Bigfat280z

I really appreciate all the information guys, as of now I have $20 to my name until my next check so I am unable to do anything right now, I'll get a leak down done and a valve adjustment before moving forward. At this point a motor swap seems like the easiest route to go.

Thanks I appreciate the input, I'm a little ways away from Tracy about 7 hours it's not feasible for me to drive out there, in my local area there are engines and blocks listed from $1000 to $1200, I search l28,l28e,l28et,280z engine, n42,n47,p90,p90a. A forum member offered me an engine at $300 which I will be buying but for the most part I haven't been able to find one cheap on Craigslist in my vicinity. The mechanic told me he would have to charge an extra hour of labor for a leak down test. The reason he said he thinks it's the piston ring is because I told him the engine is burning oil, which it does, there are no oil leaks at all and I burn about a quart a month.

Thanks Leon for the help, I believe I can attempt a valve adjustment myself I've never done it before but it doesn't sound too difficult, and I'll see if the mechanic I took it to did any other pertinent tests that he didn't mention when we talked yesterday and if not I'll try to get him to do a leak down test. If all fails someone was nice enough to contact me with a replacement engine for a reasonable price which I will be buying either way. It's hard to work on a car when it's your daily driver.

The problem here is that the only information I get is what I'm asking for over the phone, I work 9-7pm every day so it's tough for me to talk to the mechanic face to face. I'm very inexperienced in what kind of tests need to be run to gauge what's wrong with the car. I agree with you I think a rebuild seems unnecessary for one cylinder, but I don't understand what I'm talking about in terms of labor.

Well I appreciate the responses guys I ended up taking the car over to Datsun Alley in signal hill, he told me that the 5th cylinder is running on low compression which I had kind of figured already, compression on 1,2,3,4,6 are all around ~150 while cylinder 5 is at 100. the low compression is most likely what is causing some hesitation, he said that it's most likely the piston rings on that cylinder, but that he won't replace just the one cylinders rings because I will end up having to spend more money when something else breaks. He recommended that I get either the engine rebuilt or swap in a new one. Here's the thing I'm having trouble finding an L28 for anywhere close to $400, and I have little experience knowing if an engine is good just by eyeballing it. What would be my next best step? @9rider I see you're in Los Angeles as well where would be some good places to look for an L28 besides craigslist?

I apologize, I'm sure this has been asked before, I did do a little searching but nothing specific came up with the terms I used. I took my car into my local mechanic this morning, and he said most likely I needed a head rebuild, and a clutch job, he quoted me at $1200 for the head rebuild, sounded a little pricey to me. does anybody know roundabouts what I should be spending at a shop to have my head rebuilt? I live in Long Beach, CA any shops that you could recommend would be appreciated as well. all cylinders are good except my 5th cylinder which is fouling the spark plug quite badly.

vacuum is good, and exhaust isn't overly hot, I think that the fuel pump might be going bad it makes noise when I start the car and after reading some of the symptoms of a faulty fuel pump this seems like the most logical answer I'll be replacing it hopefully in the next couple days thanks for the input.

Hey all I have a 1978 280z I've been trying to diagnose a problem I've been having for the last month and a half or so. Lately the problem has escalated and is affecting drivability. Fuel cuts out a lot , like it's "falling on it's face" I know it's not an electrical problem, vacuum is good, haven't done a fuel pressure test, I replaced my inline and under the hood fuel filters no change, been running fuel system cleaner for the last 3 weeks, I was starting to get the idea that maybe the catalytic converter could be clogged, but I'm not sure. I definitely think that is the problem or it's a fuel delivery issue, and would like some help diagnosing the problem. car is still somewhat drivable under slow acceleration, it is my daily driver. it also idles fine and responds to throttle normally when in neutral. also passed smog about five months ago, all of the cylinders are running slightly lean except cylinder 5 which is burning oil (per spark plug inspection). I work m-f 9-5pm so it's difficult for me to take my car in to a mechanic, any ideas would be appreciated and yes I have been using the search function and trying many things before I finally decided to make this post. I may take a day off next week to take the car into datsun alley in signal hill by my house, but until then I'll be trying to get it up an running myself. Another things is that it idles slightly higher (~200 rpms) after being driven for around 20 minutes.

