Z-Fever Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 We are building a 1982 Datsun 280ZX. The car came from Georgia and has been sitting in a barn for nearly 10 years. The customer is very attached to it and wanted to update the car and re-power it. He wanted a VQ35 from a 350Z. After doing his research he found us and had seen all the VQ35 swaps we had done and sent to car to us. This is the build: Here is the car when we first started the build. First things first.... let's get rid of the L28. Great old engine but no balls! Look at all that Georgia clay caked onto everything, nice!!! this is all the rust that came out of the old fuel tank, NASTY!!! We will have to pull the tank and have it resealed before we start the new engine. Plus, as an added bonus we had a trashed steering rack and the whole suspension was garbage... Here are some before and after pics... So, now that the suspension was addressed we are on to the engine bay. First we have to strip it completely for repaint: Now, we have to sand EVERYTHING BY HAND!!!!! Because it is a nightmare trying to get a DA sander into the cracks and crevices of the engine bay: Now we start to paint the engine bay: Now we installed the engine mounts and set it in the engine bay. Now we made a custom transmission mount: Now we made a custom shifter bracket out of 6061 Billet aluminum and removed the factory rear VQ trans bracket and installed ours: Now we made a custom conversion clutch line from stainless braided hose: We have already finished the wiring harness and tuned the ECU. We have installed teh 350Z accelerator pedal and are making the custom p/s steering lines and radiator. These will all be finished in the next couple days. We also made a custom driveshaft but it still neds to be installed. She will be finished and running by next week. Call us if you have any questions about this build of if we can help you with your project. http://www.zfever.com or http://www.VQ35swap.com Here are a couple video os the start up. We just finished the build: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 very nice install, any pics from the belly side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbonat240 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Nice! Looks like a bit of an easyer fit than in a S30. Maybe I should have kept my white '82... lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchetypeDatsun Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 That's fricken awesome i saw those videos earlier today on YouTube if i recall on the description you guys said it weighs ruffly 2200lbs which is super light and with that motor in there i bet the car is gonna be a blast to drive. How much is a whole conversion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter72 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 What ECU are you using?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
260DET Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Obviously a customer with good taste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse. Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 Can you fit a strut bar over the VQ35DE.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank280zx Posted October 26, 2011 Share Posted October 26, 2011 looking good guys i love it that the s130 chassis is getting some more money put towards it in teh US now to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calico Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Looks very clean, im also interested in the cost & how did you get the weight down to 2200lbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FricFrac Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 Nice install. Just curious why you didn't take the air filter through the stock inlet hole and in front of the radiatior instead of sucking hot air from the engine bay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Fever Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 What ECU are you using?. We use the stock OEM VQ35 ECU. We remove the NATS, reconfigure it, and tune it. We also do teh re-wire service for the OEM EFI harness that makes everything work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Fever Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 Can you fit a strut bar over the VQ35DE.? No, but you can make one that goes around it. With this custom intake manifold there might be 1/2" between it and the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Fever Posted November 5, 2011 Author Share Posted November 5, 2011 Here is the finished product installed along with video And video of it running: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PalmettoZ Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Very nice conversion. Nice work with the ECU. Do you have any before and after data from the manifold change? Looks like you would get alot more horsepower with that manifold, but lose some torque. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) Seems similar to the 94 pathfinder intake style, it would be good for torque based on the intake runners IMO depending on the change of size of the runners. Any pictures of the inside of the manifold? Edited November 6, 2011 by 19762802+2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenfood Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 ^^^ yes here is the build, http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/102994-z-fever-anatomy-of-a-custom-intake-manifold-vq35/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stretchnuts Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 +1^ How did you get an s130 chassis to 2200lbs? And how much do you charge per hour in labor, i.e. appx cost of any motor/custom work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchetypeDatsun Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I called Z-Fever a month & half or 2 months ago about getting all brackets, engine mounts, Tranny mounts, driveshaft, Flashed ECU, Harness it totaled around $2,500 or more if I remember right. I already had a VQ35 and really wanted to go the swap but its probably gonna cost just as much as swapping an RB. You can find some pretty good deals for VQ35DE's or VQ35HR's, I got just the engine for $200 bucks. I have seen some under 2 grand low mileage VQ's with Engine, trans, ECU, & Harness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SagaFish Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Hello! I see this is a old post. Id like to get in contact with those who did the work and build. Im currently about to start my swap my self. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverdone Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Did you try clicking on the link that he provided in his first post to get to the companies website? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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