Project1

That's probably really good advice. I'll offer $500 on mystery motor basis. Not even knowing what cam and such makes it a long shot. Like NewZed added, it's probably beat up a good bit. If I can get it pretty cheap it's probally worth the headers and some parts at the least. If not, I'll just stick to my current build plan and strip this block and get it to the machine shop. Thanks a lot for everyone's opinion. I appreciate everyone's experience. Edit: lmao ...he said hell no he will throw it in the trash for $600 . Well, back to building.

So I talked to the seller on the phone today. The story: He said he races ford trucks. He bought this motor from a guy with a shop who builds trucks. He put this motor in his truck with a datsun 5 speed tranmission. He ran it one time and blew the transmission. He built a new transmission and ran it one time and broke the new transmission where it hooks to the drive shaft. He said he has both the tranmission still, and I could have thoes as well. Now he's running a 305 motor. End of story. I never know about trusting random people selling stuff like this. But if this were the case, maybe if I put a less aggressive cam in, i could use that as my staring block and head. It's worth a thought. The pics attached are the core I have. It's not pretty but it was the only one in a reasonable distance I could find. I'm sure it will clean up nice with a bore and a hot tank though.

Totally understand ...I was worried about the same thing.

I just wanted to do a visual inspection, look for damage and try to identify parts.

I found this motor for sale locally for $1000 ( I didn't buy it yet ..just saw it for sale) The guy didn't know much about it. I asked him if I could pull the head and check it out. All he said is the motor has been rebuilt and has a lot of power and proformance internals (whatever that means). It could be a good buy to use and just drop in maybe. I could put what I have for fuel injection on it and convert to MS. Or maybe worth it for parts or just too build on. The core I found to build, that I currently have, Is pretty rough, I'll try to put up some pics tomorrow of the core I have now. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the info . Do you have a build tread?

In my reading about building this motor I found a ton of helpfull stuff. I thought I would post this one page. If I get anyother good stuff I'll just edit this post and add to the list. Might help someone else at some point in time. Bloc/head L28/LD28 Stroker: https://niyonmaru.wordpress.com/ AKUMA-Z motor build: http://akuma-z.blogspot.com/2011/04/more-progress-on-l28-motor.html TexasZ: http://texasz.net/allan_and_rosanne/Z-Car_Stuff/Bryan-Little/P79-P90%20head%20modding%20tips.htm Fuel cell: http://www.improvedtouring.com/forums/showthread.php?24279-240z-Fuel-Cell-Install-looking-for-advice Timing: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/timing/mechtime.html http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/99664-l28-timing/page-2 P79 Head build: http://datsunzgarage.com/p79/ P79/p90 start at post #15: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/39134-big-and-nasty-headwork/ Megasquirt: 1. http://www.megamanual.com/MSFAQ.htm 2. http://datsun1200.com/modules/mediawiki/index.php?title=MegaSquirt 3. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/23244-megasquirtnspark-mssmsns-installation-guide/ 4. http://www.zcar.com/forum/10-70-83-tech-discussion-forum/294570-how-install-megasquirt-spark.html 5. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/23244-megasquirtnspark-mssmsns-installation-guide/ COMP CALC: http://www.ozdat.com/ozdatonline/enginedesign/ EFI/ Vacume/ Fuel: This really helped me a lot -- http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/efisystem/280zfuelinjectionbook.pdf Cooling: http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/115160-l6-cooling-system-diagrams/ 83 dizzy on 75 w/msd: http://atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/distributor/index.html http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/119662-msd-6alpainless-ignition-issues/

HA! Seriously ... 10 times I have been reading about this, and I feel like I spend a good bit of time and then figure something out, then look back and laugh that it took that that long to understand that very simple concept. I have a feeling MS is one of those things that once you understand it become very simple. I'm on round 2 on 10 of my thread reading. As you figure this out, post lots of pictures! I have noticed a lot of people talk about it, but I think it would help to see more pic's. When I do mine I think I might put up a good post or two because MS is actually really interesting and it's kinda fun to learn about it really. It takes some time, but its really nice to know your machine very well. Good luck brother.

Great build! .. I really love your z. Tones of great work. I love those wheels. I just they made them in 15x10 or 11 for the rear. tire choice looks great too. Motor is really killer. The roof rack .. well ... you should get a $500 pos jeep really killer z!

Thank So the flat top pistons +.030/ stock rods/ stock crank; w/ the N42 head with a mild cam should be a good combo. All the other parts will basicly be new stock spec replacements, except maybe the valve springs. So what I need to really understand is the clearance volume. W/ the n42 head and flat top pistons, is there a good recommendation on how much to mill/shave the head to get to CR=9.5. I can maybe make some guesses and try to figure out the math. The last head I built was shaved 0.025, I thought that was a lot but I have read on some Z threads people posting the shaved 0.08-0.1. If I have the block resurfaced, is there a good recommendation on how much to mill? Should I leave the block alone and just work with the head?

