Phantom

Mine ended up 48 front/52 rear with the LS1/T56 combo. The LS1 obviously has a lower CG than the L28 and it sits farther back with everything but the accessory drive behind the steering rack. Having driven the car for 31 years now (20 years with the LS1/T56) I'm confident that the handling is at least equal to if not a bit better than the L28. It does require more finess as the L28 never gave me lifting throttle oversteer which I can get with the LS1. The Ls1 also improves throttle steering in corners once you get the car figured out. One thing - it does not forgive stupidity with the throttle.

For what it's worth my car ('77 280Z) was used by JCI to develop their LS1 conversion components. I have an LS1/T56 combo in mine. I had my280Z axle weighed with 3/4 tank of gas before the conversion and it was a perfect 50/50 with 1400 lbs on each axle. After the conversion it was 1400 front and 1430 rear but that was with a heavy torque tube design underneath. With standard transmission & differential mounts the distribution would probably not have changed at all. Just know that when you sit down in the car about 2/3 of your weight will be on the rear axle. Yup, with a driver, you'll be tail heavy.

Lawrence, The JCI kit was developed on my '77 280Z back in 2002/2003. My drivers side mount for my LS1 is centered below the front two exhaust port which obviously puts it in the front half of the block. I have a great photo of the passenger side mount but don't seem to have a good one of the drivers side.

How were the axle shafts themselves? Were the u-joint pockets snug or were they a bit loose? They should be snug or your problem will come back quickly. I just had to replace the u-joint on the driver side half-shaft only to discover that it took locktite on the axles to get them to stay put as they were worn. 250K on the car and the last 50K with an LS1. Passenger side still has original 1977 factory u-joints. That is a really scary thought at this point. CV joint halfshaft upgrade in the near future.

Thank you Madkaw & DuffyMahoney. I'm always very careful whenever i make a big change in my car. Y'all gave me some peace of mind. DuffyMahoney - I see you are from Sandpoint. You ever go to the Lost in the 50's events? I was up there in 2019 for it. Got 3rd in class. Here's a pic of my buddy and I at the show. He's from Sagle. .6ADD874C-0E3A-4E59-8CEC-F5947E11E769.heic

Did you install yourself? Were there any issues or things that I should be aware of prior to installation? How long have you had them? Any interference with stock ebrake cable or sway bar? Looks like you have a 240Z? Are you running an R180 or R200?

The 280Z stub axles are stronger than the 240Z stub axles and can withstand more abuse. That being said, if a car is built for drag strip use then eliminating them is a good idea. At that point you should just convert to a solid axle rather than IRS. I've had my car for 29 years and 150,000 miles. 99% of it's use has been "spirited" daily driving which is what my goal was when I built it. Yes, it has been competed but only occasionally. The fact that my stock, original spindles are still doing well after a total of 250,000 miles - yes bearings have been replaced - should give a pretty good indication that they can continue to meet the demands that I put on them.

I would suggest you spring for a Nissan Service Manual. They have some excellent wiring diagrams in them. Sounds like one or more of the PO's have fiddled with the wiring some and left you with issues.

I have an LS1 powered 280Z backed by a T56 and a 300ZXT R200LSD. The weak link in the drivetrain are the stock original (250,000 miles) half shaft u-joints. To keep running I recently replaced two of the u-joints only to find out that the half shafts are worn where the u-joint caps are supposed to press in lightly. So now I need half-shafts giving me the perfect excuse to upgrade to CV's. Although the LS1 is stock, 325HP/326 torque that is too much for several of the conversions currently offered or the vendor has no idea how much HP the shafts can handle. No - I'm not going to spring for the Ford 8.8 conversion. Great upgrade but too expensive for my current situation. I've pretty much settled on the Z Car Garage CV upgrade but I really need more input before I spring for them. Anyone here that actually has their CV axles on their Z's - and driving/competing them? I am looking for hard factual feedback on perceived quality, any installation issues, and durability. Thank you in advance

Actually, JCI is owned by John Radevich, not Ruskin, at 800 Jaguar Lane, Dallas, TX. The "Broken Kitty" is his website: www.brokenkitty.com I own the car John used to develop the kit he sells now. My car has been on the road since June of 2003 and I have had no issues with his components. One point, however. He equipped my car with a torque tube set-up between the T56 and R200 but the kits have a transverse mount for the transmission and the differential maintains it's front mount.

yup - an exhaust system properly tuned to the engine can make it sound really sweet. I know that my LS1 starts to sing at about 2500 rpm and then just continues all the way to redline - and the exhaust system is responsible for 80% of that.

