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That is his "new" turbo 280ZX. The one they drove was the "old" NA 280ZX "Hand me down"! P.S. I still need my Sabelt harness, helmet, fire extinguisher, fire suit and compressor back!

Thanks JohnC! I don't recognize the red hatch in the back with the diamond on the hood, but the car in front of the Z is a 2nd gen RX-7.

The results are in... We didn't win the 24 hrs of LeMons... The "Mach 5 Racing" team put up a great effort in their 1982 280ZX NA and had moved up to 26th place. Unfortunately, they were put out of the action about an hour before the race concluded on Sunday by an incident with a larger vehicle. A bent front shock tower and some suspension damage could not be repaired in time to get back on track. At some point, results will be posted on the official website: http://www.24hoursoflemons.com later and I'll get pics up as soon as the team returns. P.S. At least we raced a Z... Auxilary caught it in several pics in his gallery.

Hey, I just think it would be cool to tow my 240Z to the track with a diesel LD28 turbo powered 240Z...

I know the feeling... My 280ZXT project has been at the body shop since January 12, 2005... Almost 30 months now... and my RB25DET project started about 3 months ago... and my LS7 project hasn't started yet...

If it's got the stock R180 w/ 3.364 gears, you'll be better off with a non-turbo 5-speed tranny and swapping out the rear-end for an R200 out of another '80 to '83 280ZX. The automatic will get you a 3.545 rear end R180 so you won't have to change anything else on the back of your '73 240Z. The R200 requires some more work and a few extra parts to do it right.

I always dread when that link comes up. There's so much misleading information and a bunch of it has turned out to be wrong. The fitting and fabrication information is fine, because it's what he built to make it work, but the information about the spec's of the T5 are way off. The 4-speed in the early Z has an even shorter 1st gear than the T5: http://zhome.com/ZCMnL/tech/GearRatios.html The Non-world class T5 in the 280ZX Turbo is rated at 200 or less ft/lbs of torque. There were 265 versions of the "1352" model T5 and ours was #4 as indicated by the tail shaft tag [1352-004] making it a VERY early production design even pre-dating the Mustang T5 used in the '83-'84 SVO: http://www.kamikazeracing.org/dl/ZTech/BorgWarnerT5-applications.txt Currently, I'm running an '83 280ZX 5-speed in my 240Z with a 3.70:1 LSD diff and 205/60/14 Kumhos. The taller tranny gears are nicely off-set by the shorter diff: '83 5-speed vs '72 4-speed 3.062 vs 3.592 = 15% taller 1.858 vs 2.246 = 17% taller 1.308 vs 1.415 = 7.5% taller 1.000 vs 1.000 0.745 R200 vs R180 3.70 vs 3.364 = 10% shorter What rear-end gears are you running?

First, running the car in reverse and then throwing it into first gear will break ANY transmission if you do it enough times. Second, the T5 in the Z cars is only rated at about 200 ft/lbs of torque. Thirdly, since the T5 was only available in the '82 & '83 turbo's and a LOT of them were automatics, there's a very limited availability compared to the the standard 5-speed. The stock non-turbo 5-speed will hold up just as well as the T5 given the use expected. There are guys on here running the stock non-turbo 5-speed trannys on 200-300hp Z cars.

It's most likely going to take more than just your first look to find parts. Why do you want the T5? You'll need the T5 tranny mount and the drive shaft to go with it. I would just put a 5-speed from an NA 280ZX in it and be done. No special drive shaft or tranny mount needed. http://classifieds.hybridz.org/

This question comes up every once in awhile, so I put a list together. List is in alphabetical order for your browsing convenience. Arizona Z Car Autohaus Arizona Black Dragon Automotive (Victoria British) Car-Part.com (search for used parts at a location near you) Classic Datsun Motorsports Courtesy Nissan Jim Cook Racing Jim Wolf Technology Klearz Lonewolf Performance Modern Motorsports Ltd Motorsport Auto (MSA) NissanParts.cc Nissan Parts Store Pallnet SFX Performance Stillen Tabco (body panels) Too Intense Restoration TopEnd Performance Z Barn Z Car Source Zedd Findings Z Specialties ZParts.com ZX Man (It should be noted that I do not necessarily endorse the use of any of these companies. This is just a list of companies known to carry parts for our cars. You conduct business with them at your own risk and I accept no liability for you doing so.)

Finished interior resto-mod and exterior paint: Finished engine bay: First Day Home: Custom hood: Daddy, can I borrow the car? NO!!

