80LS1T

Only 281HP at the wheels with a supercharger? That seems really low even for a built 350? Am I missing something? Guy

It also has a lot to do with what kind of rings you have and what kind of finish you put on when doing the final hone on the cylinders. When I built my engine I had my cylinders honed with a platue(sp?..."plaa-toe") stone. This is the best stone possible for break-in. It is way better than a 500 grit stone. Supposedly there is NO break-in period for the rings, other than intitial start-up, when you use this stone to finish hone. 500 is still good but if you can get your cylinders platue(plaa-toe) honed. There is almost no oil burning from my fresh LT1 rebuild....although I am still running rich so I have some black smoke when I get on it. But that will all be fixed soon! You will still have to break the cam in no matter what though. And I would still suggest taking it easy for the first 500 miles.....engines arent cheap! Guy

Although my car has never seen snow or salt, there is no way that I would even consider driving it in the winter. I couldnt stand the thought of my car getting salt in all the nouks(sp?) an crannys! RUST = I did make the mistake of driving my car about a month ago in the rain. Since my tires dont really have a lot of tread on them they are kinda like slicks and with the LT1 up front pushing the ponies, lets just say it was interesting even at 60mph! I second the "buy a beater option" Guy

I say yes. This way you will have all the little parts that you would normally have to buy. Things you dont think about are the little connectors and the little fastners. Those are the types of things that will nickle and dime you to death! Yeah you will have to have the VATS removed Well I used the Camaro driveshaft but you will still have to have rear section of it fitted with a Datsun adapter. I think it is probably easier. But I hate carbs! LOL I like the fact that once its programmed the right way you dont have to mess with it again. The engine mounting is still the same but now you dont have to move the hood latch. Plus the LT1 looks way better in the engine bay! 8) Yup and your tach...and if you have an electronic speedo it will control that. Guy

Oh I see what you mean by the ratio! How many do you think I should order to start out with? Also did you make the headers while they were on the car? I am thinking about making a "jig" so that I dont have to make them on the car. Basically Im going to copy the header on my passenger side and for the drivers side Im going to make the header work with the exhaust that I have now. Well atleast thats the plan so far! Guy

Well if mine turn out that nice I will be more than happy! I guess I would be going for a shorty headers. Now about the ports. Since I have D-Ports and they only sell square and round ports.....which one should I get? I know I will have to match them to my heads but which one will allow me to do that the easiest? Also I know that header lengths should be as equal as possible but what do you mean by 1:3 ratio of different bends? Does it matter what kind of bends you have? Oh and should I make 1 3/4" or 1 5/8" headers? Thanks, Guy

Yeah I dont need anything fance as far as metal is concerned. I am going to have them ceramic coated once they are done. Ok I found the J bends and U-bends on http://www.jegs.com.... now which ones should I get? The J's or the U's? I think the J's are cheaper. Also how many do you think I will need? Guy

Now dont quote me on this but I "think" that all 86'+ have provisions for a roller cam. Look on http://www.jegs.com or http://www.summitracing.com to see if they have a kit for a roller cam for your application. Oh and if I were you I would look into a supercharger for that 4.3L. I think a 4.3L with a supercharger would be a hell of an engine. I think 400HP would be easy. It would keep the weight down too. Of course it might be a little out of your price range? Guy

Im not worried about the cost. It would cost me $800 for a set of custom headers if someone else made them for me. Thats uncoated headers! So Im not affraid to spent a little money to make a set. Guy

Well welcome aboard .........but you do know that this is a Datsun Z/ZX enthusiast site right? Guy

Well tight tubes might work if you have no power steering or a rack and pinion steering on a 280ZX but if you have that annoying gear box then NO, nobody offers a header that will just bolt on. And the ones that www.zcarparts.com sells are for 70-78 Z's not ZX's. I am currently looking for supplies to make my own headers for my 280ZX LT1 Guy

Well after much frustration with my LT1 exhaust leak at the header. I am going to be making a set of headers for my LT1 280ZX! I was looking on Jegs.com and found a flange set but where can I get mandrel bends and straight tubing? Also should I go with a 1 5/8" tubing or 1 3/4"? Thanks, Guy

I really like the fender louvers. Ever since I saw a set on a 280ZX I have wanted them on mine. I think you need to take that "muffler" off though. Its too "ricey" That just my opinion though Where did you get a white faced gauge kit? I know some other ZX guys have been looking for one. I said screw the stock gauges an went full Autometer Phantom Series gauges 8) I still need to figure one out for my fuel tank though. Thats another winter project for me! What are those rims off? I dont recall seeing them on any Z's before but they have the "Z" center cap on them? Guy

If your that worried about the EFI then just buy a painless wiring kit from Street & Performance. The only down side to that is they are like $600+ ....yeah what a rip off! Guy

