How Much Touble Is It To Install A SBC And Tranny In A 77 28

[Guest Anonymous]

Hello everyone.I have a friend that's wanting to do a SBC conversion to his 77 280Z.I was wondering of how big of a bitch it was to put a SBC 327 or 350 and a 5 or 6 Speed tranny in my 77 280Z?I don't know exactly if I'm going to be doing the work fot him or not,I'm just getting him some info on this.I've probably looked at 25+ sites and found that SBC's are probably the cheapest conversion and most popular to do to a Z car.So,I have a few questions...

 

1)What Chevy Vehicle should the Engine and Tranny come from?

 

2)Does he need a 2 or 4 Bolt Main?

 

3)I know where I can get a cheap 327,but what would a 5 or 6 speed tranny made my Chevy be called?Like a T-5?

 

4)Can I hook all the original Z gauges back up to the SBC and be accurate?

 

5)Even if he goes easy on his Z and babies it,will he need to reinforce the frame?

 

6)Should I put a new Rear End in his Z?If so,what kind?

 

7)I know that from the sites that I've looked at,they've all had electric cooling fans,is this needed?I know that it looked like a a stock 'belt' fan wouldn't have enough clearence.

 

I have ordered a JTR conversion manual that I'm going to go by but I was wanting to know from someone that has done one of these first hand to see how much trouble that it would be.I reckon that the only engine ugrade that he's wanting to do is a 282 cam on the SBC.Is it worth every second of what kind of trouble that you put into the conversion,as far as money and enjoyment goes?Please answer my questions if you can.Any advice is Appreciated!

 

Izzy Middleton

[Guest Anonymous]

I suggest searching through the really dynamite search engine the guys have put together in this website for previous posts. You really will get a world of data on a SBC install. Go into 'search' by subject.

Steve

[Guest Anonymous]

Only way to approach this unless you are a mechanical genius is to buy the Datsun Z V-8 Conversion Manual 1-925-462-3619 ($33.95) and read it many times....