Fernandoz Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Hi everyone im new in this forum, i own an early 260z and i need help to build it. This car came with L24 (P30/E88) 4spd, i also have one 280zx L28(P90/F54)5spd. The 280zx is just for part out, wich engine should i put in the 260? L28? my goal is having a good daily car, N/A i used the http://www.atlanticz.ca/zclub/techtips/ program to calculate CR, according to this program the L28 with P90, L24 rods, flat pistons, .040 over bored and std head gasket i should get 11.44:1 .. is this right or wrong? what do i need to do to have extra hp? shaving, port and polish head? any recomendations, ideas, experiences will be great, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 I'd use the f54, that's what I went with, converted to carbs. Does it have flattop or dished pistons? It's generaly accepted that porting and polishing of the head is where you make the most power. I'd say do that. Shaving will also give you a higher CR, and is reccomended because it makes sure that the head and block mate together much better. You could consider doing a stroker set up, that would give you a lot of power. Beyond that, tripple carbs and an electronic dizzy, along with headers and a lighter flywheel will free up some power. I'd also vote to get rid of the clutch fan in favor of some e-fans. An electronic fuel pump will probably take some force off the timing chain too, but you can't use one with the p90 unless you open up that part of the head for it. A performance cam will give you some more power as well. Personally I have a f54/p79 with flattop pistons, I think it's the best set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutchdust Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 I'll defer to Luseboy about the details of the various combination of parts. But the one thing that I will add is CAM. All your power is made in the head. You need to get more air/fuel in, burn it, and get it out. The best way to do that is open the valves higher and longer. Clean up the ports and chambers, put on a header it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Well I would say a lot depends on your budget. Having the L28 in there is already a step up from the L24, but keep the Carbs from the L24, it'll make wiring much easier. The L28 is .4 liters bigger which actually will help you a lot in the HP ratings just stock. You should read up a bit more about them, but I think you may have done that already since you've identified the head and blocks. Swapping to the ZX 5 speed will also make cruising much more comfortable. All this that's been suggested with the engine mods sounds like great advice. If you feel ambitious you could setup the L28 with a Turbo but you'll need more parts, which you could probably get off Ebay or on these boards. You'd probably have to go with EFI-MegaSquirt etc at that point, but like I said, ambitious. Anyway, in the L24 in the meantime, an easy mod is to swap over the Electronic distrib from the ZX, to get rid of the points on that L24. Really though, Think about where you want to be, and how much power you're going to want in the end. A stock L28, really isn't anything shabby. All these mods are $ tho so it's up to you and your wallet. If you're looking for 300+ HP then you might be best off looking to a different engine swap, or even going V8. You can get the L28 to 300HP, but it's not cheap, and not going to get much past that. Whereas you could get an RB, 2jz or a VQ, and get to near 300HP in just stock form. If the car runs now on the L24, I'd recommend you drive it a few weeks so you can get the feel and get to know your car. That way when you do a swap, you'll have a good feel for the comparison as well. These are not new cars, they've got a lot more "character" than the new cars. Don't forget to go over your brakes and suspension. Updating those are as equally important as making it go. The Toyota caliper brake upgrade is good, along with Energy suspension bushings, at the very least new gabriel shocks and struts (whole coil-over setup is nice and very doable) Arizona Z car has some nice parts. Modern Motorsports has a cool catalogue. There's tons that you can do, The "Best Idea" is to know what you want to end up with before you start tearing it down and get the "While I'm at its...." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutchdust Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 There's tons that you can do, The "Best Idea" is to know what you want to end up with before you start tearing it down and get the "While I'm at its...." FACT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernandoz Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 thank you all! i just want some extra HP, i would be more than happy having 250 i already have the toyota front calipers, tokiko struts, tokiko springs (3 front springs and 1 rear ) the energy suspensions master kit, pacesetter header and the 5spd tranny. i only have flattop carbs (without linkage) but i want some webber setup. does anyone know where can i get a pair of rear tokico springs (2050-R) ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernandoz Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 i have more questions, please help me with this: 1.- i have already bought rod and main bearings, water, oil and mechanic gasoline pumps, complete gasket kit and timing kit for the L24, can i use all these things in the L28? 2.- where can i buy engine, transmission and differential mounts? and what brands are good? 3.- the 5spd swap is directly bolt on? 4.- is there any diferrence between 260z and 280zx driveshaft? 5.- L24 rods in the L28 can make any good changes ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 i have more questions, please help me with this: 1.- i have already bought rod and main bearings, water, oil and mechanic gasoline pumps, complete gasket kit and timing kit for the L24, can i use all these things in the L28? 2.- where can i buy engine, transmission and differential mounts? and what brands are good? 3.- the 5spd swap is directly bolt on? 4.- is there any diferrence between 260z and 280zx driveshaft? 5.- L24 rods in the L28 can make any good changes ? 