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My notes on the N/A L28 to Turbo swap.


FlatBlack

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  • 1 month later...

I really appreciate your "combining of turbo knowledge" into this one thread. The more I think about it, the more I am considering going turbo on my 280z instead of a proper engine swap. It seems that I can turbocharge for relatively cheap. Then when I blow the motor, I can do an engine swap. lol

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I really appreciate your "combining of turbo knowledge" into this one thread. The more I think about it, the more I am considering going turbo on my 280z instead of a proper engine swap. It seems that I can turbocharge for relatively cheap. Then when I blow the motor, I can do an engine swap. lol

 

I don't even know what that means haha

 

I was debating a SBC swap and a turbo swap for a while and then happened upon a decent deal on some turbo stuff and took the plunge.

 

I will for sure be doing an LS3 swap after I get out of University, but this is definitely keeping me entertained for now. It's also good to see my F-Body-owning friends get nervous by my little black Z car. I'm shooting for 300WHP next summer with this set up which should make me hang with the rest of the LS1 cars.

 

It is definitely worth it, I would strongly recommend a stand alone though, it will make the swap that much easier and way more enjoyable [potential is greatly heightened over the stock ECCS crap].

 

Good luck, feel free to hit me up on AIM if you want to talk about the swap some more.

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I definitely have A LOT to learn still. I was cruising around the diyautotune website today reading. I understood about every other word. lol

 

MegaSquirt was incredibly overwhelming for me as well, all I can offer you is to read read read.

 

Try and start out in the MegaSquirt section here and absorb as much as possible, and then read the megamanual whenever you get the courage :D

 

I had help from TrumpetRhapsody and Forrest when initially getting to know the product, and that was great to have someone answer my newb questions.

 

Feel free to AIM me if you want to chat about it, it really does help to talk to people that have done something really similar and can tell you specific advantages/disadvatages.

 

But, when it comes down to the Hardware in megasquirt, the harness is a piece of cake to wire up, and after seeing the V3.0 board, I would not be hesitant to build one myself. Once that is done, the tuning can begin, and that is the fun part.

 

Good luck!

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If anyone plans on running an earlier head that doesn't have a cylinderhead temp mounting hole,all you need is a 2K ohm thermistor. I modified an electrical lug,inserted the thermistor into it. Iused standard di-pole 24 awg cable from radio shack, and found bosch EV1 "mate" plugs to connect to the harness. The thermistors I bought through an electronic supply online. If anyone is interested,Ill post the suppliers and part numbers later.

Ibolted the electrical lug to the #4 intake runner on the aft side of the removable plate on the manifold. Runs great.

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  • 1 month later...
What things do I have to do to make my non turbo into a turbo I'm just courious how it would work and If it's easy I'll do it.

 

Hey there's this great thread on HybridZ.org that explains all of it.

 

Oh wait, this is it. :rolleyesg

 

Back on topic, slightly:

 

I am running 8 psi on the stock T3, and I've been maxing out the L28ET injectors. I don't know if mine are not clean enough or what, but I am upgrading to either 3000GT VR4 390cc injectors or some Ford Merkur 380cc injectors. That should get me up to ~12 psi which is what I am shooting for this Spring/Summer.

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Dont get hung on US Mandated emissions equipment. Which is the impetus behind the CHT repositioning to the rear of the head. It reaches tempoerature quicker, putting it on closed loop and enabling emissions components earlier.

 

It has an added advantage of being slightly more accurate for severe duty use, but Eurospec cars had 20 more HP and their temperature sensor was in the lower thermostat housing just like any other Z... It works fine there, you don't need a CHT.

 

Now that thermister idea, that might make my VW or Corvair swap a bit nicer since finding those sensors can be a bear. But for a Z it's boar-hog teats---the thermostat housing mounted sensors work fine. And did everywhere in the world. The US is different because of the emissions requirements at the time.

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Well the car I in bought in California was running on 7 psi with a T3/T4 turbo but it had a bad gasket so I couldnt really put my foot on it but it still ran strong on a L28ET that has 70,000+ miles on it.

 

Also I have a rebuild L28ET with a rebuild T3 turbo and before I do the swap could I take the injectors from the running L28ET and put it in my non turbo L28E?

