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280Z LS1 T-56 swap for tightwads the real cost


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   Thought I would share this with the hopes of helping other members either save some money or hopefully address some questions I've seen on this topic. First of all the most crucial factor is finding a decent car. So many times people buy rusty projects with the hopes of saving a few dollars. SPEND A LITTLE MORE UP FRONT ON A GOOD CAR!!! The car I'm converting was on Craigslist in Columbia SC and the ad read "the only rust is on the tail pipe". Well it wasn't entirely true but it was way above average with only a few small spots around the drain plugs. Overall a very good car but no engine and I paid $1100. 

   I have been buying/building wrecks for years and let me say that you won't "steal" a donor car for your drive train!!! at Crashed LS cars bring a war pension everywhere. I feel like I did pretty good on my donor @ $2400- a 2002 Z28 6 speed with 67,233 actual miles. With sale fees and fuel to pick up I had $2900 in the car sitting in my yard.

 

 

 

02camaro_zps792a3cc2.jpgmotorandtrans_zps536f95d9.jpg

Edited by shupee
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  Yes my donor car is toast but the needed drivetrain was super nice. Listed below is all parts that I've bought to date.

 

  Sanderson headers V8RLS1--$295 ebay

  3 row Champion radiator (sexie) -- $185 ebay

  Walbro 255 pump $109 --ebay

  2 x 2.5" and 1-3.0" V band clamps-$92--ebay

  misc 304 SS mandrel bends for exhaust $352-- Columbia River mandrels

  gates 22478 lower and 22625 upper molded hoses and misc gates shrink clamps--$38 Oreillys these fit like a glove!!!!

  gates heater hoses w molded 90's $27-- Oreilly's

 15' black Aeroquip hose and all 6an fittings needed-- $190 Hawks 3rd gen

  Lokar 36" universal throttle cable--$50-- Hawks 3rd gen

  Stainless round muffler w 3" inlet and 4.5" tapered outlet--$38--ebay

 

  I splurged on 2 things this time.On our other LS6 280 I used a 5.3 truck harness and cut and spliced for several days. It works great with no issues.I was poking around on ebay the other day and bought a pretty sexie Painless engine management harness and PCM with a Comp Cams 222-224 duration 566 lift hyd. roller cam all brand new for $750. This is really a deal, the cam alone is $350-400 all day and the pcm and harness was $1379 before the feds stopped the company that was manufacturing the PCM due to emmisions compliance. This will make for a very clean install due to the compact size of the PCM and the sexie relays for fuel pump etc.

  I broke down and bought a BRP hot rods engine and trans mounting kit. Looks pretty sexie and at $ 420 it's not a bad deal at all.

 

 Looks like my total spent is $5446.00 Going to haul the car and some excess junk to the crusher today so should get some $$ back from that.

 

 Here's a pic of my $1100 280Z I did add wheels and air dam

datsun280_zpsee2bfb4b.jpg

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   Drive shaft is not a problem since the T-56 shares the same yoke as most GM turbo 350, 4L60E, powerglide etc.  The datsun shaft is the same id/od as most GM shafts so for the cost of a $20 junkyard shaft and $40 for shortening and balancing that will be covered.

 

 The car brought $366 at the crusher today so I can subtract that from my total.

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Have any pics of the engine bay with that BRP Engine Mount setup? I'm curious how much room in front and behind the engine there is and the steering linkage location.

 

What suspension mods?

 

Oh and are the wheels XXR 531's? I have a set very similar to those :) Nice touch!

 

Thanks

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   Drive shaft is not a problem since the T-56 shares the same yoke as most GM turbo 350, 4L60E, powerglide etc.  The datsun shaft is the same id/od as most GM shafts so for the cost of a $20 junkyard shaft and $40 for shortening and balancing that will be covered.

 

 The car brought $366 at the crusher today so I can subtract that from my total.

My project is very similar to yours . Fortunately , the Z28 i bought not as bad as yours . I use full Z28 driveshaft with JTR adapter , shortened and balanced costed me $85 ) . Here's the Z28 i got for $1900 ( 60k miles ) , after taxes , fees = $2500 . Sold the car for $725 and still have wheels , tires , and a set of full length ceramic coated headers ( haven't sold them yet ) . I reworked the OE harness with Ebay ECM ( $125 ) .

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post-11413-0-09698100-1364436685_thumb.jpg

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Man your definition of tightwad and mine are really different.

 

Corvette manifolds turned upside down = 75 bucks

Radiatior from a Chevy G10 van with a V6 = ~60 bucks new.

Walboro is a good buy though

Extra stock LS1 lower hose, spliced the same halves together. Shortened the stock upper to account for radiator being less wide

Quick connected fitting from parts store and some rubber fuel injection hose, stock hard lines.

Stock Fbody throttle cable

No mufflers

Stock wiring harness not even stripped down, just ran the reds to power, orange to battery, blacks to ground, and homemade vats bypass box.

Custom mounts.

 

You need to perfect your tightwadness lol.

 

-Will

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Ya but the Rotas werent really part of the LSx swap. Had i not bought a car that already had flares on it, I would have just ran some stock wheels and skinny tires for a while. I have over 4 times the amount in my wheels and tires than I paid for my car lol, but man they sure look good!

 

-Will

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