newbie with a 1974 260z

[dats260zSR]

hey I have a 74 260z, with a 72 240 motor bolted to a 76 280 transmission. i have a cam and cat back exhaust. is there anything else small to do performance or mods, or just dress up? if so what, where, how much and is it self done or shop done? anything cool to do would be awesome. AND REPLY TO MY OTHER FORUM ABOUT PUTTING A SR20DET IN MY 260Z, and how you do it. thanks.

[evildky]

first of all the sr swap has been done, not a fan of it personally, less displacement is never a good idea in my opinionas for the motor you have, there is a letter and number cast into the side of the block near the bottom, just forward of the driver side engine mount, should say somethign like "E88" or N42" this will tell us for sure which block you have, and on the cylinder head near the base between the #1 and #2 spark plugs is a simplar code cast, should say somethign like "E31" or N47" again this will help tell us more about your set up, also what carbs are you running? we'll assume since you said 240 motor you have round top su's, this means the top od each carb has a cylinder thats rounds off on the edges, and at the base of the cylinder it's held on with either 3 or 4 screws, the roundtop's are good carbs but either a single 4 barrel or tripple webbers will add a lot or power, but they come at a cost, you cna also put the larger 280 motor in, which will add idsplacement and you guessed it.... power! also what distributor are you running? and coil? the ballasted coil and points distributor also rob you of power especially at high rpms, converting to and electronic distributor with a 12 coil and possible a MSD system really helps with the top end, and a header is pretty cheap and can give a little power over stock and when used with other mods really helps get things flowing

[dats260zSR]

Ok you have my attention on the L28ET, what's the difference between the L28 and L28ET? And where could I find one/what car was it in, (I'm a nissan guy but my knowledge is more on newer models. I'm going to look for the block and head code for you but yeah I have the single barrell dual carbs with the oil tank on top of them. I'm just getting my options on engines because you can pretty much drop anything in them ( I've personally seen 350 v8's, 327 v8's, red top sr's, black top sr's, rb's, and l24/26/28's, even a 440 magnum believe it or not!) but any insight will be great. The first time I saw my z I fell in love so....here I am. Thanks in advance.

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard, man!!!

I agree4, an L28 is an awesome swap for that car, and will produce a LOT more power than for less money than an SR swap.

Keep an eye out for a diesel maxima crank and go 3.1 stroker!

[evildky]

the L28 just refers to the 2.8 liter engine, kind of a generic term, when you add the "E" at the end your just specifying that it's got Electronic Fuel Injection, which all L28's in the states came with but you can certainly run carbs on one unless you have I believe the N47 or P79 head, as these do nto have the bolt holes for the carbs, the L28ET just specifies that it's the EFI Turbo model, which is what you would most likely want, you can stay N/A and go high compressiona dn get up to about 200 whp, or if you use the diesel maxima crank and bore the block .120 over you get 3.1 liters and can get north of 250 whp! or with the turbo motor you just turn up the boost to about 9-10 psi, free flowing intake and exhaust, and you can get about 200 whp without really buying any parts or doing any work! turbo's are the best bang for the buck IMHO but the bottom end torque of a high compression L28 can be fierce!

[dats260zSR]

ok so you sold me on the l28et, but if/when i get one does it come with the computer, and is it still a bolt up motor, because i have the 2.4 will it use the existing motor mounts, and will it bolt up to the existing transmission since i have a transmission out of a 280 anyway. and where might i find the motor/computer/wiring harness, is it just out of any state side 280? cause if so that could be a junkyard find. and the only website i have found for early z's is zcarparts.com, is there any other good ones? i know they make bore out kits for the l28, is that going to go with the fuel injected version also? and sorry for all the questions but what does the ET version put out in boost stock, and does it have a intercooler with it or is that a later purchase?

[dats260zSR]

another quick question, for the transmission, would you recommend the stock transmission (4 speed), the 280zx 3 speed auto, or the optional T-5 5 speed manual trans for the L28ET application? and what did the T-5 come with, I noticed it was an option for the 280.

