80LS1T

I am finishing up my engine and tranny swap on my 80' ZX. I used a LT1 and T56 combonation. Like Greimann said the LT1 fits much better than a carbed engine plus there is a lot of power to start with! It does cost more to begin with though because of the EFI engine but I think its worth it. I dont think there is as much hassel as far as the swap and mounting issues with the LT1 vs. a carbed 350. Check out my site and you can see what I mean. I will be updating it this coming week with more pictures and some info on my first drive(exhaust is going to be done on Thursday next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Guy

Hey what the drag coefficent of my 280ZX? Guy

I cant believe it was close. I mean I know you have the same engine and all but your car weighs like 500lbs less, atleast! Of course he doesn have big fat tires and you dont. Next time you will have to try a little bit harder and really show him a thing or too! Guy

So does the front air dam and rear skirt just cover the chrome part of the bumpers and I just remove the black rubber part that is over the chrome part? Is that how it is covered? I will also keep mine on for saftey reasons. Guy

Well I have an appointment for my exhaust system. The guy I talked today was really nice. I am bringing it in on Thursday! I was going to do it myself but I found someone to do it for me instead. I almost bought the stuff to start making it today but the shop that I went to didnt have the collector flange or mandrel bends so I send screw it and I called the shop that is now doing my system. Guy

I have thought about doing it my self...I am just scared that I will do a shitty job! If I dont find someone by the end of the week I might just end up trying to do it myself. I try the beginning of the system and if I cant do a good job on that then I will be forced to keep looking. Heck if I can make my own exhaust I might just try making my own headers! Great now you got me thinking Mat73GNZ! Heck with the money I would save by doing it myself I might be able to do it in stainless steel! 8) Guy Ok now I might go to the exhaust shop tommorow to check on prices of pipe and mandrel bends! Its all your fault Mat73GNZ! LOL

Ya but if your going for BIG HP goals its not going to matter which car you pick because they are both not intended for big HP. You will still have to do everything that you would do to the 240Z, to the 280Z...cage, subframes, strut bars, etc..... Just pick the car that you like most and worry about the weight later! 8) Guy

God I love your car! Your right it does look really really really NICE! I hope mine turns out half that nice. I am using the same body kit as you but with out the spoiler. With that body kit do you take off that big heavy bumper on the front and rear? Basically what do I leave on as far as bumbers? Guy

Well I had the MC off to clean it out and to polish it up but thats all. I didnt think that the vaccum would be too high. I am going to bleed it out tommorow so I will find out then! I did bleed the MC first and then the brakes just like you said, when I put it all back together. Guy

Well as for the exhaust...the first shop already knows what my intetions are so they said that they wont do it at all! Thats ok if they dont what my $$$ then thats their loss! As for the injector clips I might have a guy who is going to ge them from another guy(one of those deals, so I will probably end up going to a different junk yark to get them myself). What about my brake situation? Too much vaccum possible? Guy

