OlderThanMe

Here are some pics of the LD ports with a ZXT manifold. A good website to look at: http://datsunmotorsports.selfip.com/Diesel%20Experiment.htm Uhh... are those rocker arms on the opposite side as on a gas motor? Weird... Chewie... I think the problem is that fuel cuts off at those high RPMs on a stock LD motor. Can't physically rev any higher. Unlike our gas motors where it can rev to 8k+ on stock carbs. (not that you would want to but it can)

Just right click on the photo when you are looking it in the album, click on properties, copy the entire URL, then when you are making the post hit the yellow mountain button and add the URL in there. AND boom, This happens:

BTW there are lots of guys putting these "heavy" internals in their gas motors and going way fast. The crank isn't that much more than a L28 crank, the rods aren't that much heavier, and the pistons have a 2mm taller pin height... It is the darn 90+ pound cylinder head and 35lb flywheel that start the weight problem. Not the actual internals...

Thanks for the replies guys. I wasen't really thinking about building one of these now... I'm going to do a turbo gas L6... I have just seen it mentioned a couple times and was wondering about if it could be built up to be fast. Increasing the RPM range doesn't help power but it does make you go faster to stay in gear longer. if you had a Z with a 140hp N/A 2 liter that could spin to 15k RPMs and had a REALLY wide gear ratio tranny you could be faster than a much higher power car that was wasting a lot of time shifting... Weight.. The LD shortblock doesn't weight ALL that muc more than an L28. It is the cast iron cylinder head that weighs a ton. I guess the LD shortblock probably weighs 20 pounds more than an L28. The extra 20mm of deck height and then a LITTLE more weight from the crank and slightly heavier rods. The cylinder head is probably twice what a Z car head weighs. Stripped it is probably 60 pounds! Lightening the flywheel, The LD flywheel is a heavy beast. Like, well just look 35lbs Well to learn about things sometimes it hurts. This was a learning experience that hurt a little but it was good to know. Thank you all for your replies! OTM

My neighbor had a Miata blue 75 280z called the Zette (stock-ish camaro SBC). It had 1985 corvette seats in it. They were GREAT! Plenty of head room IIRC. I recommend those seats for sure!

So I have this little idea for a motor... Take an LD28, turbo it, add go-fast goodies, put into lightweight Z car, have fun. There are a couple LD motors around here that are asking for a new life... What modifications would be necessary to setup an LD28 for a Z? Obviously it would need to be converted to rear sump. That is not too much of a big deal. I'm thinking what would be needed to upgrade the engine to make lots of power? The fuel system is a big restriction and could be sold off to the maxima guys. The stock system is a MFI with a big fuel pump where the alternator normally goes. This would need a lot of custom work. An increase in bore would also be helpful for more power as with any engine. As on our gas engines the cylinder head is a big restriction once you double the power. Porting on the cast iron head of the LD would be a pain. I'd like to find out if any Z car oversize valves could be used in the cast iron LD head. I doubt it as I think the LD head has almost no chamber and has longer valves than a Z aluminum head. Increasing RPM range, The LD is good for about 4500RPMs stock from what I have read. If that could be increased to 5500 or 6000 that would be great. The stock LD flywheel is REALLY heavy. Maybe swap it out for a lighter stock steel 240mm zxt flywheel? Exhaust The L28ET header will work with some modifications. Some bolt holes have to be elongated to fit but it will work. A weld-el log header may be a better solution for better turbo placement. Turbo, I'm thinking a slightly larger than stock T3 turbo would be fine (upgraded z31 turbo?). I'm figuring this is would be a 2.9-3.0 with a mild overbore. You could also run biodiesel if you can get it where you live... Any thoughts? Dan/OTM

I am guessing the head would have to me modified for modern injectors. Also get a cummins or similar truck high pressure fuel pump (or whatever is used in a diesel)... Then go up in bore as big as you can go. With forged pistons you could raise compression ratio a bit from 20:1 to like 23-25:1. I'll start a new thread about building a LDT motor. With an intercooler, propane injection, and some other tricks you could have a fearsome little beast of a motor. Oil pickup would also have to be changed for a rear sump.

A.G. How tall are you? I am using eclipse/talon seats in my Z and they are really comfortable. The problem is I sit pretty high. I'm going to cut out the stock floor mounts and mount the seats to the floor with some reinforcements. The talon seats have better side bolsters than the eclipse seats but they don't have the lumbar support that the eclipse seat has. I got my set of really good condition eclipse seats for $40 in the JY. I then spent $25 in some mild steel bar and S.S. hardware to mount the seats.

I wouldn't use 8" springs in the rear. The common word is that they usually bind on the rear. Then again you are running insane spring rates. I'm pleased with my 10" 225f/250r QA1's. No binding and short enough not to cause problems. I hope you have some $$$$ in struts to survive those springs.

