Sup!! Im new in here, and it feels like home already. Ive been reading your posts and checking your rides. You guys rule

I have a 78 280Z, I love the car, its just indestructible I had it for 4 years as a daily driver, it was my everyday buddy back and forth from school. Took lots of road trips incluiding a 1000 miles trip with the tranny stuck in 3rd gear. The odometer was broken when I bought it and I probably put already more than 100,000 miles on the car and it still rides nice and doesnt smoke.

After 4 years of college lifestyle the car is not as pretty as it used to be... it looks a little sad and I think its time to pay him everything it did for me. So my new years resolution was to bring it back to life as the warrior it used to be. So a full restoration and engine swap its on its way.

I want to replace the engine with something powerful enough to scare those SRT-4s on the streets. Also want to make the car look sharp and modern. I had in mind to swap the engine with a V8 Im a big GM fan so I really like the idea. But I would also like to keep its japanesse heritage, so I saw those RB20DET engines on ebay for a very low low price incluiding transmission. Anybody have experience with those 2.0 inline 6??? Ive heard they are kinda hard to fix, but Im open minded to look for a different or better engine option. I dont want to race the car but once in a while I want to drift it or go to the drag strip so I also want to inprove suspenssion and brakes.

For the car I want to completely tear it appart and remove every rust sign.... (I know im probably going to need to replace the whole car ) And I want to make it a right hand drive Z. Custom Interior, and custom paint. Shaved off doors, moldings etc.

So... I need opinions about the RB20DET engine or suggestions.

Thanks guys

Welcome. We need some picture of your ride, stat!

Anyway the hardest part about fixing a rb20 if finding parts here in the U.S. Personally the only rb that I'd use in the rb26dett. Read up on the motors down in their respective forum on here, you'll learn alot. It also depends on how much fabrication you want and are able to do. Its pretty much all been done before in a z. The l28et is a good option if you just want to bolt something in, they can be had for cheep and make good power. I personally plan on putting in a vh45de into m z, thats the 4.5l dohc v8 in the Q45. Its really all up to the amount of money you want to spend and how crazy to want to go with your swap.

Your options include anything you want like a chevy 350, lt1 or LSx. If you want to stay nissan you can go sr20, an rb, vg30, vq35, or any other you want. I've seen a few people put the supra 2jzgte motor in there as well as numerous other american v8. The z has a nice big engine bay that will accept alot of different motors.

stay away from ebay

i have a 1980 280zx that iam about to finish up.(2years to go tops hehe)

dont do the rhd its a pain in the a$$ to turn left.

also like was said before its all about how much money you want to pay u can drop a ls6 from a corvette into the car.

suspension are $$$$$ you will be looking at $600-$1400 depending on what you are looking for.

arizonazcar.com has some good stuff but also losts of $$$

Thanks for the welcome.



Thats how it looked when I buyed it. It was a mint sweet cream puff

I buyed a couple of old school Recaros for it



LOL, I felt like a pimp on my ride



Then I added the center line



Got rid of the rear louver.



It was a little monster



Everything started to go down when I got that little hit on the front corner.



Right now the paint look terrible thanks to a guy that "polished" the car but instead got rid of the clear coat Then I stasted to shave the side moldings on one side and I found a nice coat of bondo in the whole side of the car.. Then I had to replace the little carb and the only one I found is so big that the hood doesnt shut completly (it was a fuel injection but it was turned into carb). So right now the poor car looks like crap. Hard to believe it used to look that nice a couple years ago.

My roomate buyed a 2006 and those cool 20"s so my little Z just looks sad next to his nice Z

So I buyed a Miata and now I want to start restoring my Z.

I was thinking of the RB20 because its cheap and its going to look good and match the car. My idea is to make the car look like a newer model. I want to put a complete body kit and get rid of the ugly huge bumpers. And Im going to work out the whole interior to make it look like a newer car.

Im still looking for the engine, but I dont want to spend more that 1,200. 1,500 no more.

