herrods Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 Hey all, I am now the proud owner of a 1974 Datsun 260z, bought it out of canberra, bright yellow, spied it on carsales, had it for about 2 weeks now. The previous owner told me that the L28 motor, (installed in the car) came out as a carby, EFI and EFI turbo. I want to make my L28 an EFI turbo L28. Currently, the car has an L28 bored out to 2.9L, Waggot stage C cam, and is mated to a 5 spd close ratio box (OEM from one of the Z's) with a standard clutch/flywheel assy. What is involved in making the jump from carby, to EFI turbo? I assume a change in compression, but do the intake/exhaust manifolds mate up? is there a need for aftermarket computing or will an 280zx turbo computer do it, whats easier to get a hold of? where does one find these parts, and what am I looking at for longevity of the gearbox/rest of drive train, (it was rebuilt 10 000km ago.) If you need more info than that to help me, i can give it, (last owner has a small encylopaedia of all the things he ever did) but other than that, yeah... discuss this option with me or shut me down if im being a noob, ur call Quote
pauly_adams Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 you will need to most likely search very hard in australia for a efi turbo setup or import one from the usa should bot strait on as for compression you could get away with it standed but usualy the turbo motors have a compression of 7 to 1 but standed L28 have 8 to 1 not too sure if it would make much diff but im also new to the turbo sceene but good luck with the car and welcome to the club cheers pauly Quote
C.A.R. Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 Hey all, I am now the proud owner of a 1974 Datsun 260z, bought it out of canberra, bright yellow, spied it on carsales, had it for about 2 weeks now. Congrats! The previous owner told me that the L28 motor, (installed in the car) came out as a carby, EFI and EFI turbo. I want to make my L28 an EFI turbo L28. Currently, the car has an L28 bored out to 2.9L, Waggot stage C cam, and is mated to a 5 spd close ratio box (OEM from one of the Z's) with a standard clutch/flywheel assy. What is involved in making the jump from carby, to EFI turbo? I assume a change in compression? That depends - what is the current static CR? but do the intake/exhaust manifolds mate up? Yes, the EFI manifold’s bolt up – just make sure the head has the extra mounting holes & has the notchs for the injector nozzles. The S130 turbo manifold will bolt straight up. is there a need for aftermarket computing or will an 280zx turbo computer do it, whats easier to get a hold of? I wouldn’t even touch a 280ZX ECU – MoTec’s can be had for under 2k. where does one find these parts? Here in Australia, In japan & the US. and what am I looking at for longevity of the gearbox/rest of drive train, (it was rebuilt 10 000km ago.) Expect to blow the gearbox – there not strong under turbo application. If you need more info than that to help me, i can give it, (last owner has a small encylopaedia of all the things he ever did) but other than that, yeah... discuss this option with me or shut me down if im being a noob, ur call I can do that as well Quote
JP Posted January 9, 2008 Posted January 9, 2008 I would grab the inlet side of a regular 280ZX from a wreckers and hunt Z forums and ebay for a 280ZX turbo manifold. They are rare but not THAT rare, i had one for a while. Their design is not that great, but its a factory low mount which should give a nice stock appearance to the authorities. Seeing as your car is a '74, you can pretty much do what you like. I would use aftermarket management as suggested as the early ECY was a analogue electronics dinosaur. Quote
herrods Posted January 10, 2008 Author Posted January 10, 2008 thanks to all responses, very helpful. how would I go about finding my static CR? i spose i wld need a compression test huh. What gearbox will withstand this beating? sombody compare the pair betweent he RB20DET and the L28 turbo, ease of installation/parts sourcing? power ability Quote
Scando Posted January 10, 2008 Posted January 10, 2008 You might these links useful: http://datsunownerstas.proboards79.com/index.cgi?board=memcars1&action=display&thread=1147259931 http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6303 The first link is my car (a fair bit has changed on the car since I put this information up) and the second link is to the car of another member of this forum who is much more knowledgable than myself. First you need to find out what is in the engine you have. Sounds like it's a fairly hot N/A engine which will mean high compression which won't suit a turbo. You might be better off selling this engine and buying a complete L28ET from the US. A standard L28 runs 8.3:1 compression and an L28 turbo runs 7.6:1 compression. My old engine ran 8.1:1 compression by shaving the tops off the pistons of a standard L28 engine and happily ran 10psi boost. My new engine runs around 8.5:1 compression from flat top forged pistons and a P90 head (which is the L28 turbo head). This also runs 10psi boost but would happily cope with more. What computer you run will depend on what you want to do with the car. If you think you will want to chase big power in the future then I suggest going for aftermarket engine management from the start. If not then the standard L28ET computer will probably do the job. Personally I'd go for aftermarket engine management from the start if you can afford it. As far as the drivetrain goes the standard diffs are quite strong. I'm running a welded R180 (standard diff) which has gave no trouble so far. There is also the option of upgrading to an R200 diff. Would will be able to find plenty of info on this upgrade by searching this site. Whether you need to upgrade the gearbox will depend on power level you're looking for and what the car will be used for. If you intend on using the car for the street and will not being chasing massive power then the standard gearbox should do fine. I have now busted 2 gearboxes and am looking to upgrade but my car is used for racing. This link is from where I have been chasing up info for the gearbox upgrade: http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11723 And this is a tutorial on what The Helix has done in his Z http://ozdat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6393 Another problem my car has had is snapping the uni joints in the rear drive shafts. I've fixed it by installing stonger uni joints but most people do a CV joint shaft conversion. To find the compression ratio of your engine you will need to know the bore and stroke of the engine, if the pistons are dish or flat tops and the capacity of the head. If you can find this info then we will be able to work it out for you. The stroke should be standard (79mm I think from memory??) so you don't need to find this. I'm not sure of the difference in ease and cost between an RB20 and L28ET conversion. I can tell you though that the L28ET will produce more torque from low revs because of the extra capacity. Both engines will produce similar peak power figures with similar modifications. I think that's all I have to say for now sorry for the novel! Quote
chris240 Posted January 10, 2008 Posted January 10, 2008 welcome Herrods...how about some pics ? Quote
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