280z... Questions... Confusion...

[7anshin]

I had a 98 Altima, nice but no rwd... Wrecked when a big chevy pickup drove head first into me in my lane.

I now own a 96 240sx. Love it but want more power.

I have a chance to get a 280z or a 280zx shell, but I have never driven a 280z in my life. I have searched and read that the inline 6 in the 280z was even less powerful stock than my KA24DE in the 240sx...

I have to either have my 240sx KA rebuilt by a shop (around 8k) or find another car. The wreck left me unable to work on the car. I could have the KA rebuilt and supercharged but at the cost I'm questioning if it is worth it...

Now the 280z is sexy as hell from the looks, how does it handle? Are there many aftermarket parts (suspension and such) and should I look out for anything? The 280z looks smaller and lighter, I like that alot.

Second, should I put my rebuilt supercharged KA in the 280z or is there a better engine swap?

Here is what I am going for:

I want comfort, this will not be a track car (maybe a weekend warrior) and I have to drive it every day. I have to have a/c & heat. I also should have power steering as my arm doesn't work very good any more. I'm also not looking to spend an arm and two legs, but I am willing to spend to have a dependable reliable car.

I want some input, is the 280z worth it or should I just stick with the 240sx? What would you do? I just can't throw more money at my 240sx before I am sure that the money is worth it, I'm $100ing my self to death with the 240. I know I want to stay nissan/datsun though for sure.

Thanks for any input from those 280 owners out there that know about them, I could use the help as I am clueless about them!

[nsrZ32]

The 280Z is a wonderful car with a HUGE aftermarket. Z cars have always handled well and had a lot of parts available.

Don't put a KA in your Z car. That's just silly. The popular swap for the 280Z/280ZX is the L28et. It was the turbocharged 2.8L inline 6 out of the 280zx's. Lots of potential.

Also....why would you spend 8 grand to build and supercharge a KA? You realize for less than that you could swap in a twin turbo RB right? SR swaps can be done for less than half of that and are already turbocharged and able to handle the boost.

[7anshin]

Well, the l28et eh? I'll have to read more about it. I would like to keep a Z motor in the Z if I got one, it kind of seems wrong to put anything else in there... Even though I don't know the potential of the l28et at all, yet.

To answer your question about the RB or the SR... I have been scared to death by people telling me that I'm all most guaranteed to get a bad motor. That and I have never had a turbocharged car before, everything before the nissan's was classic. I hear there is alot of money to be spent keeping up a turbo system, but all the info I have is what I read. I don't want to be having to pour money into a motor at a steady rate to keep it reliable.

I love my 240sx, it drives great and is pretty comfortable, though I wish there was not half a back seat in it. Another thing I am thinking about is parts availability/price on an RB.

I was thinking of rebuilding the KA because it needs it, I've got alot of vacuum leaks and a good amount of oil blowing from a lower seal all the way around the front. I was thinking of supercharging because it would give me a safe reliable 210 to 240 hp.

I am very open to a swap though, since I need new wiring harnesses anyway.

P.S. All the shops around here want an arm and a leg for a swap. They want $1800 just to pull and put the engine back in, $900 each way.

[Stealth-Z]

Here is what I am going for:

I want comfort, this will not be a track car (maybe a weekend warrior) and I have to drive it every day. I have to have a/c & heat. I also should have power steering as my arm doesn't work very good any more. I'm also not looking to spend an arm and two legs, but I am willing to spend to have a dependable reliable car.

Thanks for any input from those 280 owners out there that know about them, I could use the help as I am clueless about them!

Stick with the 240SX in terms of A/C, heater and Power steering. 280ZX's have power steering but the 75-78 280Z's do not. A while back a member on Hybridz.org did a RB26DETT swap into his 240Z. He loved the car but now has a turbo charged 240SX. He likes the comfort along with the A/C and power steering.

[evildky]

the 280Z weighs about 2800 lbs, and the L6 engine are just about bulletproof to a point, you can do basic high compression builds by matching flattop blocks to a small volume head, you can bore and stroke it to 3.1 and get as much as 250whp, or you can do the L28ET, and add a bigger turbo, I/C, larger injectors and stand alone and get up to about 400 whp before the pistons melt, as for handling, they handle well, not as sophisticated at many more modern cars but well ballanced, the basic sway bar's, spring and shock upgrades really improve the feel, the brakes are realy the weakpoint and there are many ways to go about improving them, and a solid 280Z is getting harder and more expensive to find all the time

also many had dealer add on a/c and the 77-78's were offered a/c as a factory option, power steering in the S30's isn't needed as they are very light, unless you like to paralell park with R compound tires the manual rack is more than adequate

and they are dead sexy

[81na ZX]

There are books and books and books written on L-series performance and Z (s30 and s130) car performance, check out amazon. Start with http://www.amazon.com/Modify-Y...books and go from there . And theres the racing pedigree.

