Do any of you have a good pic or pics of a factory 280zx Turbo...off the car and without the down pipe on it? I am trying to get a better idea of what the whole thing looks like so if I decide to go for an upgrade to a T3/T4 I will know what I am looking at in terms of will it fit. I have seen pics of T3/T4 turbos but can't seem to come across pics of a factory T3. The exhaust part is what I am interested in....is it possible to use the factory down pipe kind of stuff.

I have seen many T3/T4's on ebay and the prices are not bad. My thinking is, if it will bolt right up then there you go...new turbo with better performance potential. Ahh, here you go...The term T3/T4 means it uses parts from two different turbos right?....the factory ZX is a T3 right?...so which part of a T3/T4 is the T3? Does that make sense? If it is the exhaust side then no mods are needed correct? If you couldn't tell, this is the beginning of my research.

 

thats the beauty of the hybrid turbo (some one is a n00b to turbos) the hybrid one uses the exhauster turbine housing from teh T3 and teh compressor housing from the bigger T4 turbo, so the exhaust seciton is all the same same bolts and nuts but you have more compressor power. honestly though, you should just get GT40 externally gated turbo

 

Check my cardomain page... I have quite a few pics my stock & hybrid turbo. And DO NOT BUY TURBO PARTS ON EBAY... ESPECIALLY UPGRADE KITS. They are cheap in more than one way. If you want to upgrade the turbo, take it to a local turbo shop... then you will also have a warranty.

 

Thx Snw...thats what I wanted to hear. The GT-40 thing....is that a big turbo? Anyway...not building a race car...just a better than stock car.

 

Not even new Turbos?

 

If you can verify that it's a real part. There are a ton of cheap turbo knock offs out there... it's just a warning.... take it or leave it.

 

no no, good advise. We have plenty of speed shops here so if it is better to go to one of them I will. It would suck to get a turbo off of ebay and find out it is a 3 psi max turbo for a Yugo

 

It's happened.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=121359

 

my t3/4 with special hot side for fast spool at low rpms



and no this is not an ebay turbo .... LOL

 

hehehe ^^^^ that SUCKS. but yeah a GT40 is a um, big turbo i guess, nothin spectacular. lol. or GT45. lol they are about near the size of your head

EDIT: that hehehe went to nismos link but frank stole my spot. GRRRRR!!!! and when i do turbo upgrade im going externally gated, its just teh thing to do man

 

Nah my internal gate is 2.7 CM (27mm) big enough and i dont see reasons to see boost creep on this one. (These where used on WRX cosworths!!) I do have an external gate to spare

External gates are overrated for number of reasons in my book.. though when i run out of turbo on this one ill go GT40 or 45 and then it gets interesting to external gate them
The problem i have is the fact that it has to keep up with my M90 Supercharger so it needs to flow more than i anticipated when i had this one built .. Stupid i know no w.. however this turbo can always move to my yellow 2+2

 

A t3/t4 should be good enough if you're building a flexible street car. The mods required to get a gt40 or 42r turbo to fit would be a pain. I don't know how spool would be, but I'm guessing it wouldn't make an appreciable amount of power until ~5000 rpm which is no fun on the streets. I'm running a t3/t04b with a stage I wheel, but when this turbo goes bad, I'm going to upgrade the exhaust side to a .82 a/r stage V wheel. Also, yeah avoid those XS power turbos. They are glued together...

 

I have a fairly small AR.. (48!!) but one with a flow design.. however im building my towards being a flat power curved car.. not to peaky..
Given it is against popular believe.. but this approach was used in allot of European race cars and in japan back in the day .. this will eliminate most turbo lag!!

Basically the bigger the exhaust AR .. the more flow .. but the more flow is needed to get it spooling as well.

Ooh well at some point i hope to be able to show my theories on a dyno graph. Yet again this is for driveability and a broader range .. looking for high 300's at the wheels

 

Cool stuff Frank! I was actually just posting a general response to the original poster, but a super/turbocharged combo would indeed give you the best of both worlds! It reminds me of the Nissan March SuperTurbo from the late 80's early 90's era. I'd love to do that one day, but I think my engineering skills are too limited to try that project. However for those of us using only a turbocharger, the gt40 in my opinion is overkill on the streets unless you're going for all out topend power. I looked at a guy on hybridz's dyno graph with the gt42r turbo, and granted his Z put down an impressive 607 hp, it didn't provide much power until the last 2000 rpm of his rev range. I think a gt35r would be a much more suitable match for a street based Z.

 

I agree on the RPM comment that is why i decide the smaller AR exhaust... i did not have mad SC plans then haha

Well if you look at jeffp's dyno graph he is delivering power from the high 100's in RPMS.. and given he runs a gt35 a 40 would move this no more than 300 rpm.
Reliability is built in the bottom end and power in the head!..
You can bolt on any turbo you like.. but better invest in a good head and cam first.
I have seen cars produce more power at 8psi with good head work and a cam.. than others at 20 somewhat PSI..
Robello sells ported heads for i believe 800usd orso .. get isky to grind a cam to your specs
(stock performance ones out there just don't cut it you will need some funky specs with split durations.. I have jeffs numbers but better mail him if he wants to share)
Jeffs car is fully drivable and on a mustang dyno makes almost 500 to the wheels on a STOCK intake manifold and exhaust manifold. It pulls hard from 2 to 7,5K in a straight NA like power curve..
And that is what makes driveability!

also did you think about engine management you cant just slam on a turbo! and you might want to look into the Holset HY30 or 35

decent flow maps



I believe they're mostly found on diesel generators


look what a dude on hybrid said:

Seems like a relatively cheap way for you to get some more power..
Mind you will need some more parts like engine management.

