Gollum

Yes and no. There's a reason the turbo cars came with the 3.54, not the 3.9 the manuals of the same years used. The Z31's were the same story. While the NA's had a 3.7 the turbo used 3.54, and when the NA switched to 3.9, the turbo switched to 3.7. Yes, a turbo engine when on low load isn't under boost, but even these OLD CRAPPY T3's can't stay out of boost when going up a hill on the freeway, no matter how hard I try. One day I even tried getting up to around 95mph before going up a huge hill on my way to work that's a solid 1/4 mile long. I hoped to carry enough speed to keep the engine out of boost.... nope. Only made it about half way before I was bouncing around .5 positive psi then gave up and gave it some go juice. Another fun story is after a friend of mine got his STI running on E85 he took me for a ride. He was putting down around 375 AWHP, and this is with a stock turbo, stock intercooler, just about stock everything minus fuel system. We were going on a little stint to show me what the car could do. He was stopped at a light at an intersection of a 4 lane road and was going to U-turn to head back to where we started. He rolls the car out in 1st, shifts to second as he starts to turn the wheel, then PUNCHES it, and lights up ALL 4 TIRES!!!! So when people want to complain about turbo lag I just laugh. He generated enough torque out of 2 liters to break 4 tires loose under 10mph in 2nd gear! It's one thing if it were 1st, but no, 2nd gear. Around town, even being super easy on the throttle my turbo S30 only uses 1st gear to get me to about 5mph, because I can lug around in 2nd gear just fine at those speeds. And if I DO want power, I can generate min boost at seemingly ANY rpm in ANY gear. If I'm in 4th cruising around town at 1500rpm and just stab the throttle I'm at 7psi (stock waste gate limit) by the time I reach 2,000rpm, which only takes a moment. In other words, even in 4th I've got plenty of "grunt" around town to get around traffic and such. The ONLY time I'd be worried about having a 1st gear in a turbo S30, is if you're one of the guys with full interior, 5 layers of sound absorption, and have huge subs in the back. In other words, keep it under 3,000 pounds and 2nd gear pulls away just fine. I estimate my car is now around 2,300 pounds, and we'll see once I get it back on the road. I doubt I'll ever see 2nd gear, and when going easy around town I'll probably skip shift to 4th.

I'm running a stockish turbo motor with a 3.54 and later ZX trans. 1st gear was almost useless, and with my new curb weight, next time I drive the car it WILL be useless. That doesn't mean don't do the turbo swap of course... That's a stupid aspect to get caught up on. Just change the diff down the road when you get to it. Still a hoot to drive.

I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you How many times can I say it? . . . . That said... if I'm ever in the area can I get a ride

Just some cannon fodder here, but what's better than a flat plane crank? How about the one BRAAP mentioned, a 1100ci, but why stop there? Why not use TWO of them! Wait... that's still not enough, let's add two MOSTER blowers ontop!!! I almost feel ashamed to share this image without video, because I'd love to hear this thing roar!

