Guest 2004 srt4 Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 my brother just bought a turbo kit for his 76 N/A 280z. the guy he is getting the turbo form says he builds thes cars etc etc.... hes going to personally deliver the turbo to our house. he says that the turbo kit can be put on w/ the stock pistons, compression ratio, as well as with the stock ECU. I am very sceptical about this and don't want him wasting his money on a crap turbo kit, or thinking he can do a N/A to turbo swap with out rebuilding the engine, and finding a turbo ecu/harness and all the other little parts that are needed to make everything work the way it is supposed to. weve put a ton of money/work into restoring this car to where it is now to have the motor blown up bc of this turbo kit. any help form you guys would be awsome, and greatly appreciated. thanks soo much -Brian mcVeigh- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 Hmmm I've never heard of a NA to Turbo "kit". How much did it cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73ZCAR Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 More info would be good. Possibly a link to the e-bay sale. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big-phil Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 you don't have to rebuild the motor, and you can use the stock everything as long as you use a rising rate fuel pressure regulator. but you wont be able to run much boost. Do you know what this "kit" includes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2004 srt4 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 i dont think it was a "na to turbo kit" just a kit to upgrade the stock turbo. heres the link to the ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=4638014583&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2004 srt4 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 he also claims you can run 13 pounds safely, sounds kinda high to me for an N/A engine w/ a turbo bolted on. he never told my bro that this was everything needed to do the swap, and that other parts will definately be needed i just wanted to make sure that an engine rebuild wouldnt be needed, and to make sure the turbo was good. thanks again. -Brian McVeigh- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 he also claims you can run 13 pounds safelyI sure wouldn't go that high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2004 srt4 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 yeah thats what i was saying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan4011 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 this is his bro, the turbo is set up for 13lbs of boost right now, i agree it may be a bit much for my n/a motor, the guy selling this kit says that 13lbs is safe for my motor, and that anything over 15 is too much, i think just to be on the safe side i will run it at about 8-11. what do you guys think? its not a complete turbo "kit", aside from the things listed in the auction, he is going to include a supra intercooler, 2 1/2'' downpipe, new fuel rail, and a new air flow sensor. then ill need tubing for the intercooler and exhaust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tony78_280z Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 i think just to be on the safe side i will run it at about 8-11. What about ECU? Will the stock ECU see the boosted mixture and calculate appropriatly? Or will you need to swap in an ECU from a TurboZ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Haha that's Frankie that you bought that from. He's a good guy, and he got me started with my bolt-on setup. I bought a similar "kit" from him over a year ago and I'm glad I did. He promised me that my purchase came with free phone tech support and he wasn't kidding. He'll talk your ear off about any question you ask him. I've learned a bunch from that guy and we still talk a lot nowadays. I plan on visiting his shop sometime when I'm in NC. He said he'll even let me drive his 700+ hp Z racecar. Just keep in mind that he's been doing this for a long time and his advice on engine management is biased toward older, more primative methods. For instance he can't understand why I'm going with megasquirt. The only real issue I had with his items was an Xspower t3/t4 he sent me. He has nothing against that brand, unlike most people. The turbo had been dropped in the mail and was bent, so I sent it back to him and he sent me a lightly used Garrett t3/t4 for no extra cost. He's always willing to work out any problems that arise. I'm currently daily driving my Z at 8psi with the following parts from Frankie: -ZXT manifold which he installed an external gate onto -garrett t3/t4 -zxt downpipe -zxt j-pipe (I installed my own bov into this) -zxt afm housing which Frankie installed n/a electronics into It is entirely do-able to run a turbo on the n/a motor without zxt management, but you will need the larger afm housing and you will need to adjust the afm spring. I personally would be very cautious about running 13psi on the n/a motor without megasquirt or some other aftermarket efi. People have a misconception that the n/a motor can't handle any boost. The fact of the matter is that it works fine as a boosted motor, but will not handle detonation like the zxt motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan4011 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 yea its frankie, he seems very nice on the phone and he willing to help me with everything too, definatelty seems to know what hes talking about. how do you like your set up? running with 8 lbs of boost. he should be driving up to my house wednesday to deliver the parts. yea i really want to see the 700hp z he has. that has to be crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I'm going to tell you right now that you won't want to stay with the original electronics. The car hauls balls at 8psi even now, but I'm getting terrible gas mileage and it could run smoother. I'm running an fmu to get extra fuel on boost, and I'm sure I'm getting plenty, but the fact of the matter is that without a better efi system you can't tune fuel and timing properly. I'm scrambling to build my megasquirt so I can get some gas mileage and get a lot more power for a given boost level. As far as reliability, though, I trust the n/a motor completely. I have to drive the car every day in city traffic here at school and it hasn't let me down at all so far. I don't see any reason you can't run a bolt-on setup into old age as long as you don't detonate on it. You gotta tell me about whichever one of his cars he ends up driving to your place. I've never seen any pics since Frank is somewhat computer illiterate outside of ebay. Also, i have a hunch that he's rocking a mullet. Let me know if I'm right on that one:mrgreen:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 280ZForce Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 when i first bought my Z it had a n/a n47 motor...stock n/a everything except a t4 turbo bolted up w/ turbonetics w/g, small intercooled setup, adjustable cartech fmu and 2.5" dp. n/a afm, n/a ecu, n/a injectors, n/a fuel pump, etc, etc. the kit, which was a cartech turbo kit that had been on the car w/ no problems for over 20 years (installed 1985!) when I bought it in Jan 2005 and it ran great still! the turbo was never rebuilt over the course of that time either. it saw 8 psi mostly, but had a manual boost controller at the time and hit 10-15 every once in a blue moon for fun. but it's definately doable w/ all stock n/a stuff. good luck and you will definately have fun. your kit shall be better off w/ the upgraded injectors and fuel pump though. mine definately ran a lil lean at the top of some gears. backfired blue and red flames a few times @ the top of 5th gear doing over 100+ mph my friend said on the freeway when he was behind me last year. i of course, no longer have this motor or anywhere close to this setup (read sig for current specs). but it was definately fun while I had that t4 setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan4011 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 is the stock oil pan going to work well, or should i go out and find a zxt one? thanks for all the help guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nienberg.11 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 As long as you don't mind drilling and tapping (or welding) a return fitting into it, the stock pan works fine. I'm running it. Frankie will provide you with the necessary oil return fittings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkatwork Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Frankie is OK with me too. I bought a turbo set-up and intercooler from him but I haven't pulled my car out of storage to install it yet. I also bought a ported/polished intake manifold from him and everything looks good but we won't be sure until it's all put together. P.S. I'm betting a buzz cut vs the mullet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2004 srt4 Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 wow. thanks for all the help guys. makes me feel alot better now. i'm so used to my car with all the electronics controlling everything that goes on in it. i just wanted to make sure everything wos legit w/ this setup and it seems that it is. i'm going to wilson in a little while to drop off the wheels and tires and i'll take some pictures of the car and post them up later today. from what i hear it looks badass. thanks again -Brian McVeigh- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 yeh i've run a n/a setup for a while.. i unfortunatly didnt have as much luck as everyone else.. the N/A ECU was crap.. one problem I should of adressed was a Rising Rate Fuel Pressure Regulator.. or an adjustable fuel pressure reg.. that was my big problem.. another problem was the timing.. the mechanical dizzy wants to advance.. and I should have sealed up the advance slots so it DIDNT move... advancing timing under boost mean KABOOM! So I ran Megasquirt and my n47/n42 combo with a turbo and it was superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 I just had a question about this: "120lph HI-FLOW FUEL PUMP (RATED FOR 500hp)" Is it? I know the 180sx came with somewhere between 130-140lph fuel pump, and it's good enough for ~250hp. The Walbro 255lph is rated to like 550hp by Walbro, but is barely good enough for that. (most guys who go over 500hp upgrade to double or something bigger) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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