love-my-V8-280Z

Im a 280Z owner with a LT1 and T56 ready to go in.' A clean car can will run 2 to 3,000. The motor and trans $3,000. I picked my up for that with 55,000 miles. The JTR mounts I think about $200. The LT1 has 270-290 HP. You can buy the LT4 kit for $1200 and it raises the HP 150 HP. the T56 will handle it and so will the rear end, now figure $500 for raditor,drive shaft, exhust etc. Than there are the extras that kill you, the-well I would like the 4 point roll bar, air dam, rims, etc this is what kills you. I have done my car up good and I will have about $12,000 in to it.

Thanks guys! I need a hood, have been looking for this hood for a long time. Cant bring myself to pay the JC Witney price. I placed a bid on this hood wish me luck!

You really must buy some por 45 I think its called if you want a cheap out. I had rust that bad, I sand blasted it and painted it with urathane primer. Thats the right way, but people talk good about the por product. I went and bought a gallon of the truck bed liner and did the bottom of my car and the wheel wells. Im very happy, it had been sitting for 2 years and is holding up good, you may also wish to take some tin snips and cut the rust out, that rivet a new piece in than cover with Por or truck bed liner... lots of ways to do it cheap,no one will know, it will be under the carpet. Lots of cool glues and caulk out there too!

MiloZ, There are several scherch engines on the web that will scan junk yards. Shot for a LT1 and see what u get,. That is how I got mine after calling every yard in my city.

DITTO! I shopped and shopped and had to go out of state to get mine. I paid 3,000 for a 95 Z28 with 55,000 on it. You are doing well if it is clean.

I used the paint on bed liner for the bottom of my car and the wheel wheels,. I have not driven the car yet, but 2 years sitting it still looks goods as new. Its a great alternitive to black undercoating. If you scrape your hand over it u dont get the tar under your finger nails and its tuff as nails!

First it is not worth having someone else make your plates, I bought metal and tryed to use a saw zaw and they drilled them. I was not happy at all and it took a long time. to pay someone to make them I would bet would only be a very little cheaper. AS for the the cross member spacers they give you more hood clearance, most people dont use them...

It has been discussed, you have to check the history. Anyway its not a easy answer. Carb is much easyer to install, FI runs better, better gas milage longer lasting motor.

I wouldn't do it either, Im no aluminum expert but there is a huge difference between aluminum and steel. I to think it would crack in a short time. Why would you use aluminum, steel is cheaper and even if you get the aluminum free the steel is only $20.

You have over looked a few things. Im strongly suport the 6 speed manual. For one did you know the manual is rated at 450 lbs of torqe? When you wear out the clutch its not a whole new trans! And dont forget when you have a manual you get to drive the car, not just push a pedal down. A little girl can drive that. Wind it out or drop it a gear when you deside you want some torqe! In my mind it just don't compare.. Lets see you rev up a automatic and drop the clutch! Hope I have made you think some more.

I just did a butt ton of body work on a michigan Z. I like Tiger hair. Its fiberglass with the matt fiber mixed in. you spread it like bondo but its fiberglass and matt mixed. Problem with fiberglass is you cant mold it very well. So even the best body men have to use a thin layer of bondo. So go and grind the rust holes, remove ALL rust, it must look like brand new metal. ruff it up, pack the tiger hair in from the rear and just as it gets kinda hard file the extra off. Than let it get completely hard, maybe 1 hour. Than spread a thin layer of bondo over it. This will last forever! If you complete the project with only one aplacatioin of the bondo you are way above average. It takes me a bunch of on and off before I get it perfect.

