Hi, I'm a new member and glad to be here. I've got a silver '79zx auto. Anyway, I've had my Z for 6-8 months and I love it other than the fact that my car is automatic. Recently I've bought a wrecked '83 Z that other than being smashed in the nose and the whole body being tweaked, is really nicer than my current Z. The best part about it is that it has a good (as far as I know) engine and 5-speed. I have a few broad questions about a possible swap. Would it be easier to just change the trans than the engine/trans together? Is either a very easy swap?

I'm kinda new to Z's but I've had everything else from '63 Dodge Dart convertibles to early '80's Subarus, so I'm a fairly quick study no matter what I'm working on.

Thanks for any help.

Curt

 

Well, it depends on the condition of the engine I guess. Just a tranny swap is not that hard, kind of annoying, but not hard. An engine swap isn't very difficult either. If the 5-speed car has a good engine in it I would say pull the engine and tranny out and do the full swap. You might want to consider rebuilding the engine while you have it out. Just some suggestions. Good luck.

 

Today I was looking at the engines in my Z's and I noticed that the '83 seems to have a good bit more wiring and a lot of different vacumn connections than my '79; is this a big issue or could I just change engines and keep the same intake and all the stuff that is already on my'79?

 

Yes, you can keep the same intake and exhaust manifolds. They will bolt directly on to either block. I actually did that when I swap engines. Also, the '83 engine has about 10 more horsepower than the '79 engine.

 

Sweet, that sounds like a plan! Now all I have to do is figure out how to get my '83 running without the keys. Guess you can't ask for miracles such as getting the keys when you pay $325 for a car.

 

Keys? who needs keys? If you get my meaning LOL!! I mean since the car is trashed anyway. What would it hurt to hot-wire it?

 

Well, I know how to bypass the switch to use the starter, but I'm not sure how to otherwise. Any instructions?

 

Do you have a wiring diagram? It should tell you what the ignition wires are. I never really needed to hot-wire mine. But I do know that my '81 was tried before. Because I had to fix the ignition wires. And off-hand I can't really remember what color they were. But they will be below the dash on the driver's side somewhere. Hope this helps.