Albrecht has a few good points,majority of Zed owners couldn't give a toss about quarter mile ect.atendance's at run wot yer brung says it all. its wot it does on the road that counts,i get great pleasure blowing away beemers and the like and wizzing round the odd country lane,you done have to spend millions to get a quick zed but it does help a bit
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Advice..time for engine work
- Thread starter vipergts
- Start date
Wyn
Club Member
Same here, sort of
I want a car for the weekends, even if I do decide to rag it up a strip against an Evo or Gtr
But I also want a Z car I can drive just like everyone else, which I have
Build it, enjoy it
Thats just funny Ben.But flattering. I hate to destroy the myth but.....................
I couldnt build an engine myself to save myself
Which is why I asked Charlie at CTM to build one for me
This is funny too Albrecht.....................
I havnt a clue how much Rebello charge for any of their engines.
And I know absolutely nothing about their engines or how they are built.
Presuming that people (like me) on car club forums know what they are talking about is like presuming that everything you read in The Sun is true.
ben240z
Club Member
So... getting back on topic and trying to be serious for a change........
As the car is a US import 280Z it is extremely rare in the UK.
It is unlikely that anyone on this forum has one and has done the mods you are thinking about.
Can you look at the casting number on your head and verify that you have an N42 head as opposed to an N47???
That will be a useful first step in determining a course of action. IMO
There is no good speculating about webers, cams and headers until we have some basic engine data.
almost certainly the engine will have dished pistons but you need to find out for sure..
I personally wouldnt bother modifying an L6 engine for more performance with dished pistons but that is up to you.
modifying a production engine outside its original spec does involve some technical
understanding.
Not getting to grips with it yourself will mean you are at the mercy of others.And on a car club forum that is no guarantee that information offered has been properly validated.
Its not that difficult to get your head round some basic engine and tuning principles
Another factor to consider in general is that any business in the modifying/tuning world is unlikely to post up on a forum any meaningful information as they will consider it to be intellectual property rights.
I have a reasonable but amateur level of knowledge on tuning the L6 engine which Im happy to share............................but not on a public forum.
As the car is a US import 280Z it is extremely rare in the UK.
It is unlikely that anyone on this forum has one and has done the mods you are thinking about.
Guessing about engine stuff is dangerous.
Can you look at the casting number on your head and verify that you have an N42 head as opposed to an N47???
That will be a useful first step in determining a course of action. IMO
There is no good speculating about webers, cams and headers until we have some basic engine data.
almost certainly the engine will have dished pistons but you need to find out for sure..
I personally wouldnt bother modifying an L6 engine for more performance with dished pistons but that is up to you.
modifying a production engine outside its original spec does involve some technical
understanding.
Not getting to grips with it yourself will mean you are at the mercy of others.And on a car club forum that is no guarantee that information offered has been properly validated.
Its not that difficult to get your head round some basic engine and tuning principles
Another factor to consider in general is that any business in the modifying/tuning world is unlikely to post up on a forum any meaningful information as they will consider it to be intellectual property rights.
I have a reasonable but amateur level of knowledge on tuning the L6 engine which Im happy to share............................but not on a public forum.
ben240z said:
Ben, good in practice but what cam, what head, what chamber size, what compression ratio, what valve to piston clearance, what squish, what port size.
As Mr GTS already said he didn’t want a technical solution and building your own short stroke to a reasonable standard (well to mine anyway) isn’t a stroll in the park, or you can take a trip back in time to the mid 70's and just throw a pile of bits together and hope.
ben240z said:
Nope, no engine supplier here but thanks for the compliment.
AT, over the years you’ve always been an advocate of empirical substantiated, auditable evidence so you must understand this, I have no particular venom for any supplier of engines, but what does frustrate me is when people are selling (and others buying) engines based on a quoted output, it goes without saying that if it doesn’t meet that number (or is within an agreed tolerance) then something is wrong....it’s also bad practice to infer that "your" product will give an output of XXX when clearly it can’t, and with the CR values quoted on some west coast US engines, physics won’t allow anywhere near 300 hp..... magic fairy dust or not.
You say that there seems to be a fixation on drag strip performance but whats the alternative? spending several thousand ££££££ on a whim to sit around polishing chrome in some field all day, quoting cheque book horsepower.
Personally reaching highish (293) HP on an NA 3 litre was a 3 year project for me, one which was partly to prove to people how hard it actually is and in doing so it wasn’t sufficient to just "think" I had 300, I needed to prove to myself…… a dyno result on its own wasn’t enough (I am fully aware of variation issues, in fact ......more than just about anyone on here) so I backed it up with as much data as possible and real world benchmarks like the drag strip is part of that trail.
And yes to me the Z is all about character and driving experience of an NA straight 6, that’s why I haven’t thrown a turbo or V motor in which would have produced more power for a lot less money….. plus that would be too easy, (no disrespect to anyone).
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Thats all well and good but have you any suggestions to help Mr Viper cure his wheezy strangled engine????