that'd be great if I could use my ebay account although do to their lack of customer support I am unable to use it. @tooquick260 your engine bay looks so clean! I may just wait for Arizona Z car their price can't be beaten

Hey I just picked u a nice 60mm 240sx throttle body and I need the 1inch spacer. I know Arizona Z car makes one but I called over there today and he said that he was backed up on orders for over 3 weeks. Anyone know of another place to get one? Or possibly an OEM spacer that would fit? I'm not exactly in a rush to get one I still have to port/polish an intake but I'd like to get this installed in the next couple weeks

It's a n47 head I'm pretty sure and I think it has flattop pistons ill check when I get back to my house.

Thanks for the reply this is pretty much what I wanted I really appreciate it. I'm not so much in a rush as I work a lot so I can only work on my car on the weekends. I found a full fuel setup out of a 90s supra I'm going to purchase this weekend for around $160 fuel pump rail an 440 injectors, I also found a set of ls1 coils for $60 I found a 3" turbo exhaust for $275 as well I'm really glad for the info you've given me this makes it a lot easier on me as I can piece together everything I will actually need to get right away.

Thanks for the replys I'm going to check everything out that you guys sugested this weekend when I can get it put on a lift

So I've been forum lurking for a while here now, and reading up on turbo L28 builds, and I was wondering if you guys could help me out with some questions I have as I have never really done much work on my own cars before and I'd like to start. I'm basically gonna copy and paste what Gollum wrote in response to another post to let you guys know where I'm starting at. I'd just like to get some recommendations and definite answers on what I need/should purchase and in what order. I don't think my goals are to outrageous I'd just like my care to be moderately fast. Is this a street car? Daily driver Will it see track use? It's possible What kind of budget are we talking about? I'm hoping to spend less than $3000 What kind of level of performance are we talking about? I'm trying to get around 230hp to the wheels. Fast as a new mustang? Fast as a Corvette? Fast as an enzo? Looking to hit 0-60 around 6 seconds What's your experience level? Basic Have you done engine swaps before? No Can you weld? No Rebuilt a motor before? Yes What access to tools do you have? A pretty good variety Have a cherry picker? Yes Welder? No Grinder? No Decent Bench? Yes Assortment of jacks and stands? Yes Basic list of parts I'd suggest: Was wondering if you could give me some pricing on what I should pay for these parts used or new Gollum suggested. Turbo manifold Turbo (T3/T4 hybrid works well for a street setup) 300cc+ injectors, 400+ preferred Any 'ol intercooler that fits Turbo intake will make integration with HVAC easier 36-1 Trigger wheel + Sensor MS 2, or 3 Coils (LSx work great, or EDIS-6 is fine too) MS Wire Harness Laptop with serial port Manual Boost Controller I'm getting my car dyno'd soon to see where I'm starting at. Do I need to do a head swap on my L28 to turbo it or can I just slap a manifold on with a turbo? Are dished pistons required? Do I need a turbo downpipe and exhaust? Do I need a stronger rear end or anything else? I know my questions will probably sound overly simple to you, I have a tendency to over think things. I'd appreciate any help you guys can give me. I think I have some pretty reasonable goals with a pretty decent budget. I'd prefer to avoid a head swap if I can as I'm low on time due to my work schedule. Thanks

Hello I'm pretty new to the forums, having a couple problems with my Z I just purchased a couple weeks back. the first problem seems to be transmission or clutch related- 5 speed it makes a weird noise like two metal plates scratching together intermittently in 1st through 3rd gear at low speeds it also makes a weird metallic noise sometimes when switching gears from the shifter. I'm thinking that it is possible it may be low transmission oil/fluid or something similar anybody have any ideas what this could be? the second problem just started within the last two days and maybe fuel related or related to the first problem where the gear may be slipping when accelerating the throttle response is acting strangely don't know how to explain it exactly except that it's basically not there unless you get on it. doesn't look like I'm leaking fuel anywhere, but I did start getting a strong fuel/exhaust smell today my eyes even starting watering on the way home from work today. the previous owner told me the car had an exhaust leak in between the downpipe and the catalytic converter could this be the problem? any help would be appreciated greatly thanks