This is a verified set of HY35 maps and an HX35 map from HOLSET over the years. Pre 2003 HX35 in green 2003-04.5 HY35 in black 2004.5-present HY35 in red

I know what you mean! I have an 04 crew cab with the VG33E. It definitely is a chubby little pickup. I have been hauling loads of 500 pounds of mulch all week in hilly areas and the torque just isn't there. Hauling the Z is going to be a bit of a stretch on any hill sections. In 2010 the truck is probably going to get a complete makeover including 4x4, exoskeleton, flatbed, an a bunch of other cool stuff. I'm going to use the truck for disaster relief, emergency offroad truck repair (with the onboard micro sized fab shop), farm fabrication, and other misc stuff. I'm guessing that I'll either do a turbo diesel or at least add a supercharger to the VG. TDI really sounds like a better idea to get the torque I'll need. More research is on order here for me...

This brings the question... How fast could you build an LD28 to be? I'd love to build an LD28T for a Z. If 300hp could be made I'd do it. It would definitely have a TON of torque compared to a gas motor. Since a diesel motor puts out about half the force for a turbo a small~ish turbo could be used for 30 pounds of boost (like 15psi for a gas motor). The diesel fuel injection could be modified from the stock setup to big stock injectors like off of a Cummins engine. The stock fuel system seems to be the biggest limiting factor on the LD28... propane injection is an option... Maybe a Holset HX30 would be small enough for a LD28T with a big overbore/cylinder liners... The stock zxt turbo manifold bolts on with a little modification to some bolt holes. There are a couple guys in the LD community that have turboed their LD motor with stock zxt stuff. Only using about 5-7lbs of boost though.

That is an SR20DET...

Mine is out in the garage... Early 74 260z. (basically a late 240 w/ L28 crank and rods) RLS30-012743 L24 flattop pistons stock bore L26 longblock early L24 SUs mallory 6a ignition MSD coil Block and valve cover powdercoated "Prismatic black" 11lb SPEC flywheel stage2+ SPEC clutch (love it!) stock rear drivetrain poly bushings 10" coilovers 225f/250r illuminas 15x8 diamond racing wheels the small 4x4 brakes with drilled/slotted rotors Coming up: big fat turbo L6, all new fenders(yz rears?)/front end, bigger wheels, bigger brakes, adjustable control arms, big differential, roll cage...Basically all the "OTHER" expensive stuff...

Paul, Being of the next generation down... Facebook is similar to xanga or the well-known myspace. FYI...

Time to go to diamond racing wheels.... About the same price but steel. They won't come apart on you as they are meant for NASCAR and other such racing types. What do the plastic rivets hold? Hopefully not the center section to the rim... Sorry about this problem...

That looks like an early 240z bumper. 70-71 models.. I'm dumb... The body kit is all custom... Look up blueovalz on here...

One thing that I need to do before getting too much into engine placement and drivetrain is to fgure out how much room I need for the driver and passenger. One thing I am doing different is designing the car in metric units. I hate dealing with inches. lol Max, Thanks! I think we can work that out! Maybe a demonstration of how the airbag/longitudinal torsion bar suspension will work under compression and extension.

Finally something I have access to that BRAAP doesn't... Road Atlanta, 35 minutes away. (the red dirt gives it away even if you haven't seen the pic before) I was SOO close to buying a Z32 Twin Turbo for my daily as my 260z gets all fast and junk. Instead I got a Frontier to haul Z car engines around. The Z32 gets: as a daily driver!

That isn't like the RB block is it???

It was your idea first max... I WONDER IF MAX NOW HAS A TURBO UNDER THERE???? HMM... Max must now be the one and only true.. MAD MAX! looks sweet!

Well after a year... I have still been playing with some ideas for this project. Looking for a 1.8-2.2 liter FWD diesel engine to modify for this car's AWD system. CAD files would be great. R160 differentials may be a good option to keep weight down. The only problem is that I'd be using 2 layers of differentials getting like 9:1 drive ratio just in the differentials... Eek... One diff in the FWD tranny and then one at each end of the car. I think with a turbodiesel powerplant 200hp would be more than enough for a production model. On my personal powerplant I'd use a turbocharged FWD Maxima VG30 making big power. This is more of an engineering challenge for me to design than anything else. I may build a one or two and then be done with it. All of this building occuring after college. I'll design it during college with free access to Solidworks. I have done some rough solidworks stuff but nothing to post up about. I may post some of my sketches though.

My nissan dealership said they could get me an S15 (I think) SR20DET with the 6 speed for $2600...

Don't know the specs... They listed 73hp for the N/A and turbo motors... Found a link to it on a random search. (not on HybridZ) And it would not be LD28ET..Just LD28T. It uses super high pressure fuel. Like astronomical numbers. I found out that some of the LD20's were used in irrigation systems...

Have you seen this forum? cool stuff...