Hi everyone. I have not been on here in a very long time. Ive missed this very much. I have put my z build back on track. Ive been doing a lot of body work and i decided to start engine work. I was thinking about boring out my stock l28 into a 3.0L. I am wanting a street car with power but still can be a daily driver. I am looking to bore it and was wondering is this the best/cheapest way to go. I am putting a mild cam into it and I didnt know how large to go on these engines. I have been doing research on this and I am not coming up with much at all. I am looking to maybe spend about 1k-1.5k on this build(engine alone.) I am curious on the bore w/mild cam compared to stock w/mild cam. Any advice on this engine build would be much appreciated.

 

Welcome back!

Boring alone won't get you to 3.0L You also need to stroke it w/ a LD28 V07 crank. You will also need $5k-$10k to build a stroker w/ any kind of reliability.

Lots of info on the 3L / 3.1L "big bore" stroker motor...

http://zhome.com/rnt/3.1HanveyProject.htm

http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/CTGY/PEM05

 

$5-10K is why we go with the L28ET for street/track applications. Stroker is great for the AutoX though....

 

so....instead of doing that what is a cheap way i can build a mildy built L28 that can be a quick fun little street car. Im mainly looking for more of a top change and a little bit more torque. I am use to driving a 2010 tc or a 2006 evo. i know i cannot get the top end equal to one of the evo w/o forced induction or really building up the motor. I just want to be able to hit 80-90 on the freeway with out taking a long time and being able to launch off the line at the track and run maybe a mid-low 12 maybe even a high 11. i was orig thinking of putting a med cam and stock rotating assembly but i was told all i had to do was bore .120 and get larger pistons to get a 3L. what is the best and cheapest way to get a n/a L28 to my standards? im open to any suggestions.

 

No sir. Stroker crank only gets you .1L displacement, the KA pistons get you to 3.0L

mainly you just need a cam, header, exhaust and triples (triples being the biggest gain) to get you to a decent amount of power.

 

tripples? im running injection

 

go to triples.

you on stock EFI?

 

yeah. stock everything. thats why im trying to build it up to make it a little more of a street car so i can keep up with todays newer cars and poss beat some. just got engine torn down to bare block last night so...time is getting shorter...trying to think of something quick.

 

So does anyone else have any advice/knowledge? I think im just gonna rebuild stock bottom end...have the rotating assembly balanced, mildly port and polish the head and drop a med range cam....should be good enough right?

 

I was going to ask you what your hp goal is... and then re-read this:

A bone stock 280zx n/a should be able to hit 80-90mph without breaking a sweat. If your car isn't able to do that right now, I suggest starting w/ a tune up.

As for the 11's / 12's in the quarter mile, you are dreaming. I don't think you have any idea what it takes to run 11/12 sec quarter mile times... somewhere in the 500hp+ range. You won't get that w/ an L28 stroker, even turbocharged. Jeff P is running about 450hp on his monster L28ET (L31) turbo stroker.

About $20k is the way to get your Z to 11 sec quarter mile.

 

lol i know what it takes to get that time. i've built birds, camaros, and 1 1969 c-10 to get to mid 11's. on those it took all the power of a v8 to do it. my goal is mainly to get a dialy driver with the power to keep up with todays production cars. not ness. big v8 hemi's and ss's but atleast the newer "sports" cars like stock wrx and such. i know a stock 350 can keep up pretty good. Im just looking to have the power if i want it but a engine able to idle still and live at lower rpms like a daily driver. nothing to extreme. i think im just gonna go with a stock bottom end and a med range cam...RPMRONS.com has a complete engine rebuild kit for $625...i've never heard of this site of heard of anyone who has worked with them. Im real skeptical to trust sites online....msa is far too expensive and i am really looking forward to the 700 price range max. i was wondering if i could get some advice and quick...only have until end of may to finish the engine.

 

The BEST option is to swap in an L28ET turbo motor. That way you can run 10psi boost on a stock motor and be at about 220hp. But... there isn't always a near by donor car or complete motor.

Though I found these:
http://goldcountry.craigslist.org/cto/2207789657.html

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/2276036237.html

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/2266900080.html


You will need to do a lot of work to get an n/a motor to 200hp. The bottom end is a pretty good setup, but if you are tearing it out, get new bearings, rings, magnaflux the rods, balance / polish the crank, and get ARP rod bolt set, overbore .020" or .040" and use the correct oversized pistons.

Shave the head .020", get a 3 or 5 angle valve grind, mild (or wild) cam, possible new springs & lifters (if needed), exhaust header w/ 2.5" pipe to the rear, bore the intake neck & use a 60mm throttle body.

Then use a more powerful coil, get an aftermarket ignition box (like a Mallory or MSD 6A), and tune the AFM.

After all that, you'll probably be at $2k and about 180-200hp. Check out SHADY280's setup. He's running about 200hp on his n/a motor.