I'm not going to argue with you Tony, but I am going to play devil's advocate here, just for the sake of those that simply don't know better... ...The best comparison I can see between the SBC and L-gata displacement specs is between the 2.4 L and a 302 SBC. Both are larger bore than the smaller siblings, both are slightly stroked, and it's about as close of a "double" as I can think of. There's a whopping .1" difference between stroke, or you could roughly say that the L24 is roughly 97% the stroke of a 5 liter SBC, or a 5 liter SBF (which are actually 4.9 liters in all honesty, hence the close comparison imo) Why does this matter? Because if you TRULY rev'ed a L gata at TWICE the RPM, you'd be subjecting the piston to SUBSTANTIALLY more stress than the SBC. So your comparison, though getting the point across, isn't a fair one. When I used the term "winding it up" I didn't mean it to subjectively mean that it's stressful to the engine. Just the contrary, people think it's crazy I used to DD a CRX who's engine (stock but not to that chassis) would turn 4500 on the freeway... But when you consider the 8500 redline... I'd say it's pretty "reasonable". I'm not exactly "surprised" at how Nissan decided to gear their L powered cars, but sometimes I do wish 5th was a further spread in my current '81. I can drive around at 25mph lugging it in 5th no problem. If you look at the pattern nissan made a VERY well spaced pattern that's extremely consistent with the later 5 speeds, with a "decent" overdrive to boot. But that said I, personally, would rather be on the freeway at 2,000-2,500 and have to downshift to accelerate than have a motor singing along at 3500 just so my top speed can match my peak power... But I also understand that's my preference and opinion, which doesn't change what I feel about what the factory did for the masses. Oh, and also on the "needing to rev twice as much for a given power output", again, Tony, you know the gritty details. That's a broad statement. People routinely get 300bhp out of a 2.8-3 liter L motor, and that's on a factory head who's design goes WAY back, and to really give it less leverage, we'll "say" that the "preferred" heads are from the early 80's. How often do people make a 600bhp 5.7-6 liter SBC using 80's or older heads? Factory cranks? Factory rods? Maybe we don't see it often because there ARE such cheap aftermarket parts available, but I'd say it's safe to say the L motor "generally" spec for spec makes more torque per liter, able to flow better CFM, thus making more power per liter. GRANTED, RPM is a huge factor in that topic, and it's "generally speaking" easier to make a L gata rev up reliably, versus a SBC. Maybe this is all just a pointless rant, and now Tony is going to come back and say I'm wrong. But you know what? I'm okay with that. At least now I've drawn it out to be much deeper than just "it needs to rev higher because it's so small". Have a ball Tony

All the more reason to not use flow benches as a rule, but just another tool. Comparing what one person gets from X head on one flow bench should never be compared to another flow bench. Oh, and I'm sure pmc knows this, but flow numbers are almost meaningless unless you have port volume data. Just because you increase flow a ton doesn't necessarily mean you'll make a ton more power. I've met plenty of notice porters that built their own shade tree flow bench and chased down what "flowed best" in their port work, just to find out they LOST power... Open up the ports too much and you'll kill velocity.

The 81-83 manual 280ZX (which I've owned 2 of) run their L28 at 3500 at 70mph... Quite high honestly considering that they run out of steam fairly soon for a L motor. Point being - Nissan never seemed afraid of winding their motors up.

Seems to me that finding an imported L28 would be cheaper than any of these options. Is getting something through customs that hard in chile? Maybe I'm just being the ignorant american here, which I'm sorry if that's the case.

Rebello http://www.rebelloracing.com/nissan1.htm If you're going to stay fuel injected, you're shooting yourself in the foot to keep the stock EFI. It's going to be like pulling an angry tiger's tooth out when it comes to improving power over stock. This is all covered elsewhere, but you won't make enough extra power to be worth the cost doing JUST a stroker. You'll want an upgraded cam, you'll want some BASIC head work done at the LEAST, you'll probably want a better intake, and to follow all that up with the OEM EFI would just be miserable. The other question that should be asked though, is why spend $4k building a 250hp stroker, when you can spend $2k or less on a 2.8 with a modded head? Of course you're free to do what you'd like, I just haven't seen too many people pull off budget stroker motors, especially if they're looking for a "kit" to make it easy. And if you're not really concerned about the money, I just don't exactly see it as a fruitful return when buying said "kits".

My '75 280 had them riveted on like luseboy mentioned.

Agreed there tony! I'd rather keep that area grease FREE, as keeping it open with no lower half will just be inviting dirt to cling to anything sticky. But to the OP ~ I wouldn't let a backing plate stop me from finishing a swap, that's for damn sure. Most of us pull our engines every 30-50k anyways, at which point I wouldn't be too worried about dirt build up in that amount of time unless I was planning on going off-road, or driving on roads that get snow. Neither of which are of huge concern to me.

Any production I-6 upwards of 3.5 liters is most likely going to be a BIG motor, and these motors certainly aren't petite. Should that stop someone? I don't think so. If people put big block mopars in their zed, why not a big cube I-6? The tough part about most large cube inline swaps will be motor height. Even with a big block V8 height can be an issue, despite the availability of low profile manifolds.