Yeah I cant wait to see it painted either! It will most likely be painted early next spring. I am doing the body work this winter. Now about the turbo swap... most guys will tell you to just get a donor car. I agree with it 100%. Just find a 81-83 280ZXT that is rusted out. Try to find one with lower miles though so that if you dont have the money to rebuild the engine you can just swap the L28 out and then swap the L28ET in! I think it is possible to swap the intake, wiring, exhaust manifold but most guys will tell you that the turbo block is stronger, which it is. Just start doing search on the 280ZXT turbo swap and you will find more information than you know what to do with! Guy

I did the same things to my 1980 280ZX before I threw in the Chevy 350 LT1. You have to realize that the L28 NA has a power limit. I think if you want to stay with the L28 then maybe you should start thinking of a turbo swap. This would be the easiest way to gain some "huge" power. Guy

This has come up more than once. Do a search and you will find all the answers you need. I think there is an active topic in the high tech forum.."quad cam V8" or something with a title like that. The main issue with this motor is the fact that it costs so much to buy stock. Guy

Yeah I was thinking maybe a good set of strut bars would be good. I made some for my car but I am going to make a new set this winter because mine arent adjustable and I know some people have questioned teh strength of them because they dont have any adjustablilty. Sub Frame connectors would be a great idea too! I really need set of those too for my ZX! I will take those 2 items into serious consideration when I make those for my own car. I think everyone could benefit from those 2 items! Keep the ideas coming! Guy

I was thinking the other day about how small the 280ZX performance parts list is. Things like control arms, engine mount set ups, sub frame set ups, brake set ups(even though there are a few people making really nice set ups!), coilover set ups, I know there are more parts that people what but I just cant think of them. So I was wondering what the 280ZX guys want? Now Im not talking about specific engine performance parts. More like things that can go on all 280ZX to improve performance! The reason I am asking is because I have often thought about my own little "side" business and I would really like to help the 280ZX guys out in the performance department! So gimme some ideas! Guy

Well since I work at a Dodge dealer 40+ Hours a week I guess I could give my opinion on it... First I would check your ball joints....you can do this by having someone shake the steering wheel back and forth while you have your hand on the balljoint. If you can feel the clunk then it is either your ball joint or your inner tie rod end(s)...to check inner tie rod ends just move your hand closer to the rack and pinion. If it is ball joints you will be able to see them move when your buddy is moving the steering wheel. After balljoints and tie rod ends I would check wheel bearings. You can do this by applying a load on them in a sharp turn. I sure you know what I mean. However with a clunk like your having you can also lift the front end off the ground to see if you have any "play" in the bearing by trying to move the tire with your hands. If you can feel the tire move back and forth you either have a bad ball joint or your bearing is bad. You will be able to see if the whole bearing is moving or if your ball joint is moving. Now if all this is good you can remove the front sway bar to see if the clunk goes away. If it does then you know that your sway bar bushings are bad and in need of replacement. These are just the most common things that I see. Hope that helps! Guy

Yeah I have also been thing that maybe Street & Performance didnt do such a great job on my computer tuning. I know that its hard to tune a car just with a piece of paper that has your mods on it but you would think that Im not the first guy to send in computer that needed tuning for an LT4 hotcam? I am thinking maybe I need to save up the money to get the stuff to do it myself. I know I have said that before but I think I really need to start considering it. I even have access to a dyno pretty much whenever I want! So I could see the results there to see if I am tuning better or worse. First I am going to make a set of headers this winter. I am sick and tired of that exhaust leak. Plus it just looks stupid having one header and one stock exhaust manifold! I would think it wouldn't make the computers job any easier either having a header on one side and a manifold on the other! So much to do so little money to do it! I think I need a second job to pay for the ZX mods! I just thought maybe I should be running a cooler plug because of the higher compression thats all. Guy

Well I have been thinking lately that maybe I should be running a colder spark plug. I have been running on the rich side and I am wondering if its because I am not getting a complete combustion. The plugs always seem to look all carboned up. I did bump the compression up to 10.9:1 from 10.5:1 in my 93' LT1. I am also running 93 octane. I thought that with higher compression you should be running a cooler spark plug? Can someone shine some light on this for me? Thanks, Guy

Well I on the other hand havent really heard too much about people turning the EFI LT1 into a Carbed LT1. I have heard of people who change out the OPTISPARK distributor for a regular HEI distributor. The big thing with the LT1 is that it has a low profile intake, its EFI and you dont have to move the hood latch because the distributor is up in the front on the timing chain cover. If your just going to carb it then you have just taken away all the positives of the LT1. Yeah it has alluminum heads but you can get those for a regular SBC and save your self some trouble trying to convert a EFI to Carbed. I say if you like the carburator then get a regular SBC and get some good flowing alluminum heads with a good intake and be done with it. Much easier and much cheaper! Guy

LOL HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA ROTFLMAO!!!!!! OMG!!!!!! Guy

Hey why dont you tell Greimann that one! J/K Dave! Guy