Marcel's 81' 280zx Turbo Automatic w/ Full Bolt Ons
Once in a blue moon, we get the privilege of working on an all original, completely stock and unmolested car. Marcel inherited this super clean 81’ 280zx turbo from his father, and started looking into tasteful performance mods. His main focus was adding more power, but maintaining reliability and function. He still wanted this car to have the GT car spirit, in fact, he drove it all the way from Wisconsin to have us put together an entire bolt-on package for him.
With just north of 130k miles on the clock, this vehicle originally was a California car, so it was extremely clean. It never sees the ground during the harsh Wisconsin winter months, so it has maintained a clean under-body and frame. Rust is a common problem with Datsuns, regardless of what climate they come from, so it is always a privilege to work on a rust free car.
We gave it a huge dose of modernization, with one of our extremely popular Megasquirt 2 Plug and Play kits with our Multi-Coil Spark System. His car being a 1981 year model, it doesn’t come with the traditional 280zx turbo distributor that we use to trigger our Megasquirt kits, so we installed one of our NEW crank angle sensor kits
From there, we capped it off with one of our 440cc fuel and rail injector upgrade kits, electronic boost control, electric fans, and a front mount intercooler kit. All of these upgrades made him ready to max out the factory turbo at 15psi of boost. With all of these bolts ons, we had one last issue to address that was holding back this build. The factory 3-speed automatic.
Typically most Z Car enthusiasts shy away from the Jatco 3-Speed Auto (3N71B) when it comes to performance building, due to their relatively low power holding capabilities. Marcel wanted to maintain the spirit of the car, without having to add the additional cost of swapping to a 5-speed manual. We were able to track down a Stage 3 shift kit that allowed us to increase the line pressure across the board, as well as drilling out the separator plate to increase holding power in all 3 gears. We finished it off with an extra large transmission oil cooler, and Dextron VI synthetic transmission fluid.
After solving the final piece of the puzzle, this car was a totally different animal with the bolt-on performance parts. The transmission shifted beautifully, and held every bit of the 15psi of boost we threw at it, and did not give us any trouble at all. To top it off, after we were finished with everything, Marcel drove it all the way back to Wisconsin with zero issues, maintaining his original goal of keeping the car functioning as a true GT car.
ENGINE SPECS
Nissan L28ET 2.8L Turbocharged Inline-6
Jatco 3-Speed Automatic 3N71B
GRW Megasquirt 2 Plug and Play ECU and Harness
GRW LS2 Multi-Coil Spark Ignition Package
GRW 24-1 Crank Angle Sensor Kit
Bosch 440cc EV6 Fuel Injectors
Pallnet Billet Aluminum Fuel Rail (14mm)
Aeromotive Fuel Pressure Regulator Kit
Walbro 255LPH Fuel Pump
Stage 3 Shift Kit
GRW 23-Row Transmission Oil Cooler Kit
Electronic Boost Control
GRW Front Mount Intercooler Kit
HKS Racing SQV Blow Off Valve
GRW FMIC Cold Air Intake Kit
3” Stainless Steel Exhaust Kit
3-Row Aluminum Radiator
Blue Silicone Radiator Hose Kit
GRW Dual SPAL E-Fan Kit
GRW Blue Billet Aluminum Block Off Plates (AAR, AAC, EGR)
Stainless Steel Pop Off Valve Delete Plug
