Possibilities to turbo a stock 260z without a full engine swap?

[HermanM]

I have just purchased a 1974 260Z and I am use to all my newer sports cars with the turbos and I was curious if there is any kits or any other way to turbo charge the l26 engine as it sits. I understand modifications may need to be made to other parts of the car but I was curious if it was possible to do in all.

I have looked all over this site and noticed that mostly everyone refers people to hybridzcar.com but I'm not a member there (yet), so I can't see what they have to say. I also noticed there was a UK turbo from JANSPEED but most people said was no good. I would prefer to get a newer setup then that.

I also noticed that a TT was a harder idea then necessary so I was looking into a single turbo setup.

Thanks everyone for the help.

[SteveJ]

To my knowledge, there are no kits from any major vendor for Z car parts to add a turbocharger to a stock engine in an S30 car.

The reason why you saw many references to hybridz.org is that there is plenty of information on turbocharging there. Just be sure to read through the site before asking questions. They don't take kindly to spoonfeeding there.

With a carburetted car, you have to make a decision with regards to turbocharging: blow through, draw through, or ditch carburettors and go with fuel injection. There is a lot more you have to consider about the fuel system that I'm not going to type up, either. In other words, you have plenty of research to do before attempting this.

Consider doing some old fashioned research. Buy some books on turbocharging.

[hls30.com]

There actually are several kits that were available lack in the day, D!ck Barbour, Crown, BAE and one or two more... Details on some of them( are even in the archives here, I posted the catalog pages from Bick Barbour, and pictures one from BAE that Zbane and I pulled in North Carolina several years ago,that I actually had the install Instructions for it in a bunch of literature that I was given...I'll post some pictures of the pieces later today, the kit came with a cast Aluminum intake tube, a cast iron Exhaust manifold(both with "BAE" as part of the casting, a good size turbo, a Weber big throat, an Accusump, and the associated tubing. At one point I was going to clean it all up and have one of the last remaining period turbo cars...In years of shows I have never seen one at one-plenty of L28ET swaps, but never an aftermarket kit on an original engine. Does make for an interesting setup! These kits do cross ebay every once in a while.

Edited August 16, 2012 by hls30.com

[SteveJ]

I actually saw a Turbo Tom setup a few months back on CL. The seller wanted $3000 for a car that wasn't currently running.

Here's some more trivia. Back in 1984, one of the car mags did a comparison test between an 84 300ZX turbo and a 74 260Z with a turbo added to it. IIRC, they liked the 10 year old car a lot.

[hls30.com]

One of the older threads...

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/thread22581.html

[cbuczesk]

Like hls30 said, there are kits out there. But the cheapest and easiest way would be to get a 280ZX turbo engine (and upgrade to the 5-speed) setup and drop it in. I did that to my early 260Z and it wasn't that hard. Here's a pic...

Chuck

[HermanM]

Okay, that makes sense. I was just unsure of the option of being able to strap on a turbo with limited fabrication or if it was more cost effective to drop in the 280zx engine or just buy the engine from sites online that come with everything needed in them to drop into the engine (sr20 setups).

I was going more for the "can I keep the stock engine in it with a turbo" vs drop a whole different engine into the bay. If the cost is better to put a new engine in I will. The only thing I won't do it drop a 350 in.

[hls30.com]

With limited fabrication skills, buying a good running rust bucket would be the easiest-in terms of following what someone else has fully documented documented, and having everything you need before you start.

.

You should be able to find a good running 280Zx Turbo rust bucket for less than $!000, the last one I bought I paid $425 for, it ran like a top, but I had to travel 8hrs to get it...I drove about 6hrs to get the BAE turbo kit.

A used but fully functioning kit should run about $500-1000-depending on what has been done to bring it back to life, but just like a swap will need cleaning and detailing, but cleaned and detailed suitably, it will be something with more "cool" because of its rarity-how many L28Ets have you seen vs Headers and intake tubing with incorporated into the casting...