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78 280Z VK45/M122


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I could've sworn I had already started this thread, buts it's been...awhile...so who knows. I've got a Z I've been working on for a while now, but as with most things funds are low and progress is slow. So far I have motor mounts fabbed up, as well as a rear strut bar. Will be picking up various flanges and such from the waterjet pretty soon to start fab for supercharger mounting, as well as a new oil pan as the Q45 pan is a front sump

 

Pictures!

 

 

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Nice work there man!

What transmission are you going to be using? have you checked the clearance to the top of the transmission tunnel with the engine mounted as you have it? I am just wondering because I am doing something similar, but with a BMW M62 engine combined with a Getrag 420G. If I want to leave the tunnel untouched, the engine needs to be mounted quite low.

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  • 1 year later...

Well. Looks like it's time to re-fire this thread! The project tanked after life jumped in and kicked me in the face. Ended up selling the car about a year ago as a roller. Good news is that I, just this past weekend, have acquired yet another 78 280. This time it's a driver though. Stock l28 that's been dragged back into the olden days with an SU swap. I'll be putting a new fuel pump in it tomorrow night and yanking the nasty stock bumpers. After that I'll probably daily it until my truck is finished, then work on the VK will resume. Already have mounts built, just need to throw it back together, start over on supercharger fab, and find a transmission and ecm to finish it all up. Plus a fuel system and all the other obvious stuff. I'll get pictures up sometime after the bimpersonal are off, but it looks like I'm in for the long haul. That's never certain with me though. Major car ADD. Since the last post I've owned and sold; an 86 318i, an 82 Volvo wagon (had 1uz swap plans), a mildly built 03 Saleen s/c, a pretty well built 03 cobra, an LT1 swapped 76 Vega wagon, and an 07 Colorado and ls swapped square body, both of which I still have. I PLAN to finish this one...but sometimes things don't go as planned.

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Yeah, it is. But I don't have the case anymore, and it was honestly proving itself to be more trouble than its worth. The heads are staggered opposite of most V8s on northstars, so the ports were going to be way out of alignment. I was going to end up shaving all the intake stuff off of it and starting from just a supercharger. I'll probably just stick with a GT500 unit this time around. Moar monies, but less hassle

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Check the svtperformance.com market place, prices for low mileage take offs seem to be 1/2 to 3/4 what eBay has the m122s going for. I've even seen a gen 1 TVS2300 go for barely over 1k there. Everyone is ditching the older M series for the new TVS like hot cake

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As far as I know bore spacing is the same. And thanks for the info on vk50 head studs! I was going to have arp throw together a set that are the correct length, but if the vk stuff is considerably cheaper I may go that route. As far as cheap blowers go, eBay usually has a few that are really decently priced. Pretty sad that you can get a 122 cheaper than a 112 nowadays, especially considering the fact that 122s are like a 40whp bolt on pulley to pulley on cobras, lol. Speaking of cobras, I'll most likely be grabbing an 8.8 IRS chunk to put in this car. My 03 had an FRPP 3.55 gear set, and a gt500 diff with carbon fiber clutches, and it was the best diff I've ever driven. It was nice having a car that wanted to be sideways all the time.

Edited by SidewaysC
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Yeah I got a friend that picked up a very inexpensive 0 mile take out from a 2015 so it's what they called a 8.8 super diff going in my car. You might want to check out 5523 Motorsports down in San Diego. Nick Hunter used to work with the imsa stuff for Nissan and knows all kinds of crazy crazy tricks with different parts interchanging between VK and vq engines for better performance. He's a really good dude, he'll usually talk on the phone with you if you want too and answer emails or FB messages.

Edited by 1969honda
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Cool deal. I'm honestly more worried about transmission options than engine specifics right now. I think Trans will probably end up being the most expensive/difficult part of the whole thing. At the moment I'm just worried about getting it running and reliable like it is. When I get a little more money together I'm going to order a colortune to get the carbs set up. Apart from simple tuning problems, I think it also has a charging problem. Runs like crap with the headlights on. Misses and sputters at WOT, turn em off and it immediately picks up and takes off. Fun stuff

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I think Collins adapters has a plate that will work with the VK45 to z31/32/33/34 transmissions. Just make sure if you go z33/34 you get the CD009 revision with the his synchros and shift forks. JWT might have an adapter plate as well, they have tons of stuff not listed on their website if you call in.

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Cool. My friend has a tt proam 350z. I was just talking with him a few days ago about cd009 vs cd001. Just not sure where I want to go. I'm going to machine my pullis (most likely 10 rib) to be the same drive ratio as whatever the high boost Eaton gt500 guys are running, and go to town porting the heads. 10.5:1 with a lot of boost and awesome flowing heads, even with tiny cams, is going to make alot of power on e85. I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see it crack 600whp...so the tranny needs to be tough

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I've got a VMP 2.5" pulley on mine right now, thinking about picking up a complete GT500 ac compressor with the 10 rib clutch. What are your plans for an intercooler?

 

I'm leaning towards doing a one off laminova setup, but I've also looked at the Shelby and Saleen intercoolers as well. The Saleen core is thin and just about perfect in overall size, but I'm worried it'll heat soak fast and the Shelby looks way too tall where I have the valley mounted starter.

 

If you need any measurements of the m122 let me know and I'll gladly share them. I go out of town Wednesday for about month so it might take a minute to get them to you after Tuesday night.

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I was planning on using an m112 cooler (already have one laying around). Haven't done any hard measuring on it, but it may clear the hood with a heat extractor setup. I initially bought the xlrv 122 specifically for the laminova style setup, but like I said, dealing with the reverse staggered ports was going to be a hassle

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Finally! *insert party emoji here* after a deep, deep, two day charge, it's driveable! I've been driving it to work and back since tuesday. Fun little car. Pretty sure it's cammed. Has a nice lope. Everything else seems pretty good. Has some rear end noise on decel. probably from a shade tree rebuild with plenty of lash. Just makes me even more eager to get this swap together. Gosh this car would be great with 600whp. I'm genuinely excited. I tried to upload pictures, but my WiFi just isn't gonna cut it. I'll try again tomorrow at work...

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