Reliable/powerful L24?

[Ed]

The L24 is not a bad engine. Some tuning and maintanance and you will have a good reliable engine. I went to the L28 because it was cheaper to go L28 then to rebuild my broken L24.

If your looking for a little more power and keeping an original appearance then buy a L28 (280ZX motor), 81-83 seems to be the prefered years. You can pick them up pretty reasonable at a junk yard. And they are a direct bolt-in. Buy the book previously mentioned and you can start building. When you get the engine done then do the swap. If your looking for a lot more power than the L24 then go with a L28 turbo. If you want more power than the car can handle then go with a V-8.

[messenger]

Jayru, I to am coming off a 4g63 with roughly 400hp.

You have to understand these cars are a completly different animal, for one there about 20 years older than our 4g63's.

The main reason your not going to see a large horsepower increase in a 240 compared to your gvr4 is the lack of a turbo. I have always known if you want to make cheap large amounts of power in the import world a factory equipted turbo is really the only way. To me this car is not about straight line power, its more about having fun and simplicity.

For now I will be happy with my l24, but im sure the day will come when I want a turbo again.

[e_racer1999]

do i smell the topic of L28ET coming up??? anyway, like stated before, volumetric efficiency is what it's all about. and as for the motor not making big HP numbers, the 240 isn't a heavy car. HP isn't always the most important thing when it comes to building an awesome car. the 240 is such a well balanced car that adding too much HP "can" ruin it.

[CoastGuardZ]

Jayru,

Welcome!

I feel an L28ET coming on also! I would like to mention something that hasn't been talked about yet... weight! How much did your Galant weigh? That coupled with the fact that the Z is a real sports car. It's not mom's econobox or a AWD family car hopped up on forced air. Not trying to offend by any means, but many cars are a compromise. The Z is just a true affordable sports car.

Good Luck with the gearheads never ending search for more power, and I hope that you stay L-series.

Nate

[e_racer1999]

Jayru,

Welcome!

I feel an L28ET coming on also! I would like to mention something that hasn't been talked about yet... weight! How much did your Galant weigh? That coupled with the fact that the Z is a real sports car. It's not mom's econobox or a AWD family car hopped up on forced air. Not trying to offend by any means, but many cars are a compromise. The Z is just a true affordable sports car.

Good Luck with the gearheads never ending search for more power, and I hope that you stay L-series.

Nate

most definitely! a torquey 6-cyl in a 2300 lb RWD mass of awesomeness? now THAT'S tasty....

[beandip]

One of the privious posts mentioned the diff and a gear change. These cars from the factory were vary high geared. They were built as a sports car and not for streight line performance on the 1/4 mile. 356 and higher rear end gearing is common. Put in a 390 and even the stock L 24 will come alive. I to have gone with a 280ZX engine for the same reasons that were already given, the cost and by doing this , the gains are the same as . Boring and strokeing and porting and installing biger valves , plus a stronger block. All this by just switching engines. And everything fits in just like stock. I did change the diff to a 370 , would have gone to a 390 but this one was at hand. With the car at 2600 lbs it should perform at least to my expectations. I will see in a couple of weeks. With the ''street'' cam and 9.5 compression and so on this should do fine . This is a cruser not for the track. If you do decide to keep the inline 6 or to make a change keep in touch , there is a lot of knowledge on tap here . Welcome aboard. Weather on not you realize it , YOU ARE NOW INFECTED AND THERE IS NO CURE . Enjoy the ride. Gary

[e_racer1999]

^infected is definitely the word. once you pop, yooooou can't stop..... maybe that's the wrong jingle, but you catch the drift!

[Jayru]

Well guys, after this thread and hours of research, i've decided to get the L24 running for now (think a bad fuel pump) and just drive the car until i can save enough for a swap.

It'll be a SR20DET or an RB25/26.

I think i'm going to spend my money first getting the car ready to handle the power. Suspension, rear, and chassis stiffening. So look for my post's in those sections of the board.

[dspillman]

:classic: Before discarding the thoughts of seriously running the existing engine, why not run a compression test? Get a feel for what you have now.

Get the SU video from Ztherapy, study, and then clean/adjust the carbs to function properly, relace the dizzy with a 79-80 280zx part, some headers,"mainly for noise on a stock engine" , get the timing set right, check for timing chain "slop"..most likely due a new one, check hard for vacumn leaks on manifold, carb shafts, brake booster lines....all these items can be used on your 280 transplant if you decide to move in that direction.

175 crank HP is easily attainable...200 possible with semi stock engine, with right setup, and proper tuning

But for the same money spent on the larger blocks "280" + you will always have a more torque and HP.

david

[e_racer1999]

the ztherapy vids are a VERY good investment....

[Diseazd]

Hi Mike.....I think it’s great that you bring back these old posts.....always fun to see some of the early members.....keep em coming.

Guy