it starts and runs. I even drove it around the neighborhood then did a doughnut in my field. Yeah! It needs to be timed a little better for sure and i need to check the valve lash still so it'll have more power. I dont have the diesel fly wheel. I wish i did. in using the gear reduction starter from a zx.
Your diesel Z car will get faster and faster as you learn the nuances of controlling the torque to affect maximum speed and acceleration. Soon you will be hauling ass everywhere, and the only vehicles that pass you on the highway will be big turbodiesel pickups. If you want more power then consider getting a 2.5 - 3" exhaust system bent up and welded on. The asthmatic trachea of a stock Z exhaust is way too narrow to accommodate the healthy lungs of a diesel.
You may enjoy upgrading to a tall-geared 81-83 non-turbo 280zx five-speed (if you're still pimpin' an older trans).
Yup, better get used to it - you've also doomed yourself to many hours realizing a turbo upgrade.
Well i an running dual exhaust off the exhaust manifold for now and it will exit just in front of the passenger rear tire. No muffler or anything. Just the two pipes. I an running a 82 zx 5speed with a turbo fly wheel and clutch. Seams that the ring gear for the z cars are all the same but the diesel starter will not work on my car. I need to find a starter to work with my car or the diesel fly wheel and clutch. I also have installed the bigger r200 differental. Unfortunately the car just wont be as fast
When you put a LD in a Z car it changes into an economy car thats fun to drive. If you want performance, just pick up an another Z car (these cars are cheap to be had) drop a small block chevy in and hang on
Well I had a L28 under the hood already. It was uber fast. T3 garret turbo, RC engineering 550cc injectors, Q45 fuel pump, custom FPR set at 55psi idle 70psi WOT, and a whole bunch of minor mods to squeeze out reliable power. Unfortunately the crank angle sensor went out... and I was pushing around 17-18 psi of boost. #6 cylinder lost the ring lands for sure maybe the skirts as well but all but number 6 had good compression. I never had to put a SBC in... I was running in the same bracket. I have owned 22 Z cars mostly first generations. I still have the 74 260z with the diesel now under the hood and a 71 with a 2.9L turbo engine and a 68 fairlady 2000... thats also in construction with a T28 under the hood.
I am expecting to have a car when its finished that would be considered moderately fast... at least as fast as a stock 240Z which ran 14 second 1/4s but I have seen "stock" 240z's lightly modded with a set of headers and some carb work run almost 13 flat. If I could reach the 13 mark I would be happy. Im not to concerned about gas mileage. Well at least not as long as I can get the peanut fuel sorted out. I think I need to get a heater in the system or just break down and setup a cracking station at home. In the mean time Im running mixed 2/3 diesel 1/3 peanut or soy depending on what they have. I have a T3 Im rebuilding currently and Im having the exhaust header built. The pan is already pugged for the drain and I have the line that feeds the turbo with oil as well. Its going to be a while before I get that far though. I have been talking with ppl that have done this before and setting up the fuel is pretty important and I know very little about how to adjust the IP and the shims that Ive heard about.
My statement had to do with what the car was before I dropped the LD in. I guess I should have compared it to its former glory. I still have a very fast Z that is if and when I can find a transmission to put behind the motor. The T-5 thats behind it is going to granade.
DMS wrote:I have 5 starters from different year Z cars
through 1983 280zx turbo and non turbo. They all fit on the same ring
gear automatic or manual. I have had enough of these cars and Ive
changed the starters on quite a few of them.
[ . . . ]
The LD28 starter however is clocked exactly the same as
the Gasser, but it has a larger output gear. So if installed it slams
right into the ring gear and bounces off. So I need to adapt a high
torque starter to fit my setup or find a flywheel that will work with
my clutch and ring gear. Any ideas?
An idea:
If the smaller starter in this post is a gasser starter with an LD-style drive, then it's hybridized. If it can be done that way, the reverse may be true: you might be able to swap in the drive for the gasser starter (smaller gear, you say?) into the LD gearcase.
DMS wrote:Well I had a L28 under the hood already. It was uber fast. T3 garret turbo, RC engineering 550cc injectors, Q45 fuel pump, custom FPR set at 55psi idle 70psi WOT, and a whole bunch of minor mods to squeeze out reliable power. Unfortunately the crank angle sensor went out... and I was pushing around 17-18 psi of boost. #6 cylinder lost the ring lands for sure maybe the skirts as well but all but number 6 had good compression. I never had to put a SBC in... I was running in the same bracket. I have owned 22 Z cars mostly first generations. I still have the 74 260z with the diesel now under the hood and a 71 with a 2.9L turbo engine and a 68 fairlady 2000... thats also in construction with a T28 under the hood.
