Ok, I sat around and thought about this for a while. There are "drop in" cams for N/A Z's right, and they pretty much keep the valves open further and longer allowing MORE AIR to enter the combustion chamber right? Well nothing about these cam kits says that you need to change the computer or fuel system...now I am not talkin about monster cams just the ones said to work on "stock" Z engines. We know these cams make power be it a little or alot.

My thoughts are why can't we add a mild or stock turbo to a N/A engine without the turbo computer or wire harness? There is nothing "electronic" on the turbo itself. Now I can see the turbo puting in a little more air then a cam so I can see the need for the "turbo" fuel pump, that just makes sense. So if say I used a stock turbo and turbo manifold with all the plumbing for oil and or water for the turbo, the turbo fuel pump and injectors and use some type of manual boost controler, couldn't this work? It should, turbos have been around and used a lot longer than computers.

It would be kinda like adding a roots blower, those most commonly have carbs on them so no computer. I know that when I push the gas pedal on my Z the computer reads the amount of incoming air and adjust the fuel mixture acordingly...it should still do this with a turbo on the car be it a turbo computer or not. I know both computers read from idle to redline or past that. They both have the same job when it comes to reading the air and adjusting the fuel right. This might be a primative setup but I am sure it would work if planned out properly and might just be a decent way for people on a budget to get a turbo on their cars.

The point of this write up is this mind set...the less electrical wireing and connections, the less that can go wrong with the car and the less to troubleshoot. I am not saying this is a simple idea, like I said it would still take some effort and planning and I am not trying to leave things out. I know a higher volume oil pump would be needed and probably some sort of better spark. The timing would have to be set up correctly. But without changing the head, wireing or swapping out the whole engine, you could still have a turbo...right?

 

the biggest problem is that a cam works on a vaccum principle, where as a turbo or blower works on forced induction or pressure, in any aftermarket upgrade of a induction system, the computer is almost always modified in one way or another. you can get kits for this for lots of modern cars such as the 350z, mustang, and even those honduh cars. sorry to burst your bubble, it just doesnt seem to work, unfortunatly its a pain on older equiptment, and really on our cars it really isnt that much to do.

 

This has been discussed a lot before... but here it is again in a nut shell...

A turbo pushes more air into the engine... unless you feel like burning holes in your pistons, you'll need more fuel.... the PROPER way to add fuel, is to get the turbo ecu, or tune-able aftermarket. This is just like NOS... it's the idiot kids that think they can just "throw on a couple tubes & a tank" and make 500 more hp, that don't do it right & blow their engine... then scratch their head saying "wha happened?"

A turbo also creates a higher compression ratio at boost... so a stock n/a engine isn't build to hold the higher compression ratio.

I've said it in every other thread like this, so I'll say it again...

You can either spend tons of time looking for all the individual parts you'll need to build a turbo motor from an n/a... or you can just get an L28ET and have all the parts in front of you.... which sounds easier? Well... since I've done both (hopefully people learn from other people's experiences) and getting a complete L28ET engine is much easier, and you won't have to worry about blowing up your half assed turbo converted n/a.

yay!

 

hmmmm.....sorry Nismo, I wan't trying to upset you...it just seemed to me that a oil pump, fuel pump, manifold and turbo would be cheaper and easier to put in than an entire L28ET. You do seem very knowlegable and I would trust that you know what you are talking about when it comes to this topic. This was just a thought as to the simplicity..or I guess lack there of on this type of conversion.

Personally I would like to go the stroker route on my engine but was curious on the simple turbo fix, I guess it is a touchy subject and if you say it is not a feasable idea then I will trust you on that.

 

Ya didn't upset me... but about once a week someone asks "hey! can't I just throw a turbo on my z?" The simple answer (better said... another question)... Did Nissan just throw on a turbo?

 

Cool.....hey did you say I can just throw some NOS on it and get 500hp!!!??? Man I think I will do that!!!


















J/K lol

 

hahahahhahaha

 

the ONLY time you should try to turbo a natrually aspirated engine is when there is no turbo counterpart for said engine. And just for the record, a turbo, manifold, oil pump, and exhaust will most likely end up costing more then a complete L28ET

 

OR when the engines are so abundant that you HAVE to turbo your NA if you want a turbo engine...*SHAKES FIST*

 

Holy Crap!! I rememberd someone threw up the car-parts.com thing at me a while back for my exhaust manifold and I never botherd to look for the turbo engine or the 5 speed tranny...well the 5 speed tranny I can get ALL DAY LONG for $250 and the Turbo engine all day between $300 - $1,200 complete. All of this within 55 miles of my front door!!! All parts were for 1982 or 1983 280zx's This DOES seem to be WAY cheaper then hacking my own "half assed" turbo job and way cheaper than the stroker kit. Ok guys you have opened my eyes and yes I would like to do the L28ET...for these prices I would be dumb not to.

