Guest battg8r Posted January 26, 2004 Share Posted January 26, 2004 I'm looking for some advice/ideas for an engine swap into a '72 240. I have an '83 non-turbo L28, P79 head and F54 block. I'll be using mostly as a weekend driver and I'm looking for good performance but I won't be racing or autocrossing. What would be the best set up? I have most of the FI parts, I'm missing the ECU. My L24 has dual Webbers. Thanks, I appreciate any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240zprace Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 why not a l28et motor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technicalninja Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 You have a excellent set up with what you have. Mill the head (you will need to anyway to restore flatness). Have your machine shop mill the bottom of the head until it is flat (usually between .010 and .015) then mill the top what ever is necessary to equal .020 total off of the head. Then purchase cam tower shims (which are .020 thick(they will restore cam bore height) If your machine shop doesn't already know this trick take head to machine shop which does!. It is not necessary to take .080 off the head to get a strong engine. Milling this much is a common trick to increase compresion but has some drawbacks. Many folks will argue with me but your post sounded like simplicity was a required aspect. Milled .015 the engine will have between 9.0 to 9.2 comp ratio and will run on standard unleaded fuel. I prefer a different head casting but yours has some very desirable features- Good squelch area, liners in exhaust port which act as anti-reversion devices, round port headers fit better than square port headers, and most importantly you already own it!. Reuse the original pistons if possible. Stock piston to bore clearance is .0015 but I have reused pistons with as much as .006 clearance (block wears-not pistons) reboring is more expensive than finding a usable block and pistons. You may use a little oil but oil is cheap. I would use a header and 2.5 inch exhaust (Motorsports stuff is reasonable and easy to work with but it often does not fit as well as Motorsports advertises). I would trade the Webers for a set of early SUs- easy to work with and will support 200+ HP. The F/I is also good but much harder to swap over. If you have it, the 83 distributor is a good choice (HEI built on side of dist). This engine should not cost you a mint and will give good performance without being finicky or problematic. Before putting money into engine modifications I would change transmission to the 81-83 zx and the rear end to the 81-83 R200 3.9 (there was one in the car your engine came out of). This drivetrain in an early Z will give years of enjoyment and will accelerate far quicker than expected (much to the surprise of local Mustangs,Camaros,ect). It is also a good platform for further upgrades. It will accept nitrous and mild turbocharging easily. Compression can be taken above 10:1 with a simple head change. very user friendly-good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest battg8r Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 That sounds good, just to be clear though, are you talking about the l28? I have the complete '83 l28 including the distributor. Also, the r-200 is installed and the 5-speed is ready for installation. I would like the fuel injection but don't know about the additional changes to be made. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
technicalninja Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Yes I was refering to the F54 L28 engine. This should have flat top pistons. If they are dished then you have a L28 turbo bottom end. I will post needed mods to put F/I on your car tonight (at home). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest battg8r Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Thanks for the info. I'll start looking for a good machine shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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