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--- Black 81'zxt --- (In progress)


I'm BLUE

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Nice man wish I had more time to do all that maintance it's the little things that count.

 

Thanks ! If you can steal 20 minutes a day.. then you'll have a good portion of it all knocked out in no-time ;)

It really is all the little things that count indeed.

 

im liking this thread! lots of pics to follow along with and great descriptions! your attention to detail is almost dizzying to me :D

 

keep it up yo  :thumbup:

 

Thanks yo :thumbup: I appreciate that !

 

I do wish was able to do bigger stuff on this car at this point to be honest rather than spend all my time in a what seems to be a myraid(not) of vacuum hose and electrical connection stuff ya know ? :lol: :D

I keep thinking I'm going to drive everyone else nuts with 30-40 pictures of an oil change type update(like I have been :lol:) .... anymore ... except nannerhammuck he can't wait to see 30-40 pictures of the same engine bay everynight he logs into Ratsun ... :lol:

I'll call the wahhh-mbulance on myself later though .. :lol:

Maybe I'll hire INDY510 to take 1,000-2,000 pics of my oil changes.

 

^^^ opps ummm right.. errrr wait be careful what I wish for ^^^ :blink: ... I just may get it ... :lol:

(fingers crossed though as the engine has all 5qt's of this super rare jdm un-obtanium stuff called "Oil" in it ... whatever that does .. ) :hyper:

 

That gates fuel line is rated for E85 as well. Just a little fact (I work at O'Reilly) Great job on changing all the vacuum lines! It's going to run like a brand new car!

 

Oh really ? Did not know this !

Thanks dat280z ! It's all small stuff for sure , but it does run pretty dang well with all the vacuum line :thumbup:

Just after owning this car and changing the vacuum lines you could pull 1-2 vacuum lines and have very little "real" change at all while idling. :blink:

My first thought ^^^ was  --- "effff this ... it's a turbo car ,,, not going lean condition on this crap if I can help it !!" ---

Thanks goodness the air-intake boot doesn't leak and looks good :D (cold side ? IDK

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I've never seen a ZX get treated this well. You're killin' it!

Tom-Araya-headbanging.gif

 

Thanks bro ! :thumbup:

Gotta say the Auto-Magic is fun and does indeed keep you a bit more respectable ;)

I can't believe I didn't try it sooner !

 

I guess if the Auto for some reason craps out .. the rebuild kits don't look expensive at all and additional parts needed are obtainable which is awesome to see ! Or ... just get another working Auto hehe :)

I've been looking at changing the fluid + filter in it , but am not sure if I cause more harm then good so I need to read a bit more !

( I'm a total noob to auto-trans repair lolz )

 

^^^ Been thinking much the same about the Turbo lately ... it works well and doesn't smoke.

Not sure I would be doing more harm then good trying to re-seal it after summer-fall time is over :-/

Re-build/Re-seal kits are like $40 (cheapo ebay ones) to $120 nicer something something darkside brand ones.

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---- Cooling system and misc ------

 

Decided to flush the cooling system , inspect it , and change any hoses that need it as well as the thermostat (since it's a "new to me" car duh right ? )

 

Coolant looks good coming out.

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Into a bucket or collector of course !

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I just like the look of fresh accessory belts.

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Under-side doesn't look bad at all.

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Oil pan looks about right ,,, not bad really considering the age.

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Stuck the garden hose in it really quick to flush and look at coolant flow promptly.

I let it flow for about 5-10 minutes. Not much came out as far as debris or color(rust) so I take that as a good sign.

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Center of picture = clear water coming out and is enough.

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Mini-waterfall

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^^^ In the process of flushing the radiator ... I decided to compare flow with a spare radiator I had laying around.

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Flow looks good to me for both.

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Un-bolting the 3-hole Theromstat housing.

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Pulled it off with thermostat attached apparently..

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At first glance ... looks pretty clean in there.