I do need to know exactly what year parts to get, so please, some suggestions would rock.

1. Tranny - What year and from what set up 5 speed (82 or 83) (turbo or non turbo) for off the line performance (acceleration), or are they the same?
2. '82 or '83 L28ET..were there any sugnificant changes between these years or is one as good as the other?
3. I would assume yes grab the ECU but the fuel pump I should go ahead and get new? Or do they last long enough to pull that also?
4. How simmilar is the wire harness for the turbo engine..is it basically the same layout when the new harness goes in?

 

Well I don't know a whole lot about Turbos. But I am putting a Turbo setup in my '82 280zx. And I am going to put a stroker motor in my '81. Because he will look like a racecar. Smokescreen the Autobot, from Transformers. And of course Bluestreak the Autobot for my '82. And since he was a turbo zx, I will clone him like one. But since Smokescreen was a racecar, he will stay n/a, just built up, and modified. I will be doing plenty of research on both the turbos, and n/a stroker setups.

As for the turbo setup, I only know what I have learned on here. A t-5 5 speed is better for it.('82-'83) Also the fuel pump, ECU, injectors, wiring harness. And any of the components you need to make it a turbo. So when I do get around to doing it in my '82. I will basically have to take him apart again. So it will be down the road, I am in no hurry right now. And I am just happy to drive him the way he is. But I will be getting a turbo engine on the side, and slowly piece together all the components and such, that I need in order to make it happen. It will be a slow swapping process, and I wont start taking my Z apart, until I am basically ready to put everything in.

 

Not to deter you from our site, but www.hybridz.org has about 3.5 billion write ups on engine swaps. I'd check out their site for detailed "how to's." Then you'll be well on your way for boosting the right way!

 

The only difference between 82 and 83 with the turbo motors was the head. The 83 has hydraulic lifters (no longer available if one or more are bad) where as the 82 still had the solid type. I have the hydraulic head but am looking for a solid lifter head just cause I dont want to have to worry about trying to find a replacement when the time comes.
If you can get the L28ET with the T5 and driveshaft then that route is more favorable then going with the nissan 5 speed. Do you currently have a manual or auto trans? If you have a manual then your rear end is numerically higher then the turbos which would equate to faster acceleration. I stayed with the Nissan 5 speed for now, but do plan to upgrade to a T5 in the future. The wiring harness between the turbo and NA are NOT compatible. You'll need the turbo engine harness. If you can grab all the wiring that would be easier, but atleast grab the engine harness. As far as wiring the engine harness up it lays out pretty much the same as the NA harness does though. So figuring out what plugs in where is a no brainer. The fuel pump is your call. If the donor car is lower mileage then go ahead and use the pump on it.

 

Right at the moment I have the auto tranny and the R180 with the 3.54 gear. I was wondering about wich 5 speed has the highest first gear in it as I want to keep the rear end ratio but still want a little oomph off the line, where I will be moving to is right off I-95 and I would spend alot of time on it and still would like some MPG when cruising the interstate.

So it looks like I should go for the 82 L28ET due to the fact that the lifters on the 83 are hard to come by...good to know.

The engines I was looking at as a matter of fact was fairly low mileage
"1982
Engine
Nissan 280 ZX TRBO,5-04,AUT,57K MILES,TRBO 57,000 A 409282 $250"

I will check out the other site for the "how too's" Man I think this is gonna be fun!!!

Just so you all know, if you bleed while working on your car then it IS going to work...has every time I have bled working on a car. Thanks guys, if you can think of anything else I will check it out.

 

Use this site for all your gearing / tranny match up questions... (I toy with it when I'm bored at work!) http://www.geocities.com/z_design_studio/

 

Wow that was a hoot, it is pretty much right on too. I set it up with exactly what my car has on it right now with the three speed and the whacked tire size I have and it was within 1 mph of a speed detector I drove by a while back. That site will be useful...thanks.

 

You can turbo anything. High compression and low boost works great. You can make alot of reliable power. You just have to undertand what you are doing. Running boost on a n.a. is all about the tunning and restraint. Don't try boosting alot and aim for a good tune and you'll make big power. Just remember that you are going to be adding stress to your engine, so make sure it is in healthy condition. If you don't know what your doing then stay away from it and just get a turbo engine.

 

Remember that 1981 uses a completely different crank angle sensor scheme so make sure you use 1982 or newer stuff.