I am expecting to have a car when its finished that would be considered moderately fast... at least as fast as a stock 240Z which ran 14 second 1/4s but I have seen "stock" 240z's lightly modded with a set of headers and some carb work run almost 13 flat. If I could reach the 13 mark I would be happy. Im not to concerned about gas mileage. Well at least not as long as I can get the peanut fuel sorted out. I think I need to get a heater in the system or just break down and setup a cracking station at home. In the mean time Im running mixed 2/3 diesel 1/3 peanut or soy depending on what they have. I have a T3 Im rebuilding currently and Im having the exhaust header built. The pan is already pugged for the drain and I have the line that feeds the turbo with oil as well. Its going to be a while before I get that far though. I have been talking with ppl that have done this before and setting up the fuel is pretty important and I know very little about how to adjust the IP and the shims that Ive heard about.
My statement had to do with what the car was before I dropped the LD in. I guess I should have compared it to its former glory. I still have a very fast Z that is if and when I can find a transmission to put behind the motor. The T-5 thats behind it is going to granade.
No worries, I just assumed you were running it stock. I use my diesel Z for a daily work car. Its loud inside and rides rough, sound like my Kubota but I still enjoy driving it. I think a 1st gen maxima would be cool with that turbo L28 gas setup you mentioned.
75 280z LD28
31 Model A pickup (Diesel transplant candidate)
68 FireBird 400
So, DMS, you're using a turbo 280zx flywheel and clutch... NOT a heavy diesel flywheel? I heard you "couldn't do that."
Rest assured you will break 13's in your diesel Z. Maybe the industrial engine is just plain slower than an automotive one; maybe it merely takes a turbo, but I can tell you this: my plain ol' diesel 240z would whoop my plain ol' flattop piston L28 240z of yore.
Okay so I got the starter situation resolved. It turns out you can change the final drive output shaft of the starter to the one from a ZX gear reduction starter. I have pictures on my phone and will have them up sooner or later but it wasnt as easy as just looking at them and figureing it out. I had to disassemble them both as they have 2 completely different housings.
There is bad news.
Before we put the Jesco engine into my car we tore it down and checked to be sure everything was spec. Simply because the last engine had a rod threw the side and the new engine had an unknown amount of mileage on it. We checked it over pretty well. Esp the bottom end. So now you can see where this is going I guess. I got the starter on and fired it up. It sat there and idled for a while because I was warming it up. As it idled it started knocking and just before I shut it off it dropped #3 threw the bottom of the pan and came to a stop. I can see the broken bolt hanging out the bottom now... and almost all 5L of oil came draining out. So I called it quites for the day. Later this week we're going to tow it down to a shop and have it pulled by my buddy to inspect the damage. I have a good set of rods for 2 more engines. So my day sucks. Ive got my fingers crossed that the crank is okay. The block looks fine on the outside but who knows what the cylinder walls look like along the bottom. It was only idling so again my fingers are crossed. I hope this isnt the end of this. I dont have money to throw at it any time soon. So this time if I can proceed where can I get new bearings and rod bolts. Im not screwing around with the stock rod bolts any further. Thats 2 engines. And those bolts were checked by me and my buddy... So they were torqued to spec for sure. I think they just failed outright. Just like the ones on the first motor I bought. Just bad luck. At least Ive gotten almost all the problems sorted out now. Glow plug system works. No afterglow yet. Starter works. Fuel system works. Tach was almost ready for testing. Bah!
240ZD wrote:So, DMS, you're using a turbo 280zx flywheel and clutch... NOT a heavy diesel flywheel? I heard you "couldn't do that."
Its a harmonic resonense thing. People are afraid they will put extra stress on the crank shaft otherwise. Its a risk to run a lighter flywheel. I know gas and diesel are not the same but I dont know anyone using a diesel flywheel on there L28 stroker... Some people are using the lightened fly wheels on there stroker as well with good results. Im guessing I will be fine if and when I am up and running again. Im not to worried about snappign the crank. I cant recall ever seeing a broken crank from a L series. Lots of rods pistons and rod bolts though. Im sure it also plays in rod bearing wear as well. I had put only 10 minutes of run on the engine when it failed. And though I had done a dounut already in the car it was in dusty dirt and hardly any load. I seriously doubt it was harmonics
DMS wrote:#3 threw the bottom of the pan and came to a stop. I can see the broken bolt hanging out the bottom now... and almost all 5L of oil came draining out. So I called it quites for the day. Later this week we're going to tow it down to a shop and have it pulled by my buddy to inspect the damage.
