Guess what? I also have an '84 Ford Thunderchicken running a turbo four popper engine... The same engine they used in the pintos... only turbocharged.

That engine and transmission pushes a full size luxury car as fast as the L6 pushes the ZX.

I did something stupid and gave the car to my little brother and now he doesn't want to trade me engine & trannies.

 

The L6 is old technology and the fuel injected engine was designed with midrange torque in mind. They have very little horsepower for what torque they put down. Small intake manifold, low duration cam, average compression ratio.

Build up an L6 for performance (high end power) or an L6 turbo. You don't need a Ford engine in your Datsun.

 

oh? and what would I need to include for building it up? If I were going to do any kind of mods on that engine, it would definately include a full blown rebuild and a T3/T4 hybrid turbo rather than just the T3...

 

...are you saying you're going to put a new turbo on the Ford engine, or do you have a trubo Z? if that Tunderbird is faster than your 280zx turbo, then your turbo engine is almost dead. Get a tune up.

For an n/a L6. Use flat top pistons, P79 head shaved 0.08, longer duration cam 280/450 lift. Port out the intak runners to match the intake ports in the head, 240SX throttle body, BMW 325 air flow meter, K&N cone filter, headrs, 2.25 inch exhaust, 4.11 rear. You'll be getting a bit more air in there at high rpms. You should also look into ways of richening the fuel mixture by modifying some sensors on the fuel injection system.

 

No, the ZX is n/a and a four popper turbo pushes the heavier mid - full size car as fast as the L6 pushes the ZX. I may instead want to rebuild the L6 from the ground up and have it set up for a turbo

(I think it was originally a turbo car as the hood has the two scoops and I found a 280ZX turbo insignia in the center console after I bought it.)

If I do build it up for a turbo, I was also going to look into a standalone EFI controller and HEI ignition. High pressure injectors, RV cam, fatter intake and exhaust ports, and definately the T3/T4 hybrid turbo (thunderchickens, ZX's and some toyotas all used T3 turbos. And I actually used the turbo from my '83ZX parts car to fix the bird.)

Or I may just save up my money, go to the junkyard and buy a car with a boss 302 or chevy 327 to rebuild and set up for twin turbos...

 

hehe.. .ya, a 302 would work!
If someone just yanked the exhaust manifold off a turbo and put a standard exhaust on it, then the internals may still be running the low 7.5:1 base compression for a turbo. (forced induction rasises that way up of course) That could be why the ZX isn't all that fast. But again, a slightly out of tune n/a ZX only has 140 wheel hp.
Oh, and the turbo Z in 1981 had the larger louvers, unique to that model for the first year only. 1982 and 83 Nissan decided to stop making the small louver hood and put the "turbo" hood on all 280ZX's. But, the little turbo plate on the inside might be a clue, or maybe the previous owner bought it off eBay for kicks.

 

And being that it is off of a fuel injected L24, it also has smaller intake valves. I've got an '84 Maxima...

Good for torque, but the smaller valves limit your higher rpm power just a bit. Just like Z owners usually do a custom valve job to open up the E31 head's valves, you should do that on your Maxima head for best performance.