aftermarket crossmember from paw?

[Guest bigjim240z]

i was looking through my paw catolog and saw a universal crossmember that mounts a small block chevy in what ever you want...will these work in a z car?..looks like its a universal fit..once you get it into the position you want you just weld or bolt it to the car..then the engine just drops onto the mounting location on the crossmember.anyone ever see these or used one?

[Tim240z]

Just not necessary for a SBC in an early Z car. The swap has been done enough that it is not necessary to reinvent the wheel. The JTR kit works very well, and is bolt on. Now if it were to work with a SBF, or other domestic 8 banger, that would be a different story.

Tim

[jeromio]

Those are also meant to work with full frame type cars - as in 60s and older. Something like a Datsun with thin, spot welded sheetmetal "frame rails" would require lots of bolstering to have a engine bearing crossmember attached to it. I think you'd end up doing more work than with other solutions.

[Mike C]

I know the crossmember you are talking about. It looks like it would work in a lot of cars including the Z. YOu could make some c-channel brakcets that slipped over the frame ramils and bolted through them, then you could weld the crossmember brakcets to that. Should be at least as strong as the Nissan crossmember mount, But might cause steering shaft and exhaust clearance problems in a Z. It is kind of re-inventing the wheel since an easy way to swap a V8 into a Z already exists.