Guest Anonymous Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Here is my situation. I just graduated high school and have a summer job with a fair shair of money saved.There is a 1976 280z for sale in the want ads..... well heres the ad. "will run, great project car, stored 10yrs, needs floors, much invested, w/receipts, $650" I would post the picture but i dont know how. so for now ill just say that it has faded red paint. I have been interested in V8 Z's for a while now and I want to take the plunge. Basically my understanding is that the Ford v8 swap is more difficult that the chevy because of the custom mounting stuff. My dad has a 69 302 that could use a little refurbishing and a 4 speed. (They were in his mustang) I could get them off him for free..... So basically these would be my starting costs.... -Car -Engine -tranny = 650$ Now you see why i want to do this swap.... The car is about 40 minutes away so i dont know the current condition. Its been sitting for 10 years so im going to assume some pretty bad body rot, shot suspension, so on.... Now the bad news...... I have around $2000 for this swap.... But summer just began so.... i would have about another 800 - 1000 before summer is over. Would i be able to build a driveable/safe v8 z before september? and with the amount of money I have. I want your comments plz. -Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 needs floors That statement scares me. If the floor pans are rusted out, or even have a single rust hole through them, then from what you say I don't think this is the car for you. Floor pans will take anywhere from months to years to replace and will probably chew up your entire $3000 budget. Also the "will run, great project car" == $$$ to me. You don't care about the engine and tranny, but you do care about the tires, brakes, struts, tie rods, radiatior, battery, electrical, steering rack, glass, weatherstrip..... You get the idea. Sounds like your dad has some experience with cars. Get him or a buddy to go with you to look at the car. It is often good to bring an outsider who can look at things a little less emotionally. Be prepared to make more than one trip. Between the two of you check the car over and make a list of everything that the car needs. Divide the list into "must do" and "want to do" items then try and put dollar amounts to each. If you are even ball park on your guesses, then that should give you your answer. Also don't forget the cost of towing that thing home, tags and title. It adds up quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwink25 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Someone has a website up that did a ford 302 swap for under $1000. As far as there being no kit out there....that is not 100% correct. I bought a cross member that allows you to bolt in a small block Ford. I got it from Alsis. I paid $125 for it...and I think that it included shipping. It bolts to the frame of the car. You have to drill a couple of holes, nothing to hard. As far as the tranny mount, I believe he just modified the Datsun one to work. You'll have to make/modify your own drive shaft as well. I would think about getting a JRT manuel and kinda follow it but, apply it to doing the Ford swap. I have been told there is a lot of good info in this book. I would have done the Ford V8 swap myself by now but, I had collected a couple of L28ET engines and went turbo L6 for now. My next Z will be a small bolck Ford V8 swap. Whats better than one Z? Two! hehe! Good luck! Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwink25 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 http://datsun.getyours.com/Z_Photos/z_photos.htm Ford V8 conversion for under $1000 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwink25 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 http://zcar.netdojo.com/main.htm Alsis home page...the guy I got my mount from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwink25 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 http://www.zhome.com/rnt/FordPower/index.html Another Ford V8 swap page....this guy is awesome. His name is Terry. He has one of the baddest Z ever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Well i emailed the guy but i havent got a response yet.... Good point about the floore boards... but i cant see how they would take a year. It took me and my dad about 2 hours to completly gut his mustangs interior down to the floor boards... and well the rest is some cutting and some welding away. The ad is too brief for me to really make a decision to even look at it but i know what 10 years of a car sitting in New York can do... Basically i have been worshiping Darius' car ( ) for about a year now and i stumbled across this ad...... So you know... Wanted to do it So if not this car then what? You guys know my situation.... Should i just look for a car that was driven recently but the transmission is siezed or something? Blown engine? -Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwink25 Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 Looking for a car that has a blown engine or bad tranny might be a good idea. You should be able to pick one up cheap that way. Finding one might take awhile. I almost didn't bother looking at the 1971 240Z that I now have...it was in the paper for $400 and said fixer upper, needs restoration, doesn't run, ect... I thought well rust bucket, POS. I called anyway, talked to the guy, it had been sitting for years...but had some work done to it. Why was he selling it? He was going to fix it up for his son but, his son didn't want it! I went out to look at it and...OMG! There was this car in sorta black primer but it was straight with hardley a spot of rust anywhere! Oh, and he had enought parts to put almost two of them together! We are talking two engines, trannys, two everything! I was drooling over this one. What a great find I thought to myself. Oh, and I got it for only $300. I didn't have $400 on me and he was needing the garage space. I filled up my rented storage building with the extra parts. Took 3 full size Chevy truck loads to get all the extra parts. There where also several new in the boxes parts as well. I'll never find this good of deal again. You never know what you might find out there. Just keep an eye open. Good Luck! Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwink25 Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 I would check out that car anyway...it might be a better find than you think. Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 DELETE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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