my 240

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi I have a 72 240 with a 78 280 motor. it has been bored 50 over balenced and has a mild cam

it also has a Bob Sharp raceing manifold with a carter 600 afb on it. I was thinking it would be faster I raced a 98 ford picup and barly stayed with him. and this was no Lightning. What can I do?

[Guest Anonymous]

Welcome fellow Oregonian. Put a V8 in it.(mopar) and re-post in the morning by a reply to your self. It is late in the evening for replies

[denny411]

V8

[Scottie-GNZ]

You have options and have come to the right place.

 

Before you start digging into the answer, determine how fast/quick you want to go, how much do you have budgeted and make sure the budget includes brakes, suspension and wheels/tires upgrades.

[Dan Baldwin]

A 600cfm carb is more than you need/want. 4-bbl manifold is widely criticized for poor flow path, you can get a LOT out of twin SU carbs (ask Norm, in the 12s with N/A 2.9 liter). What's your compression ratio? You should go at least 10:1. This will require flat-top pistons, so if it's a ZX 2.8 N/A, you're in business there, you just need to get the right cylinder head. An N42 (280Z) head on an F54 (280ZX) flat-top piston block will get you to 9.8:1. N42 exhaust manifold is pretty good, too, but you could get a few more ponies with a header (Nismo 1 5/8" probably best bet). Dynomax super turbo muffler on a 2 1/2" exhaust and you're in business, exhaust-wise. Intake should be low restriction (ITG, K&N, etc), with air horns. Again, I believe side-draft carburetion (or FI) is your best bet here.

 

Have fun!

[Guest Anonymous]

How FA$T you want to go? And how much green lines your wallet? A IMHO cost effective swap is the 280zx Turbo into the car, no mounts to be made, the wiring isnt that hard for the computer and with a simple addition like a intercooler and a bit more boost you can get into the high 12's low 13's no problem (if you can hook it up.).

If you have more money and WANT a v8 (which well is something that I wanted, otherwise I probably could have been happy with the turbo motor) then its certainly a alternative and makes a pretty stunningly quick street car. Both are decent options at the moderate HP level, if you want more, you pay more going either route. Just an opinion.

 

Regards,

 

Lone

[Guest Anonymous]

Dan wouldn't an early E88 head be better than the N42? I know the How to hotrod your Datsun book states the N42 head is better but I had much more success with my E88 head than the N 42, and there was no porting done to either head.

[Dan Baldwin]

If by "early E88" you mean the '71 E88, it might be better. In a letters reply by DL Potter in an old ZCarMag, he identified this head as the best-flowing stock head. It had the peanut-shaped combustion chamber like the E31. '72 E88 has a combustion chamber similar to the N42, but with smaller valves. '73 and '74 E88 heads had lower compression and are generally avoided.

 

Real answer: I don't know, I'm relying on second-hand info. I would assume the N42 is a good choice, there may be better ones.

 

What did your E88 combustion chambers look like, and what exactly is "much more success"? Had either head been shaved at all?

[Guest Anonymous]

The head was the 71 unit,as it came of of my 71 240and had the peanut shaped chambers. I bought a ZX short block with flattops and an N42 head and drove it for a year. The car would run 15.7's in the 1/4 with the ZX 5spd. A friend of mine from IZCC in Clearwater, FL told me to use the head from my 240 as it was supposed to flow better. However I had heard nothing good about the E88 so I put an E31 on it and made up lots of new cuss words every time I went to the gas pump. I eventually put the E88 on it and my 1/4 mile times went down to 15.4s. Neither head had any type of shaving to the best of my knowledge, although the E88 had been cleaned up about .010 when I pulled it off of my 240 engine. It just seemed that this combo pulled a whole lot better low end than the N42 set up.