80LS1T

Not to mention that if you beat on the balancer with a hammer and block of wood you will mess up your thrust bearing for the crankshaft! Not recommended.....unless your on the side of the road! LOL Either borrow an installer or buy one. Guy

Looks like a mess under the hood! Not to mention the 4.6L is a pooch to begin with and costs a pretty penny to mod. Not my ideal choice of engines but its still a cool swap. Guy

What kind of 60' times where you pulling? Guy

Yeah they are but that Z is Navy Blue.... Guy

You want adjustable strut braces because then you can preload them so that they hold the body tighter. This is the ideal set up that you want when installing strut braces, although most(including myself at this time) just use a nonadjustable bar. Guy

Well if your on a budget then an LS1 set up is deffinetly out of the question. Just to get an LS1/4L60e tranny to your door is going to cost about $3000(probably more). So LS1 is out of the question. Just find a salvage yard and go on a day that they are having a special on engines. You can probably pick up a 350/700R4 combo for $500 or less. You just have to look for the deals and dont get too anxious to buy stuff. Thats what gets a lot of guys, even though their car wont be on the road for months on end they feel the need to buy everything now and end up paying too much! I know I have done it more than once! I dont really have a budget though, I just buy as I need! Guy

Basically you have to have a newer VIN(17 characters I think). So even the 280ZX's are too old since they have only 15(I beleive), not to mention they have a "dash" in the middle of the numbers! Guy

You could add more ground wires to the harness so that all the grounds dont go to the same spot? I had a similar problem with my LT1, all of my grounds were going threw the Lokar throttle cable because that was the only ground I had from the engine to the body. The throttle cable would actually get hot to the touch! Once I put 2 more nice thick ground cables from the engine to the body my problem disappeared!(I had some starting problems too and this fixed it!) Guy

In a 280ZX there is a relay for the headlights. It should be in the relay box up on the passenger side fender on the front of the strut tower. When looking at the car from the passenger side fender(engine if front of you), the relay will be the one in the upper left hand corner. Sorry I cant help with the drivablitly issue, Im not too familiar with the original engine. Guy

That is one of the nicest Z's I have ever seen! I love the color combo, flares, and wheels! Im a V8 kind of guy but I can deffiently appreciate the power that little motor is putting out! Guy

Yeah I want to see that power sunroof too! That sounds like a nice mod! Once that new V8 is in there its time to upgrade to some bigger meats! Those tires are too small for those flares. Guy

There are no kits avaliable. Though some have done it, so it can be done. There should be a few posts about it in the archieves(time to start searching!) Welcome to Hybridz! Guy

Im not saying your engine isnt at 10.5:1. But if you have 63cc heads then you would have to have a either no valve relieves or a slight dome on your pistons because a stock 92' vette had 10.5:1 with the 58cc heads. If your bottom end is stock then you dont have 10.5:1. The only heads that will fit on an LT1 are ones that are designed for an LT1. Older heads will not fit on it. The only heads that you can swap on to it would have to be off of another LT1 or an aftermarket heads specifically designed for the LT1. This is because it is a reverse cooled engine and has a differnet coolant passage design. Are you sure you dont have an L98? http://www.automotiverebuilder.com/ar/ar99928.htm Im not trying to start a argument here, I just like to keep the facts straight so that misinformation isnt spread on to the next guy that does a search for LT1 info. Guy

No it should have been 10.5:1 and the LT4 is 10.8:1 because they have 54cc heads were as your heads would have been 58cc's. If it was 8.5:1 it would be a real pooch stock. That kind of compression is for a blower/turbo set up. You would have to have dished pistons get that kind of compression or really big cc heads. You cant tell compression just by cc'ing the heads. Guy

An MSD Ignition system would probably get you over the 400HP mark. Up graded to the electric water pump is also a way you might pick up a couple HP. The electric water pump is just a good idea to get that shaft going from the water pump into the timing cover removed so you dont have coolant leaking into the timing cover. That's why I put in a electric water pump. I have one question though, what do you mean you cut the heads down to get 10.5:1 ompression? Stock compression should already be at 10.5:1. What kind of vehicle did this engine come out of? Guy

http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2005/07/05/breaking_news/breakinguglydog.txt It would have got my vote! Guy

Tim you are the man! That is exactly what I need and its pretty cheap, only $14! I tried to find it on Summits site but I guess I didnt punch in the right search words. Guy

Well those are prices for the customer, I should have stated that I guess. I had to put some freon(R134a) in my truck recently and I was charged about $22/lbs. I have no idea what cost on R12 is at our dealership? I remember about 5 years ago my grandpa brough some R12 from Mexico back home, it was $7/lbs! I should have told him to bring back a few cases of it! I could have sold it for a huge profit now! Guy Guy

The fitting on my LT1 thermostat housing is 1 1/4" and the fitting on my Griffin radiator is about 1 3/4"(I think its actually a little smaller but 1 3/4" will work). So I need a reducer to put in between the two different size hoses plus I need to be able to install a small outlet for the vent hose coming off the back of the heads! So I have to be able to either weld that piece in, braze it in, or drill a hole and tap it for a fitting. So does anybody know where I can get something like this? I am going to look in the plumbing section at Menards tomorrow to see what I can come up with but I am a little doubtful that I will find what I need. Guy

I did exactly what you are describing(mating the Datsun harness to the Chevy harness). Basically all you will need from the Mazda harness for the engine(not gauges) is the fuel pump wiring, ignition wiring and starter wiring. Everything else should be the Chevy harness. As for finding out which wires you will need from the ECU, I cant seem to say just how much I like "ALLDATA Online" They break down each section of the engine wiring into little easy to read wiring diagrams. The ignition system has one page, data sensors have one page, fuel system has one page, tranny has one page, etc. Go to the page that I have set up for the 95' LT1 wiring, that is what you will get for the Caprice wiring diagrams! I found them extremly easy to read and figured out how to modify my factory harness with out any issues. I am not 100% sure but I dont think the VATS system came out till like 94'. I know the 93' Camaro didnt have a VATS system... Guy

Well if your running a Chevy V8 you should be able to run those tires... Edit: Heheheh, I see the MODS sensed my sarcasm!

The JTR books wont help with the details of the swap but it is good to read because it will give you a good overview of what is all involved with swapping in a V8. It wont have any details for things like wiring. So you will have to get a good wiring diagram from either a factory service manual or even a Haynes manual will work(I used a Haynes). You will be spending more time on here searching threw the database than you would if you had a GEN 1 Z. The JTR book is pretty much a step by step for installing a carbed V8 in a GEN 1 Z. Guy

Yeah your going to be hitting every little bump in the road with that exhaust hanging down like that. As for the sticker....well you went from 150HP stock to 300HP now so that would be 150HP because you joined Hybridz and met Tim and bought his motor! Guy

No doubt about it, a 280ZX needs better struts, springs, and bushings. Once I did that to my car it made a huge difference in the handling(no brainer I know). Although I have only ridden in one first GEN Z, I will say that I like my interior space more because its not so small inside like the GEN 1's. And after all the crap that I have taken off of my ZX during the swap, Im sure I am under 3000lbs, so does that mean Im not a pig? LOL Just a little porky? Guy