Thanks again for all your help. It is a process figuring this out. The old barrings looked brand new, so idk..but it's a done deal now. When planing the CR, besides the piston/stock stroke, is that largely controlled by how much the head is milled or shaved, or the head gasket used? I guess the flat to pistons bring the CR from 8.3 to 8.8. How do you get in the 9s, just milling? I also read in a tread, that the flat top pistons w/ the n42 head puts you right under 9, but some save over? Is that depending on which head is used? .... Is there something good to read that shows different setups and the compression they yield? Maybe I should ask the question, for a daily driver ...what is a healthy CR to aim for, and what is the best way to build that motor?

Awesome .. I'll check them out. Thanks again for all your help ... I'll post pics as we go.

The MS is a plan. I have read about it a little, seems awesome. If you have anything you recommend me reading about it, that would be great. I was trying to figure out how the sensors work, how many there are, and do I use the stock sensors at all?

I was going to use the N42 head that I have, unless it would really benefit me to find a p-79/p-90. My plan was to have it hot tanked/pressure tested/ and milled down to resurface. I was going to rebuild it with new valves, springs, pads and cam. I was going to get this cam and springs, however I'm totally open to a better sugestion. http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic12e03/10-2002 http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/classic12e04/10-2011

I just bought the Z. I put about 200-300 miles on it in about the month that I had it. It had a knock, I thought it needed a valve adjustment...so I did one, and no improvement. So I dropped the oil pan and everything looked good, except the oil was super thick and nasty but no sign of coolant. After the oil change the knock sounded 10x worse... So I droped the pan again and changed the rod barrings, but that made no improvement at all. I was not driving the car at the time because of the knock. My friend thought it was the valves and was worse because I did the valve adjustment cold. So I was letting the car warm up to do another valve adjustment, and that ended with a half of piston rolling down the driveway and a rod sticking through the block.

I was going to use the msa stage 2 cam. It's mild and has a nice power band for daily street drive.

Yes or no on these pistons? I was going to order them, however open to any other suggestions. 81 stock flat top +.030 ITM RY6134-030 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Piston-Kit-ITM-RY6134-030-fits-81-83-Nissan-280ZX-2-8L-L6-/111488485544?_trksid=p2054897.l4275 ----------- I think I may rebuild this 5 speed transmission. I have heard from a few friends the transmissions are bomb proof, just put it in and it will be fine. Any thoughts on that idea?

I use to use the TBI inject, that exact howel kit, on a jeep I had. It worked really well. The carb I had was very hard to keep tuned because of the ethanol in the gas is not always consistant.

Awesome, it's a plan, I will add it to the list and read up on this. Its going to take me a few months ($$ wise) to get this motor built. So I will have plunty of time to take my time and read and build this right. hopefull this month I can get the pistons and get the block to the machine shop. Any ideas on the pistion choice? Or what CR I should focus on and the best way to build for a street driven DD?

I saw you were using the megasquirt II v3.0. It has been pretty reliable for you? I'll have to read more about this. I have read a little, but it looked like something I will need to spend some time with. will that work with the msd box. I have the msd street fire box/coil set up right now. Ok, I will put this on the list and start taking a look at setting this up. Thanks!

thoes are two of the books I bought. For the head I was planing Head: msa stage 2 cam, stainless valves, proformance springs, stock head gasket. I am building a car that will be street driven, more of a daily driver. I have a few other projects that are not that great for driving around town, so my hopes was to make this my DD. So 93 at the pump max ... the usuals. I was not shooting for an exact CR, just not high enough where fuel and such becomes an issue. Is this build mild enough that I could use the stock management? I was going to get the pistons first because I wanted to bring the block and the pistons to the machine shop as the frist step. I will post pics through this build. Truly, thank you everyone for all the help. I'm really stoked to build this car. I work as a medic (so my budjet is limited) so it is a blessing to build this right the frist time and not have to go back and do it again later.

Thanks for the threads. I have read that BRAAPs L6 EFI-induction advice and tips several times. I did have a question about pistons and rings. I was going to use the ITM flat top pistons. I did see a few different kinds of pistions. Some are just flat and others have a cut that look like they are for the valves. Is there one thats better than the other? I hate to post ebay links, but here what I am looking at. Is +.030 over a good way to go? Flat top 81- zx Flat top w/ vavle cuts.

Na motor I was reading that swapping to that manifold with the 240sx throttle body helps a bunch, as well as cleans up that fuel injection mess

So first post here. I'm greatfull for all the info here. I have been waiting years to get a Z, so I'm more than super stoked to finally have one. I had a plan for my build, however in the first 300 miles of driving ...well pics worth 1000 words. I would love to go LS, but it's not in my budget so I found a L28 block for $80 and looks like I'm going to get to building. Any words of experience will be much appreciated. I picked up a few books, and I have been reading. What I'm thinking is: Block: flat top pistons, good rods, stock crank. Head: msa stage 2 cam, stainless valves, proformance springs Bolt ons: msa header, exhaust, lone wolf manifold w/ fuel rail, supra injectors, mds box and coil. Trans: 5 speed train, and a good clutch and flywheel. EFI: M egasquirt EFI (in the learning process) So I was going to strip down this new block and bring it to the machine shop with the new pistons to get cleaned up and preped. Yes...no ... Any ideas ? And thanks again very happy this forum exist!

Hi! Thanks for making these! I would like one for a 1975 280z with the fuel pressure gauge and anything else I need to put this in. I was going to get the five motor sport injectors as well. Just put the msd in.