Driftinrican

Idk if I would go for the ford ecoboost. They make good numbers and all. And I know they have a lot of tech that goes into them. If it were me I would try to build the 2.5l 4cyl that Nissan is using in some of the base frontiers. I know they are pigs but the extra displacement could be a winning factor mated with a good turbo. But it is your project. If you do go with it I would love to see post of the progress. Good luck you and your car.

You can do something like that just to get it to run but I wouldn't recommend it. At the very least you want a few wires set to operate and illuminate your basic gauges. For example you need a volt meter, coolant temp, rpm, igniter, and fuel pump. For your basic Preformance needs. Deleting the wires for the HVAC, exterior lights, horn, and radio can all be deleted without affecting the engine.

Ok so I my new part came in and I installed it now I have 14.7v charging. So I think my issue was the alternators them self. I was using the cheap DL2721m alternator now I'm using a DL2734 and all my charging issues are resolved.

Ok so what I ment by charging is that the dash light is off and the voltage stays at 12.5v the dash light turns on at idle. Now I know that its not charging at 13.0-14.9v this is why its bothering me. But it will hold that 12.5 volts.

Ok so I have a 1977 280z I have done the GM alternator up grade cs10 if I'm not mistaken I had a cs12 which is a 83amp alternator installed when I original did the swap. but I ended up replacing it with the lower amp cs10 due to lack of funds at the time. So to my point I'm having charging issues. It charges at 12.5v no load at idle. I have checked the 2 terminals on the alternator plug I have 12.5v switched going into terminal 1 and 12.5/0 (loaded power) going into terminal 2. I have checked resistance on terminal one key on (battery disconnected) and I'm showing 40ohms. I have consulted with the guys on DPAN and Houston Datsuns on face book and from what I can tell it seems like I just have a bad alternator. To make things more confusing I have a lifetime warranty on this alternator so I am now on my 4th on and every time I seem to replace it the symptoms seem to just get worse. Now on an alternator that's just a day old I am no longer charging at idle but at 1500rpm. Is there something I'm missing? Any help would be really insightful. I am going back to the cs12 tomorrow so if I have any change I will list the results if what gremlins I have to better help the next person. I will try to post pictures later when I get a chance. I also had the battery tested in which it passed. But just to be sure I had it replaced as well. The fuse under the dash is good no problems there.

Heres a tip if you are trying to remove a crank pulley bolt and the impact is not strong enough. Remove one of the slave cylinder bolts. Go and find the longest bolt with the same thread you can find. screw it in until it bottoms out. the bolt should be holding the flywheel at this time locking the engine in place. This will allow you to grab a breaker bar and break that crank bolt loose. When installing an engine and transmission PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE SLAVE CYLINDER BOLTS YOU USE!!! If you don't it will seem like you have a locked up engine. i found this out the hard way. But at least it gave me the idea of or trick above.

That black box has to do with the distributor I don't know how you are doing your ignition set up. Are you using the et distributor or using coil packs. Mega squirt or factory harnesses. As far as from an OE stand point of I'm not mistaken that box connects to the ignition coil to determine the firing rate of the coil.

I just replaced an oil pan gasket on a 78z with a l28e in it. You DO NOT have to lift the engine to replace the gasket with the engine in the car. The problem everyone runs into is clearing the crossmember or the bellhousing. The reason for this Clarence issue is the oil pick up tube gets in the way. Once all the bolts in the pan are off and the pan is loose get a ratchet wrench and un do the two bolts that hold it in. Let the pickup tube drop in the pan and now you can pull the pan all the way out.

Stock l28e efi systems are not designed for power. More for drivability. Not to say it's a bad system just not ideal for hp. Now if you get rid of the stock ecu and air flow meter. And swap to a mega squirt stand alone with MAF you will notice a considerable gain in response with out losing the drivability of low end torque. Now carbs on the other hand are not as efficient in the broad rpm range. But can still produce the same power as a n/a l28 efi system. Both systems require tuning to get the most out of them. A set of factory carbs from a l26 will out perform over a stock l28 efi system on the same engine due to the air flow difference. However if you want to make real power on a l28 go turbo with the efi. You will see much better hp difference per dollar.