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New thermostat up-top / Old thermostat on the bottom

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New T-stat sitting in there. (surfaces were cleaned a bit more before install)

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Once brave spider laid it's nest here at some point (in the hole)

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Bolted and back in (coolant line support was bolted in shortly after)

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While I was under the car .. I decided to replace the lower radaitor hose as a pre-caution (felt a small soft-spot in hose org on car)

Old =leftside , Newer = rightside of picture ( This is the first time I've used a marketed "flexible" type radiator hose.. hmmm... )

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errrmmm crap I forgot a couple of pics , oh well get them later ;)

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------ Weird item to fail --------

 

I was driving the car around for testing.

Everything was fine humming along in 15-35mph spurts and stop-n-go's as I was watching ALL gauges ..

All of a sudden out of no-where after de-accelerating to a stop ... I was experiencing a REALLY crappy idle , missing bad at idle , looping at idle etc ,,,

but the power was "good" through the range when revved up slightly ... and not missing through the range :blink:

Turned the car around and babied her home since nothing was showing up on the gauges or came to mind for that matter.

 

After reaching home I had then realized I hadn't checked the Cap/Rotor since acquiring the car.

Popped the sucker off and saw a fair amount of corrosion , and proceeded to clean off the corrosion.

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BitchBeGone.gif

 

Rotor looked fine. Cleaned that to mindlessly ... lol.

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1+ internets to anyone who can spot the problem in this picture !

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You're missing the little brush in the center of the cap. BOOYEAH

 

Ding ding ding !  +1 internets to you sir !!

winner.jpg

 

I've never had a brush fall-out on me before ... lol

When it started to run like :poop: on a stick deep-fried ... I then immediately remembered Izzo posting in his thread saying something like "This will efff your day up ! lol " ( with a pic of his distribtuor cap center brush missing as well lol .) as soon as that came to mind I remembered I never had checked mine since aquiring the car ... silly me I suck lol.

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hahah ^^^ Sorry Izzo bro !! It helped my fortune for sure :thumbup:

 

Dang ...Trying to get to page 4 before everyone's puter explodes with boring pics (3 people that read it) ... :lol:

 

It was/Is inevitable ..

I have (2) items to address on this car as of late.

-Fast Idle startup system = that allows just that .. fast idle for cold-starts. (Air Bypass Valve harness or sensor connection(s)/or bi-metal spring inside is bad)... I have an extra ABV to slap on after cleaning. I have no idea if it's any good , but I can always buy a new one later if needed.

-VCM (Vacuum Control Module ... it controls the EGR and AAC(idle air control kinda..) valves ...) It has (2) relay-magnetic looking things ? that control basically the idle system and EGR system of the vehicle to a fault.

 

I was having some erratic idle issue now and then when starting the car over a period of days

I then investigated by pulling vacuum line off the EGR and plugging the line leading to it carefully = car runs great right after !

I quickly tested the EGR by applying vacuum to it = EGR diaphram is good after 1-minute of continous vacuum.

I head straight to the VCM there-after.

See VCM connectors below (2) of them pictured. Each has (2) pins inside each connector from the harness to the module.

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I then popped those baby's open and proceeded to clean the first ... then oh dear ... second connector (my hand is holding in pic below) has a broken pin inside lol.

Hard to see... I'll get a better pic later :)

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^^^ I'm actually thankyou it's likely the pin connector and not the VCM.. time will tell as I need to either jump it externally or replace the connector all together.

Will deal with that in a bit after this next issue.

 

^^^ Not a biggy on my list at the moment , but I DO want to resolve each issue I come across if possible.

 

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So !...

I've been chasing an issue of the engine getting warmer ,,, and warmer ,,, throughout the temp-range ,,,, but NOT over-heating at all ..

The engine runs very good... not acting like it's big issue at all or blown-hg.

I'm not rulling anything out until I check all the small stuff then work to the big if need be.

 

So far I have

- Flushed the engine block and radiator = good flow on each and verified.

