LS1 Z

I'm doing the swap write now. I would think you will be in the 12's. I believe MAS280 is down to 11.4, slightly modified. See his video clip!! And I think Phantom is in the 12's. I will be there soon!! The Vette motor, the trans is mounted in the rear of the car. I believe a LS1 Camaro and Vette are the same animal. The difference in horse power on the two cars is the air intake. GOOD LUCK!! JOEY

O.K. I did a search and found nothing. My big ??!! How do you remove the tach from the dash? The car is a 77 280z. I removed the single phillips screw. Nothing came out. Do I need to remove the whole dash? Need to take out to send to JOHN'S CARS for my LS1 conversion. (keeping factory gauges) Any help would be great!!!!! THANK YOU!! JOEY A.K.A. LS1 Z

Good Morning!! I purchased my 00 Camaro ls1 w/4l60e an 18k miles from Emerald Coast Engineering, Merv Cray cel 850-240-7171 and e-mail fuelinjectionman@cox.net. I paid 4950.00. If you go with him I wouldn't recommend using Dynatec to modify the harness. They have had mine for 2 months.

Going back to Mike Knell, I believe the 280zx is his personal vehicle for the swap. Yes Dynatec has been paid!!! Big thanks to MAS280 for giving me Dynatec's number!!! I've been dealing with the guy I got my motor from cause he set me up with them. No Dynatec doesn't answer or return phone calls !! I agree with Phantom about what wiring to leave in the car. Thats what is left in mine. My 77, the engine harness all came out together. As for this weekend!!!!! YES I will be working on the car!!! and YES!!!! I will get new pictures posted!!!!!!!!! Have a great one!!!!!! JOEY

Haven't much for updates with easter and car shows. Been collecting some parts and gonna work on the car this weekend . Got a camaro shifter off ebay. I'm thinking 30.00. I also picked up a radiator and supports from JTR. They look real nice. The radiator is plastic-aluminum and the supports bolt right in. The camaro LS1 fans are a little big and will require some cutting. The rad and supports ran 230.00. The cool thing was they were hand delivered by Mike Knell himself. Him like alot of other people wanted to see the car a snap off a butt load of pictures!! For those of you that don't know, Mike Knell is JTR and the man that wrote the bibles or conversion manuals we live by!! Good thing the shop was a little slow and I was able to spend a couple of hours with him talking about Z's, conversions, business and the LS1. He was too impressed with John's kit and said pretty much the same thing MAS280 said when he first saw the car. "Thats how he did it." Not so sure he will make mounts for a LS1. His point being, The LS1 only came out for a few years and not every Camaro and Firebird had one(alot of 6 cylinders). Soo he doesn't see a market. I believe he is thinking or working on putting a LS1 in a 280zx. The mounting totally different than JOHN'S. What was really cool is the freebees he dropped off!!! He gave me the latest editions of the F.I. and conversion books also a cold air intake set up and coolant adapters I might need. In return he wants more pictures of the car when I'm done showing me using JTR parts. I didnt even know he sold the cold air set up!! Right on!!!!! Dynatec SUCKS !!! Still no harness!!!! Hey MAS280 Where did you get your underdrive crank pully-balancer, What brand and how much!!! Also with my ECU being no good, I picket one up on ebay with the LS1 EDIT program. Question???? The ecu that is coming with the program is the only one in there. Sooooo does that mean we can add yours and John's like we talked about???? Last but not least I hope you didn't mind I gave Mike Knell your number cause he has questions about your swap. HAVE A GREAT DAY JOEY

I can't believe I just typed a whole page, hit submit, gets lost and ask's me to log in again!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyways not much of an update, Been going to car shows last two weekends. Gonna try to work on z after work. Sanderson is almost done with my headers!! Dynatec is lagging big time!!! Been told my ecu is bad, Another one should be coming. Big news is Mike Knell is coming by the shop today to check out my Z!!! I'll let you guys know his input and opinion of John's Kit!!!!! Word gets around!! QUESTION to all. Can you guys give me the names of some web sites that I can post pictures for all to see!!!!!! THANKS JOEY

