Guest Anonymous Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Hello, My names Jake and I live in the central Texas area. My father has a late 70's Datsun 280zx and he is giving it to me. I want to put a crate SBC (350)into it with maybe a 700 trans in it. I've seen the JTR kits and I've also seen a 350 conversion kit in a Nissan Motorsports catalog. My question is what kit would be the best kit to use and what engines and tranny combos have any of you out there used that were successful for you. All your help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated and if there are any Texans out there y'all drop me a reply. Thanks, Jake PS Sorry soooo long Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Locutus Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 if it is a ZX you can not use the JTR kit, Motorsport sells a ZX kit as does Johns Cars. but they are essentially the same and place the engine directly over the frame horns or as its called in a Z a scarab conversion. The reason for this is that the firewall on the ZX is 3 inches closer eliminating the set back the JTR mount provides. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Locutus Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 if it is a ZX you can not use the JTR kit, Motorsport sells a ZX kit as does Johns Cars. but they are essentially the same and place the engine directly over the frame horns or as its called in a Z a scarab conversion. The reason for this is that the firewall on the ZX is 3 inches closer eliminating the set back the JTR mount provides. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jason Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Congrats on the car. Im going to be doing a zx swap myself, except with a 6 speed manual, and a very cheap motor. I'll work on more hp after I get it running. -Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 21, 2000 Share Posted July 21, 2000 Hey, So youre telling me either way (motorsports or the other) the kits are gonna be equally good? I was thinking of putting a 350 HO Deluxe crate motor in it, will this work out fine? Would it be easier to buy the 350 HO and strap on aluminum parts for weight distribution? Give me some advice here experts!!!(PLEEEEAAZZEE) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Locutus Posted July 22, 2000 Share Posted July 22, 2000 Well there aren't many that have done a ZX conversion. I was orginally going to do a ZX but I found a Z with the engine already there so I decided I liked the Z better. As far as weight distrubution goes, I am not sure how the ZX is balanced to begine with, but if you move the battery to the back and use aluminum parts up front you should be close to balanced. I am sure you can tweak things to get a good balance. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Motorsports Ltd Posted July 22, 2000 Share Posted July 22, 2000 I'll dig out the exact weights of my setup later. I was down at the Mt. Shasta/THunderhill (willows, CA) All Datsun Meet a couple weeks and had the opportunity to have my car weighed on corner scales. For background my car is an '80 280ZX with '98 350 shortblock/Al. heads and lots of other lighter weight additions. With the car emptied out for autocross but otherwise stock inside, 7/8's full fuel tank and my 185lb frame in the car it weighed 50.0% front and rear:-) Scale guy rocked my car he was in such surprise:-) came back to 50/50. Total weight was ~3110 with me in it etc. You can do it for more of a 51/49 weight balance a lot cheaper. I've just progressively been making changes to help things out and lower my polar moment of inertia (bringing the cars mass as close to the physical centre of the car as I can for nimbler handling and better balance). Nice thing with chevy's is they're so easy to modify at any time while starting with a more affordable setup (ie. you can easily add in aluminum water pump/heads/intake at any time as your budget suits) Personally I"m not big on any of the kits as any I've known who bought them ended up changing components to better suit their needs or making them for less. If you're paying a shop to do it, it may save them enough time etc or even yourself. You ask what engines are preferred, most any 350 is a fine start. I'd reccomend doing a fair bit of reading first whether on some chevy lists to see what cam/head combos typically yield what range of power/mannerisms etc. The crate motors are fine IMO if you already know that power level is perfectly fine for you. If you end up modifying them etc later I feel you're better off having built your own from the start or having a savy friend help out in hunting down the parts. 700R4 is a fine tranny, just make sure whatever fuel/intake combo you use has the correct swing arc for the TV cable (trans cable) as many don't know that Qjets/performers don't have the correct swingarc and never get their shifts setup right. YOu need a custom plate/tab or offset stud for this (play to do mine later today after 4 yrs trying to get it right finally found a builder who knew what was going on) good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 22, 2000 Share Posted July 22, 2000 Fellow Hybrideers, You seem to know quite a bit about this subject Ross C. I'm assuming you made your own parts to accept the SBC (or whatever engine you may be using) if you didn't please tell otherwise so I can use this info for my swap. Does anyone know the URL for Nissan Motorsports or for the kit they sell for ZX's? Also, would it be a mistake to look for a decent trans (say the 700) in a junkyard or from a private seller that I could depend on? What I'm realy trying to say here is are there any ways to obtain one cheaper than buying one new? Thanks again guys. Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Just curious - any reason you don't want to run a stick trans? What about a 200R4? I think it might even be lighter then the 700 but I'm not positive. One of the Chevy rags recently had a buildup on one of these and I think it was lighter and possibly smaller. If interested I can try to track it down. Certainly don't buy one new. If you get one from a yard have it rebuilt and beefed up. Some of the guys here have 700s for sale if you hunt through some of the forum messages. I think there was at least 2 for sale not long ago. The ZZ4 crate or it's bigger brother the 385 ZZ4 with fast burn heads would be awesome if your budget can handle it. $3700 intake to pan with flexplate and ignition. They've got some cheaper ones as well but try to get aluminum heads if you can and NOT cast pistons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Hey I'm about to buy the motormounts from MSA (http://www.zcarparts.com) for my 1980 280ZX. I have the power assisted gear box. According to ZCar Magazine (Spring 1996) "The conversion is engineered to work with any of the three steering arrangements found in the 79-83 ZX. The small-block Chevy 350 is a tight fit in the early ZX with power steering, but they have found a way to make it work." Unless something happens and I don't get them, I'll let you guys know how they work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 The reason why I was choosing automatic at first was just as an example as a matter of fact I woul rather have a stick but I read somewhere that the conversion is a bit easier when installing an automatic tranny. You say the 200 would be a good choice? How much would I be expecting to pay for a quality used one? I'm gonna go check out zcarparts.com but I've been there before and I couldn't seem to find it (the conversion kit). Any links you guys could put up would be greatly appreciative. Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 I BELIEVE the 200R is worth looking into. To be honest I'm not real big on auto transmissions and am actually a Ford guy at heart The 200R is what was used inthe Buick GNs if memory serves. Built "right" it ought to handle anything we throw at it in such a light car. I know guys with GNs who really abused theirs with no problem. As for th eauto being "easier". I'm not sure that's true. I know the ZX is "different" so I can't speak very well to how it fits but the stick trans in both the IRCO type Camaros and in the later Camaros was hydraulic. Since the Z is also hydraulic there's not big issues with cables for the clutch. My biggest worry though would be where the shifter pokes up in the tunnel. IF it's too far forward then you'd not be able to get it fit in correctly. I personally prefer the stick and will be using a T56 6 speed in my conversion. Cost - on the auto I just don't know. On the stick - my T56 was around $1700. A T5 would be cheaper I'm sure. Good luck, and keep us posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 25, 2000 Share Posted July 25, 2000 This might be a crazy question but would I be able to somehow modify the hole where the stick pops out (assuming its not way outta whack) and make everything still work out right? Keep in mind here fellas I'm not a know it all when it comes to cars. Was that tranny you bought ,the T5, new or used? I'm looking to spend a fair amount of money but god knows I cant buy everything new. I'm gonna hunt around austin and see what I can dig up. Thanks again, Jake Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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