 

Only reason I'm mentioning it is cuz I'm kinda despret for some power & out of money so my 81 280zx L28E motor has like 159,000+ miles and the injectors need to be changed no junk yards here carry anymore 280zx's so I kinda just wanna take what I got at my dispossal, all I've done to the car is a cold air intake, flowmaster exhaust, msd blaster & a stage 2 spec clutch runs strong but sometimes it feels like it loses power then it gains it back it just depends how I warm it up or if I clean my spark plugs then it will be even better but they get dirty within 2-3 days then it runs like crap!

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my 81 280zx L28E motor has like 159,000+ miles and the injectors need to be changed no junk yards here carry anymore 280zx's so I kinda just wanna take what I got at my dispossal, all I've done to the car is a cold air intake, flowmaster exhaust, msd blaster & a stage 2 spec clutch runs strong but sometimes it feels like it loses power then it gains it back it just depends how I warm it up or if I clean my spark plugs then it will be even better but they get dirty within 2-3 days then it runs like crap!

 

This is a sticky for a turbo swap. Start a build thread.

 

Only reason I'm mentioning it is cuz I'm kinda despret for some power & out of money

 

Do the responsible thing. SAVE UP YOUR MONEY. There are many more important things than going fast. If you don't have insurance on your car right now don't you dare start modding it.

 

No, you can't use L28ET injectors on your L28E with the stock ECU.

 

And please clean up your spelling/grammar.

 

It has an added advantage of being slightly more accurate for severe duty use, but Eurospec cars had 20 more HP and their temperature sensor was in the lower thermostat housing just like any other Z... It works fine there, you don't need a CHT.

 

Tony, thanks for the input!

 

I'm hoping people aren't using the stock ECCS on this swap, plus that list was just copied off of Bumble Zee's site. I am running MS and the GM CLT sensor I am running is in the thermostat housing.

 

I've heard several of you on here saying you want to run the stock N/A EFI on the flat top F54, just a warning, I am already having to replace my injectors and I haven't even turned the boost up. I think it's a really bad idea. The "well I'm just going to blow it up" excuse is stupid, I've been nearly daily driving this setup since September of last year.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I was wondering if the N42 Head/Block combo would achieve the same numbers as a P90/F54 engine.

 

If we are only talking about compression ratios [let's not go into head design here] as the comparable factor, then a N42/N42 combo would be *better* [theoretically] than my F54/P79.

 

F54/P90 is around a 7.4:1 SCR, with stock 10cc dished pistons.

N42/N42 is around a 8.3:1 SCR, with stock 10cc dished pistons.

F54/P79 is around a 8.5:1 SCR, with stock flat top pistons.

 

I am running a F54/P79 with a 1mm Head Gasket that is up to 8.7:1 SCR.

[As the static compression increases, the propensity to detonate under boost also increases]

I have a stand alone ECU and a front mount intercooler, as well as a very conservative timing table [super unleaded is 91 octane where I live]

 

Will the N/A N42/N42 stand up to as much abuse as the F54/P90 [stock for stock]? That's debatable, but probably not.

 

If you are talking about using an L28 that you already have, then you are most likely on a budget and the N42 combo should suit your power goals just fine. There is much involved that you probably don't realize just yet before you can "make power." For instance, I thought my L28ET Turbo injectors would get me up to a respectable amount of power, but at 8 psi I am already maxxing them out with a peak Duty Cycle of ~ 120%

 

If I were you, I would boost your N42 and get all of your settings dialed in, figure out what you will need in the future, then build a L28ET when you are ready to make some real power. These L28 blocks are very strong, but poor head design which leads to detonation is their Achilles' heel.

 

*edit* I know this is turning into a novel, but here are some links with some great information for you to read:

 

"Do I need to change pistons on my N/A to Turbo swap"

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=127833

 

Differences between N42 pistons, N/A F54 pistons, and Turbo F54 pistons:

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=159061

 

Hope that helps.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

haha that would apply to any engine swap...

 

Somehow I remembered to take the one of my Flat Top F54 that came out of an automatic car ;)

I don't know about the OEM Nissan turbos, but just about any other Turbo I have used has been NPT, not BSPT, That goes for the Garrets I've installed, knock offs, the Borg Warner I have on my Datsun currently, and a few others I've had my hands on.

 

 

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Edited by ellyka112
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  • 1 month later...

Can some one tell me the inlet and outlet sizes of the stock t3 turbo? i need it to see what kind of reducer i need to run off the outlet size of my turbo to my 2.5" intercooler piping. I found a forum on here not to long ago that had the size spec, but i cant seem to find it anymore.

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