I raced the NA motor in the SCCA, super reliable. The fast head was the E88 or E31. You can build a stroker using the diesel crank. Remember these were popular way before the internet, all the knowledge is in peoples heads, it almost was never published anywhere. There are some out of print books on these motors, Bob Sharp from CT ran these, lots of Electromotive support. They supported Paul Newman when he used one to get an SCCA national championship. I would guess there all being vintage raced now.
@@frisky6663 gosh it was so long ago, don’t remember. What ever cane in the 280Z or ZX, NA motor, as that’s what I was running in the ITS class. The E31 was a 240Z head and supposedly had better flow, but very rare. The E88 was the next best.
This episode was great, maybe a quick review of the old 1980 Turbo Trans Am. I believe this had potential but suffered the same things similarly covered here.
Interesting Timing Richard. There was a discussion recently on the Electromotive L28 Turbo's that ran in GTO and IMSA GTP serie's in the 80's and 90's. Electromotive was making 750 hp on the L28 Single Turbo version back in the early 80's. By the end of development they were making an astounding 1,100 HP with the GTP Twin Turbo version.... on the non-crossflow L-6!! Chris Willes book : " Developing a Champion. The Electromotive Nissan GTP Storey " is an absolute must read for any Nissan Race Fans. Incredible engineering that was way ahead of the times.
Great video!! I owned 3 280ZX Turbos...The 83 automatic was a dog, especially off the line. I added an intercooler and raised the boost to 12lbs. and the improvement in acceleration was substantial. I figure 10 HP for every pound of boost that's added... You can safely add 3 lbs. boost by removing the blow off valve and adjusting the turbo linkage.
Really strong factory forged crank with 7 main bearings. Forged rods and High Silicone content pistons make the L-series able to handle high stress situations. The block is high nickel content as well. All of these features were standard Nissan engines in L and A serie's. . A12 engines would think nothing of buzzing to 10K. I witnessed a Dyno Test of an A12 at Tilton Engineering ( 1974 ) where they pushed an A12 to 12K. Stock crank. Carillo Rods and Arias pistons. Power fell off after 10K though. But it was pretty impressive to see a 1206cc pushrod engine pushing 12 K
Can the na engine's also take forced induction I'm planning on doing a plus t but I'm unsure if they can take it since I haven't done one before I'm looking on doing one for 250 to 300hp, your expertise will be greatly appreciated.
I am really looking forward to you testing this motor out! I have nearly 15 years of experience playing around with turbo L-series engines and currently have a 320WHP L28e-t in my 260z. I know you'll do the Datsun crowd proud!
As a Datsun guy, it's cool to see you working with the L series. Coincidentally, your LS vids have helped me a lot since I gave up the L and went to the LS. Used an L33, which is funny because people get confused and say "Wait, I thought you couldn't stroke an L28 out past 3.2..."
@@richardholdener1727 Love the channel, had no Idea you were a Z guy as well. I have a 240 and a 280z, plus an L28et sitting in the barn. I thought for sure you would mention the forged crank with 7 main bearings or the nice quench pad on the p90 head in your likes column! I thought about slapping L24 rods into the L28et and machining the dish out of the pistons to raise the compression and take advantage of the head. For now I'm going with the sacrilegious LS swap for the 280 as I got a low mileage LS3 dirt cheap and bought a brand new t56 triple synchro out of a ctsv before they went insane. I've even thought about destroking it after watching them scream on your dyno and because I don't wanna twist the old girl in half! 😉
That engine was always impressively smooth running and fun when the boost came in. I didn't know the compression was that low. It's going to be interesting to see what you do with it. Thanks again. Always great info!
Me as a 280ZX Turbo fanatic, I agree. The engine is pretty solid and produces good horsepower and great torque too. Also a pretty solid awesome Turbo charger. 😎
My grandpa had one of these in the late 90's and he let me use it whenever I wanted. I remember the speedo only went to 85 and you could bury the needle waaaaay past that
In addition to Bell's book, I would also point people to Hartman's books on supercharging and engine management systems...for those who actually still like to read books :) My auto library looks a lot like yours, Rich! And yes, I have your book on SBF performance!
G'day Richard, Thanks for another great video. It's also good to hear that you're a Datsun Z fan. :) I thought that I would send a couple of comments for you. Firstly, Nissan did a great job when they homologated the Z series cars with the FIA. They grouped the entire series of 240, 260 & 280 Z & ZX models together as a single series or type. That means that a race car can be built with the lightest body, the better gearbox, diff & brakes, as well as the L28 series engine. So, you can race a 240Z, with 4-wheel discs, LSD, & L28ET in historic race or rally car classes. Also, one of the guys at a car club I had joined owned a famous 260Z, which was turbocharged. It was more notorious than famous, & always very quick. At one stage, he built a 2nd engine for it, which was based on the Nissan Patrol engine. He used it for everything. Daily commuting to work, shopping, circuit sprints, autocross, & touring road events. Finally, I read Hugh Macinnes' book, Turbocharging, back in the 80's, as an apprentice. It knocks me out that what is almost a 50 year old technical book is still referred to. But, I'm going to check out Maximum Boost, since you mentioned it. Once again, thanks for a great video. I'm looking forward to the mods & tests on this one. Keep up the good work Andrew
Awesome and timely content! Every now and again I'll take a look on the tube of yous to see if there's some new turbo L series stuff and almost every time I'm left disappointed. Z Car Garage's Nassty240z stands out, and there's some old footage of a dyno tuned L28 but it's numbers were kinda disappointing. Hope you can do more with it as it's often overlooked! Just be careful with that number 5 and 6 cyl, apparently they really like to heat up! Running E85 should fix that, or people drill ports in the head and run a cooling manifold to keep those cyl's a little cooler. Anyway, I'm anxious to see what you guys can do!
Would love to see some follow-up to this as both a V8 enthusiast and an owner of a modded l28et. Would love to see what mods are really worth it on this platform
Love the fact that you're doing L28ET stuff! Thanks for using our fuel rail picture :) we are very proud of those products. We would love to collaborate with you on this project as far as any parts you may need or information sharing! Please don't hesitate to contact us for anything you need.
Will give a nod to these guys- Just got my hands on their cd009 (into a 240z) transmission kit, and waiting to install it. Everything looks to be of amazing quality, and cant wait to get started on it. Ive got a mildly modified 240z currently making a bit over 300 whp, but going to be pulling it apart here soon to build a forged engine and hope to push 500 (Big reason i wanted the 350z transmission in it).
Kool vid. Yeah! Turbo L series! I always wanted to do the same thing. I have a Datsun 620 pick up with an L18 with a cam, mikuni intake, twin Webber 45 dcoe, header, ported head, and an old Jacobs ignition. Turbo would dramatically increase the fun. VW doods used to use carb enclosures, and I thought the Datsun could use the same deal.