I had one of the first "on the road LS swaps" It was complete in June of 2003. My car was the development "mule" for the JCI kit (www.brokenkitty.com) In 18 years none of John's parts have failed. My car is running a totally stock LS1 so I'm good with just an R200 LSD and "sticky" compound street tires. FWIW - it is an old wives tail that these cars are nose heavy. Before I started my conversion my car had a 50/50 balance, 1400 lbs of both axles. When I completed the drive train conversion it was 1400 on the front and 1430 on the rear. Then I did an interior upgrade and the car gained 170 lbs that left it 1440 on the front and 1560 on the rear. A stock LS1 is actually lighter than an L28. Quite frankly its the turbo cars that are nose heavy because of all the plumbing that sits in front of the axle. If you opt for an LS3 crate engine (and maybe opt for a cable actuated throttle instead of drive by wire) you start out in stock form with 485 HP. You'll need a stout 6-spd and the Ford 8.8 independent rear end upgrade to handle that. A little cam work and you'll easily be in the 5-600 HP range.

S30's run the full voltage/amperage through the column switch assembly. It would be better if you installed a relay so that the full current runs through the relay and just actuation current through the ignition switch like more modern systems do. It will extend the life of your switch and keep the wiring sizes more compatible. Bottom line is that the S30 ignition switch really isn't sized to handle the current required for a V8 indefinitely. Overall remember that you have a vehicle with 40+ year old wiring that is getting brittle and you'll be finding oxidation on all your connectors. Anything you can do to reduce electrical loads (LED lights, etc) will be to your benefit.

In my LS1 conversion uses stock 1998 Camaro fans and shroud that fit my recored stock Datsun radiator. I have have had no issues with cooling in the 17 years I've been driving the car. You might check out the fan shroud dimensions on the new LS3 Camaro. If it would fit your radiator/engine bay it would be a plug & play with the stock LS3 wiring harness.

You may want to look at licensing the car with a "collector" tag. That may get you around the smog regs? I had an issue in Texas once where I failed emissions because I didn't have catalytic converters on my LS1. The problem was that the inspector made his decision based on the year of the engine rather than the year of the car. In Texas the deciding factor was the year of the car.

It seems that there are many applications where the Z32 5-spd is carrying 600 HP without failure. They do, however, have "soft" synchro issues - especially 2nd & 4th and tend to start having problems if driven "spiritedly" a lot.

I have the original JCI air conditioning set-up as it was developed on my car. It uses all the original stock Datsun equipment except the compressor which JCI provided along with the mount. My engine is '98 LS1. The AC compressor is mounted high on the driver's side with the alternator below it. If you want I can take photos of the install If you want although some areas are difficult to see fully installed.

JCI developed their components on my 280Z. The 280Z tunnel is larger than the 240Z but the solution can be the same. Since the tunnel will be covered by the console and carpet use a ball peen hammer and dent the tunnel out where the reverse switch goes. They had to push mine out maybe 1/8" to clear ok. Yours will be a bit more. I've had no issues since the original install in early 2003.

I like to take my Z to car shows over the summer months. It's a daily driver so the paint is 22 years old and has 100,000 miles worth of rock chips etc. The interior is getting a little worn and the wheels are definitely not the "in" style. It is, however, usually the only or one of a few Z's at the show and tends to draw a fair amount of attention. I also spend my time standing beside the car (rather than sitting in a chair behind it) and talking with people as they come by. I've heard a lot of nostalgic stories about the Z's people used to have. I also keep my racing helmet sitting on top of the car and talk kids into putting it on and having their parents take pictures of them in the car. The kids and the parents love it. Like I said - it's a daily driver, not a show car, so it's ok to touch, sit in, etc. Interestingly, of the five shows I went to this year, I came home with a trophy from three of them. Go figure. Really pisses the guys off with the 6 figure show cars that get nothing.

Having an LS-1 powered 280Z for 16 years now I'd love to be able to incorporate all the "new stuff" that has become available since then. First off would be an LT4 with a 6-spd behind it going trough either an R230 or a Ford 8.8 IRS. Brakes & suspension would be TTT. Subtle Z wide body to accommodate at least 305X17 tires on new Rota wheels. Keep the LED running lights but upgrade the headlights from HID to LED Upgrade AC Upgrade sound system to new Alpine components. Repaint the car to either a Mercedes or Audi metallic gray with a darker gray racing stripe. That being said I think I'd just as soon keep all that cash and use it to have fun with the car I've enjoyed since I got it in stock form back in 1992. It is ssoooo much fun.

This was Bill Reagan's restoration project. You should have seen his custom. I was in Z Club of Texas back in the 90's and Bill was known for his knowledge of the Z's.

Sjoost - I went to a local custom interior shop and took them a house carpet that I wanted to use on my '77 280Z. He made it work and I now have a totally unique carpet.

Go to www.dapperlighting.com and look at the HID and LED products they offer. I have a set of their HID lights I bought several years ago and, other than a failed relay, I've been happy with them. They are very responsive to customer issues and will work with you until the issue is resolved. The HID lights definitely need to go through a relay. You may not need that for LED headlights but relays are always a good idea to avoid running power vs control current through your column switch.

Hey - they're all the L series - L24, L26, L28, LS1 - right? 😀