Tach was almost ready for testing. Bah!
Humm... sorry to hear what happened to your engine. Hope you get it sorted out soon.
Would love to see what you did for the tach, though...
90 Midnight Blue 300ZX NA 2+2 (DD)
83 Maxima Wagon Diesel (parted out-going into 240Z)
73 240Z (LD28 swap project)
08 Mercedes Benz GL320CDI
Very sorry to hear your engine puked. Could make a guy think about wood carving or something.
Seems strange busting bolts w/no load right after checking everything. Don't take this wrong, just trying to cover all bases, close the door to a repeat: Did you guys switch caps or bearings around by any chance? Also, is the torque wrench telling the truth for sure? Were any washers re-installed?
If everything was really just right, then it looks like LD bolts should not be reused. But it still sounds very strange after the chekcing you did and the tiny no-load run. I mean _how_ did a bolt break w/essentially no load on it? At _idle_. It almost seems like _something_ had to be out of whack. How did the engine get to the point where you got it (and looked at it) without failing? Had it been tore down recently or did it have honest grundge and varnish from long hours of use? Did you mike the crank and bearing or use some of the squish plastic (forget the name) to find bearing clearances? Maybe there are some really huge clearances?
Just guessing, I'm not really a hotrod guru. This just sounds too weird.
The caps and rods are stamped with the cylinder number and I know that they are matched correctly. The bearings might have failed we'll find out when I get it appart. I have had the rod bolts fail on me several times though in different L series. They are a known week spot esp when dealing with this crank. You can find a lot to read about this when people start writing about building a stroker gas engine. Also the few people I know that have built high hp engines from L series pretty much dont use the old rod bolts because they eventually stretch and do just this. I know that my paticular engine had a lot of grim on the inside but most of it was cleaned out when we tore it down. So it probably had some mileage/hourage. My guess is that the rods bolts were stretched and the engine ripped them appart the first time I started it and the the second start yesterday after I finished installing my starter finished them off. Im thinking about using 3/8" ARP rod bolts for a 396 chevy as recomended by a friend at this point. How long before I get everything back together will depend solely on funds. Other than piston failures the there has been only one time when the bottom end failed and it wasnt rod bolts on my L series engines. I bought an engine where someone had torqued the rods down to twice the spec and the rod ceized to the crank shearing the rod in half leaving one side connected to the piston and the other to the crank... I was on the track and the bottom end of the rod almost broke through the block at high revs... I have pictures of that somewhere.
New bearings seam to be cheap. I have new rods. The rod bolts are a little spendy, but probably worth not using the use OEM ones.
I found a Felpro head gasket in stock oddly enough. It could not be found when I first checked. The question is the auto parts store that has it says there are 2 different ones.
1. FEL-PRO Part # 8957B ; 1 & 2 notches; 1.120mm thick; Piston out-of-deck up to .478mm {Head Gasket}
2. FEL-PRO Part # 8960B ; 0 & 3 notches; 1.280mm thick; Piston out-of-deck over .573mm {Head Gasket}
They only have the first one in stock... Whats the difference other than the thickness?
I have one old used gasket I was thinking of taking down to have it matched up but I cant be sure it is the same as the gasket I have on the current engine because I dont have a gasket off my current engine.
Dslsmoke wrote:Did that engine come with an SAE #4 flywheel and housing by any chance? And it did, Would you be interested in getting rid of it, (flywheel, housing, starter, you know the entire industrial back end of it)???
Question: Does the industrial starter differ from the standard automotive starter?
Last edited by LD28 Owner16 years ago, edited 1 time in total.
it starts and runs. I even drove it around the neighborhood then did a doughnut in my field. Yeah! It needs to be timed a little better for sure and i need to check the valve lash still so it'll have more power. I dont have the diesel fly wheel. I wish i did. 
in using the gear reduction starter from a zx.
Ive got my fingers crossed that the crank is okay. The block looks fine on the outside but who knows what the cylinder walls look like along the bottom. It was only idling so again my fingers are crossed. I hope this isnt the end of this. I dont have money to throw at it any time soon. So this time if I can proceed where can I get new bearings and rod bolts. Im not screwing around with the stock rod bolts any further. Thats 2 engines. And those bolts were checked by me and my buddy... So they were torqued to spec for sure. I think they just failed outright. Just like the ones on the first motor I bought. Just bad luck. At least Ive gotten almost all the problems sorted out now. Glow plug system works. No afterglow yet. Starter works. Fuel system works. Tach was almost ready for testing. Bah!
