Atlanta Racing Enterprises
465 N. Clarendon Ave.
Scottdale, GA 30079
Phone: 404-299-8100
Hours: Monday – Thursday
9 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
We accept:
We handle insurance claims.
77 280Z Turbo Project
This is a set of pages showing how I installed an '82 280ZX turbo engine with an intercooler into a '77 280Z. This has been done by quite a few people but the other ones I've seen didn't seem optimal. The customer didn't have the budget for an aftermarket fuel management system or to convert it to a 300ZX hot wire system (which we have found works really well) but he did want an intercooler installed so we could turn up the boost. Many systems I've seen installed with an intercooler use 3rd party EFI systems but draw the air for the engine using an air filter installed directly to the turbo which is drawing VERY hot air into the system from underneath the exhaust manifold with IMHO defeats much of the cooling an intercooler is supposed to provide!
There is limited room under the hood and in front of the radiator and even more limited room along the drivers side of the radiator support but I was determined to get everything to fit, including the huge '82 ZX turbo airflow (AF) meter with the engine drawing cold air from the front of the car while keeping the factory A/C and an oil cooler installed as well!
The first thing I wanted to do was clean up the messy looking factory intake manifold. I decided to use the early 75 280Z non-EGR manifold and clean off all the garbage on the top. Below is a shot of the manifold cleaned up with an aftermarket fuel rail installed.
Next step was to clean up the engine, install some fresh rod bearings in it as well as doing some paint and detail work.
It had some broken exhaust studs etc but for a 20 year old engine, it seemed to be in very good shape. After this work and installing the prepped intake, it was time to drop it back into the car for a test fitting of all the plumbing. Below is a shot of the engine dropped into the bay (with an old grungy valve cover for now).
It soon became obvious there was not enough room in a stock engine bay for the 280ZX turbo AF meter and the intercooler plumbing, especially if I was going to get the air filter in front of the radiator. I decided the intercooler plumbing would best fit through the upper part of drivers side of the radiator support and use the lower part for the air intake. I figured out that I needed 2 1/4" intercooler plumbing and a 3" intake pipe to allow for later turbo upgrades the owner suggested he may be doing and 3" is the size of the 280ZX turbo AF meter.
First order of business was finding a home for the AF meter which would allow it to breath through this lower hole. I decided to cut out the front corner of the inner fender well and build up an area for the meter to sit into. These shots show the area that was cut out, to be later filled with sheet metal and the approximate location of the AF meter. This kind of work is not for the timid!
