280ZX_AV8R

Does anyone know where I can find a cold air intake or performance intake of some kind for my '82 turbo 280zx? Anything to put in place of that light blue intake box would be better. and does a cold air intake add any noticeable power (and I'm not talking about putting stickers on to add an extra 20 horsepower)

BigBirdsZ

on ebay you could get one for under $30 easy or msa has k&n for $130

juggalo280ZX

I've never seen a turbo intake on Ebay. If you just want the color gone, then just get a three dollar bottle of spray paint. works wonderfully!

WildmaN

Yep that's what I am going to do. I am painting it blue and silver. Talk about different.

s/cL3.0

I have the MSA intake, you can feel a difference but I wouldnt say more than 6hp It was fun for about 2 weeks, then the difference became norm.

DynamicJ

yep, never seen a turbo CAI. I put one off of ebay on my friends 240SX last week. He said it about the same.. noticable power, but nothing great.

assimilated420

i just got one off ebay.. the N/T one with the shiny chrome thingy.. got one for myself.. fits juts great except they didnt have the bracket mounts but they did give me zip ties and i aimed it more in the flow of air as it passes through the front and it looks/runs better with it as it can breathe.. the stock airbox is just bulky and doesnt really pull in too much... it feels like my engine can breathe, but it does not feel like it made a huge difference..

juggalo280ZX

The majority of the difference for me is between 2500 and 5000 rpms, noticable, but not too much probably 8hp... I made some adjustments after I wasn't completely satisfied with the way it came, I didn't really think it would work, but it did...a little.

DoTheDrew888

A CAI doesnt do anything powerwise. I saw a guy test it out on a dyno with a 280Z, it added like .5 HP. I have one on my car just for looks I guess. I bought one that was made for a Civic and fabbed it to fit on my car.

lww

Notice Drew said 0.5hp as in one half of one horsepower.

What you feel is a slightly better throttle response. You won't feel anything at high rpm because this is restricted more by the AFM/TB/Intake manifold more than the airbox.

What you do is HEAR a loud whine or drone from the CAI that makes you FEEL like something is happening.

The CAI combined with MAF conversion, 60mm TB, honed intake manifold, headwork, headers and tuned mandrel bent exhaust is what makes the difference.

The only way to get 'significant' horse power increases from a single one of these is the head work.

Don't get me wrong, I have CAI's on all my cars. It does improve the throttle response, especially on a 5.9L V8, but that's about it.

juggalo280ZX

I don't know about anyone else with the stock clutch fan, but I can't hear **** other than that!

assimilated420

well when the car is being dynoed.. air is not moving as fast thru the engine compartment.. when moving at 60 moh the air is pushed/pulled easier into the intake rather than the airbox.. i wouldnt expect more than maybe 5 hp TOPS

juggalo280ZX

not when you take a safety pin and put a **** load more holes in it, might not be the best thing, but I don't think anything that small will harm my engine. I really did feal a difference after about a thousand pinholes where put in.

tekanitrus

well damn just take out the filter if your gonna do that

jfairladyz

Your not going to get more HP out of the CAI because of this reason, restriction. The stock filter and box will outflow everyother part of your intake system by and far. It's probably the one part of your system that's not a restriction. When you start making mods that allow for some serious airflow(no not a muffler) then you'd notice a difference in replacing your stock intake with something flowing more freely. Let me put it this way, you don't actually get more horsepower, you FEEL more horsepower. When you spend $200, your mind makes the damn thing add horsepower. And it's probably the noise that adds all the imaginary horsepower.And the cold air part is kind of misleading since the stock air box isn't in the engine compartment anyways. That means you pretty much already have as much of a CAI as the aftermarket one.

But just you guys feel better, it does look $200 better and the car sounds meaner. And maybe, just maybe, in the higher RPM's you might get that .5 HP mentioned earlier. And I'll agree with it adding throttle response, the air has no problem flowing through an aftermarket filter, so it's immediately ready. If you really want a power increase, upgrade the AFM and TB with the intake after you do some head work and get a free flowing exhaust. Then you'll need a CAI. Get it for looks, otherwise just get the drop in filter from K&N for your stock airbox and a can of spraypaint. You'll get the same results.

