Performance Engine
Guest
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Performance Engine
Well, I spent about a month letting my 280ZX sit, and decided that unless I was ready to pull the engine, I needed to keep driving it, even if it is stripped, gutted, and only has the seat, dash, and steering wheel.. (everything else is gone) I am getting ready to start my engine work, and I have a couple of ideas. I want to keep the car n/a, because if I switch to a turbo I pretty much have to get a whole new engine, and I don't think I can afford that. What is the best thing to do to improve HP on my stock engine. It's a '79 280ZX
Guest
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how much can you spend? you can find cheap turbo motors, there out there you just gotta find them. for the amount of money your gonna spend to make your n/a fast , mite as well save up for a turbo motor.
other than that, you can get a cold air intake, headers, exhuast,
performance cams, or what not
other than that, you can get a cold air intake, headers, exhuast,
performance cams, or what not
Super Siver & Black Stud
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 1,526
From: Hayward Ca
for the price of getting your head ported and polished and a new cam and maybe some headders you can get a whole L28 turbo engine and some extra cash to sepnd on upgrades... i know someone who spent over $1500 to get his n/a ported and polished and a lot of performance upgrades and IMO he will never have the HP potential if he gets a Turbo engine for his Z
Guest
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About a week ago a turbo engine and trany went for a little over $300 on eBay. The seller was in CA which would've been too far for you, but there will be others for a while yet.
I'm "old school" myself with a preference for bore-n-stroke, cams, etc., but from what I've learned in the short time I've had my ZX, and the few weeks I've browsed this group. it seems you get much much bang for the bux with turbo.
Just food for thought,
John
I'm "old school" myself with a preference for bore-n-stroke, cams, etc., but from what I've learned in the short time I've had my ZX, and the few weeks I've browsed this group. it seems you get much much bang for the bux with turbo.
Just food for thought,
John
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 373
From: WA
Originally posted by 280zx Fever
Anyone can whack a turbo, fart can exhaust and a BOV and make there car fast. But, N/A thats where the tallent comes out..
Anyone can whack a turbo, fart can exhaust and a BOV and make there car fast. But, N/A thats where the tallent comes out..
Choosing to go turbo or stay NA depends on the owner and what are the goals for the car. How much HP are you looking for? How much do you want to spend? Do you know enough about turbo engines to be comfortable with one? If you are looking for just a little more pep out of you engine there are the basic bolt ons. You can also raise the compression or put in a more agrressive cam and mess with the gearing a little but remember if you have an itchy right foot, the potential for more serious HP is limited unless you spend large amount of money.
If the number one goal is more HP, bottom line is who's faster
The Evil Twin
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 9,296
From: Seattle, WA
Ya, and then the other guy says "Anyone can drop in a V8 and be fast" The corvette guys say "so what if you're faster than me, I've got a normally aspired engine and don't have to go turbo"
Bottom line still remains, whoever wins the race still wins. There's always a guy out there that'll look down on what you do and others that will praise you no matter what car you have or what you do to your car.
Yes, it is very true that a turbo is not the "easy route" In fact, most people dont' know enough about them to attempt to build a turbo engine or own a turbo Z so they stick with n/a. If all you do is slap on a turbo and BOV then you won' t have a good turbo engine. Normally aspired and turbo engines to be done well, are both done in slightly different ways to work with the different forces of air and fuel levels. Just like you can't build a really fast n/a engine and then years down the road put a turbo on the side of it...
Bottom line still remains, whoever wins the race still wins. There's always a guy out there that'll look down on what you do and others that will praise you no matter what car you have or what you do to your car.
Yes, it is very true that a turbo is not the "easy route" In fact, most people dont' know enough about them to attempt to build a turbo engine or own a turbo Z so they stick with n/a. If all you do is slap on a turbo and BOV then you won' t have a good turbo engine. Normally aspired and turbo engines to be done well, are both done in slightly different ways to work with the different forces of air and fuel levels. Just like you can't build a really fast n/a engine and then years down the road put a turbo on the side of it...
can anyone help me by telling me the a good route to go with my n/a engine?
Guest
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Us three are all in the same boat...79 Champagne ZX here...I already started, I got a CAI that I found at a performance shop...3 inch tube, what looked to be a standard sized filter head. I'm gonna do the header and exhaust work by the end of this month, then suspension. New cam's and whatnot are looking very tempting..as well as a 240SX/60mm throttle body.
