How much boost on a stock 280zT??

[lilskyline240]

i found a 280zx turbo for sale in my area for cheap....im just wondering how much boost is safe for the stock fuel system/motor?? its a guy that has it and has a boost controller on it running 10psi...is that causing any damage to the motor?

[evildky]

10 psi si the limit with no intercooler on stock ecu, I ran megasquirt with no intercooler and got it up to about 13 psi, and with an intercooler you can run about 20psi but thats abotu as much as the turbo will flow

if you keep the stock turbo and electronic's and add and I/C with some decent aftermarket AFPR you should be able to get in the enighborhood of 250 whp

and so long as you don't ping the motor will be fine, the pistons are the weakpoint, they will melt of your go lean and once your u to 400whp the top ring land tends to give way, forged pistons and your good to go to more like 500whp the bottome end on the L6 is quite stout

[lilskyline240]

so how far does the fuel system go?? like boost level wise?? i plan on gettin an intercooler for the first thing....then upping the boost some more after a free flowin exhaust is added.....what turbo is stock on there??

[evildky]

without an AFPR? I'd keep it down to 12-14 psi, you can get a decent bosch afpr for about $50 that' take you on up to 18-20 psi

and keep in mind not all intercoolers are created equal, I had a cheapie ebay crossflow that did OK but upgraded to a treadstone vertical flow and took out the lag and took the intake temps down another 40 degrees

[lilskyline240]

18-20psi on the stock t3 turbo??? thats gotta be WAYYYY past the effiecency range....i dont relaly plan on being fast with the car...just want to be quick and use it as a DD....how reliable are they???

[vg33t]

They are very reliable. I used to run the heck out of mine. I was running 15 psi through a mitsubishi starion IC. Took it on road trips across the country, that thing would never die.

[lilskyline240]

cuz i just want a reliable car taht i can go my 20 miles to work and back everyday...with no problems...hows teh gas mileage on this thing??

[evildky]

they peak out at about 18 psi efficiency wise but can be pushed a bit further, and gas milage on a turbo depends greatly on how you drive it, I know an older guy with an all origional 280ZXT I seem to recall him saying low 20's mpg, my 240ZT is pretty much race only and gets (no joke) about 3-5 mpg

[winez31]

holy cow thats horrible

[evildky]

I know a guy with an NA L6 that got about 30 mpg, depends greatly on the driver

[winez31]

is turboing an n/a a good idea, or is it just gunna cause trouble

[evildky]

you can turbo the N/A but your limited on the boost, if you keep it under 14 psi ti should be fine, the biggest issue is which cylinder head, the N42 is actually popular with turbo builds, but the combustion chamber of the P79 or P90 head is better as well as larger in volume, and the p79's sleaved exhaust runners are a matter of debate recently

really it just depends on the knowledge of the person building it, if your familiar with the turbo electronic's, oiling, compression ratio's etc, then you gererally can figure out where to go, but since your asking I'd suggest you start with the complete swap and you'll learn as you go and can make changes down the line, the problem with all the L6s is the cast pistons just can't be punnished too much, and when you raise the compression ratio you have to run lower boost

[lilskyline240]

kyle, you can buy that turbo 280, i dont want it anymore...i spent the money on a new turbo...lol

[winez31]

im ahead of you i just did

[ZXR_KiD]

with my non-turbo '79 I was getting about 28hwy MPG then I re-installed the ZXR wing and it dropped to 26. I'm yet to drive the turbo car on the highway so I really can't tell ya it's mileage

however I've been told that adding the headlight covers from MSA or Black Dragon will gain you almost 2 hwyMPG. so It'd be worth looking into