L28et/T5 Conversion Questions

[toddf58]

To know what type of oil to put in a T-5 you have to determine if it is a world class or non-world class. Different syncros and other improvments. There should be a metal ID tag on the tranny with a number that can be cross referenced on the web.

http://www.britishv8.org/Articles/Borg-Warner-T5-ID-Tags.htm

[Zmanco]

Thanks Hyuri, good to see it straight from the horses mouth. But I'm curious: it has been a while since I used any Dexron, but I remember it as being much thinner to the touch than 80w-90 gear oil. Yet both are recommended by the factory.

 

I think I'll start with 80w90 as Slownrusty suggests and after break-in, if I have any shifting issues, maybe try Dexron.

[Soundmasterg]

I know a guy who has gear oil in his T5 in a 280ZX and it works fine, but shifts stiffly and is even more notchy than normal. I know another guy who put a T5 into his 240Z and he runs Dextron 2 and it works fine also, but shifts much nicer. You can get a Mustang shifter or an aftermarket one like a Summit Racing one for Mustangs and ti will shift even better.

 

I plan to use Dextron 2, and already have the Summit Racing shifter for mine. Hopefully I can swap it in sometime this summer.

 

greg

[Jsal32]

Didn't read through the whole thread... this might be some redundancy but...

 

http://www.datsunzgarage.com/borg/index.htm

 

That website has a lot of good info on it. Hope it helps.

 

-Jose

[motorsci]

Here are the pics of the one in my car you just make your own. I found the local race car shop has lots of tabs that make it easy.

[citjet]

Daniel,

 

Any updates on the install? I'll be picking my donor car up at the first of the month and I'm hoping someone has struggled through this before I have to.

[DuoWing]

The ZX is supposed to use 91 octane!? I've always used 87 octane.

 

I was originally going to go with a T5 for my 76, but I had the 5-speed in the car already so I decided to go with that. I've heard generally more problems stemming from the T5 over the N/A tranny.

[Zmanco]

Daniel,

 

Any updates on the install? I'll be picking my donor car up at the first of the month and I'm hoping someone has struggled through this before I have to.

I've been busy researching turbos and cams. At this point my thinking is to go with the MSA Schneider stage 1 cam. Based on my airflow calculations the ideal turbo for me is likely a T3-T04E 0.50 trim. Unfortunately there are very few used ones and the new aren't cheap.

 

To start, I may run with the stock T3 for a while with an intercooler. Before others tell me it's too small, I know that, but my goals are modest and I'd be content to get MS sorted running the stock boost. Also, given I'm at altitude, the T3 isn't as much of a limiter as it would be at sea level.

 

As for transmission, after doing some more research, it looks like it will cost about $300 to do a custom driveshaft, plus I'll need a better shifter to protect overshifting the T5 (another $100 or more), so at this moment I'm leaning towards just staying with my stock NA tranny. Given I have a 4.11 diff (LSD), it's a better fit than with the T5 anyway, especially with a turbo.

 

We've got our first track day on our new track this weekend, so I've been holding off on touching the car until afterward anyway. My goal is to have the swap up and running (with T3 and 2.5" exhaust) by the end of June.

[Zmanco]

I was studying up on BOVs and they are recommended to be installed before the throttle plate. This makes sense since they are supposed to vent the excess pressure when the throttle is suddenly closed. But I noticed that on the stock turbo engine, the BOV is mounted directly on the intake manifold AFTER the throttle plate. What was Nissan thinking?

[citjet]

I've been busy researching turbos and cams. At this point my thinking is to go with the MSA Schneider stage 1 cam. Based on my airflow calculations the ideal turbo for me is likely a T3-T04E 0.50 trim. Unfortunately there are very few used ones and the new aren't cheap.

 

I received this reply back from BRAAP on a similar question that I had asked him concerning cams. I'm going to be going this route as I already have one in a E88 head that I have on the shelf. It is a cheap available solution.

 

"In my talking with Dave Rebello of Rebello Racing, he has found a stock N/A cam that he prefers to Turbo L-28’s over the stock and aftermarket Turbo cams. If you plan to run a Turbo, the cams with the “A†stamp on the back are it. Less lag, sharper crisper spool up, more HP on Rebellos Dyno for the same boost level vs turbo grinds, etc. This N/A cam can produce 200 N/A HP, but will require very fine tuning and serious head work."

 

Like yourself I'm initially going to run the stock T3 at 10-12 psi with a NPR intercooler mainly because I want the lower end torque for the street more than the real high end power. I'm going to go ahead with installing MegaSquirt though the project seems daunting. I know I need it for future upgrades so I might as well get it over with.

[citjet]

I was studying up on BOVs and they are recommended to be installed before the throttle plate. This makes sense since they are supposed to vent the excess pressure when the throttle is suddenly closed. But I noticed that on the stock turbo engine, the BOV is mounted directly on the intake manifold AFTER the throttle plate. What was Nissan thinking?

 

I didn't think that the stock engine came with a BOV in the sense you are thinking. I think what you are looking at it the overboost prevention which wouldn't keep the back flow from slowing the turbo down (obviously wrong side of TB) but would pop in the event of an overboost condition (proper side of TB). This is why you have to permanently plug or remove this safety feature if you are going to run higher than stock boost.

 

The BOV to prevent slowing your turbo spool should be before the TB which will allow the excess pressure to vent or bypass and keep the turbo spooled.