Guest Trippensee Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Hi all. I am new to this forum.(as my post shows 1). And for my 16th Birthday my dad took me to my X-girlfriend's dad's shop called The Z Car Center. (Who I sell parts for on eBay). Well, to make a long story short a guy that said he would never sell his 78' 280z (original owner with 300,000miles and never rebuilt engine... claims Quaker State oil did it all) sold the beauty to my dad. I will be getting my license in August and want to do something different with this baby without having to put in a new engine. I know my fair share about Z's but 240z. My dad and I have been rebuilding one since 2001. I've read some posts and I know what an inline 6 is and V6 and like I said before know my fair share about 240z's nothing emmaculate though. My dad and I were thinking about getting Triple Webers instead of the fuel injection or Hitachi? I think they are called? Anyways what do you guys think I should think about to "unleash the beast" LMK... Ret Trippensee, 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Ls1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Trippensee Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Is there a site to find that on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Is there a site to find that on? He's talking about the LS1 Engine out of the vettes and camaros. Its a nice and powerful V8, search for LS1 and you'll find all you want to know. As for your Z, for the inline 6 you could turbo it. Or do a camshaft, which would help you the most for easy power. Search for power combo's on here, there is a lot. Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Suspension and brakes then enjoy it and drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v8dats Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Suspension and brakes then enjoy it and drive it. like mark said... PLEASE enjoy your car! i hate it when i get a z and start working on it without being able to drive it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Heuristicism Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Hehe, what every 16 year old kid needs, 300+h.p... Start out small with the original motor (rebuild) and work your way up to more horsepower. You will learn the dynamics of the driving car this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeiss150 Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 just go over the engine and make sure its working right. check the basics, compression (150-170 psi), spark, fuel. Then up grade your breaks. If you want a little quicker car you could get a 60mm throttle body from a 240sx, it just bolts on, BUT, you need to port your intake manifold too. Suposedly doing the TB swap will add 10 HP. If you want to go with carbs put on the SU's (round top) and use the 260z intake manifold (n36 I think) Tripples are way to much carb for a non modified engine. A header might give you 5-10 extra HP (maybe) 2.5 inch exaust (loose the cat convert). Those or just a few bolt on things that should give you a few extra HP. If you want real power TURBO is the way to go. Make sure that your engine compression is at least 150 accross all 6 cylinders... if so no need to rebuild for these mods good luck let us know what you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 73Turbo240z Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 upgrade the suspension and brakes, take it to the absolute limit to where the motor is now what is holding you back... then start fiddling with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260zturbo Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 tust me u want to enjoy your z first. this is coming from a 20 year old in school that works on his z non stop. its been over a year and a half and im still not done. i just have little stuff to do. i did a total rebuild and did some major upgrades. im glad i went the route i did but i never driven the z or any z in my life time. so i cant wait till she is done. it kills me ever day i cant drive her but one day i will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWRex Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Enjoy it first,then let your garage have it for a couple years..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven280zx Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 right now im in the same situation as you. what i'm doing is rebuilding my engine and i'll be puttin in a turbo... i figure i got time for it to sit, my licence dont come till about march next year:icon45: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruez Posted June 21, 2006 Share Posted June 21, 2006 Suspension and brakes then enjoy it and drive it. I second... (or third) that.. The first car I bought was a '78 280Z when I was 16. It has plenty of power for starting out.. learn the car and its capabilities before you get more power than you can handle safely at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 5, 2006 Share Posted July 5, 2006 If this thing really is a creampuff like you say (although 300,000 miles is a lot of miles, no matter what oil you put in it), I would say build another L series on the side and put it in at your leisure. I second the suspension and brake upgrade advice. The tokicos work well for me, and you will notice a world of difference by changing out the chassis bushings. Be sure your mods are done in stages, so that you don't have to have the car down for any length of time. Suspension is a weekend project (depending on experience), bushings maybe no depending on your spindle pin situation...L series to L series swap shouldn't be too difficult either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift Posted July 7, 2006 Share Posted July 7, 2006 If its just "working," I would replace all the suspension bushings and upgrade the brakes. While you're at it, you should replace the spindle bearing, haft shaft bearings and diff bearings (remember to pack ethe bearings with grease). then other suspension stuff. Then focus on the engine (swap or rebuild). BTW is it a automatic or manual? The 240z new, was rated to have higher HP than the 280z (because of emmissions). and because your car is pre 1975, it should be smog exempt, so you can pretty much do what ever you want to the car as far as emmissions is concerned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
300zxt Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Good advice above. Learn how to drive first, and fix any mechanical issues with the car and then worry about making it go uber fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forrest Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Yes, definitely drive it as is and work on the suspension, brakes, etc first. You need everything in good working order before you have real power anyway, and the Z's stock 170bhp is pretty fun as is. I always drove my basically stock L6 77 about 10x harder than my turbo 78, because I didn't have to worry nearly as much about losing control. Then, when everything is running pretty smoothly, go buy another Z, and prep that one for an engine swap. You won't ever want to have to drive a civic every day once you've been driving a Z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 all great advice... I did the exact same thing... drove it for almost two years and then last October I started doing brakes wheels and a transmission repair. It went downhill from there to where I am now. I now have to rebuild the motor since there is something wrong in the short block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSuperBbutZ Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 A V8 is the OLDEST idea for a alternative Z engine PERIOD/ if you wanna do something different, do some reasearch, a thing just catchin on now is the SR20DET, RB25 or 26, v8's are old news (somehow i think this is gonna start a fight...but what the hell) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 To add what I said before is, don't do anything to it as of right now. because once you start, you are going to have some down time in driving it and once you start tinkering with it, you're going to want to do all this crap that will prolong your down time. And once you do start tinkering, if you see something else that you think needs to be changed, then just do that later (inless its something imediate), just finish what you initially was working on the car for and plan for that upgrade later. But once you start, start in the order with the bushing, brakes, then suspension, drive train/engine (power). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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