Hey, a good paint job IS in the prep work. I've heard plenty of great painters say that if they did all the prep work themselves they wouldn't mind taking a car to someone like Maaco for $200. What people like them DON'T do is the $2k worth of prep work straightening the body, sanding, sanding, sanding.... Hell, even masking right seems to be a lost art with these budget shops.... But truth be told, they're not bad at laying paint, especially as that's pretty much what they do. That said, I do all my own painting. I like it. I'd rather do a bad job myself paying for my own education, than pay for someone else's just to save me headache. If I just wanted to spend money there's a million hobbies I could have had. I love cars because I GET INVOLVED, which is fun! Regarding the trim. You've heard the advice, and I would just repeat it. Make sure to give it a good scuff before priming. I don't worry about wetsanding between coats if it looks to be going on well. It's not advised practice by teachers, but I avoid as much sanding as possible if I'm happy with how it's turning out. I'll save my sanding for maybe once before final color coat, then before final clear coat. I find I ruin more paint with my cheap sand and makeshift blocks than help it, so I stick to just leveling out thick areas, or removing orange peel to try again. And the only reason I sand clear coat even is when I screw it up, since it's a fickle beast. Too thin or too thick and I know it's got to come off. With something like trim though, I wouldn't be too worried about it. Just sand it down good and use good paints and it'll stick just fine. And then post pictures when it's done. Not too many S30's running around with blacked out trim. I plan to do the same, but I'm a little ways out still from that.

Oh come on Tony, you know that I know that breaking 4 digits on a L motor is old hat. I guess I could have added a bit more context, yes. So here it is: I'm glad we have people on HybridZ pushing the limits of what people think is possible when it comes to an individual/personally owned car/privateer on a solo budget. Jeff's car is far from receiving anything close to "race team" support, even when comparing to the grassroots world changers like Brock. If you think about it, it's pretty incredible what some people like Jeff have pulled off considering the support/funding comparison difference with teams in history, like electromotive.

Trust me, if I plan something, I'll make sure you're in the know.

Fame is infamy Tony. The unfortunate fame of the Devil Z is in some ways to it's own demise. Most will never really appreciate it for the right reasons, and will just be slaves to something they're completely ignorant about (not jabbing at anyone here, honestly, just speaking generally) The AE86 has seen the same demise IMO. What WAS a great little budget racer that was "okay" is now the most overhyped chassis in existence costing many times more than it really should. But don't say anything wrong about it, or anything that might conflict with the "facts" given in the anime, or else you might just be a heretic... If you ever DO pull out those VHS tapes, lemme know.

So what you're sayin' tony... is that I should go put a clogged filter on my car to fix my oil leak!!! Man I've been hunting that one down for a long time. Sounds to me like your PCV valve might need replacing, and guess what? They're CHEAP!!! Just for giggles I'd buy a new one, pull the old one, and them compare them side by side with a vacuum gauge and a air compressor to see at what points it seems to be operating. Then you'll know just how bad, if at all, your old PCV is. Also keep in mind that like CHT, or O2 sensors bought from your local autoreillyapa, your mileage may vary. I've known people who've bought sensors in batches of 5 just to find ONE that's "close" to FSM spec. Sometimes NOS nissan parts ARE worth the extra coin, just for less hassle.

Heresy!!!! Well, I must admit, it helps when it's coupled with huge flares like the YZ flares, and matched with a full fiberglass front end. Even helps when ya go the extra mile and do a full tube chassis, you know, just to help the wing feel at home. It's always good to see another Z, especially a HybridZ back on the road! Congrats!:twothumbs: Oh, and as much as I'd love to see people with GT wings on driving on the street, my ideal plans for my car will be a basic spoiler in the style of the daytona coupe, set on a piano hinge so I can easily flatten it out for street driving, then ramp it up for track use.