- Changed out thermostat and tested new NAPA unit before dropping in = good

- Changed any and all coolant hoses relevant , so no air or seeps/leaks are present in the system

- Verified Temp with a heat-gun and both sensors on the zx ( one for the auxiliary air injector fan that kicks on..)

- No cold spots in radiator I can identify.

- Old thermostat opened in boiling water.

- No bad observations to speak of as of current.

 

I then wanted to club myself over the head for not checking the next FIRST :lol: ....

I had forgetten to check what has seem to be the issue with these cars since they've been around for 30+ years lol (other than electrical contacts)

The exhaust system.... :rolleyes:

 

I remember I had "assumed" (which I try not to do too much of that these days..) I saw moisture flowing far away from the car upon first initial startup of the car when I bought it.

I was wrong... and then proceeded to check

- Flow of exhaust at idle = not cool.

- Revved engine to about 2700... at most no more ... checked flow = poor ... not cool

- You can hear a few leaks after the catalytic converter and before the muffler ! It's hard to identify exactly as there is plenty of heat-shield from factory clear back...

- I then crawled underneath for a quick look ... muffler was dinged and had a hole in it towards the front ... I pounded on it with an iron fat fist and you could hear debris chillin on the bottom of the muffler laughing at DTP.

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Can we say dent ? yes sir ! lolz pretty sure that'll be some-what blocked...

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I'm going to teach those little basturds to mess with DTP tomorrow ! Izzo's favorite tool !! (yes I kinda like 3rd person talk ... :lol: ) I'm going to replace this muffler and it's not salveable that I can see ? :-/ ... maybe use as test muffler with moar nosie :rofl:

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Dual tips are pretty cool ! Just the tipz.

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Sexy tires ... sorry side-tracked.

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"Hello ??? ,,,,,,,, *echo* "

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I have a sneaky suspicion that once this ^^^ muffler comes off , and flow is still bad ... I'll be hopefully only be replacing the catalytic converter.

I might have a test pipe for it for now though :sneaky: (literally).

 

Thanks for reading !

 

DTP

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Our 83 zxt did the same driving down der road and just died, no spark,, went through and checked everything over and over, ( as much as one can in a 711 parking lot),, and just when you think that something really bad happened you look down at distributor. all it was is the one tiny damn wire had fallen off distributor.
 

:sneaky:

:rofl:

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Our 83 zxt did the same driving down der road and just died, no spark,, went through and checked everything over and over, ( as much as one can in a 711 parking lot),, and just when you think that something really bad happened you look down at distributor. all it was is the one tiny damn wire had fallen off distributor.

 

:sneaky:

:rofl:

 

:rofl: ^^^ Glad to know I'm not the only one ! sorta ... lol

It was weird .. just an item I've NEVER had fail on me ... :lol:

 mine had spark ... all 3-4 cylinders at idle... but different cylinders at different times at idle .... :rofl: ... but PLENTY of power through the range :blink:

 

I'll be carrying (2) spares since your post hammuck ! :thumbup: :lol:

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------- Exhaust system inspection/test --------

 

Since a couple of reply's ago I had mentioned I am chasing a very slow rise in the temperature range over-time after the car is started/idling/driven/idled/driven/idled etc..,,,

how much the car is driven speeds it up the issue a little bit.

I've checked everything in the cooling system , replaced and tested what was needed EXCEPT short of taking the radiator to the radiator shop for flow/blockage inspection (It's very possible I flow tested 2 partially blocked zx radiators for a comparison issue ,,, and that has been on my mind as of late.)

 

I knew the muffler in this car was tired , and had a big ding/holes in it with a bunch of loose crap inside swimming inside.

 

Jacked up the back end.

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CV-boots look good enough.

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Hole in the muffler

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sizeable dent in muffler

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(more pic reply's in a few minutes)

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Bottom of the pipe about 1-1.5 feet in front of the muffler towards front of car-ish.

