1983 Datsun 280ZX Turbo
2.8L SOHC Inline-six Turbo RWD Sports car

"Zee"
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My Car:I bought my car in January 2004 for only $200. It was at an impound yard owned by a tow guy I got to know. The body was fairly straight except for a dent in the hood (in a fixable place). The 15" alloy rims were in excellent condition. It had a bad alternator, but it started right up and all the electrical seemed to work. The tow guy gave me a battery out of a Geo Storm he had impounded and away I went. Drove it home 22 miles. It had a major miss at anything over 3500 rpms but otherwise sounded good. After a few days I fixed the vacuum lines, basic tune up, and installed a new alternator. Boost! What a change from the supercharged VW Corrado I had been driving.
A bit of searching and I found a number of Datsun/Nissan Z communities on the internet. Looks like this car has a grip of potential for speed.

Specs:
L28ET 2.8L inline-six
T28 Turbocharger
2-seater hatchback
5-speed Borg/Warner T5 transmission
15" premium alloy wheels with 205/65 tires
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My focus is twofold (as usual): Performance, and looks. By looks, I don't mean riced out. I mean tastefully clean, with a respectable, normal paint job, clean wheels, and tasteful accents that aren't over the top. On the outside, in the engine bay, and if I can, in the interior as well (in that order of priority). At the right is a great example of a 280ZX; it serves as my model. If I get it even near that point, I'll be happy.

Performance-wise, I already have a head start. The car has a T28 watercooled turbo, which spools faster than the oilcooled T3 that came with it. My performance goals are simple: Intercool, install a manual boost controller, add some fuel... 300hp is my goal, which from the other 280ZX's I've seen, that's a reasonable goal. I think the stock longblock is capable of it. But even 250hp in this car is going to fly.

Suspension-wise, I figure some nice coil-overs in the front, and some rear lowering springs w/ adjustable shocks, should bring the handling into line.

Motorsport Auto in Anaheim, CA is only a half hour away. They specialize in Datsun/Nissan Z cars, and have a number of goodies you can't get elsewhere. Plus, owning a truck as I do, I'm at liberty to pick up larger parts myself, and avoid shipping costs and delays.

http://www.motorsportauto.com/

Ebay will also be a major parts source. Intercoolers, turbochargers, electronics, blow-off valves... all those things can be had for cheap there. I urge any car tinkerer to search there for anything they can think of. Friends of mine have seen great success from items won on Ebay auctions. Ebay's "Ebay Motors" search options make finding things easy, especially items specific to your year and model car. Check it out!

http://www.ebaymotors.com

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Page 1: Introduction & Updates
Page 2: Visual Modifications
Page 3: Performance Modifications
Page 4: Wish List
Page 5: West Coast Z Nationals 2006 (COMMING SOON!)
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NEWS UPDATES:

Update: 4/18/06
Nearly TWO years later! What have I been doing with this thing? Well, it was my daily driver to work, not long after the last update below, and did so for some time. The exhaust manifold gasket started to leak, and so it sounds like some mean V8 musclecar. It still starts up on the first crank. Starts up faster than my '00 Tacoma V6. I've managed to collect a bunch of parts for it, including dash pieces, a complete, matching lock and key set, and even a slick-looking, mirror-polished valvecover. I also put on a couple items, such as an MSA monogram "Z" shift knob, and one of MSA's modified center consoles, with an improved armrest and cupholders.

But where is the car? Well, it had a problem with the master cyllinder.... I replaced all five brake lines with MSA's braided steel pieces (yes, there's a fifth line at the back)... also replaced the front rotors with new ones. I had a shop replace the master cylinder for me, and while it was there, someone backed into it in the parking lot. There's a dent on the passenger side rear, right where the tail light meets the side of the quarter panel. It's at the edge, so it's going to take some work. The passneger-side fender is also damaged now, since he pushed it into a pole. The guy cashed out for the damage, but do to the usual bad lukc in life I have, the money went fast to necessities, and the car still has the offending blemishes. So now I need a fender, hood, and repair to the quarterpanel. What fun.

The car is not far away, and this spring will see it's return. I have a number of parts itching to be installed. Depending on income, it will be sooner than later.

Update: 4/26/04
I went out to my car today, the day after the big Z event, and find that my new dash cover is warped. Very warped. Why wasn't I told this could happen? A few people on zcar.com said it can happen and you still need to cover it. Why wasn't I told? MSA drops the ball again IMO, but I'm resigned to expect them to disagree (naturally). So I'm pretty much out $80. This blows. MSA gets business based on a large and readilly available inventory, but not on service and support. Not by a longshot.

