80LS1T

Glad to hear there is another SBC 280ZX on the road! 8) Yours sounds like quiet the beast too! I have headers on my car but I have the gear box p/s system on my 80' ZX. I had to make a header for the drivers side though. There doesnt really seem to be an easy way around getting headers into a 280ZX with a V8 in it. Guy Oh yeah and where the pictures!

I met the original Batman & Robin when I was like 4 or 5! I have signed pictures from Adam West and whoever Robin was? I dont remeber it though! LOL Guy

Well GM's are know for getting their injectors clogged? Maybe you could try and injector flush/EFI cleaning? And I dont mean that stuff that your poor into the fuel tank. I mean take it down to a shop and have them do a "Motor Vac EFI cleaning" of course if your like me, you wont let anyone else touch your car! Oh and make sure you have your spark plug wires routed good. If some cross you could have a cross fire condition but that usually is only a concern if you have old wires. I also kind of had the same problem and it was my IAC motor. I had it wired up wrong. As soon as I fixed that the stumble from idle went away. Is there anyway for you to check your IAC count? Guy

WOW man that does suck! How does the insurance co. handle custom work like that? Guy

Ok but dont say we didnt warn you when you cant close your doors! Guy

Hi my name is Cowboy Guy and Im riding with the Evil Inlaws MC! LOL Guy

A BBC in a Z is not even close to the amount of work that a SBC in a Z is. With the BBC you have to modify the firewall and not to mention with the BBC you will have tons of torque which is fine just as long as you have the FULL weld in cage, subframe connectors, strut braces and anything else you can think of to make the unibody stronger. There is a reason that the BBC Z is not so common. Mostly because it wont be very everyday street car driving friendly. Unless this is a drag car it just doesnt make sense to do a BBC when a SBC will be much better for everyday use, IMHO. Guy

WOW does that look sweet!!!!!!!! What did you use to paint those blue parts on the engine? Guy 8)

I am using the Felpro too. Mine are the soft ones. They look like they have alluminum embeded in them or some kind of soft metal? I dont know what the material is but I know I like them! Mine are D-port though so a part number wont help. They are blue in color though. Just like Pyro said though, those headers sound normal. Mine are the same way. You could also try some stage 8 locking header bolts. Header bolt tend to loosen themselfs up which is normall the cause of the leak if they are good headers. If you dont use locking header bolts then you need to check that they are tight ever so often. Guy

I would put the better/stronger springs in the heads now just because its a lot easier to do it now that it will be once its in the car. It shouldnt cost too much to do it either. Plus that way you can switch to a bigger cam and not be worried about the small springs. Guy

You know the old saying "the blind leading the blind".....well now you know what they mean! Guy

I just got my catelog from Pace Performance Parts and they have a Edelbrock set up for Mutli-Point EFI 87'-92 C/K trucks (p/n ED3505) 93'-95' C/K trucks(p/n ED3506) Then there is another set up from Edelbrock "upgraded kit"... 87'-92' C/K trucks (p/n ED3502) 93'-95' C/K trucks (p/n ED3501) Both systems are for "originally equipped TBI votec style" engines Is this what you were looking for? or were you looking for factory parts that would fit? Guy

I went with the switch method. I like Mike's idea though. Guy

Well the reason I was asking if it was pushing them out and not pulling them in, is because if it was pulling them in that might indicate an intake leak from the inside from the pan that is on the bottom of the intake. Can you feel pressure coming out of the oil fill hole in the valve cover? There should be some but not too much. Guy

So its pushing the front intake and rear intake gaskets out? Not pulling them in right? Guy

LS1.......oh and do some searching on the "Chevy Forum" Guy

Uh where do you even get a 14V battery? The charging system charges at 14V so how could a 14V battery help any? Guy

Well my brother(who has been restoring/painting cars for 15+ years) is going to be painting it for me. He is coming down from Stevens Point, WI(about 1 1/2 hours north of me) to take a look at the body kit and then we will begin attaching it and then paint it! The whole car will be the color of the engine bay.... Color of engine bay pic All I know is I cant believe how much I like those rims on my car! 8) Guy

