Phil's 77' L28ET 6-Speed 280z Build

Mr. Cleland has been a customer of our’s from the very start of our company. Having made his first purchase in 2019, a Plug and Play Megasquirt kit was his introduction into the hard work and dedication our invaluable staff members put out into the Datsun community. When we came across his build, it was in the early stages of the L28ET conversion, and a plug and play Megasquirt ECU and harness kit was selected to alleviate a couple of problems. Converting a stock EFI harness, while not difficult, can be time consuming to do it right, and that leads into problem number 2, the lack of tuning capabilities. Mr. Cleland decided to kill 2 birds with one stone during his initial purchase.

Over the course of the next 5 years, Mr. Cleland’s 280z would see a whole host of different parts supplied by GRW, including a front mount intercooler kit, electric fans, other various bolt-ons, and one of our previously offered 240sx 5-speed conversion kits to upgrade his drivetrain. This was during the height of the pandemic supply chain issues, so there were some major delays involved with securing all of the correct rebuild parts, as well as the beginning of the end of GRW offering this transmission swap as a viable option. The particular core we received to rebuild for Mr. Cleland was a late style 240sx gearbox, and certain hard parts were now being discontinued by Nissan USA, and Nissan Japan.

We were a little worried that we would potentially send out a sub-par product, but we did the best we could given the economic constraints at the time. One of the main issues with the discontinued parts was the lack of input shafts and countershafts available. Previously we would replace these, as they are a major contributor for gear noise and whine, however the discontinuation from Nissan forced us to being reusing parts that would normally fail our inspection process. During this time, we were in the early development stages of the TL70 6-speed swap, and Mr. Cleland voice some dissatisfaction with the 240sx transmission we built, so we worked out a credit process to apply toward a brand new TL70 6-speed swap and effectively buy back his 240sx gear box.

We shipped him a brand new Aisin TL70 6-speed gearbox and let him install it on his end. There were some minor clutch issues he was experiencing that he couldn’t get worked out, but at the same time he also accumulated a ProtunerZ intake manifold, and was interested in a turbocharger upgrade, and a re-tune, and had us in mind to bring his vision to reality. Mr. Cleland shipped his car all the way from the Sunshine State to Fort Worth Texas, and we began the transformation. We worked out a few minor hydraulic issues and got the transmission and clutch system working flawlessly.

At this point, increased performance was the next immediate goal. Mr. Cleland picked our internally wastegated GT3071r Turbocharger to bring the perfect balance between response and higher power output. This turbocharger is a great option, because it has the same spool characteristics as the factory L28ET turbo, but moves much more air, and much more efficiently. We installed his provided Protunerz intake, along with a custom heat shield built in house by the GRW crew. One of the main drawbacks of the PTZ intake is the lack of heat abatement properties, that heat wrapping and ceramic coating alone does not effectively combat. We built a custom heat shield underneath the intake manifold out of 5052 grade sheet aluminum, and powdercoated it in a robust textured black powdercoat.

Since Mr. Cleland had been a long time customer of ours, we took the opportunity to update his intercooler kit to our current generation kit, which includes TIG welded charge pipes, elimination of a few couplers, and powdercoated charge pipes. We did this at no charge as a thank you for his continued business. We also would like to note that the Plug and Play Megasquirt kit that he ordered in his first purchase with us, has now been in service for 5 years, a true testament to our product engineering in prioritizing resiliency to give each customer years of service when they purchase GRW products. The last addition was a brand new TechnoToyTuning steering gear to replace the original unit from 1977.

Once we got the vehicle running with it’s new setup, we did a full street tune on the vehicle and worked out a few last minute finishing touches, such as an alignment, a MIDI fuse conversion which deleted the archaic fusible links, installed a new AEM wideband, and put 200 miles of hard abuse to torture test the new setup. The last thing we wanted was for Mr. Cleland to take possession of his vehicle after a 700+ mile transport home and have it break. We also took this opportunity to see how well the TL70 6-speed responded to larger turbo upgrades and higher power output. We’re please to say the gearbox did not show any signs of letting up, and took everything we threw at it. We can certifiably say this new setup will be super reliable, and give Mr. Cleland years of service.

ENGINE SPECS

  • Nissan 2.8L L28ET Swap

  • GRW/Datsunworks Aisin TL70 6-Speed Manual Gearbox Conversion Kit

  • Comp Clutch Stage 2 Clutch Kit w/ ACT Subaru Disc

  • GRW 13lb RB Flywheel Conversion Kit

  • GRW Megasquirt 2 Plug and Play ECU and Harness Package

  • Bosch EV6 550cc Fuel Injectors

  • Walbro 255LPH Fuel Pump

  • -6an Nylon Braided Underhood Fuel System Hoses

  • Aeromotive Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator Kit

  • Garrett GT3071 Internally Wastegated Turbocharger

  • GRW Stainless Steel Braided Turbo Oil Supply Hose

  • Protunerz Intake Manifold

  • 3” Turboback HKS Hi-Power Stainless Steel Exhaust

  • GRW Front Mount Intercooler Kit for Protunerz Intakes

  • HKS SSQV Blow Off Valve

  • GRW Dual SPAL Fan Kit w/ Plug and Play Harness

  • Allstar 40,000 Volt Ignition Coil

  • MSD Spark Plug Wires

  • 2-Row Aluminum Radiator

EXTERIOR / INTERIOR SPECS

  • Rota RKR Wheels 15”x8”

  • Toyo Proxes R888R Tires [225/50/ZR15]

  • Skillard Mirror Kit

  • Skillard Hood Vents

  • 240z Style Front and Rear Bumpers

  • Skillard Front Tow Hook

  • Skillard Brake Master Cylinder Heat Shield

  • TechnoToyTuning Manual Steering Rack

  • TechnoToyTuning Outer Tie Rod Ends

  • TechnoToyTuning Front Tri-Bar Strut Brace

  • TechnoToyTuning Rear Strut Brace

  • Skillard Door Panels w/ Metal Handles

  • Sparco R100 Black Nylon Cloth Racing Seats

  • Skillard Radio and HVAC Delete Panel

  • MOMO Steering Wheel Hub

  • MOMO Prototipo Steering Wheel

  • Speedhut Gauges GPS Speedometer

  • Speedhut Gauges Tachometer

  • AEM Eugo 30-xxx Series Wideband Gauge

  • Autometer Mechanical Boost Gauge

Christopher Miller