Fast/Fun street-focused 280ZXT buildup planned, suggestions?

[Guest avriettea]

Hi, Z Folks.

 

I've been lurking for a while, and many of you will recognize me

from the IZCC mailing list. I own a 1982 280ZX Turbo.

 

Let me tell you what I'm looking for out of the car. This car has

always been nothing more than a toy. It has been out on the track,

but that was such a small portion of the time that I spent driving

it that it makes more sense to me to shoot for something that is

fast (well, a lot of fast), but not scary or unmanageable fast.

 

My feeling is that with less than 450hp, the car can be entirely

streetable (especially given the nature of turbo motors: it should

be docile until throttle is opened and turbo spools up). I don't

want to go past that level. I think really that I would be happy

with 300-350hp.

 

The kind of thing I'm looking for in the car as far as performance

is concerned is the 30-80mph range. I think that's where most of

the time in the car will be spent, whether being driven to work,

or to get groceries.

 

There are a couple other components I'd like to add to the "fun to

drive" list: Corbeau seats (although I'm open to suggestions), and

a 6-speed transmission. I think the T56 is supposed to fit with a

little "fitting" (by hammer, I'm told). A limited slip differential

would also be great to have, but they can be very expensive, and I

don't know that I strictly need it.

 

The other purpose of the car for me is what it has always been: a

hobby. I'd like to do most of the work myself. I'm ASE certified,

and spent about 2 years in school learning the trade. I've since

changed careers (I'm a programmer now), so I haven't kept such close

tabs on the community. So rather than pick the parts that I want,

and then drop shipping them to somebody else to do the labor, I'd

rather either have the parts fabbed, or have them shipped to me and

install them in my own garage. I don't have a welder, and I think

that it might be a good idea for me to get some experience doing

that. I've thought about taking classes at a local college to

learn. This would both allow me to do piping (such as the exhaust

and intercooler), and other things that inevitably show up.

 

I've got a large garage and most of the tools I need.

 

So here's the direction I'm leaning:

 

t3/t4 turbo (t3 turbine housing, t4 compressor, right?)

-> suggestions for trim?

-> suggestions for suppliers?

 

spearco intercooler

 

fresh remanufactured short block, sent to a machine shop and blueprinted

-> i'm thinking mild cam, and minor polishing/porting of the head. are

there other modifications I should be looking at here?

-> also, is a reman engine going to be stout enough for 450hp? i think

probably it is, and probably the engine i have would be if i were to

rebuild it, but i'm not comfortable enough with my rusty skills (from 7

years ago) to rebuild the engine myself. can i fortify the bottom end

if i receive it assembled from the remanufacturer?

-> i am set on an L28, although if somebody gave me real convincing

reasons to go with an SR20DET, i could possibly swing that way.

-> i'm real excited about the headwork i've seen recently on the P90 here,

but I really don't want to spend that kind of money.

 

t56 out of a firebird/camaro/corvette/viper

 

megasquirt engine management

-> i saw this site linked off hybridz.org. wow, am i impressed. being a

programmer, it is very appealing to me to have my car running my own

code. since i have the academic knowledge necessary to tune the car already,

it's very nice that i could put that to use myself to tune the car rather

than paying some speed shop weenie $60/hr to do so.

 

msd uprated fuel pump, rc engineering injectors

 

16x8 on front and back (these will fit, right?)

-> suggestion for wheel manufacturers? i've had a hard time finding wheels

i liked that fit my car.

 

poly bushings

 

(i've already got tokico illuminas and eibach pro's on the car)

 

i have some other questions. First, i really dislike the way the

intake and exhaust manifolds are set up preesntly. I see that

arizonazcar has the same intake manifold they've been selling for

years (not the 4bbl one). does anyone have one they recommend? the

throttle body on the az zcar one is suboptimally placed for turbo

applications. maybe i could get betamotorsports to fab me one up

. same goes for exhaust manifold. at this point, there are two

reasons. first, the engine bay is a real pain to work on because

the manifolds occupy seemingly half the bay. additionally, the

plumbing of the turbo pipes is kind of a pain. i'd like to make it

easier to work with by moving the turbo to a better position. i

think also probably a new downpipe with an external wastegate will

be necessary.

 

i'm real glad to see so many 280ZX Turbo owners with so many fast

cars. i've felt for a long time that it was unfairly ignored, and

had huge potential. i look forward to hearing from you! Sorry it

was such a long post, I've just had a lot on my mind.

