tonycharger72

You are a legend mate

Those guys on Streetcommodores seem to think VL's weigh in at 1200kg's, thats not a whole lot heavier than an 240z - certainly a 260z, arent they around the 1050-1150KG mark, To be honest though, i dont really believe a VL Commodore weighs 1200kg's................

I have been doing some looking into getting this engine for my 260z and wondered across this website, www.streetcommodores.com.au type in RB20DET and alot of info comes up, It seems alot of folks have put these engine's in Holden Commodores in AUS, replacing the RB30 engine, lots of people seem to really dislike them aswell , but there is some really good constructive info on this site, There seems to be the opinion that with stock Holden diff gears of 3.45 this engine really sucks!!! Because off boost it has nothing, you want it to get to 3000-3500 as quickly as possible, the taller the gears the better, R32's apparently came out with 4.11 gears, and everyone on that site seems to be of the opinion that if you want to enjoy this engine in your car make sure you get rid of the stock 3.45 Holden diff and put in 3.9 or 4.11 gears, From what i have read, i would stick with the diff gears you have, This engine apparently loves to rev and off boost it really really blows!!!

Hi Guys was wondering if anyone could help me with this conversion into a 280zx, I have an 1982 280zx and want to install a 5spd Manual, I was thinking of using an RB20DET or SR20DET 5spd (s13 box), Anyone know what is involved to get this to mate to an L28 engine? I know about swapping over the pedal box, adding a master & slave cylinders, hose's etc - and i know i can just unscrew the speedo and change it back to the mech unit suitable for the 280zx speedo cable, But, More interested in finding out what is required to mate the box to the L28, What mods would be required to get the box to fit up - i know the bellhousings on these box's arent detachable (well not like the supra 5spd), so more is involved, but anyone know if its possible to remove the Nissan 5spd bellhousings and swap an L28 friendly bellhousing onto it? Also - i know the L28 crossmember will bolt to the SR/RB box, but i dont know if it will line up correctly with the 280zx body trans mounts - anyone know if this is or isnt the case? Also, kinda related to the above question - but does anyone know if the tailshaft needs lengthening or shortening??? Any info would be great,

"That Turbo kit you got your hands on was actually made by a company called Sanyo-Kiki" Thats the one , Post some pics of the brochure, that would be great , Sorry i didnt get over to my old man's house last night so no pics of this yet, hopefully will have something tonight posted, But from memory the way it mounts is a little "U" pipe that comes straight of the factory exhaust manifold to mount the turbo - then a pipe straight into the intake, Will have to work out the oil feed/return line, I was planning on getting a T piece from where the oil sender unit mounts - then running a copper line to the turbo (probably around the front of the engine - maybe the back depending on space) then running a return line straight down into the highest possible point of the sump

These engines are everywhere in AUS - i have a couple just sitting around in my garage, apparently there is almost (or no) difference between the N/A and turbo versions of the bottom end of this engine (except the pistons of course), Can buy an entire engine with everything still on it and 200km's on the clock for $300AUD, check out the following, http://allclassifieds.com.au/c/ac?a=vi&i=253659785 http://allclassifieds.com.au/c/ac?a=vi&i=1377833339 http://allclassifieds.com.au/c/ac?a=vi&i=1241712468 And usually when people rebuild these engines even after 300km's they dont even need a re-bore, just a quick hone and slap it back together, great little motors ,

I found a bloke locally who said he used to put these on dealer cars in the early 80's, said it was about a 5hr turn-around, very straight forward to install - turned the engine into a real little torque monster and came on boost quiet early, He said DONT run more than 6psi, otherwise the engine will not like it at all, At the moment, its just a really cheap way to get some more HP, maybe get around the 200HP at the flywheel mark (from 160HP i think is what it made from factory in AUS), Later plans would be to pull the engine, rebuild it will lower compression, do some headwork with approiate cam, run a decent sized inter-cooler, bigger turbo, throttle body, injectors & fuel pump & 3" system the whole way through, get rid of the 3spd auto and slap in a 5spd from an SR20/RB20DET engine, But im poor at the moment and this seemed like a really decent deal, Dont know what its like over there, but i can readily get my hands on 92-96-98 octane petrol, just cost's a f#ckload!!! like $1.15US/Litre - think that equates to $4.5US/Gallon for 98 octane,

I cant get onto EBAY at work, dont want us bidding on stuff all day i guess , But will post some pics of it tonight when i get home, Its not HKS, its a Sanyo Teiki (SK) kit,

