Guest TempestasZ Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 I know you all must be asked this alot but, what is the bear minimum you can get away with in doing a 70-83 v8 swap (5-speed). (1) What year(s) Z is the best (2) what can i fab, what do i need, can I get a main parts list (i know i should get a jtr manual). (3) what can i do without at first, like differintial and such.... (4) after eng and trans, what would be the cost for this swap on a low end, fab what you can basis thanks, sorry for the many questions ------------------ -TempestasZ 87na v6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TempestasZ Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 haha i said "bear minimum" lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 quote: Originally posted by TempestasZ: haha i said "bear minimum" lol Ok, I'll Bite....I'll atttempt to give you an approximate cost for the conversion; I've included alluminum parts for posterity's sake. 1) Cost of Car................$200 to $3500 a) depending on condition 2) Alluminum Cylinder Heads...$1000 3) Alluminum Intake...........$105 4) Valve Covers...............$100 5) Roller Rocker,Lifters,Cam..$775 a)regular hyd.valvetrain....($250) 6) H/O Harmonic Balancer......$200 7) True Roller Timing Chain...$60 8) HEI Distributor............$200 a) or Rebuild your own......($60) 9)Fan Clutch, Alternator, A/C Comp if applicable, Pulleys, Oil Pan, Head Bolts, Timing Cover Bolts, Intake/Exhaust Manifold Bolts, H/O Spark Plug Wires/Spark Plugs..., And to think we havent even considered the Machine work needed to prep your block or cylinder heads if you're going to be using your own heads. Nor have we considered the JTR Kit $300 which doesnt include one of the few starters that will fit...$200, nor a Radiator $200 Oh Yea; we should include Suspension, Steering & Brakes.....Safety First ya know: 5-Way Adjustible Illumina Struts all the way around $500, Poly Bushing Set from Nissan $250, Brake Mods to handle the extra power $350 to $1000 depending on your set up & last not but least Wheels/Tires $xxxx.xx; & the fun but frustrating wiring shorts of the Z can be most educating at times. Have we sanded the car down to its metal, gotten rid of all the cancer eating rust & then repainted the car....$3500 later. 10 years later & you finally get to give the grand kids a ride; oh but wait-They want to go to College now; have to sell the car in order to pay for tuition. You only want to give me $4000 for my car?@#%^&*! As you can see; the list is never a quick fix nor a short list. The point is to have fun while your doing it. I have not done my conversion yet & even after running the #'s I'm still not discouraged & still plan on making my swap. Even if it kills me. I keep imagining how cool it would be to have a V8 in a light weight Car (like the Z) & to imagine the neck breaking power as it puts you back in the seat! Like the JTR Manual says; just make the swap a simple swap & improve on it as you go. If you keep costs to a minimum you should be able to make the conversion @ $3500. This doesnt include repainting of the car nor H/O machine work. If you want balanced & blueprinting (matching the ports) you can easily spend $3500 on the engine w/out ever considering any alluminum add on's. When I bought my car I kept looking for @ a year & a half the whole time-saving my money. I wanted a car where everything worked & I wanted to but from an original owner w/records. I wanted a car that didnt have a lot of rust problems nor electrical problems. I found it. Didnt pay that much, $2200 & the owner had all the records from the Buyers Order even down to Belts & Plugs. Now I dont have to bother w/anything other than budgeting in the swap! Something to think about (know what your want & be prepared to get it when you see it) Hope that helps. [This message has been edited by Kevin Shasteen (edited January 29, 2001).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Kevin, you scare me.... Mike Kelly said he estimates a possibility of doing a conversion for as little as $2500. But can I, for example, just keep things simple? NO! I had to mess with the motor I bought; new cam & lifters, new intake, new carb, etc...Soon I was building a motor when I should have been building a car. To answer your question, you must ask yourself "what do I want to accomplish?" If you keep everything as stock as possible here are some estimates: 1) Car--could be good buy, could be a heap. Get one with a bad motor and for $500-$1000 your good to go. If it comes along... 2) Engine--stock Chevy V8 from 1970s maybe $500-$700 3) Tranny--T5 or 700R4 maybe $500-$1000 4) JTR kit $300, radiator from yard $75, hoses from yard (yes used) $50, etc etc. 5) Fabbed exhaust $300-$500; driveshaft $100 6) Now you could be in the whole thing for $2000 to $4000 pretty quickly without taking into account all of those little odds and ends that just start to add up. Apply the basic rule that you will spend double what the given estimate is an you're there... Go to Dave Booths website and see what his costs are... I'm doing things on a very moderate budget and I look for deals. I'm cheap because I have to be, yet I will still build this car. This site gives me constant motivation and I'm glad for all the great guys and 1 gal that participate. Just pursue the dream, but do it with a plan! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Originally posted by DavyZ:Kevin, you scare me.... Hey, I scare myself sometimes. I have more business cards in my wallet from salvage yards than anything else. Just be glad I didnt factor in the above equation the amount for an alluminum block! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kc6wfs Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Hello, Ya you can dump tons of money into a conversion. It all depends on your budget if you have one. I was kind of lucky and did not have too much of a budget when I did mine. Still not totaly done. Doing the exhaust this week. Boom there goes another $500.00 or so. I'd say bare min for a conversion (all junkyard stuff) would be $1000-1500.00 That might be lower or higher.. But I know I would not be happy with a motor and trans I know nothing about. Go check out my web page. I have a lot of info there and my cost list which is up to date. Got a lot of part numbers there also. http://www.geocities.com/kc6wfs/cost.html Wow just noticed it's been 5 months since I started the conversion!! Cool. Take care. Dave Booth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Originally posted by kc6wfs: I'd say bare min for a conversion (all junkyard stuff) would be $1000-1500.00 FYI: My $3500 figures included steering, brakes & Suspension; I personally wouldnt want to trust the factory brakes & worn out suspension to stopping my Z after installing a more powerful engine. Just something to think about....I always prefer safety first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Kevin, I'm sure that bare minimum figure would be just keeping everything on the car bone stock...of course who can resist just some slight modifications...it's not too much more expensive for this one more mod, just one more mod, just one more...BOOM, there goes another $100, $200, $500... