PhaTTy

Hello.. I currently have a P90 head on my 280zx N/A .. I believe this head has very low performance when not being used in a turbo setup. I was wondering if it would be worthwhile to have my P79 head rebuilt or try to find a N47 and rebuild it. Just want opinions on what is better, and if I change over the the P79/N47 head, are there any mods that anybody would recommend. I was thinking of dropping a performance cam in it as long as I will be rebuilding it, but am not engine savvy so would like some recomendations on what would be best for a daily driver with some good low-end - mid-range power. I would be willing to shave the head or do whatever is recommended since you guys I am sure have done this sort of thing before. Thanks for your time and hope to hear from you soon. P.S. - Is there a good increase in performance if I would stick a performance ignitor/coil/wires/etc.. on also.. It just seems to be lacking the power I would like right now and I am sure lots of stuff is wore out and needs attention.

no idea at all.. guessing maybe it was about to come out when the head was put on as I did not inspect it in that much detail. I am guessing the valves may have been out of adjustment or something.. it still seems sort of weird to me but hopefully we will be able to get it all back together once I get some time off in the next few days. Thanks for the suggestions / comments to all!

the problem was a lash pad had come loose on one of the valves. No damage is evident so we will are going to adjust the valves and put it back into place and see how it goes.

I will probably do that.. Will be pulling the valve cover tomorrow to see if we can notice anything else, if not, then the head is coming off.

my dad which is a professional mechanic checked and said it is definitely a knock as far as we can tell. He said it is coming from the inner engine. But the stange thing is with the injectors being unplugged 1-by-1 it still makes the sound so it seems like it is something in the head but I cannot pinpoint it.. Should I try putting the P79 head back on it.. Right now it is a P90 head which is making the noise, which I picked up from salvage. The P79 was working fine before so I may just try that. Let me know what you think.

Well.. ran last night for 30 mins or so and ran fine.. went to start up today and knocking.. Changed sparkplugs, checked for cylinder full of gas and none were.. Unplugged the injectors 1-by-1 while running and nothing stopped the knocking.. I also noticed I had lost around 300-400rpm at idle when this started today when I started the car. Any ideas at all? If I have to do major work on the engine, should I try to fix the 2.8 N/A or go with a 350? I am about fed up with all the troubles this has been giving me so far.

Lol Alex.. You just pop up everywhere don't you Aaron

MT = MicroTech? Its almost like code language lol.. what are your reasons behind this suggestion?

Anybody that has made these and could make them again for a price please let me know or if you know a supplier that sells Turbo/TT headers please let me know or if there is a shop that could build them. Thanks a ton for all the help I have received so far on the board! P.S. - The twin turbo thing is probably just a dream as it seems extremely hard to fit all that in the engine bay so a single turbo header would probably be fine unless someone has some tricks or knows someone that makes such a thing.

Yeah.. I would do it myself to if I knew how.. I have no clue on how to mess with headers and what to do and all.. Some day I will try to figure it out I suppose.

Thats good... Now I just have to figure out all what I need to convert my N/A over to turbo (not stock turbo) ... and hopefully with headers.

Street tires... anywhere between 12's and 13.5 would be very nice for me on street tires..

I am looking at spending no more than $2500 on the engine for right now... Suspension will be another issue but for the engine, $2500 is tops for me at the moment. I would love to go turbo but don't know how much it would cost me all together with everything like I said I would like to be pulling 12's

After pondering the costs of a GN and 350 I have decided for the time being to stay with my L28 N/A and maybe switch it over to a turbo setup. But I have some questions that need answering. 1. What HP/Torque gains would I get from a 3.0 buildup or 3.1 stroker buildup? 2. What all would I need to change it over to a turbo setup with a good turbo that will provide me with decent acceleration and lots of takeoff power? 3. Would injectors/coil/ignition and all that would this stuff help at all or not? I would like to know which turbo would be best to use and I wish when finished to be able to pull a 1/4 mile in 12's on pump gas. And 0-60 would like it to be under 5 or maybe 4's... I finally did decide to go with this setup after lots of debating over the 3.8 GN and a 350 just due to the pain of switching over and the costs so I would love it if you guys could help me out.. I have done lots of searching on all the zcar sites and have not come up with anything that completely answers my questions.. I would be willing to spend money, just need some advice on how to get it up to 12 second 1/4 miles and 4 or 5 's on the 0-60 times.. I do have the CenterForce I clutch already and thats about all I have done with it so far. Thanks!!! Aaron 1983 280zx N/A Limited Edition

