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'75 280z N/A to turbo questions


75Cameron

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Hey all,

 

I hate to do this to you all, I know how much you hate repeating yourself, trust me I understand (I hate repeating myself as well). But I have been searching the site for information about doing a swap to a turbo implementation.

 

I'm currently running a stocker L28e with no real modifications to the engine. The engine runs great and was rebuilt approximately 60k miles ago and runs like a champ.

 

My question begins with this: most of the postings I have read say that the best way is just to find a 81-83 280zxt doner car and take the engine, ecu and wiring harness. My question is, doing this, aren't I just opening up a can of worms that I have no idea how much trouble I am going to have? Would it not be easier to add a turbo to my stock engine?

 

Ok, well my goal is to run 200-250 rwhp, but obviously I'm not sitting on a bucket of cash, so this is the type of project that I am going to have to do over time and do a little bit at a time, or buy the parts piece by piece. (Got to love the life of a college student...)

 

I realize I am going to need a T3/T04 turbo, intercooler, 3" down pipe, P90 heads, high pressure fuel pump, ecu, wiring harness.

 

Anyway, I love the site, and many of the people here seem to be extremely knowledgeable, so I figured it would be the best place to ask.

 

Anyway, I think I have begun to ramble.

 

Thanks!

Cameron

'75 280z

5-Speed

Catless performance exhaust

Strut Braces

(Tokico Illuminas with Tokico Lowering Springs - On Order)

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Hi Cameron, welcome to Hybridz

 

The reason most people use the motor is basically because of time and ease. YES you can build up your current motor but you'll have alot of time with your car off the road, also you are more likely to come up with problems whilst converting an N/A motor to turbo. Beleive me I know because thats my only option, short of spending $2000 on getting an L28ET sent over, or doing an RB Conversion.

 

If you have the time, get an L28ET (~$250) and learn how to rebuild it - this way your car stays driveable and you can learn about how it works, on top of that you can buy parts peice by peice, and bolt them on as soon as you get them instead of having to wait to get your car off the road, plus you can clean /paint the engine and engine bay before installation. 250rwhp shouldnt be any problem at all with a properly tuned L28ET.

 

--- Search lecture starts here ---

Spending some quality time (a few weeks) with the Search function is usually my main point of research before buying parts, and when you want to ask a question that you feel you should know the answer for but dont, just explain *why* your having problems coming up with an answer/solution and ask for some pointers. you seem pretty switched on anyway...

--- Search lecture finishes here ---

 

I hope you find lots of useful information here like i have.

 

Sid

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Cameron, the L28ET shortblock uses stronger shot-peened rods (L28E does not) and even thought he pistons both have 10.9cc dish, they are different part #s between the P90 turbo engine and older N42/47 na engine. That is not the big issue, though, between hanging a turbo exhaust manifold/turbo onto your engine (even with a P90 head on it and therefore same c.r. as a L28ET) and a factory L28ET engine...it is all in the engine mgmt. You can probably get by with what you are considerring doing if, AND ONLY IF, you use turbo injectors and fuel pump AND a Nissan ECCS for an L28ET, OR you go to a stand-alone engine mgmt system such as Mega Squirt-and-Spark or SDS or similar system. Don't waste your time and money trying to run a turbo engine (especially without intercooler) with an analog-based systen from '75 vintage L28E because you are going to melt the pistons in short order if you do. Piston preservation is your goal and the L28ET ECCS or better is the only way your are going to accomplish this. Knock-sensing is critical, without it, it's not if, but when; your engine is toast. If you can pull the injectors, fuel pump, ECCS (ECU and harness), turbo exhaust manifold/turbo, (just pull the whole P90 top-half...leave the manifolds on and pull head bolts and put the P90 top onto your N42 shortblock) and install an intercooler then you'll be in pretty good shape as long as you pay attention to turbo engine mgmt. Unless you do all of this...then you'd be better off using your N42 top-half on an F54 flat-top piston shortblock from an '81-'83 L28E and going the na route at 10:1+ compression.

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nitr0: Thanks for the Welcome, I have been reading quite a bit here, but never posted. And thank you for the information... That is a good point: I was not thinking about the down time of having the engine apart and not being able to drive (as this is my daily driver). I have been having some difficulty locating a l28et, but I'm sure given time, I will be able to find one for a reasonable price. The learning is also great as well. and *chuckles* Yes, I have been doing searching regarding this subject quite a bit, and many of the posts are extremely helpful, but most people seem to be shooting for the starts with the RWHP, but since a 30 year old car is my daily driver, I'd rather not push it too much, because I KNOW I would be tempted to use it, and with more power, the reliability drops. As well as, I am not trying to spend 10k on this upgrade, infact I'm trying to shell out the smallest amount possible to get my HP goal.

 

DAW: I wish I could understand everything you just told me, however I'm going to do some searching right now to figure out what it all means. I have however heard that the entire top end of the p90 was needed to do the swap, partially due to the knock sensor you spoke of. I am probably going to be using the L28ET ECCS, turbo injectors and fuel pump temporially until I can afford to upgrade them to something along the lines of MSnS. My goal is reliability, because as I said above, this is my daily driver and I just want a bit more of a fun commute. :) I will definately be running an intercooler though even if it takes me a little bit longer before I can install it. I do like NA engines, but getting 250 rwhp in an NA application, from my understanding would require quite a bit more cost than with a turbo. However, thanks for the idea.

 

Cameron

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cameron, I've done what you're thinking of doing on my '77. You should read about the mods I used here:

 

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105932

 

Anyways, there's a lot of negativity toward not using the l28et on this site, which is not totally unfouded, but the fact of the matter is that most people on here have never actually tried it. My car runs real strong w/ the t3/t4 bolted on and I'm still using the stock ecu. I'm only running 7 psi at the moment, but the car is fast. It had me laughing like a lunatic when I first took it out and mashed the gas. I was breaking the tires loose in first and second, and easily breaking my old top end limit. You can call my setup crude but the fact remains that it the car is fast and I did it on the cheap. Thats all that matters to me. I'm a college student like you, so I can totally relate to your financial situation. If you can get your hands on an l28et and do that swap cheaply, that's awesome, and I'd recommend that, since it would result in about the same downtime for the car. Anyways, good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

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A few days ago i went and checked out a Mazda 626 Turbo for a friend, after some research we learnt that Mazda didnt really want to re-tool their machines for a turbo head/block, and just designed a turbo setup that bolted onto their N/A setup.

 

This guy had spent $4000AUD only 3 years ago at a workshop to bolt on a factory turbo setup to an N/A car. Its newer than the 280zxt, had no intercooler, ran a carby turbo setup and would in theroy have the same compression as the 2L N/A motor... was pretty gutless too, only 85fwkw at full boost. Yes thats what i asked myself - 85kw? $4000? huh?

 

If your on a tight budget, just bolt a turbo on, keep it at low boost and install an intercooler and Megasquirt. If you dont want to install a Megasquirt, I learnt a cool sounding trick from another guy on here, put a hobbs switch on your intake, and wire it up to your coldstard injector (make it big, 800cc) so that your it kicks in when you hit boost. I cant remember what he did with timing though...

 

As you get more cash, you can add go-fast goodies to your engine and turn the boost up bit by bit. You will soon find that 250rwhp wasnt that hard, and you need more power, and more torque, lots more of both, and more tyres, lots of rear tyres.... :)

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