V8, Turbo, Twin Turbo, Nitros ? ( 280zx 79' )

[DarkToonami]

Having some trouble deciding what to actually do with this girl. What are your thoughts on what I should put in her, let me know. I have a 79' 280zx straight 6. And I'm looking for more uumff out of it. Don't get me wrong the straight 6 is a great engine, but just not for me. My buddy is turning his 300zx into a turbo and is trying to get me to go the same route. Not sure if I want to do that. What are your thoughts ? What should I do to her ? V8. Turbo, Twin Turbo, Nitros ? 

 

Going for performance, to hell with gas mileage ! 

[bonvo]

turbo the l28 relativly cheap easy and good power without all the work of a swap

[datzenmike]

Nitrous is too much. Rough on everything.

 

Aluminum block Corvette motor and 5 speed. Stock so it's easy on everything and sounds great.

[PrimeLuxeZ]

Rb26dett swap.

[DarkToonami]

Thank you guys. Well after much deliberation I've decided to go with the Single turbo option. Current Idea in mind ( Tell me if I'm doing something wrong please, first car I've worked on ) Rebuilding the engine to handle 400hp, Single turbo, venom fuel injectors, powerglide transmission. Anything else I should do ? 

[datsun 521 ute]

Make sure you get a good cam to suit and not just a generic turbo cam. Let them know what turbo you're running, engine specs and what you want out of the car, any proper cam shop should ask you this. If you can get one best to use a blank billet cam. Also highly recommend installing a water/methanol injection kit with turbo, mate got an extra 30kw at the wheels in his car. Forget nitrous, too many variables, expensive to run, doesn't last long and is illegal for street use, well here in Australia anyway. A well built L series 6cyl motor with standard internals should handle 400hp.

[ArchetypeDatsun]

Since your going turbo are you going to use your stock engine? If so you got research and a lot of reading to do. Glad you didn't want to go twin turbo not that it hasn't been done in a L28 before but its not intirely great. You'll make more power with a single turbo on a L28 as it was designed for with the L28ET. Make sure to give HybridZ.org a visit and use there search option and read up on build threads, problems, and so on. Since your going turbo you will need everything from the L28ET, ECU (computer), wiring harness, intake manifold with everything, turbo manifold, AFM, oil pan. No need for a cam the one you got is sufficient enough to start with.

[datsun 521 ute]

I suggested the cam as he has intentions of rebuilding the motor. If he is serious about making good power a decent cam will make alot of difference along with some good head work. I would highly recommend either buying or borrowing a book called "Maximum Boost" by Corky Bell, a great book and very informative for any one looking to do it themself. Even pictures of an L20B turbo setup in there. Here is a link to some on ebay

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Books-/267/i.html?_nkw=maximum+boost

Good luck with the build mate.

[DarkToonami]

I am dead serious on this thing :) It's been my pride and joy since I got it. haha. I want to keep the straight 6, and do as much as  I can out of it. Its a seriously good engine. What cam would you reccomend based on my build idea ? I'll be rebuilding the engine this summer as all my current funds are being spent preping this girl for it. 

[PrimeLuxeZ]

Mild cam.

[DarkToonami]

Sorry new to this. Is there a certain type of mild cam or any particular mild cam that'd would be needed ? 

[ArchetypeDatsun]

Research research research!

[DarkToonami]

Been doing that all week and long nights. But hey can't hurt to ask here as well for help right ? Also I just found me a cam. 

[datsun 521 ute]

The cam is probably the last things you should be selecting, you don't build your motor around the cam.

I would probably recommend a gt3076 turbo rated at about 550-600hp so you will make your 400hp pretty easy without too much stress and have plenty of room to make more power. Also you will need bigger injectors probably around 750cc, Z32 AFM, Bosch 044 fuel pump or similar and your ECU will need a nistune unless you will be using an aftermarket computer. As for cam specs I will ask my mate tomorrow with what he recommends as he has become a bit of a guru on turbo cams. You want your cam to suit your application, if you're going to buy a cam you might as well get one that will match your engine to its full potential and to how you want to drive it. Running a standard cam is fine if you're doing a cheap/budget build but from what I gather this is not your intention. But don't just go out and buy an off the shelf mild cam that has no R and D behind it to suit your application. What exactly are your intentions with the car, daily, cruiser, strip, circuit?

Here is a good link on info about turbo cams.

http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/ctrp_1106_turbo_camshaft_guide/viewall.html

Or even get on to one of these guys about a cam.

And +1 for the hybridZ forum as they also have plenty of info.

[ArchetypeDatsun]

We get asked the same stuff a bunch of times over and over and some people want the info given to them without moving a finger. The L28 is well documented engine HybridZ.org is gonna be your friend read up on built threads. I'll start you on something that help me understand back when I first got my Z.

 

http://xenons130.com/l28et.html

[DarkToonami]

Thank you. :) Well the general idea my mates and I had with this girl was to turn her into not quite a drag and yet not quite a street racer. But somewhere in the middle. Top acceleration and yet with the handling to take corners. Sort of like a ralley car. We've already purchased the Venom 750cc fuel injectors, have premium spark plugs, and cables. and have Kyb struts/ shocks on.

[DarkToonami]

Yeah tell me about it. I prefer to cover all channels when researching lol Google, Forums, what have you. Better to cover all areas of search rather than just google I say. 

[ArchetypeDatsun]

I know how it is, HybridZ has well build L28's one of a guy in Europe building a 3.6 stroker (L36) RB30E crank I think a RB head it's about a $10-20k build maybe more it depends how much money you have.

[Bernardd]

The idea is to match the turbine housing/wheel combo with the cam.  Doing that will prevent having a turbo that comes on at 3500 combined with a cam that runs out of flow at 5500rpm when the correct would allow you to rev and make power to 6500rpm plus.  And 400hp is cake for a stock L engine.

[DarkToonami]

Thank You guys. Geez this is a harder project than I thought it was going to be. Didn't think I'd need to get so many parts. Going to be slowly gathering all the parts for the Turbo mod while I upgrade everything else in the meantime. 

[DarkToonami]

Project is nearing completion. Hope to have it done by Summer. I'm going to have aload of parts left over anyone need sometihng I might have it ? 

[Bleach]

The stock NA cam is fine. That is a mild upgrade over the factory turbo L28 cam. Dont' buy a long duration cam for your forced induction engine.

 

Dished pistons will be better for running a larger aftermarket turbo. It sounds like you want way more than 6psi. Drop the static compression. Get a different head too. The head that came on the engine in 1979 is not best for a turbo setup. P90 is good and you will need the turbo exahust manifold anyway that comes with it. In fact, you really don't need any of the crap that is in your car. Just get a factory turbo L28 engine from a 280ZX and start cleaning and rebuilding that.

[DarkToonami]

If you guys were still wondering how this project was going. I have all the parts needed to complete the upgrade as well as parts to do a manual conversion, as the powerglide idea is now a dud. Gauges have just been installed, tear down will commence tomorrow. :) Can't wait ! 

[PrimeLuxeZ]

So you are going with L28t from the looks of it. You should post some pics up now, to keep us interested while we wait for more.