Yeah but I do not wish to embark on a V8 conversion as lots of things have to be changed.. I don't mind spending money on the inside engine work at all.. I just wanted the most afforable for the performance if you know what I mean.. I would like to put a cap on the project at $4000 for right now ($2500 would be for the Clifford 6=8 intake, fuel system, 4 barrel wet TB, and 42# injectors, and bosch regulator) .. so that leaves me with $1500 if I decide to go with that intake setup. Let me know your ideas on the intake setup and also what all could be done for around $1500-$2000 for the engine/turbos.. Thanks so much for putting up with my questions

right now I have the P90 head (not P90a) .. on my car but was thinkin about the N42 for higher compression but do not know how this would work on a turbo/tt car with the 2.9/3.0 buildup... I still want it to run on 91/92 octane without problems and not blowing anything. But would definitely like headers for the sound/flow.

ok.. I had looked at that also.. N42 would probably be better for headers.. especially if I want headers with a turbo setup.. 1 step down.. 500 to go

Yeah I was thinking junkyard F54 block with N47 head... So I have seen a lot of info on the 3.1 stroker but not really a lot on building it up to 2.9/3.1 with forged pistons and all.. Have you done this or know anybody who has.. And I am sure it is a lot more affordable to do that than the stroker hassle.. But what all is involved in this.. I have done searched but not a lot of info on anything except the stroker buildup.. That sounds a whole lot better to me than swapping engines or trying for the stroker.. So PLEASE let me know what would need to be done.. Sorry for bothering you guys with this so much. I just want to do this right.

Hrmm... so 11 seconds is possible with a little work.. say a 3.1 stroker with turbo or twin turbo? I was starting to get the picture that it was not possible from other people on the board but maybe I just misunderstood...

Hrmmm.. my goals are 12 second at most... 11 second would be nice.. I would not mind having dual turbos or a supercharger.. Basically I want a very fast 0-60 car and having it go pretty quick up to 1/4 mile range also. I am debating whether to fix up the L28, go 350, or go GN.. That is why I am all over I have no clue what each option would be able to give me. I have done some research but would like a good comparison of what could be done with all three and which one is most cost effective.. Sorry for posting like crazy trying to make my mind up

Wanting to maybe do a GN conversion or 350 conversion.. I was thinking Fuel Injected GN if possible but don't know what would be the comparison of Fuel Injection (if possible) to Carb setup.. Anybody that has done it and could come up with a detailed list of things needed to do for the conversion let me know.. Also what year/engine and tranny would be needed and all that good stuff.. Wanting to put into a 83 280zx.. Thanks!!!

Hrmmm.. donno.. Which GN engine/year and tranny have been used with good results.. I need to do some research.. Let me know please or else I will have to do my own research heh

but how much would it cost for the V8 conversion compared to the GN conversion?

how about a L28 with a good turbo or twin turbos? And how much and what would be involved in a 350 w/ turbo or N/A and also possibly considering the GN w/ turbo now... let me know which one would be easier to do and the best performance... the 3.8L v6 (GN I believe) sounds nice but don't know how much it would cost to fix her up and what prices and ease of install we are talking about.. what ALL would need to be changed for the GN setup? And how easy is it to put turbo/turbos on that or a supercharger on that? What kind of stock HP does it put out compared to a fixed up one? Lots of questions and hope lots of answers come

Vee Eight heh.. my dad is a 14 year ASE certified race mechanic and he says the OHC 2.8 can be beefed up to beat ANY 350 due to the weight/design. As for the tons of questions.. I am planning on a brake buildup to stop the thing and I am getting all the machine work done for 100% FREE through my dad who has been doing these things for 10+ years and has all the equipment at the race shop to do. Having a 6=8 intake put on also (free) and plenty more.. It is a nice dream but it is becoming reality every week that goes by as more and more work is being done. Don't want to sound mean but instead of critisism how about some support and suggestions here. I would like to do the job right and so it lasts a while so I would appreciate feedback on what all is needed. The 6=8 intake will either be port injection or using a 4 barrel throttle body injections using (4) 42# injectors and a nice Microtech MTX-8 EFI system. Any suggestions/ideas/comments or creative critisism? Thanks for the input so far and hope I don't come off as angry hehe