My new Z, New Member

[V8INtheZ]

Hey guys, I bought this early 260z last night. Got it for 1500 smakeroos. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/car/455651609.html

 

I will document my project with many pictures as I go, and I will be including before and after weights as well.

 

Its a decent car, has some rust, a nice interior and it drove home. It will end up a 75% street 25% Track car powered by an mysterious 4 cylinder Turbo engine pushing 300 HP. I will keep you all in suspense til I get my project rolling.

(I was going to install a V8 hence the screen name, but have since changed my mind)

 

Pictures in the next couple days.

[jbrier87]

1500 eh? Niiccee. I picked up a 76 280z near LA for 2000 a couple years ago and it wasn't as nice as this one you picked up. Interior was pretty destroyed from sittin in that California sun. Made it all the way back to Minnesota though! Can't wait to see the progress!

[Gollum]

So where's the pics man? The craig's page has been deleted so I've got nothing to go off of here.

 

And where in the east bay are ya? I'm in richmond and I work in fairfield now, maybe we could meet up sometime. I've been talking for a while now about getting some type of bay area HZ group going since I keep in contact with a couple of local guys, and there's many more of us on the site.

 

Though... i need to get my Z back on the road....

 

So turbo 4 eh? So I'm assuming you're going with a SR swap.

[V8INtheZ]

Coincidently I am taking the Z into work Thursday to weigh it and take some pictures. I will take a picture of the short block Im using and see if you guys can guess what it is. I will give you a hint, it will run 15-23 PSI(15 for cruising and 23 for Honda smoking) and its not an SR20...

 

I would love to have a small/big get-together. I live in the Antioch/Concord area, but I work not very far from Fairfield.

[Gollum]

Well, my next guess would be KA, and after that you're running out of good RWD 4 bangers that are easily accessible. My hope would be that you're going to pioneer another FWD to RWD conversion, which is always nice.

 

There's one member that has already started his 4G63 swap, and several others that have talked about doing it. That's a pretty bad ass swap if you ask me.

 

If you ever want to hook up, or just chat I'm on aim and msn enough to be able to get a hold of that way. We can talk about local Z people and such.

[V8INtheZ]

Here are some pictures on my photo bucket page. They were too big to attach, and this computer is too slow to resize them. http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q47/turborscapri1984/

 

The rest of my pictures might spill the beans. As far as I know only a few people have thought about this engine, and I know of one on this site that has tested it fit into a Z. I dont know of anyone that has actually had one running though. Im heavily involved with this engine and have run many many many of them in a buch of cars. They are very underated and kinda low key for some reason. I think everyone should be using one, but there are more for me since they dont.

 

Another hint, cast iron block and head, single overhead cam, and its fuel injected...

 

I will be weighing the 260z today once I get the car all set up. I will let you know what I come up with.

[het976]

Looks like a turbo Ford from a Mustang/Capri or T-Bird...I had a Turbo Bird in 84 and I have to say it was a nice car and for as big as it was, hauled butt pretty well. I have heard you can get some pretty big numbers out of them with a little work. If I am wrong, it would still be a good choice worth thinking about.

[V8INtheZ]

Ding ding ding! Het976 is correct. My goal is to have a car that is 1000 pounds lighter then a stock Turbo Coupe Tbird. The 87-88 Tbirds curb weight is 3400 pounds, ouch! They have a 190 HP, 240 TQ engine stock that boosts 15 psi from the factory. They run a 16.1 stock, but turn the boost up and they become much more fun. 2.3L Turbo Ferd with a T5 is the plan. I swapped one into a 73' Datsun 620 pickup and it was fun to drive, but then I parted it out =(

 

I just finished weighing my Z:

 

FD-655

FP-662

RD-521

RP-574

F Total-1317

R Total-1095

Overall Total 2412

 

My car is an early 1974 260z, no spare, couple gallons of fuel, no bumpers, but the rest of the car is stock. My numbers are vague estimates at best, I used 4 identical bathroom scales and moved them together to all 4 corners. They are consistant, and when weighing myself (200) were within a pound or two. The car also has new carpet all around (not as much insulation?) and a CD player with only one speaker.

 

I think I might be weighing in light cause the items that differ from a brand new car cant weigh 200 pounds (internet 260z curb weight 26xx pounds) Unless the curb weight for a 260z refers to a late car with the heavier 280z stuff?

 

Anyways, I will be updating once a week or so, with more pictures as I go.

[Gollum]

Yea, I was gonna guess Ford lima motor next.

 

Decent motors, and I seen enough of them around to warrent a budget swap if you can find the turbo parts for cheap.

 

I'm interested in finding out how much it really weighs though. For some reason I remember these motors being pretty heavy for a 4 banger. My memory might be failing me though.

[V8INtheZ]

Yeah, I estimate only losing about 80 pounds between the engine and transmission. They are somewhere between 380-450 pounds fully dressed. Im going to weigh mine before it goes in, and the L6 when it comes out so I have a better idea.