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Looks like someone scrapped the belly of this beast at one point ... (gas tank)

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So I picked up all my tools pictured below to do street alley surgeory on the muffler ... muffler transplant that is (in due time).

My favorite tool ... crappy batterys ... good blades ... keep (2) battery's AT LEAST at all times with these ... :lol:

Can't deny portability though for a home owner tool.

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While I was cutting this @%#% hole was pouring a fountain of rust in my face every stroke of the sawz-all blade ... so I taped it ollz.

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muffler bracket

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Heat-shield band busted on me ... doh !

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muffler out ,,, dent shown ,,, I hatechu muffler ! :lol: (not really the dual-tip thingy was kinda cool)

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mufflerless

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(more useless reply's and more little pics to come)

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Idle speed after cutting that off. Partially plugged ? could be... I have no scientific way of testing it ... so we'll never know ... :lol:

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I then took the car around the block , then idle a bit , then around the block , and nope ,,, rising rate temperature still pursue's me.. doh !

 

Catalytic Converter is next in line to be shot if found guilty.

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Amazingly ... the (4) 10mm bolts that held the heat-shield on ,,, popped right off ! :D

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Flanges accessible ... I spy with my little eye ... some RTV ... hmmm someones peed all over this place .. before I got the chance !

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BAM !!! (4) 17mm bolts later ,,,, (2) of them broke ... :lol: ... (2) came out good .... and she's out !

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Heat-shield at the top ,,, catalytic converter on the bottom

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I took it around the block and let it idle ... MAN ! shift points are very good , and spool-time is a bit longer .... I'm not racing it though !(always shifted very well just at the wrong times... I wondered if the exhaust had something to do with this before. Never felt the trans was at fault .. I've had bad transmission before lolol.)

Here's the idle. Calmed down a bit on the rise rate of temperature over-time , but was still present.

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Could "barely" see through spots of the converter (bad pic)

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Crap collected in the converter ... not bad really I don't think.

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Dumped it out.

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I'm definetly FAR from a professional in any of this , but I wouldn't say this converter was "clogged".

I've seen , owned , and welded in few brand new crappy universal cats on cars that had **CLOGGED** cats lol.

Maybe more of a "partially clogged" ? since the dang car ran and drove so well before. Transmission shift points and spool time increased a bit after it's "throat was cleared".

I don't know enough about turbo's though and how all of this effects everything else systematically... pressure's and all.

There is a reason I'm a hobbyist in this stuff :lol:

 

 

(no moar lame reply's until tomorrow or next day-ish)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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At this point I'm looking at the following for causation.

-Partially or blocked radiator

-Leaky head-gasket that is pressurizing the cooling system (I've seen that 3 times in my lifetime on cars close to home).

 

Both the injection cooling fan , temp sender , temp gauge , and heat-gun are pretty consistent in harmony with each-other.

I feel comfortable verifying those as "dependable" at this point.

 

Looks like I'll be going to the Radiator shop next to see what they say.

My garden hose test seemed "fine" , but I was suspicious of free testing I conduct on (2) radiators that are 30 plus years old on 200k+ cars ... that both are "good" lol.

That makes more sense than tearing into the engine just to find I have a blocked radiator ... lol

 

Strangely either scenario does not bother me one bit !

Have been doing this song and dance long enough to know it's a patience and money game when things are taken slowly as well as carefully.

All alternatives have been or are close to be concluded.

 

The engine runs very well though :D

The auto-matic in this thing ... gotta say is pretty neat stuff.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

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I freaking love your build. One of my most favorites.  Keep up the work, maybe you feel it have better boost, due to nothing getting in the way of letting exhaust out as quickly as possible.

 

Thanks PrimeLuxeZ :thumbup: .. That could definetly well be , and since you own turbo stuff it's likely you have a better understading than I do !

! I really am not sure fer shizzle :unsure: (not a turbo guy in general , but turbo fan sure !)

