80LS1T

If the head was originally TTY(torqued-to-yeild) then you can't reuse the bolts because they have already been stretched to their limits. However if they are not TTY then you COULD reuse them but I still wouldn't. I'm not sure about the datsun head and if they were TTY. I dont think they are so you should be ok. I think TTY is kind of a new thery behind torqueing bolts. If you plan to make some serious power then I would upgrade to som ARP bolts. If this is just a lightly modified turbo engine then I wouldnt worry about it too much. How much is a set of head bolts? Guy

Yeah no kidding...I was like "Uh so what happen to the Mopar section and the I'm Tellin Ya... section?" I kinda like the "Other Engines" thing though cause the Mopar section wasnt really being used that much anyways. I kinda miss the "I'm Tellin Ya... section though. Oh well! Guy

So you have the 3 small connections from the water pump right? 2 of them go to the heater and the 3rd is supposed to go to the upper radiator hose, right? Guy

You mean that hose that comes from the back of the heads? I know that one went to the radiator, didnt it? Guy

Im not high jacking your post Tim but I know some people have been curious about the LT1 radiator hoses, so heres my UPPER radiator hose.... Now I noticed that you(Tim) have your bypass hose in your lower hose? Is there some reasoning behind that? My hose is 1/2 of the stock LT1 upper rad. hose and 1/2 of just a 90 degree bend from another hose I bought. I just used that T-Fitting that came on the LT1 hose to connect the other half of the hose that fits in my application(280ZX mounting, not JTR) The whole stock hose would not fit because the inlet on the radiator is too big for the LT1 hose, so I had to piece together my hose. My lower is done the same way. I have a reducer like yours in the middle of my hose. The Griffin radiater has some big inlets/outlet fittings on it thats for sure! The lower is huge! Anyways hope this helps someone! Guy P.S. Top secret for now!! Tim Im going to guess it will be a nice shade of RED, the only reason I think that is because your spark plug wires are red. Just a guess though!

I just shot a pic of the rotor and hub assembley that I roasted...literally! As you can see there was some serious heat damage! You cant really see it in the pic but the rotor has a ring from the heat that was going threw it! Its on the inside and goes out about 1.5" all the way around! I still havent got the rotor off yet! That outter bearing is literally welded onto the spindle. I can even make it move a little bit. I am going to just remove it as a whole assembley I think and put my springs and shock absorber into the new housing. Either that or I will get out the angle grider and cut the rotor off! I need a wheel stud now too cause I broke one off on my other front hub .....I guess I should stop going to the weight room! LOL Guy

Yeah I guess I could have fried the bearing and then it could have started to heat up the rotor and then boiled the fluid! I never though of that! That probably explains that! I did look at the caliper and it appears to be ok. The seals are still holding and dont look damaged. I just want these brakes to hold out until I can upgrade to BIG ONES within the next year! Guy

Well the rotor has some "blueing" on the very inside of it. I suppose it could have gotten hot enough to boil the fluid but it was instantanious when I lost my breaks and bearing. I dont think the fluid could have boiled that quickley.....could it have? Guy

Well here's whats going on.... Im picking up the parts that I need to fix my front right strut/spindle problem on Saturday from a fellow Zer in my area! I am getting "new" hub(this is the part that sits inside the rotor, strut housing, steering gear box(mine is leaking pretty bad), and possible a master cylinder. Now about my master cylinder...when I smoked my wheel bearing I also lost all hydraulic braking right at the same time. The resevour is full and I dont see any leaks but the pedal goes straight to the floor and doesnt do anything to stop the car. Could the wheel bearing and braking be related? I dont see how they could? I am going to check my master cylinder tonight or tommorow to see if its bad. I just cant see how they both went out at exactly the same time? Or maybe they could have? Oh and I bought new wheel bearings and races along with new rotors for the front. I needed new ones anyways...the old ones were kinda getting thin! Besides the right front had some major heat damage to it! I am also going to fix my little header leak and put some new O2 sensors in to see if that will fix my problem. But first I am going to check my O2 wiring to make sure they are wired to the right side of the engine(so that my left O2 isnt controlling my right side injectors and vise versa!) I am also going to finally check for vaccum leaks. I am hope that the new O2's fix my problem though! Anyways........ Guy

