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how to turbo charge a 1990 z32 N/A??

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Old 01-20-2011, 10:13 AM
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how to turbo charge a 1990 z32 N/A??

can anyone give me pointers on how to safely convert my naturally asperated into a twin turbo. and also if anyone knows if the later model z32 have obdII and if its possible to convert my 90 obdI into an obdII?
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Old 01-20-2011, 10:53 AM
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Search and you shall find
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Old 01-20-2011, 11:11 AM
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but TT front clip, replace everything. You really don't want OBD2 on your z32.
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Old 01-20-2011, 04:09 PM
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96 has obdII, and as hoov said, you don't want it. Increased emissions equipment is NEVER conducive to making more power.

Regarding a TT conversion, you have three options:

1 Bolt the turbos on your NA motor, run some intake piping, and enjoy it until you try driving it and blow that engine to ****. (You wouldn't have to wait long.)

2 If your NA is pristine (which I doubt), buy an entire TT front clip and swap everything (it'll take you weeks, if not months if you're not technically inclined).

3 Accept that, if power is your desire, you made the wrong purchase. Sell it, buy a proper Twin Turbo, and enjoy it for many years.
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Old 01-20-2011, 04:53 PM
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well its in somewhat pristine condition its a 1990 with only 72k miles. im an entry level mech so i am capable of doing the labor myself. i heard that the N/A 300zx has better compression ratio so if you do a tt swap it will produce more power than an original tt 300zx. but i kinda have my doubts about that because i took on a friends stock 2000 honda prelude and couldn't even stay equal with him. although i am having problems with my fuel injectors so i aint calling it a fair fight.
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:11 PM
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lol if you can't beat a 2000 prelude you got some problems... I was able to hit a 14.9 on a fully stock Z32 N/A at the track, preeeeetty sure the stock prelude doesn't go that quick...
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:25 PM
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ya it just doesn't feel like its picking up like it should. the story is i bought it off this 20 something year old that didn't know anything about cars. he started trying to "mod" the interior and got too complicated for him to fix. i was able to buy it off of him for 1200 so im feeling like im still in a good buy. it looks like i have to buy new inner and outer tie rods for passenger, new fuel injectors, radiator that actually fits the car, new tires, machine the rotors, new brake pads, and redo the interior. am i still in a good buy? my goal is to bring it back to oem and then swap in a twin turbo.
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:30 PM
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lol A beginner mechanic will still take weeks to handle a swap.

And the higher compression on the NA motor is EXACTLY WHY YOU CAN'T PUT TURBOS ON IT. lol You have higher compression, and you'd be forcing compressed air into it. Temperature increases directly with pressure; because of the higher compression, the temperature becomes so hot that the fuel preignites, also known as detonation. It will blow your engine.

There's a reason the TT motor (and all FI gasoline motors) came with lower compression... so that it can handle boost. Did you think there was another reason? lol

Last edited by ZLover4Life; 01-20-2011 at 05:32 PM.
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:31 PM
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i'll tell you right now, swapping all the injectors is over a grand right there... brakes are not a biggie, not sure what's up with the interior but interior pieces can be pricey. I think you are kind stuck man. I'd say fix it as cheap as possible and sell the car and buy a TT. This thing sounds like to big of a turd to even dream of sticking a TT engine in. And you CAN turbo N/A car motors, but most people don't do it right, and specifically speaking in terms of the Z32, they just don't seem to like it...


and randy, that doesn't directly translate, the S2000 is a 11.5:1 compression ratio revs to 9k rpm and will take 20lbs of boost and make over 500whp on a completely stock motor, 100% stock not even head studs or a head gasket change for a good 25-30k miles. But they are also builty beastly from the factory for some reason
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:34 PM
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wow that makes total since. i feel real dumb especially cause im in engine performance class still and we already talked about that on an eclipse. lol disregard last comment then
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:44 PM
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well its safe to say you can turbo charge a n/a engine because all turbo chargers are doing is making sure you get the full amount of air u can fit in that cylinder. from the factory a naturally asperated engine is built to only run on 80% biometric efficiency so when you turbo charge that engine it sends the other missing 20% plus more. so then now im confused because i would think that nissan would of manufactured the N/A z32 to still compete with ordinary cars, hince the higher compression ratio. so then its safe to say that putting a tt on your N/a z32 it would have more volume in each cylinder to hold more boost than the stock tt z32
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:46 PM
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^ You are completely ignoring the relationship of temperature and pressure, and this is why you need to do a ****-ton more reading before posting. If you think you can turbocharge your VG30DE, PLEASE try it. And make sure to come back here with pictures of the blown engine so I can laugh at you. Search TwinTurbo.NET - you'll find plenty of testimony of people who put turbos on an NA motor and blew it to pieces. In fact, there's only one guy who didn't blow his NA motor to pieces... and he limits himself to something like 6psi (which is less than the Twin Turbo comes with from the factory, and thus it makes less power, despite the higher compression ratio). I invite you to try to prove me wrong - it won't happen.

