[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

TURBO!!!! Sorry just had to drop my usuall out of place $.02.

 

 

Being rather centsless, I'll welcome any .02 I can get!

 

Don't worry, if you make good points then the post is never out of place.

[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

L28, std. bore

Nissan Motorsports domed pistons

P90 head, Schneider stage 2 cam

 

Hopefully it will be fun on the race course. Going from 7.3:1 NA compression to around 9.1:1 or so.

 

Some of us go for the big bucks, some have garage built motors. I built mine in my garage, just had the machine shop hone the block and deck the head and do the valve job. Did all the porting and chamber work myself and prepped the block and all that too. Search and you will find what you're looking for.

 

One suggestion I would make is to get rid of the stock FI if your local smog rules allow for it. All of the components are so old and the connectors are all F'ed up, and they have the restrictive AFM and batch fire. They're really pretty crappy. I'd sooner swap in SU's than run a stock injection setup. MSnS would be another good option.

 

2003z: what kind of cash did those pistons set you back? now I am being lazy and milking for info, but for now its just vague notions still being formed, so vague information is OK

 

jmortensen: I couldn't agree with you more. Unfortunately, just going out and buying the standalone FI is not exactly an option for me, so I have been busy sourcing all the plugs and electrical componentry needed from junkyards.. I realize that its simple enough at THIS point to find all the plugs new, but its also easy to go to the junkyard and find a wrecked BMW or VW or Volvo or any other vehicle with bosh style EFI and find ALL the connectors and rubber boots and different kinds of spring clips you could want!

 

I am anticipating basically a full component check of all my FI sensors/gadgets etc per FSM procedures, and retrofitting new (junkyard) plugs onto EVERYTHING, replacing wire where I need to. Then, when MS time comes, I already have the component ends of my wiring harness replaced, and I can just dovetail it in. For now, I plan on leaving the current longblock** untouched, and probably not even changing much beyond MAYBE the TB/AFM for starters, this should be more than sufficient. Once the car runs again, (more reliably than I ever had time to make it when it was a DD) then its WAAAY overdue for rust work, some body work, and primer. Once primer is on, interior, brakes and suspension take priority over engine.. and the long process of nickel and diming me to death is well begun.

 

 

THEN, once I am used to spending actual MONEY on the car.. i start playing REAL games. For now, its all just tinkering and a lot of reading and talking. I'm not a total n00b, but I know I am BOUND to ask an ignorant question or two

 

** I do not know what the deal is with this engine. Head/block castings are stock (I remember checking them against what it should have in the past and verifying that they were "stock") and I am unclear on the mileage. NO history of the vehicle from the PO, and the speedo cable has been broke since I bought it. The odometer reads 11,500 miles. I drove it for a little over four years. The other almost four years I have been driving, I have averaged about 20K miles in a year, so my conservative estimate on how many miles I put on the thing is 65K. The car was NOT in the kind of shape I would expect for an 11,000 mile car, so I can only assume this car may be almost, or even WELL beyond 200K miles. The engine runs STRONG on low test with no pinging. So, no real reason to believe the motor IS stock, but no real reason to believe it isn't either. If its stock, then I have one heck of a well-seasoned block to rebuild

 

Oh, and I write long posts. sorry; I try to keep them as concise as possible.

[My S130 Project]

The seats in the gray car are factory. They were only installed on some of the '79 through '81 280ZX's. In the factory Nissan brochure for my '81 Nissan was listing my S130 as a "Deluxe" model. The black vinyl was more likely to be found in the '79 and '80 models. Alot of S130's that were shipped to the U.S. either had the low back bucket seats or these tombstone buckets but with velour upholstery.

 

the bumper was on there when my dad drove it. So it is just some 1980s fiberglass deal that he had bought when he drove the car.

I think you, Dadssun, and you, RWDawg, have helped me come to a major life decision.

 

First off, I must say I *do* prefer the s30 to the s130.. apologies, but its inevitable.

 

That being said, I have always preferred the look of the earlier s130s with the chromed pillar. That front spook, and those absolutely GORGEOUS seats, have sold me.

 

My 75 is going to stay NA probably its whole life, and when I feel ready to play with a turbocharger, I am getting me an early 280ZX to start with, black interior and hopefully those seats.

 

This is something of a revelation for me, since I've been idly dreaming about what I want to "do" with my 75 for 2 1/2 years now, and I haven't really been able to feel right with my conclusion that I wanted to stay NA with it. Now I know why I felt unsettled, and the feeling is gone. I am not going to REbuild my 280 when I want to go turboing, I will build me one of these, with that spook, (RWDawg) and those seats, (daddsun) and shaved door trim. Thanks!

[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

Oh yeah, bubbleguinea.. I watched you start building your 280 over on zcar.com and was mind bogglingly envious of the amount of time and money you had to dedicate to your car.... My Z got sidelined in October of 2004, and you were doing your total body restore at that point.. made me drool...

 

 

I also forgot to mention that my dad and uncle have been working on these things since the 70's, and my uncle (the batchelor) has been hoarding bits and parts the whole time, too.. on the side, he plays around with the older of the two BRE 2000 roadster racecars (I forget which number, but its the one with the slightly taller roll bar) I may be wrong, but I believe its the car in the foreground in this image

 

 

Anyhow, with cylinder heads and blocks and rods and pistons to spare.. HOPEFULLY I can pull this off at a minimal investment. I hope to build the lowest-budget 280 that has ever been done, RIGHT. Doing it right takes precedence over being cheap though.