Was wondering if anyone was familar with this sort of thing, I recently bought an L28 Turbo kit, its like new in box, but was made in 1983 - when i asked around these things were like dealer optional, like if you bought a car and got air-con installed by the dealer - not factory, but dealer aftermarket, Anyways, its a Sanyo turbo-charger, dosent run an intercooler and apparently is supposed to be for the N/A L28 with EFI - run with really low boost, turns the L28 into a little torque monster, To install it im going to have to run a feed/return oil line for the turbo, and it dosent come with a dump pipe & a "hobbs" switch, this switch apparently is inline between the temp sensor and the ecu - so when you get the car on boost it tricks the ECU into thinking the engine is cold and richens up the mixture, Anyone ever used or bought one of these kits or have any experience with this at all, I have been doing some reading and was wondering if im missing anything about its installation - im bolting it straight onto an 1982 N/A L28 engine,

What about the front suspension? Do you have a 280zx 2 seater?

"I've never seen them marketed to commuters... only for farm vehicles and things like that." Heaps of cars use it in OZ, every single petrol station has the "LPG" re-filler, every single Bus in Australia use's gas, same with Cabbie's, lots of trademan's with V8 ute's (trucks) and that sort of thing, but also, alot of daily driver's, when you buy a new holden or ford im pretty sure if you tick the option sheet you can get it running on straight LPG, "There is also another use for this gas. Well if you are running turbo engines with nitros you can use it to cool down the charge allowing for more boost." The guy who im thinking of doing my gas conversion say's that when they run serious HP on boosted car's they use "Gas Reserch" carbs which was pretty much explained to me like it was a TBI style setup - its not that exactly, but the same idea, said they are just brilliant for this type of application, "However if you run LP as your primary fuel source you need to have a bunch of permits, I have to see them when I fill a LP powered vehicle." When you do the gas conversion you have to get it safety inspected, this lasts for 5-7-10 years, i cant remember which, after that period you have to get it safety inspected every 1yr, so its a tad fiddly, but you are driving around with some pretty flamable stuff under you rear seat , But to run your engine on straight gas its a pretty straight forward conversion, if your engine's already setup to run on unleaded (which every single engine is if its been rebuilt in the last 20years) with hardened valve seats than its setup to run on gas, you can get a gas cam which apparently helps your engine take full advantage of the alternate fuel system, and depending on what method of fuel injection you go, Gas Reserch Carb or Direct Injection you can lose between 2% to 10% of your current HP, and it can be installed where your current gas tank is, so you dont have to have some massive f#cking canister on the back seat, Wish i put a bigger engine into my Zed with alot more HP so this kind of conversion would be really worth it!!!

I came across this bloke that had a late 80's R31 Pintara, he installed an SR20 into his car, using the original Pintara subframe, pretty much just bolted it in, He then got his hands on an s13 subframe, swapped it into the Pintara (apparently it was a straight bolt in) and made the engine sit alot better in his car, This made me think, that maybe someone had managed this with a 280zx? Not so much for the suspension, brake upgrade or 5-Lug conversion, but more for the fact that say for instance if you were able to stick in the subframe from an S13 or Z31 including crossmember, it might make it an easier way to whack in VG or SR engine, maybe even an RB, Anyone know of any bolt in conversions for a 280zx or is it all custom stuff or lots of modification required???

I dont know any specifics of what you asked, but it looks like these guys are on the same page, http://www.speed-technology.com/efi_throttle.html

Just curious, How many USA guys on this forum run straight gas (LPG) in their cars? I dont know how much you guys have to pay for it over there, but in Australia its about $0.55/L ($0.40US/L), just the way Petrol prices are going over here about $1.40/L ($1.02US/L) and rising i thought more and more folks might be converting, From what ive heard you should really go straight gas (if converting to gas, not duel fuel) and if possible direct injection style setup, which apparently loses you approx 2% of your current power, and you use about 20% more fuel to get the same amount of KM's from Petrol to LPG, And the place's ive spoken to can replace your current fuel tank with a Gas one, so you dont have to have some massive tank sitting in your boot space, which is a tad limited in a Z!!!

So anyone know for sure?