Ok well I am trying my hardest to find someone to do my exhaust system. I took it to a local shop but they said they wouldnt do it because I dont want to put a cat on it. So then I asked "well who would do it?" They told me a shop in a near by town would do it no questions asked. So I go to this shop but I didnt even bother going in because the place was a dump! I was not about to let someone who cant even keep a clean shop work on my baby! So then I ask a guy that I work with who I should go to and he tells me to go to "Performance Hot Rods" and says that they may charge more but you get what you pay for. He says that he does the best work that he knows. And that he can do stainless steel if I want it. So I get the number and address an head over to this place after work today. I go in and see 2 guys working on a drag car. I dont know what it was but it looked fast, scary fast! Anyways...So I start talking to the owner about my car and what I want and he says yeah he can do it but he wont be able to do it until late July or Early August and that it would cost somewhere between $600-$800 for regular steel(mandrel bends not crushed) :shock: He told me that stainless would be three times as much! So I asked him who does good work as far as bending tubing(crushed type) for custom set-ups? So he gave me the name of the place and now I have to call them tommorow and see if he can do it. My intake set up is almost done. I just have to find a pipe to go from the 1LE intake elbow to the filter. I think I can get that at one of the local parts stores no problem. I still have to get the 2 knock sensor connectors for my harness. I went to a junk yark this last weekend but they said that they dont cut appart harness and that I would have to buy the whole harness! Since I need 2 of them and there is only one per harness I would have to buy 2 complete harnesses just for those 2 connectors. So I ordered them at work yesterday and they should be here this week sometime! I also still need 2 of the injector clips that hold the inject harness on the injector. Its like a C-Clip. Does anybody have 2 of these laying around that I could have? If so drop me a line at ggrenfell18@yahoo.com or here in a PM! Oh and I think I need to redo my tranny mount because I made it so that it goes below the framerails instead of tucking it between the framerails. So I only have like 4" of clearance right there at the mount. I dont think its enought to get over speed bumps! This time I am going to use a U-Channel peice of steel and mount it between the framerails! I also need to fine tune the gas pedal because it is not in a very good positioin. When I go from the brake to the gas pedal I hit the edge of the gas pedal instead of jus "sliding" over to it. It just needs to be lower/moved back towards the firewall. Is it possible that the LT1 is creating too much vaccum for my brake booster? The pedal goes down really far and it doesnt really brake all the well. I still want to bleed the brakes again before I do anything with the braking system. And I dont know about you guys but I just cant seem to line my hood up! I have tried everything but it just doesnt seem to close like it used to. I had to come in from the garage last night because it was making me so mad! I knew if I stayed out there I would have broke something or done something stupid. Anyways I think "thats all" I have to do to get it driveable! Its right around the corner! Just tying up loose-ends now!

Your a lucky guy! I wish there was a fellow HybridZ'er around me! I have seen a few Z's in the past few days but they were all inliners and I didnt get to talk to the owners since they were driving at the time I saw them Would be nice just to see some nice Z's and talk to the owners! Guy

I wouldnt buy it unless you are 100% sure that its an LSD unit. What's the big deal with pulling the cover off? If its not it just put the cover back on? I know it wont seal up but if I would ever buy a differental from a junk yard the least I would do is replace the seals on it! I think most people would take the cover off anyways just to clean it up before they put it in a car. Guy

Why dont you just pull the cover off and look inside? Its out of the car already right? Guy

Ok Ross C., so you make your BIG BRAKE KIT with a 4 lug pattern too? I thought it was only in a 5 lug set up? I saw on your site that it says 4 lug scalloped? and 5 lug Z31? Will the 4 lug work on my car(1980 280ZX?) Guy

Here’s how I think a swap should be done if you’re on a tight budget (at first)... 1. Buy the best rust free car you can-a non-rusted car is the most important part of this type of swap!!! 2. Upgrade suspension with coilovers and new urethane bushings-coilovers are way better than regular springs and struts because it gives you the option later to use bigger tires and bigger tires mean better traction (most of the time) 3. Upgrade brakes-if you buy a 240,260 or 280Z then you can buy adapters from JSK (members name on this board) for a big brake conversion with 12" x 1.25" rotors and WILWOD calipers! This is only for the the Z's though (so far not for the ZX's.... come on JSK lets get them ZX adapters made! LOL ) 4. Depending on your HP goals reinforce the chassis with sub frame connectors, strut bars, and some type of roll cage. 5. Now upgrade to the R200 or R230 with CV axles-you could also add the LSD or Quafie now too but both cost extra $$$! 6. Now you can start with the engine and tranny swap 7. Interior upgrades-gauges, stereo, etc.... 8. Paint and body work That’s just how I think it should be done. I skipped some steps when I did my swap. But I have completed almost all of those requirements. I did not upgrade my brakes yet but I will as soon as a big brake kit comes along! (JSK...hint hint! LOL ) I also did not do coilovers. I didn’t know about them till after I bought new springs and struts because I didn’t do my research first! I know I am going to have to go to coilovers so that I can get some more meat under the rear of the car! So I can get some traction! There really isn’t a list. I all depends on what engine your going to swap and how nice of a car you want when you are done. Just like Greimann said you can do the swap for like $3000 if you already have the car and your just doing the engine and tranny. But if you want a car that has show and go be prepared to spend over $10,000 easily. I actually do have a list of almost every part that I bought and the price of it (prices are rounded though) Oh and its not the big stuff that gets your $$$ its the little stuff! Its all those nuts and bolts and hose clamps that you never think about that adds up! ZX Conversion Cost... (So far)http://www.datsun-280zx-lt1.com/Big_Pictures/OtherStuff/Money-on-ZX-Conversion.txt The stuff on the right of the page in parenthesis is stuff that I sold! Hope that helps! Guy