 

Engines and turbos are really cheap. I just bought a whole engine for 70 dollars.

[ShaggyZ]

Being a turboford guy myself, I considered this swap - parts are cheap and fairly readily available thanks to the internet. However, I figured since I'm gonna have to do custom install anyways, might as well go with a more capable motor - 4G63. There are a few guys around who have converted the turbo Fourd to DOHC using the Volvo 240 head. Check out http://www.turboford.net - great site with a lot of really smart hicks... for real.

[Lunar240z]

You mean the volvo 740 gle head?

 

Ive got one in my house in oakley if you want it. It needs valves replaced though.

[V8INtheZ]

Those volvo heads are pretty trick. However the power I need for the Z is well within the factory head's limits. The turboford website has been super helpful for me in the past, and Im sure I will be using it for this swap as well.

[Pete84]

How far is the bottom end good for on those turbo 2.3s?

 

And that Volvo head swap - does it bolt on the the 2.3 or is there a whole lot of machining required? Have been in a friends early 90s 7x0 Volvo that has a N/A DOHC I4, that thing will go when urged! Not to mention it is a HUGE engine.

[Daeron]

How far is the bottom end good for on those turbo 2.3s?

 

And that Volvo head swap - does it bolt on the the 2.3 or is there a whole lot of machining required? Have been in a friends early 90s 7x0 Volvo that has a N/A DOHC I4, that thing will go when urged! Not to mention it is a HUGE engine.

 

I have many times wondered on the potentials of a turbo brick motor.... but the turbo ford sounds great, too! Good luck with your project, should be a blast!

[Pete84]

Found a page on the Volvo head swap to a 2.3T, still reading through it - looks like alot of work.

 

http://www.geocities.com/_nitro_/volvoswap/volvoswap.html

[Daeron]

Found a page on the Volvo head swap to a 2.3T, still reading through it - looks like alot of work.

 

http://www.geocities.com/_nitro_/volvoswap/volvoswap.html

 

neat read, thx

[V8INtheZ]

Volvo head does require quite a bit of work. Depending on the condition of the bottom end, you can get anywhere from 500-1000 HP. There is one turboford member that is up to like 1100 on a junkyard engine. He runs it hard all year long at the drags. The accepted average is around 700 HP with a stock bottom end. The engine set a land speed record for a stock bottom end at like 232 miles per hour or something, I dont know if it was broken or not. They are a lot of cheap fun thats for sure!

 

There are a few sources for high performance heads now, so you dont have to go with the vovlo head anymore. Many people are running 30 PSI on a stock engine (with a good turbo, lots of fuel, and a good FMIC ofcourse). I have myself ran 27 PSI on a DD for a long time. Most of my cars are in the 20ish PSI range cause of gas prices.

[ShaggyZ]

Volvo head does require quite a bit of work. Depending on the condition of the bottom end, you can get anywhere from 500-1000 HP. There is one turboford member that is up to like 1100 on a junkyard engine. He runs it hard all year long at the drags. The accepted average is around 700 HP with a stock bottom end. The engine set a land speed record for a stock bottom end at like 232 miles per hour or something, I dont know if it was broken or not. They are a lot of cheap fun thats for sure!

 

There are a few sources for high performance heads now, so you dont have to go with the vovlo head anymore. Many people are running 30 PSI on a stock engine (with a good turbo, lots of fuel, and a good FMIC ofcourse). I have myself ran 27 PSI on a DD for a long time. Most of my cars are in the 20ish PSI range cause of gas prices.

 

Your information seems a little off. I'm not aware of anyone on turboford with 1100HP and certainly not running it at the drags all the time. The accepted average HP guys on turboford are getting out of their stock bottoms is probably closer to 300HP. The speed Rick Byrnes hit was 208mph one-way: http://www.merkurencyclopedia.com/Merkur_misc/Byrnes_1998.html

 

There are some guys running 30psi, yes, but that's mostly because the intake tract is so restrictive.

 

Also, what are the many high performance heads available now that we don't need the Volvo head anymore? The Volvo conversion is very new and only within the past year or two have there been any recorded successful implementations (Phil Marshal is of note). There are aluminum cylinder heads available from Rapido Group and Esslinger but their daily driver reliability is lacking and there's also the dual-plug conversion which really isn't worth the trouble. Boport has been getting great flow out of them recently, however.

 

There is a lot of performance to be had out of these motors though. There are also more cars that came with these engines than the L-series.

[V8INtheZ]

The accepted average max from a stock short block is about 700 HP. The average 2.3 is making 300 HP. As for heads, Esslinger makes a couple different ones, and Boport does some great work also (but you mentioned them already) I said there are a few heads now, not "many." The Volvo head is cool, but I dont think it does much better then the Essy head.

 

There are a few guys with over 1000 HP, one of them states hes using a junk yard engine. I didnt come over here to prove anything, I dont need to. Im just trying to build a fun car.