Phantom

LS1 V8 is actually 25 lbs lighter than the L28 but an expensive conversion. When I did my conversion my car, with the L28, weighed 1,400 lbs front and 1,400 lbs rear for 2,800 lbs total. After the conversion it weighed 1,400 lbs front and 1,430 lbs rear for 2,830 total. T56 added the weight. These weights were done with 3/4 tank of gas on a certified truck scale and do not include any chassis reinforcement, roll bar or strut tower bars.

The procharger will cost you about $4,800 plus miscellaneous installation costs. If you were to go the LS1 route, an LS1 and 4l60E overdirve auto would run you about $7,000. The installation parts from Johns Cars would run you another $2,200. THat puts you at $14,000 without even getting into the details. A good LT1 combination would probably be about $3,000 less. The LS1 with a procharger, totally stock with no internal work, running at 7 psi will make about 540 HP at the flywheel. I'm not sure what you would have to do if you go the LT1 route.

Thanks. What's amazing is that the grille is the one that came with the car nearly 27 years ago. It stayed in great shape - unlike the lower one that is all bent up. I think I'm going to find a good one of those and try it in the lower ovening, but inverted from stock. I test fit mine and it looks like it will fit well - I just have to figure out how to mount it since I can't use the stock mounts. It really goes well with the red color and the bright molding around the windows.

For Christmas my boys had the grille for my '77 280Z chromed. It came out beautifully!!! I have pictures of it posted in my personal album. If anyone else is interested I can get it done - your grille - $100 plus S & H. Click on the link below to go directly to it. If you go to my album you'll have to click on the individual pictures for them to look right. They look really nasty in the minimized version that first comes up.

MAS280 - Any idea of how much HP the 1 1/2" primaries cost over the 1 5/8 or 1 3/4"? Looking at flow area all of them are significantly larger per volume of exhaust than the 2 1/2 " collector they feed. It would have to be a 3" to equal the flow area of four 1 1/2" and then 3" all the way out on both sides. Do the LS1 guys have some numbers somewhere? From what I've read, the long tube headers do more for HP gain than the larger primaries. The problem is that long tubes won't fit on a Z unless you carve the unibody up. Pop N Wood - you are correct. My '77 280Z was the development mule for the JC conversion components.

If I remember right the primaries on the headers are 1 1/2" with 2 1/2" collectors. The reason he doesn't sell any other parts unless you buy the engine mounts is because everything is dependent on the engine being in the right location. He doesn't want 100 phone calls about something not fitting because the buyer used his own set of mounts. BTW - the mounts are solid, totally bolt in, and allow you to NOT move the steering gear arm plus keep your AC and heat. These are very thoroughly thought out "building blocks". If someone buys his stuff and want to PM me with questions or post them on the site I will do what I can to fill in details - except the electrical. I know very little about that but can take some pictures of my car to show how it was done. PS: Hope y'all appreciate the plug I got him to include for this web site.

My son lost to a Neon SRT-4 down at Ennis a few months ago. It ran a 13.2. He was driving my 280Z28 and should have taken him but had a slow 2-3 shift and completely missed the 3-4 shift. It was only the second time he had even driven the car. That same night a Honda Civic ran a 10.6. I think the FWD guys are doing pretty well!

Tires were rotated when they were balanced and the vibration continued, although was a bit less. I torqued the wheel bearings on the '83 but I don't think I've done them recently on the '77. Here is plan: 1) Check torque on front wheel bearings. 2) Have 4-wheel alignment done. I haven't had one in 100,000 miles so it just might be due. 3) Check and ensure the T/C rod nuts are properly tightened on both sides. 4) Have Discount rebalance the tires with me sitting on their head.

OK - replies have caused me to think a bit more. Ever since I installed these wheels & tires I've had vibration problems but Discount has always been able to balance them out. I think I'll go back to them again though and have them take another shot at it. However, some things have happened fairly recently: 1) I did a sliding stop from 35-40 mph to keep from hitting a guy that pulled out in front of me, 2) The engine/transmission conversion has been done and the driver side radius rod mount was modified slightly, 3) New urethane bushings have been installed in the suspension (struts & springs only have about 40,000 miles on them), 4) the steering rack was "realigned" and new bushings installed in it. The car also has new tie-rod ends and ball joints with about 30,000 miles on them.

OK - I've got the infamous front end vibration. It occurs on my car starting about 65 and holds pretty solid up to 80 and then starts diminishing a bit. Tires have been dynamically balanced. Lug nuts were torqued with the car in the air (16x7 lug centric Center Line Wheels). New Urethane bushings on the radius rods. I haven't had the alignment checked yet. Any other suggestions?

Have had a bad problem with exhaust fumes for years - especially upon exiting the interstate (slowing down) with the windows rolled down. With the windows up and the AC or vent on it was never a problem. Interestingly enough, since the LS1 has been installed the problem has gone away. Haven't quite figured that one out yet but I'm not getting gassed any more. I've got a new set of rear hatch seals that I'm going to install anyway but right now - no problem.

Jeromio - Amen brother.

Just another daily driver.

