Guest Anonymous Posted April 5, 2002 Share Posted April 5, 2002 Hello All, Well after lurking in the shadows dreaming of v8 power I finally broke down and bought a 350 SBC....and there was much joy! I think I've have a handle on getting everything stuffed in, fabricated and bolted down but I'm REALLY clueless on the electrical wiring. Has anyone installed one into a '83 280ZX that can provide some details on this? I'd buy the JTR manual but as I plan on fabricating the mounts and everything myself and from what I read in others posts it doesn't appear JTR covers wiring on the later model ZX's anywho and so what's the point. Thanks again folks and I GREATLY appreciate any assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
labrat Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 Well, i crammed a 350 in my 81 280ZX, and the wiring wasn't all that difficult. The hardest part is to keep from burning the unused, taped up wires from the exhaust heat under the hood. The main thing is to wire everything up on relays, don't rely on the stock datsun wiring for anything! My setup is like this: 1 relay to coil (or HEI dizzy, i used points) 1 relay to fan/electric choke (fan wired for constant on) 1 relay for starter (used HD ford starter "solenoid") Other than that, just run 1 big wire from the alternator output to the battery (or batt guage) and jumper the voltage sensing wire back to the output terminal of the alternator. It was really much easier than I expected. Now, if all my crimp on connectors just hold... Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 Yup ditto what Bill said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted April 6, 2002 Share Posted April 6, 2002 Bill, Thanks for the info and I hope it goes as easy as you mention. My biggest fear is sending my wiring up in smoke I noted your in Austin, curious what rad/fan combo you're running to keep everything cool? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greimann Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 I found that having a wiring diagram of a Camaro of the same year of the motor was helpful. A Haynes manual will suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Supernova: Agree with everyone. My best suggestion would be to mark all the wiring as you take it off. I wrapped it together, put them into several baggies and sealed each with duct take while I detailed the engine bay. It takes some time to do that, but you end up savng a ton of time in troubleshooting on the other end when you are trying to get everything to work. As you see by the response, there are enough ZX conversions out there with everything working to get troubleshooting help when you get to that point. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danc Posted April 8, 2002 Share Posted April 8, 2002 Supernova: By the way, do yourself a BIG favor and buy the JTR manual. There are lots of things that do not apply to the ZX, but it is an invaluable source of philosophy, and general information. The motor mounts are really a minor aspect of this conversion. Good luck. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.