Looks good! I have seen pics of your car before. Can you tell me what size tires you are running, I have never seen tires that stick out past the fender before, do you ever hit? thanks Terry

Well I have a question, years ago peope used Laquer paint, than moved to Arcrlic, not its urathane know as 2 part, or base coat clear coat. First I have been told you don't want to let Arcrlic primer sit for long periods of time as it will absorb mosture. The Urathane don't do this and can sit in primer for years. One I did not think you could paint urathane over arcrlic?? They do make a urathane primer as that is what I used on my car over a etching primer. Oh and the one of the difference between is Laquer and urathane is not that the urathane is harded but I would say softer... My boss painted his truck with laquer and in one year he had a crap load of chips becuse he lived on a gravel road. Mostly on the lower front of the truck. Anyway he repainted it with 2 part and in 3 years don't have any stone chips, he told me he is amazed with the difference

Don't matter if you get a 240 or 280, I would do the 280 for several reasons. If you buy the motor everything you need is there. U will need to buy the Helms manual for the car you pick. Otherwise you don't tie the datsun wires together with the V8 harness. Per say. Of couse you need a ignition wire, and a always hot. I close to installing a LT1. was worried it was hard, just have to go slow and read. Terry

Big Jim, Don't make the same mistake I made. I copied the mounts and cut them out. Used them as a template. They are off by enuff to make it hell! And if its easier for you I can scan the pages you want and email them to you. Terry

As for the hood latch. Just drill out the welds, when the motor as been installed insert bolt were you have drilled the welds out....

Want to save more? My buddy installed a V8 and ran a straight piece of steel for the transmission and shimed as necessary. Also I called a local driveshaft company and bought the adapter for less, I dont remember the excact price but it was about $25.

Tim, You make me sick.. 1400 for both?!?? I could not get the tranny around here for under $2500. I called every junk yard in the book, ended up on the internet and found the one I bought 14 hours away. And they were the only one that had one out of the 30+ yards that I emailed, who all by the way were suppost to according to the scherch engine I used... You can spend $1000 bucks on upgrades and still get more for it than you spent... Terry

Jamie, When you had your heads port and polished and added the HoT cam kit, did it mess with the computer any? I would like to do the same mod to my LT1 before I have it installed. But Im already concerned about getting the thing running right with the know how I don't have. do you think I would regreat this upgrade being a newbee at this converion? Thanks Terry

Jamie, Heck you did not flame me you made my day! I felt I could have gotten more bang for my buck, if I bought a used v8 and manual transmission and spent $3,000 don’t you think I could have gotten more HP for my money? I don't know. I know I got a pretty good deal on the motor/trans I have because they are hard to find and are great motors. But I'm guessing if I bought a carbed 350 and some stand transmission both able to handle and produce the same amount of HP, Don’t you think I would have spent less? I should be running about 300 HP at the wheels. Any opinion is welcome.

I need to add my 2 cents,,, Have a LT1 in the garage and 280Z begging me to install it! I picked the LT1 because: 1) Challenge 2) Smooth starting and smooth running 3) Dependable! 200,000-mile motors 4) Looks! Everyone has a carb... 5) Fuel economy 6) Once running no messing, you work up a 300 or 400 HP car and you need to tinker to keep it smooth. I have a 95 Z28 motor and 6 speeds manual, paid $3,000 and it sits stock 270 Hp,. Runs Smooth as Negative- Cost Opps a little big,,,, My first time posting a pic!!!!

I forgot to warn you about over spray, I have a 3 stall garage and just moved the other cars out, and as soon as I was done painting I open a garage door 2 feet and the back door to let the mist blow out, and I still had a light color of black on everything, it was not stuck it liked dried in the air but dont trust it, my boss painted a car at work once useing laquor and there was a perment yellow all over the floor!