[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

You're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Hybridz is the most active Z-car site you're likely to find... with the most diversely educated and well-versed members in both stock and hybrid Z applications. Once you've had "hybridz"... you'll NEVER go back.

 

Oh, I could tell that from the get-go... its just SO MUCH information to wade through that is not quite exactly what I am looking for.. but it is ALL education. I never said anything about being set in stone against turbocharging, either.. I just want to start simple, first.

 

Aww, why not, I'll throw out my vague plans here and now, and try to add disclaimers where I know i may be being stupid

 

I was thinking f54 block with stock flattops (but I really know the LEAST about block/crank/piston combos) and a P90 head shaved 0.080". 60MM TB, injectors, fuel rail, hot spark (also know very little about ignition) and port match all the way.. Thus far most of my research and reading has gone into cylinder head work. All I want (at first, at least) is about 200-250 WHP, and if I can *actually* pull off the 0.080 shaved P90 high comp setup, and I put some miles on the cylinder head and she still looks good, then I might look into MSnS and building a bottom end.

 

Obviously the added fuel and air will want MS from the get-go, obviously I am going into potentially troubled waters with the shaved P90.. and obviously I still have a lot to learn BUT my thoughts are geared towards a couple things...

 

A, getting my Z back on the road ASAP and

B, gradually building power into it while driving it.

 

Hopefully she will not be my only vehicle, as she was for the five years I drove her. Having your Z as a daily driver is fun, but it hinders the work process

 

Nice to start getting to know more gearheads. Hopefully sometime soon I will stop lurking and asking questions, and START working and posting projects

[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

I'd warn you about making statements like

"just not a quite a Z with that turbo whine"

umm...yeah. Bad idea there...lol

and turbo is not the simplest way to make power...

raising compression and porting are more like it...

The CHEAPEST way to make lots of power is to go turbo.

 

 

Heh, simple means cheap to me. work is nothing, thought is nothing.. money is the biggest complication in MY life, I dunno about you..

 

..And I *did* say "to me" after I made my comment:mrgreen: but I know what you mean. Its just heritage I guess, plus the exhaust note is really a key to me.. I actually have a sort of fondness for that mid-rpm engine drone, because it helped me understand that music is just a mathematical expression when I was like, eight....

(harmonics and whatnot)

[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

whoa, cool, ample positive feedback in like half an hour....

 

I just came back to add an edit that I wasn't even really looking for info or help or advice...

 

I know that turbo is just the simplest way to power, but my first memories are riding around sunday mornings with my dad in his 72 240 with a hot head.. back in 83/84 of course, it was a carb'ed car, and I just cant get that off-the-line, screaming exhaust note out of my head to this day....

 

My dad's 83 turbo was really nice, until it got rear ended.. and I mean, the snap-back of the neck in 2nd gear when that turbo kicked in (even stock) was amazing, but its just not a quite a Z with that turbo whine, to me....

[Not much of an NA crowd here?]

I haven't started reading this forum extensively until the last week or two, but I have been into Zcars my whole life. I've also been a zcar.com member for several years..

 

now go ahead and flame me if you like, and move the thread if it warrants it.. but I just figured I would ask real quick to confirm a growing suspicion...

 

Most of you folks here that stick with the L-series seem to be geared either towards just turboing it and forgetting trying to achieve real NA power, or if you are going the NA route you are going the big bucks, racecar way..

 

I mean, not that it is set in stone or anything, but I am more or less correct, huh?? I mean, it is HYBRID Z, not shadetree horsepower Z dot org...

[how far is your z worth?]

I was driving my first car (92 geo storm hunchback) into the ground with a crankshaft pulley/woodruff key issue, and had just worn out my second pulley and key when suddenly my 75 280-to-be appeared parked on the corner at my house for $300. Far from rust free, and it needed an ignition lock, but it was a solid car (other than the passenger's floorboards) AND it had a five speed.

 

I will never forget that first sit-down.. I looked at the knob and saw the green 4 speed pattern, started shifting her through the gears and didnt find fifth.. until i was just resting my hand on the shifter, in *just* the right spot, and hit the clutch pedal. It fell right into 5th gear, and I knew she was for me....

 

She has sat now for 2 1/2 years while my cash situation has simply gone further and further downhill, but life is changing and she is going to run by this time next year, come whatever may. (and no, I haven't said this for the last 2 1/2 years.. honest...

[Modding a l28]

just enough to beat my friends stock '83 944 in a race, haha.

 

 

These cars were MADE to be turned into porsche-busters.... my uncle even has a sticker in his shop that says, "I'm a porsche-buster!!"

 

All it takes is a minimal effort to breath a little more life into it than stock, and youve got that 944 all day. My dad had a ghetto 240 racecar that was put together outside our house in a tarp canopy garage.... and he used to beat the tar out of brand new boxters on the autocross circuit....

can you believe how THAT must have felt, losing to a poor man's racecar in a porsche that cost $50K

[Volvo Powered Hybrid!]

any Datsun guy on the lookout for a nice, inexpensive wagon would do well to consider the sbaru loyale/GL series.. made throughout the 1980s. they came with a sohc 1.8L boxer in both a SPFI NA, and MPFI turbocharged varieties. outside of timing belts and headgaskets (if the car overheats, easy to avoid) the NA's are near bulletproof. FWD models weigh in at about 2500 pounds, and youve got a choice between full time 4wd, or dual range.. and if you want more power, there are hundreds of people who have swapped the older engines out of these puppies and put the EJ series legacy/impreza/WRX motors in them.

 

They sharpen up REALLY nice, too... lifted or lowered.