Ive been reading about the RB's pros and cons, and still feel like an RB20 would be a good option. Im not intended to race the car.... well, just once in a while but I dont want to trash it. Just some casual racing

The thing is that I DO want a manual transmission, and for the V8 conversion the cheaper manual tranny I can get sucks wich is the T5 from 80's camaros or vettes. The T56 Tremec would be sweet but its sooo expensive. A Muncie 4 speed would be great, but they are hard to find and expensive also. I would like an LT1 os LS1, but LSx's are still over $2,500, LT1's with manual tranny go for at least $2,000.

I rather spend more money on the car to make it look flawless than having a sick engine. So the RB20 fits on my needs.

Nismo03, why stay away from ebay?? Ive always buyed tons of stuff there. I buyed a KLZE V6 for a friends MX3 and it came in good condition for a good price. Any bad experience or advice you can give me??

I really want to do the right hand conversion, and since its not going to be a daily driver I really dont mind having to get used to drive it on the other side. Anyways I wont do the conversion if I dont find the RHD dash or if it is way too expensive.

I want to put good money on the car, so for a decent suspenssion would be ok to spend that kind of money

Thanks for your comments, Im really thinking about everything you guys say.

ok its been pointed out that ebay is not a good place to buy engines. 1,200 is not a good price for an rb. an rb that sells for that price is not a good running engine or it does not come with the computer

u need to spend more money on a good engine than on a pimp looking car you see looking nice = nothing if ur car has a dead engine....

TAKE YOUR TIME WITH THAT CAR AND DO IT WRIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!!

dot beat around the bush and buy trash parts

Welcome to Nico!ok I am a fan of EBAY, you just ahve to do your homework and pay attention to deatils, and always look for ways to protect yourself

as for the engine, the RB20's are cheap but they are also limited and not up to the potential of their big brothers, you can make a respectable amount of power should you shoose that route, the V8's are a popular swap, be it GM, Ford or even mopar it's been done and documented, me I do not care too much for the "Merkin" V8's they just aren't me, and I hate the thought of loosing displacement, I am running the L28ET, you can get complete donor cars for ~$350-500 (82-83 280ZX Turbo), they make 180chp stock and can reach 400 before exploding in spectacular fashion, I'm up to 299 whp on my 183k mile junkyard motor and it's loosing compression, the new bottom end should get me near 400whp! but thats me

whatever yuou decide keep us informed and be sure to share pic's f the progress

nice 280btw, looks pretty clean to me

evildky wrote:Welcome to Nico!ok I am a fan of EBAY, you just ahve to do your homework and pay attention to deatils, and always look for ways to protect yourself

as for the engine, the RB20's are cheap but they are also limited and not up to the potential of their big brothers, you can make a respectable amount of power should you shoose that route, the V8's are a popular swap, be it GM, Ford or even mopar it's been done and documented, me I do not care too much for the "Merkin" V8's they just aren't me, and I hate the thought of loosing displacement, I am running the L28ET, you can get complete donor cars for ~$350-500 (82-83 280ZX Turbo), they make 180chp stock and can reach 400 before exploding in spectacular fashion, I'm up to 299 whp on my 183k mile junkyard motor and it's loosing compression, the new bottom end should get me near 400whp! but thats me

whatever yuou decide keep us informed and be sure to share pic's f the progress

nice 280btw, looks pretty clean to me

Sup??

I just cant trust the old fuel injection system, thats why I turned mine into carb. After struggling with the maf, injectors, sensors, ECU, problems problems, etc etc etc.

How reliable is the turbo fuel injection system???

Thanks bro. Im considering that option

hahaha like i said my car was also fuel injection but did the carb thing... and am adding the turbo from the stock l28et to my car with a 3 carb sideway weber system.

should kick a$$ when its done

The bad part of the electronics is that they can't run much more power over stock. I simply use a standalone. It your content with maybe 230hp then it should be fine. If you want more you'd need an aftermarket ecm or maybe a z31 ecu with the l28et electronics.

nismo 03 wrote:hahaha like i said my car was also fuel injection but did the carb thing... and am adding the turbo from the stock l28et to my car with a 3 carb sideway weber system.

should kick a$$ when its done

Wow, sounds bad ***

I have a turbo with a carburetor mount on it, came from a buick grand national. I always wanted to put it on the L28, but.... its probably a lot of work compared with just dropping a V8.