Had a neighbor (still there) That had 3 280zs.g He was using parts of two to build one All rust buckets I volunteered to help he did the drive train, I did body work One f these was a turbo Not factory , but add on. You must go back in time to the 60s and 70s. In your mind That is my time Turbo’s were a novelty , the turbo engine was almost trash I tore it down to clean it up The exhaust manifold was cut open, a pressure regulator tied to intake to up fuel pressure on boast. This was a “kit” installed by some dude that was doing that kind of stuff. No blow off, boost regulated by a inline device in the intake pipe be fore the intake air regulator. All Miller in California was using these things to turbo all sorts of things. Bottom line , the old computerized set was almost useless(or I was) I could get it running for very short times had to tear turbo apart to clean it. Lately I wish to be able to do what you are going to do with modern fuel and ignition control And choice of turbo. Wouldn’t be Surprised to see that thing still setting there
Negative Point 3: Fuel rail, in it's defense it was designed that way for a reason, and was same/similar to most Bosch systems of the era. Modern fuel rail systems produced later incorporated items like pressure wave dampening devices, along with sequential injection, both of which resolve some of the pressure wave issues associated with EFI injectors.
Dampening is especially critical when manufacturers used as little fuel pump as possible for multiple reasons the biggest being cost,not saying it’s not a good idea for a dampener but if rail pressure instability is a problem it’s because there’s not enough flow
There’s another cross flow head other than the OS Giken head, it’s called the Datsun Works KN20 head. Uses K series valve train stuff to reduce costs, it’s still pretty expensive though
Thank you Richard for all that you do. I have so many questions about turbo charging so I just ordered the book. Thanks again see you on the live chat.
I'm well versed in this engine. Im building one for my 1984 maxima wagon project. I know what to do for my HP goals but Sure would like to see what you do with it.
things I like about the L28ET. It has a larger volume oil pump that bolts right on to other L-Series, Z-Series and Some KA-Series motors. But that's bout it. the RB is better in every way
As always Richard great content! It’s good to see one of these getting some light! it’s been a few years since I’ve played with an L series datto ,this will be another great vid to watch! Still hanging to see the Big Bang 3800 though! And somehow if you could get an rb30et from over here or 26/30-25/30 combo it would be a great engine to play with.
Funny thing, the ZX turbo manifold does have a primitive blow off valve next to the pop off valve, and it will vent when you slam the throttle shut through that little 5/8" hose.
At 11 or 12 years old, I rode in a 280ZX turbo, I never forgot how the boost made me feel, the whole reason I'm building a twin turbo LQ4 6 speed chevelle at 50 plus years of age is because of this.
Would love to see more videos with engine I know it’s an old video but I’d really like to see the Dyno pulls of this thing stock and modded let’s see it!!!!
You missed one more bad, the throttle body. We dynoed a S30 with a l28et. He would make 280 ish hp and over 300 lbs-ft of tq but he kept running more boost to get it over 300 hp and it wasn't liking it. I gave him a throttle body (KA24de or vg33 can't remember exactly) and a intake manifold that was roughly ported to match the Tb bore. The car made over 300 at the lower boost level!
@@richardholdener1727 it had a intercooler and a gt35 turbo and I think we were under 20 psi but it was at least 10 years ago. I can contact the owner cuz he still has the car and give you more specific if you want.
Hi Richard, love your videos, I still have an extra LD28 crank if you want it. Takes a custom piston but make is 2955cc or there about. Free to you if you want it. @@richardholdener1727
Shoulda known you were a z car guy... funny(love my 240). At the end you talked about a lack of info for some of the mods for the L series engine. There's a whole FB group/page dedicated to sharing info on the L-series engines, pretty cool, check it out. Love your videos and content Richard, hitting the 'sub' button.
Very interesting. I have a 1984 300 ZX turbo. Although my engine is a V6, it has the same 7.4 compression ratio and the turbo only made 4 pounds of boost. I think that many of the things you plan to do to your '83 280 will apply to my '84 300. This car was raced backed in the eighties at Road Atlanta. The only mods were a roll cage and a five point harness. Yet, as the story goes, this car could top 140 on the straightway. Even with only 4 pounds of boost, turbos seem to do wonders for top end speeds!
Been patiently waiting for you to do this, I’m guessing you’ll need to do an engine refresh on it before putting it on the dyno, at least some ring gap and a modern head gasket and maybe head studs 🤔
When you mentioned 5 things you like, I was expecting things like head sealing, steel rods, main cap bolts, cylinder wall thickness, number of main bearings...you know, hard core stuff that is too $$ to easily change, so should be present in the basic design.
I'm about to build a turbo motor from a n42 block and n42 head. Gonna use thicker head gasket to push compression down a bit. My tank is shot in my 260 so need to go fuel cell anyways which is OK since I need to run e85.
Re intake: You're right. The intake will be "fine" for your testing and likely not be the biggest bottleneck. Also half the junk on top is air metering control related. On an engine dyno, it won't be necessary, but more realistically if you run DBW, then all of it can go away (except the pop off valve).
Except the pop off valve? it’s one of the first things to go on a turbo Nissan when tuning! Used to pull them apart and shim them or replace the spring on stock engines just running a bit more boost, but really it’s best to get rid of it otherwise you end up over stressing the turbo and running higher than needed intake temps! It’s just a boost leak after all
@@needmoreboost6369 my point is that it wasn't part of the air metering system you can replace with DBW. You can replace it IMMEDIATELY with no prerequisite as far as I care. ;-)
@@needmoreboost6369 also Fwiw, I daily drove a L28ET without any of the stuff on the intake at all (was actually a non-egr non-web manifold) on the factory ECU. A bit of a pain at times, like braking with all three feet in on cold mornings while the engine warmed up, but not the end of the world. Would never build a customer or friends car that way. But my own junk? Sure.
@@nathanshobe yeah this is true especially when you’re basically controlled by an Atari for management,removing aac,idle stepper, charcoal canister and most other add ons gains all the inconsistencies in low speed and cold idle control and 0hp as a reward, had a few hacked up Nissans my self an l24e mr30 skyline then converted to rb30, I’ve had 3 Aussie r31s, 2 vl turbos and still got 1 now but 400rwkw 25/30 also a sss stanza, a 200b and a bluebird but it’s an l28 I’m still yet to own.
Uncle in Australia is running one of those with a blow through 4barrel in his sports sedan. It puts out over 600 hp and is totally unopened. The boost comes in pretty late.
It's been a while, but I've heard that if you change the angle on that down pipe, you make great gains. Also, I see some will cut out the webbing on the intake, I guess it's to get rid of the heat. Not sure if it works well or not.
Fun fact, the '83 Turbo motor is capable of less power than '81 or '82 because they used a different head (P90A instead of P90) that used hydraulic lifters instead of solid. After about 350ish horsepower they start to collapse.
Never had my hands on a six, but had a fair bit of experience with an L16 & L20B, the four bangers. Serious bottom ends. Rods like a SB Chev. I disliked the non-crossflow design also, and had more fun with a Toyota 20R. They all responded to the hot rodding tricks very well and it was fun to beat up on smogger small blocks with 'Jap Crap'.
Hey Richard! I’m excited for this series. Can you do old school turbo tuning techniques and see how much gains there were compared to a modern tuning approach? Also modern same size turbo vs stock turbo to see the gains on turbo technology?
