Austin240Z

oops, totally spaced on the second half of his post

Thanks! I actually have absolutely every thing body and trim wise, minus the actual engine and transmission. It was a Killer deal. I am running a felpro 1mm, so i definitely appreciate the compression #'s This is definitely true, again, I'll be the first to admit I did a sub-par job of putting it together, the only things I really replaced were all the gaskets and seals and the valve stem seals. The bottom end came out of a strong motor with around 100K, the rings and bearings did have some wear as would be expected, but nothing that seemed to warrant replacing them (I'm sure I'll eat those words later) I checked the cylinder walls, and they were actually very clean, free of any visible scoring or excessive wear. I did a very quick very light honing of each cylinder and rechecked with a light, and again did not see anything of interest. ( I spent the majority of the time on the bottom end) The valves on the other hand, though I did clean them up a little bit, still do have quite a bit of carbon build up. Where I was working on it sunday I did not have access to anything but a dremel with a steel wheel attachment(my tools are in 4 different locations atm). Needless to say, the steel wheel attachment did not last long. I did what i could to clean the area closest to the seat, but had to keep it to a minimum to make the dremel attachment last long enough to get through the whole batch. Very impressive video, the question is though, were you using dished pistons or flattops? I know that the HP guessing game is kind of a joke because there are so many different things that affect how power is made. I've definitely found that out firsthand in the past (I love my SUs) BUT at the same time, since I only plan to use this motor for a long period of time, and I dont think I will ever dyno it (unless I feel the motor is strong enough to warrant it), I am trying to at least figure out a rough projected number based on the experience and knowledge of people here who may have seen or built a similarly ass backwards L motor. Granted the guesses really dont mean anything compared to actually biting the bullet and putting it on the dyno, but I figure in the spirit Hybrid Z, I'd attempt picking some of yalls brains on a setup that is... well, not exactly something I would call common or ideal.

So I just picked up a virutually rust free '77 280Z shell with all the paper's (including the original Datsun Salesman "Buz Garner's" business card from '77) Everything is there and original, minus the motor and trans. So Sunday morning, I decided I'd build a motor out of my spare parts so that I could drive her around untill I had a chance to build the real, turbo motor. I've named this motor the "Black Bastard" and here's why... It's made from parts off of atleast 7 different L seireis, and the whole setup is contradicting. The block and pan are gloss black, the valve cover is a powder coated flat black. N42 Block N42 Dished Pistons E31 head 1 E88 valve(the E31 was missing one) N47 Cam towers N47 Cam N47 Rockers SU Carbs (made from two sets from different years) L28 electronic dizzy Pallnet Carb Fuel rail (like it matters, I just like it =P ) The pan, vavle cover, intake manifold were ones I have laying around, no idea what year/motor they came from. I spent 13 hours straight, in the heat on the asphault infront of my storage unit building this motor, and I'll be the first to admit.... I did a piss poor job of building it. Here's what I'm looking to figure out. The Key componants are the Dished pistons, E31 Head, The N47 cam and the SU's. I just need it to run halfway decent, and I think it will until I get the good motor built. BUT out of morbid curiousity... I'm wondering HOW WELL it will run. After a little discussion with some local people,we're thinking probably 8:1 compression, but as for projected horsepower numbers we're still kinda scratching our heads a little. It's not in the car yet, as the car is still all apart and in boxes, so I cant give yall a rough "seat of my pants dyno" number. Any thoughts? Questions? Comments? *EDIT* will be running this with an MSD 6AL *END EDIT* P.S. here's the car: No pictures of the motor I'm afraid... I no longer have a working camera

It is an 8 I couldnt find an adapter for the 8mm for my Hurst pistol grip So I took a 10mm die, and threaded the shaft farther down. I used to have pictures somewhere...

I posted a picture of a 280Z shell I'm picking up on a non car forum today... and someone immediately asked if it was a Mustang fastback.

I'll see if I can get some pics of my Z's in the next day or so

it's beautiful!

L28's arent that hard to find around here, I have a few, but they're all "fixer uppers" enough to make atleast 2 full motors. There's a 280ZX sitting in my favorite junkyard right now, probably $200-300 for the motor. If i didnt already have enough L28's I'd be picking it up. it is true that the L28's are getting harder to find, especially now with metal prices, but they're still availible. L28ET's on the other hand.... I havent seen one in any Austin junk yards in probably 2 years now.

