Performance cam? what stage?
 

hey whats up everyone, im am currently in the midst of rebuilding my 1982 280zx N/A and had a few technical questions of preference and performance

i'll start by stating what i'am doing already,

as of now i'am installing pacesetter ceramic coated headers,
2.5 inch dual pipe exhuast from headers back, no cat
installing the the 280cc injectors from the 280zx turbo
2.5 inch cold air intake
and bored out intake manifold

now for my questions

will i need to upgrade my fuel pump for the larger injectors? i know everything is the same from the regulator forward so same pressure just diffrent volume i believe, but have heard of people running the larger injectors with no problem, and not changing there pumps.

and if i am upgrading my fuel, and air flow, what stage camshaft should i get, i dont mind a mildly rough idle, but it will be my daily driver but also im competing to beat my brothers gsx eclipse, so i need power.
also motorsport auto says that if you buy a new performance camshaft that they STRONGLY recommend you get new lash pads rocker arms and the works, is that needed? the car only has 50k miles on it can i just swap the cam? any suggestions will be MASSIVLY helpful.

~Buddy, zx builder

Well, is the fuel pump stock? Might as well upgrade to a walbro 255 so that you can bump the injectors up further in the future. At that point, you would also want an EMS, as the stock computer won't work very well with the upgrades. I believe that motorsport auto has recommendations as to what you should have (megasquirt, injectors, etc) and I would very strongly recommend the lash pads and rocker arms. No sense in them getting ruined with the upgraded cam. There is a guide somewhere on how to swap the cam without dropping the engine or radiator, nor fully removing the timing chain. Used a jack to push up the engine (mounts not attached) so that it could be done over the radiator.

How are those tails working out for ya? Also, still wanting a cleaned up intake manifold, or did you do it yourself?

woow long time no talk bro, working Great, i just gave everything over to my mechanic & body guy, should be getting it back in a month or so completly overhualed, im excited. and i decided i'll probably want to drive it everywhere lol so it will turn into my dd, stage 2 huh, yea i was just coming to that comclusion myself, so you think the current ecu wont handle the new injectors without a stand alone system, even if i retune it? i knew a guy who put turbo injectors in his na on accident, he said he ran rich but ran great otherwise, so im boosting my airflow so im not rich and hoping for the best??? lol bad idea?

oh as for the manifold, i just left it stock for right now, my funds got tight end of last year, but my mechanic is pulling and painting it so i decided to keep it as is

Yeah if you want to go with the bigger injectors your either going to need a standalone fms like megasquirt or at least an adjustable FPR. The stock fuel pump will be fine with what you have right now.

I ran the stock pump with an LT1 V8 with no issues what so ever.

ok an adjustable fuel pressure regulator? how will i know what pressure to set it at?

last question, with these mods to my engine how much horse power do you think i'll be pushing? i'm looking for anything over 200, if not what else can i do?

short of a turbo, i like naturally aspirated

you can also do the z31 ecu swap. Dont mean to be the party basher but 200hp on a pretty much stock n/a motor isnt going to happen. You already have flattop pistons on your n/a engine so i would find either a maxima head or something similar to get some high compression. A heathly cam will be needed. Probably a stage 2. Would not hurt to get some head work done. Use to be a yahoo.garage website that showed all the heads with flow/compression would run on each motor. I dont know why you would need to jack the engine up to replace a cam. Simple remove valve cover. Put a step wedge on the timing chain and remove bolts. It also comes down to the right tune. You will need a afr meter. Also your decesion on ms or z31 ecu with nistune in the future. Takes some money to pump out horsepower on a n/a motor. Why in short terms alot of people just turbo it. Could always do all the mods and slap on some tripple webbers and say the hell with efi. A fpr usually has a guage that shows you what psi your fuel is at.

x2.

Shady280 is one of the few running 200hp+ on an L28E n/a. He has said he's in it over $6k.

