Phantom

Progress is being made! Motor & transmission mounts complete and AC compressor mounting figured out but butt is being kicked by header requirement on driver's side. Tried 4 different S&P units and none worked. Now talking with Sanderson. Has anyone else out there found another header manufacturer that can get past the Z steering gear without having to move it? Is this going to take a bunch of cutting & welding on one that is close? If so - whos??? Help!!

OK - stuff actually happening. '77 280Z with '98 LS-1. Original manual steering. Trying to find header that will work on the driver's side without having to move the steering. Anyone far enough along to have this figured out? Have tried 4 different S&P headers to no avail. Now checking with Sanderson. Suggestions Please!!!!

It looks like a sweet ride - even for $7,000. It would probably take another $5-600 to get the speedometer and tach working correctly and then another $7-800 for all the AC stuff since it has none at all. I'm not sure I could leave it white though so I guess it would run me another $5,000 total to make it the way I'd like it. Still, $12,000 for a V-8 Z that is done well wouldn't be all that bad.

I love Texas! Any vehicle at least 25 model years old as of January 1 of each year is exempt from emmissions testing and only required to do the $12.50 safety inspection. My June '77 production date car exempted on Jan 1 of this year.

Lone - Did you get the ECM problem fixed? How have the full throttle shifts been? I know you were almost there over a month ago.

Not sure how ZX compares to older 280Z. My '77 is running Center Line 16x7's with 0 offset and 225/50-16's on all four corners. If I had it to do over again I'd have gotten a 5 or 10 mm offset that would have moved them slightly closer to the center of the body. I occaisionally rub the rear fender well inner lip. The wheels were built to my specs (no spacers) and cost about $200 each through Discount Tire. YOu can see the wheels over at zcar.com - Feb. '99 Zcar of the month.

If it's 12 months old and I haven't used it - it's gone. I only have a two-car garage and I have 4 cars. No space for a zillion spare parts I don't need right now. I do, however, live only 3 miles from a Z car wrecking yard that has literally any part I need - even a 3.7:1 R200 LSD. I got the last one!

You can go to Center Line today and order wheels to fit your car. I got 4 16x7's from them 3 years ago for $800. Custom made to my lug pattern and my offset. I would imagine the new forged wheels could also be ordered that way but will cost a buttload more.

Call your Chevy Parts guy. They have a book that basically is "anything you ever wanted to know about hooking up your 4L60E". I saw one a few weeks back at a garage I was in.

Tomahawk, Even when you have the money for someone else to do it - where do you find them? This is such a specialized swap that few will undertake it. The guy I'm working with told me up front he expects to take a bath on the number of hours he puts in versus what he'll get paid. Only reason he's willing to do it is because its the DFW area and he's thinking long term. He's been at it for 10 weeks now and managed to pull the Datsun stuff, sketch up some motor & transmission mounts, and start looking for a good T-56. This is definitely a when-I-have-some-time project.

As a parent of two college graduates I can tell you that my wife and I would use the products. The real question is: "Can you deal with the thought of your parents using them?"

Agree with the other guys. It waswn't the motor in the scarab position that put your car in the ditch. Repair your damage. Upgrade the parts while you're at it and then have fun driving your car - maybe a little slower near the cops ditch from now on.

Go to the suspension board and post there. You might also do a search of that board on your topic.

Questions: Are you replacing the gauges because you want to or because you think you have to? You don't have to replace the gauges. They can be adapted. If you're not an electronics guru that may be the safer route. What differential do you have now? A standard R200 will handle the HP & torques you are discussing. I thought the Z32 came with the R230 - or is that just the TT version? I'd do some careful measurements first and try to get a feel where the transmission shifter from the 4L60E will come up in the cabin You may not like the results. I'd also do a rough overall engine length & width measurement to get some idea of just how tight the fit will be for that 5.7L V-8 in the 3.0L V-6 compartment. I'm nervous just thinking about it.

dj - you must be a lightweight!! My '77 280Z with the MSA Aero II kit and 1/2 tank of gas weighed an even 2800 - without me in it. That was also with a stock NA L28 and the '83ZX 5-spd.

Try www.hotrodlane.cc. They have all kinds of mounts for accessories.