No way! That's impossible! I'm kinda surprised to see this back up and running again... So how about a new answer: Because I'm a cheap bastard and purposely bought a S30 already with a L28ET because it makes more sense as a DD, easy to find comleted swap than a SBC. I can name of 10 other motors that interest me equally, but the only reason I don't have THOSE is that I haven't ever had more than $300 to drop into my car, if that even really. At the end of the day, when you're on a serious budget, the L28ET looks REALLY good. If I was pushing 1,000hp like jeff, I'd find something more economical/proven, but that's just me. I'm glad we have people like him pushing the limits.

That's gotta be the most beautiful-ugly engine bay ever! I mean that in the best possible way. I've always loved VG conversions. Sure the NA doesn't make a ton of sense, unless you're only shooting for 200hp and just want the weight amount/placement benefits. But the turbo motors are beasts! Always love seeing more swaps done.

To say that head has a lot of work to make functional is more true than I could care to swallow. Even if I had the budget (which I am FAR from being able to see in my near future currently), I'd start over with something else. I personally DON'T like it's symmetry. I DON'T want my valves, let alone port volumes to be the same from side to side. I don't like the extremely low port floor that looks to be a solid 90 degree surface relative to the deck. That port probably has some crazy geometry going on inside there. And check those chambers out! To say they need some work... well that'd be an understatement. All of the big issues are fixable, but considering that it'd never be legal in competitive racing, you have to ask "why"? With what I see as roughly the same amount of work you could mold a I-6 KA head, or even adapt the RB head to L bore spacing dimensions. The RB would be more work as it would require some oil/coolant passage work, but certainly not impossible to overcome. In the end, to make this head work, even with over the counter buckets, cams, gears, etc you're still making something work that to my eyes doesn't look that desirable. Maybe I'm just missing something here. Oh, and ALL THAT SAID!!!!! (please use this next paragraph to read my attitude about the previous statements). I think this head has some interesting history in it that's worthwhile, and that the more we can learn from it the better. It's great that there's still drawings around for it which I'd LOVE to see. And if someone wants to make one, AWESOME! I applaud anyone who wants to go through all that work and make it happen. I just wouldn't do it myself.

Starting another group buy for a car that's still not on the road? Please prove me wrong Chris, I'd love to find out that thing is driving!

I personally would start at the starter. I've seen plenty of starters go bad, all with varying degrees of behavior. It's also a cheap place to start.

Because who cares about O2 sensors? (oh yea, smog techs ) My L28ET sometime got BETTER gas mileage with the O2 disconnected. And even if it was the same or even slightly worse MPG then it was worth the trade off of driving better. Then again, just about everything with my ECCS is FUBAR...

Really. because I found a 60k mi LS2 + T56 + Wiring harness + Sensors + PCM for $2500 shipped to his door, half way across the country. Not just a pipe dream, I found it for a friend who actually bought it. Motor checked out fine, tranny drove fine. Nothing wrong with either. Deals DO exist. And $1,400 to get a VH+trans isn't extremely attractive to me. More attractive than the $2k you're almost guaranteed to spend on a 1UZ+manual trans adaptation. Let's not forget that donor LS1 vehicles can be found for similar prices these days... In fact, I'd say that mile for mile, condition for condition, year for year, a LSx donor is not too much more expensive than a VH or 1UZ donor. The difference is that a VH can be found in the early 90's, which gives it a good half decade depreciation advantage. I hear your point though. MOST T56 trannies will set you back $1500+, but if you search craigslist there's plenty for $1k or even a bit less. The only place I've seen the T56 for over $2k is when buying one NEW, or freshly rebuilt. The Z32 tranny is generally "cheap" because you're buying a unit that's freshly pulled. I guess I'm just saying that it should all be put into perspective. Yes the Z32 is an affordable tranny, yes the T56 is a more expensive tranny. But don't forget that spending $400 to adapt ANY tranny is something to consider in ANY budget. It's also something to consider spending almost what you paid for a motor mating it to a transmission, not including cost of transmission itself.