The electronics thing Boosted 70 mention.... sounds like a head ache to me Its just that the old computer thing just feels like im going to need to tune my car with Qbasic

Thanks for the comment guys

The l28et turbo only pushes about 7lbs of bost. the turbo u have could work. you would just have to manufacture an exhoust manifold, Down pipe, new oil pan, return line, etc....

ill try to get pics of the system am getting by monday or tommorow so u can see what am talking about it

the z31 ecu conversion is documented over at hybridz.org, http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=91250the stock injection system is ok for stock, for anything more it sucks, I'm running megasquirt n spark, no maf, or afm, and I use the stock chts, with a 240 sx tps, and a gm map and ait sensor, working on converting to edis but firing the ignition wiht an hei for the time being

ultimately it's how much power you want how much money you're willing to spend and what you're most comfortable with, SDS makes an affordable and popular system you just have to use the gm chts, and then there are the larger names but they pretty well eat your budget

JMHO, keeping the interior of the car as original as you can get is much more appealing than modding the heck out of it. If you like Z's for their look, then why mod a classic? The car I bought had some mods to the exterior (side skrits, new paint, louvers), I dont think stuff like that is too bad. But at heart Im more of a purist. If your looking at fixing the inside up, maybe just get some replacement parts and go with the original look. You can get aftermarket clone parts for the Z and make that car look like it just rolled off the showroom. Just my .02

Nice car though, very clean

MontanaZ wrote:JMHO, keeping the interior of the car as original as you can get is much more appealing than modding the heck out of it.

Sweet car you have

Im want to keep it original but I just want to make it look newer. I love the dashboard on my car. I just want to improve it to make it better. Like replacing cheap plastic parts with aluminum or steel, cover some parts with a better quality leather or vynil.

For example, I like the mid console, So I want to add a nice brushed aluminum surface to it and cover the sides with black leather or vinyl. Like it was a premium package option.

Cheap interior:

Better:

Something like that Just to make it look clean and nice. I mean Datsuns were not famous for the hi quiality materials used inside. So I want to update it. Make it look nice.

LOL, Datsuns were not know for using quality material anywhere, except maybe the motor. Part of the reason that our cars rust so easily and badly is because a lot of the metals used were actually recycled crap.

I have seen a beautiful custom interiors wehre the dash console etc was leather wrapped, absolutely beautiful, but way too rich fro my wallet

evildky wrote:I have seen a beautiful custom interiors wehre the dash console etc was leather wrapped, absolutely beautiful, but way too rich fro my wallet

Oh yeah, but its way cheaper when you do it yourself

upholstry pwns me, I got no mad upholstry skillz

keep the car OG

DO SOME FIBER GLASS WORK and call it a day

You will see, its going to look really good and still is going to look original. Dont worry no fake carbon fiber or cheap woodgrain. Some real aluminum parts, and a nice upholstery.

I just want the weather to warm up a little bit so I can start working on it. Ill upload pics

thats how i know u dont love ur car

It was cold as hell and raining when i was working on my car and i still didnt care all i wanted was to see it finished o and i did not have a garage at the time

I dont love my car??? You have no idea what Ive been trough with my ride bro Ive already spent hours and hours of work and paperwork and tons of money.

I love the car dude, but its not the only car Im working on, I also have to keep my daily driving miata on top condition + my sister's saturn.

I also need to make some room in the house to put all of the parts. I rent a room, so I cant just tear appart my car and make a mess :P

Youll see, its going to be sweet

I was just playing i have $5,000 under my hood and the car is only 1/2 done hehehe so yes i know how much money time and space it takes