@@richardholdener1727 I’ve heard from the older guys at car shows how they’d run an alcohol mix, advance timing, vice grip shut a vacuum line, and run a rising rate fuel management unit. Oh an added intercoolers! Us kids these days have e85 and fully tunable ecu’s so everything is done on a computer. Fun hearing what the older generation did for more power
THUMBS UP #1 well... it's a turbo motor Skippy! #2 "TURBO" script on the valve cover is worth 3 tenths in the quarter and 2 high fives at the Gas N. Sip on Friday night #3 Factory iIntake manifold less factory hoses/switches/doo dads is good #4 oil cooler is cool... er. Literally. #4b under hood light? huh? #5 Pop off valve
1. That’s not a disadvantage. You can put a bigger turbo and run more boost without having issues of melting pistons and or detonating 2. That’s not a disadvantage. You can get an a good aftermarket intercooler if you want 3. That’s not a problem. It’s relatively inexpensive to upgrade fuel injectors. Or you can simply go with duel fuel injectors per cylinder. 4. That’s not a disadvantage you can do a draw through turbo setup the exhaust port next to intake port is an advantage for fuel atomisation. Then you’re not limited by intercooler flow
I own an l28et in a 71 240z and I'm super excited to see where this goes. I hope you have the cometic head gasket ordered and some head studs. I turboed my first z in 2002 and I've been trying to blow it up ever since. The worst I could do is blow a head gasket and warped a cylinder head. It's megasquirt v2.2. My cylinder head's been decked .30.... it's got ARP head studs hx35 6x6 billet compressor 10cm exhaust housing.... Schneider cam/springs. 280 270 duration 460 lift edis 6 msd6al 850cc injector water meth. Low boost 17psi normal boost 24psi. I'm also curious do you have a p90a head or a regular P90? Cuz that could be a pain in the ass if you're going to put a cam in it. I also just got the Kamari twin idler timing chain setup. And I recently just put my 14th or 15th Transmission in it (ive lost count) and I think I'm going to probably end up going to LS. It's not going to be overnight but at some point I'm going to sell my whole L Series setup. Transmissions are getting hard to find. I really think an LC9 with a tkx and 78/75 would be a bunch of fun. Anyway sorry for such a long comment. Can't wait to see what kind of power it makes on the dyno and you better put a moon tune on it 20° @ 20psi.
They make a L series to nissan cd009 adapter, very good transmissions...the vq engines they are normally mated to grenade before the transmission does and that's already hard to do with vq's..plus the cd009 is strong and cheaper than a tremec
I have thought of put a seperat cooler on my Water cooled intercooler on my VAG CBZ 1.2tsi 105hp 8valve 4cylinder engine. But I can't finde eny information on how big a radiator I need. How much coolent flow i need. I have Access to a car Dyno and have some sensors available to measure coolent temp and 3 engineers to ask (I don't do it because the go rough and starts talking formulas and theory's that I have never heard of before 😂) Would love to see a planing sheet on how you planning out the test procedures and I with order you do stuff think that would be beneficial for alot of people. Love that you test step by step and compare different options
Love those mills , very smooth and a lot of fun . Crossflow heads on I6s are not common , despite the advantages they would give . No aftermarket company wants to spend the money to develop them , even for common domestic engines , despite the vast numbers of them out there . It certainly is not a realistic home project , although , it has been done , at least on Ford 4.9s anyway . Some folks absolutely will not let anything stop them . We will forever be stuck with wondering what might have been with all these non crossflow designs . At least these motors respond well to all the old tricks and many new ones , despite the after.arket generally giving the owners the same finger the factories did . As for the that hideous witches nest of lines on your engine , i prefer to think of that as a scarecrow to keep the lazy and the unmotivated out of the engine bay . I am looking forward to seeing what you can wring out of this engine .
I have seen that , and it is cool as hell . I especially love the 4.9 . The fab skills are pretty awesome as well . And there is just a certain special something about projects that will piss off both Ford and Chevy purists at the same time . Maybe Richard can do a Pontiac I6 when he finishes with that Z engine and his Trophy 4 . I am curious to see what he can do with a 230 or 250 cammer .
I watched a guy with a nicely built 280z spank the Shit out of a race prepared Dodge Viper. He cleaned his clock in the race track, it was a track south end of Luke Air-force base in west Phoenix.
I didn't like the 500 dollar (in 1980's money ) optical turbo only distributor .especially when it went on the random fritz .I did like the pop off valve they could be manipulated to allow the whole 12psi or so that turbo could deliver .a little alcohol injection and 555 timer to the 7th injector But the fast ones were the lighter 240s with stroker 3.0s and the turbo 280 differential. Then came broken half shafts
The euro 280zx turbo was intercooled which jumped it into the 200+ hp range. I swapped L28ET in my old 81 280zx with 87 Z31 ecu which really made it much better never ran an intercooler. Now days I have a 82 maxima with a L28ET swap top mount intercooled the stock 71B 5 speed (non turbo) trans didn't hold up. I'm looking into rebuilding a Borg Warner T5 I got for cheap from a friend with new parts and maybe try to put some world class parts in it.
Some folks are able to produce 500 horsepower out of it and some in Japan made 600 horsepower out of it like back in the 80s japan actually had twin turbo set ups
That cheesy factory blow off valve is handled with a 1” pipe plug. I built a 3.1 l stroker with a diesel crank - l24 rods vg30 pistons. I built a fuel rail with blank rail extrusion.I ran a bigger turbo.
@@richardholdener1727 Yep, a good street recommendation. About the only thing I had issue with Bell was his saying that the chargecooler forward heat exchanger was the least most important part of the system. I think he had a weird dragstrip bias.
LOW C.R it's a freebie. Intercool it and boost the living shit out of it. That will solve your LOW C.R concerns. The only thing I truly hate about this engine is the NON-CROSS FLOW head. Same for the Chevy 250, 292, Ford EFI 4.9L, Chrysler Slant Six, et al. It sucks having both cool and hot sides that close and cluttering one side on the engine.
"What are the options there?" Plenty- But it depends on your budget and how complicated you want to get with it along with what specific l28e youre starting with. They made the L28e for awhile, starting in the mid 70s, and had various changes along the way. Different blocks, heads, etc. Later year ones can bolt over a lot of the l28et hardware- and depending on your budget and what you can source, this can be a great way to get started on things. But like he touched on a bit in this video, theres a lot of things youd want to change / upgrade. Fuel system being a big one. Itd also be advisable to run a better fuel management system over the stock one- Especially in this scenario due to the compression ratio differences. And again as he noted- the intake. But pretty much whatever you can do to the l28et, you can do to the l28e. If you have more specific questions though please let me know.
@@SidewaysGts mines an 82 model so I have the stock flat tops and p79 heads. I have upgraded the fuel pump, fuel rail, injectors, coil. Typical upgrades. Aside from a full build and going megasquirt with turbo distributor and everything. Was wondering the options for power adding to 28e. Seems to be a process for any upgrade on these old motors because of the outdated management etc.
