qwik240z

Man, I was getting all excited to see some more pics of the swap. Hurry up and post the new ones! Joey, maybe Mike can help you figure out the software for your digital camera. I am going to rent a hoist today to pull the L28 out of the engine bay. See pics I took of the engine bay and my car before the swap began on Saturday at the link below.

I am going to get a folding type of hoist like you describe. I figure I will need it a few times and then I can sell it when I am done.

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Well I couldn't wait any longer. I kept seeing the LS1 sitting on it's pallet begging for attention. So today the swap started. My son and I took the Z for one final cruise this morning and then after it had time to cool off a bit we pulled it in the garage and got started. We got everything ready to pull the L28 motor and trans today. We disconnected everything for removal as per the Datsun service manual and all we need is a hoist and it will be out. We went to Sams club to buy one but they are out of stock. To bad cause the motor would be out already. Boy is it easy to pull an L series. We had it all done and ready in under 3 hours. My son is only 10 but he is turning out to be a good helper. It would have been hard to remove the hood by myself. Also, it's nice to have someone fetch the right sized tools while you are on your back under the car. I am going to see about renting a hoist this week and get it out. I want to get it packed up and shipped out so I can have more room to work. I plan to keep a full journal about the swap and I am taking pictures of everything too. I will get some posted soon. I am still looking for a 6 speed trans setup for the swap so if you know of one please let me know. The 4L60E is for sale or trade. I can't wait to feel some real TORQUE!

Bill, I live 5 minutes from Great Falls on the Maryland side. Let me know when you are coming to town.

Mike, Great numbers. What have you done to it recently? The dyno report shows that it weighs 3250 pounds. What's up with that?

I have a set of 944 seats in my 510. Great seats and easy to bolt in. I removed the rails off the bottom, redrilled the holes in the correct position, re attached the rails and bolted them in. James, Where can I get a set of Celica leather seats for $350. I want them.

On the later 240Z's (72-73) are the auto and manual trans. consoles completely different consoles or are they the same console with different shifter or boot inserts? I am trying to find out if I switched from manual to auto if I would need to buy the auto shifter insert or a complete console. Thanks for you help.

If you are building a daily driver what would be better than a modern day, powerful, computer contrilled drivetrain? I like you am doing a V8 swap and my original plan was for a carburated crate motor. I am not too good with the wiring either but after reading up on the LS1 and the benefits of fuel injection and the computer controls decided to go for it. If you get the harness modified it really won't be too hard. There will be like 6-10 wires you will need to hook up to your current wiring. You can buy a painless harness for $700 or Speartech and others sell them too. LS1 is the way to go!

Ok guys, After driving my Z yesterday for a nice spring time cruise, I have decided that I really do want a 6 speed with my LS1 swap. I really love to shift through the gears. If anyone currently has a T-56 6 speed and the associated components I need to make the conversion, please get in touch with me. I would be willing to buy it outright or trade the 4l60e auto stuff. I would prefer low mileage as the motor only has 20,000 miles on it. If you have a lead on where I can get one for a fair price please let me know.

Alway glad to help starving students with z cars

Good decision. The LS1 is going to make you a happy Z owner. As for the ramen noodles when I was a starving student I used to frequesnt the local pubs for their happy hour buffet. You buy one drink, nurse it all night and fill up on all of the free food. Most of them had one dollar drafts for happy hour but I guess I am just showing my age by stating this. Best of luck!

The Sr20DET is a great motor but not even close to an LS1 in power, reliability or driveability. If you want a turbo motor go with the rb motor. If you want a ripple free idle and gobs of torque go with the V8 enough said!

I am also in the process of doing the LS1 swap into my 240Z. Here is some of the info I found out about these motors. The LS1 in the F body cars (camaros and firebirds) are basically the same as the vette LS1. The LS1 came out in the vette in 1997 and in the F body cars in 1998. The vette claimed 345 HP and the F body 305HP. The ram air F body cars were making more. In 2001 the new Z06 came out with an improved block, better breathing cylinder heads, and improved intake and a hotter cam (know as the LS6) and made 385HP.In 2002 the Z06 was bumped up to 405HP. In 2001 and 2002 the F body cars were rated at 310HP and 325 for the ram air cars. All the 2001 and 2002 F body cars got the newer LS6 intake manifold but not the heads, block or cam. Phantoms car is has 1998 LS1 and 6 speed and has 311RWHP and ran 12.9 with a stock motor with headers and an improved air intake. This was on street tires. MAS280's car has a 1999 LS1 and an automatic and has 346RWHP and ran 11.4. The motor has a small cam, bigger headers (1 3/4" vs. 1 1/2") and a shift kit in the trans. He was running drag radials. MAS280 also had his car running at the track before with an LT1.This might help with the times. I know he is shooting for the 10's and I am sure he will get there. Check out LS1tech.com to find out all the easy HP upgrades available for this motor. 400RWHP is very easy to be had from a stock block without NOS. You really can't compare the LS1 Z car to a built up turbo 6 cylinder. Either you want the V8 or the turbo. For me, I'll have a V8 please.