 

In response to Frank...I have had two T3 equipped vehicles and they both were fun to drive but after owning and driving them for a while they seemed to run out of power...once I was use to driving them daily if you know what I mean...they were stock, unmodified engines and turbos. My fear is that after a few months driving this ZXT I will fall into the same problem "it just needs a little more power" You know what I mean. I figure I can hit 200hp with stock parts...but I think 250hp will be more to my liking. I don't need more than that which is why I was looking into the T3/T4, I am sure it will do this easily with no stress to the engine and no outrageous modifications. I am sure the T3/T4 is capable of alot more but should do nicely at the 250hp range. Unless you all think the T3 can do 250hp...if so, let me guess...Intercooler, boost controller, injectors, bigger exhaust?? Or what would you suggest?

 

Yep... you don't need a T3/T4 to hit 250... just the things you named. The biggest & easiest benefits would be Z31T ecu & maf swap, boost controller & IC.

 

The stock t3 should be making that relatively easily.. though you are pushing its limits on a stock engine.
I would suggest looking into MsS (megasquirt) then get a boost controller, and i have even seen some damn nice manual ones.. (in other words cheaper)

And the power taker on our beloved cars is the bottle neck we call down pipe .. it benefits hugely from a 3' dp and exhaust even up to 20 hp on a STOCK!! car, not to mention spool up!
If you want it with a stock turbo it will start blowing hotter air so an Intercooler is necessary.
At 10 PSI on a stock set up ( ecu and all) with only a fuel pressure regulator i ran 209 rwhp (no cat and no emission crap)
But 10 to 13psi ( however i would never go over 10 un-intercooled) is pushing it without an IC and at 15psi with a cooler you are leaning out as the turbo ECU and fuelpump as wont be able to keep up.. this should be around the 250 mark on a a stock set up!! but agian it is pushing the stock management.. i have seen people claiming differently but this is my readings.. INVEST IN A WIDEBAND .. 9 did i say that already
See it leads me to another point .. get a walbro fuel pump and a wide band haha ...

250 to the wheels is relatively easy ..
My suggestions:
-Intercooler ( ebay craps works wonders for this )
-FPR
-370cc injectors ( from the top of my head ford SVO)
-Fuel pump
-Boost controller
-and advised not mandatory a wide band o2 sensor .. as running lean will destroy your engine!

If you want safe an ability to get more go MsS.. but read into to well before you start as misconfiguration on the maps can lead to dead engines !

Edit haha nismopic was ahead of me .. my suggestion for teh money and frustration in a z31 swap id go MsS it will set you back about $400 when you cant solder it yourself.

 

How strongly would you recommend a rebuild of the stock turbo?

 

Yuppahs! I know LifeGrdDude was using SVO's w/ the stock ecu.


It depends on the condition of your current one. If there's no shaft play & no propeller damage, it shouldn't need a rebuild.

 

PS... I suggest reading the book MAXIMUM BOOST by Corky Bellzzzz (minus the z).

 

ok, I will check the shaft play and take a look at the blades. Thanks guys.

 

I am actually looking to purchase that...I will let you know when I get it.

 

library has it mine did, also im gonna go GT37 or GT40 a GT45 isnt needed at all really, there is an evo runing a GT37 and is runing in teh low nines hitting 8's and the turbo isnt what is limiting him its also stroked i believe so its not like we have mor literage than him not by much any ways.and tehn i live right by AMS performance so i will have them make up a custom LONG turbo header idk if i am going to have the turbo run forwards or backwards though (aka closer to the front of the engine bay or towards the rear) probably the front so i can have shorter IC piping, then custome DP and exhuast. and of coarse a boost controller externally gated by TIAL and mega squirt, if i work enough to make enough $$$$ thats my summer plans. with of coarse new paint some suspension and bushings LSD rear rims ande flairs, but i paint my self so itll only cost 300 bucks to do all in all.

 

Rather than make a new thread, I figured I'd just add to this one. I gotta go get my Turbo Z e-checked, so I still need the cat for now, but I'm thinking once I get the car through emissions, I won't need the cat anymore as this is the last year I'd have to smog the car here in Ohio. Anyway I was thinking about throwing an exhaust upgrade at the car. So mainly what I'm wondering is, which is better to go after? A 2.5" Downpipe or a 3" Downpipe? As of right now, I don't have any big plans for the engine, other than cleaning it up, keeping it running real well, and then maybe just some little upgrades, such as injectors, Z31 ECU/MAF, etc. Mainly are you going to benefit much more from 3" than 2.5"? Any suggestions? I also figure flow would be helped when I lose the cat as well.