JPerkins

alright. I am contemplating purchasing a junk-yard special 280zx. engine and tranny stock. Don't know the condition of the engine or tranny. Not really my concern at the moment. I want to take the 280zx body, drop the engine and tranny, and put in a Chevy-350 short block and transmission. Anyone ever heard of this??? Difficulty level?? feasability??? I love this body style of car, but i want that good-ole american white knuckle torque. Advice is Welcome.

NismoPick

Been done MANY times. Usually on S30's, but also on S130's. My personal opinion... it's totally bastardizing the car. Unless you you drop in an LS1/LS2 it's not really worth it. Those old 350's weigh a lot & you could get the same power out of an L28ET.

snwbrderphat540

the 350 motor is only worth it if your going to drag race the dick outta it. cause they are very heavy, but its cause they are cast iron.... there for, power ***** motor. your handling will suck though

SHADY280

its not hard they make mount kits at msa. do the ls1/2 swap if you want some white knuckle power. make it turbo too, then find out what its like to go sideways at 80mph!! its all a case of what you exactly want to do with the car, and how big your pockets are.

JPerkins

LS2? Thats the same engine as the Chevy Corvette. Alright. I've picked my target engine then. Now. my next problem is the transmission. I want to put in a manual 5 or 6 speed tranny but i don't know the best brand/type. where can i find the right brackets to mount it in a 280zx? Am i going to need to get the drive shaft modified to fit it?? i've got about 500 to 600 dollars per month i can spend on this car. And i've got a minimum of 3 years to fix it up. Will that be enough money for this? Which engine is simpler to work on, the ls1 or ls2??

NismoPick

Welcome to the internet. Feel free to search around as all these wonderful questions have been asked many times before. Lots of LS info on the web... and there is a chevy motor swap kit by MSA (www.thezstore.com)

jmmorriso

There's nothing wrong with an old 350, as long as you put aluminum heads and intake on it plus headers it will be lighter and shorter than the l28. A basically stock 350 weighs upwards of 600lbs in full dress, but with enough lightweight parts they can get below 500lbs.

raythenegr0

I've never heard of people putting an LS1 into a 280zx, and yes I've done lots of research.

They've done it with the 240z, 260z, and the 280z.

So if anyone has info on the swap for the 280zx, quit holding out and post it.

snwbrderphat540

DUDE!!! sorrryyy.... i just came accross this site i lost it though, they make teh full monounting system (engine adn tranny) for the V8's and had a new flange that attatched to the V8 driveshaft but had teh proper bolt ends for zx rear diff, however you might as well get a custom new rear diff setup to handle the power. see if there are any good fab shops in your area and start shopping. as for mounting a ls1 in a s130, its the same fawking car lol. same engines, same trannies, only difference is teh rear diff for the whole drive train. soooo why would it be much different than swapping a v8 to a s30 compared to an s130

raythenegr0

There's Enjuku but those bastards are expensive.

LS1 is my last resort once my engine blows, I'd rather get an L28ET. But those are actually harder to find.

007max

Check out www.hybridz.org . Engine swaps is all they do over there.

http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=123265

raythenegr0

Thanks for the link, I actually already lurk their forums.

To my knowledge they've put in an LT1 in the 280zx, but I want the LS1 if I can't et my hands on an L28ET.

RodMoyes

Welcome to ZDriver!

Now... Take your Chevy lovin' *** over to www.hybridz.org and you can talk about Bastardized Nissans with Chevy motors to your black hearts content


They're nice people over there too.



Rod.

raythenegr0

It's only a last resort, if I don't find an L28ET. But I'll try to turbo my L28E and make it into a L28ET before I do it.

NismoPick

^^^ I think Rod's comment was directed to JPerkins, but yeah, I guess it could go for you too.

raythenegr0

Funny story though, my 280zx was originally a Turbo but some bastard decided to use it as a donor and put the regular L28E and swipe my L28ET before I owned the car .

lww

http://www.jagsthatrun.com

Here's the parts list:

https://shell7.tdl.com/~jags/Datsun-ZX_Order.html

And the LS1 is old news... LS7 is where it's at baby!

icice9

no your car was always N/A... i believe your Z is a 79... they did'nt make the turbo till 1981...

frank280zx

owned anyhow, get the basic in order then think of engine swaps .. so brakes and suspension etc

snwbrderphat540

rust..... like body doesnt neccessarily come first to most people, but in this case (rust) it does.

JPerkins

Alright. By a major stroke of blind dumb luck, i have gotten my hands on a 1982 280zx turbo. Automatic transmission is the only downside i've seen, but i'm still not complaining. Its mostly stock. aftermarket airfilter and aftermarket exhaust. those are the only mods. And after driving it, i've almost totaly abandoned the Widowmaker project in favor of a Performance mod project on this car. *note* i hadn't driven a 280zx before. only heard good things. I TOTALY approve of the stock 280zx. This car has made me abandon the hybrid idea for now. i wanna fix this one up. I'll buy a different body for the hybrid project later. Now i'm looking for a list of Popular performance modifications to this car.

SHADY280

the biggest upgrade would be a five speed found at the auto wreckers, and all the parts to swap, thatll put ya in the seat a bit more. search on the upgrades, there are way way too many to list, mostly start with turbo 600hp max, no matter what, or n/a 300hp absolute max ($10,000 rebello motor) once youve decided that, then you can research mods. dont forget the hp ive said, isnt too streetable, due to gasoline types and prices, and the fact you prolly never use all of your power, ever. ive got 200 ish, and its more than enough for street use.

JPerkins

thanks Shady, that puts me going in a direction with it. but first i need to get it looked at. She just left me stranded. I was takin her out for a spin and she runs at mid to high speeds great, but after she warms up she lopes real bad at low speed and dies on me. She wont start again for about 30 minutes. Now i'm just discovering my inner gear head so this is got me puzzled. I'm thinkin its not in the fuel system otherwise it would be doing it all the time. i'm thinking it might be one of the sensors or something in the cylinders/pistons. What says the Jury?

NismoPick

Sensors are part of the fuel system... It is indeed most likely a sensor.

Do all the basic checks... fuel pressure? Sensor connections? Grounds? Make sure the AFM & CHTS are firmly connected.

chinesekid

yea, what he said... hahaha, you want to make sure everything is connected before anything...