Using a complete turbo parts car to swap the complete driveline, wiring harness and ECU is the easiest and "CAN BE" the least costly swap, especially if you're not planning on any additional upgrades like an intercooler or increasing the boost over stock. Good running turbo donor vehicles have been had for under $500.

I still haven't finished the body work yet, so I haven't even looked at the motor and intake system. I plan to rebuild the Mikuni's in the next month or so and I'll document and post the information then.

Peter has made an excellent recovery so far. He is getting around and is working in his garage to keep himself busy. Although he still has some time and physical therapy to go, he is expected to make a full recovery.

Dude, I totally know what you're saying. All the great/cool/retro/rediculous ideas here are making my head spin and my project jump back and forth. Right now, I have plans set for 3 cars all using inline 6's. I have one left and I'm still leaning towards an SBC... but we'll see. You guys rock!

Sorry, Jim died around 20 years ago, but his wife Sandy is still running the business.

WOW! That looks totally familiar... oh yeah... it's sitting out in my garage...

Ken, great job! I'm looking forward to seeing the next gen setup completed. Love to see a good plan come together like that. Please, nobody post about the length of the video. That was two years ago for crying out loud!

Pete, that looks like it's gonna come out pretty nice. After all the work you've done mating the two intake manifolds, I'm curious if you think it would have been easier to build up and drill injector bungs onto the E88 manifold, eliminating the need to source the two manifolds and splice them together? I have a spare intake manifold (N33?) from a '72 240Z that I was considering using. Then I thought it would be cool with a set of TWM's new SU ITB's then switched back to using 280ZX TB's to use as an MS&S learning tool! Of course, I have way too many projects in the works...

Dude, you crack me up! I was thinking about doing a retro looking resto with gutted SU's and a pair of injectors mounted in the SU "dome's" on a stock intake manifold. The injectors would be hidden inside the carburetors which are now simply acting like throttle bodies with MS keeping things running. I'm still working on the fuel rail and hose routing to keep it hidden as much as possible without ruining the SU's. I thought about using a pair of '73/'74 Hitachi flat tops. That would be a fitting end to the spare set in my garage. Oh well, another project on the pile... I now have 4 simultaneous projects in the works... Although, only three are currently active... I'll be putting the CarTech turbo setup back together in the next couple of weeks. That's when I'll find out if I'm going to live with it or go ahead and bite the bullet on a set of TWM/Mikuni ITB's. If I go with the ITB's I'm going to make whatever modifications are necessary to re-use the CarTech surge tank to keep it as retro as possible.

That's why I've got TWM on my speed dial! Thanks for the extensive and articulate response. Cheers, WW

Hey Tony! I'd like to see some of those pics! Since it's a carb blow through, it's certainly on topic! Here are some pics of one of the CarTech blow through plenums: Out of curiosity Tony, what is the design problem with the CarTech blow through that isn't a problem with the SK or HKS blow through setups? I do agree the fuel mileage is abysmal, but I'm now wondering if it isn't an issue with the tune and not the result of 'inherent' issues with a blow through carb setup. Cheers, WW

EFI is definitely the way to go for modern drivability and reliability. However, running 24/25 psi on a 3.1L triple Mikuni'd blow through T3/T4 hybrid intercooled turbo is no slouch either. Made a 12.4 second 1/4 mi on an open diff and street radials (not R compound). Doesn't seem very lame too me... Car now has a Quaife LSD, 3.545 R&P and Hoosier drag slicks that should put it into the 11's. Don't let anyone tell you you're crazy. If that were a criteria, then 9/10th's of the people on this forum would be certifiable.

I currently own both NA and Turbo cars, and I've (had) built half a dozen NA's and a couple of turbo cars, so I'll speak to what little experience I've gained so far. 250 whp is the 'practical' limit for an NA L6 build and can be VERY expensive. Ask Brian510. He has a phenomenal build from Rebello and I believe his final tally was approx. 275 whp. For half the money, that becomes the STARTING point for a turbo L6 build. That doesn't mean you have to spend only half the money. I've spent WAY more on my current turbo build than I've spent on any of my NA builds. The key is the proper application of knowledge to assemble the proper parts in order to achieve a specific goal. If you don't know what you want to build, then you're just spinning your wheels and you'll end up wasting a lot of money along the way. Believe me, I've wasted enough for nearly everyone! Good luck, WW

z-ya, can't that be adjusted by the type and vane angle of the centrifugal supercharger? I assume the high rpm requirement for the 350Z's is the result of them being sized for the 3.5L motor and the desire to maintain efficiency up through the rpm band. By sizing the centrifugal supercharger for low rpm boost and maximum efficiency under 3000 rpm, where the turbo would take over, should minimize the effects of the power delivery.