Interesting, but now I think I want the new LS2. More cubes, more HP & Torque and better fuel economy than the stock LS1.

My nearly daily round trip in the LS1 / T56 280Z is only about 32 miles. It has won a best in class and a second place in class at local car shows plus has turned a 12.9@110mph on the strip. The only day I haven't driven it in the past several weeks was one morning when the headlights wouldn't come on. They self-repaired somehow that night while I was trouble-shooting the problem - go figure. I generally won't drive it on days when thuderstorms are predicted as I don't want to risk hail damage and I have the luxury of another Z that I can drive in its place that sits outside all the time anyway. I do hate to leave it at home, even on those days, because then I lose the opportunity like I had last night to totally embarrass a C-5 driver who picked on the wrong little foreign car.

The majority of the information on my swap is in the threads "LS1 / T56 Update ..." What photos I currently have are in my personal album on this website. One point - The conversions that were done on my car, Jeromio's car, Lone Star 1's car & Maichor's car are all very different in the desired end goal and execution. About the only thing in common is the LS1 and that it actually got installed. Engine mounts and locations, bracing, transmission mounts, driveshaft lengths, differential location, auxillaries used and where they are located, radiator used, etc. are all different. It would be a really bad idea to think that someone could pick and choose from between them and be successful. If you are a very good mechanic, electrician, and fabricator then evaluating each conversion, taking what you want from each and then developing your own with a lot of careful planning and measuring can be done. If' you're not a fabricator and have only rudimentary mechanical and electrical skills then I would strongly recommend either not doing it or at least investing in the John's Cars components which eliminate the need for fabricating and get the major components located properly in the car. That leaves all the plumbing and electrical which you'll still be mostly on your own to figure out and do.

This thread is ridiculous.

We have a Cowtown Z Club member that has the BRE stripes on his 280Z. His car color is a rare Ford color similar to the Viper blue. His BRE stripes are white. It looks fine. Go out to your car and tape some white butchers paper stripes on it on one side and black ones on the other and make your decision from there. Whatever looks good to you should be what you go with.

Actually I now have two daily drivers. I have the 1977 280Z28 with the LS1/T56 which I run unless I've got it in a shop or the weather is really lousy. I don't want to take a chance playing bumper cars with some other idiot that overdrives their ability in bad weather. The other one is my '83 280ZX that is bone stock with over 208,000 miles on it. My wife even sports around in it occaisionally. The "family" car is a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. I would have no qualms - from a reliability standpoint - on taking either Z cross-country. I won't do it with the 280Z28 though as it is too set up for performance and would beat me silly after about 2 hours.

John now has his full price list of all components that he has available for the LS1 swap. The key item is the motor mounts. Without them setting the motor in an exact location most of his other stuff won't work right. Because of that - if you don't buy his mounts - he won't sell you the other components. Smart guy - who would want all the headaches?!? He can be contacted at zcar@johnscars.com or 214-426-4101 or you can go to his web site: http://www.johnscars.com Some general photos of his work are available in my album - link below.

If you get the offset just right you could go to a 235/45-16 and not affect speedo at all. You might be able to get to a 245/40-16 but then your speedo would have about a 2% error - telling you that you're going faster than you really are - usually not a problem for a person with a lead foot.

I remember a time I was sitting in my car in a parking lot waiting on my mother in the grocery store. A car pulled up next to me and the fat brad in the passenger seat flung her door open like she hated it. It hit my car so hard it actually rocked a little. I just stared at her -frozen in shock & disbelief. If looks could have killed I'd have been vaporized on the spot with the look she gave me. She started to just stomp off so I reciprocated in kind. Unfortunately for her, my car had a triangular shaped side molding that punctured the side of her car like a can opener. She stopped, looked, and then just walked away. I waited until my mother got out of the store and drove off. End of incident.

Wow - do I feel fortunate - 6 years and not even a door ding.

300 RWHP is nearly 350 flywheel HP vs the 145 flywheel hp of the stock L28. That's more than just a 'Little more" than the L28. 300 RWHP is not simple to come by from the engines you are describing. Mostly they were originally around 185-225 rwhp. Considering boosting the engine? I thought you weren't into racing - that you just want a daily driver with a bit more zip? Sounds to me like you need to rethink your priorities. Maybe you should just find a turbo L28? Personnally, since I was going to all the trouble & expense of the conversion I went for the best technological option for daily driving which is a gen III fuel injected, aluminum block, computter controlled, coil on plug engine. I get 311 RWHP, 326 lb-ft of torque, 20+ mpg, excellent drivability, and it's as reliable as a rock.

Now your conversion is going to cost even more. I did the speedometer thing so i wouldn't have to change out any of my gauges. $285 versus a complete set of new gauges, the hassle of changing them out and finding a new way to have turn signal indicators. The 280Z is fuel injected so its tank is already set up for fuel injection. By keeping it I, again, was able to keep my original gauge and sending unit and use the Z harness to connect and eliminate the cost of those components. You're probably right about the driveshaft if you use the R230 and CV's. You'll still end up sppending the money - just not a John's Cars.