Well, I did a bit of work on my Z and I got it to run on the Z32 maf/reprogrammed ecu. At least at 0 mph that is. I had an issue of the engine falling flat on its face when driving and stalling out under any kind of boost or sometimes under part throttle. The culprit turned out to be a vacuum hose to the wastegate was collapsing (too flimsy) and also an intercooler coupler had worked itself loose. After replacing the vacuum line and retorquing all my couplers, the engine revs freely and it doesn't sputter anymore. Now I just have to finish this pedal swap and transmission swap. (my a/t is toast so I can't even take it for a test drive until I do the m/t swap) I'll be dynoing this setup and I'm hoping to hit close to 300hp to the wheels. Can't wait for school to be out so I can put more time into this car! I miss boost!

 

Nice bro! I was reading up on that Z32 MAF swap... did you have to remove / install resistors in the ECU?

 

Nismo, I had the ecu reprogrammed by a guy off the hybrid forums, but he did take out two resistors on the ecu in order to keep the ecu from falling back into limp mode. That was the problem I had on the SAFC setup. I could hook up the Z32 maf, but go no further than 2500 rpm before it'd hit a rev limiter. As soon as I get my Z back on the road, I'll post about how the setup drives and stuff. Can't wait to rematch my friend and his monster Cressida!

 

Well, I got my Z running, it still has an a/t in it for now. Turns out the pan gasket wasn't sealing, and the filter needed to be replaced. After doing that stuff, I took it out for a quick spin and it's boosting fine, just starts to sputter up around 5000 rpm. I'm guessing it's the plugs or maybe a boost leak somewhere. Either way, it's nice to be driving the Z again and not having to deal with carbs! I'll do the transmission swap in the summer when I actually have time. At least that blasted clutch pedal is mounted. I'm glad it's a one time deal to put that stupid thing in...

 

Last I checked I had a sputter at 4200rpm.
But I've got other issues to fix before I can troubleshoot that. Good job on your swap.

 

If I get the sputter solved, I'll let you know what it was. I'm hoping I can find some time tomorrow to pull the plugs and inspect them. I'll also recheck my intake/exhaust manifold bolts along with the i/c. I just want to be able to sit back and enjoy driving my Z again! It's been 10 months since I've driven anywhere with her! Hopefully I can make it to the MSA event driving her up. I definitely have another project for the Z this summer too: getting my wastegate plumbed back into the exhaust. It's waaaaaay too loud! I think I can revive the dead with as loud as this thing is every time it opens up.

 

5000rpm sputter sounds rich to me. I had a similar issue with my 77. Between 4500 and 5000rpm it would kick and buck and sputter. Turned out it was running extremely rich in the upper end.

 

both of us have a turbo engine though. Mine is running the factory ECU. Lifeguard has the Z31 ECU.
The factory NA runs rich at upper rpms due to a short duration cam.
I know that my engine runs slightly towards the rich side (according to my gauge) under boost but still seems to hold that same mixture and boost at 4200+. Its not boost creep or a sudden lean/rich mixture from what I can tell. Maybe a tiny boost leak suddenly at that rpm.

 

I did a little work and it turns out the fuel pressure regulator was bad. It was at about 43 psi! I messed with an old adjustable one I had (it doesn't hold the 1:1 ratio after 12 psi and increases at about 4 or 5:1 after that) and set the fuel pressure back down to stock. Up to .8 bar, I have AFR's in the low 11's, ok 11.0-11.2 to be exact and the Z pulls pretty good. I have to wait until my new adjustable regulator comes in the mail before I can run 1.0 bar of boost. I think I will be close to 280 hp to the wheels when the boost gets turned up. I'll also go to the next dyno day as well to get hard numbers. It will be about a month and a half before I get to run against my friend's Cressida, but hopefully I can put up a decent fight.

 

I got a new adjustable fuel pressure regulator installed, and took the Z for a spin. The AFR's are now at the high 11's and low 12's and the power is pretty good. I'm going to bump the fuel pressure up just a tad since I was told 11.5 is the AFR that I should be shooting for on 91 owl **** octane. Well, I guess the next thing on the power mod list is a downpipe.

 

What kind of fpr did you install & what psi are you running? I have a cheapo adjustable one from ebay & have mine set @ about 40psi.

 

I probably have the same one as you, the first one I had was blue. This time around it's chrome! Who knows what color is next hahaha. The last one I had only worked about 4 months before it starting to increase fuel pressure more than the 1:1 it was supposed to. I was shooting flames out the exhaust every time I let off when that happened.