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Those sound like very real numbers they gave you. Your ability to do it cheaply is directly proportionate to your access to materials for little or nothing, your mechanical skills and your ability to get junkyard parts for as cheaply as possible. The engine and trans obviously are going to eat the lions share of the budget. Many are leary of junkyard motors and I guess with good reason, you don't know they're past. That said however, there are LOADS of cars crashed everyday that have low miles. With the newer fuel injected cars (which a good number can be converted to Carburation cheaply (i.e. sell injection stuff buy manifold/carburator)) the engines with fairly low miles are in great shape. Also even with a few more miles, fuely engines generally don't wear out as fast as carbed engines due to oil dilution so they generally stay tighter longer. It depends on what your looking to do with the car. I can tell you the little things nickel and dime the project (I'm still parts gathering and its getting expensive just to get many of the basics) and adds up quick. This isn't meant to scare you off the swap, just make sure you understand that whatever figure you arrive at will undoubtedly be less what its actually going to cost (murphy's law). Theres not any shortcuts to going fast, its going to cost, either up front, or continually if you cut to many corners. My $.02, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeromio Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 One other thing to consider: there are at least 2 cars on this site forsale. I've seen a few more at zcar.com. The thing about any auto project is that it will have terrible resale value. You can take advantage of this by buying someone else's project. Now, obviously there are dangers to this. You have to know what to look for (and what to look out for). But for the most part, if you consider that you're, for example, buying $8000 worth of parts (with the actual car being a fairly bulky "part") for maybe $5000, you'll have some room to redo a thing or two if you need to. For me the actual car was very difficult to find. I searched for almost 8 months and had to pay over $2K for a car that was far from perfect (box stock and rusty - 240Zs are rare in NC). If, for whatever reason, I had to sell my car, after putting about $2500 into it and many hundreds of hours, I'd be lucky to get $3K for it. That'd be pure tragedy for me, major windfall for the buyer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Absolutely, I would check out both those cars before I planned to build another from scratch unless you have a hell of a selection of tools and the ability to fix stuff yourself... and be honest with yourself about this part...we guys hate not being able to figure things out. I'd buy either of the two cars for sale on the BB right now, and Myron's is an ABSOLUTE STEAL.... Mike ------------------ http://hometown.aol.com/dat74z/myhomepage/auto.html "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 Something else to factor in is that you can get a brand new GM crate motor with 255HP and 300Ft# torque for $1200 with a 12 month warranty. You would still need an intake, carb and all accessories, but still, that is a brand new motor WITH a WARRANTY. Put some nice headers, bigger cam and nice carb on it and get much closer to 300HP for little cash... Buying a junkyard motor is like going to Vegas without the show girls and airfare... Mike ------------------ http://hometown.aol.com/dat74z/myhomepage/auto.html "I will not be a spectator in the sport of life!" mjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TempestasZ Posted January 30, 2001 Share Posted January 30, 2001 i can't afford a 5000 dollar car, i am 17 and a gear head. I just wanna pick a 280Z with no drive train for like 300-500 and do body work, i can do this my self. I want to pick up a motor and do a rebuild, then get an ok tranny. I wanna get it in the car for cheap as possible, then go from there, upgrade the brakes, suspention, motor, as i go. ------------------ -TempestasZ 87na v6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Shasteen Posted January 31, 2001 Share Posted January 31, 2001 Originally posted by TempestasZ:i can't afford a 5000 dollar car, i am 17 and a gear head. I just wanna pick a 280Z with no drive train for like 300-500 and do body work You can start from scratch & refine as you go. Just keep in mind it always costs more than you think & takes a lot longer than you expected. Check the internet car searches such as Auto Trader-do a search for 70-78z's & look at each one of them one by one. I was amazed at all the nice bodies w/eng prob's for under $1000; and some were under $750. You may have to drive a ways but take a weekend trip w/someone who has a truck & trailor when your ready to by. Dont forget the Nissan Club Sites. I'm in Texas & found my car on the Georgia Nissan Site. The original owner emailed me some pictures, we exchanged dialogue & I drove there w/the intention of buying: Liked it & Bought it! If you keep everything bone stock/salvage yard stuff & do all the work yourself you can keep it under $3000; however, you'll need to do the brakes,steering,suspension upgrade or one day after you've just BLOWN the doors off the 'Stang' in traffic, you're gonna rear end someone when you push the brakes & your car doesnt stop (Not Good)! You can upgrade as you go; that's what everyone does who begins a project. Very few of us can imediately buy everything up front before beginning & finish w/in a few weekends. My only point about the brakes, steering & suspension is this: Remember, you're taking a car that basically received its internal integrity from 40 year old technology (mfg's usually take @ 10 years of designing before releasing a new line of cars) which was enginered for a 150hp/146ft.lbs.torque car and doubling or tripling its performance: that's gonna be hard on the car; make sure it can handle it before weekend/stop light racing!! I'm officially getting off my soap box! The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing; and the main thing is to have fun & do it safely!! No one gets hurt. Ok, now I'm getting off my soap box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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