Update: 4/25/04
I attended the annual Motorsport Auto West Coast Z Nationals. It was great, got to see a lot of great Z cars.

It was nice to see all the 280ZX's there, helped me decide on a few things, like, did I want light covers, and if so did I want smoke or clear (smoke is my choice now), did I want a body kit or no (now I just want valence trims only), paint scheme ideas (I saw some two and three tone ones that were amazing), engine bay and IC pipe ideas. So now I'm ready to move on my car with a clear idea of how I want to do things. And what to expect from doing them.

Jeff from Nevada probably has the slickest 280ZX Turbo around. 450hp TO THE WHEELS, he hits the 300hp mark as early as 3100 rpms. OUCH! His setup is very low key, not a bunch of fancy chrome or whatever, very deceiving, and the outside is very no-frills. Jeff's a good guy, more than happy to answer questions, and not a braggart at all. I think I'll be borrowing a lot of his ideas.

All in all it was a good event, and I'll be sure to go again next year. With luck and determination, I'll have my car entered in with mods.

Update: 4/16/04
I filled in the dash cracks with industrial aeresol foam spray like the guy at MSA told me to, sanded the dash a bit, and went to install the dash cover, only to find out that the silicone they included wasn't gonna be enough. I had to scrape it off. I got about 1/4 of what I needed on there. So after scraping it off, I call MSA. They say that nobody's ever had a problem with just one tube. Now, I know I used it sparingly. So for the time being I have the dash cover just sitting on the dash. Even that looks good, and the stereo chassis seems to hold the dash cover in place alright for now. I'll tack it all down later.

I was still on the phone with MSA, waiting for someone to give me info on how they usually mount the stereo adapter plate they sold me, since it has no bolt holes or instructions. I got my stereo universal sleeve in there fine, and a stereo in that, but not sure how it sits in the stereo chassis in the car's interior. MSA kept me on hold for 10 minutes and my cell minutes were burning so I just hung up. Gee thanks guys. Guess I'm on my own.

Update: 4/12/04
Made my first trip to MSA in Orange, CA. They made me wait for a long time. The guy who came to help me was friendly but when I asked him some questions he seemed uncertain of the answers, the kinds of answers I would expect the "premiere" vendor of Z parts to know. I wasn't impressed. Most of my questions were about their products, too, like how to install this, or what is the best that, etc. ANyways, I left there with the stereo faceplate adapter and the dash cover. The guy did give me some useful instructions on how to prep the dash beforehand, info not included in the instructions in the packaging. All in all it was nice to figure out where the store was located, pick up a couple things, but the feeling I got was that this was much more a business than a place for answers. I've seen other model-specific aftermarket vendors who knew more. Well, at least they're close. And there's always Victoria British.

Update: 3/27/04
I was hunting around in the junkyard again for whatever and found a Z31 turbo... an '86 300ZX. It had the MAF and other things removed but the turbo was there and the inlet was exposed. I took a feel on the shaft for the heck of it and it was solid. Really solid. Me and a buddy pulled it in about 30 mins. and removed the O2 housing for inspection. The turbine blades weren't chipped. There was a tiny bit of coolant in the turbine housing, so we suspect this car blew a head gasket and the owner gave it up (stupid). I bought the turbo for a measilly 70 bux.

It's watercooled and my 280ZXT isn't, so I'll take the lines to and from my throttle body and run them to the turbo's water lines instead. I'll also have to swap out the O2 housings as they're different. Other than that, should fix my turbo problem. While I'm at it I'll fix the exhaust leak that seems to be comming from the O2 housing to downpipe connection. Two problems nailed at once, an upgrade to water/oil cooled, and I'll have boost again.

Also, I've decided that I'm going to use my spare Daytona Shelby intercooler, because it has one of its nozzles pointing in a way that I can easilly run piping back behind the IC. Since I want the IC pipes on the same side of the radiator core support, this works perfectly. Also this IC is jsut the height for the airdam, and isnt all the width, so my radiator still gets plenty of airflow. Should be perfect.

Update: 3/13/04
Junkyard trip yielded up new hood scoop to replace my cracked one, and a 130mph analog cluster (my digital is only 85mph). Only thing is the wiring is different. I have to either get the harness or splice. I think I will splice. More to come.

Update: 2/21/04
The boost I was enjoying is gone now. In place of it is a loud whining rattling sound combination. The boost gauge shows I move to zero but not into positive pressure. So I know the thing is blown. Time to look for another turbocharger. :(