Big brakes, Megasquirt or turbo swap, have to decide...

[Dan_Austin]

So each year we pick an amount we both can spend on

anything we want for our birthday.

 

This year I have $1500, and for that amount I can-

A. Convert the front end to a 5-lug setup, with Wilwood

radial calipers, new lines and the required new wheels.

B. Megasquirt, and some interior bits

C. Turbo swap

 

Option A leaves me with the an ugly/odd combo of 17" front wheels

and 14" rear. The wheels I like have also been discontinued, so

I'd have to pick another style. The asthetics of this project

have me leaning away from choosing it.

 

Option B sounds fun, but on a tired NA L28, maybe not really worth the

effort.

 

Option C combined with B would be the clear winner, but that depends

on finding a decent L28ET for a decent price.

 

I don't have storage, so I cannot decide on option A and wait for next

year to also do the back half. And these funds have a tendency to

be re-absorbed into the household budget if not used, so I need to

pick a project quick.

 

I guess I should also say that the car is currently mechanically sound,

using just a bit of oil, and the brakes are also in good shape, so

all of these options are just that, optional.

 

Anyone care to chime in on the pros/cons of each?

[nthiogen]

I'd say go with the EFI swap. L28ET's can be had for very cheap, but if your car can't stop and handle with all the extra power you're going to throw into it, I don't see much point in giving it loads of horsepower. 200whp can be had with an NA L28 and EFI, and according to the opinions of many HBZers who have achieved that level and surpassed it, this was the power level at which they most enjoyed driving their Z. Still bulletproof reliable, simple enough, and cheap enough. Plus, being able to tune your car on the fly with your laptop is really nice. It's like having the open'er-up-and-tune flexibility of a carburetor with bonus of more hp/$.

 

But it really all comes down to what you're going to use the car for. Which is my next question -- what is this car being used for, and what does it currently have in the way of mods?

[JIM73240Z]

+1 to the response above plus you can have money left over for big brakes that wont kill the budget. Willwoods are nice but overkill. I know, I have them on my car in the garage on stands. There are other options out there that can get you front and rears for the same price or less than the Willwoods and maybe get you ahead on something else.

 

Jimbo

[nthiogen]

+1 to the response above plus you can have money left over for big brakes that wont kill the budget. Willwoods are nice but overkill. I know, I have them on my car in the garage on stands. There are other options out there that can get you front and rears for the same price or less than the Willwoods and maybe get you ahead on something else.

 

Jimbo

True that, the Z's are very lightweight so 4-piston calipers with massive rotors on all fours are just not necessary unless you're building a tube-framed all-out racing car.

 

I was told that the Toyota brake swap is a good and cheap way to go, but seeing as the components are made for a work truck... wouldn't they add a lot of unnecessary unsprung weight? I'm getting invaluable oversight from Dave Premo on my car, and he recommended the 300ZX aluminum calipers for the fronts because they're lightweight and designed to stop a 3500lb 300hp car. I haven't found anyone else who has done that swap, so I'm sorta hoping I can be the first to document it and such.

 

But I'm sure you can Megasquirt the car and beef up your brakes with $1500 bucks, especially if you can tune it yourself. If you haven't already, slap on some pricey brake pads and get some very sticky tires. That may get you more bang for your buck than you'd expected.

[sweetleaf]

I say go with an L28et and megasquirt.

[aplyedmind]

I say squirt and l28et for the win

[Dan_Austin]

I knew I left something out. The car is a 76, it is fuel injected,

and that system does the basics, but showing its age. Since I bought

it I've replaced all the bushings with poly, put in new springs and

struts at all four corners, new u-joints in the half-shafts, and

replaced the four speed with a wide ratio ZX five speed.

 

I have a set of Starion/Conquest hubs to use in the 5-lug conversion,

and I see it as a package deal. The brake upgrade itself is not even

close to $1500, but the new wheels and tires close the gap pretty

quick. The Starion hubs add a bit of offset, and with a 2005 explorer

rotor and the Wilwood radials, everything lines up with no major machining.

I have not figured out how I want to handle the rear yet, and I think that

should be part of the project. I do want to handle the 5-lug and brakes

at the same time, to avoid doing part of the project twice.

 

This is my daily driver, and most of the 'little' stuff has been handled.

I have had a few minor issues with the EFI, and all trace back to the age

of the connectors and sensors. This is helping push the MS to the head

of the pack.

 

I've been watching ebay, craigslist, the for sale forums here, for the last

three weeks and so far I have not see a 'cheap L28et' locally. I did find

a rebuilt engine, putting the price a bit high, and the build quality is

unknown.

 

I appreciate the feedback and will continue to mull it over.

[aplyedmind]

My buddy is parting out a 82 turbo zx in riverside if your interested in the motor pm me he wants 1200 for complete car with t5 or 800 for the complete motor swap.

 

Also there is a guy in Glendale selling a turbo zx engine complete low miles for 800 also in the L.A part of Craigslist if that helps you any .

[BluDestiny]

Go with megasquirt, get used to it, learn how to tune and diagnose it, Then down the road you will be able to swap any engine into your car with minimal effort to the wiring. I bought a complete unused megasquirt system for $400. It's still sitting on my shelf.

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

Youre in pretty good shape right now having taken care of the basics. What are your long term plans for the car? If youre going to do lots of track days and make tons of power a 5-lug swap may make sense. Otherwise, I dont feel its worth the trouble. There are plenty of 4-lug wheels available for our cars. Willwoods are great but, again, unless youre going all out you can get close to that level of performance for cheaper.

