new here need some advice

[Guest Anonymous]

whats up fellas i have a 78 280z and it is bone stock.iwas wondering how much horse it has stock?i would like to be between 250 and 300 is this possible with my L28 and if so what type of things can i do to it.also i live in california home of the awful smog devil will i be able to pass smog?any advice would be greatly appricated.

[fl327]

280z is 170 hp stock, about 135 to the wheels

you could go with a turbo motor from the zx, but to pass smog it would have to be really stock, then you will have around 180 hp, i think with the stock fi system an NA buildup would not get you enough power to be happy.

[BLKMGK]

I believe, but am not positive, that emissions will go DOWN with a higher compression engine. Can anyone confirm? Higher compression engines are more effecient (sp?!). Some of the modern hi-po motors are pushing 10:1 these days. Obviously not turbocharged though. Anyone know what the compression on the Lightning is?

[fl327]

im not sure, i hate smog and dont try to think about it.

[Oltmann]

Here's a quote from an article about the Saab Variable Compression engine:

 

"Due to its variable compression ratio, the SVC engine can run at an optimum compression ratio of 14:1 at low engine loads to maximize fuel efficiency and lower harmful tailpipe emissions."

 

 

Thanks Google!

[GrayZee]

Actually wouldn't a L28turbo engine produce less emissions than a L28 NA? At idle the turbo isn't doing anything and it it'll have a lower compression ratio than a NA engine.

[GrayZee]

When they clamped down on emissions in the early 70's they introduced things like.. EGR, air pumps and catalytic converters; but they also started building engines with "lower compression" Even the early 240z had higher CR than later models. Today they can get around it with better engine control systems and improved engine design.

[ZROSSA]

I thought compression ratios went down because of the fuel quality and the removal of lead. Im going to go with the high compression ratio being better for emissions.

 

Douglas

[Guest Anonymous]

Raising C.R. increases efficiency, thus decreasing CO and HC, but it raises the maximum temperature and pressure in the combustion chamber, which promotes the formation of NOx (mixture of Nitrogen monoxide and dioxide). Now NOx, in addition to combining with unburnt hydrocarbons and forming smog, reacts with water to form nitric acid, which is a component of acid rain. Not very good at all Now back in the 70s, they couldn't do anything about NOx emissions, so they had to resort to reducing compression. And the resultant increase in HCs and CO was taken care of by use of a (restrictive) monolith 2-way catalytic converter. Things are a lot better nowadays with the development of 3-way honeycomb cats that cost very little in the way of power, but have the added ablity to clean up NOx, so car mfg's can start raising C.R. once again, which as we all know is beneficial to thermal efficiency, with resultant increases in power and mileage, and lowered emissions too.

 

Modern Cats contain a mixture of platinum, rhodium, and palladium (albeit only in traces, as these elements are all more expensive than gold) and serve to promote the following reactions...

 

CO + O2 = CO2

CO + HC =CO2 + H2O

NO + HC = CO2+ N2 + H2O

 

so as you can see they're reducing (or should I say oxidizing for you chemists out there )harmful pollutants into simple carbon dioxide, Nitrogen, and water vapour, all of which are natural constituents of the atmosphere...

[ratedZ]

Thanks Hydra......psssstttttt.....what's that, I think I just had a brain fart! lol

[Guest Tim78zt]

So with all that being said, Martinez, is your 78 a California car or a federal car? 1978 cars came both ways...cat and non-cat. I've owned both myself. Ca Smog laws won't make you add a cat if there was not one on the car originally, right?

 

Tim78zt

[GrayZee]

Thanks for clearing that up Hydra. At least I wasn't totally crazy (just had outdated info) So when did the car industry introduce the 3 way style cats?

[Guest Anonymous]

Don't know for certain, sometime around '86-87 I would imagine.

[randy 77zt]

my car is a 77 with a 81zxt engine.it has a california swap sticker in the door frame.swap is legal but it limits mods to engine.i dont like the zxt ecm's-i have burned out 3 in 5years.i have a smog license and work as a tech in a ford dealership.california has somthing called .they send about 10% of renewals to test only stations and pick on older cars this way.i am probably going to goto a aftermarkit efi and use the rpm activated switch function to trigger the egr at rpms that dyno tests at.test is run at 15 and 25 mph.the 81 to 83 zxt ecms dont use a check engine light so the test only stations wont look to see what ecm is running the car.basically all you need is functioning egr,the fuel tank evap canister hooked up and a cat converter.i have 2 exhaust tail pipe systems -1 for offroad? use and 1 for smog tests.you could probably run a 3" random technology low restriction cat on turbo car ok.