CJG280zx

What AFM are you talking about. I already have a larger TB. By head work you mean cam and all new parts that go with that.

jfairladyz

You can upgrade to a larger AFM from the 300ZX. A kit is offered through Jim Wolfe but you have to switch to the turbo distributor if you don't already have one. By head work, I mean port work. And possibly polishing of the exhaust ports. I don't recommend polishing intake ports, especially on turbo engines, because while it does provide smoother flow of air, it impedes the mixing of the fuel with the air. A cam isn't necessary unless you want to increase higher RPM power. All a bigger cam does is keep the valves open longer, open further, or a combo of both. With proper head work, a cam is only necessary beyond low, and midrange powerbands.

Heat Rave R

Regarding the Z31 AFM conversion, if I have a turbo 280ZX, will I have to get an AFM/ECU from a turbo model Z31, or is it all the same?

jfairladyz

Yeah, you'll need the Z31 ecu and the afm. The JWT kit comes with a tuned ecu. They also have kits programmed to run off the Z32 afm and the Mustang Cobra afm. I don't think they include the afm though, just the ecu. They run $595 for the Cobra tuned ecu which will support 450+ HP.
You can opt to do the conversion without going through JWT, but you'll have to source out all the necessary parts from the Z31. I don't know if sensors are compatible, so you may need things like that if you opt to not get the reprogrammed ecu.

jfairladyz

And I just realized you said turbo Z31. No, you don't need the ecu/afm off a turbo z31, it can be NA. Oh, and the Cobra kit above includes 420cc injectors too for that price.

juggalo280ZX

Hey J, please let me know how to get that kit! I don't believe I've heard of JWT.

jfairladyz

Jim Wolf Technology. They're really big in the Nissan community, mostly with the Z32 guys. Their specialty is ecu's but they have a lot of parts, again mostly for the Z32.
The link is http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/
Look around a little bit in there, they have a few parts for the s130, even turbo upgrades. Hope this helps. They're a very good, reputable company and I've never heard any bad talk about them. My buddy used them alot when he had his Z32, and had nothing but good things to say. They're very helpful too.

lifegrddude

JWT = Jim Wolf Technology, they make stuff for Nissans, but their customer service isn't the greatest. The guy with the 450+hp 280zx can vouch for that too. If you can, talk to Clark or Ben on the phone, they're more friendly. BTW, just hit up the junkyards if you want to do the Z31 swap. The parts can be found for under a 100 bucks, except for the 420cc fuel injectors, they will be necessary if you want to go past ~260hp. Otherwise just use the stock injectors and bump up the fuel pressure a little. I believe the 420cc injectors used are RX-7 injectors or Supra injectors. Either way, you'd have to wire in resistors to get them to work. I'm going to use 370s down the road sometime since I already have a set from my old setup.

On a side note, I think the Z31 maf maxes out around 11-12 psi. I can't boost any higher than that without hitting a fuel cutoff like feature. The ecu seems to go into a full rich mode and the engine will not rev above 5K. I'm waiting on my bros to return from Japan so I can use a Z32 maf and not have to worry about maxing out the voltage until ~450hp, which I doubt I'll ever hit. I'm gonna be happy at 300 for a daily driver.

jfairladyz

There are a few companies like HKS that sell a fuel cut defenser to prevent this fuel cutoff. Also, JWT can reprogram your ecu to eliminate this cutoff and also to allow boost. They'll program for just about any combination of parts. If you went the junk yard route lifegrddude, you can send them your ecu to be reflashed to take advantage of your setup so you can run more boost and just optimize your ecu in general. I'm sorry about your bad experience with JWT My buddy spent a lot of time actually at JWT, so he got to know the crew pretty well, that might be why his experience was more plesant.

juggalo280ZX

do you think they could do anything for my non-turbo, and never going to be turbo, motor? All Motor for me. If I get 350 hp, I want that available without having to spool up, just my oppinion.