Unfortunately the L-Jetronic is a fairly primative EFI system. Works well and fairly easy (some will disagree lol) to work on but not very tuneable at all. Bigger injectors might work but not properly and all you'll see is a bigger gas bill and fouled plugs. Cheapest/easiest mod is the old L28ET swap for performance. Once you have that you can even improve on the stock EFI setup with a little more boost, better exhaust and an intercooler. Beyond that you'll need a tuneable ECU.

OK so upgrade to the z32 5 speed non turbo ecu? No problems there, I'll have it done before the week is out, if higher compression is needed for higher HP, I just bought l28 .75mm oversized ppistons, and the stage two cam. Was that all? After this I should be approx 5k or so I to it with no problems, assume here that money is less of an issue what would be left to do? (But not a turbo or megasquirt)

If you want NA power you should read the "How to Modify your Nissan/Datsun OHC engine"

thanks I'll definitely pick it up

so where I'm at right now pacesetter ceramic headers dual 2.5 inch exhaust no cat straight back stage 2 cam .75 millimeter oversize piston ring set cold air intake bored intake manifold 280 cc injectors z32 ECU swap and adjustable for

Anything I'm missing? Lol
I have a guy willing to do it all for 3k or so

z31 ecu.....little more to a proper engine build.
Datsun ZCARS L-Series Engine Rebuild Tips

Plenty of write ups and how to. Can only spoon feed so much.

Where are you getting the Z32 ecu idea from?
The Z31T ecu / maf swap is for the L28ET turbo motor because it's virtually plug & play. You would need an entire Z31 EFI harness for the n/a ... there's a write up on that. Both options are still limited to the stock Z31 ecu tune unless you go with NisTune.

Stock L28ET turbo injectors are 259cc.

dont even bother with the cam until you are ready to do the intake manifold and port the head and do a stand alone system. the stock ecu is maxed at 180 rwhp no matter what you do to everything else. even with putting the fuel pressure up to 45 psi. i stand to gain over 40 hp when i do the megasquirt with turbo injectors. the ecu is a major paper weight if you modify anything except a coil and header. even then it has trouble doing its job. once you do a cam id suggest a .5 lift and about 280+ duration if you dont have emmisions testing. my local emmisions testing is done in 2014 so i can get my 300+ duration cam!!

Yes I figured that might be a problem ( had read some of your previous posts ) so my mechanic suggested for cost efficiency and HP, that he would recommend dropping in a Chevy 350 small block in it, so I decided to go with that instead. Know anyone who wants an na engine with only 50k miles on it lol

Z31 ecu
 

[QUOTE=NismoPick;322504]Where are you getting the Z32 ecu idea from?
The Z31T ecu / maf swap is for the L28ET turbo motor because it's virtually plug & play. You would need an entire Z31 EFI harness for the n/a ... there's a write up on that. Both options are still limited to the stock Z31 ecu tune unless you go with NisTune.

For my 280zx build, I was intending on going nistune, would my NA Z31 ECU/ MAF with nistune work on my 280zxt ?.... hopefully so since I have them on hand :)
I will probably have the NA Harness you need when I start to part my Z31, just very busy with my 280 and work, and I'm in the middle of refinishing my antique bed.

I might offer on some of your extras, mate. Lookin to get rid of the radiator?

Skip Nistune unless you're getting for free/cheap. Just Nistune alone is a huge chunk of the cost or Megasquirt. If you have a Z32 or a Skyline then NisTune is worth looking into...

Radiator
 

Actually yes, Looks like I will be dropping my NA into an 86 turbo rolling chassis, best part is the 5 lug Hubs Ill be getting, not sure if it has a radiator, but it should. Once I find out Ill PM you Murph and get it setup to ship. My radiator is in cherry shape too :) Probably will be about 3 weeks from now when I get the 86, still in the middle of getting my L28ET shipped from Jamal, once I know the final total on him pulling the motor and shipping I can get the 86.

Ahh, nah Im gonna use the new 3 tier radiator for my v8, if I can find one, I haven't been able to track down a decent small block in our area anywhere near my price range.

What're you looking to spend? Looking for a sticker? Looking for one that goes from carb to pan?