Well if I had someone I could take my LT1 280ZX to, to have tuned "optimally" I think I would seriously consider it. Yeah its going to cost you $600 but just think...your car will be running great and you wont have to worry about messing up your engine from running too lean or too rich all the time. Just set it and forget it! Thats the nice part about EFI, you dont have to adjust it all the time unless you are swapping parts out all the time. I say start saving up and get it done! Unless you think you can tune it yourself with TUNERCAT? Guy

Will a Big Block Chevy(BBC) fit???...........Yes, will it fit as easy as a Small Block Chevy(SBC???........ No. There are a few members who have put BBC in their Z but I bet there is less than 10. It is a much more complicated swap because there really isnt enough room for that BBC. Now people have done it but it is a very tight fit from what I understand. Not only that but if you go BBC then you will most likely be shooting for BIG HP #'s.....which in turn means you have to think about some serious chassi modifictions(full rollcage, strugt brakes front and back, subframe connectors and anything else you can think of to stiffen up the frame) Then you also have to start thinking about a different rear end, like a solid axle(shortend Ford 9", etc) rear end. This is just so you can get big enough tires to hold the power to the ground. I personally think a big block is usless in a Z(X) unless you are going to drag race it only. Most Z's wont be able to put all that power to the ground anyway unless you are a really really good driver. A well built 383 or 400 SBC will be more than enough power. Or you could do what another member did and build a Chevy LT1 with a ProCharger(supercharger). He was pushing around 600HP and he could smoke the tires in every gear! I think I heard a RUMOR that he could breakm loose at 70mph if he stepped all the way down on the gas! Look threw the archieves for "Darius" You will find a video of his car too, which is very impressive. Biggest thing I can recommend is do as much research on the engine that you THINK you want to use before you go an buy it. Make sure there is an aftermarket full of parts for the engine so that you dont have to pay an arm and a leg for parts. Hope that helps! Guy

Tim you made those headers didnt you? I could swear you did!? Oh yeah and Tim, you know that connection for the small hose that goes into the UPPER radiator hose? Well I thinkyou have yours on the wrong hose...you have your is the lower radiator hose? Is there some reason behind that? Also you are going to put some protective boots over those spark plug wires right? I have mine about that close to the header and it sure does get hot right there. I know I fried 2 wires from being close/touching the header. Better put some of those 1200degree boots over them. Guy

Look'n Good Tim! When I build my next car its going to take as much time as it needs, just like what your doing. Im not going to rush anything and do everything the right way, no short cuts! I tried not to do that with my 280ZX but there are a few things that I would have done different. Anyways keep us posted!

Well I roasted my right front wheel bearing and in the process I roasted my spindle that my rotor and bearings ride on! So now I need to replace the spindle, rotors, and bearings up front. So how does that spindle come off? I have the bearings and rotors but I dont have the spindle yet because Im not sure if I need a whole strut housing or just a spindle? Thanks for the help! Guy Edit: Maybe I should have posted this in the "Brakes, Wheels, and Suspension" Forum?

Glad to here everything is working out for you mas280! I have about $14,000 in my swap so far and I still have about $2000 to spend! I rebuilt my LT1 and "warmed" the engine up a little. That $14,000 also includes interior parts, rims, paint, and a lot of new engine parts and upgrades for the engine. When I am done though it should have the "Show & Go" that I want it to have. I know from driving it the last 2 weeks that it deffinetly has the "Go!" part! I just have to figure out why its running so rough!

Yeah I know I am going to have to replace the hub. I dont even know if Iam going to be able to get the rotor off in one piece or not. Im not going to deal with it till after the weekend though. I have to start looking for a new hub. Does anyone know for sure if the spindle is removable on a 280ZX? It doesnt look like it to me but maybe Im missing something? Guy

Good cause I just looked at it and its not good...the outter bearing race welded it self to the spindle ! NOt to mention all the threads on the outside of the spindle are all chewed up from removing the nut! So yeah Im going to need a new one of those! Guy

