cole40

Hey guys, I am new to the forum. I just purchased a 77 280z 2+2. I have a few things that I am thinking of doing to this car. I purchased for a good cheap price considering it hasn't been started in 4 years. I guess my first question is this. I have a sbc 283 motor that I just rebuilt and know that it runs great. If the motor in my 280z does turn out to be bad, how hard of a swap is it to put the 283 into the z? I personally love the 283 motor so I would love to have it in the car. Thanks for any advice guys!

NismoPick

Welcome to ZDriver!

Moved thread to S30 V8 Swap section.

Difficulty depends on skill level. Have you done an engine swap before? If so, it should be cake. There are several V8 swap kits available for the S30 chassis (240z-280z). How "reasonable" is the swap? That's the real question. The 283 isn't all that much of a powerhouse engine... which version do you have? What's it's hp rating? Do you have a transmission to go with it? Driveline?

skittle

Dump the 283 not worth the time. Sell it and get a SBC like a 5.4 vortech or a 5.7 Lt1, LSX, ect... Or if you can find a 2002+ GTO just swap that drive train in and call it a day.

cole40

Thanks for the advice guys! And as for my experience with motor swaps, I have done a good many of swaps with sbc's such as the 283's and 350's. The 283 that I have is a 67 model. I do not know too much of the history of the motor, I purchased a area of land that had a barn on it, and to my luck there are several sbc's and old frame chevy's inside it. If I were to use the motor I would for sure do a rebuild on it first. But I have found several stories about people swapping LT1's. I am very interested in that, but for now I plan to attempt to get this one running as is(assuming the motor isnt shot) and then pull it in hopefully running shape and do a swap.

skittle

Yup the LT1 is an easy swap, just get the standalone wiring harness for the ecu and call it a day. Oh and depending on the year the LT1 came out of you either have a eprom chip or a programmable ecu. 94+ is the odb2 system without the eprom.

SpeedRacer

Hey Cole40 - a SBC (Small Block Chevy) makes for a great swap and there is even a manual from "Jags That Run" to help you do it. JTR Datsun Z Car V-8 Conversion, manual for Datsun V8

You might want to also check out the HybridZ site HybridZ

skittle

I can also help out since I have done the swap.