Cold air intake and biger Throttle Body and 2 1/2 exhaust is it worth it???

[77 Blule 280z]

Cold air intake and biger Throttle Body and 2 1/2 exhaust is it worth it???

I am looking at doing a better Cold air intake and biger Throttle Body and 2 1/2 exhaust on my 77 280z and am trying to find out if it will

be worth it???

Let me know what you guys think.

[ModernS30]

Sure, do you want to gain power? Then it will do it. Just don't expect huge gains.

[77 Blule 280z]

Sure, do you want to gain power? Then it will do it. Just don't expect huge gains.

 

Yeah i want a little more power but i dont want to put thounds in to it.

[Gollum]

You'd probably see about as much of an acceleration change by just swapping to a fiberglass hood. Modifications for a L motor that's naturally aspirated is pretty piss-poor unless you're going to get radical and dump 2k+ into a full build.

 

Reducing the weight will also have the added benefit of better handling, better braking, and better economy. It's a much better place to focus your wallet when starting off. If this is a '77 we're talking about and you haven't removed the bumpers that's a huge bonus right there too, especially the front bumper. That thing is HEAVY and it's in the worst place, as far forward as it could get.

 

Between the bumpers and hood that'd be like adding 20+hp to your engine which you might never have seen from an intake and exhaust.

 

Oh, and going up on throttle body size will have next to ZERO HP increase. It'll just make it "feel" faster because you've lost top end fidelity in the pedal travel. The stock throttle is not a limitation on mild builds.

 

Exhaust might net you 15hp AT MOST, and that's assuming it's mandrel bent.

 

Intake would probably net you less than 5hp at best.

 

Your money would almost be better spent adding megasquirt with a good crank triggered timing setup. Not only has your stock EFI probably lost you quite a few ponies over the years due to connection quality degrading, but it's also not tuned aggressively like you can get an active timing map setup like megasquirt can. The downside is that you can easily spend $1000 getting megasquirt installed and tuned. But if you think about it, doing exhaust right isn't cheap either, and this will have a much more dramatic effect.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

On another note, a L28ET conversion can be done at home (not include tools, so assuming you have them) for less than $500, and considering you can still find motors from time to time for less than $300 then I'd say that's the most bang for the buck you can get. But it's not for everyone. But hey, 200 ponies out of the gate is far better than you'd ever get doing bolt ons to a NA motor.

[77 Blule 280z]

You'd probably see about as much of an acceleration change by just swapping to a fiberglass hood. Modifications for a L motor that's naturally aspirated is pretty piss-poor unless you're going to get radical and dump 2k+ into a full build.

 

Reducing the weight will also have the added benefit of better handling, better braking, and better economy. It's a much better place to focus your wallet when starting off. If this is a '77 we're talking about and you haven't removed the bumpers that's a huge bonus right there too, especially the front bumper. That thing is HEAVY and it's in the worst place, as far forward as it could get.

 

Between the bumpers and hood that'd be like adding 20+hp to your engine which you might never have seen from an intake and exhaust.

 

Oh, and going up on throttle body size will have next to ZERO HP increase. It'll just make it "feel" faster because you've lost top end fidelity in the pedal travel. The stock throttle is not a limitation on mild builds.

 

Exhaust might net you 15hp AT MOST, and that's assuming it's mandrel bent.

 

Intake would probably net you less than 5hp at best.

 

Your money would almost be better spent adding megasquirt with a good crank triggered timing setup. Not only has your stock EFI probably lost you quite a few ponies over the years due to connection quality degrading, but it's also not tuned aggressively like you can get an active timing map setup like megasquirt can. The downside is that you can easily spend $1000 getting megasquirt installed and tuned. But if you think about it, doing exhaust right isn't cheap either, and this will have a much more dramatic effect.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

On another note, a L28ET conversion can be done at home (not include tools, so assuming you have them) for less than $500, and considering you can still find motors from time to time for less than $300 then I'd say that's the most bang for the buck you can get. But it's not for everyone. But hey, 200 ponies out of the gate is far better than you'd ever get doing bolt ons to a NA motor.

Ok thnak that helps alot! and sorry if this is a dumb question but what is a L28ET conversion? I have seen it said on here but have not been able to find out.

[BluDestiny]

L28ET is a turbo engine swap from an 81-83 280zx turbo. You need to do more reading before you touch anything. Honestly you could feel a difference in power by just cleaning connectors and replacing basic components that are crusty and deteriorating. and yes by taking a ton of weight off the car.

 

Change the exhaust because it will free up engine breathing, will be used later down the road and you can make your car sound a lot better than it probably does now.

 

Change to a cold air system because your air filter housing has a giant rust hole through it or you want it to look better in the engine bay.

 

 

 

You shouldn't be thinking what hp you want now, but what hp you want down the road and if mods you do can still be useful.

[Gollum]

You shouldn't be thinking what hp you want now, but what hp you want down the road and if mods you do can still be useful.

 

Which is why I always preach weight reduction. It's something that always transferred to whatever plan you make down the road.

 

Even exhaust might be a waste of money if you end up swapping the motor.

[neotech84]

+1 to all the posts.

 

Your money would be better spent else where. Beef up the suspension and brakes. If you want a little extra getup and go swap your diff for taller gears. There are plenty of things I would do before I just slapped a bigger TB and cold air headers are a great place to start (If not already done) THEN the exhaust. You get the MOST efficient gains from head work in the L serries.

 

Look into you car find whats been done and what needs fixing and READ every piece of information you can.

[Matt K]

My '78 came with a larger Weber throttle body, Mallory Igition, & CAI. I added an MSA ceramic coated header, 2 1/2" MSA exhaust system (modified with a resonator & different bullet style muffler). It IS quite a bit quicker after the header & exhaust than prior, however I spent a lot of time tweaking the setup & ensuring everything was working properly. The biggest holdback on a 280z with EFI is the archaic EFI system, not only the head, cam, & compression ratio. You can drop a built L-series engine in, but will be hamstrung by the small injectors, lack of adjustability, restrictive AFM, and stne age electronics. Swapping to something like a megasquirt is money well spent. Obviously a turbo engine will make more power, but it too is handicapped by the same issues in stock form. If you want to get serious with it, I'd get a megasquirt setup & start tuning. You can swap in a turbo motor later on (if you'd like) and then make even more power...the good part is that you've already got experience with tuning the megasquirt & won't be trying to solve two issues at the same time (engine swap & adding the standalone)...plus if you blow the old N/A motor, it gives you an excuse to upgrade! My 2 cents...

 

I also agree, with most of the info above. Get an 81-83 5-speed & 3.90 diff from an N/A, save up for coilovers (it's worth every penny), and get some real size wheels & tires underneath it for traction & handling. You can add an OBX LSD unit (properly installed) and have even better handling & traction for not too much money.

Edited August 12, 2011 by Matt K