvements) A ‘79 280zx distributor (requires a particular base, strait forward if you have the parts) A later ZX distributor (no balast resister, hotter/better spark, tach won’t work, needs a recurve, vacuum advance is “wrong”) Mallory Unilite (no longer manufactured, hard to find, no vac advance) GM or equivalent HEI distributor (available anywhere, requires machining/fabrication/module/etc.) 123 distributor (great performance, poor quality control, several failures documented in this forum, tunable on the fly, set and forget) COP + DIS (great performance particularly at high RPM, damned expensive, requires a pro to tune, clean look, as far from “period correct” as you can get) I’ll put this question to the group: if the points distributor is on one end of the spectrum and the DIS is on the other end, how does one find the sweet spot for their car?

Ah damn! I wish I had seen that before I did the wheels. I didn’t know that it was supposed to be non-metallic. They would have looked better like that. Okay, so Dupli-Color CBFM0360 it is. Thanks for the help guys!

Okay, so now that the rack is done, I have two projects in flight while I wait for the car to come home. One is the rear exterior panels. I am testing various paint strippers on one piece right now and intend to paint that whole set up with rattle can paint. I think I remember someone saying that Duplicolor HWP102 Graphite is the right color. That’s what I used on my wheels, but I need to do some research to make sure. The other project is a ground up, from scratch wiring setup. That one is going to take a minute. Here is my current list of things I’m thinking of doing to car that would need to be considered for this: Air conditioning Electric fuel pump 123 distributor or DIS Alternator upgrade Gear-reduction starter Lithium battery Fuse-box upgrade Swap cigarette lighter for 12v plug Tachometer or full gauge set upgrade (if necessary) Radio / Antenna delete Driving / rally / fog lights Turn signal circuit mod Headlight upgrade LED lights throughout 3rd brake light USB plugs to charge phones Power for a Bluetooth speaker Electric radiator fans Seat warmers Sat Nav power Just some thoughts for now. Gotta get on the research. Any suggestions, tips, or word of caution are appreciated.

Done. Everything specs out to the FSM. Just need to attach and lubricate the outer tie rod ends. ...

Bought another Moog OTRE and finally got the right part, so I’m back in business on the rack. Should be done by Monday. Hoping to have a progress report on the body by Thanksgiving. I passed on your comments regarding the door, so we will see if he’s receptive to those ideas.

My body shop is telling me that it only happens on the driver side. They want to cut bottom of the door and reshape things so that it mates all the way around. I have asked for pictures.

Question: is there a difference between 250z doors and 280z doors? The bottom of one of my doors does not meet the rocker correctly. It sticks out about a quarter inch. We checked the shape of the car and it’s not that. I’m asking the shop to measure the doors to compare them. the only things I could think of are the holes are drilled wrong or one of them is off a 280 and 280 doors are different.