@@mattfultz1971 "Seems to be a process for any upgrade on these old motors because of the outdated management etc." Pretty much. Outside of minor mods, the stock ECU for the old 80s stuff is pretty crap, and cant compensate much. From a "hardware" perspective for their time (The block, head, etc- the physical parts). Theyre quite strong. Whether youre starting with an NA or Turbo block, you can easily handle 300+ WHP on stock internals (The difference will be in how much boost is needed). Plenty of guys push 350-400~ WHP on entirely stock internals (though i feel 400 is as far as id want to go on stock cast pistons, 350~ tends to be a solid "i can drive this all day" number). The problem is everything that makes them run needs to be changed. Even with just a mild cam, the stock ecu is rather inadequate IMO. To make any major mods- You really benefit from going with a modern, proper aftermarket ecu. FWIW: I dont recommend the megasquirt. Its not bad by any means- But for the money? Get something like the MAXX sport ecu or something similar. For like 1500~ bucks you get a full standalone with 6 injector drivers, 6 ignition drivers, 7 additional outputs, 6 inputs, handles launch control, traction control, anti lag, vvt, shift cut, has a built in wideband, built in 4 bar map sensor, can handle flex fuel, connects via bluetooth, and has a flying lead harness for you to connect up to your engine. You get that- and you can run basically anything you want, with full sequential ignition/injection. Get a turbo manifold, something like a t3/t4 turbo, plumb it through an intercooler, and you can safely run 300-350~ WHP all day long. Upgrade the cooling, go with forged pistons and a decent cam, and you can push 400+ without much issue. Of course from there the transmissions readily available wont be happy- so youd probably want to go with like a KA or ideally cd00X transmission. And then...
@@SidewaysGts thanks man I'm definitely going to look into that. Megasquirt is 1500 not including having to swap everything the car to l28et parts. I'm going to into the Maxx setup and go from there. Would I need to run a thicker gasket to drop the compression in your opinion. Or would stock with flat be good? If I can 350hp out of it would be all i needed in that little car
@@mattfultz1971 "Would I need to run a thicker gasket to drop the compression in your opinion" Depending on which specific l28 you have I think youre probably at 8.3~ to 1 compression. Definitely dont need to lower compression at all. Modern Injectors/ecus/etc are more than adequate to run some good boost at that kind of compression without much fear of knock- And TBH the motor will run more efficiently because of it. Ive got a "stock" l28et in my Z (only physical mod is i had the block o-ringed, but tbh thats not necessary) with the 7.4:1 compression- You can basically pull timing on the things until they start to lose power before they knock because the compression is so low (running 20 psi). Youll have to be "more careful" with 8.3:1 on pump gas (you can definitely alter timing to the point youll knock), but as long as you dont knock- the pistons/rods will hold 300+ whp just fine. 350+ is easily obtainable, but any knock at those pressures can probably see a shattered ring land or worse (Again: as long as youre not knocking, i wouldnt worry personally. Having a good tuner is definitely a must here). of course if youre running e85, youll be notably safer (Which is again a huge advantage of the maxx ecu, or similars- being able to run flex fuel. You can toss in a flex fuel sensor, and itll compensate on the fly for mixed gas/e85- so you dont have to "drain" the tank, you can just fill up and it does the rest). Ive been running 300+ WHP in my z for 10 years with no real issues. I keep it where its at largely because of the limitations of the transmission (Keep in mind these motors make more torque than horsepower. 300 whp is going to see 350+ pounds of torque at the wheels, well over 400 pounds at the fly- They were meant for 150 pounds lol). Im in the middle of swapping a cd00x transmission myself- And from there the goal is to go forged and push 500. 3-350~ is a pretty "easy" and relatively affordable point to hit with these engines. The engines themselves can take it, its just the bits around it to run it. over 350-400~ is when you REALLY need to start upgrading things.
Turbo valve cover is a good bolt on. Just like the old M/T valve covers. They seem to make a little extra power.
I raced the NA motor in the SCCA, super reliable. The fast head was the E88 or E31. You can build a stroker using the diesel crank.
Remember these were popular way before the internet, all the knowledge is in peoples heads, it almost was never published anywhere. There are some out of print books on these motors, Bob Sharp from CT ran these, lots of Electromotive support. They supported Paul Newman when he used one to get an SCCA national championship. I would guess there all being vintage raced now.
What block were you running alongside the e88 or e31? N42 or n47 seems to be the go too on flat top f54s
@@frisky6663 gosh it was so long ago, don’t remember. What ever cane in the 280Z or ZX, NA motor, as that’s what I was running in the ITS class. The E31 was a 240Z head and supposedly had better flow, but very rare. The E88 was the next best.
Some guys on hybridz jotted most of it down, braap and tony D being the most knowledgeable to my recollection
This episode was great, maybe a quick review of the old 1980 Turbo Trans Am. I believe this had potential but suffered the same things similarly covered here.
Interesting Timing Richard. There was a discussion recently on the Electromotive L28 Turbo's that ran in GTO and IMSA GTP serie's in the 80's and 90's. Electromotive was making 750 hp on the L28 Single Turbo version back in the early 80's. By the end of development they were making an astounding 1,100 HP with the GTP Twin Turbo version.... on the non-crossflow L-6!! Chris Willes book : " Developing a Champion. The Electromotive Nissan GTP Storey " is an absolute must read for any Nissan Race Fans. Incredible engineering that was way ahead of the times.
I'LL HAVE TO GET IT
Great video!! I owned 3 280ZX Turbos...The 83 automatic was a dog, especially off the line. I added an intercooler and raised the boost to 12lbs. and the improvement in acceleration was substantial. I figure 10 HP for every pound of boost that's added... You can safely add 3 lbs. boost by removing the blow off valve and adjusting the turbo linkage.
Really strong factory forged crank with 7 main bearings. Forged rods and High Silicone content pistons make the L-series able to handle high stress situations. The block is high nickel content as well. All of these features were standard Nissan engines in L and A serie's. . A12 engines would think nothing of buzzing to 10K. I witnessed a Dyno Test of an A12 at Tilton Engineering ( 1974 ) where they pushed an A12 to 12K. Stock crank. Carillo Rods and Arias pistons. Power fell off after 10K though. But it was pretty impressive to see a 1206cc pushrod engine pushing 12 K
Can the na engine's also take forced induction I'm planning on doing a plus t but I'm unsure if they can take it since I haven't done one before I'm looking on doing one for 250 to 300hp, your expertise will be greatly appreciated.
I am really looking forward to you testing this motor out! I have nearly 15 years of experience playing around with turbo L-series engines and currently have a 320WHP L28e-t in my 260z.
I know you'll do the Datsun crowd proud!
