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Vehicle Owner

Member ID: trippin280

Location: Garland, Texas

Vehicle Info

1980 Datsun 280ZX

Bragging Rights

  • Top Speed130 mph
  • HP200
  • Weight3000 lbs

Major Upgrades

  • turbo
  • engine swap

Ratings

    • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.

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Last updated: Aug 06, 2006

Trippin280’s Datsun 280ZX

  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
4 guestbook comments

Alright, the turbo swap is pretty much complete. Here's the list:

ENGINE & DRIVETRAIN:

- 1983 Turbo L28ET, P90a head - nice quiet hydraulic lifters
Internally, the engine is stock, with about 110k miles.
- Rebuilt T3 turbo (stock) with water-cooled bearing from a 300zx
- Resurfaced intake and exhaust manifolds, with new Nissan gasket
- Pallnet manifold stud kit
- 60mm throttle body from a 240sx, intake port-matched to 60mm
- Stock J-Pipe, lengthened a little to accomodate bigger throttle body
- Pallnet O-ring Fuel Rail, with MK3 Toyota Supra Turbo 440cc injectors
- Stock Downpipe, going into 3" exhaust (not mandrel bent, sorry). No catalytic converter, but a nice, deep, moderately quiet muffler.
- New oil supply and return lines for turbo, coolant hoses run from thermostat housing back to water inlet (replacing stock throttle body coolant lines).
- New Nissan Turbo gaskets, inlet & outlet, plus oil outlet
- New high-quality silicone hoses to connect turbo to J-Pipe, and J-Pipe to throttle (from turbohoses.com).
- Oil cooler
- 240mm Resurfaced Flywheel, from Z-Barn (great shop)
- Exedy stock clutch (off of E-Bay, $98) holds fine, but throwout bearing is starting to go bad, should've bought a Nissan one!
- Stock Non-Turbo 5-speed transmission from either 81 or 82 280zx, can't remember. Of course new shifter bushings.
- Swapped out my R180 for the R200 3.54 Turbo rear end, plus upgraded the half-shafts for CV axles. Swapped control arms so that CV Axles would bolt up easier; this also gave me the later style brake calipers.
- Shortened shift knob - I cut it short, then welded a M8x1.25 bolt onto it (I took a welding class over the summer).
- Redline tranny & diffy fluid
- Turbo fuel pump
- Fuel and timing are controlled by MegaSquirt I v3.0 board, running MSnS-Extra. Tuning is accomplished by an Innovate wideband oxygen sensor mounted a few feet down the exhaust pipe. Air-Flow Meter was removed, the TPS from the 240sx was left on there. Triggered by the stock Turbo Dizzy, with Crank Angle Sensor mounted inside.

Of course, little things like all new fuel injection hoses, new radiator hoses, new heater hoses, new spark plug wires, NGK spark plugs, dizzy cap, rotor, valve cover gasket, fresh oil, fresh coolant, etc.

BRAKES:

- Stock rotors & calipers
- Later style 82-83 rear calipers
- Axxis Metal-Master brake pads
- MSA Stainless Steel brake lines
- Fresh DOT-3 brake fluid

SUSPENSION:

- Really I had already messed with the suspension a lot before doing the turbo swap. But here it is:
- Urethane bushings - control arms, tension rods, sway bars
- MSA Sway Bars
- New tie rods, outer AND inner. (inner are $$$)
- New steering boots (came with inner tie rods)
- New ball-joints.
- At one point I had Tokico HP kit (springs & shocks) installed, but it was way too harsh for everyday driving to work and stuff. So I removed them and replaced them with stock springs, and new AutoZone (Gabriel) struts and shocks. It still handles great for me, probably because of the bushings and sway bars. FYI, the tokico kit was from a guy called jdmwerks on EBay. He has great prices for them, and I recommend him.
- AutoPower Roll Bar - I picked this up free, so I figured I might as well install it! It's currently just bolted in though, not welded.

EXTERIOR:

- I swapped the doors and hatch for the ones from my donor vehicle. The donor had power windows, which I like. My hatch was rusting, which I don't like, and the donor one was also in great shape. Spent a lot of time tracing down wiring schematics to wire up those stupid windows! Also, the stock 280zx power locks are really only passenger-power lock - the driver's side only has a switch, not an actuator. So I got another actuator from a junkyard, and mounted it inside the driver's side. So now both doors lock and unlock when I press the button on my remote. Also the hatch is opened by remote as well, with a universal kit I installed on it. Also, rear wiper is on this new hatch, and I wired it up, and it works great.

INTERIOR (still a mess right now):

- Z31 300zx seats, manual - I got the pair from a junkyard for $50, and they were in nice shape. I'm currently working on a write-up with pictures for how to install in a 280zx. It's pretty easy, one rail mounts up perfectly, then bend two tabs on the seat, drill two holes, bend the seat belt plate a little, and bolt up the other side.

- A/C - almost finished. My compressor had gone bad, and ALL of my pipe connections were corroded and siezed up. Almost every flare connection I tried to loosen just ripped apart in the wrenches!! SOOO, I removed the ENTIRE A/C system from another '80 280zx from a junkyard ($75!!) and flushed it with an air compressor I rented from Home Depot and a bottle of A/C flush. I'm also cleaning exterior of evaporator and condensor really good. New drier, new expansion valve. I am replacing the suction throttle valve with an electronic switch to cycle the compressor, to prevent condensation from freezing on the evaporator (the suction throttle valve did this mechanically, I will be doing it electronically). New weatherstripping under dash.

- Dashboard got a nice full face dash cover. Looks really good. Installed 4" Pioneer speakers in dash while I was at it. They sound decent. Installed an AutoMeter boost gauge in place of the stock boost gauge.

- New carpet. One day at junkyard I found a 280zx with a brand new black carpet kit installed. I pulled it all out easily (with my girlfriend's help!) and got it for like $25-30.

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Vehicle Owner

Member ID: trippin280

Location: Garland, Texas