240z upgrades

[Tophu530]

I just got a 240z about 8 months ago during the summer. I put a l28 in and it has something like 36k original miles. I am only a Junior in High school and of coarse I have to think all the possibilities of the car. I'm sure some people know of the manga called "Wangan Midnight". I don't plan to put those fender flares, but someday with either this car or another 240z if i get one in the future I would like to bore out the engine to 3.1 and add a twin turbo. I doubt i'll have the skills for awhile to even remotely do any of the work all i've learned so far is taking off fuel injection and adding carbs and small stuff but how much would something like that cost including a roll cage and strut bars and anything to prevent the car from being destroyed from intense warping?

[Bruce Palmer]

Where in Oregon are you?

[Tophu530]

unincorperated clackamas county. Its considered portland but its right near tigard portland and lake oswego. I go to Lake Oswego high though

[turbopanzer]

Step one: Blue 240Z.

Step two: Twin-turbo L28.

Step three: Wangan

Sounds like you've got a plan there buddy!

[Tophu530]

where can I get a hold of a twin turbo? I haven't seen any specifically for the z on the z web sites. although I doubt I will be doing this for awhile I will definitely get a single turbo from a zx for it. I know a guy with one i can probably get for cheap

[Zedyone_kenobi]

Slow down ace.. You are a junior in high school. First is go through the entire car and make sure the brakes are good, and all the electrical is straight. Then make sure you have good rubber on the road. Are all the bushings in good shape, are the fuel lines in great shape. I was a junior in high school once too and I ate, slept, and drank cars. So I know where your mind is. I know you see yourself in totally 'redone' Z with twin turbos cruising your town. But the journey there is not quick nor is it cheap.

Some people will say 'yeah baby, twin turbo it'. I am not going to do that, instead I am going to do you a favor. You will be in college soon, what you need is a reliable car to get you through. NO 35+ year old car is in perfect mechanical order when you first get it.

Spend some time learning the systems of the car. Fix anything you find out of whack. I know bearings and bushing, and fuses, and wiring is not as sexy as turbos, but they MUST be done... you have to walk before you can run.

I know you love the idea of it, but you said you have limited mechanical skills. I would wager that by the time you fix the rest of the car, you goals and aspirations will settle down as well. A well tuned L28 is a great engine for a 240Z. Twin turbos, as flashy as they sound, are a totally custom setup, (read that as crazy expensive). Putting carbs on it was a step in the wrong direction for a turbo setup. I know you see what you want in your head, but I am asking you to calm down and look what is in front of you. If you spend the time to ensure all the items in the car are up to the challenge of more HP, then you will have a great car for the rest of your life.

[Pomorza]

Zedyone_kenobi is right on the money on this one. As nice as a twin turbo setup sounds its way out of your league. I don't mean to sound rude or ruin your dreams, but as stated above a twin turbo set up is a purely custom job. Everything, and I do mean everything needs to be rebuilt on the engine so that it can handle the boost those turbos will provide. And "everything" on an engine is fairly expensive.

I'm 22, and a junior in college. When I first bought my Z in August I too had huge inspirations to make it into an arse kicking, tire burning, muscle car killing, turboed machine. But then I started looking at what would be involved in such a build. After a good month of investigation I've reached the realization that I can't afford dropping that much money into the car at the moment.

So I'm going to give you some advise. Slow down and take a nice deep breath. Start with the simple stuff on the car first. Make sure the electrical on the car is nice and working properly. Make sure the fuel lines, vacuum lines and any other rubber piece on the car are in good condition. Make sure there is no rust on the car. While all this sounds completely unattractive and not what your looking for, a well maintained 35+ year old Z is much better then a turboed Z that is falling apart and doesn't run.

Jan

[Arne]

Christopher, as mentioned above, I'd recommend taking a look at some of the very nice semi-local 240Zs in your area before you go into the major project of the twin-turbo. Oregon and SW Washington is home to a bunch of really nice 240Zs that you can use to get a good idea of what is possible for even a mild build up.

I'm thinking of the cars of some of the following members (and apologies in advance to anyone in this area I miss):

beandip's yellow '73 - Beaverton

funz1z and luv24ds's Ferrari red early '71 - Vancouver, WA

nwcubsman's wife's '73 - Beaverton-ish?

escanlon's gold '71 - Vancouver, WA

A little farther South - Mike's yellow '71 - Albany

Or even my car, farther South yet in Springfield

[Zedyone_kenobi]

I love those wheels!

[tlorber]

Zedyone,

From what I've read, you are no longer a junior in high school, and you STILL eat, sleep and drink cars. So don't sell yourself short!

[Tophu530]

Oh trust me I know this is a far off dream. I wasn't planning on doing this for at least like 30 years. But yeah i've looked at a lot of the stuff in the car and It's in pretty good shape. The body has no rust. The engine has basically no miles on it and I have talked with many people and joined the Z car club in Oregon. For now I still have to get a new fuel pump, and I've gotta tune the thing, but one thing i'm getting within the next year are some konig rewinds and some better tires cause the tires i have on now are pretty new but id rather get some 15" instead of 14s and get wider and lower profile tires. I totally understand where u guys are coming from but trust me the project I want to do will be a very long way down the road. hopefully I can do what i've always wanted and get a degree in engineering and work on cars for the rest of my life.

[pwd]

Oh trust me I know this is a far off dream. I wasn't planning on doing this for at least like 30 years.

By that time we'll have flying cars! At least according to Popular Mechanics.