I have just painted my transmission black, so I can help, First you have to deside on what paint system you want. The new 2 part stuff is called urathane paint and you have to urathane primer, which is the best, you can primer your car with it and not worry about the primer absorbing water as it sit for years as mine has... The other choice is arclick, I know I have spelt this word wrong, anyway its one coat. there is no reason you can not paint the motor bay with the arclic and if you ever want to paint the car with with 2-part you can. So I would by 1 qt urathane primer, black... and you will need 1 qt reduced. you mix them 2 parts paint and one part reducer. I bought some cheap measuring cups that stack 1/4 1/3 etc... And one thing I keep forgetting is a screen, they sell very cheap paper funnels with a screen on the bottom use them once and than toss. Anyway they catch any lumps so that they dont go into the gun. Also Before you paint, spray the dust off very good and wet the floor down, you will start spraying and blow the dust up with the paint gun and it WILL be in the paint,,, its almost a given if you paint a car with out taking a lot of prep work some dust and sand will ended up in your paint. So again, I would buy 1 qt black Dupont Centarri paint, if your primer was 2 to 1 you will still have enuff reducer and should not need to buy more. Buy everything at once and buy it from someone that knows what they are doing, I just bought and sprayed 1 qt of the centarri glossy black, It cost $40. I bought 1 qt and you have to also buy a small 1 pt bottle of hardner for the paint, I had reducer so if you have to buy more of that it will cost more. I think the reducer is about $8 a qt. You have to run your air gun at about 40-50 PSI so make sure it will hold up before you start, with a empty gun spray air and watch the qauge make sure when the compresser starts it keep the gauge at 50. Paint on a very thin coat of primer, than let your gun sit on the work bench wait a 1/2 hr for the paint to flash.. Go back out and spray a sec coat you can be done or do the 1/2 hr wait and do a third coat. You know what, I would only mix 1/2 that qt, at the most 3/4 because Im sure you will have a lot left if you mix the whole thing. Also when you mix the paint and you will see the hardner is going to be impossibe to get exactly 1/2 the little pint if you do only mix 1/2 the qt, the guy at my paint store said not to worry about it, if you dont have the exact amount of hardner it will be fine... If you were going to be painting your cars body I would not be giving my advise right now, You would want to get some books from a libery because the smallest mistakes will make you so mad, the engine bay is a great chance to learn.. Also you need to understand that these paints are extremely-emtremely! bad for your body, you must cover up, it will be absorbed thru your skin., and as for breathing they sell a disposable mask for $20 that works great. I dont recommend it, but after 2 masks I ran a garden hose out the back door and held it with my teeth, you can get good at sucking thu a hose and exhalling out you nose If you have not guessed Im no pro.. and it don't take long to get comfortable painting. As for sanding, you want a ruff surface for the primer to stick too, like 80 grit on the bar metal, (dont worry about it much if your done and did not use 80 grit). sand the primer as smooth as a babys butt! work up to 400 grit, you will see that the primer comes off fast and easy, lots of people like to use a pad called scotch brite, they are soft pad that you use like sand paper and come in the correct grit, just a couple bucks... just remember your first coat is the one that does all the sticking, so very thin! let it flash for 30 mins, set your gun at a minimum fan and minimum paint, make sure you have a gallon of laqor thinner to clean up with, $8 at menards... Fill the cup 1/4 full with the laqor thinner and spray that so you can understand the fan button and the paint quanity button.. You dont want a big fan you want a round shot, its very hard to paint under the battey pan, I would start their, the gun works best when you start tipping it sideways and such and it has a pretty full cup... send me your email address and I will send you a pic of my engine bay before and after, as well as my transmission that that I just painted black last weekend. Make sure you have plenty of time, you will enjoy yourself if you are not in a hurry,,, as for telling you it was pretty cheap well as I type this and add the mask, laqor thinner etc, it starts to add up. But I dont think you would be very proud to show off your car when it would pretty noticeable that it had been painted with a spray can,, Good luck, if I missed anything, and I probably did email me... steenhagens(at)triton(.) net.. Terry

Phanton, Tim, THANKS! You have answered all my qestions, I have a 3 page doc that I have been making in word, cuting and pasteing, and you have solved my misunderstanding in one paragraph.... Terry

Thanks Phantom, It could be close, you are running 100 HP more than me and are in the 12's . If I dont make it I can squeeze out a 100 HP pretty easy.... Hope to be on the road next summer.. Can I ask you one more question, you seem to understand the offset issue, Im looking at rims with 23MM back spacing. Is this a 4 inch back spaced rim? and is 4" back space a 0 off set? I have read that a 0 off set is what you want. I have read a lot on tire size and I think this is the best tire size to get," 215/50/15" some have problems with 225 hitting the fender and 215/60's bottoming out... Would you agree?