Differences and ID of '81-'83 L28ET

[CAMarten]

I have an L28ET that was purchased in a hacked up turbo swap, so far I have found that pretty much everything electrical and half of everything else on this engine is from different years only some of which are compatable. (ex; had a '78 N/A ecu and harness, '78 distributor, '81 turbo or N/A oil pump drive shaft, what I BELIEVE is an '83 block and internals, 'upgraded' injectors that I have no idea what they are from, front brakes from a toyota 4x4, the list goes on and on)

 

Anyways... as I'm trying to figure everything out and get it running I'm starting to wonder what year the motor actually is. Is there a way to tell? I've had all the internals rebuilt professionally already since the cyl walls were scored pretty badly, i told them it was an '83 but does that even matter? I'm treating it as if it were an '83 and the ECU, harness, distributor... etc. that I'm putting on it are from an '83. As long as i pick a consistent year will it matter what year the block was originally? I've had all the internals rebuilt professionally already since the cyl walls were scored pretty badly.

 

Any input on this topic would be appreciated, I've been searching this and other forums for a long time and all I could find were lists of specific parts that were different on the individual years of the L28ET, I couldn't find any information on the motor itself.

[FricFrac]

Have you thought of running a stand alone EFI system? It sounds like a bit of a hack job and if you are going to be putting the time, effort and money into getting this mess sorted out its probably wise to upgrade to a modern EFI system and all new wiring harness, etc. It also sounds like you may have upgraded injectors which the stock ECU can't compensate for. Another reason to go with a stand alone programmable ECU. If you are looking to do any performance upgrades a stand alone EFI ECU is the ground work for any of those upgrades.

 

The oil pump spindle and distributor are different on the 1982-83 L28ET. They have a splined end where the spindle and the dizzy meet. That's what you will need to run both the stock ECU or a stand alone EFI. The 1981 only has a CAS and trigger wheel but it's not as desireable of a setup since it uses variable reluctance and is more difficult to configure or modify.

 

We do a lot of these builds at www.mackaypowerproducts.com right up to complete turn key systems for the L28ET, etc. If you have any questions we are more than happy to help out even if you want to do it all yourself.

Edited December 17, 2015 by FricFrac

[NewZed]

I have an L28ET 

 

had a '78 N/A ecu and harness, '78 distributor, '81 turbo or N/A oil pump drive shaft, what I BELIEVE is an '83 block and internals, 'upgraded' injectors that I have no idea what they are from, front brakes from a toyota 4x4, the list goes on and on)

 

Get the numbers from the engine block (cast-in above the driver's side engine mount - N42, F54) and head (N42, N47, P79, P90).  List the parts the engine rebuilder installed (flat-top or dished pistons).  Described the injectors (color and numbers, if you plan to keep them or just for fun).  You might have a 78 NA motor with turbo parts added.  You listed all of the bolt-on parts but none of the ones critical to being a turbo engine.