I got my ZX 5Speed there a year or so ago:biggrin:

Cool cool. I bet that ride was fun. I work right across the street from Boost Logic, and I know Marc (their fabricator) and Chris well enough that they dont mind me walking around in the shop so long as I'm not in the way. (I dont know Kean, the owner very well yet though) They've had 3 GTR's over there in the last 2 weeks, and they've already started fabricating parts for them (Here's a vid of two of themhttp://videos.streetfire.net/video/Stock-Y-pipe-vs-Boost-Y_183424.htm) I got to spend about an hour and a half walking around underneath one that was on a lift (I decided "Look but dont touch" was a good policy) It's definately a very very sweet car, but I havent had a chance to go for a ride in one though. Your comment about being impressed with the brakes is definately dead on. I was impressed just looking at them. The rotors are HUGE, they looked to be somewhere around 14", it's got a set of big Brembo 6 Piston Calipers in the front and another set of Brembo 4 Piston Calipers in the rear.

It's not listed in my K&N Master Catalog. I had bought them from my store about a year ago, but since then, we have stopped carrying them and the part number no longer shows in our computer. The actual filter element is an E-3190, but I dont have part numbers for the plates or the studs that hold it together.

They've set up shelters here in Austin, first time I've seen something like this around here. it's supposed to still be around 70mph winds here when it hits. I'm more worried about you guys and gals down near the coast! Stay safe!

I'd say my car definitely has a personality, and something that verge on what one might call a soul. I dont know if that's something I'm projecting onto the car or vice versa. It just seems like ever time I begin to question it, something weird happens with the car. Every time I get ahead of myself, or try to do something before the car is truely ready to be driven, I'll have some sort of crazy problem arise that doesnt make any sense to anyone. And then as soon as I think about it more, and realize I need to finish other things (rusty frame issues fo instance) the problem suddenly goes away. Also, when I start to get frustrated, and think about giving up on the car. Then what ever I may have been working on, something that should really be a pain in the ass to work on or fix for instance, goes waaay too smoothly. I wish i could explain it better. I've never been so attached to a car, I've sworn that no matter what it takes, I'll get it back on the road again. Right now, rust is the only real thing holding me back.

Good to hear that you were able to figure out the injector issue. Out of curiosity, what part of Texas are you in?

I've seen that one a few times.... hurts to watch

cool vid!

I was about to bring up the Kameari as well, they look reeeally similar

I suppose I'll throw my hat in the ring here. This valve cover used to be black. I did this a few years back, stripped the paint and polished it with a dremel (took a long time) And then Painted it with some Duplicolor Engine paint, ford blue(same color I painted my old motor) Threw a coat of high temp clear over it to help preserve the shine of the metal

oh man that looks good

I have a shirt that has a side view picture of my S30 on a shirt. I was with a buddy, and we had just parked my '93 300 vert at the food court entrance to the mall, and were walking in the front door. As we walked in, this twitchy looking kid, who looked like he was barely 16 came running up and pointing to my shirt asked, "Is that a 300?" I said, "No, but I have one of those too" He said "oh cool" and then started talking about his Z31. He was trying to sell it because he kept spinning it out and messing up the back "Axle" in the rain, and he couldnt drive it anymore. Then.... he started telling us that he used to have a 90 or 91 civic. He claimed he "took out the back (side I'm assuming) windows, and bondo'd over the holes, took out the motor, and managed to cut the engine bay a little stuck a turbo V6... put a Supra transmission in it" at this point my buddy and I were looking at each other like "riiiight" He never exactly mentioned anything about a diff or a rear axle. He also claimed the car was between 600-700 horsepower. Some of his friends came up, and then they all ran off. My friend and I figured he was pretty high on something. Kid was really twitchy. If i had been in a mood to have a dumb conversation, I probably would have asked him some questions about his "Swap"

I'm digging that emblem

He might be thinking about the Corolla GTS (aka AE86) Those Supra wheels wind up on so many 86's that most people think the Corolla had those from the factory. I had a set of those on my 86 back in the day. I still have the wheels infact, mine are the 14's off of the Cellica GT.. but I couldnt get them to fit on the Z, the inner lip of the wheel was too small in diameter for the Z's hub/dust cap to fit through.

yeah... that's a not a question that can be answered in one sitting. Quick list is 3.0, Holset turbo, Coil on plug, it used to have a Lone Wolf Intake with a Q45 TB, and he's switching over to ITB's There's waaaaaaay more than that, but at least you'll have a rough idea.

Justin... some times I hate you =P The next time I get a chance to come out to Cali, I really need to finally see your car in person!

The carbs may not be sync'd quite right. My old carbs were damaged and I never could sync them properly. I'd lose power completely at 5200, and the engine hesitated at 5600.