Guest Rusty260z Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 I have an early 260 that I bought recently and was going to just be my fun car....well current vehicle conditions exist that I need a good daily driver thats still pimp. So why not the 260?!? Heres the deal....it has the soup can crap carbs and as such will not start unless you spray starting fluid in them. Otherwise I think it'd start fine....needs a little tranny work to drive. I'm going to have it sent to a body shop to get completely worked over...all rust taken care of sanded down and primered. Then I was thinking of sending it to an auto electric shop to get the whole thing re-wired with a blade style fusebox. I'm pretty much gonna do this car right....I'm willing to spend the money to do it. Now here's the part I can't figure on.....should I get ahold of some su's, fix the clutch linkage thats all rusty....and fix the tranny to get it driving for a while....or should I go for my end goal of an L28et right from the start? I'd like this not to take 6 mos. to get going as I need a daily driver w/in a few months. It looks like several people are looking for zxt engines and parts....so it may take a while to piece everything together to get it running....right now I'm seriously considering either getting some su's....or maybe buy an already good condition L26 and tranny and just swap them out till later. Sorry this is so long....but what you guys think??? Oh and is there anybody from Oklahoma that I might talk with.....maybe hang out and talk z's sometime?? Thanks a lot everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 It is my understanding that the L28ET can be a pretty simple swap. If you have the funds and an L28ET available, I would say you would probably save a lot of time, and a little bit of money to just do the swap now. Getting a new set of good SU's, or buying a running L26 and trans now is going to be a waste of money unless you get a very good deal on it. Of course, dont take that too lightly. While the L28ET can be a pretty simple swap, any swap has the potential of being difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rusty260z Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Well I don't have the l28et available as of yet.....and I'm unsure on what kind of funds I'm talking about for the swap.....I'm gonna have about 5k to spread over everything....getting it running great, all bodywork and paint, electrical, and anything extra needed. I also have about 3-4 months to get it all done. I'm even considering making this just a nice daily with a strong L26 and either find another one or a 240 to make go fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rusty260z Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 So really I guess the main question is....for my budget....would getting a reliable L28et engine swapped in and driving even be feasible?? Its looking more and more like I'm just gonna make a mean L26...maybe build it up and give it some juice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 If you arent going to do the L28ET yet, unless you have some real attachment to having an L26 because it is a 260 car, I would recommend against using an L26. The L28 has noticeably better power and a better power curve, from my understanding. Before my accident I was running an L28 from a 1981 280ZX with twin SU's on it and it was damn quick. (Of course, I also have the 3.96 rear-end). The L26 was kind of an oops. It was made because of the smog laws and they had to try to bump up the displacement to counter the effect of smog regulations killing power. A stock L24 will even beat a stock L26 by a handfull of HP. If you can figure out how to get it to OK, my setup might be up for grabs pretty soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 You could easily get a set of early SU's for under $100. Post a "want to buy" ad either here or on zcar.com and I'll bet you get half a dozen to a dozen offers. If you get them complete with all the linkage and air cleaner it might take you all of a single afternoon to get them bolted up and running. The only real issue is the throttle shaft bushings are usually shot, but the minor vaccum leak this causes is easy to live with for a few months. Complete engines are also cheap on this site. In fact, most guys complain they can't give away their stock motors. Transmissions can be rebuilt for 3 or 4 hundred dollars and will take a good shop less then one work day to do. Shop carefully and you could easily use the same trans with your turbo engine. Thus for a weekend's work and less than $500 you should have your 260 road worthy. Of course you realize your "rust" problem could consume considerably more dollars and time, depending on how bad it is. Also it sounds like you aren't big on doing the work yourself. There are quite a few members who have rewired their Z's themselves and claim it is pretty easy. Do a search for more info. If you do rewire, check out Pete Paraska's excellent site for some highly desireable upgrades for the headlight and (I think) turn signal circuits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rusty260z Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 Okay nic....your setup is extremely intriguing....and I can find a way to get it here....thats not a problem. If you could...please message or email me with the specifics. The L26 thats in there now surely must be tired...I'm sure its the original engine and has 150k on the clock. The more I think about it, the more I'd love to just have a really pimp looking old school z for my daily. I can grab another one to make go fast w/ the L28et or even the common v8z later down the road. I'm pretty confident on most things mechanical and I have several friends that are even more so....but when it comes to electrical is when I start doubting myself. Especially after looking at this things wiring job...it looks like its been hacked into I don't know how many times...probably due to some fusible links going bad. I'd like a really good electrical job done....and one that I can count on the only thing I ever need to do is a replace a fuse once a year. As far as the rest of the car...the rust really isn't that bad. The biggest problem is right above the windshield...thats the only place its starting to rust through...only a few other places has any rust and its mostly just starting to bubble up. Its got a few things here and there but really just needs some TLC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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