Hood scoop location can greatly affect "ram" air. There are spots on a hood that actually have negative pressure because of the aerodynamics of the particular vehicle. That is why the Firebird moved their scoop inlets so close to the nose. The mid-hood locations will give you "cold air intake" but won't ram. To get pressurized air you need to be in front of the radiator or right at the base of the windshield. Remember - ram air effect is measured in inches of water pressure (27.7" = 1 psi) so this doesn't even resemble boosting an engine. 5% vs 40+%. A fuel injection system should be able to adjust for this no problem. It's about like driving the car from Denver to Houston.

Pete, I heard Watkins Glenn could be had for the right price.

If you are going to drive it before putting the superchager on it then stand by to be disappointed. I don't think there is any way that LS-1 will develop 450 HP with 8.5:1 compression. Like I said before. This isn't adding up.

I feel better now - especially since my 280 has the bigger hole. I'm planning on offsetting the shifter aft anyway to help with my short arms. I've located an external fuel pump and pressure regulator that I can mont in the area of the original pump and then run thebypass fuel right back to the tank instead of from the engine injection rail. Keeping the stock tank keeps the stock fuel sender so that gauge is OK. The voltmeter is straight forward also. The oil pressure sender will be an addtional Datsun unit installed on the LS-1; same with the water temperature. Also have an adapter that allows the T-56 to give a mechanical output directly to my stock speedo/odo. The tach is the only original gauge not yet figured out. Soon though. Don't have all the details on these yet but will eventually. Lone Star 1 basically figured them all out this same way except for the tach. It is still a teaser. Looks like I'll be able to maintain a totally stock appearance inside the car and close to stock outside - not counting the 16" wheels & tires and the MSA Aero II kit. Well - it'll just have a single 3" exhaust tip in the stock location and with a Flowmaster 70 series muffler shouldn't be excessively loud.

Jeromio, If I remember right - when I was looking a Lone Star 1's engine bay it looked like his engine was 2-2.5" from the heads to the firewall. That was a couple weeks ago so maybe my memory is failing? His is a 240 and mine is a 280. Not sure how much difference that makes since both are Gen 1 bodies and the Nissan engine/tranny combos are interchangeable.

I am working the same exact transplant too - but in a '77. I am also planning on setting the engine a bit forward, about 2.5-3.0" in front of the firewall for maintenance purposes, access to heater and AC lines, etc. Do a search on LS-tech.com and you'll see some posts on fuel pumps. I too am going for reusing the Z tank with an external pump. Lone Star 1 has already done this conversion but with the 4L60E in a 240. It is a sweet ride. He has an intereting fuel delivery system that uses his stock 240 tank. I'm atttempting to use all my stock gauges. I think I will be successful and will post what I learn as it comes up. Still in the research stage on some of it. Car is currently apart and motor/transmission mounts being built as well as searching for a good T-56 to go with my LS-1. It is out of an automatic car. You might as well get the ECM edited. As long as the folks doing it know how your car will be set up they can do it. You'll need the VIN# of your donor car so get that if you don't have it already. For some reason LS-1 edit requires that to do its thing. Hope this helps some.

Pipelayer, I feel your pain. I labored over that decision for five years - turbo or V-8. The turbo is the easier way to go, you can stick with all Nissan parts, and do it on a small budget if you just grab one out of an '83ZX and toss it in with no mods. It also retains it's reliability at that level too. The V-8 conversely, lots of pain mating everything up to ensure all the original Datsun systems mesh with the Chevy systems - but - WOW - look at the torques & HP that is very reliable and streetable. Anyway - after five years of tossing it back & forth I've settled on the LS-1 with the T-56 and a 3.7:1 R200 LSD. The car will be my daily driver when I'm done so there is nothing being done to the drive train. It will be bone stock. Another HybridZer has this engine with the 4L60E in his 240 and it dyno'd at 297 RWHP vs. about 115-120 for my stock 280.

So I guess this is a custom-custom engine by Agostino? I went to their web site and they don't list a 393 CI LS-1. They have a 382 and a 396. Is your's the 396? Is it configured the way the web site lists it? I noticed in an earlier post that you indicated that it had 12:1 compression. That is NOT an engine built to be boosted with a turbocharger or supercharger - nitrous yes but boosted - no. YOu will get very little bang for your buck trying to supercharge a 12:1 engine. As stated before, if you are really planning to boost it, you need to be down around 8:1. Not trying to rag on you but things aren't adding up.

Please send your $$$ to me. My sincere thank you card will do more for your car than that thing.