Guest livewakesnow Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 so i might be buying a l28 tubro off an 83' zx. it comes with everything needed for the swap. what should i expect to pay for, or not pay for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdizzy204 Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 do you mean that you are buying the engine. if so, it largely depends on condition, mileage of the motor. also if possible, try to locate a complete car to make the swap easier on u(i managed to find a running zxt for 400, they are out there).also this link may be useful. good luck:) http://www.yadamnfool.com/turbo_z_conversion/s130_zxt_to_s30_z.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 yes the complete engine. well my buddy's got one out of his car but hes got everything needed for the swap. how much better are turbo'd than the naturally aspirated l28's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdizzy204 Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 it depends on your goals with the car. id suggest looking at the faq about the turbo engine. if u are looking to make under 300 hp then u can stay n/a. but if u are looking for more than that l28et is the way to go. both the l28 and the l28et are good motors, but it all depends on what u want to do with the car. what are ur goals for the car(hp), daily driven/track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayAreaZT Posted May 5, 2006 Share Posted May 5, 2006 I bought my last running L28et for about $250 or $300 (don't remember the exact price) without the ECU and harness. Typically junkyards want about $400 to $500 for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeiss150 Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 A N/A engine with give you about 180 RWHP and thats with a header and exaust and cam and electronic ignition and SU carbs and a bunch of other stuff. If you want over 200 RWHP on a N/A engine then you will need some serious head, intake, exaust and a super high compression ratio. Not cheep not easy. for anything over 200 WHP turbo is the way to go. With only a few inexpensive (reletively) mods you can get up to 300 WHP I think if you just raise the stock boost from 7 to 12 psi you can get a turbo to 220whp with out any mods. How do I know ... cause I have a N/A L28 with good mods on it and it only get 180 (guessing) WHP. anyone that I've ever seen post over that on a N/A is running tripples (carborators) and has had a bunch of head and intake work. 180 RWHP sure... 300RWHP ....no way not on a N/A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 im goign for 300hp or more. so i guess the l28et is a good enough engine for that. i didn't really know much about it. but the engine im thinking about is fuel injected i dont know why everyone keeps bringing up carbs. they didn't even make an l28et with carbs right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 7, 2006 Share Posted May 7, 2006 ok. so im going to look at the engine sometime this week. can you give me some tips on what to look for? as i dont know too much about this kind of stuff yet. maybe i'll take one of my fellow z mates with me, but what should i look for when making the purchase? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeiss150 Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 Well if your just gonna drop it in without rebuilding it I would go over the basics. compression, spark and fuel. But, if you're gonna rebuild it then it doesn't really matter what's wrong with it as long as it has all of its parts. If its an 83 then its gonna have a P90a head wich has hydrolic lifters. Thoes can be a bit of a problem if they are broken, well not so much broken but not working right. There are way's to repair the lifters but you cant buy new parts for them. make sure the distributor is there... its a special dizzy with crank angle sensor... you'll need it... get the computer, even if your gonna replace it with an after market computer. If you want A/C well grab that stuff too. don't for get the coil, and if its a manual trans grab that too. If its an auto trans that will probably be better for the state of the engine. there should be an oil cooler. I think thats it. As far as the turbo check if there is any oil running down the down pipe. You wont really know it the trubo need rebuilding untill you take it off and check for "cokeing" (burnt oil in the oil lines ) and also you need to check end play in the turbine. I hope that answered your questions. Oh and I only mentioned the Carbs because you can only get over 200 horse power with them on a N/A engine ... but you're right ... they didn't make a carb'ed turbo. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 man i hope im not getting in over my head. i dont really know much about cars yet. i just wanna get it running so i can get it home before i leave for iraq. i dont want it to sit in weather for 7 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfairladyz Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 it'd be to your advantage to grab the engine wiring harness too as the turbo and NA harness' are not compatible. The swap isn't too bad and if you're worried about the swap then take a camera with you and take plenty of pics of the turbo engine and all it's components while it's still installed in the donor car. And remember, if you run into any snags with the install, this swap has been done so many times that you're sure to find someone that can help you if you get stuck. I picked up an entire running turbo parts car for $75. Drove it 1000 miles home then pulled the engine and swapped it into my non turbo Z. It's really easy when you've got the entire car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 hey aren't you on another website? i remember seeing your name somewhere else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 k so this is the deal. i went down and looked at the engine today. it looks pretty good, but you cant tell what kind of shape its in just by looking at it, so i gotta do a compression tests and some other stuff. he wants 800 for EVERYTHING needed, plus some extras ie. oil cooler, ecu of a 86 300zx, etc. but then he offered that, or 1500 for that and the 83zx he was gonna put it in with no engine. its in pretty good shape, only thing wrong is paint, but the interior is immaculate. anyways this sparked my interest and im prolly gonna do that assuming the engine is good. just running it by some minds first. what do you guys think? i ment to bring my camera but forgot so i only got some pics with my phone, but im going back out this week and will try and snap some pics. so lemme know what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christoc Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 What were you planning on putting it into? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewakesnow Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 79 280zx. all though theres speculation my enging MAY run and the reason the car died on the freeway is because the alternator went bad and the battery went dead. so im gonna figure this out. I am selling my car thouhg and looking for a different z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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