Well for the past few months I have been really trying to get my car “done.†I did not work on it all from Oct-Dec due to the fact that I needed a break from working on it day in and day out from Nov 02’-Sept 03’! So I took a break from the car for a few months and just parked it. So when January came around I started to work on it again. First I stared on the header issue. I needed to make a header for my drivers side so that I could get rid of the manifold on the drivers side and put a regular block hugger on the passenger side. It took me about 2 weeks to make and 1 new MIG welder to do it but it was definitely worth all the time and effort! I installed it this past weekend for a test fit and to see if it leaked……it fits great and it doesn’t leak! J Man was I happy about that! Now I have to send it in to be coated by Jet Hot Coatings. I will be taking it off tonight and getting it ready to send in. I did a lot of detailing in the engine compartment. When I installed the engine last winter I kind of cut some corners and didn’t do the greatest job of hiding wires and routing them the best way. So I took all the crimp connectors out and soldered every connection and used heat shrink on every thing and tried to make the engine bay as neat as possible. Its not a show cars engine bay but it is definitely a nice clean looking engine bay and that’s all I wanted. Another project was to put a new fuel level gauge in and an A/F ratio gauge in. “While I was at it……†I installed new LED(blue ones to match the car) blinker indicator lights and moved the check engine light from the engine bay to the dash. And I finally saved up enough cash to buy the body kit from MSA and a set of tires for my 17’s! The tires are BFG T/A KD’s 225/45/ZY17’s They basically a step down from the BFG Drag radials. They should last about 10,000 miles instead of the 3,000 that the DR last. I would like the DR but I don’t wan to buy new tires every 2 months! I figure 1 set of tires a year with these. I haven’t driven on them yet but I have heard good things about them. J Here’s a pic of the new rims and part of the body kit(the body kit is being held on with c-clamps but I edited the clamps out with paint) I didn’t put on the rear piece because I haven’t taken off the old bumper yet. Here’s some more pics….(I didn’t want to post all the pics because it would take for ever for us 56K users to load the page) new wheels and part of body kit new wheels and part of body kit pic 2 new wheels and part of body kit but with hood open new drivers side header before coating new gauges and LED lights Guy 8)

Well if you want to match the performance of the rest of the car then I would go LS1....and not an old carbed V8. There is a member on the forum that has made a LS1 300ZX conversion manaul. It looks like it covers everything that you need to know. It also covers a manual tranny(T56) and a auto tranny(4L60e) depending on what you want to do. Here's the link to page about his manual... http://hybridz.org/nuke/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=28464 Oh and the first thing you need to do is, do a search on this. There are a few posts about this topic and you should find some info on what you are looking for! Guy P.S. Welcome aboard!

I had the same thing in my 80' ZX. That was teh only spot where there was rust.(well i had some surface rust under the battery tray but I sand blasted that off when I painted the engine bay) Mine wasnt as extreme as your is though... Here's where I welded in a new panel and now its my battery compartment! Guy

If MSA charges you for shipping and then the frieght company tries to charge you when they drop it off, dont pay the frieght company. That happen to me. I eventually got refunded for the extra shipping. I paid $120.00 shipping for my entire body kit to be sent directly to my door. $300 sounds a little too high if you ask me? Guy

What kind of water pump are you using? Just a stock one? Guy

1980 280ZX- no aero kit/spoiler When I had the L28E in there I hit about 125-130MPH(my speedo only went to 85mph ) but when I calculated out the RPMS I came up with the fact that I was somewhere in that ballpark. With the LT1- lowered about 1.5" -- it will have an aero/body kit, possibly a spoiler and headlight covers I have hit 115mph but I had to slow down because my rear window louver broke off the hinges and went flying into the air about 30 feet straight up! So I slowed down and picked up the louver and called it a day! The louver will not be put back on either once I paint it this spring. I have no doubt that I can hit 160mph but I dont know if I have the balls to do it! Guy

Well if you think its a short to ground, start unplugging things and see if the problem goes away. Once you find something that, when unplugged the problem is gone, you have found the circuit to look more in depth to. The ZX's had internal regulators. Guy