Originally Posted by snwbrderphat540
and randy, that doesn't directly translate, the S2000 is a 11.5:1 compression ratio revs to 9k rpm and will take 20lbs of boost and make over 500whp on a completely stock motor, 100% stock not even head studs or a head gasket change for a good 25-30k miles. But they are also builty beastly from the factory for some reason
Many vehicles are over-engineered. LS engines can handle relatively substantial boost, too. I'd imagine any motor designed to rev to 9k rpms needs very tight tolerances (by the way, since HP = TQ*RPM/5252, the fact that it revs to 9k rpm explains much of why it can make so much horsepower). The VG30DE, on the other hand, was not so over-engineered... they had a VG30DETT to make gobs of power, they didn't see a need for the non-turbo version to do the same. (P.S. This is why I said "the NA motor" and not "an NA motor"... some can handle some boost, others cannot. The VG30DE is the latter.)

Last edited by ZLover4Life; 01-20-2011 at 05:57 PM.
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:49 PM
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Not all mathematics translate directly like that... plus the fuel and ignition maps are different. Injector flow is different. Alot of other things. It isn't worth arguing man, trust us.


lol, and yeah, the TQ of any S2000 isn't very impressive. But hell, unless you are towing things HP is just as good, if not better lol.

Last edited by snwbrderphat540; 01-20-2011 at 05:52 PM.
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Old 01-20-2011, 05:55 PM
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Here's an example of what your pistons will look like after you detonate...



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Old 01-20-2011, 05:58 PM
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its cool. not tryin to argue too much. yall are the experts on z cars im new. so ill change my game plan. whats the possibility of me being able to work on fixing the body and interior of my z while also buying and refurbishing a vg30dett then swapping it in to my z? cause when i originally bought this car i just wanted a good daily driver that looked nice. with me only having 1500 in my pocket at the time i thought this was as good as i could get. all the good condition z32's were over my budget. if it wasnt for this car i would be on a honda civic forum lol
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Old 01-20-2011, 06:23 PM
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go to this link he is selling a 300zx n/a twin turbo swapped

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/2140145251.html
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Old 01-20-2011, 08:21 PM
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Originally Posted by PR_ZDriver
go to this link he is selling a 300zx n/a twin turbo swapped

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/2140145251.html
I'd get that, it has a Mushimoto radiator.

But then again, "Forgetting a few things..."

Like the fact it could have no compression on two cylinders, or the brakes or the master cylinder are leaking

Last edited by WanganDevilZ; 01-20-2011 at 08:23 PM.
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Old 01-20-2011, 09:12 PM
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Usually, anything over 9.5:1 is a bad choice for a turbo. There are the exceptions to that general rule, but the vg30de is not that exception. Also if you want to swap it, go for it! who cares if it's pristine or a rusty pile of dog ****. Hell I'm about to drop a vh45 into my sisters 90 TT just for the hell of it.
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Old 01-20-2011, 10:59 PM
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VH45 into a TT? whaaaa? do that into an NA chassis with a blown motor or a roller S30 man.
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Old 01-21-2011, 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by snwbrderphat540
VH45 into a TT? whaaaa? do that into an NA chassis with a blown motor or a roller S30 man.
But I've already got a perfect TT sitting in my driveway!
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Old 01-21-2011, 12:50 PM
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Ya well today my left front tire blew on my way to school. Now I'm thinking of taking my friends offer of trading my 300zx for his eclipse gst. But I really like my z car.
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Old 01-21-2011, 02:27 PM
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I hear ya! Engine swap is no problem but I'd sure hate to have to buy a nice set of tires and have them installed by a shop.
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Old 01-21-2011, 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by PR_ZDriver
Ya well today my left front tire blew on my way to school. Now I'm thinking of taking my friends offer of trading my 300zx for his eclipse gst. But I really like my z car.
Dude are you crazy? You think the 300zx is a headache. Wait until you get an Eclipse. Mitsubishi's are major headaches. And have tons of problems. I know first hand. My wife owns one. lol

Just go get your tire fixed or replaced. It couldn't have done that much damage.
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Old 01-21-2011, 04:49 PM
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Ya I know they are trouble. My cousin has one and he is dealing with blown head gasket. Idk its just that everyone making z cars sound like too much trouble
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Old 01-21-2011, 05:15 PM
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For the average kid in high school, it is too much trouble. Why? Because it's a sports car that's older than you.
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