new z car need suggestions

[CaptainJoe87]

Hey everyone I finally got myself a 1980ZX n/a after about 10 or so years of looking. The motor has 10k after rebuild with only 13k on the car its self. I have been going through fixing stuff as it breaks, nothing major so far( radiator, belts, soon to be exhaust manifold for headers). But after that I want to do something to give it some more power. Any ideas for a man on a budget in the area of say one grand??

 

 

[rossman]

You're going to get shut down asking that question on this board. You are one click of the search button away from the answer. You need to determine your power goal...200, 300, 400 hp? 300 hp is within reach with 1k to spend if you do the work yourself.

 

Welcome to the board and nice car BTW

Edited November 20, 2010 by rossman

[calvin280zxt]

Turbo

[CaptainJoe87]

You're going to get shut down asking that question on this board. You are one click of the search button away from the answer. You need to determine your power goal...200, 300, 400 hp? 300 hp is within reach with 1k to spend if you do the work yourself.

 

Welcome to the board and nice car BTW

 

 

Point taken. And thanks. I have a list of a few things that I want to do as of now, like rid myself of the emissions and egr and stuff. I was also thinking about porting the head, getting a larger throttle body, porting the intake manifold,and putting a street strip cam in and redoing the valve springs and retainers. I guess I was just trying to see what other people usually do for a first few mods and where some good places to find parts were. I have been looking on MSA and while they have a good list of parts I feel like I could find more and cheaper parts somewhere else. Also i have seen a few people talking about moding the ECU. What kinds of things do you change on it and how much of a performance boost would something like that give you?

Edited November 21, 2010 by CaptainJoe87

[rossman]

My advise to you is to search this site and read, read and read some more BEFORE you spend a dime upgrading any engine or fuel system components. It will save you time and money.

 

Set a power goal then build to that goal. I believe that most people on this board would agree that turbocharging is the best bang for the buck for the L6.

Edited November 21, 2010 by rossman

[xonix_digital]

Baby needs some wheel spacers! For short money Id put it into suspension. Spacers, bushings, springs. Etc.

 

For power under 1000 tho... u would have to know more about exactly what components you were running.

 

Any upgrades during the rebuild?

Edited November 22, 2010 by xonix_digital

[CaptainJoe87]

Baby needs some wheel spacers! For short money Id put it into suspension. Spacers, bushings, springs. Etc.

 

For power under 1000 tho... u would have to know more about exactly what components you were running.

 

Any upgrades during the rebuild?

 

as far as i know no upgrades on the rebuild. i have the receipt from the last owner on the motor and it says nothing about it.

[Gollum]

Group buy rota's w/ good tires. Probably the best mod you'll actually DO for under $1.5k. Good wheels and tires will help pretty much every area of performance.

 

But as it's been stated, search, read, search and then read some more. It WILL save you money, though it WILL take a bit of time to read and absorb what you need to.

 

Instead of working on power, take your small budget and work on things that improve MORE than just straight line acceleration. Work on removing weight, improving brakes, making the car simpler. Also invest into yourself with some track time, even if it's at your local autox. Improving yourself is cheaper and easier than the car.

[CaptainJoe87]

Work on removing weight, improving brakes, making the car simpler.

 

In that case anyone know where to get some either carbon fiber or fiberglass fenders and or hoods??? and or hatches for a S130

Edited November 24, 2010 by CaptainJoe87

[BluDestiny]

A CF hood from beta motor sports will run you about $800. JohnC can help you with that, but honestly you can lose more weight by taking the bumpers off.

 

Also try looking around hybridz, they have a thread on cheap upgrades somewhere

Edited November 24, 2010 by BluDestiny

[Gollum]

Yea, getting the front air dam from MSA and just removing the bumper will save a ton of weight, and it's all on the very front if the car! The rear bumper isn't quite as heavy, but still worth removing and then welding in some sheet metal to fill the gap.

 

The Beta Motorsports hoods are a good product at a very reasonable price. You can get their fiberglass hood for under $400. That's not bad really. Most of the weight in the hatch is the glass, not the metal.

 

Just bumpers and hood should drop you about 150#, maybe a touch more even. That's enough to take some serious bite off the car and add quite a bit all around. Also consider a lightweight flywheel with an upgraded clutch. Might not make the car "fast" but it'll be much more responsive and fun to drive. These cars suffer from dullness, not lack of power or too much weight. Even stock I've out cornered a lot of cars simply because I know the cars so well. They have enough power to get me on the freeway doing a good 80mph even on the shortest of on ramps around here.

 

I guess this would be the order I'd tackle things if I where you:

 

1) Removed Bumpers

2) Rebuilt Brake calipers + SS brake lines + (new clutch cylinder & slave cylinder - if car is well worn)

3) Make sure the engine is running it's best, new plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc

4) Wider rims + Tires (group buy Rotas!)

5) Aftermarket springs + decent struts

6) Flywheel & Clutch

7) New bushings ALL THE WAY AROUND

8) Fiberglass Hood

 

And I'd say do these all separated by at least a few weeks, so you can really appreciate the difference each one has made.

[B00STDZ]

Or you can do what I did... Go turbo first... then upgrade the suspension/brakes if money allows. She'll be quick but depending on the condition of the suspension it might get alittle unstable. But if your suspension and brakes are in good shape... it really wont be TOO bad. My suspension was terrible, I always thought when i drove it "oh its just an old car" but the shocks were so gone in the rear that when we pulled them a month ago they would go in by themselves without even pushing on them and the ones on the front could be compressed with your hands...

 

But anyways, buy an l28et for like $300... All other parts to go with it for like $600 and then do the work yourself.

Edited November 25, 2010 by B00STDZ