I'm using this new one as a temporary fpr until I get an Aeromotive one. (don't exactly have 140 bucks to burn right now) I have my fuel pressure at stock levels (30 psi if I recall correctly), but I'm going to bump it up 2 psi to see if that brings my AFR's down to 11.5 under WOT. I might even bump up the boost a little more if I feel brave enough. Currently my max boost is 1.0 BAR of boost (14.7 psi), but I might put it to 1.1 or 1.2. It depends on the AFR's, and also if my motor will actually hold that much boost. It's got about 120K on it, and I've never taken it apart.

 

Woot! I should have a video of the Z in action tomorrow since I'm getting a new memory stick for my digicam. (have no clue what happened to old ones, they seriously just disappeared) Sorry about the interior of my Z, but hp took priority over aesthetics! I'm going to film it at .8 bar of boost, not 1.0 though. I'd hate to have something happen right before MSA!

 

Here are some low quality vids of my Z. I'll take them in higher quality next time. I just wanted to get the wastegate's sound on the clip. If I'm rambling sorry, I was making one of the vids for a friend who wanted to hear what the wastegate sounded like too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9WvdIDkP7Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk1z44vjRlc

 

Well I just got back from Vildini Motorsport, and I had a 3" downpipe fabbed up. If any of you all ever need quality welding and car work done, that's a great place to go if you're in So Cal. I hope I can do the catback portion of the exhaust some time, but funds are tight so that'll have to wait. Surprisingly, the exhaust note is still quiet. I guess the HKS muffler does an excellent job at keeping things civil. Too bad they don't come in a 3" size.

All I can say is that the stock dp sucked! I can't believe it sapped hp, and weighed more than the 3" pipe! Boost response is a little better, and the top end power has increased significantly at my higher boost settings. I really need to dyno my setup so I can get some data logging on the a/f throughout the rpm range. It's too hard trying to do that on highway!

 

dude your exhaust under boost isnt all that quiet. trust me ive been on the recieving end. it roars and snorts dang loud, at least under large throttle inputs!!

 

Lol, yeah I gotta do something about that wastegate someday. It's just that I can't fit any plumbing to it. There's no clearance with the way the flange got welded on, and I don't want to take my Z apart again after having it sit for 10 months! Under light throttle though, the exhaust is really quiet! I think I might be able to dyno my Z on the 19th if all goes well even though I have the bottle neck after the downpipe. I guess that means I'll have a before and after for whatever exhaust system I decide to have welded for me. I really wish the HOA here would let me weld....

 

I uploaded a vid with a higher quality setting on youtube. I also took pics of the 3" downpipe. The next vid I take will be at the dyno day on the 19th. About the only other changes done right now are the brake rotors. I installed some cross drilled and slotted rotors up front. The rears will be installed this weekend or next weekend after the dyno day. My old pads were practically down to the metal... Oh and I replaced a faulty brake switch that kept my friggin brake lights on all the time. Nearly drained my battery at school!

 

Holy wastegate! I love that sound! Do you have any pics of the manifold / wastegate piping?

 

I don't think I ever did take any pics of the manifold before I installed it. I'll check tomorrow in my photo archives and see if maybe I did. You can kind of see the body of the wastegate in the first downpipe picture. I don't have a dump tube for the wastegate since the flange got welded on in the wrong orientation by a different shop. (another reason why I wish I had a welder at home) Good thing is I didn't get charged for it. But the gate bascially vents to the open atmosphere and onto the downpipe so it smells awful from the fumes! I'm definitely going to plug all the holes in my firewall this summer!

 

lifegrddude you said you got your ecu reprogram by someone on hybribz, do you remember who and how much did he charge? THanks

 

god dang, what a noise inside the cab!! its way louder outside tho!! i like it. dont know if i want turbo yet tho, havent killed the n/a yet. you guys got me wondering now?!?

 

Shady, go turbo? Naw...

 

I got my ecu programmed by Bernard, my program is for a Z32 maf with 440cc injectors along with some other stuff. With everything totaled up, it was about 300 bucks give or take a few. It's probably more now since shipping prices keep increasing. I highly recommend his tuning. Stock like driveability and great a/f ratio's under boost up to ~16psi so far.

Shady, that'd be friggin cool if you join the darkside and go turbo! Although I do like the instant response that an n/a has. Turbo has that minor thing we call lag down low. It just makes the top end all the more sweeter haha.