shanec86 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Hi all , does anyone have engine pictures of the Electramotive / Bob Sharp GTU? 280zx Twin turbo v8? The one Paul newman raced. There seems to be conflicting information on the engine that it actually ran. Most of the information i found on the internet all seem to be copied from one another saying it was a 4.5lt v8 from the president (hinting that it was VH45) but the VH clearly wasnt around in the early 80's. I did find, though, a page from a book stating it was actually 4.2lt's, down from 4.4lt. Which makes a little more sence being the Y44 was very much available at the time the car was built. Either way i want to find some photos!, i cant find anything on the net heres the car: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shanec86 Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 oh and heres the link to the book: http://books.google.com.au/books?id=oXqgecZ6Me4C&lpg=PA177&ots=Of33-Xleho&dq=GTO%20280zx%20v8&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q&f=false Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riceburner Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Hey Shane, I think Hybridz would be a good place to get some answers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterAllen Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 "For the 1981 season Sharp, in partnership with Electromotive, decided to escape GTU and the Mazda's and move up to IMSA GT class for cars over 2.5 liters. With a Nissan President 4.5 liter V8 engine and the work of Gene Crowe and chassis designer Trevor Harris, the two teams developed a couple of unsuccessful turbocharged ZX's. They had the power, but the engine design lacked strength and cracked under pressure. The IMSA now shifted focus to allow even more highly modified prototype cars that outclassed even a 700 horsepower twin turbo V8 ZX. The project was abandoned." ref: http://www.zclubhungary.hu/BobSharp.htm More here on the six cylinder; http://zhome.com/History/Electramotive/ElSh28zx.htm "Being successful in both IMSA and SCCA C Production, Bob Sharp had other things in mind, and he would make the big move in 1980. The car would be a true AAGT car, and would be fitted with a V8 powerplant, the one you could find on the Nissan President, which was manufactured in Japan. In fact, the car was not even imported in the US, and Bob Sharp had to use his relations with Dick Roberts, who was Datsun's competition manager, to have one engine in his shop by the end of 1977. The engine was then studied by Gene Crowe, the chief mechanic, who was to modify it accordingly to its future purposes. The car would be a unique design by Trevor Harris who would work on the chassis, body and the suspension. Thanks to his past experience, he would apply his skills to the Datsun ZX Turbo, which would then become the first ground-effect production based racing car. The car would completed in seven months. Rick Mack, who had worked at Rotomaster, would care about the turbocharger, which was supposed to feed the 4,5L engine. This was supposed to give out around 800 hp." ref: http://alex62.typepad.com/imsablog/2008/02/bob-sharp-racin.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Zedman240® Posted December 12, 2011 Moderators Share Posted December 12, 2011 In the book "How to modify your Nissan/Datsun engine" it shows a pic of what engine I thought was in that car; a turbo'd L28 mounted on a wild angle for a low center of gravity.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patch Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Was thinking the same, I have that book if needed the info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patch Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Found the book, it shows an earlier car for #33 that Paul Newman was driving, and the angled L28 motor Dimti is talking about is #83 and driven by Don Devendorf producing 650hp out of a L28 turbo and inter cooled motor leaning over on an angle to allow more room for the turbo and injection. Says he was the 1982 IMSA GTO Champ with his 280zx Turbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter mc Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 i think there are some wrong dates in the book ,the 280zx was raced in the 81 imsa series ,and the 300zx was raced with the V6 in 83 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revcor Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Hey all! I know this is bringing this back from the dead, but this came up in a google search. My dad was a mechanic for Electramotive in the 1982 season. Totally separate team and cars from Bob Sharp. Don Devendorf was an engineer who started Electramotive Engineering with John Knepp, and pioneered computer-controlled fuel injection, and the team were all SoCal aerospace engineer guys. Devendorf and Tony Adamowicz (aka A2Z) were the drivers, the car had a turbo'd straight six, and yes the photo you're thinking of is correct they leaned it over for spacing reasons (Adamowicz's idea). They won the GTU championship in 1979 and the GTO championship in 1982, then went on to more storied success in the GTP class in the later '80s. I have tons of photos and stuff if anyone's interested. If so shoot me an email at revcor@gmail.com gav240z and RAP260 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martini Man Posted May 14, 2022 Share Posted May 14, 2022 Hi Shane, I have photos of the build and detail shots and yes it was the president motor contact me jimf@ideo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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