'82 L28e motor swap

[ratfinkboise]

im pulling the motor from my 280zx tomorrow to swap it into a completely different project. i was wondering what the necessary wiring and controls ill need to leave intact to keep it a functioning setup. im only using this as a power plant and not retaining any of the stock amenities. do i have to keep all the wiring to the taillights? windows? etc. im trying to keep this as basic as possible so any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

[evildky]

so I guess you want to keep the stock fuel injection? most people swap to carbs, and if they run injection they generally go aftermarket inection, a lot of people run the stock engine managment wiht the L28ET swap, but the n/a's are mostly carb's and the rest swap out the stock system for megasquirt, sds or similar

and if you really wanted to swap the stock engine managment, it's nto integrated to the chassis harness, the system gets power and wires into the fuel injector relay and fuelpump relay on the passanger side near the battery, you'll have to wire the tach and coil signal from a connector near the ecu, and you'll need to supply power to the coil as thats art of the chassis harness in the 280zx

[ratfinkboise]

perfect! is there anything wrong with the stock injection setup as far as factory flaws? im completely new to these cars, and all i want is a reliable form of power. it sounds like, short of the tach and amps, all i have to keep is the engine harness? i had more work to do to the vehicle im putting it in, but im hoping tomorrow will be the day i pull it out. you people will flip when i show you a picture of what this is going in. good or bad, ha ha. thanks for the help, and anyone else thats got 2 cents on the matter, its definately appreciated!

[evildky]

the stock injection system uses an AFM which s a big restriction in the intake, the stock rubber hoses taht link tot he AFM get brittle with age and are difficult to find, she stock injectors use the goofy barbed feed and the rail is a mess, and there is verylittle tunabulity int he system and the parts are expensive, which is why most people run carbs on n/a motors

[ratfinkboise]

damn... sounds like a good enough reason to me. anyone got a cheap carb setup near idaho? could you tell me what make/model/and year im shootin for here? and does that mean i need to get the fuel pump from the carburated setup? thanks again for the help, now i better get to work trying to find one.

[evildky]

, the stock SU cabrs found on 70-72 240Z's are a popular budget choice, for those looking to make power the tripple webber DCOE's or similar are the standard in the racing community, su's can be had for around $150 a set, the webbers will cost you $600 and up, the su's use only 2-3 psi, the webbers can handel 5-6 psi, and injection has a standard of around 38 psi at idle, you didn't say what you are puttin gthe engine in or what kind of fuel system it currently has, if the car was carb'd with an electric pump you'l just need a regulator to dial the pressure down, if the car was injected you'll need a fump intended for use with a carb's car, and assuming you have the stock 280ZX P79 head, you can add a cam escentric and cut out the pump slot ont he head and run a mechanical pump, or swap the P79 in favor of somethign like an N42 head, which woudl also help raise your compressionr atio, taht stock setup si only about 8.5:1, the N42 would bring you up to abotu 9.0:1 ro there abouts, I'm too lazy to look up the actual ratios right now

[ratfinkboise]

the project im putting it in had a mechanical pump for a carb setup. i was just curious if i could use the stock pump from my 280zx after i switch from fi?or could i use the pump from a '70-'72 240 that i get the carbs from? i think the su's from a 240 wil be the way to go. right now im just taking the complete wiring harness back to the tank. i figure ill strip and seperate the bundles into the basics ill need. ill give you a hint on my project, its pre-1960, and a pickup.

[evildky]

not he stock pump will nto work, it puts otu around 38 psi, thsi woudl overpower the needle valves and shoot fuel out the fuel bowl vents like a fountain

just get an electric pump form a carb's car or convert to a head that is already clearanced for the mechanical pump, I'm nto evne sure of the P79 has provisions for mounting carbs? I knwo the P90, N42 both do, but nto sure about the P79, it's a junk head and no one runs them

[ratfinkboise]

ha ha ah aha ha. okay, better not do that. im toying with some different ideas right now, ill let you know tomorrow what the verdict is. a head swap is the last thing i want to do, as im kind of putting this in as a 'hurry up and drive it" kind of deal, so we'll see where it goes from here. if it sucks i may have to look into a new head. Thanks again for all your help, you z guys are crazy... ha ha, in the most complimentary way possible of course!