I'm like a 5yr old child with play-doh when it comes to cars......(not entirely sure what I'm doing , likes the pretty colors , smashes things together until it works or at least looks cool) .... :lol:

 

Instead of a "build" it feels moar like a "giant in therapy/surgeory/ICU ...repair" .. :lol:

It's definetly fun though and I :wub: the car... :D !

 

All in all I feel kinda like cool-aid man right now..

kool-aid.gif

 

:lol:

 

 

(If you really like this build ,, you might like the next one just as much ... if I ever get around to it ... time and all :sneaky: )

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Thanks PrimeLuxeZ :thumbup: .. That could definetly well be , and since you own turbo stuff it's likely you have a better understading than I do !

! I really am not sure fer shizzle :unsure: (not a turbo guy in general , but turbo fan sure !)

I'm like a 5yr old child with play-doh when it comes to cars......(not entirely sure what I'm doing , likes the pretty colors , smashes things together until it works or at least looks cool) .... :lol:

 

Instead of a "build" it feels moar like a "giant in therapy/surgeory/ICU ...repair" .. :lol:

It's definetly fun though and I :wub: the car... :D !

 

All in all I feel kinda like cool-aid man right now..

kool-aid.gif

 

:lol:

 

 

(If you really like this build ,, you might like the next one just as much ... if I ever get around to it ... time and all :sneaky: )

 

You should get a full exhaust done maybe 3"

Well after you finish the "giant in therapy/surgeory/ICU ...repair" of the 280zx of course. 

But you are doing way more than me, first things first I have to chase down a misfire on two cylinders. 

And im pretty sure my distributor is off timing.

 

 

 

Would you mind telling us what it could be, or maybe a hint?

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You should get a full exhaust done maybe 3"

Well after you finish the "giant in therapy/surgeory/ICU ...repair" of the 280zx of course. 

But you are doing way more than me, first things first I have to chase down a misfire on two cylinders. 

And im pretty sure my distributor is off timing.

 

 

 

Would you mind telling us what it could be, or maybe a hint?

What are your thoughts on back-pressure on a turbo car with a full 3" exhaust ? :)

If I can do any of this .. you sure as crap can do what I'm doing and moar !! :thumbup:

Are you looking at mis-fires at idle and throughout the rpm range ? or just at idle ? under-load or not ?

You're likely right on the distributor being off on timing or at least good to check it after all this time.

 

it is coupe

Very detailed!! I love that :thumbup: little maintenance is what I try to do with the best of my ability which isn't much :lol:

 

This is certainly very helpful, thank you!! :)

 

Thanks Jennifer :thumbup:

You probably have more skills than leading on.. :P .

My ability isn't much either ... (at least when you look at what many MANY others have done/do/boss)

 

That's great ya like it !

 

:thumbup: - keep at it man, ur step by step thought process is fun to follow IMO 

 

Thanks Eagle_Adamn :thumbup:

Yeah I like it to ! 

 

I also get to the point where I'm taking 5-6 pictures ... of different angles ... of a frieken bolt ... and wanting to post that endless sharade of nonesense here.... lolz

What ends up here is ironically the boiled down version lolz.

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What are your thoughts on back-pressure on a turbo car with a full 3" exhaust ? :)

If I can do any of this .. you sure as crap can do what I'm doing and moar !! :thumbup:

Are you looking at mis-fires at idle and throughout the rpm range ? or just at idle ? under-load or not ?

You're likely right on the distributor being off on timing or at least good to check it after all this time.

 

it is coupe

 

Well how Archtype is saying, better exhaust flow leaving the engine for more to come in quicker. Arch hit it right on the nail for me lol.

Have you considered an intercooler setup?

Well the misfire happens under load about at 2 grandish. My dad was fiddling with the dist. so it wouldnt stumble as much, but it had the misfire way before he was messsing with it. 

And the coil also doesn't belong to this car, so i need a replacement one of those. 

 

 

Well datsun tho right?

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