 

If youre driving the car a lot, Id address the wheels first. Find some used 14 or 15s and put some decent rubber on them (400 for the wheels, 300-500 for tires). It will greatly improve your ride. If youre looking for brakes, I would just get some good brake pads for the front, good shoes in the back and spend some time to make sure it works well. This should only cost a few 100, so you wont be backtracking a whole lot if you decide to go with better brakes later. Should have plenty of brake for your car now, if you want more piece together a 280zx or 240sx rear disc setup.

 

To address your engine. If all thats wrong with the EFI is a some sensors and connectors have deteriorated from age, could you spend some time going through your harness, cleaning it up and replacing what is broken? This shouldnt cost much and will hopefully address most of your issues. What money you have left you can put toward a L28ET, megasquirt or, whatever else.

[Pharaohabq]

Yeah, for that $ I'd say go witht he L28ET swap and Megasquirt. The stock brakes are definitely good enough for daily driver type action, even with the L28ET. The 5 lug conversion is an issue, but really for $1500 you gcould probably do all three, Megasquirt, Turbo and toyota brake upgrade. (wilwoods are nice, but overkill) so it's possible, cept for replacing the wheels.

 

The Z32 brake conversion has been done, and is noted in the brakes section, but it takes some fabrication and I don't think anything but 16"+ wheels will fit, not to mention the offset issue. I'm not sure if the Toyota brake swap will work with yout starion/explorer hub combo, but you'd be able to use the Z31 5 lug rotors. That part would have to be mocked up to see. $800 is not bad, maybe a little high in Cali for a L28et. Maybe put a WANTED ad up on craigslist. You want to get it locally, and hopefully hear it run before pulling it. Read up on the swap, it's pretty straightforward. It's a lot easier to run one on Megasquirt+spark than to get the stock electrics to work, but that's a matter of preference.

 

One thing though, This is your daily driver, you can expect to be down a week or so on the swap unless you've got buddies to help you out. Ask your local Z club, I'm sure there's experienced members that would help.

 

Lastly make sure you've got everything, and planned out, before you take your car out of service. There's nothing more frustrating than to be in the middle of something, then finding you're missing a part.

[Dan_Austin]

I have a set of what look to be 14" Panasport knock-offs, and new tires were the first

'project' after purchase, so rubber is covered. I've replaced most sensors, and noted

the connectors have aged/fatigued to the point of being brittle. They work now, but

I'm concerned a toad burp will render them dust.

 

As the fate's would have it, soon after I posted I saw a CL ad for a rebuilt 82 L28ET.

It was over budget, but I figured if properly rebuilt I could 'negotiate' to extend

my birthday allowance. Well, the motor is not only super clean, it is still on the

machine shop pallet. The seller is motivated and is including 5 intake manifolds,

including a shaved/powercoated, non-webbed unit with a port matched 240SX TB, new

chinese turbo, new BOV, two harnesses, two ecus, spare radiator, three Turbo valve covers

(one polished), a 82 NA wide ratio 5 speed and buckets of misc small parts. Needless

to say the budget extension was quickly approved and the deal struck.

 

I'll soon be putting the bits I don't need up for sale and use that to fund the MS, and

as suggested more than once, I'll put a decent set of pads/shoes and maybe some braided lines

on while I am at it.

 

Thanks for the feedback, and feel free to keep it coming. I have at least six weeks

until I start the swap and can incorporate any others good ideas into the plan.

[turboHLS30]

I'll take one of those harnesses and ECU's if you ever decide to get rid of them.

[Pharaohabq]

Sounds like you got a deal. Dunno how much you paid tho, but if the motor is done well with all that extra stuff then you should be in pretty good shape. You might want to look up that chinese turbo and see what kind of ratings it's got since a cheap turbo can kill an engine pretty quickly.

 

Keep us informed on how things go, oh and pictures please!

[Dan_Austin]

I picked everything up last Thursday just before my wife dragged me

to Yosemite. I had just enough time to unload the truck and do a

quick inventory.

 

I gave $1800 for the rebuilt motor and all the goodies. I forgot

about the new Fidanze flywheel that is supposed to be hidding under

the bell housing. I also was wrong about the BOV, as it is a new

external wastegate and not a BOV. I plan to check the specs on

the turbo, but the paperwork is MIA, so now I need do some extra

leg work.

 

In th mean time I am scouring the turbo and exhaust sections to

figure out how I can handle the intercooler and exhaust facets of

the swap. With the tools/resources at my disposal those tasks

concern me far more than the MS.

[Dan_Austin]

Trying to stick to the rules. I donated today and posted the extras in the for sale forum.

 

TurboHLS30 you get first crack at the ECU/Harnesses if your still interested.

[turboHLS30]

I actually just bought Megasquirt

[s30red240z]

EFI upgrade! wire again with new connectors and sensors, and distributor less ignition.

[Dan_Austin]

In the year since I started this thread I continued to buy the parts needed

for the swap. I think I am about at a point where I do not need anything

other than to just start.

 

I've made my stub harnesses for the coils, fuel injectors and have documented

with Excel what wires go where.

 

I was planning to pull the original motor and leave the transmission, but the FSM

recommends against it. The new motor would be going in without manifolds and

benefit from an adjustable tilt sling. Do I bite the bullet and pull the transmission

at the same time?

 

 

 

 

[letitsnow]

I would, it's not much if any more work, a clutch hose, k member, and driveshaft vs the bellhousing bolts and getting it back together.