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Hello everyone Im starting a thread to show my progress on a 78 280z that will be running off a gm 5.3 Ive had the z for about a year now and Ive always wanted a gen 3 v8 in it since the day I bought it. I started work on the project recently and have been making good progress so far. I got the old l28, transmission and driveshaft out and have started sanding the body and engine bay. I also picked up a 5.3 down the road a couple of days ago My next step is to buy a transmission. My friend's friend has what I hope is a t56 in his backyard that hes going to sell to me for 400 bucks. I went and saw it a while back and saw that it had the borg warner logo on it. But I dont remember if its a t5 or a t56. Im really hoping its a t56, as Ive heard that the t5 cannot handle the torque of a ls1 style engine without making major upgrades that would put the price range of the t5 up there with the t56. I think the project will go smoothly but Im sure I will have lots of questions regarding the fuel system setup and the wiring. Ill try to post as much pics as I can Cheers! some pics of the project

Hello I was looking through some local ads and found a Tremec 6 speed transmission for sale. 450 bucks. the issue is that it grinds in 2nd gear. I have never worked with a 6 speed transmission from a corvette and I don't know if this is a steal or a money pit. Id like to know if having work done on a 6 speed with grinding issues would be more expensive than buying a working 6 speed trans. I would also like to know if anyone has ran into any bugs while installing a six speed into a z. Thanks. Hopefully someone can share some insight so that I can make a wise decision about this trans purchase.

Hello When I disconnected the transmission I had to disconnect this cable that had a gear on it. The cable connected to the stock 5 speed transmission. Since I will be dropping an ls1 and a t56 in the z I presume that I no longer need this cable. Just wanted to ask what I should do with this cable.

Hello I just finished taking out the drive shaft on my 280z. The engine and trans are also out of the car. But what about the 3 fuel lines that run along the frame rail on the passenger side? Can I remove them completely??

Hello kind Sir, I have a couple of questions. I understand you are using a 5.3 gen 3 motor for the build and you have an ls1 intake on the 5.3 Did you have any trouble fitting the intake between the heads? did you have to make any modifications to the intake for it to fit? are you using the stock heads? aside from switching the water pump, accessory brackets, oil pan and intake was there anything else that had to be removed or modified on the 5.3? what about the fuel system?? where you able to keep the injectors from the 5.3 to use with the ls intake?? is it cost effective to use a 5.3 for the build? I understand that you cannot drop a bone stock 5.3 because of intake clearance issues and because the accessory drive does not fit into the engine bay. by making the adjustments to the 5.3 will it still be cheaper to use 5.3 than to pay 2-3 k for an ls1?? Im deciding what to use, 5.3, 6.0 or ls 5.7. Your response would be greatly appreciated. And good luck on your build

Hello. I am currently working on a 78 280z. Originally it had an issue with the timing chain. I took it over to a "friend" who is no longer my friend to have the chain replaced. the guy was an automotive school graduate but he managed to totally **** up my car. It would not even stay on for more than a few seconds. He ended up bending some valves as well. I took the head off to see the damage. and sure enough, there were some bent valves. I also have another problem where my pistons are not the original ones. Im running a n42 block and head with p79 flat top pistons. I have been contemplating on having my head rebuilt and moving over to triple carb setup.but with all this work its going to cost a pretty penny. Since i am going to be spending prolly over 2000 dollars on parts I figure it may be a good idea to consider a gm swap on my z. There is a place where I can get 5.3 lm7's for 500 bucks. i would also need a transmission of course wich would run me about 400 dollars. I know there are some other cost involved like the harness and the drive shaft. Ive seen people spend in the 10k-20k range. Im not looking to build a race car. I just want a cool car that is fun to drive. and something to smoke the tires up in every once in a while. What would I be looking at spending on a bone stock ls swap? Im looking to use as much ls stock parts and spend the least amount of money as possible.