Bloke said that the sender units looked pretty the same, but i would really like to be certain before i bought one,

Was wondering if anyone can clarify this for me, I have a 1974 260z 2 Seater, build date of September, I need a new fuel sender unit, I have spoken with Nissan and have been told that there is two available for the 2 seater Zed's, one for the period 1970 untill August 1974, after that there is a different part # and as far as the Nissan spare parts guys could figure, a different sender unit, However, i have spoken with other Zed specialists and have been told that they were a different part #, but were the same part, Therefore, if i get a 240z 2 seater Fuel Sender unit and try and use it in my 260z 2 seater, will it work properly? I ask this specific question as im finding it fairly difficult to locate one, all ive managed to track down locally new (in Australia) is a 240z 2 seater sender unit, before i buy it i would like to make sure it is going to work, Also, anyone is Australia know where i can get a 09/1974 260z 2 Seater Fuel Sender new?

Well early 80's skylines with the L24's had over-drive 4spd auto's in them im pretty sure, so it would be a touch weird if the 280zx didnt have them aswell, just because im pretty sure they were flogged of as more of a luxury sports car, i mean it has electric everything, even lumbar support in the seats ,

No, pretty much stock as a rock 1982 280zx 2+2 with Auto, Im about half-way through a tank now and its gone 220km's, so if it get's to 440km's (267 miles) i will be around the 15-16mpg mark, which is a tad better, but it kinda went like this last tank, last 1/3 went really quickly, I will change the Oil & Filter, fuel filter, plugs, leads, coil and set the timing as i just bought the car and it has been sitting for about 3months so i thought i should probably do this anyways, If that dosent work i guess its more serious investigation, how do i inspect the O2 sensor? How do i check if there is a vacum leak? My car is an Auto, does it have over-driver, ie.........a 4th gear? Its just when driving it dosent ever seem to kick into over-drive, feels like there is only ever 2 gear changes, this might be related to the fuel consumption, but when i start the car i sometimes have to start it in Neutral, sometimes in park, the cut-out switch is a bit dodgy, so im thinking that maybe because the trans dosent get into 4th, because the cut-out switch is f#cked, this might effect other parts of the tranny, The car revs at around 3500rpm when at 100km (60 mph) - Just a theory............... I was thinking of getting a larger exhaust and extractors so at that point i will just piss the cat off, probably get the K&N filter aswell,

Yeah, i was pretty much just after what a stock 280zx with an N/A L28 should be getting, 12mpg that im getting at the moment dosent feel like its right to me

Hi Guys, was wondering if i could get some help with my 280zx, I have a problem with the fuel consumption, Im getting roughly 330km's (200miles approx) out of a tank, roughly 65Litres of fuel, That seems kinda rough to me, Ive had a bit of a look around and other folks have said they are getting (or its possible to get) out of an L28E atleast around about the 20mpg's mark, which would give me in-access of 500km's out of a tank by my calculations, The car runs really well, starts first time, dosent seem to be miss-firing, Anyone got any theories on what could be leading to this kind of fuel consumption???

Was wondering if anyone can clarify something for me, If i have a 260z (2 seater) with an l26 and 3spd auto and i got my hands on an l24e with a 4spd auto from an R30 skyline, would this new driveline bolt straight into my zed? I know the engine is not going to be a drama as it's more or less the same engine, but im more concerned about the gearbox, Does the gearbox crossmember line up correctly with the gearbox mount position? Any help would be great,

Clifton, what did you do about the sender unit? looks like the swirl pot would hit it?

I did this yesterday, I will post some pics of where the holes are, As has already been said the RB blocks appear to be all drilled both front and rear to suit the front or rear dipstick location (im using an RB30 block), Both indintations from the dipstick location look indentical on the block, the one on the rear is plugged with a brass plug and of course the one at the front is plugged with the dipstick, "to swap mine over, i used a hammer and punch to knock out the brass plug in the rear, then used the pulg to knock out the dipstick from its original position. I did this by lineing it up flush with the bottom of the dipstick (the part in the sump) then used the hammer and punch to knock the dipstick out, i knocked it out most of hte way and then just twisted and pulled it out the remainder, leaving the brass plug in the original dipstick hole." This is what i did, it works a treat, just take the sump of and do the above, cant go wrong,

I ended up ditching it and am putting in an RB30 instead, hence the original question, If you measure from the back of where the GB crossmember mounts on a Rb30 with a 5spd to the front of the engine mounts its approx 108cm's, From the Datto crossmember to the back of the gb mounting ears inside the tunnel it is approx 102cm's, So its probably not all that great that the CRS mounts put the RB30 in exactly the same location as the L-Series, still have to fabricate a new gearbox crossmember - but i am trial fitting it over the next couple of days, ill share how it goes,