The swap was for a Nissan RB25DET Motor from the Skyline in Japan. It is a inline 6 turbo setup. Quite a hot motor if you like turbo's. I'll take mine with a V8 please!

Dale, I saw this Z car is in Georgia and thought you might be interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=2474025365&category=6187

Joey, Pretty cool that Mike Knell would deliver the stuff himself just to see your car. That's great. I don't understand why he wouldn't be interested in building a kit for the Z but he would for a ZX? That doesn't seem right but I guess since the ZX is newer and the original Z's are getting scarce he might have more of a market. Sorry to hear that Dynatec is not good. Did you have any luck setting up a site to post the pics? I would love to see the transmission mount and see how the exhaust will clear and know more about the fuel system. More Pics, More Pics! Thanks,

Don't buy a rusty Z. The time, money and aggrevation it will cost you is more than it would have cost you for a rust free car. Being on the east coast there were no rust free cars that I saw and I looked for over a year before I bought mine. I must have looked at 20 -30 cars and I went all over to find one. I flew to Florida, drove to Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, West VA. I finally found one in New Jersey that had just come from California. A V8 in a Z puts alot of stress on the unibody. A rusty car will not handle it. Take your time and find a nice rust free car. You will be happier in the long run and you will have a car that will go up in value too. Even if you have to travel to get one it will be worth it. If you find one that is too far away you can probably find a list memeber in that area to go and look at it for you. I was interested in a car in California once and had a guy I know from one of the lists go and see it for me. Glad I did because it had lots of problems that didn't show up in the pictures and I would have had to spend lots of $$ to fix them. Best advice I can offer is BE PATIENT! Wait for the right car.

I've had the same problem too. I have learned to copy the post before I hit submit just in case. I got tired of retyping. As for websites where you can post pics, you can set up a free one at: http://www.cardomain.com Also: http://www.classiczcars.com Both sites will allow you to post pics and a description of your car. Keep us posted on the swap!

As someone who is in the process of a 240Z LS1 swap I will add my 2 cents. I bought my mostly restored/refinished, very nice, rust free 240Z for $8700. It came with many performance mods. Coilovers with adj. caster/camber plates and eibach springs at all 4 corners, Tokiko 5 ways, front and rear sway bars, front and rear strut braces, poly bushings, R180LSD, 4 core radiator, nice paint and interior, etc. see pics at the link below. I put another $1500 into it for stereo, wheels and tires, etc. I bought a 2002 LS1 and 4l60e from a Camaro SS with 20,000 miles on it for $4000. I bought the LS1 cooling fans for $100. I just sold the current L28 drivetrain for $2300. So far that adds up to $12000. The LS1 stuff I would need from JCI will run approx. $2100 including everything they offer except the radiator since I already have one. I still need to build a fuel system, exhaust, have the computer programed, have the wiring harness redone, possibly upgrade the rear diff., and upgrade the brakes. Brake system is currently stock fronts with porterfields, stock rears with greenstuff shoes and braided brake hoses. (What am I missing?) I went into this planning on a budget of $20000. and I know I can finish it for that or less. I figure the motor will put out about 375HP at the crank with the JCI headers. This should produce at least 300 RWHP. Should be good for mid 12's on street tires. NOS is about $700 for a good 100HP wet kit and should move it in the 11's. If all this comes to be I will be very happy. I set out to build a classic 240Z that would run with the best of the exotics for 20% of their cost. I am sure I could have done this for much less if I started with a car that wasn't as clean and settled for an older, higher mileage LS1 but it wasn't my goal. As mas280 said " The swap can be done for less than $5,000." I believe it can be done for $5000 for the swap alone if you get a great deal on the motor and trans ($1500) buy the kit from JCI ($1600 w/o A/C), do all the work yourself, and only put the $5000 towards getting the drivetrain running in the car and no other stuff like suspension, brakes, etc. But it all adds up. You make the choice.