New Zealand Datsun Club

So I've had my 280ZX for about 7ish years now and it's been through a lot of development throughout that time, some things worked quite well, some things didn't work at all.

I decided recently it was time to pull the 320hp L28 out before I dump more money into it with little gain and start fresh with something a little bit newer.

So this:


Will be combined with this:

(the RB, not the Sigma)

Motor has a knock so will be pulled down first for inspection, hopefully it's not too rooted inside.

The car will also be receiving if I can afford it:
A T04Z turbo or GT3582R, still need to do more research
Stainless manifold
A new front mount (600x300) if I can get it to fit
Some new suspension & brakes, the plan is for S13 coilovers with the R33 front calipers I already have
Forgies plus cams maybe, depending on how much I have to spend fixing the motor

sweet man, keep us updated with lotsa pics. what you doing with the old engine?

Nobody was willing to pony up to buy the whole thing, ended up splitting it up, block and throttlebodies are sold. I've still got the complete head and turbo setup.

I'll be taking heaps of pics. Motor should show up on Thursday hopefully, it's still sitting in Auckland at the moment.

ah gutted. if you dont mind me asking, what did you want for the whole thing?

More than anybody would probably be willing to pay for an L28, I was hoping for about $4000, that is bearing in mind that the head itself had $3500 spent on it not including the Jun adjustable cam gear and getting the cam ground.

i reckon thats a pretty good deal. no way you could build one for that. wish i had the coin for it, wouldve gone nice in my laurel

Awesome dude!
Ill be watching this build thread !

Very nice, I like the way you think. Sick of watching the back of that Silvia with the VQ30DET? This should take care of it, I look forward to seeing progress reports, all the best.

Hah yeah, 320whp vs. 430whp isn't going to cut it, this should even up the odds a bit. The S13 is actually going back in for more tuning in 2 weeks, it'll end up with 500+ I reckon.

Motor turned up today, pulled the rocker covers off and the cams look fine. Turbos look/feel fine.

Pulled the sump off and no real suprise, number one rod bearing is rooted, oil pump drive is a bit worn, drive surface in the oil pump is worn. The two halves of the bearing were actually on top of each other = not good.

Sorry about the crappy pictures, didn't have a decent camera at hand.







Maybe I should have gone with VQ power?