Here it goes finally

[Guest HITMANVEE]

well guys i've been apart of this hybridZ thing for awhile

just thinking about doing my swap for years now

but i finally saved my pennies and i'm taking my 240z

with a 351 and an overdrive auto trans to the shop soon

gonna talk to the fab guy tomarow. if i get my way it'll

have no mods to the Z itself just the mounts and engine

however i may end up doing what Capt Zero did.

but either way custom headers are in order no matter what!

he said he wants for me to drop it off for a while(like 3 months)

Capt Zero's mounts will place the engine pretty high up

but they are the easeist and the cheapest way to do this swap

the other way(my way)will be what we all want

[svr240]

That's great. I just recently got serious about my 5.0 240 Z swap after years of "thinking" as well. I pulled the L24 out a week ago, sold it yesterday and going to buy my 89 Mustang 5.0 motor tomorrow. I also just ordered the Competition Engineering motor plate from Summit, so hopefully I'm test fitting the engine this weekend.

[Dp351zcar]

I just got one of those motor plates and it threw me for a loop, and the guys at summit couldn't help me, or at least not until a day or two went by.

 

It was this. The motor plate does not go between the block and the timing cover. It goes between the water pump and the timing cover. Needless to say the instructions left a couple of things out.

 

Mine is is sitting on the motor mounts turned upside down on the frame rails, hopefully it will be better than soild mounting it. Haven't run the engine or car yet so time will tell if it's any good. I got summit shortie headers and they fit ok when the left is on the right. They are patriot headers and match my canfield heads great. I did have to bend one to clear the steering shaft.

 

I found that using the motor plate I can have my engine sitting behind the cross member and I can use my spin-on oil filter with out hitting the steering shaft.

 

Well so far so good. In a couple of weeks I will know more.

 

Good luck on yours and let us know how it goes.

 

Don

[svr240]

Hey Don,

 

I was going to use the existing rubber mounts with "L" brackets, but I like the idea turning the original brackets upside down... I'll give it a try, thanks!

 

I wasn't surprised to find that the plate went between the timing cover and water pump. I found these sites and saw that the plates were similar and figured they're installed the same way:

 

http://www.campbellenterprises.com/motorplates.htm

http://www.racecarpartsdepot.com/motor-plates.html

 

I was a little concerned about mounting between the timing cover and water pump after reading a thread about reliability, but 74_5.0L_Z confirmed his setup is working well and reduces the "potential leak path for water into the oil". I also found this site with a 7 second mustang, so figured it was strong enough (has front and mid).

 

Good luck to you as well.

[Capt_Zorro]

Hitman you must have been talking to my Chief, he's accused me of not doing anything for years. If I can help you with anything drop me a P.M.

Adios Amigo,

Capt. Zorro

[rudypoochris]

I found that using the motor plate I can have my enging sitting behind the cross member and I can use my spin-on oil filter with out hitting the steering shaft.

 

My oil filter will need to be relocated as well as my mechanical fuelpump. Maybe the fuel pump can stay if i grind off the stock mointing points on the x-member. So, what I am wondering is, how low does your block sit that it enables your oil filter to remain the same, or does the 351 have a different oil location than the 302?? My block is about 1/4 to 3/8" behind the x-member, maybe a little more, and the bottom of the pan is about 1/4 - 3/8 above the bottom lip of the x-member. The harmonic balance is probably about 1/4" from the top of the cross member.

[Guest HITMANVEE]

My 351(1983) is the same as the 302's are oil filter,and Mounting wise, the 351 has a different oil pan due to the crank seal size. not sure if I’m going to keep the 351 because of the fact that the oil pan(the front sump part) is going to have to be cut a little. Can't seem to get past the 6 ½ inch oil pans that are available even the race oil pans for some reason doesn't go less than 6 ½ inch either. The oil relocator is what I’m going with and electric fuel pump too, there's just no room for that stuff. With the ford swap you can not use the original way the oil filter goes on. Even for the aluminum cross mounts or motor plates, unless you mount the engine kind of high up (why) just get a oil relocator kit. The 351 is a taller engine that’s why I’m into putting it pretty low in the engine bay. The fabricator I’m going with said that cutting the fire wall back just a little bit would help a lot. It would put the engine back just enough to get past a lot of problems, the thing is I want to make something that will bolt a 302L or 351 into a Z without modifying the car at all.

[Capt_Zorro]

Hitman,

What you run into on the front of the oil pan is the fact that the oil pump is at the front of the pan. It has to be deep enough to clear the oil pump. I used the stock Datsun fuel pump originally with a pressure regulator to drop the fuel pressure for the carb. I saw one Z years ago that had the firewall massaged with a sledge hammer to get enough clearance to move the engine back, it was a drag car. The owner wanted to get the engine back as far as he could for weight distribution. You can put anything in anything if you have the time, money, patience and a big enough hammer...