WOW.... Open door.............. To start headers. My test fit was close. Took MAS280 advise to shave part of the block off on drivers side and Sanderson took note from John's, due to the steering rod(still don't know his A.K.A.) and a nice tight fit. Passenger no problem, 700.00 plus 160.00 to coat. Only problem is that with John's kit, witch comes with an adapter for the nissan oil pressure sending unit to mount by the oil filter is right where the header dumps. Again no biggie. I will mount the sensor at the rear of the intake in place of the G.M. oil pressure sensor. I don't think the ECU reads oil presure. Being in Cali. John won't sell me his headers and I don't know where they dump. There also a smaller diamiter. I think 1.5 not 1.75. ON COOLING FANS and radiators..... I picked up cooling fans off E-bay for a LS1. Thinking about going with JTR. They offer the G.M. rad and upper and lower supports. Whitch will work with the fans!!!!!!!!!!! On Dynatec............. Haven't heard anything good about them except they do clean work and it takes a while. Me! going on 6 weeks!!! What bothers me, and any insite would be great. I thought the ECU programming is what is changed to work in OUR cars. Merv(Who i bought my motor from and paid Dynatec) said the ECU is oem. What is changed is the harness and a black box is added to fool the ECU. I don't know and I'm not sure Gonna go to the NO-CAL on saturday for the show in Rio Vista. Hope to see ya there!! JOEY

The headers are 1.75 primarys, Same as MAS280 and his friend John(still don't know his a.k.a.). My O2's will probably be mounted in the collectors or just below. Again no cats. Fuel- using Johns pump,a G.M. filter with the pressure regulator built in due to my motor doesn't have a return line. Stock tank, was just boiled out and sealed a year ago. Exhaust??? Not real sure. MAS280 is running dual exhaust, Borlas, I believe with a stock tank. Havent seen his beast yet. I was thinking going 2 into one with a 3.5 pipe to some kind of muffler???? What is LS1 edit?? Dynatec has my harness and ECU to convert and edit! Hopefully see it next week!! As for the project.....Going to GOODGUYS Show sunday, but.... Next week I will install my posi unit, drive shaft, fuel pump and lines. and make a desision on cooling system. Hey PHANTOM!!! Where did you mount your ECU? Had another question but forgot. HEY MAS280!!! What kind of times did you pull at the Point?? HAVE A GREAT WEEK END!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY

I tried thi yesterday and couldn't get the post to work. Soooo this is the third time writing!! Sanderson... No they are not coated, They can be for another 160.00. Also There are no holes for the o2 sensors, Reason being from all my automotive training and expierence(mas280 agrees) You want the o2's away from the motor, in your down pipes. This lets the motor run a little richer a little longer.(more power)!! Ask John for a refund on a 15.00-20.00 mount? no way, no reason. I knew going into this project I would run into problems. So far nothing major. I had a mount here that worked. If I would have dented out the tunnell like the JTR book says. And if I believe the trans crossmember was bent slightly down. perfect!! John knows about it and I'm sure it will be corrected. No-biggie!!!!!!!!!!! As for radiators, Mas280 said around 200.00 for the Griffin from Summit and he is going to get me a part number. I'm starting to lean towards the G.M. rad and lower support in the JTR book, Just gotta see if my fans will line up. Dynatec is supposed to get my harness and ecu back to me in a week or soo!!! HAVE A BIG ONE!!! JOEY

A friend of Mikes (mas280) stopped by with his headers for a test fit. He is also a Hybrid member doing the LS1 swap, sorry don't know his A.K.A. What worked out great was he was heading to Sanderson Headers for some concerns about his and took a deposit check for mine. Should be able to pick them up monday!!! And yes the price is still 700.00 ouch!! Called on recoring my rad to 4 core. My cost 380.00. I believe I will go with a Griffin aluminum like MAS, Whats that part number Mike??? From what I'm told the radiator uses JTR lower bracket and Mikes upper is from a camaro. Still gotta see it. More advice from Mike is to use a accel cable from a 88 to 95 Acura integra. The cable mounts to the bracket on intake, is adjustable, locks into firewall and slight modification atatches to pedal. Hey Phantom, Did get quick responce from John on my slight trans adapt problem and filled him in on my project and the great responce I'm getting on his kit. He was thankfull and will take care of my tach. By no way would I ask for any freebees (except advise ofcourse) He offered!! good guy!!! Last but not least... Any of you guys live in the S.F. bay area. The guy I bought my LS1 set up will be at the Good guys show this weekend in Pleasanton. His name is Merv Cray, Business name Emerald Coast Engineering and His cel number is 850-240-7171. Talked to him a couple of days ago. And he will have a flat bed trailer with LS1'S. He will be located left front of the swap meet kind of close to the main enterence to the show. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!! JOEY