The Evil Twin
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 9,296
From: Seattle, WA
I'd be curious to see if someone did a good complete performance upgrade on all the intake items first before doing the exhaust. Plus, focus on one system completely then move to the next. A mild cam is definatly a good idea, but will eat up half your money. You'll want all new rockers with that cam. Get the most mild one too, unless you raise your compression.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 269
From: Tongie, Kansas
Bleach is right, you don't want to do more then a mild cam. Depending on the age and miles on the engine too much of a cam is risky business...you could knock out the bottom end quick. I'd also suggest doing some general maintenance on the car if you've recently gotten it. Fresh fluids in the diff and tranny will free up some parasitic power loss. You guys should also do a decarbon treatment on the engine, especially if you want to put a cam in it. That will clean up the valves and the piston tops and get some of the power back. GM sells Top Engine Clean by the can and is very good for getting the carbon out. Buy a couple cans and follow the instructions on the can.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 373
From: WA
Bleach - I'm also curious to see what the results would be if someone upgraded one system at a time but I doubt that will ever happen. For under $1000, if your compression is still good fresh fluids and filters along with a good intake and exhaust system would be a good start. If you have money left over you can look into getting a mild cam.
If you dont want to go with a new cam you can also raise your compression. I'm assuming you have dished pistons. Swap your block with one with flat tops and you raise your CR to over 10. You can bring it back down a little with a thicker head gasket.
If you dont want to go with a new cam you can also raise your compression. I'm assuming you have dished pistons. Swap your block with one with flat tops and you raise your CR to over 10. You can bring it back down a little with a thicker head gasket.
The Evil Twin
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 9,296
From: Seattle, WA
hehe... tune-up in a can? I'm about to do a carbon removal, including a new timing chain. IE: I'm going to remove the head while I'm at it and really clean that sucker out.
A new chain advanced to #2 and no carbon ought to bring back a lot of torque to my engine. I hope it all works out like I think it will. When I did the block swap on my truck (L18) I removed just a tiny little bit of carbon from the valves. The engine had only 89K miles on it! I also advanced that timing chain, but I have a midrange cam in there (crane #2). It didn't bring in loads of torque (given its a 4-cyl anyway) but I could tell that at about 3,000 rpm the power came in faster and a little stronger than before when I had it at #1 position. On an L6 I'll probably notice the power at lower rpms better. (and with a stock cam) I'm not really into reving to 6,000 rpm anyway.
A new chain advanced to #2 and no carbon ought to bring back a lot of torque to my engine. I hope it all works out like I think it will. When I did the block swap on my truck (L18) I removed just a tiny little bit of carbon from the valves. The engine had only 89K miles on it! I also advanced that timing chain, but I have a midrange cam in there (crane #2). It didn't bring in loads of torque (given its a 4-cyl anyway) but I could tell that at about 3,000 rpm the power came in faster and a little stronger than before when I had it at #1 position. On an L6 I'll probably notice the power at lower rpms better. (and with a stock cam) I'm not really into reving to 6,000 rpm anyway.
Guest
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Yeah, i just bought a '79 a couple of months ago. I already have another fairly fast car (my Subaru WRX) so i am just looking to buildup my Z to be as simple, reliable and fun to drive as humanly possible. When i bought it, it was already lowered and had stiffer suspension, and i think swaybars. Its got no options on it, no A/C, no power steering, and most of the interior has been gutted because it was in such poor condition. I dont expect my old 280 to run 12's or anything, i am just going all out to make it as fun to drive as humanly possible. I put an exhaust on it, i plan to do headers, a 4-barrell carb (just for the sake of simplicity) and raise the compression, maybe a cam and and ignition system at one point. Im just looking for 200ish HP, and a really fun car to drive.
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 903
From: Alameda, CA
Well, I'm keeping mine n/a.....just because (in my humble opinion) turbo engines are too high maintenance for my taste. Trust me, I own an '84ZXTAE. Much rather keep up with an n/a.
Easiest thing to do.....drop in a K&N ari filter. You alread have a cold air set up......no need to spend to many dollars there. Second---open up the exhaust. Go to 2.5"-3" with a high flo cat and a nice open muffler.
That should hold you for awhile..........'till the cam gets swapped, the injectors go to 500cc, the intake gets ported and polished....need I go on?
Easiest thing to do.....drop in a K&N ari filter. You alread have a cold air set up......no need to spend to many dollars there. Second---open up the exhaust. Go to 2.5"-3" with a high flo cat and a nice open muffler.
That should hold you for awhile..........'till the cam gets swapped, the injectors go to 500cc, the intake gets ported and polished....need I go on?
Guest
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...There is no cat on mine? 79...no Cat..some freaky emissions thing, but no Cat. That should mean that I should be able to have a pretty nice gain (5-10?) with a straight back exhaust, right? I'm not doing the exhaust until headers..and then comes the throttle body.