Well I havent taken off the rotor yet but I ordered 2 rotors and 2 sets of bearings today. The races came with the bearings so I will be putting those in for sure!. Is the spindle part of the strut housing? I dont know if it is damaged or not though, not yet anyways! What vehicle does a Ram Horn exhaust manifold come on? I am thinking about replacing my crappy header with a manifold. This header is just too much of a pain in the a$$! Guy

Tim I actually had all the brakes off and I checked the front bearings and repacked them but I guess I didnt think there was anything wrong with them? Now I have to buy brake parts instead of my body kit from MSA. I really need to paint my car cause I dont like looking at it like this! Its all faded and just not pretty! LOL My car will be down for atleast a week and a half if not two. I have to change the steering gear box, fix the header leak again, to front brakes(again) and install new wheel bearings in front! Then I have to find out whats up with my IAC motor! Guy

Well I put my LT1 on the scanner today at work... My left O2 is reading about 100mV all the time and my right O2 is reading 800mV all the time. My left one varies a little but not much and my right one is pegged at 800mV. My IAC count is at 32 (Learned) and at 0 when the car is idleing? I dont know what is going on there? Now I thought this was bad but then I drove home.... As I headed down one of the main roads in town I started to try to stop for the stop lights up ahead and guess what.....no brakes!!!! Lucky I dont follow people close cause I still had time to down shift and pull the E-Brake! Then I stared to hear a loud squeeling noise from the front right tire area......So I pulled into a parking lot to see what the deal was with my brakes and this squeel. Once I got around the other side of the car I saw smoke coming out from the right front wheel! So I pulled the center cap off of my stock Iron Cross rims and smoke comes pouring out the center....yeah I look in and see that I toasted my wheel bearing! So I decided to do the stupid thing and drive it home (30 miles away! ) Well I made it home with out any complications but I need a new roter and 2 new bearings for sure! I am going to do both side just to be sure though. The left side will probably go soon anyways! I tell ya nothing can go right! Guy

Have you modified your engine at all or is it still stock? Glad to here that you got to finally drive it. Its it a great feeling of acomplishment when you go on that fist test drive! 8) It's like "yeah thats right I built this car!" I smiled from ear to ear when I took mine out on its first run! Guy

Oh a 3 speed will not only be faster for a drag car but it will be way more consistant than a 5 speed manual. The more HP and TQ you have the less gears you need. If this is a drag car then I would go with the Chevy 400 tranny or a Turbo 350 tranny(Chevy) The 400 is easier to build stronger but the 350 can hold its own when its built right. If you want big power then buy a big block chevy engine(BBC). BBC's are the way to go if its only a drag car. You will have to modify a lot of things but it will get you down the track the fastest. If you are going full out drag car then you will need to think about a solid rear axle. Someone correct me if Im wrong, but isnt there a maximum time that you can go with a Indepent Rear Suspension(IRS)? Like nothing below 10.00secs? So if you went 9.99 the NHRA would have a fit? If this is really a full drag car then you have a lot of planning to do to make "it the fast car at the track" cause you'll probably have to go below 9.00 to be the fast at the track with only the local boys. I know there are a few guys at the track that I go to that are in the 9.00's. I havent seen any in the 8's though at my track that are local guys. Hope this helps, Guy

Yeah dont even bother with try to swap datsun engine or tranny parts over to the Chevy 350. Now you can swap over senders that are used for the gauges in the 280ZX but when it comes to parts like the tranny its not worth it at all. Now I have a 1980 280ZX with a Chevy LT1 engine. I have spent over $14,000 on my coversion so far and I am about 85-90% done. Still have to put on body kit, paint it, new rims, and some new seats! Here's my website... http://www.datsun-280zx-lt1.com . If you want something original go with the LS1. I dont think anyone has put one of those in a 280ZX yet. I wish I had gone this route. Has anyone put a LT1 besides me, into a 280ZX? I know its not much different from a regular SBC but I cant remember if anyone has done the LT1 in a 280ZX? Guy

Good to hear that Im not the only one have LT1 problems! LOL Its all in fun though I guess! Hopefully your runs a little smoother than mine does right now. It pulls really hard after about 2500rpms though! I just have to figure out why its running so rough from 1000-2500rpms. Guy

Yup just give terminal "F" Ignition + and you should be good to go! I have mine hooked up this way and so far so good! Guy