I'm working on more pictures. Typo on the LS1 intake, I'm using a LS6. Funny you asked if the alternator cleared the rack. Yes it does but...... It did hit the mounting bracket!! All i had to do is trim back the plastic cover on the rear of the alt. All good!!

I'M doing a LS1 swap with John's kit. I've deleated egr, after cat o2 sensors, smog pump and evap. Going back to the LT1, if you go into and read about MAS280 going from a very modified LT1 to an almost stock LS1 and pulling 11.4 in the quarter.See his vidio or clip on this site and I'm sure you will be impressed!!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY- LS1 Z

For the weekly update!!! One of my tecs built my rear end last night. R200 w/3:54 gears Motorsports (nismo) Posi unit 650.00 and 350.00 in bearings and seals from Concord Nissan. Thats resale prices and in all reality... MAS280 is running a R230 out of an Infiniti with a total cost of 400.00 from what he told me. Shudda coulda woulda!!!!! Had a hell of a time with the trans cross member. I dented the tunnell for the reverse servo as directed by John's manual. but..... With the cross member inplace with John's trans mount, the trans was tucked totally tight with zero clearance everywhere. After much thought and help from friends I got it to work. What I did was dent the passenger side of the tunnell where Itook off the original mounting ears about 2 inches where the support starts and used the trans mount that came with my motor-trans(it's atleast 1/4 inch shorter than the one supplied with the kit) all clears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did e-mail John and Phantom to let them know. As for a shifter. I'm gonna use a Camaro shifter. Got the LS1 intake on,injectors,alternator and so fourth. The motor is looking like it was made to be in there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROCK ON AND HAPPY SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY

Thanks mike!!!!!! Mike stopped by Friday with camara in hand! Great pictures. I too have taken pictures with my camara from the beginning, Will find out how to post. Mike also said the Sanderson headers will work with Johns Kit. As for this sunday.... Install trans adapter, Intake manafold and so on. Seems to be moving right along!!!

My Z is a 1977. The car is super clean. I bought it from a long time customer. I could have put in shows, just was missing 2 cylinders!!!! HA HA!! Car has 3k in paint, All chrome has been powder coated black. Interior all done with a SCCA 4 point roll bar (painted to match the car). All polyurathane suspension, Tokito springs and 5 way adj. struts, oversized sway bars and 3k in stereo equip. It Rocks!! The motor had some mods too but that is all in the past!! Paid 3300 for it! A screaming deal! Customer got tired of dumping money into it! His loss my gain!! The brass plug is in the left side just forward if where the original motor mount is. As for my broken O.P.Switch, if my harness comes with it I will plug it in if not I will put a plug in it. Johns trans bracket looks similiar to JTRS, except it bolts to the frame rails not the floor board. As for my tac. might as well send it to JOHN and have him convert it. HAVE A HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY

By trans adapter I mean the trans mounting bracket and mount. Yes I've been taking pictures all the way with a Cannon a60 camara. I'am sticking with all oem gauges. Johns "vital fluids" package came with adapters for temp and oil pressure. He list it as the set up coming with sending units but all I got was adapters. Know anything about this Phantom? The oil pressure is a housing that goes in place of the oem one by the oil filter, for use with the datsun sender and the temp adapter goes in place of a brass plug, left front of the block. I also purchased the speedo adapter from johns. Phantom!! does your Z use this and if so where did you mount it? One more question??? Do I need to send my tac to Johns to get converted or can I follow JTR'S book and get it to work????? O.k. Haven't done a search yet.. What brand and model shifter will fit in my center consul? HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!!!!!!!! JOEY