As a Datsun guy, it's cool to see you working with the L series. Coincidentally, your LS vids have helped me a lot since I gave up the L and went to the LS. Used an L33, which is funny because people get confused and say "Wait, I thought you couldn't stroke an L28 out past 3.2..."
diesel l series crank
@@richardholdener1727 Love the channel, had no Idea you were a Z guy as well. I have a 240 and a 280z, plus an L28et sitting in the barn. I thought for sure you would mention the forged crank with 7 main bearings or the nice quench pad on the p90 head in your likes column! I thought about slapping L24 rods into the L28et and machining the dish out of the pistons to raise the compression and take advantage of the head. For now I'm going with the sacrilegious LS swap for the 280 as I got a low mileage LS3 dirt cheap and bought a brand new t56 triple synchro out of a ctsv before they went insane. I've even thought about destroking it after watching them scream on your dyno and because I don't wanna twist the old girl in half! 😉
You’d have loved what my dad and the guys at the Z shop in Vegas were doing. They were using NISMO and Newman racing tricks back in the 80s.
That engine was always impressively smooth running and fun when the boost came in. I didn't know the compression was that low. It's going to be interesting to see what you do with it.
Thanks again. Always great info!
Me as a 280ZX Turbo fanatic, I agree. The engine is pretty solid and produces good horsepower and great torque too. Also a pretty solid awesome Turbo charger. 😎
old home week . I worked in a dealer in 82 ,83,84, 85 . worked on a few of these.
My grandpa had one of these in the late 90's and he let me use it whenever I wanted. I remember the speedo only went to 85 and you could bury the needle waaaaay past that
You are my favorite engine builder/tester/etc on UA-cam by far! I've been dying for you to do the l28et!!! I'm a big Z guy!!
In addition to Bell's book, I would also point people to Hartman's books on supercharging and engine management systems...for those who actually still like to read books :) My auto library looks a lot like yours, Rich! And yes, I have your book on SBF performance!
G'day Richard,
Thanks for another great video. It's also good to hear that you're a Datsun Z fan. :) I thought that I would send a couple of comments for you.
Firstly, Nissan did a great job when they homologated the Z series cars with the FIA. They grouped the entire series of 240, 260 & 280 Z & ZX models together as a single series or type. That means that a race car can be built with the lightest body, the better gearbox, diff & brakes, as well as the L28 series engine. So, you can race a 240Z, with 4-wheel discs, LSD, & L28ET in historic race or rally car classes.
Also, one of the guys at a car club I had joined owned a famous 260Z, which was turbocharged. It was more notorious than famous, & always very quick. At one stage, he built a 2nd engine for it, which was based on the Nissan Patrol engine. He used it for everything. Daily commuting to work, shopping, circuit sprints, autocross, & touring road events.
Finally, I read Hugh Macinnes' book, Turbocharging, back in the 80's, as an apprentice. It knocks me out that what is almost a 50 year old technical book is still referred to. But, I'm going to check out Maximum Boost, since you mentioned it.
Once again, thanks for a great video. I'm looking forward to the mods & tests on this one.
Keep up the good work
Andrew
THNX FOR THE INFO-I HAVE HUGES BOOK TOO-IT HAS BEEN READ MANY TIMES
Awesome and timely content! Every now and again I'll take a look on the tube of yous to see if there's some new turbo L series stuff and almost every time I'm left disappointed. Z Car Garage's Nassty240z stands out, and there's some old footage of a dyno tuned L28 but it's numbers were kinda disappointing. Hope you can do more with it as it's often overlooked! Just be careful with that number 5 and 6 cyl, apparently they really like to heat up! Running E85 should fix that, or people drill ports in the head and run a cooling manifold to keep those cyl's a little cooler. Anyway, I'm anxious to see what you guys can do!
Would love to see some follow-up to this as both a V8 enthusiast and an owner of a modded l28et. Would love to see what mods are really worth it on this platform
Love the fact that you're doing L28ET stuff! Thanks for using our fuel rail picture :) we are very proud of those products.
We would love to collaborate with you on this project as far as any parts you may need or information sharing! Please don't hesitate to contact us for anything you need.
Will give a nod to these guys- Just got my hands on their cd009 (into a 240z) transmission kit, and waiting to install it. Everything looks to be of amazing quality, and cant wait to get started on it. Ive got a mildly modified 240z currently making a bit over 300 whp, but going to be pulling it apart here soon to build a forged engine and hope to push 500 (Big reason i wanted the 350z transmission in it).
@@SidewaysGts Thanks again for your business, and the kind words!
Kool vid. Yeah! Turbo L series! I always wanted to do the same thing. I have a Datsun 620 pick up with an L18 with a cam, mikuni intake, twin Webber 45 dcoe, header, ported head, and an old Jacobs ignition. Turbo would dramatically increase the fun. VW doods used to use carb enclosures, and I thought the Datsun could use the same deal.
Had a neighbor (still there) That had 3 280zs.g
He was using parts of two to build one
All rust buckets
I volunteered to help he did the drive train, I did body work
One f these was a turbo
Not factory , but add on. You must go back in time to the 60s and 70s. In your mind
That is my time
Turbo’s were a novelty , the turbo engine was almost trash
I tore it down to clean it up
The exhaust manifold was cut open, a pressure regulator tied to intake to up fuel pressure on boast.
This was a “kit” installed by some dude that was doing that kind of stuff.
No blow off, boost regulated by a inline device in the intake pipe be fore the intake air regulator.
All Miller in California was using these things to turbo all sorts of things.
Bottom line , the old computerized set was almost useless(or I was)
I could get it running for very short times had to tear turbo apart to clean it.
Lately I wish to be able to do what you are going to do with modern fuel and ignition control
And choice of turbo.
Wouldn’t be Surprised to see that thing still setting there
Nissan has always made damn good six cylinders. The N/A 3.5 liter in my sedan pumps out 300hp.
I think almost every Nissan six was a winner
Also, many fours were good before about 1995.
Just got a 280z and I’m glad I found your video
Negative Point 3: Fuel rail, in it's defense it was designed that way for a reason, and was same/similar to most Bosch systems of the era. Modern fuel rail systems produced later incorporated items like pressure wave dampening devices, along with sequential injection, both of which resolve some of the pressure wave issues associated with EFI injectors.
The famous rb30et ran the same setup and the upgrades include injectors but not a new rail to start with at least.
Dampening is especially critical when manufacturers used as little fuel pump as possible for multiple reasons the biggest being cost,not saying it’s not a good idea for a dampener but if rail pressure instability is a problem it’s because there’s not enough flow
There’s another cross flow head other than the OS Giken head, it’s called the Datsun Works KN20 head. Uses K series valve train stuff to reduce costs, it’s still pretty expensive though
I saw those mentioned-still not a viable option
Thank you Richard for all that you do. I have so many questions about turbo charging so I just ordered the book. Thanks again see you on the live chat.
Hope you enjoy it!
I really enjoyed the video. Thanks for taking the time to make it.
I'm well versed in this engine. Im building one for my 1984 maxima wagon project. I know what to do for my HP goals but Sure would like to see what you do with it.
I took the efi off my l28et and put on some sidedraft carbs with an hks blowthrough plenum,loads of fun once it was tuned and ran well lol.
That motor looks familiar! Can't wait to see this thing alive again and make some decent numbers!
