CaptainJoe87

i have it in the shop right now getting the frame and floors fixed. When I get it back im planning on going with EMUSA coilovers for s13 with adjustable dampers, only $550 and going through the front end to see if I cant fix the issues while I have it all pulled apart. That's the plan for now.

I'm kinda curious about Tony's suggestion of using a BMW ecu and afm now actually. Mainly because the parts are available to me and I've never heard of this being done before so I am hoping he decides to elaborate a little more on a how to chose and what to expect kinda deal. If you pull an ecu from a BMW 2.8 inline 6 that makes 184hp could you expect to get that same hp from your l series?

So Tony, you are saying I should try to swap over an ecu and arm from an inline 6, 2.8-3 letier motor to start with, as well as doing a full tune up is that right? Even if I can't get a full 250hp out of it I want to start learning more about cheaper ways to improve what I already have while saving up for what I want. Are there any specific things I could do now to try and improve the performance of the stock motor other than those couple things I got from what you said earlier? As for the BMW parts, I'm just guessing here but the plugs don't line up do they? A friend of mine has a BMW with an inline 6 as a parts car and I might be able to get the parts from him for.cheap or free.

Thanks Tony, do you have any links that might be helpful in getting the most out of the stock motor. If that is where you say I should start, its worth a shot.

I just don't understand how a bigger/ better cam, headers, higher compression, and some decent carbs wouldn't give much more Hp than what everyone is saying. I guess I have a lot more research to do about all this before I start buying anything.

The only thing I don't understand is that ove read a few posts in a couple threads talking about being lucky to get 150hp with some add ons. An l28 should be making somewhere around 145hp stock. I know you lose up over time but my motor only has 24k miles on it so I shouldn't be too far off from that as is. I would think upgrading the intake, exhaust, and cam should give more than 5-15hp boost.

Well then, scratch that idea I guess.Thanks for the input guys, looks like I'm either going to keep saving for a swap.

I have a 1980 280ZX with efi. My goal is as close to 250hp as I can get. I mainly use my car for street but plan to track it in the future. I have some parts already that I can use if they would help. I have a stock l28 with flat tops and a p79 head. I have an N42 head and headers. Since mega squirt is so expensive and requires a lot of wiring I was thinking about going carb, installing the N42 head, and a larger cam so it doesn't detonate. If I go that route, what cam would you recommend? Is there any easier or cheaper ways to achieve 250hp while keeping the car naturally aspirated? Any other advice, knowledge, or links to threads I didn't find about getting in the 250-300hp range without going turbo would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

I doubt its the frame, but either way that's about to get fixed. I didn't slam the curb or anything just tapped it a bit, under 5mph deffinantly. Like I said ill be jacking it up to take a look this week some time.

I probably will roll the fenders just to be on the safe side though.

Not camber, I'd be fine with a bit of camber. Tilted out as in the drivers wheel is straight and the passengers wheel is pointed slightly to the right. The car pulls to the right a bit but every now and then it drives straight which is leading me to believe I broke something. So, I'm gonna jack it up and check things out. If I can't see anything I'm going to take it to a shop once the frame is done.

Thanks guys, I thought so too. I did not roll the fenders and shouldn't need to but I probably will just to be safe. I took it for a drive and learned that I might have a steering issue. When I stopped at the gas station my passenger side front tire was all chewed up from the fender, but it was the only one. When I looked at it the wheel was tilted out a little bit when the other one was still straight. I hit a curb playing in the snow a while back and never noticed it till now. Good thing is I haven't driven it much. So, I've gotta jack it up and see if it is something I can fix myself or if its something I need to take to a shop.

Here's a couple pictures with them on.

Picked up some 25mm spacers from a guy on craigslist today, sittin pretty flush now. Update on the frame situation, waiting on a call from the body shop to bring it in.

All good. The plasti dip glossifyer looks pretty good. You paint it over the matte paints to make them shiny. Not sure if ill go that route, but the flat black looks nice. I would recommend getting the gallons and a sprayer as opposed to rattle can plasti dipping the whole car. The ones I've seen all rattle canned look like poop. Hahaha

No, I painted the car with krylon primer paint 2 in 1 flat black. After using the plasti dip I am.thinking.about using it for the whole car. I took the bumpers off a few weeks ago but I have concidered plasti dipping them and seeing how they would look back on the car. Since I got my refund for the floor pans, my budget for coilovers has grown to about $500-600ish. Anyone have any suggestions of decent brands to go with or should I save a little more?

It holds up well to heat too. The guy on the website has it on his exhaust tips. I was gonna look into that a little bit more and maybe do my valve cover and intake manifold.

When you ask about holding up to speed, your asking about the plasti dip right? Dude that stuff is fine. They have a video where they take a power washer at 1800 psi and it doesn't damage it. You just have to let it cure for a day or two before you go scrubbing on it or anything. Check out their website faq's, they have a couple videos showing how to do it and the durablity. There are also a bunch of videos on youtube about it. I'm having a hard time putting pictures up from my phone.for some reason but as soonas iI get to a computer ill put them up.

While I was waiting on the call back to get my car into the body shop for the floors and frame I decided to do some smaller cleanup work myself. I drilled out those ugly chrome and plastic side strips, sanded it down, bondoed the holes, and repainted the sides of the car. Also, I got a rattle can of plasti dip and went over all the chrome parts so now everything is black. First time using plasti dip and it came out pretty well. I'm highly concidering doing the whole car with it now.

Eh, they guy at the body shop said he's done a couple other cars for a friend of his and isn't going to charge me for the materials so I'm probably going to go with that.

Problem solved! Just got off the phone with Aaron over at motorsport. He talked to the guy that makes the pans for them who said himself that he was unhappy with the design of the pans that they have been selling for 20 years now... Why it took 20 years of not being satisfyed with the design and my phone call for them to get the idea to discontinue the item I will never know. But that's what it is, I'm getting a full refund for the part and all shipping charges. It was quite the hastel but it all got sorted out. So, don't even try to buy these pans, they are horrible. I'm gonna have they guy at the body shop build them from scratch. Getting a way better deal this way too.

Problem solved! Just got off the phone with Aaron over at motorsport. He talked to the guy that makes the pans for them who said himself that he was unhappy with the design of the pans that they have been selling for 20 years now... Why it took 20 years of not being satisfyed with the design and my phone call for them to get the idea to discontinue the item I will never know. But that's what it is, I'm getting a full refund for the part and all shipping charges. It was quite the hastel but it all got sorted out. So, don't even try to buy these pans, they are horrible. I'm gonna have they guy at the body shop build them from scratch. Getting a way better deal this way too.

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SBC1B10/30-7318

Hey guys, I just got the frame rail and flor pan kit from thezstore.com. when it got here and I looked it over, I took it to the body shop to see if I was seeing it wrong. The guy told me to call and make sure they sent me the right part... The frame rail is 1/4" too short to the floor and 1/2" to narrow compaired to the stock rail... Also, these don't have the bump up for where the seat is. The other thing is that if the existing floors were just to be cut out, these would be installed on an angle sloping towards the front of the car. Motorsport insists they have been selling this kit for 30years and no one else has had this problem. So I ask, has anyone on here ever used this kit? My thing is, if the kit was supposed to be used as a starting point or supposed to be cut and or bent to fit, they should probably tell you that in the product description. If anyone has any advice I'm open to it. I'm in the process of trying to get motorsport to refund everything, including shipping but they are fighting it.