If it was a person I would suggest a beclometasone and a salbutamol inhaler but its more difficult with US 280Z engines.
I know what you n me did with the 280Z engine we had
But I dont think he wants to hear about that as a solution in this case
any suggestions???
Alphabettispaghetti
Club Member
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
Albrecht
Well-Known Forum User
The same could be said about any engine / engine builder and any engine dyno or rolling road. It's just a matter of degree. And when subjectivity itself too is subjective, there's not really much point in getting too far into it. If you're going to reserve particular venom for Rebello it just leads me to suspect that you have an iron in that particular fire. And in past threads you have made particular, sustained effort to slag off Rebello when there are targets closer to home that could have many of the same faults claimed against them (whether justified or not).
SKiddell said:
That seems a little too binary a comparison for me. Of course, as far as I'm concerned the alternative to believing and participating in the 'drag strip dyno' is simply not believing and participating in it. It's as simple as that.
I won't take any of my cars down a drag strip, thanks. If I want to know how much horsepower and torque any given engine produces, I'd prefer to bolt them up to an engine dyno. And I tend not to sit in fields (in white plastic garden furniture ) polishing chrome either.
My point stands. There are no one stop shops in the UK for Nissan L6 engine tuning. Offshore companies like Rebello and their ilk supply bolt-in packages at pretty much menu-fixed prices, and that's not a viable business model for the UK. All the more so when UK L6 owners have historically been so impecunious and/or all too willing to chuck out the baby with the bath water and simply fit an engine from a later model and/or a completely different manufacturer. Slagging off the likes of Rebello - as far as I can see - is just perpetuating the cycle.
This Thread proves that these cars are not an easy restoration/modification vehicle and in fact things are getting more difficult. I get asked quite often what is available and who I could recommend for work and it's damn hard.
I suppose the problem is the low volume of work compared to cars like MGBs, TR6s, E Types.
If I was you vipergts I'd buy those 240Z carbs off our old friend 'vpulsar' (ebay) and try those to start with. That way you have simplified your car, made it more like an early S30 (in line with it's appearance now) and can see if the injection system was holding it back. I have 240Z carbs on a 2.8 and it runs nicely and pulls strongly mid-range. I also have a DJ exhaust system which I suspect helps a great deal. I'm not sure of the internals but it has a high compression which you haven't got. I know you want to fit triples but start simple.
I suppose the problem is the low volume of work compared to cars like MGBs, TR6s, E Types.
If I was you vipergts I'd buy those 240Z carbs off our old friend 'vpulsar' (ebay) and try those to start with. That way you have simplified your car, made it more like an early S30 (in line with it's appearance now) and can see if the injection system was holding it back. I have 240Z carbs on a 2.8 and it runs nicely and pulls strongly mid-range. I also have a DJ exhaust system which I suspect helps a great deal. I'm not sure of the internals but it has a high compression which you haven't got. I know you want to fit triples but start simple.
johnymd
Club Member
Much as I've enjoyed reading this, well some of it, its not really helped MrGTS and although the thread is now 3 pages long there's nothing very productive been said. Shame really as I would have thought this is just the question most new Z owners would ask. If you go onto most other car forums and ask this question you tend to get clear answer as to the normal route to take when tunning a particular engine. I would have thought this would be the same for the L series but unfortunately our forum members that have the knowledge are not willing to share it with others.
Luckily I chose a Toyota engine and the forums for this are very helpful with clear lists of what to do to get the best bang for your buck.
Luckily I chose a Toyota engine and the forums for this are very helpful with clear lists of what to do to get the best bang for your buck.
You clearly havnt read or understood this post
Once the OP finds out what head is on the engine we can move forward to some well thought out actions.
I will find out what head/engine I have when I get to the car but going by the chart put up earlier it's almost certainly the one I said it was (can't remember already)
If I have dished pistons then gaining suitable compression ratio isn't possible I'm guessing???
The problem here seems to be finding someone I can take it to that knows his pickled onion as well as Z lumps. I have had too much bad experience taking stuff to people that don't specialise (and even guys that do tbh)
I only want to do the job once.....no poncing about. I already have the hairy exhaust system.
These cars aren't that rare really....must be a business op for someone.
Same with brakes....none of the big guys do a bolt on kit
If I have dished pistons then gaining suitable compression ratio isn't possible I'm guessing???
The problem here seems to be finding someone I can take it to that knows his pickled onion as well as Z lumps. I have had too much bad experience taking stuff to people that don't specialise (and even guys that do tbh)
I only want to do the job once.....no poncing about. I already have the hairy exhaust system.
These cars aren't that rare really....must be a business op for someone.
Same with brakes....none of the big guys do a bolt on kit
zNathan
Well-Known Forum User
Try Fourways Engineering, they're not too far away from you? (reading your location as Kent)
http://fourways-engineering.co.uk/
Duncan Pearcey at the ZFarm specialises in classic Z's too however he is based up in Thirsk..
http://fourways-engineering.co.uk/
Duncan Pearcey at the ZFarm specialises in classic Z's too however he is based up in Thirsk..