[ratfinkboise]

and i did a little research finding that a '71 240 intake should bolt right up with a 81-83 gasket. something about needing to hold it until torqued to keep the right position though... i run a waterjet and have no quams about "incorrectness", as long as it works and i think i can make it.. . i got a feeling its gonna be a mixed review after i get some pics up. ha ha.
Modified by ratfinkboise at 11:04 AM 5/13/2009

[ratfinkboise]

hey again! got the motor pulled yesterday, going to get it mocked up tonight. i got a quick question though, if im switching to a carburated intake, do i need a dist. from a carb. model? anything else i need to change when eliminating the fuel injection? any help is appreciated, thanks!

[evildky]

nope, your distributor will work with an MSD box, or can be wired to fire the coil directly

[ratfinkboise]

okay, got the motor and trans mounted, and all the fuel injection off. im in the process of building an intake to run a 2 barrel carb. i stripped this thing down to the basics, no power steering, or a/c. i was wondering the absolute basics i need to keep to get this thing running. the entire wiring harness is unmolested and still in the car. im guessing i have to keep the ecu? im sorry, these are probably pretty basic knowledge questions, but for some reason, these computer outfits make me nervous. ha ha, anyways if you could tell me the BARE minimum of wiring i'll need or any mods that would work in my favor of keeping this a budget build. and is anyone near Boise, ID? id really like to meet up with someone that has some real knowledge on these cars for 1 on 1 advice and planning. im a newbie both in these nissan z's and motors in general, trying to hit the ground running though. thanks for all the help!

[evildky]

the complete injection harness can be removed, you just have to wire power to the coil , wire the coilt othe distributor and tahts it, the chassis wirign shoudl remain iuntouched and in tact, it feeds the positive tot he coil and has your starter, alternator and battery wiring

[ratfinkboise]

got everything i need out and arranged in the truck this weekend! thats some good news! its really startin to shape up. thanks for all the help evildky!

[Bleach]

If I had seen this earlier I would have suggested you stay away from carbs.

stock FI or Z31 fuel management for a reliable engine. Dont' go with carbs unless you have no other option.

If you keep the fuel injection, keep the wiring harness complete. From the ECU, out to the injectors. Including the air flow meter wire, and the section that goes to the fusable links over by the battery. Cut the three main power wires going into the fender behind the battery. You can power those later with a relay or two and you're set.

As you're pulling it you'll see its pretty obvious what to keep. The fuel injection is separate from the chassis wiring.

[evildky]

If I had seen this earlier I would have suggested you stay away from carbs.

stock FI or Z31 fuel management for a reliable engine. Dont' go with carbs unless you have no other option.

If you keep the fuel injection, keep the wiring harness complete. From the ECU, out to the injectors. Including the air flow meter wire, and the section that goes to the fusable links over by the battery. Cut the three main power wires going into the fender behind the battery. You can power those later with a relay or two and you're set.

As you're pulling it you'll see its pretty obvious what to keep. The fuel injection is separate from the chassis wiring.

sounds like someone has never had the joy of tripple webbers

I generally rpefer injection but the stock system on the S30 and S130 sucks by comparison to modern systems, and the carbs also allow you to clean up the engine bay quite a bit

[Bleach]

The factory intake manifold is a bit small for all out high rpm horsepower, but it does well and makes good midrange torque.

I skipped the tripples and went straight to turbo.

Z31 factory injection is the way to go on the cheap side of things. S130 AFM's suck!

[ratfinkboise]

im doing the carb setup, because like evildky said, it allows me to clean up the motor considerably. im not building any type of race motor whatsoever, so any small loss of hp from the intake and carb im using is no big deal to me. and as far as reliability goes, ive had way better experiences with carburetors my entire life over injectors. im putting this motor in a pre 1960 pickup, and anything i can do to kind of disguise the fact that its a newer motor is mostly what im concentrating on.

now.... another question for you evildky. i guess i was a little confused about whether or not i need to keep my ecu? are there any fuses i need to keep that would help me out? sorry if these questions are a little stupid, but i to, am indeed, a little slow unless its hands o0n learning. ha ha. thanks for all your help!

[evildky]

no you do not hneed to keep the ecu, the power to the coil is fed form the chassis harnessand trippe webbers might not be int he same league as turbo but it's like a shot of nitrous at the top, I've seen 30 whp gains form swapping from su's to tripple webbers