Engine conclusion

[Gollum]

Ok, now... i decided that i want to stick with my stock blcok till my car is smog exempt (80' 280zx). So i had benn playing with the idea of putting in a skyline R33 motor... but the more I thought about it the more i hated it. Having to deal with tuning and maintaining and such. If i went skyline i'd go all out. I'd want 400 to the wheels on 91 octane with the turbos as low as they go. But really, it's just out of my league.

 

So i thought... "I wonder how well a ford widsor modor woulod fit". And i figured, if a 5.0 will fit, a winsor will fit. After all, the 5.0 was based on the windsor block.

 

http://coasthigh.com/Assemblies/Ford/ford_408w.htm?Submit333=408ci

 

So i decided i'll have chp build me a motor. It'll cost a pretty penny, but it'll be worth it. It will have the street power i want. While easy to maintain. Also keep in mind it will be 6 or more years till my car is smog exempt.

 

So, questions. Do you think a larger bore windsor is less reliable than a smaller bore winsor? If i can fit it i might supercharge the sucker and run low compression. But that would probly just lessen the relability factor.

 

Ok, second question. Any idea how you mate a mustang 6pd to a windsor. I know it's been done, but i couldn't find much very easily. Maybe someone has something bookmarked.

 

If anyone has another idea for a high hp easliy maintainible engine swap let me know (don't say chevy 350. It's not that i don't like the motor, but i refuse to be yet another victom of the chevy cheep sticker price. There are too many people with the 350 swap).

[Guest bastaad525]

that's funny I coulda SWORE that you said a V8 was 100% out of the question... dont want to get ragged on by the rice crowd and such, right?

 

Man you gotta pick one thing and just stick with it. It's a long ways off before you ZX is smog exempt... what makes you so sure you'll even still have it by then? You seem to mostly just want a lot of streetable power... but your engine choice keeps bouncing around. But why do you keep aiming towards the harder swaps? Skyline motor? Ford Windsor? It's obvious you're more concerned just with reaching a certain power goal than what engine you use to get it, why not just go one of the tried and true, relatively easy methods that are already so common? Either an L28et or a chevy V8 could easily get you the power you're looking for. The L28et drops right in, and just about all the parts you need to install the chevy are readily available. Either one are super reliable and parts are still easy to get, especially in the case of the chevy. What... no chevy because it's not "unique" enough? Really, how many people on your block/in your town/in your STATE are driving around a Z with a V8 it in? And 280zx's with 350's in them are much more rare than say, a 240 V8. V8 Z's are pretty scarce no matter what motor you're counting. You really just seem to want to go way out of your way to get a powerful engine and you always seem to give the wrong reasons for wanting to make your project more difficult that it needs to be.....

[Gollum]

Well, i know i'm fickle. But i KNOW i'll have this car in 6 years unless it get totalled.

 

I accually know 2 people in the bay area with 350 chevys in thier 280z, and 1 guy with a 240z with a 350. Personally i think it's a fairly common swap. But maybe i'm mistaken.

 

I totally see where your comming from, that it's a hard swap, and such. But i care more about just streetable power. I want something that i can be proud to say i put it. And personally i'd like to have the knowlege and experience in 6 years to be able to do most the work myself.

 

I understand the logisticst of an engine swap, but some of the key element i'm amiss on. Like welding. I have no first hand eperience welding.

 

There are a couple of things like that that i would have to learn. But come on, 6 years is a long ways away. And i'm still young. I could go to college and still have the time to learn everything i need to know.

 

I'm the kind of guy that looks for the uncommon reaction with people. Personally, if thre was a V12 out there that i liked i'd consider it because of the shock value of it.

 

But i'm still worried about reliability. I know a chevy would be great for that. But i still feel like that just doesn't have the track value of saying i put a 427W in my 280z.

 

I don't mean to sound like i'm arguing at all, but rather clarifying my opinion. I don't want money to be an issue. The last thing i wanna be is one of those guys that russed to get a project done and drives the car to a show 90% complete. I'm a perfecitonist, and i want a motor wothly of a perfectionist. It needs

 

1. Shock value

2. Huge street power

3. And be able to last more than 150k before a rebuild.

 

The last rule there is what really knocked the skyline motor out of my head. Engines with lots of turbo power require tons of TLC to keep them running well. That's not reliable in my opinion. That's a reason i don't like a rotary sway much. Because it'll just have to be changed out at 80k anyways.

 

 

Maybe i'm crazy. But that's what people told me when i told them i wanted a 280z in the first place. So am i really wrong to want to put the best SB Ford engine made into one of the coolest looking sleepers in the world? Sure it's alot of work, but it would be worth it right?

[Guest bastaad525]

 

The last rule there is what really knocked the skyline motor out of my head. Engines with lots of turbo power require tons of TLC to keep them running well. That's not reliable in my opinion. That's a reason i don't like a rotary sway much. Because it'll just have to be changed out at 80k anyways.

 

 

 

whoa... who have YOU been talking too??? Someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, I think. Turbo rotaries are just gauranteed not to last past 80k huh? Rotaries, due to their very nature, require specialized care, turboed or not. Similiar to an exotic sports car, they need more maintenance than your usual motor. They have earned a reputation for lack of reliability because too many uneducated owners out there didn't do the extra maintenance required... and it's really not THAT much more to do than a regular piston motor. There are lots of guys racing high HP rotaries out there and they can be just as reliable as a good piston motor. Go lurk on some RX7 forums for a while and you'll see that 200,000 mile lifespans or more on built up street rotaries are not uncommon. But, they are a fragile beast as well. Ping once from running too lean, and chances are your motor is gone. Overheat it once, and chances are it's gone.

 

 

Skyline motors on the other hand, don't really need any special extra attention. They are VERY robust and reliable motors, one of nissans best. 200,000 miles can almost be considered 'low mileage' on them if they are well taken care of. And that goes for high power ones as well. The only special maintenance they need, and this is the part that applies to all turbo motors, is they must be tuned properly and kept that way. Similiar to a rotary, going lean is a big no-no and potential deadly to ANY turbo motor. But as long as enough fuel is present, high boost can be run and net you a very powerful motor (easily 400+ though 600+ is fairly common) that will last a long long time.

 

 

Well dude I don't know what else to say. I'm really trying not to offend you, but now it seems that you are almost building this car for everyone BUT yourself. You want a cool car. Something that will shock people. You need it to be unique, and accepted by all who see it. Well... *shrug* whatever makes you happy, I s'pose. Me I just want a FAST car, that handles well... for the longest time I didn't even care to paint it, I don't care if anyone is wowed by it, and dont want anyone to know how fast it is. I wont usually even admit that there's anythign other than a stock motor under the hood. I'm one of the few guys running a recirculated BOV, partially because I dont want the BOV sound to give away what I've got.

 

Well dude, you want a cool unique car, at any expense of time and money? More power to you then dude. Lots of guys on this forum have done the same thing. I dont think any of them approached it with as much 'fickleness' as you though but a lot of guys have wanted a unique Z and ended up with really good results.

 

RB powered Z's, SR20 powered Z's, rotary powered Z's, Supra engined Z's, V8 z's of the small and big block, naturally aspirated, turbo, twin turbo, and supercharged, Grand National motored Z's, and of course one very cool Jaguar V-12 Z.... And of course N/A, turbo and supercharged L6's

 

Nothing wrong with having a niche car well if your mind is truly made up this time then all I can say is I wish you good luck and look forward to reading about it someday. No matter what motor you put in it, it's a Z, and Z's just kick ass, so at least that's one thing you got your mind made up on that can't be argued with!