[evildky]

the L28ET came in 81-83 280ZX Turbo models, the 82-83 came available with the T-5 5 speed, this is the biggest and strongest of the trannies available to bolt up withour mods, yes your staok 4 speed will work or even the auto, they are just nto as strong,a nd unless your racing it are fine, hard drag launches will severly shorten their life! if you get a donor car fron a junk yars or wherever, you get everything you need, hraness, ecu, turbo, motor all in one package, you'll have to drill a 1.5 hole in the drivers side firewall to route the main harness and you'll have to make a few wiring connections but aside form that it just bolts right in using factory mouts, you can use the 240's 224mm fluwheel and clutch assy, or the larger 240mm clutch assy and flywheel, you just have to use the flywheel clutch assy as a set, and the throwout bearing iand slave cylinder are specific to the transmission

the stock rating on this motor is 180 chp at 5psi, but thats with the restrictive intake and exhaust as wll as all the accessories

also be sure you understand a 75-78 280Z is nto the same thing as a 79-83 280ZX, and only some of the 81-83's had the turbo engine, the rest are n/a's rated at 150-160chp deoending on year

and there are a few 5 speeds, the 77-78 was the weakest, basically nissan just added a 5th geear tot he eralier 4 speed, the 79-83 n/a 5 speed wjhich is a litte stronger and then the 82-83 turbo's had the t-5, very strong and good to 400 whp, although continued hard drag launches can break them as well, but thats a problem for the hardcore drag racers

[dats260zSR]

so you would recommend the early 80's turbo engine if I can find it, and bolt it up to the t-5 trans, now does the t-5 trans use factory mounts? and for sure replace the intake/exhaust pipes! i found a l28 bore out kit for $1800 that make the engine 3100 cc's haha. but thank you for the help and if you know anything else I should know (websites, shops, etc.) feel free to give input. oh! one more thing, all the pictures i see of my car (1974 260z if you forgot) has no rear hatch lip/spoiler or they have one aftermarket, on mine it has one that looks like part of the body....any clue if it was an option or something to have a lip on the rear hatch??

[evildky]

spoilers were dealer or aftermarket only, tons of them have been made over the years, 3 piece, one piece, whale tail, etc, me I like the bre style 1 piece, msa (aka: zcarparts.com) is an excellent resource for spoilers, as for your stroker kit, does it come with the ka 24 pistons? or forged aftermarket? if you plan on boosting it the forged are a must

[dats260zSR]

forged pistons, it's the stroker from zcarparts.com. so it's a good buy I take it?

[dats260zSR]

hey, i found a rebuilt l28et for 600 bucks, good price?? and just to be sure, it uses the motor mounts already in place, and bolts to my 4 speed 280 transmission right?

[nsrZ32]

Welcome to NICO!

[evildky]

MSA is a great resource and they have good customer service and really do a lot to support the Z comunity, but they tend to be a bit on the high side, although I don't think anyone else offers a kit anymore, and theri kit includes the cast ka pistons, which may or may not require machining for your application and I would not suggest running them on a boosted set up, if you want to stay n/a they are great

[dats260zSR]

now, could i machine my existing 2.4 to fit the 2.8 components and turbo?? and if so would it be better/worse for the money because finding a decent L28ET has been a trip haha.

[evildky]

yes the L28ET will bost to your mounts and transmission, no you can't bore you 2.4 block to 2.8. well maybe but I wouldn't, the 2.8 block has very thick walls allowig it to take the .120 overbore to the 3.1, you can put all the turbo parts onto the 2.4 if you like but your limited on performance, the 2.4 of course has less displacement, it also has smaller valves, the hardest part would be changing the oil pan (for the turbo fdrain) and the oilpump drive gear (which also turns the dist and is unique to the turbo engines) the cheapest way to do the swap is to find a wrecked donor, patience comes in handy, I looked for aobut a year before finding mine, then I bought 3 more in the years following

overseas they had a L20ET which was the L20A with the turbo goodies