lithium4750 Posted July 29, 2006 Share Posted July 29, 2006 I have a 260 with a 280 block, 260 head and early S.U.'s, and I was wondering what the best approach to puttin a turbo on it would be. To buy a nice one and just get a $300 manifold from MSA. Or I could pull a stock one off a ZX and see how that works. What turbo options do I have that will bolt up to a manifold bought from MSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessZ Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 I would search Z websites before spending $300 on a manifold. I spent $420 on a complete '83 L28ET with ECU and it hauls azz in my '71Z. Typically, a perfectly fine, used turbo manifold sells for between $75-$150. Just spend some time looking around and you can't go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium4750 Posted July 30, 2006 Author Share Posted July 30, 2006 Would it be best to get a ZX fuel injected engine if I put a turbo on it? Or is it ok to leave it carbed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spdkilz02 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 get the FI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 It's harder to turbocharge su's with a blowthrough setup than the webers(superior in that it allows you to use an intercooler), but it is possible to do a single draw-through setup by making a plenum with a single entry to replace your su's on the manifold, and mounting your single su in front of the turbo. It's just so cheap and easy (junkyard/ebay shopping) to get the fuel injection stuff that it seems silly to do it with carbs anymore. Since nissan made the L28et so easy to swap parts from, you shouldn't have to fabricate too much to get it to work. However, using a draw through su would mean that you wouldn't have to change your fuel pump, but you would still need the turbo/manifold, oil feed/return lines-turbo or modified NA oil pan, and whatever adapter you would plan to used to mount the carb to the turbo as well as the associated plumbing. Somebody posted an ebay ad for an old system like this last week sometime, you should be able to find it if you search around. All said and done, if your goal is more for hp per $ than period correct/wow factor, your time and money would probably be better spent on getting the parts you need from a ZXT and using a Megasquirt ecu to control it than using the carb system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RB26powered74zcar Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 I have a 260 with a 280 block, 260 head and early S.U.'s, and I was wondering what the best approach to puttin a turbo on it would be. To buy a nice one and just get a $300 manifold from MSA. Or I could pull a stock one off a ZX and see how that works. What turbo options do I have that will bolt up to a manifold bought from MSA. As far as I know, MSA dosen't sell turbo headers. Your looking at a bunch of wasted work and money/ time if you try to cobble together a turbo set up for your Z. Best bet is to just bite the bullet and buy yourself a complete 81 - 83 ZXT motor pull out. That way you will have everything you need at once, and you and a buddy can prolly install it in a weekend and drive it to work on Monday.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithium4750 Posted July 30, 2006 Author Share Posted July 30, 2006 I have a 79 ZX that I am selling, could I use a regular ZX engine and just use the Megasquirt ECU with that engine? I could just buy a used turbo manifold and turbo from another car. I've been readin and all I want is a significant amount of horsepower, it is my daily driver but I do wanna open it up every once and awhile. I think I could get 250 to 275 with puttin a turbo on it quite yet I will probably start by putting a cam and tuning the carbs first. then if i just need more horses I'll look into the turbo. But if I find a good deal on a zxt, im gettin it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Turbo and NA cams are totally different, you need to decide on a performance goal, then figure out the best way to achieve it. (A hot NA came will have lots of valve overlap, but adding a turbo to a cam like that will tend to give poor results. The turbo creates backpressure in the manifold, and if your exhaust and intake valves are open at the same time, the higher exhaust pressure can force it's way in to the cylinder and affect the combustion process adversly.) Once you make a decision, don't deviate from the plan, and you will avoid wasting a lot of time and money on modifications. In order to get all the parts from a turbo ZX, you will end up getting almost everything from the engine anyway, so it might make more sense to just get the whole thing if you can. If you are using carbs now, you'd need: Intake manifold with injectors (also feed and return fuel lines) , turbo manifold with turbo and j-pipe, oil feed and return lines, oil pan with provision for oil drain back tube from the turbo, turbo fuel pump (and might as well get the fuel tank for the fuel injection baffles to avoid pump starvation on hard cornering/acceleration), and assuming the megasquirt, you wouldn't need the MAF, but you would still need to make a harness for the injectors. If you get a complete turbo engine swap, you could either use your old block with the turbo head, or just swap in the whole engine and be done with it. There is some discussion that using an early N42 block is superior to the F54 in terms of cylinder bore strength, but either block would be fine for a normal-ish street engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessZ Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 I just wrote this long reply and lost it due to technology. Anyway, stick with a plan. I was going the na route, but decided on turbo and will not look back. If you need help turboing your car let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan4011 Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 considering you would want to switch to fuel injection its probably your best bet to go ahead and buy a complete turbo motor and do the swap, if you could find a complete fuel injection set up from a 75-83 z or zx for cheap you could get that then get a turbo manifold and a t3/t4 turbo and run low boost on your n/a motor. may seem the cheaper way to go but trust me, in the end it deffinately wont be, you may even be happy building your motor up n/a but we all know turbo is more fun. just keep your eyes peeled for either a zxt motor or you can probably find the complete turbo car for just as cheap, i found a guy up here in nc selling an 83 turbo with a good motor and 123k miles, body in horrible shape tho for $600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/vintage-datsun-z-car-draw-thru-turbo-setup_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ003QQitemZ130012174778QQrdZ1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dan4011 Posted August 1, 2006 Share Posted August 1, 2006 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/vintage-datsun-z-car-draw-thru-turbo-setup_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33742QQihZ003QQitemZ130012174778QQrdZ1 hmm, the exhaust manifold looks like it would flow more air to the turbo than a 280zx turbo manifold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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