Bohemian_Funk

Thanks guys (And I'm sorry I didn't post with the right topic name). I'd probably love an L30 stroker, but I won't be starting out with an L28 to base that off of, so (also given that I somewhat plan to use this car as a show car, having a nice, shiny RB26 sitting in there would be quite helpful)... I would use the RB25 transmission, but it just wouldn't be as easy to obtain, and it wouldn't be nearly as easy to fix/replace or anything like that if something happened to it. Also, my main reason for wanting a 6-speed is because with transmissions like the T-56 it's not really a short gear ratio 6-speed, but rather a 5-speed with an amazingly tall 6th gear for better gas mileage, and given gas prices these days it just makes more sense to me. Although 510six you're right the engine used on it would need to be extremely torque-y, unless shorter gear ratio's were used, or if it were an RB26 with one of those 15,000 dollar 3.0L kits (they give you an entirely new block etc., etc.). I think I'd be best off checking with that guy that owns the 240SX if the RB26 can handle 6th gear easily, and if he thinks it could be ran at closer to stock power levels (not necessarily stock, but definitely closer). If not, I think I'll just find myself a Non-World Class T-5 since it fits perfectly into the 280ZX (what with it being OEM equipment on the 82-83 Turbo and whatnot), and being much easier to source/repair/replace than the RB25 transmission. Thanks for the great opinions and helpful comments/links, Scott

By the way yes I know the swap is intensely expensive by normal means, and requires a lot of fabrication. No I don't have (nor do I plan to) anything "spoon fed" to me when it comes to cars, I just genuinely can't find information on attaching an RB-series engine to a Borg-Warner/Tremec transmission like the T-56. I've seen plenty of information on how to swap a T-56 into a car that normally has a T-5 on hot rod sites, and I know that the 280ZX Turbo had a T-5 (non world class). Unless I'm mistaken, it is possible to mate an RB engine to the L drivetrain, just normally unwise, correct? Also I forgot to mention why I want to do all of this... I guess you could say I'm essentially going to build up a Z(X) for extreme highway speeds and (I know I know, very "ricer") some drifting, which is why I'm interested in the T-56... It seems to have "fairly" normal gearing within the first 5 gears, and an EXTREMELY tall gearing for the 6th being a "cruising" gear. As far as I can tell though, I'd quickly find the RB26 to not have enough low-end torque to support the 6th gear too well, so any help in such a matter would be appreciated. FYI - The only reason why I'm even considering the RB swap at my age is because my cousin who lived on-base in Okinawa due to his father being in the Marines has several contacts in Japan who may be able to procure an RB26 (I'd likely settle for an RB25DET NEO, though) for a pretty good price, if not actually FREE (before he moved back to the states he literally saw high-end sports cars like Supras and Skylines sitting on the side of the road with the keys still in due to the taxes there), and since I'm family, he might be able to arrange for an engine to be scavenged and sent over via freight, along with the various other required pieces for a good price. Since my 280ZX will start out life with me without an engine, I might as well make the best of that fact and start with an engine that all ready has power. Thus if I end up wanting to make power, I'll have a good baseline to start with. As for the T-56, if it turns out to be more trouble than it's worth, I guess I could always just get a RWD RB25 transmission or something like that, and just be glad I have something. Oh yeah, and I decided it'd be a better idea for my uses to go with KAAZ for an R200 LSD in 2-way trim.

Hey guys, I'm new here, and I have pretty much only one *teeny* question (* = pretty damned difficult to answer) So I have an opportunity to obtain an '82 280ZX-T in almost perfect condition for a few hundred bucks, sans engine+tranny, as my friend is going to swap the engine into an S30 of his choice, and tune it (possibly going the route of a GT-R head swap), and the tranny is the slush box. I also have a fair opportunity to possibly get an RB26 fairly cheaply, and I want a 6-speed RWD tranny, but I don't want to f with the RB26 tranny, nor do I want to swap in a Supra tranny. In fact, I'd like almost nothing more than to keep with the 280ZX-T tradition, and use a Borg-Warner tranny. I know T-56 (now made by Tremec) is a common swap for cars with T-5 transmissions, and I would like to know if it'd be feasible to mate an RB26 to a Borg-Warner/Tremec T-56 transmission, and still keep the stock shifter position? Perhaps even mate that to an R200 with a Quaiffe LSD (this isn't going to be my daily driver, so I don't really mind saving up for like, a couple years to finish this up), if they make it in a 2-way version. I've been looking around the forums and the "rest" of the internet to no avail, as pretty much everything I find is for the V8 swaps, and I have no wish to do that. Thanks to anyone that can answer my question, I've been a fairly big Nissan/Datsun fan for a few years now, and liked the Z's when I was younger (granted, only a decade ago I was 8 years old), even though I didn't fully understand what they were, though I was pretty well-versed in cars even by then, being that my father was a mechanical engineer with a penchant for cars, mainly touring cars. If I recall correctly his favorite was the Jaguar E-type. Many thanks, Scott