could I get any advice on tuning my 280zx to run a little faster? i've thought about a turbo, but that is not in my budget as of now. just something as simple as advancing my timing or something. i'm new to these cars, and am interested in making it a faster car.

 

Just the basics really.. Full exhaust, cam, intake, and the 240SX throttle body conversion..... Also you can eliminate alot of wieght from the 280zx. And if you use high octane like 91-95 you can usually go a couple degrees advanced.

 

If it's a T-Top, and you're A/C don't work, you can loose some weight by dropping the A/C componet's, there's some weight gone. Also the 2+2's are around 300 pounds hevyer then non 2+2's. Tell us what kind of 280ZX you got, maby we can help you drop some weight.

 

i said it befor and i will say it again ...............set your valve lash to 2MM MORE than
the stock setting ......so instead of 10mm for intake set them to 8mm and for EX instead of 12mm set thoughs to 10mm ....it will give you more PULL...its the cheepest thing that can be done to make any zx faster .......

 

81, how long would it take to do that? and how much would it cost?

 

$0 and about an hour.

 

Cronic... here's a couple basics:

-Get an a/f ratio gauge. Then you can adjust the air flow meter spring to run a lil more rich.
-You can also advance the timing some, if you run a lil higher octane.
-Get NGK plugs & 9mm wires
-For about $40 at a junk yard, you can get a KA24DE throttle body (60mm instead of your 52mm) to flow more air.
-Toss that blue box air filter & get a cone filter.

There are tons of other things too, but they begin to cost $$$ the more performance you want.

-Header & 2.5" exhaust
-Bigger cam
-Ported intake manifold & head
-MSD / Mallory ignition

ETC...

 

i have a 1979 280zx, no t-tops, a/c don't work, and i don't know what a 2+2 is.

 

please explain a little more.

 

2+2. Two people in front, Two in back. in other word's, a 2+2 is a 280zx with a back seat. And most of the time. Them A/C's never work. you can get it rebuilt and recharged, but A/C is expensive.

 

no advice on how to make your car faster, but you did steal my AV!

 

Damn cookie stealers!

 

Setting initial timing to few degrees over stock will help you with some pick up. If you really want to make a difference with timing though you can experiment with advance springs from earlier Z's like the 240z. If you can get a hold of the springs from the Euro 240z distributor you'll get a better advance curve. The problem with too much initial advance is you get hard starting when you set it high enough to make a BIG difference. I've got mine set to just where the car doesn't struggle too hard to start. I run premium too. Don't know if it would detonate otherwise, but I wasn't going to risk finding out I live in a very hot, muggy part of the country and I get by without my ac and the weight savings helps a little. Cheap and Power don't go hand in hand unless you're a DIYer. You can pick up a couple horses here and there for a little money. But in the long run you'll probably end up spending more than a turbo setup and probably still wont have as much power. DO NOT MAKE ANY BREATHING MODS to your intake system until you've done some work to the head. The head is the restriction, not the intake system. An exhaust is an easy way to pick up a few horses though. If you're gonna do something to the intake just get a drop in filter from K&N. It's fairly inexpensive and it will help throttle response. But don't look for a HP gain though.

Oh and Black, wouldn't that be 2mm Less? That's just judging by your explanation there You said more and then went on to explain reducing the lash. Clear that up for me will ya. A little free pick up is right up my alley

 

YES J {LESS} would be the right term but i tend to think about things backwards and more is what HAPPENS when this is done.......ok ok here goes

valve lash .....go down and pick up a hanyes 79 to 83 280zx book .....
read up on how to set valve lash .....its eazy ....when you go to set them ...the book will tell you to set them at the stock setting .12mm ex 10mm intake ...but i have found the setting them 2mm {LESS} then stock opens the valve sooner witch will in turn give you just a little more pull and little to no valve tick ...witch seems to be a big problem with these 25 year old heads ....bleach had alot of valve tick he said that it all went away and he felt it had a little more pull .......i also think that setting your cam gear to #3 will make any 280zx better for drifting ... there is three setting for your cam gear ....
#1 is for top end power #2 is for middle of the road... some top end and some low end ..this is the setting i have mine set to right now ...#3 is for low end pull ....
...i want to set mine to #3 ..i think that old blue is set on #3 ..in fact iam sure of it .... she kicks out like a savage beast..........
.next time i pull her apart it will be done ....

realy with these cars it seems that they can be set up for any kind of race ,street or road corse action

 

Learn something new every day

 

Well. With Mississippi road's. I would never get to hit top end> Too many damn cerves, I am likeing #3. and thinking of going 8mm on valves. Of coures I will set to 10 and try first. I want to supprise people when they go for a ride, so low end would be nice. only book I got is the chity Chilton. it cover's all Z's from 1970-88. So it don't get to into a certen thing on one car.

 

my bad! i will change it.

 

Ok black now I assume you mean .02mm. Right? So from 0.12mm to 0.09mm. Sound right? I set mine in inches (or fractions of) and 12mm just sounds like a little too much to me

Amd fubar, you're chilton's manual should entail adjusting your valves. All the L's had the same setup for valve lash adjustment (except 83 turbo).

 

Cam timing and Cam degreeing are a few of the best ways to figure out exactly what your engine needs. If you know how to do this, its a few simple hp at the wheels...the more retarded the cam timing is, the more horsepower, the more advance the cam timing is, the more torque. But you also have to keep in mind maintaining decent volumetric efficiency. The hard part is finding somebody who actually knows what thier doing!

 

yes J you understand ...sorry iam not the most skilled typer.... i do my best ....
your right though ...how ever my feeler gauge only went .012 .010 .008 and so on