1- to my knowledge, yes they will all work except the fuel pump most likely won't work... depends on the head and date it was made. But switching to an electric fuel pump is a very worthwhile upgrade, and is cheap for carbs. Just make sure you get a low psi one, not an efi one. And I'd reccomend looking into a 4bbl carb conversion, with an arizona z car manifold. It will be much cheaper than webbers, parts are readily available, tuning is easier, and you can get a brand new carb set up for a fraction of the price of a triple set up. 2- I bought my engine on craigslist. I'm buying my tranny off of a guy here. Differential mounts get tricky.. some people like the solid ones, some like the stockers, and some like the urethane ones. You'll have to research more on it, there's a ton of info on this site about it. 3- yes, a direct bolt in. However depending on when your 260 was made, you may have to cut open the shifter hole a bit. And make sure you don't get a borg-warner t5 trans because then you need a custom or turbo driveshaft. 4- yes I believe the 280zx is longer... I may be wrong though. 5- As I understand it, they are slighty longer and give you a higher compression ratio. If you have them already and you're doing a rebuild, I say why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernandoz Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 thank you luseboy in the second question i ment engine mounts, transmission mount and differential mount 3.- i have an early 260z and 82' 280zx turbo 5spd i have this 4bbl intake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s30red240z Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 Hi Fernando, i am Jose Gonzalez (Laminator) from facebook. A simple recipe would be L28 block flat top pistons, N42 N47 head, headers, street cam, and a good engine management system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 thank you luseboy in the second question i ment engine mounts, transmission mount and differential mount 3.- i have an early 260z and 82' 280zx turbo 5spd i have this 4bbl intake I have never seen a 4bbl intake like that... I do not know what that is. But it appears to not have equal-length runners, which the azc manifold has. Some people have had problems with tuning carbs when the mani doesn't have equal length runners. Im sure you'll be fine though. Google product search can come up with engine mounts and trans mounts. MSA (thezstore.com) has them as well. You just have to look around for the best price. If it's an early 260, you will probably have to cut out about 2 inches from the front of the shifter hole in the tranny tube. Only way to know for sure is to test fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutchdust Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I have a couple minor warnings regarding the Arizona Z intake. I have been running mine for a couple years and there are two things in particular that I believe need to be addressed. 1) the Arizona intake will not clear any other headers so if Dave STILL hasn't made his design header, you will likely have interference with the MSA or other header. I had to dimple my #2 exhaust pipe and grind some of the #3 intake runner to get it to fit. Really hated hammering and grinding on $500 worth of parts. But now that I've done it, I'm happy with the results. 2) I don't know if it's a core shift issue with the casting or just that my Holley 390 doesn't fit well, but I had to use a 1/2" phenolic spacer to get a full seal on the throttle plate. Just bolting the carburator to the manifold, at least in my case, left about a 1/16" gap between the edge of the throttle plate and manifold flange on one side. Because it was just one side, I think it has something to do with core shift, but I don't know. 3) With the additional 1/2" of the adaptor, it makes fitting an air cleaner with the stock hood a little trickier. Anyway, I'm not bashing the product. I am happy as I can be with the finished product, but it is not exactly "plug-n-play". Just be forewarned if you go this route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luseboy Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 I have a couple minor warnings regarding the Arizona Z intake. I have been running mine for a couple years and there are two things in particular that I believe need to be addressed. 1) the Arizona intake will not clear any other headers so if Dave STILL hasn't made his design header, you will likely have interference with the MSA or other header. I had to dimple my #2 exhaust pipe and grind some of the #3 intake runner to get it to fit. Really hated hammering and grinding on $500 worth of parts. But now that I've done it, I'm happy with the results. 2) I don't know if it's a core shift issue with the casting or just that my Holley 390 doesn't fit well, but I had to use a 1/2" phenolic spacer to get a full seal on the throttle plate. Just bolting the carburator to the manifold, at least in my case, left about a 1/16" gap between the edge of the throttle plate and manifold flange on one side. Because it was just one side, I think it has something to do with core shift, but I don't know. 3) With the additional 1/2" of the adaptor, it makes fitting an air cleaner with the stock hood a little trickier. Anyway, I'm not bashing the product. I am happy as I can be with the finished product, but it is not exactly "plug-n-play". Just be forewarned if you go this route. not to steal the thread... but I feel that it will help the OP as well as me. How do you like the performance of the set up? I have heard good and bad things about the performance of the 4bbl set up. Have you noticed any inconsistent fuel/air mixtures between cylinders? Got any sound clips? I have yet to hear what they sound like. Anyways thanks for your response, I personally am still on the fence about the set up, but I'm leaning towards the 4bbl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutchdust Posted October 29, 2011 Share Posted October 29, 2011 In all fairness, I never did have the SUs adjusted right, but even so, I just wouldn't look back. Stepping up from the SUs to the Holley is like going from points to electronic ignition. As for the performance, I'm still trying to tune the carb, I'll be working on it today. It's still running a bit rich, I just installed an O2 sensor last week so I can sort things out. But even running rich, the thing flat scoots. No drivability issues, electric choke, good throttle response, and I know that even with the biggest cam I dare to use all I would need for a tune is a little jet adjustment. I do have a video on my photobucket account with audio. The sound doesn't exactly match the video and I'm running a cherry bomb pipe at the time but you get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernandoz Posted October 29, 2011 Author Share Posted October 29, 2011 i just picked up a third engine L24 with N47 head and P30 block Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fernandoz Posted November 1, 2011 Author Share Posted November 1, 2011 can this combo works better? E88 head with N47 valves and F54 block Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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