hey guys im a new z driver. ill apolagize for the dumb questions in advance. iv always liked my neighbors 1983 280z and finally i convinced him to sell it to me for 2300$ garaged all its life including at work in a parking garage. my question is how hard would it be to turbo it. how similar is the turbo 2.8 to the N/A 2.8

 

your best bet is to get a motor from a 280zx Turbo

 

yes, get an L28ET and it's a drop in deal (with a little rewiring). You've got the early L28 (considering it's the original motor) which isn't the same as the L28 the turbo is based off of.

 

do you know what all i would have yto do to the non turbo motor? i have a handfull of nice turbos(holset hx25w,holset hx35 and a big azz borg warner). i also think that it is about time to rebuild motor

 

You can either fabricate a turbo manifold or source one from an L28ET. Can usually be found on ebay. From there it's just a bunch of fabrication like piping and running oil lines etc... It's not complicated if you know what you're doing. Otherwise it can end up a nightmare. You can use your current motor but you might want to source a P series head from the 81+ 280zx (turbo or non turbo, doesn't matter. But turbo would be better for flow) as it will lower your compression to the point of the turbo motor.

 

how much boost can i safely put on it. i can fab it all myself but where do i plug into for oil???

 

Broseph! Get an L28ET... Case Closed. This has been brought up so so so many times before. You can spend the next 3 months hunting down the parts you need from different areas of the world, or have it all right there, if you get an L28ET. Guaranteed (since you are asking the question in the first place) that if you just try to turbocharge the n/a engine, you will spend more, and have more headaches, than doing it the RIGHT way.

 

If you go with the P series head and upgrade the fuel system you'll be able to run as much boost as an L28ET would. Internally your motor is plenty strong (if it's in good shape). Regardless of how much boost you run though, you'll still want to upgrade the fuel system as your stock injectors aren't going to cut it for turbo. If you can get all the stuff you need for cheap then conversion could be cheaper. But if you get an L28ET you'll have everything you need and they dont go for very much if you look around. Then if you want to run a different turbo you can just change that.

 

well that leaves one more thing. go find a turbo motor.

 

Going that route will save you a fortune in advil, or whatever your headach medicine of choice is

 

Does that include "hot boxin" ?

 

well im comfortable fabricating my own the only thing would be the turbo manifold just buy that and look at a turbo setup. ill have to look around. i really apricate it

 

Can you fabricate your own fuel management system too? And you'll need some kind of adapter to drop the turbo oil back into the pan... Oh, and you'll need an oil supply line to the turbo. Don't forget bigger turbo injectors. Like J said, you'll want the turbo P90 head as well. Hopefully that will come w/ the turbo cam.

See where I'm going with this??? We're not making this all up... GET AN L28ET.

 

see im comfortable welding. i can weld with any setup so return line and metal fab are no worrys i just need oil pressure to turbo\exuast manny fuel pump and head

 

And fuel management system if you want to boost. Sounds like you're dead set on doin it that way... go for it.