Ok, so I am an old school hot rod guy and I've got a chance to buy a '83 280zx. The current owner has spent a lot of money on the car over the past three years including a re-built '82 turbo engine. About 12,000 miles on the re-rebuild and when he started it recently it it made a loud noise and then began knocking. He shut it down and hasn't tried to turn it over since. Sounds like he just wants to bail on the car.
I have no idea what's up with the turbo 6 (connecting rod? crank? turbo fail?) and not sure I want to dig into it (like I said, I am old school). Thinking about a V8 swap. Been looking on the inter web and it seems like the LSx is the favored swap. But, I am not much of a Chevy guy and not sure I want to go EFI with the computer and all. Thinking 302 with carb, nothing crazy, just nice street car.
So, I can't haven't found much on the 280zx Ford swap. Are there motor/trans mounts available anywhere? Any good build threads here?
Or, would I be better off to just hold my nose and do a 350 SBC?
Just looking for some input. Be gentle, I am Z virgin.....
Note: my current daily driver is a '53 Ford F-100 Panel truck with a 360 Mopar.