Lastly, stay away from no-name parts websites. Your machine shop guy can get all your parts at his discount cost.

EDIT... or if you are staying under the now $700 (in your first post it was $1k-$1.5k) budget, I suggest leaving your engine alone, and just install a header, exhaust, and while the intake is off, do some bore work, install 60mm throttle body, put it all back together, and run an aftermarket ignition. $200 for the header, $200 for the ignition & coil, $300 for a tune up and other odd & ends.

 

You could always swap in a vg30et. Shouldn't be that hard from what I have seen if you have rack and pinion steering. z31 donor cars are a dime a dozen.

 

what engine specs do you have right now, block head combo. lets start with that. after spending now about $7000 on my engine setup, i may go turbo next time for a new challange. the stock ecu limits you to about 180-190 rwhp, no matter what mods you have done to the engine. i am finding this out the hard way. im upgrading to mega squirt and by the research ive done hope to pick up nearly 40 hp. yes thats right, that stock ecu is robbing me of power by about that much with the engine mods i have done. that and get a better intake manifold, these are horribly resricting. turbo or n/a

 

Sorry I have not responded sooner to the posts. I apprieciate the help i really do. My g-ma died and its been a little rough. But back to the good news...well the Z news. I have a p79 head, l28e flat top pistons. I am going to use the orig pistons i pulled out. Just replacing the rings and bearings. this is my list from MSA as of right now.

Piston Ring Set, Standard Size, 81-83 280ZX Non-Turbo
Freeze Plug, Side, 70-83 Z/ZX
Freeze Plug, Front, 70-83 Z/ZX
Freeze Plug, Rear, 70-83 Z/ZX
Freeze Plug, Cylinder Head, 70-83 Z/ZX
Connecting Rod Bearing, Standard Size, 70-83 Z/ZX
Main Bearing Set, Standard Size, 70-83 Z/ZX
SALE! Timing Chain Kit, 75-83 280Z-280ZX
Performance Cam Kit, 70-83 Z/ZX Non Turbo.
That is already now $1400 w/o shipping or gaskets or plugs, oils, etc...so about $1600-$1800 total? Is this the best way to go? Do i need the whole cam kit or can i just get a cam and use the same valves and guides etc?

 

For $1400 get a turbo donor, or find and engine swap. $1400 is alot of money for stock replacement parts.

 

only thing i may buy from msa is the cam kit. everything else can be had cheaper if you phone around your local parts stores. if you are going to get a cam, your gonna need an aftermarket fuel control system. the stock ecu wont even give you extra power to match the cam, so its kinda a useless waste really. take that p79 to the machine shop and have them deck .080" off it and get some .080 cam shims. that with flat tops will get you to exactly 10.8:1 cr. whaich makes a nice healthy street engine. ive done it several times on different cars. personally i would do the rebuild and the head decking and leave the cam for now and stock ecu, its a blast to drive, then start more mods.

 

So just go to a local shop for bearings and gaskets and such and just have the heaf shaved and stock cam just shimmed?

 

EDIT... I would also check on the cost for a 5 angle valve grind...

 

So...now where would I get shims for the valves? There is not many machine shops around Carson City area...the few there are I would not trust with anything. I work at toyota here and we send some heads and blocks out to them and lets just say that they go back AT LEAST once....some upwards of 3 times. So...I may send it to Fresno,Ca with my uncle. He says there are some down there he trusts...any ideas? And for local shops you think napa, kragens, etc would be trust worthy?

 

Try Nissan, MSA, BDA, etc... You know you can go to a Nissan dealer to get Datsun/Nissan parts right?

Shims: http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/10-1151 (Remember... you only need shims when shaving more than .070"in from stock).

Need a part number?

www.courtesyparts.com

Stock part#'s: http://nissan4u.com/

 

ty i will try in the morning

 

yeah i had custom shims made that are .080". they were a bit costly, but i think well worth it to keep proper wipe pattern on the rocker and timing chain tension at high rpm. while the head is off it would def be a good idea to have the valves done like nismo said. luckily in cali there are lots of good shops, so ive heard. plus when you shim up the cam towers, you need to get thicker lash pads to match cause the valve aint getting any longer. unless you do what i did and get longer valves. but that costs more again.

 

If you are going to send it out, PM BRAAP on hybridz and have him do it, he pretty much specializes in L-series. Also there are a few local machine shops that I have used that do some pretty outstanding work.

 

OK. thank you. i might be selling my xb today so i will have about 3k extra in pocket. hopefully he isnt too expensive to do my head and shipping isnt a killer. I still need to buy 2 fenders and poss. a rr quater panel. rust is a killer lol. if i have him shave .070 off i can get a kit from msa for the shims..would that be just as good? and if i do shave the head and shim it will that be all i need to do and just bolt everythig back up and run it?