280z turbo

[Hoss]

I have a 76 280z and I'm thinking about turboing it. Are there any good turbo kits that anyone knows of? Or would it be a good idea to take the turbo system of out a 280zx and just mount that up into my l28?

My intended purpose for this is basically an autocrosser and my summer car to drive 'spiritedly.'

[zbane]

Well, it would be much easier just to get the entire turbo engine and wiring harness, ECU, and fuel pump from a turbo ZX...

Save yourself some time that way.

Though, you may be more interested in building up your engine as is (i.e N/A).

If you want to autocross, you don't want to find yourself waiting for the turbo to do its thing.

case in point-last year at ZdayZ, I was able to keep up with twin turbo Z 32's on all the twisty bits in my N/A stock L28 driven 280zx.

How? Why? What? It's not that I have a faster car. I don't. However, I had all my horses waiting for me, whenever I wanted them.

The turbo cars had to wait until they hit a certain RPM until their horses showed up-and on those roads one is constantly shifting so the turbos never had a chance to spool enough to matter.

[ggarrard]

I'm with Zbane on this - one of our club members who is a Solo2 fanatic sold his Z32TT because of the turbo lag and went back to NA. Of course, with a Infinity Q45 V8 in his 240Z he doesn't suffer any throttle lag anymore but he's definitely taxing his LSD...

Gordon Garrard

[Hoss]

Yeah I had thought of the turbo lag issue but I'd be doing more street driving, like booking it through back roads and soaring on the highway so I was thinking turbo would be the way to go. It's sort of a project car between me and my dad but it's my car.

What would be the best way to get the most out of my Z? Turbo or other sorts of mods? I already have a K&N air filter on there, and the cam was reground to a little more aggresive but still somewhat mild from the previous owner.

I'm planning on getting a new clutch and flywheel (any suggestions?), and probably an even more aggresive cam and a performance exhaust. Basically I'm looking for suggestions for making my car as quick as i can without swapping the engine (yet).

[Hoss]

Or would it just be better/cheaper to drop in a chevy 350? We replaced the 305 in our 79 camaro with the 350 and we got it installed and tuned to 400hp for a little under 3500 bucks which seems pretty decent to me so would it make sense to drop in the custom built 350 instead of keeping the l28?

[red_dog007]

If you put money into your current motor, you are going to have to stick with it and keep it N/A. Performance cam, and turn it into a stroker. A turbo on this motor wouldn't be all that great with how it is built. You could have a tiny turbo with a small bit of pressure in there to get your power cranking out faster and basically be n/a up high. But whatever you do for speed, this can be extremely expensive.

If you want to go turbo and keep the numbers, you would be best off picking up everything from a 280zx Turbo. Going to be pretty cheap, but hard to find and would most likely need a rebuild. Stock turbo pushes 8psi and is capable of 15psi with an intercooler.

But if you don't care about the motor, an RB might be a better option.

Though, if you want the same and maybe a little more power then an N/A L28 or a L28 turbo, you need to drop in a V8. These things are super cheap. You can get a tranny and 4.8L 300hp/300ft.lbs for roughly $1000 with EVERYTHING. Plenty of low end torque across the board, and plenty of power.

Basically, if you put money into this motor, you had better keep it, but don't really plan on a turbo. From what I know, these motors are not idel to have a turbo on. You can get these things stroked out to 3.2L, get some carbs on it and be a killer N/A performer, but it does come at a price.

Or, save your money on mods on the current motor to buy a different motor and swap it out. Will be much easier, less time consuming and save you a lot of money.

I have an L24 that I hope to one day stroke, triple carb, and just trick it out, and with that kind of money, I could buy a Viper engine $6k and have it dropped in and still have some extra cash.

[Hoss]

I suck at conversion factors and whatever but a 4.8L is a 305 right? I've been reading up on alot of things lately and my friend has also talked me into going v8. Did my dad overpay when he get his built 350 from the shop for 3500$? Where do you guys find motors and trannys for so cheap? Also we don't really have any mechanical experience so we'd have a shop do the install/rebuild on any motors that we deal with.

[red_dog007]

4.8L = 293 cubic inches.

302's, 305's and 307's are a 5L motor.

Google is your friend here

If you want to know the cubic inches for a 4.8L, in Google just type "4.8L to cu in" or if you can do "305cu in to liters" and a answer will show up!

Motors for so cheap = ebay. You can get motors and transmissions with everything as low as $1,000ish depending on what you want with mileage as low as 20,000 miles. There is a lot of cheapness on ebay that does not require a rebuild.

If you end up wanting to go with a Japanese motor, there are sites online that will sell you clips and ship them straight from Japan. These things never have over 60,000 miles on them.

$3,500 for a 305 I would say could be a little pricey unless it was rebuilt good or even has a few mods.

Plus some people even buy something old and beatup, or wrecked for just a few hundred $$, and just take out all that they need and rebuild it if needed. Still pretty cheap that way.

[Hoss]

hmm those engines on ebay seem like theyr worth looking into. thanks for the help. i definately wanna go all out and get a 350 if i do the v8 tho. ill definately need to get a new tranny and rear end to handle all that extra power wont i?

[kcoke]

Where do u get mounts for a 4.8? Is there much mods to doing the v8 swap as for the tranny etc?