Came to the shop on Sunday with a mission!! Had to redo the left mounting bracket cause I had two spacers mixed up. Took alittle time. I also had to remove the trans mounting brackets from the tunnell. Then I cleaned the engine compartment with simple green and a small pressure washer, looks good. I used a tilting device to get a serious angle to drop in as recommended by jtr and johns. The tool atatches to the four corners of the heads. Problem there came when the rear chains hit the fire wall with about a inch to go. That sucked. Sooo I had to go to the old chain method to get that one inch. I broke the oil pressure switch on the rear of the motor on install. rec. removing. I also had to remove the alternator to get the long mounting bolt in on the drivers side. I installed the motor with no intake. I've been waiting for my LS6 intake from ebay, arrived yesterday. I still have to install the trans bracket, ran out of time. QWIK240. I saw pictures of your motor. My motor looked indentical to yours. My set up is a 00 LS1 w/ 4L60E with 18k. Yours being a 02 motor you already have the LS6 intake!! What next?!?!?! Gonna get the trans adapter installed, Call Dynatec about my harness and ECU. They have had it for about four weeks, I've heard they are slow. No biggie. Send my radiator out to get the four cores. Look into some kind of shifter. Want something small that will fit into the stock consul. A accel cable. And get a hold of Mike to see if his headers will fit. Let me get the trans mounted and I'll get a hold of you Mike. Thanks for stopping by on monday. Sorry I missed you. I'm off every other monday. Will be doing a post on cost soon running out of internet time now!!!! JOEY P.S. On exhaust manafolds, I can't see how any cast manafold will fit. Not much room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only way to get John's manual is to buy the engine mounting kit, and the manual pertains only to install his kit. It does walk you through removing the old set up. basic wiring, torque specs and alot of step by step. Don't skip steps! He did revise it, just gotta get it faxed to me. I'm sure all would agree is to get the JTR book. Even though it doesn't menction the LS1, It is a great book!!!

Just got dsl at work. Looks great Mike Great job!!!!!!!!!

To answer some questions????? If qwik240z or others are interested on what the project has costed me so far. I will start a new topic with numbers and info. If I can figure how to post pictures I will do as the project comes along. The trans is a auto-4l60e To Phantom so far so good. I will have questions. Johns manaul is not the greatest. It makes you think and he has revised alot of it. I just have to get ahold of him and get the revised addition. To Mas280. The swap is being done at my shop. I work 6 days 10 hours a day repairing everybody elses car's but mine!! Not alot of free time. I will be here sunday. Gonna clean the compartment, remove the trans supports from the tunnel and in she goes! Soo you still have a set of test headers?? Maybe they will fit. Gotta bring your Z by!! I have your number and will be in touch!! Thank you very much!! To all.... When I bought my LS1 and trans from Emerald Coast Engeering from Merv Cray. E-mail fuelinjectionman@cox.net. He offered me adapter plates for what I remember 50.00. To use older style small block mounts. I got off on the wrong foot with John cause he kept on telling me what or you don't need plates with my kit. I didn't know he already designed a kit just for the LS1. No his kit doesn't use adapter plates for older style mounts. I was also aproached by Mike Knell (the god that wrote the JTR datsun v8 conversion manual) to use my car as a mule. He never got back to me and thats where I'am today!! Thanks for you people!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JOEY

I purchased John's kit. I have no complaints. Gonna drop the motor in this weekend. Soo far everything fits like a glove just like John states. I agree with Phantom, talking to John, gotta know where he is coming from. He has been help full. The kit is well designed and thought of! Spent around 1,200. What I didn't get was a/c(non a/c car), radiator(have mine recored locally) headers,(using Sanderson in S.S.F like mas280). This project is gonna work and fly!! The cool thing is the amount of information on this website. When i get stuck it's nice to have mas280 close. I'll be calling you Mike!! Thank you! JOEY [/b]

HELLO MIKE!! WHAT KIND OF SHIFTER ARE YOU USING AND DOES IT WORK WITH THE STOCK CENTER CONSOL. WHERE DID YA FIND THE INTAKE SET UP LOOKS GOOD DO YOU HAVE A CONTACT NAME AT SANDERSON FOR YOUR HEADERS? GONNA GET STARTED ON MINE SOON, WAITING ON JOHNS KIT. THANK YOU JOEY- ORINDA SHELL