# Turbo carb'd 280z



## tbg (Jun 10, 2005)

I'm not at all familiar with carb'd engines, and what you can and can't do to them. I wanted to pick up a late 70's 280z, and was wondering how hard it would be to turbo, and where i might get the req'd parts. Alternatively, if a blower is a better option, I wouldn't mind looking at that, either. I'm looking to make around 300 horses, so I'm anticipating I'll need a good 16-18 psi (VERY rough estimate).

I've perused zcarparts.com, and am liking the looks of those triple weber carbs. Would this make my forced induction desires untenable? Like I said, I have no idea how carbs operate, but I'm assuming 3 carbs = 3 intakes = awkward turbo piping.

Anyways, is this feasible? should I be considering other options for power, or just go with a EFI zx?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thx


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## hondakillerZX (Aug 16, 2004)

im not exactly sure , but i dont think you can turbo carbed cars.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

You can, and manufacturers have done it as well. Case in point, the Corvair. Turboing a carbed vehicle does not work nearly as well as EFI/turbo, a lot of things must be changed. Special airtight airboxes for the carbs to sit in, special carbs in a lot of cases, and you can't run high boost with a setup liek that. 3-5 psi tops. The reason is how a carb works. It works by vacuum. When under boost, there is little or no vacuum in a blow-through system. A draw-through system is dangerous, there are gasoline vapors in the turbo housing, sometimes the vapors can pool and ignite, especially if the engine and turbo are cold. Both systems have poor throttle response, and many other issues. There is a thread in the _Forced Induction_ section about exactly such a thing, me and Mike Kojima explained it pretty well, I think.


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## tbg (Jun 10, 2005)

so how hard would it be to convert to efi on a late 70's 280z?


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

The turbo cars were all fuel injected. 78-83, I beleive are the years turbo 280s were made. Shouldn't be too hard to find a turbo car in a junkyard.


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## tbg (Jun 10, 2005)

Zen31ZR said:


> The turbo cars were all fuel injected. 78-83, I beleive are the years turbo 280s were made. Shouldn't be too hard to find a turbo car in a junkyard.


What would bve involved in the switch?

i.e., what parts do i need to grab off the other car? Do i need to grab the entire head, as well as the fuel/electrical system?


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

Intake manifold (for the injector ports), ECU, wiring, fuel pump (and probably the correct tank for that as well, unless they are the same), and the wiring for that.


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## 240ZT (May 9, 2003)

Try and grab a complete turbo motor from a '81-'83 280ZX turbo. '82-'83 is prefered because the crank angle sensor is in the dizzy. You don't really want to use a NA block because they use different pistons and will give you a higher compression ratio. It can be done but is a bit more complicated. Motor bolts up exactly the same.


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## Zen31ZR (Mar 24, 2004)

240ZT said:


> Try and grab a complete turbo motor from a '81-'83 280ZX turbo. '82-'83 is prefered because the crank angle sensor is in the dizzy. You don't really want to use a NA block because they use different pistons and will give you a higher compression ratio. It can be done but is a bit more complicated. Motor bolts up exactly the same.


 What he said.


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## tbg (Jun 10, 2005)

Zen31ZR said:


> What he said.



Lol. thanks guys. Any ideas on where to get a relatively cheap 82-83 L280et?


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