L engines do run great forever. I have a block with 220k on it and ran a 16.2, same as stock. BUT they run 16.2 @ ~ 80 stock (zx's, which are heavier than a 280z, but same engine). Light car + torque = fun to drive though. All L28's are rudimentarilly EFI'd. The 280zx P/S is a recirc ball unit and I really don't like it, would rather have a manual rack & pinion (s130 came with manual rack, manual recirc, power recirc).

And T-Tops > A/C (unlike a GM, Datsun T-Tops don't leak )

[evildky]

82-83 turbo cars had power rack and pinion, I assumed the N/A 82-83 did as well? and the manual racks in the S130 is rare and only on the early cars and the ZXR's

[DustinZ]

If you gave me 8k for a swap on the Z I would give you a complete ~400hp Rb25DET swap. Or a bad *** RB or SR swap ~ 400hp in your 240sx. The 280z is way more original though. They can make great track cars and have a great suspension set up. Much better than the 1979 to 1989 rear trailing arm setup. Those year Z's dominated IMSA by the way.

DustinZ

[evildky]

or for half that you cna have a 400 whp L6

[heartofaskyline]

I have to either have my 240sx KA rebuilt by a shop (around 8k) or find another car. The wreck left me unable to work on the car. I could have the KA rebuilt and supercharged but at the cost I'm questioning if it is worth it...

hahahaahahaha NO, your gettin ripped. go and buy a used ka for 500 bucks, or an sr for 2g's. even if you get a abused sr, you can rebuild it for alot cheaper than 6k...keep the 240, there much more comfortable, and parts are really easy to find

[7anshin]

hahahaahahaha NO, your gettin ripped. go and buy a used ka for 500 bucks, or an sr for 2g's. even if you get a abused sr, you can rebuild it for alot cheaper than 6k...keep the 240, there much more comfortable, and parts are really easy to find

Well, the 240 is very comfortable. I love my s14. Can someone confirm that the KA24DE has a cast iron block as apposed to the SR's aluminum block? I have read conflicting things on this... I thought the quote was high too. Wouldn't a built I4 be better off with a cast iron block than a aluminum at around 220 to 250 hp? If the KA is stronger and I don't have to worry about sourcing parts as much as with the SR (cost wise $$$), it sounds like I would be better off buying a spare KA, have it built and supercharged. That would cut down on down time and leave me with the old KA to tinker with or just save in case the supercharged ka goes BOOM.

So if costs are cut I can put more into my suspension and some wider rear tires... Maybe a new LSD if I scrimp, a new interior and engine wiring harness installed... Yeah KA is sounding better every day.

Thank you for all the input guys, when I ask these questions on the 240 forums they tend to... well... lean their information/suggestions based on their preference of the 240... Which seems to lead to a lot of arguments about what is/isn't correct, which leaves me more confused than before I ever asked.

[evildky]

not to rain on your parade but I'm sure you'de get mush more responce in the 240SX section when addressing the 240sx,a nd yeah 8k is stupid mosny for a rebuild, someone say you coming, closer to 2k with them pulling the motor would be about right for a 4 banger

[7anshin]

not to rain on your parade but I'm sure you'de get mush more responce in the 240SX section when addressing the 240sx,a nd yeah 8k is stupid mosny for a rebuild, someone say you coming, closer to 2k with them pulling the motor would be about right for a 4 banger

I know I would get more response in the 240sx section. I get tons of information from that section. Originally I was weighing my options in this post about possibly buying a shell of a 280z and building it. Since talking with 240sx owners like myself, and the great help of you in the Z forum I understand my options now, and think as a daily driver I would probably be more comfortable in my 240sx. And when it comes down to it, I already have the good 240sx here I just needs a new motor.

As for the rebuild I thought that was very high... They tell me that rebuilding an engine has become more of an art form now and that almost no one would do it but they could rebuild it with STOCK components for nearly $8k... If I bought the rebuild kit myself with stronger internals they would charge even more. I have not been back to that shop since. I keep having bad luck with mechanics, are they all crooked nowadays?