You forget he is planning on racing the car as well. While maintenance is important for keeping your car running good you do have the unexpected items that do break. Which is why so many people have chosen to go for engines that are mass produced in America. Don't get me wrong SR and RB engines are vary strong engines that can produced similar power to that of a v8 with better gas mileage. But since they were not produced here in America certain parts do take longer to get a hold of. For example: igniter chip on a sr20det are known to occasionally fail. This is a part that you cannot cross over to an American sr20de. The American SR still uses a distributor while the Japanese SR20det uses coil on plug. So if you don't already have an extra one you will be waiting around to get one second hand or shipped from Japan. In the meantime you are walking. But his American v8 on the other hand if the carburetor goes bad you can just go to AutoZone and get one same day hence car is fixed and you are ready to roll.

Started it up real quick and only a few drops came out. Not a steady stream. So I either have a blockage in line or bad regulator. So for now I'm going to clean up my extra rail to make sure it's not the line. If I still have an issue I'll replace the regulator.

Currently the gauge is between the filter and the fuel rail. I do have a spare stock rail so I think I'll clean it up and make sure I have no blockage there. I'll check the return side after I get a new rubber hose mine just split taking it off. But that will have to wait until tomorrow.

For a daily go v8. If something breaks you have parts more readily available so less down time. If you have a daily and are using your s30 as a toy go RB. The sound of a RB is way sexier than a v8.

Ok so I just rechecked how my fuel lines went into the fuel rail. From the filter it goes into the top line that feeds the injectors first then the regulator out to the return. I believe this to be correct. So just to verify I want to make sure.

Ok I have a 1977 Datsun 280z. So far bone stock. I just checked the fuel pressure today and found 80psi of pressure. Way too much. So my big question is what after market fuel rails and regulators will fit with little to no mods on the stock injectors? My current goal is to get the car running reliable first with performance mods made later. I have tried to search here and I have not found any thing that I'm looking for. If someone can post some links of what setups and systems work best with NA L28E engines.

Vary nice find. Hope that the restore goes well.

Thanks for all the info. As far as how the engine is going in it will be coming straight out of the burban to the z. I may think about fixing the oil leaks but I'm trying to do the swap for less than 1k in the end. Now that I have read the swap manual I think its possible. It may not be pretty but I'm going to try to fab the mounts myself. And the swap. I plan on letting a shop do the wiring. Unfortunately for now the swap has been put on hold do to newborn and lack of time... The heat doesn't help any either. So as soon as I get some time I'll come back and post my pics.

Thank you vary much for the information. I all ready ordered the book same day as I posted this. Hopefully I will have it here in the next few days. As far as transmission choice me and GM automatic transmissions dont seem to get along vary well. This is the second one I've blown up. So I will be looking for a Manual transmission instead. Unless I hit the lotto then I'll go nuts on the car and get a sequencial trans. But I'm a LONG way from that happening. I do appriciate the info. I'll post pictures from beginning to end of the build/swap most likely on this thred. If any one has any other advice that will make my life easier I would appricate it.

Hello everyone. Well I have a 1977 280z. As far as I can tell its bone stock. I also have a 93 k1500 GMC Suburban with a blown transmission. I have been reading on stuff that I need and trying to create a budget that won't give my wife a hart attack. So I know I will need the mount kit, RWD transmission, driveshaft, radiator hose's. So here's where I need a little bit of information if anyone can post a link I will be vary grateful. First I need to get a transmission from a junk yard does any comero, firebird transmission bolt up to the k1500 trans without anything extra? For example I don't want to pay for a bell housing if I don't have to. Also I plan on using the factory wiring harnesses out of the suburban to get it running. It is a Throttle body injection set up. My car is old enough to not have to worry about emissions. So if I can get a detailed wiring diagram on how to wire this swap or a link. I would appreciate it. I believe I can handle the rest.

As far as choosing between ka and L series engines stock the L series has a little more power but not much. As for a turbo build if your looking for 400+hp ka is better you won't have to worry about snapping crankshafts. But the ka weakness is it's rods pistons and head gaskets. So keep in mind that if your going to boost the stock ka with no internal work then your not going to make much above 240hp without risking blowing it. The L series however can and will make 300hp with little to no internal work reliably.

I have uses eibach springs before but on my 240sx. But I also installed them with kyb agx adjustable struts. On the softest setting with the struts the ride was nice firm but comfy. Now when I stiffened up the struts the ride got more harsh. But I used that car as my daily driver for years and never had any issues or complaints about that suspension set up. Except from my mom who would rather drive something with soft suspension. But as soon as I can get my z up running reliably my attention will go to springs and struts.