ME TOO
things I like about the L28ET. It has a larger volume oil pump that bolts right on to other L-Series, Z-Series and Some KA-Series motors.
But that's bout it. the RB is better in every way
Gotta ask- When do we get part 2?! Cant wait to see more for this.
So glad you're doing stuff with the L28. Looking forward to it!
As always Richard great content! It’s good to see one of these getting some light! it’s been a few years since I’ve played with an L series datto ,this will be another great vid to watch! Still hanging to see the Big Bang 3800 though! And somehow if you could get an rb30et from over here or 26/30-25/30 combo it would be a great engine to play with.
Love this! Looking forward to your findings.
Super excited to see the potential of the l28et!
Funny thing, the ZX turbo manifold does have a primitive blow off valve next to the pop off valve, and it will vent when you slam the throttle shut through that little 5/8" hose.
At 11 or 12 years old, I rode in a 280ZX turbo, I never forgot how the boost made me feel, the whole reason I'm building a twin turbo LQ4 6 speed chevelle at 50 plus years of age is because of this.
that will feel even better
Would love to see more videos with engine I know it’s an old video but I’d really like to see the Dyno pulls of this thing stock and modded let’s see it!!!!
You missed one more bad, the throttle body. We dynoed a S30 with a l28et. He would make 280 ish hp and over 300 lbs-ft of tq but he kept running more boost to get it over 300 hp and it wasn't liking it. I gave him a throttle body (KA24de or vg33 can't remember exactly) and a intake manifold that was roughly ported to match the Tb bore. The car made over 300 at the lower boost level!
SEEMS ODD THAT A BLOW-THROUGH THROTLE BODY WOULD BE RESTRICTIVE AT THAT POWER LEVEL-I'LL TEST
@@richardholdener1727 it had a intercooler and a gt35 turbo and I think we were under 20 psi but it was at least 10 years ago. I can contact the owner cuz he still has the car and give you more specific if you want.
Looking forward to this series!
We ran 219 mph with a Bonneville. Totally stock bodied 280ZX. It was a 2955 cc turbo using a diesel crank. Huge amount of work but we set 3 records
NICE-CONGRATS
Hi Richard, love your videos, I still have an extra LD28 crank if you want it. Takes a custom piston but make is 2955cc or there about. Free to you if you want it.
@@richardholdener1727
Love that your doing videos with older japanese engines. I have a request. Can a future project be a 7mgte from a mkIII supra
Shoulda known you were a z car guy... funny(love my 240). At the end you talked about a lack of info for some of the mods for the L series engine. There's a whole FB group/page dedicated to sharing info on the L-series engines, pretty cool, check it out. Love your videos and content Richard, hitting the 'sub' button.
do they have actual dyno data?
I’ve got one of these… looking forward to seeing what you do ✌🏽😎
Fun fact, there are a rare few crossflow heads for that motor built in Japan. It's also had a Volvo head adapted too as i recall!
I'm really looking forward to this 😊
My 84 300zx had those rubber hoses on the injectors and they were a fire hazard. It caught fire once from a leak but was put out in time
I can't wait for more on this engine
Very interesting. I have a 1984 300 ZX turbo. Although my engine is a V6, it has the same 7.4 compression ratio and the turbo only made 4 pounds of boost. I think that many of the things you plan to do to your '83 280 will apply to my '84 300. This car was raced backed in the eighties at Road Atlanta. The only mods were a roll cage and a five point harness. Yet, as the story goes, this car could top 140 on the straightway. Even with only 4 pounds of boost, turbos seem to do wonders for top end speeds!
Vg30det would be a good upgrade. Lots of knowledge there
I thought the 300ZXT had 7.8:1 compression.
Wangan Midnight dyno build, LETS GOOO!!
Down pipe is a Major restriction. A custom or a MSA down pipe is a huge benefits
Been patiently waiting for you to do this, I’m guessing you’ll need to do an engine refresh on it before putting it on the dyno, at least some ring gap and a modern head gasket and maybe head studs 🤔
So cool! Never knew there was a turbo version. Did some work on an NA 280zx for a friend a while back I remember it being very time consuming lol.
PLEASE do one of these for a 22ret. It will be interesting for certain!
8:20 OMG You Said Exsactly What I Was Going To Say About Valve Cover hahaha
When you mentioned 5 things you like, I was expecting things like head sealing, steel rods, main cap bolts, cylinder wall thickness, number of main bearings...you know, hard core stuff that is too $$ to easily change, so should be present in the basic design.
That same fuel rail design caused a lot of fires on the 300zx.
Have you ever considered the Nissan VG30DE n/a engine?
I love it when you get the older engines / looking forward to this.
Thank you.
I'm about to build a turbo motor from a n42 block and n42 head. Gonna use thicker head gasket to push compression down a bit. My tank is shot in my 260 so need to go fuel cell anyways which is OK since I need to run e85.
Re intake: You're right. The intake will be "fine" for your testing and likely not be the biggest bottleneck.
Also half the junk on top is air metering control related. On an engine dyno, it won't be necessary, but more realistically if you run DBW, then all of it can go away (except the pop off valve).
Except the pop off valve? it’s one of the first things to go on a turbo Nissan when tuning! Used to pull them apart and shim them or replace the spring on stock engines just running a bit more boost, but really it’s best to get rid of it otherwise you end up over stressing the turbo and running higher than needed intake temps! It’s just a boost leak after all
@@needmoreboost6369 my point is that it wasn't part of the air metering system you can replace with DBW. You can replace it IMMEDIATELY with no prerequisite as far as I care. ;-)
@@needmoreboost6369 also Fwiw, I daily drove a L28ET without any of the stuff on the intake at all (was actually a non-egr non-web manifold) on the factory ECU. A bit of a pain at times, like braking with all three feet in on cold mornings while the engine warmed up, but not the end of the world. Would never build a customer or friends car that way. But my own junk? Sure.
@@nathanshobe yeah this is true especially when you’re basically controlled by an Atari for management,removing aac,idle stepper, charcoal canister and most other add ons gains all the inconsistencies in low speed and cold idle control and 0hp as a reward, had a few hacked up Nissans my self an l24e mr30 skyline then converted to rb30, I’ve had 3 Aussie r31s, 2 vl turbos and still got 1 now but 400rwkw 25/30 also a sss stanza, a 200b and a bluebird but it’s an l28 I’m still yet to own.
Wow, hard like!!! Datsun stuff 😍
Uncle in Australia is running one of those with a blow through 4barrel in his sports sedan.
It puts out over 600 hp and is totally unopened.
The boost comes in pretty late.
600 hp unopened with a blow-through 4 barrel?
It's been a while, but I've heard that if you change the angle on that down pipe, you make great gains.
Also, I see some will cut out the webbing on the intake, I guess it's to get rid of the heat. Not sure if it works well or not.
Fun fact, the '83 Turbo motor is capable of less power than '81 or '82 because they used a different head (P90A instead of P90) that used hydraulic lifters instead of solid. After about 350ish horsepower they start to collapse.
