Brandon's 3.0L Rebello Stroker ITB Powered 81' 280zx Re-imagined

Mr. Avery has been a loyal customer of our’s going on 4 years now, and we have been right there with this 280zx build since the very beginning. We originally did a set of individual throttle bodies, coupled with one of our Plug and Play Megasquirt kits, and a few other goodies over the next couple of years, and have an existing blog article covering our previous work on this vehicle. Click the picture below to see the full details of it’s previous visits with us at GRW.

We knew that at some point in the future, Mr. Avery was going to be looking at a completely different path, which would re-imagine this vehicle, and set it apart from it’s current state. He did just that by purchasing a Rebello 3.0L Stroker short block, waited patiently for the standard 18-24 month lead time that comes with bespoke Rebello built engines, and had it shipped directly to our shop. At the time we were going through some major procedural and structural changes as a company, so we accepted the engine and let Mr. Avery know that it would be a good while before we were ready to take the project on, but he was welcome to keep the engine with us as long as he needed to. Fast forward to late 2024, we got him on the schedule and anxiously waited for the vehicle to get dropped off.

What started us down this route of replacing the short block was when we did the high compression cylinder head swap, with the Schneider 292F camshaft. We noticed at high RPMs, the engine would consume oil, and have a lot of blow-by. It was after all, the original bottom end from 1981, that had never been torn down before, so it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that under increased performance, the engine was tired. When we received the vehicle, we noticed a whole host of changes made my Mr. Avery, as he is a formidable DIYer in his own right. Gone were the factory wheels, brakes, and suspension, in favor of parts supplied by Vors Wheels, Silvermine Motors, and Apex Engineered respectively. We also noted a whole host of Skillard interior panels, an MSA Type 2 Front Valance and Side Skirts, and the finishing touch, a shaved rear bumper from HotRod Chop Suey.

This visit was slated for the Rebello 3.0L stroker bottom end, a complete Vintage Air HVAC system with an updated A/C compressor, velocity air horns in favor of the original ITB air filters, and a complete re-tune with the new engine setup. Once we got in it, as with all Datsun builds, there were some minor set-backs. We had some bent exhaust valves that needed to be replaced, we did find a few questionable things on the stroker short block that we addressed, nothing major, but still something to note down and make the client aware of. We also hit a minor snag on the air conditioning system, as we found out that half of the 280zx production got metric flare A/C fittings, and the other half got captured O-Ring style fittings. Luckily our A/C hose supplier is local, and all we had to do was bring him the vehicle to get that portion corrected. Once we had the engine ready to install, we went ahead and pre-installed our GRW/Vintage Air A/C compressor conversion, which utilizes the OEM compressor bracket from 75-83, a revised belt, revised hoses, and maintains the factory mouting location. We also took the time to ceramic coat the intake manifold, as well as add a Kameari heat shield for the ITB kit.

The only major snag we ran into was a major electrical issue with the vehicle. When it was dropped off, the ECUMasters ADU5 digital display would randomly drop-out at high RPMs, and the ECU would also experience a “sync-loss” which will cause the injector and spark signals to drop-out momentarily, and act as a rev-limiter. We spent countless hours chasing ground wires, cleaning ground contact points, checking several ignition side circuits, and finally found some corroded grounds from the battery relocation, as well as a few power feeds that were not up to spec. Once we fixed that, the ADU5 behaved the way it was designed to, and no further drop-out issues were found. However, this did not solve our sync-loss issue, as this ended up being a separate issue all together. During the original install, we were in the prototype phase of a crank balancer mounted 36-1 trigger wheel, with a hall effect crank angle sensor. At the time we used Mr. Avery’s 280zx as the first working example, but shortly after we had proof of concept, the crankshaft balancer manufacturer we were working with discontinued the new balancers, which clipped us at the knees for that product.

Knowing this, we originally tried to grab another sensor and replace it, as process of elimination is usually one of the easiest diagnostic methods. We solved noise in one place, but picked it up in another area. After days of trying different things, we eventually decided to upgrade him to one of our production 24-1 Crank Angle Sensor kits, and convert his harness to accept it. Once we got that dialed in, the car ran beautifully, and it allowed us to complete the tune, and our quality control process.

One of the best aspects of the build during this visit, is we now had fully functional heating and air conditioning, which completely transforms the driving experience in any Z car. Couple that with the readily available torque from the stroker engine, the velocity stacks providing a symphony of induction noise all the way to 7500 RPMs, this 280zx is a completely different machine now, and we look forward to it providing years of service to Mr. Avery.

ENGINE SPECS

INTERIOR / EXTERIOR SPECS

  • Fortune Auto 240sx Coilover Kit

  • Vors VR7 Wheels 16x8

  • Apex Engineered Adjustable Rear Subframe and Control Arm Kit

  • Silvermine Motors Wilwood Front Big Brake Kit

  • Silvermine Motors Wilwood Rear Big Brake Kit

  • TechnoToyTuning Front Strut Bar

  • MSA Type 2 Front Air Dam

  • MSA Type 2 Side Skirts

  • Hotrod Chop Suey Shaved Rear Bumper

  • Clear Headlamp Covers

  • ECUMasters ADU5 Digital Display (CANBUS)

  • Glowshift Black 7 Series Fuel Level Gauge

  • Glowshift Black 7 Series Water Temperature Gauge

  • Glowshift Black 7 Series Oil Pressure Gauge

  • Glowshift Black 7 Series Volt Gauge

  • Glowshift Black 7 Series Analog Clock

  • GRW Vintage Air Complete HVAC Kit

  • Skillard Automotive Door Panels

  • Skillard Automotive Rear Deck Panel

  • Battery Relocation to Spare Tire Well

INSTAGRAM CREDITS

  • Built by - @godzillaraceworks

  • Photography - @zeonphotos

  • Owner - @bma0012

Christopher Miller