11 replies to this topic

[mobythevan]

Well, I am doing both and all I can say is that the turbo swap is only taking me about two months worth of weekends to be completed and the V8 swap will probably continue on over two years. The reason for the length of time required on my V8 swap.... Frame modifications, roll cage installation, regular V8 swap stuff, custom diff mounts, fiberglass body kit installation, LSD swap, suspension and brake upgrades, and a ton of other small things I want to customize on the V8 car. SO I guess in my case I decided to swap the turbo in a stock car and not change anything else. But for the V8 I am going all out. The turbo swap is easy and cheap(at least cheap for me, like 1k compared to 10k for my V8 car). You could do a V8 swap into a stock type car, but the torque would tear things up in short order(because we all know your going to rod the thing ). So I guess the moral of the story is that you can spend the same amount of money on either car, but the turbo swap is a lot easier. I guess you have to ask yourself if you like turbo type power or the torque of a V8 from idle. I like both

[mobythevan]

Oh yeah, and do some searching because the weight of a V8 car can be the same as a stock car without too much effort. Doesn't seem to be too hard to get 300hp out of the turbo 280 engine. YOu can get a lot more than that if your wallet is fat. But like you say that kind of power from a SBC is a no brainer.

[tyler031734]

i see all these v8 coversions out there for a 280 zx but dont want to go that far doese any one know how hard it would be to put a 4.3 in my 81? i think it would be enough of power but dont want to spent thousands
can any one help?

[David K]

i see all these v8 coversions out there for a 280 zx but dont want to go that far doese any one know how hard it would be to put a 4.3 in my 81? i think it would be enough of power but dont want to spent thousands
can any one help?

Your post is so general and is also gonna bring a lot of negative replies. The 4.3 is as easy as the V8, its just 2 cylinders shorter. IMO a 4.3 build isnt going to cost anymore than a V8 build. V8's are easier to find as well. Trust me on this, I have a 90 Pathfinder about to get the drivetrain out of a Blazer/Jimmy 4x4. It took me months to find a 4.3, i found tons of V8 stuff.

[tyler031734]

how much stuff would i have to change for a v8 conversion? and whats the cost of doing it right?

[azguy]

JTR has a sweet kit out for the zx now and I think a manual too.... if not yet then soon (he was writing it when I did my conversion). In my opinion, if your going to do it, just go all the way and get a v8. The sweet sweet sound the first time you fire it up, and from thereafter is Sooooo worth it. Oh yeah, the power too... and the "what you got in there" lines you hear day after day after day.

[tyler031734]

how big is the dent on my wallet to get a bone stock 350 in there and not break things??

[Pyro]

I have done two V8 swaps and three turbo swaps.

A bone stock 350 will be slow. A 350 conversion is a lot of work. You need a lot of space, a lot of down time for the car, good fabrication skills, a lot of tools, and a fat wallet. Add up the cost and time estimates and double both.

I did a little junk yard bolt on turbo on a 78 and spent around 300.00 and it ran a mid 14 second in the 1/4 mile at 96mph on stock boost, no ic, and just a fmu to increase fuel pressure during boost. Boost and torque is instant with the stock turbo. I didn't tune it very well and the engine was in poor shape before the swap. This was my turbo experimental car. This is as fast as most bone stock 350 would be.

I also built a 76 with a bigger turbo, IC, turbo long block, and fmu for fuel enrichment. It runs mid 13's at 108 mph (bad traction) with 12 to 14 psi of boost. It is a quiet daily driver and didn't cost much to build. Has ac, stereo, sound proofing, skinny tires, ect. And still gets about 20 mpg.

I also built a 71 with a 350. It went through a bunch of upgrades over the years, but my first trip down the 1/4 mile was a 12.9 at 110 mph. But the cam was very lopey and not a very good daily driver. Then I started increasing the power with better heads, better exhaust, and some n20. Then added some slicks and ran 10.7 at 134mph. But the car would break axles and not a good daily driver at all. I wish that I would had left it a 12.9 car.

If you are looking for some decent power for cheap and not much work, then go turbo. The power differece with a turbo is a major difference over a stock engine. The stock turbo makes a nice street performer with hardly no turbo lag. Stock turbos go for 40.00 at my local pick-n-pull and exhaust manifolds go for 20.00. A 280Z engine already has low enough compression to run stock boost (7 to 8 psi). So, you could just bolt a turbo into your current engine.

V8's are nice but take a bunch of time and money to do it right. If you are looking to run about a mid 13's at 105mph then a turbo is what you need. If you want to go faster and still retain some low rpm torque then go V8.

I would also recommend to upgrade the stock efi to megasquirt before going turbo, if you decide to do a turbo.

[mobythevan]

wow, this is an old thread. Four years later the only update I would make to this is that I really like the turbo swap because I want a daily driver car and the turbo is great for that. Allows stock driveability, good mileage and still have the power on tap. I am afraid a built V8 will toss mileage to the wind. But it is what makes you happy that is important.

[tyler031734]

well it sounds like torbo is the way to go for me, how hard is it for me to change to a megasquirt fi? i have a limited knowledge of a carberated chevy and never worked on something like this, but im very eager to learn, thank you for all the advice and you might here from me later...

[mobythevan]

I have put megaquirt on turbo engines (L28et, 4g63) and V8 chevy engines. How hard it will be is not an answerable question. If you are good at following instructions and troubleshooting and are familiar with the basic components of a fuel injection system then it shouldn't be hard.