FUN FACT-LIFTERS DON'T KNOW POWER LEVELS
Never had my hands on a six, but had a fair bit of experience with an L16 & L20B, the four bangers. Serious bottom ends. Rods like a SB Chev. I disliked the non-crossflow design also, and had more fun with a Toyota 20R. They all responded to the hot rodding tricks very well and it was fun to beat up on smogger small blocks with 'Jap Crap'.
Hey Richard! I’m excited for this series. Can you do old school turbo tuning techniques and see how much gains there were compared to a modern tuning approach? Also modern same size turbo vs stock turbo to see the gains on turbo technology?
old school tuning tricks?
@@richardholdener1727 I’ve heard from the older guys at car shows how they’d run an alcohol mix, advance timing, vice grip shut a vacuum line, and run a rising rate fuel management unit. Oh an added intercoolers! Us kids these days have e85 and fully tunable ecu’s so everything is done on a computer. Fun hearing what the older generation did for more power
@@linoleumshake " Turbochargers" by Hugh McInnes.
Scary to see what we did in the 70s. Electricity hadn't been invented yet.
THUMBS UP #1 well... it's a turbo motor Skippy! #2 "TURBO" script on the valve cover is worth 3 tenths in the quarter and 2 high fives at the Gas N. Sip on Friday night #3 Factory iIntake manifold less factory hoses/switches/doo dads is good #4 oil cooler is cool... er. Literally. #4b under hood light? huh? #5 Pop off valve
1. That’s not a disadvantage. You can put a bigger turbo and run more boost without having issues of melting pistons and or detonating
2. That’s not a disadvantage. You can get an a good aftermarket intercooler if you want
3. That’s not a problem. It’s relatively inexpensive to upgrade fuel injectors. Or you can simply go with duel fuel injectors per cylinder.
4. That’s not a disadvantage you can do a draw through turbo setup the exhaust port next to intake port is an advantage for fuel atomisation. Then you’re not limited by intercooler flow
wrong on all 4
were going to try a different playlist this time. been through the 443 live ones 3x times now so we are on to the 134 other guys.
yes! much thnx
I own an l28et in a 71 240z and I'm super excited to see where this goes. I hope you have the cometic head gasket ordered and some head studs. I turboed my first z in 2002 and I've been trying to blow it up ever since. The worst I could do is blow a head gasket and warped a cylinder head. It's megasquirt v2.2. My cylinder head's been decked .30.... it's got ARP head studs hx35 6x6 billet compressor 10cm exhaust housing.... Schneider cam/springs. 280 270 duration 460 lift edis 6 msd6al 850cc injector water meth. Low boost 17psi normal boost 24psi. I'm also curious do you have a p90a head or a regular P90? Cuz that could be a pain in the ass if you're going to put a cam in it. I also just got the Kamari twin idler timing chain setup. And I recently just put my 14th or 15th Transmission in it (ive lost count) and I think I'm going to probably end up going to LS. It's not going to be overnight but at some point I'm going to sell my whole L Series setup. Transmissions are getting hard to find. I really think an LC9 with a tkx and 78/75 would be a bunch of fun. Anyway sorry for such a long comment. Can't wait to see what kind of power it makes on the dyno and you better put a moon tune on it 20° @ 20psi.
They make a L series to nissan cd009 adapter, very good transmissions...the vq engines they are normally mated to grenade before the transmission does and that's already hard to do with vq's..plus the cd009 is strong and cheaper than a tremec
Lower compression also gave the consumer the ability to run cheap, low octane gas. Sadly, another whamy on power loss, but hey, easy to fill'er up!
87 PLUS BOOST FTW!
I have thought of put a seperat cooler on my Water cooled intercooler on my VAG CBZ 1.2tsi 105hp 8valve 4cylinder engine. But I can't finde eny information on how big a radiator I need. How much coolent flow i need. I have Access to a car Dyno and have some sensors available to measure coolent temp and 3 engineers to ask (I don't do it because the go rough and starts talking formulas and theory's that I have never heard of before 😂)
Would love to see a planing sheet on how you planning out the test procedures and I with order you do stuff think that would be beneficial for alot of people.
Love that you test step by step and compare different options
Love those mills , very smooth and a lot of fun .
Crossflow heads on I6s are not common , despite the advantages they would give .
No aftermarket company wants to spend the money to develop them , even for common domestic engines , despite the vast numbers of them out there .
It certainly is not a realistic home project , although , it has been done , at least on Ford 4.9s anyway .
Some folks absolutely will not let anything stop them .
We will forever be stuck with wondering what might have been with all these non crossflow designs .
At least these motors respond well to all the old tricks and many new ones , despite the after.arket generally giving the owners the same finger the factories did .
As for the that hideous witches nest of lines on your engine , i prefer to think of that as a scarecrow to keep the lazy and the unmotivated out of the engine bay .
I am looking forward to seeing what you can wring out of this engine .
There are a few UA-camrs building Ford 300 with welded together LS heads.
I have seen that , and it is cool as hell .
I especially love the 4.9 .
The fab skills are pretty awesome as well .
And there is just a certain special something about projects that will piss off both Ford and Chevy purists at the same time .
Maybe Richard can do a Pontiac I6 when he finishes with that Z engine and his Trophy 4 .
I am curious to see what he can do with a 230 or 250 cammer .
I watched a guy with a nicely built 280z spank the Shit out of a race prepared Dodge Viper. He cleaned his clock in the race track, it was a track south end of Luke Air-force base in west Phoenix.
The Chrysler 2.2 turbo used pop off conrod bearings instead of the pop off valve.
I'd like to see Richard get his hands on a 5mge or 6m.
Could you do a water to air inter-cooler in front of the turbo? Guess you would also be doing a full sequential injection system as well
YOU WANT TO COOL THE AIR AFTER IT HAS BEEN HEATED
@@richardholdener1727 Yep, I mean at the compressor output.
I didn't like the 500 dollar (in 1980's money ) optical turbo only distributor .especially when it went on the random fritz .I did like the pop off valve they could be manipulated to allow the whole 12psi or so that turbo could deliver .a little alcohol injection and 555 timer to the 7th injector
But the fast ones were the lighter 240s with stroker 3.0s and the turbo 280 differential. Then came broken half shafts
The euro 280zx turbo was intercooled which jumped it into the 200+ hp range. I swapped L28ET in my old 81 280zx with 87 Z31 ecu which really made it much better never ran an intercooler. Now days I have a 82 maxima with a L28ET swap top mount intercooled the stock 71B 5 speed (non turbo) trans didn't hold up. I'm looking into rebuilding a Borg Warner T5 I got for cheap from a friend with new parts and maybe try to put some world class parts in it.
Cd009 to L series adapter...btw I love your Ig page if this is the same guy running that archetype page
How about doing a Cosworth Vega engine ? Maybe 1974 ish
What’s the going rate for an l28et motor these days?