Do a search for "cost" or "cost of building" you should find plenty of info. I am doing a 280ZX LT1 swap and I have spent over $13,000 on my swap! Although I did rebuild the engine and "warm it up" a bit! I am a picky person though so everything has/had to be right and not a hack job! If you want just and LT1, R200, T56, and a new radiator... I would say you could do it for $5,000-$6500 easy. Thats with no body work needed though. If you have a rust bucket you might as well just junk the car! Guy

So do you guys think I should be concerned with my ground clearnace? Im not sure how low the front air dam is going to be when I get it from MSA but I know it will be fairly low. I just done what to get hung up on a speed bump or something! Guy

I went to the exhaust shop that I wanted to do my exhaust but... I told him that I had a 1980 Datsun 280ZX with a SBC 350 in it. So then he asked me if the car originally had Cats? I said yeah but Im not putting them on with the new engine. So he tells me that from the cats forward has to be original! I said what do you mean original? He said "well did it have one pipe with the six cylinder in it?" I said "yeah?" He said "well even though you have a different engine in there you still have to have it like it was a six cylinder." I said "you mean one pipe?" then he said " yeah" and I was like "um thats kind of impossible with two exhaust manifolds? " So then I asked him who could do it for me then and he told me of two places that might do it. The one place I went to looked like a dump though! I dont know if I really want someone who cant even keep a clean shop, working on my car!! I really wanted the first guy to do my exhaust!!!! Damn emissions!!! So now I need to find someone who I trust to do it. Oh well it just another small road block. Guy

Yeah tell me about it! LOL SNOW + SALT =RUST I went to the exhaust shop that I wanted to do my exhaust but... I told him that I had a 1980 Datsun 280ZX with a SBC 350 in it. So then he asked me if the car originally had Cats? I said yeah but Im not putting them on with the new engine. So he tells me that from the cats forward has to be original! I said what do you mean original? He said "well did it have one pipe with the six cylinder in it?" I said "yeah?" He said "well even though you have a different engine in there you still have to have it like it was a six cylinder." I said "you mean one pipe?" then he said " yeah" and I was like "um thats kind of impossible with two exhaust manifolds? " So then I asked him who could do it for me then and he told me of two places that might do it. The one place I went to looked like a dump though! I dont know if I really want someone who cant even keep a clean shop, working on my car!! I really wanted the first guy to do my exhaust!!!! Damn emissions!!! So now I need to find someone who I trust to do it. Oh well it just another small road block. Guy

So you think its just best to use that tape on side skirts and not on front/rear air dams? Use bolts/screws for the airdams? Guy

There you go again getting me all excited to drive my car! LOL I've got my eye on a Camaro(LT1) that needs a lesson! It's getting close to driveable!(see story in non-tech section) Guy

ABSOLUTELY BEUTIFUL! That is one of the cleanest swaps I have ever seen! Did you use the original Datsun radiator(did you have it made into a 4 core?)? Is it "just" stock?(325HP?) Guy

You mean that tape will hold it all by it self? No bolts or screws? What looks the best though? Molded right to the car? And what do you use to mold it to the car? Guy