Fuzz260z Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 hey, i am relatively new to Z cars although ive always loved em. ive had my 19977 260z for about a year now and shes pretty stock, except for some extractors and a 2 and 1/4 inch straight through. i want to get a little extra performance out of the old girl. if i had enough money id just drop a L28ET in and work it, but i dont have that sort of cash. I just wanted to know what the best thing to do first is, for example, im currently running the e88 head, should i swich to a p90 or a n42? or should i stick with the e88 and put a 460 lift 270-280 duration cam in? stick with the old SU's or put a set of tripple webbers? anything you guys might know, that i can do myslelf reasonably cost effectively. any advice is much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 find the Ultimate NA engine thread and read it. This firum is great, but questions as basic as yours are going to get lots of comments using the word "search" rather often... performance engine building is NOT as simple as just throwing a cam in; having said that, the head choice is fairly moot until youve gotten well beyond stock. E88, P90, and N42 are all three the popular heads, so for now theres no need to start shopping for a new one.. the cam wouldn't do JACK unless you put more carbs on it to; the triple carbs would probably be the best FIRST step out of what you listed. However, suspension work (especially on a 30 year old stock suspension) will get you more FUN, if not necessarily more speed and better lap times, than any ONE of those things that you mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stony Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 I would suggest really thinking out what you want to do with the car. Then make a plan and try your best to stick with. You see this speed thing is addicting. 8 years ago i bought my z and planned on just giving it a new paint job engine rebuild and exhaust. well My car currently is far from that!!!! Lots cheaper to just go all out in the beginning Oh yea use the search button. Sorry had to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz260z Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 cheers fellas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz260z Posted April 30, 2007 Author Share Posted April 30, 2007 righto after sifting through all the info and alot of searching(cheers stony), ive decided i want to get the L26 up to 200-250hp NA(200 horsies at the wheels would be nice but anything over 200 flying would be good) and dont want to spend too much over 3 grand. now im not going to pretend that im a pro or even a mildy good mechanic, but i am handy with tools and dont mind spending weekends working on my car. my car is currently 164hp at the fly with the good old stock SU's and the e-88 head. is it possible to get my car to this goal with the amount of cash i mentioned? if so wheres the best place to start(porting the head seems a good place to start am i wrong?)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted April 30, 2007 Share Posted April 30, 2007 righto after sifting through all the info and alot of searching(cheers stony), ive decided i want to get the L26 up to 200-250hp NA(200 horsies at the wheels would be nice but anything over 200 flying would be good) and dont want to spend too much over 3 grand. now im not going to pretend that im a pro or even a mildy good mechanic, but i am handy with tools and dont mind spending weekends working on my car. my car is currently 164hp at the fly with the good old stock SU's and the e-88 head. is it possible to get my car to this goal with the amount of cash i mentioned? if so wheres the best place to start(porting the head seems a good place to start am i wrong?)? 200-250 hp NA. Thatll be more then 3K and very very very hard to achieve. If you get that much youll have a full race motor. With 3K you could probably do a turbo motor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz260z Posted May 1, 2007 Author Share Posted May 1, 2007 doubt i could even buy a l28et in australia, i never even seen one for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimsum Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 I'm not sure how far $3000 will go in Australia, but I know it won't get you TOO much here in the US. It would be difficult to get to 200 hp (rear wheels or flywheel) on that budget. I would think that carbs, a header, and cams would be a good start for your project if you are just looking for HP. Instead of cams, though, I would recommend getting some good shocks and springs to help lower your center of gravity and stiffen up the suspension. Good luck with your project, and keep us updated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z_cars_rule Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 probly not the answer you are looking for mate, but here is what i can tell ya. For $144 you can get engine mounts from Castlemain Rod Shop, + $100 for someone to fab up a custom gearbox mount for you. $200 for custom driveshaft. $750 for a running 350 sbc $300 for a trimatic or celica 5spd then spend the rest of the 3g on little things like rad hoses, fuel pump, etc. That sould put you right around 225 hp at the flywheel, atleast, and lots of room for improvement. I would say i could do another RB20DET swap for $5000 now with what i know. and i would budget about the same for the chev. in oz there is not enough support for the L series. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted May 1, 2007 Share Posted May 1, 2007 Once you up the compression a little and a decent cam the SUs will start to limit your power... I can feel it on my L26 that around 5500 it wants more airflow but the SUs are limiting it. Soon I'll have my MN47 on my L26 (39cc chamber) and hopefully I can find some triple carbs to allow a bit more flow that the restrictive roundtop SUs. I hope to be making 160hp @ 10.2:1 CR with the normal internal and bolt-on mods. That should be good for the time being.. It makes for a FAST little street motor... I get through first gear from 2000-7000 RPMs in about 1.2 seconds with a stock tranny and 3.54 rear end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz260z Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 sweet guys, this is good info, giving me plenty of ideas! tell me olderthanme, do you have a 280z, electronic ignition system, or still running the old points? and yeah i think your right 'Z cars rule' if i want lots of power, easy and fairly cheaply, sr20det would be the way to go, but i want to keep an ammount of stockness to my engine, somthing about the L series i just love. and it seems that new shocks and springs are the first thing ill do, after that, i think ill go new carbs, then cam, then porting the head. ive been reading a litte on the bored 50mm SU carbs, apparently they are good for 280hp on a stroker engine, id imagine they would be good for 200 on mine, but would they fit on the stock intake manifold? thanks for the replys and info, keep them coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z_cars_rule Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 hey i totally get that you have a thing for that motor, i was just trying to give you some ideas. Redline make a tripple webber manifold, or jump on some Z club sites and search for 2nd hand carb setups. Crane or Crow, cant remember which one, makes some good cams for the Zeds, suspension 1st, then carbs, then go for headwork + cam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybermecium Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 How about a V8? Maybe from a Commodore? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz260z Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 please dont insult me with the thought of putting a commodore engine in a 260z. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete280z Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Maybe he meant Monaro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z_cars_rule Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 hey its not a bad idea really considering how cheap parts are. thats one reason i am going Chevy. One guy in the sydney/newcastle area had swapped in a commodore (buick) 3.8L V6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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