Guest alfred182 Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 I own a (stock) salvaged 1979 280ZX with 150K on it. Had the ignition module and A/C compressor replaced in my car today, and the mechanic that had checked my car said that two cylinders were bad!!! He said that the compression was suppoes to be around 140 - 150, and two of them were at 100 and 120 ...the rest were supposed to be fine. He said that I would need to have the engine repaired at the tune of $900 minimum...(mexican mechanic). Very trustworthy and efficient, though. So, does this mean that my engine will die soon?? Should I try to repair this engine, or get a totally new one?? I was thinking about getting an NA L28 with forged stuff, or perhaps one with a turbo (wouldn't need to change anything else in the car, right?), or maybe even a Chevy350 or a Supra engine if I need to get rid of the old one. Btw, I plan to autocorss this car, and maybe take it to the drag strip a few times to test it out when it is finally finished. I think I would be happy with 250hp. Those are my only goals... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kc6wfs Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 Hi Alfred, Did you ask him to do a compression test??? If not I'd be sceptical. But if it's getting that low in 2 cyls it's getting kind of low. Max should be 10-15% dif between min and max on the cyls, not what it should read if it was a new motor. Does it perform well? Any smoke out the exhaust? Is it your daily driver? Any other cars you can drive while you do the V8 conversion? If it's running fine I'd leave things alone and wait. My thoughts. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 Hi Alfred Welcome to the club! I bought my '79zx, with 141k.. 5-spd. When I first drove it it was amazing, it ran great, had quite a bit of power. However... (drum role).. I couldn't do a burnout for the life of me! Now part of this, I'm sure contributed to the low-geared rearend. But I knew something wasn't right, so I took it to my mechanic and had the engine diagnosed, everything was fine, except I had 71 on one cyl and 100 on another. Ouch.. Yeah, a rebuild is probably in order, most likely it is your piston rings, or valve seals, either way, after 150k you're probably in need of a full rebuild (top and bottom). Which, conservatively could PROBABLY be done for $900. But, just remember that this $900 is only going to put you back to stock condition. This is where I looked for some options (hint hint- Hybrid Z). I decided that if I could get a turbo motor and all necessary efi and electronics for the swap, I could get even more power! Well, I did get all that stuff, and some more, for $800. Now I've sold most of it for about $600 except the turbo motor and exhaust manifold. Everything else in the setup has been (or will be) upgraded, via the "if I'm.. I might as well.." bug. If you're not power hungry, stay away from this bug, it will bite you HARD. Now I'm putting about 4000 into everything with the swap- enough to get my car to 300 rwhp. All because of a couple bum cylinders. Needless to say, I will have many mean burnouts in the future. ~fin~ -980mak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alfred182 Posted May 16, 2002 Share Posted May 16, 2002 Well, I asked him to look over the whole car, so not sure if in his mind that meant doing a compression check as well. I will be going to a local mechanic shop tomorrow morning or the day after to have this test done again... Hmmm, the car performs great. Usually starts on the third crank when cold, starts first time when warm. Goes through gas quite quickly, though. 16 gallons or so a week (I guess I do drive quite a bit^^). There's no smoke at all. It is my daily driver, but I have I piece of crap 87 Camry that I would probably have to sell to get any conversion done... Getting a turbo engine sounds like the easy way to go. The Motorsports catalogue sells them rebuilt for $1795.00 (isn't that pricey??). Also, since I have no mechanic skills, I'm guessing I would have to find a specialist to turn the N/A into a turbo, right?? Damn, I can totally see how it would turn into 4K. I'd probably have to save for about a year. Think my engine would last that long?? 300rwhp in that little car would ROCK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.