Like this kind of video. Good and bad of motor types
I had a 77 280z and miss it dearly
SInce its a 1983 L28ET engine this should have hydraulic lifters. Are you going to swap them out for solid lifters so you have more camshaft options?
likely
What happened with your L28turbo engine build haven't heard anything about it
We all interested on what you come up with
still have it
Was there ever a update on this? Any dyno videos of the l28?
not yet
@@richardholdener1727 looking forward 🙏
Having a dilemma with my 350z.
Do I add an aftermarket turbo kit or an LS3
YES TO BOTH
Like, share, subscribe, ring the bell. Do all that stuff and he'll keep testing!
Some folks are able to produce 500 horsepower out of it and some in Japan made 600 horsepower out of it like back in the 80s japan actually had twin turbo set ups
That cheesy factory blow off valve is handled with a 1” pipe plug. I built a 3.1 l stroker with a diesel crank - l24 rods vg30 pistons. I built a fuel rail with blank rail extrusion.I ran a bigger turbo.
So when may we expect video(s) on upgrades?
after we get it running
Did you do anything with this further?
not yet
Very cool 😎
Are we going to see this thing on the dyno?
YES
@@richardholdener1727 awesome I'm really looking forward to this build!!
Did this ever get a part 2?
not yet
Nothing says '80s like TURBO
Niceee
MAXIMUM BOOST by Corky Bell FTW! Page 163 will change yer life!
"RULE: It is hard to find a turbo cam that works better than the stock item."
Good street recommendation..
THAT IS UTTER NONSENSE-ONE OF THE THINGS BELL GOT WRONG IN THE BOOK-STOCK CAMS (LIKE ALL CAMS) WORK AS TURBO CAMS, BUT SO MANY BETTER OPTIONS
@@richardholdener1727 Yep, a good street recommendation.
About the only thing I had issue with Bell was his saying that the chargecooler forward heat exchanger was the least most important part of the system. I think he had a weird dragstrip bias.
LOW C.R it's a freebie.
Intercool it and boost the living shit out of it.
That will solve your LOW C.R concerns.
The only thing I truly hate about this engine is the NON-CROSS FLOW head.
Same for the Chevy 250, 292, Ford EFI 4.9L, Chrysler Slant Six, et al.
It sucks having both cool and hot sides that close and cluttering one side on the engine.
Yup...but it's nothing a water meth set can't solve As a safety net
What about adding a turbo to a l28e. What are the options there?
"What are the options there?"
Plenty- But it depends on your budget and how complicated you want to get with it along with what specific l28e youre starting with.
They made the L28e for awhile, starting in the mid 70s, and had various changes along the way. Different blocks, heads, etc. Later year ones can bolt over a lot of the l28et hardware- and depending on your budget and what you can source, this can be a great way to get started on things. But like he touched on a bit in this video, theres a lot of things youd want to change / upgrade. Fuel system being a big one. Itd also be advisable to run a better fuel management system over the stock one- Especially in this scenario due to the compression ratio differences. And again as he noted- the intake.
But pretty much whatever you can do to the l28et, you can do to the l28e. If you have more specific questions though please let me know.
@@SidewaysGts mines an 82 model so I have the stock flat tops and p79 heads. I have upgraded the fuel pump, fuel rail, injectors, coil. Typical upgrades. Aside from a full build and going megasquirt with turbo distributor and everything. Was wondering the options for power adding to 28e. Seems to be a process for any upgrade on these old motors because of the outdated management etc.
@@mattfultz1971 "Seems to be a process for any upgrade on these old motors because of the outdated management etc."
Pretty much. Outside of minor mods, the stock ECU for the old 80s stuff is pretty crap, and cant compensate much.
From a "hardware" perspective for their time (The block, head, etc- the physical parts). Theyre quite strong. Whether youre starting with an NA or Turbo block, you can easily handle 300+ WHP on stock internals (The difference will be in how much boost is needed). Plenty of guys push 350-400~ WHP on entirely stock internals (though i feel 400 is as far as id want to go on stock cast pistons, 350~ tends to be a solid "i can drive this all day" number).
The problem is everything that makes them run needs to be changed.
Even with just a mild cam, the stock ecu is rather inadequate IMO.
To make any major mods- You really benefit from going with a modern, proper aftermarket ecu.
FWIW: I dont recommend the megasquirt. Its not bad by any means- But for the money? Get something like the MAXX sport ecu or something similar.
For like 1500~ bucks you get a full standalone with 6 injector drivers, 6 ignition drivers, 7 additional outputs, 6 inputs, handles launch control, traction control, anti lag, vvt, shift cut, has a built in wideband, built in 4 bar map sensor, can handle flex fuel, connects via bluetooth, and has a flying lead harness for you to connect up to your engine.
You get that- and you can run basically anything you want, with full sequential ignition/injection.
Get a turbo manifold, something like a t3/t4 turbo, plumb it through an intercooler, and you can safely run 300-350~ WHP all day long. Upgrade the cooling, go with forged pistons and a decent cam, and you can push 400+ without much issue. Of course from there the transmissions readily available wont be happy- so youd probably want to go with like a KA or ideally cd00X transmission. And then...
@@SidewaysGts thanks man I'm definitely going to look into that. Megasquirt is 1500 not including having to swap everything the car to l28et parts. I'm going to into the Maxx setup and go from there. Would I need to run a thicker gasket to drop the compression in your opinion. Or would stock with flat be good? If I can 350hp out of it would be all i needed in that little car
@@mattfultz1971 "Would I need to run a thicker gasket to drop the compression in your opinion"
Depending on which specific l28 you have I think youre probably at 8.3~ to 1 compression. Definitely dont need to lower compression at all. Modern Injectors/ecus/etc are more than adequate to run some good boost at that kind of compression without much fear of knock- And TBH the motor will run more efficiently because of it. Ive got a "stock" l28et in my Z (only physical mod is i had the block o-ringed, but tbh thats not necessary) with the 7.4:1 compression- You can basically pull timing on the things until they start to lose power before they knock because the compression is so low (running 20 psi). Youll have to be "more careful" with 8.3:1 on pump gas (you can definitely alter timing to the point youll knock), but as long as you dont knock- the pistons/rods will hold 300+ whp just fine. 350+ is easily obtainable, but any knock at those pressures can probably see a shattered ring land or worse (Again: as long as youre not knocking, i wouldnt worry personally. Having a good tuner is definitely a must here). of course if youre running e85, youll be notably safer (Which is again a huge advantage of the maxx ecu, or similars- being able to run flex fuel. You can toss in a flex fuel sensor, and itll compensate on the fly for mixed gas/e85- so you dont have to "drain" the tank, you can just fill up and it does the rest).
Ive been running 300+ WHP in my z for 10 years with no real issues. I keep it where its at largely because of the limitations of the transmission (Keep in mind these motors make more torque than horsepower. 300 whp is going to see 350+ pounds of torque at the wheels, well over 400 pounds at the fly- They were meant for 150 pounds lol). Im in the middle of swapping a cd00x transmission myself- And from there the goal is to go forged and push 500.
3-350~ is a pretty "easy" and relatively affordable point to hit with these engines. The engines themselves can take it, its just the bits around it to run it. over 350-400~ is when you REALLY need to start upgrading things.