 

did Ross Corrigan ever get his car back?

 

... after proofreading the preview of this post, i realized that i didn't mention that i would like the car to be legal to drive on the road in Virginia. is that just not going to happen? i remember some of this stuff was near impossible to do legally in California (where I'm from).

[Guest Aaron]

Welcome! I can't help you too much, but I do know that the t56 is going to take a little more than some hammering. You will need some way to adapt it to the engine, figure out a clutch setup, and get a custom drive shaft. There was a guy that had one on an L motor in a 510. Seek and ye shall find. The solution that James (240Z Turbo) came up with might help out.

 

Unfortunately, Ross's car met a fiery end.

[Guest avriettea]

Welcome! I can't help you too much, but I do know that the t56 is going to take a little more than some hammering. You will need some way to adapt it to the engine, figure out a clutch setup, and get a custom drive shaft.

 

My understanding is that the T5 and the T56 are closely related, and that the T56 was longer and a little thicker. I already have a custom driveshaft in the car -- I tore up the first one, and replaced it with better parts when I replaced it.

 

You are aware that the L28ET has a T5 on it?

 

Unfortunately, Ross's car met a fiery end.

 

That's so terrible. Was a terrific car, and Ross is such a good guy.

 

I'm really surprised more people haven't replied. Is the forum less active than I expected, or is it that my post was too long or what?

[Guest ON3GO]

to long

welcome and ya it was sad to hear about ross's car, im sure he will come up with something new and sweet.

now i cant answer all your questions but heres a few things.

Deff go with a LSD unit, either a phantom grip or a Z31 300zx LSD unit.

from my research the L28ET stock internals might let go after 450rwhp or a tad before.

im shooting to see where it goes at with a great tune on my L28ET.

people have gotten 350+rwhp with stock downpipe like the Z1 car and others, but it doesnt hurt to have one.

get a good intercooler, bigger throttle body, do some port work to the head, go with a HKS headgasket to be on the safe side, full 3inch exhaust is a must, and i would go with a smaller t3/t4 hybrid turbo from how you said you drive.

maybe a T3/T4 60-1 stage 3 60 a/r.. i could be off but thats a nice size turbo and would work fine (in my head atleast)

a custom intake manifold and exhaust manifold isnt needed for those hp goals but a few members on here makes nices ones.

call the number in my sig and talk to alex about getting a turbo for your car and even a header if you want, tell him what you have and your goals and he will set ya up with something nice.

the EMS you have in mind sure seems good from what i read and alot less then a Haltech or a Microtech which i have.

theres a ton of stuff im forgetting but your on the right track.

best of luck

 

Mike

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Wow...

 

 

Sounds like your descibing my car. I've got an 82ZXT with the mods you listed and it works out to be a great car for the street and not bad for the track aswell. You might think about doing some work with atleast the front brakes 350 HP in a 20 yr old ZXT makes for an intreasting ride and while the brakes are really pretty good any track time will smoke them fast. I still have the stock brakes with KVR pads and cross drilled rotors.

 

You'll also need an aftermarket EFI system. I have the JWT setup and I'm very happy with it.

 

I think your going in the right direction. Let us know how it's turning out.

 

Talk a look at my web site to see some pics.

[Afshin]

Hi, can you make a definitive choice about the Hp range 300-350 vs 450 is a world apart for a l28. you can get to 350 hp with even more torque relatively easily and remain reliable if the system is balanced and nicely done.

450 hp can certainly be done, but requires a lot more work to keep it reliable over the long term. I don't mean getting a one time dyno sheet of 400hp ( I don't count that), but running over 400 hp and being stable enough to run an open track event with that output.

From what you describe it seems like the 300-350 hp range should keep you very happy (keeps me grinning all day), IMO after about 350 hp the car's chassis has difficulty coping with the power so you don't get much more performance, unless your game is quarter miles runs were you can never get enough power or contact patch.

Also do think you might take the car to the track more often when done or will it be used solely as a street warrior ? Lastly, do you prefer well balanced performance (less lag, great handling, brakes, needing less money to stay reliable...) or is power the number one and two and three factor for you (e.g. sure good handling brakes...are nice, but not until it goes as fast as I can get it, I can never get enough power....)?

I'll be glad to give you more specific (and biased) opinions about set choices after. One more thing, do you have an idea of your budget (off course I already exceeded mine by a factor of 2, so I don't know if budgets do much good)