240z, 260z, 280z Turbo Swap Guide by bumble zee

10 minute read

240z, 260z, 280z Turbo Swap Guide

Compliments of bumble zee @ www.hybridz.org

81-83 S130 ZXT to 70-78 S30 Z

Turbo Engine, FI and Ignition swap

by Aaron Ferguson

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First off, this swap is very straight forward and does not require great modification to a S30 to install. But I suggest that you read this thoroughly before doing the wiring. You don't want to cut something you may need.

To get started you are going to need these parts off a S130 zxt;

Complete turbo engine (81-83) 

Turbo 

Turbo exhaust manifold 

Turbo ECU 

Turbo FI harness 

Turbo Ignition harness 

Most of the sensors

1. head temp sensor

2. knock sensor

3. water temp sensor

4. crank sensor (81 is mounted down by the crank, 82-83 mounted inside distributor)

5 ignitor (mounted to the coil bracket)

6 oil pressure sensor

7. If you need to run all the sensors and emissions then I suggest you get those also 

Coil bracket (has ignitor mounted on it) 

Downpipe 

Injectors 

Turbo clutch (if you are going with a manual) 

Turbo Airflow meter 

Turbo TPS (Throttle position sensor) 

FI relay 

DISCLAIMER: I DID NOT USE THE EMISSIONS SENSORS. SO I DO NOT HAVE THEM LISTED, OR PICTURES OF THEM, SO IF YOU NEED TO USE THEM, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT THEM ELSEWHERE. I AM JUST GIVING YOU THE BARE MINIMUM ON WHAT THE CAR NEEDS TO RUN. ALSO I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ERRORS. THIS IS ALSO A 81ZXT HARNESS THAT I AM USING, 82 AND 83ZXT HARNESSES MAY BE DIFFERENT.

So to state the obvious, remove old engine. The turbo engine is a direct bolt in and requires no modification to your existingmotor mounts. 

Next, after the engine is in I did my wiring. It is very scary for a lot of people, it was for me also. But I had tons of help from hybridz.org. So if you have a 75-79 Z that is fuel injected and you took your old FI hareness out, you will understand how to install the turbo FI hareness. If you are swapping into a 70-74 Z, you will have to cut a hole in the firewall to fit the FI and ignition harness through the engine bay to the passenger cabin. But before you do, you should know what the plugs and wires that you will be needing, and where they are located. 

Figure A 

Standard S130 zxt FI hareness

If you have been looking at yours, your probably think, "What did I get myself into?" I did that... but after doing this swap in 3 cars, I laugh at myself now and what I had first thought. 

I will start with the ECU end and work my way out to the engine bay, starting on the drivers side and then work over to the passenger side.

Figure B

These plug right into your turbo ECU

Figure C

This is where the Ignition harness plugs into the ECU harness.

We will be coming back to this plug and harness because it requires modification. 

Posted 16 March 2005 - 11:12 AM 

Figure D

This where the dropping resistor plugs into the ECU harness

Figure E

This is for the airflow meter 

Figure F

These are your plugs for the injectors

Figure G

This is where the crank sensor plugs into

Figure H

These are your water temp sensors. The one in the back that you cant really see the wire color plugs into 

the sensor on the gooseneck, the yellow colored wire is for your temp gauge. That will have to connect to your stock wiring for your exsisting temp guage. 

Figure I

These 2 wires are grounds, they bolt nicely to the intake manifold

Figure J

This is your TPS plug

Figure K

This is the knock sensor, and the 2 wires that plug into it. 

Figure L

This is the head temp sensor and the plug for it. Its in the same part of the harness as the knock sensor

Figure M

This is where the FI relay is located (not pictured, the relay itself) this is the plug for it

Figure N

Ok, this is in the same loom as the FI relay. There are 3 wires that you will need to cut and splice. First off, don't cut any wires that are going to the plug for the FI relay, those need to stay intact. There are 5 other wires not attached to the relay. They are from left to right; 

-Green - Constant power (Needs to be run to a 12+ volt constant) 

-Black with white strip - Switched power (Needs to be run to a 12+ volt switched power) 

-Blue with red stripe - is switched power for your fuel pump relay (has 12+ volts when key is on, will have power for 5 seconds if car is not running to prime the fuel system, and will have a constant 12+ volts when car is running.) 

The yellow and white wires you see bent off to the side you will not need and wont be using

Figure O

This plug is for fusible links. Those white wires on the left you will not be using, 

but the brown and green wires go to the + post on the starter.

And that is it for your FI harness. 

Now, onto the Ignition harness...

This harness is a little tricky. There are a lot of wires that are in this loom that disappear into the dash of the zxt. What you need is the loom from the coil to the plug that plugs into the FI harness. Now off the coil harness plug, there is one yellow wire that runs out to the engine bay and attaches to the ignitor, DO NOT CUT THAT WIRE. The rest of them you can cut, but leave plenty of room to work with the cut wires because you will be using them.

Figure P

You can see the coil harness plugged into the FI harness, you can also see the wire that runs to the ignitor on the coil bracket. 

Also notice the wires you cut are being used again.

Figure Q

This is what the coil / ignition harness plug looks like that plugs into the FI harness. 

The 3 prongs labeled are the wires you are going to be using. 

NOTE: This is the coil / ignition harness plug end. This is not the FI plug end. 

1. This is the yellow/white stripe wire that runs to your ignitor on the coil bracket. 

2. This wire needs to be run to a switched power 12+ V 

3. This is a ground

Figure R

You can see that black with white stripe on the plug for the ignitor, that needs to be run to a switched 

power 12+ V, the wire next to it is the yellow with white stripe that runs to coil / ignition harness plug that plugs into the FI harness

Fiqure S

Here is the ignitor that is attatched to the coil bracket

Fiqure T

These are running from the coil, this is what your ignition harness is conssted of. 

That yellow wire is the wire in Fiq. P that is running to ecu plug to the ignitor plug in fig. R

The Blue wire is running off your coil and that will goto your tach. Now on the 81 harness you need the resistor

The Black/white strip wire needs to be run to a switched power.

Fiqure U

That is what the resistor looks like, it is burried in the zxt dash.

Here is a little schematic to help you out

And when it is all said and done. It looks great