Guest ZeeVette Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Hi all, I need a little help determining what to do with my long term project Z car. I started this project in 1997 with a 77 280Z, I wanted modern performance and handling in it so I decided to swap in an LT1/6 speed combo. Not being the kind of person who ever does anything the easy way (seems to affect the number of projects I finish too, lol), I decide to put C4 Corvette running gear under the car front and rear too. Made sense that it would make the engine swap a piece of cake. To make a long story short, all of the suspension and steering/front clip work was finished way back then, but for multiple reasons a motor never got installed. Here it is 2006 and I'm interested in my project Z again, but thinking that an aluminum block LS1 would be a better mate to the Z, I am wondering if an LS1 mounts in the same place as an LT1. In other words, does anybody know if this is essentially a bolt in affair? Thanks in advance for any advice or information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubin Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 tottaly different mounts and bellhousing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaleMX Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Well if you get a Warhawk LS block it has mounts for both LS and old School small block. (Costs like 3K!) Seriously, you can do it but the mounts will be a real pain in the butt, and headers will be a challenge too. I'd say do the LT1 as it's mighty powerfull on it's own. Then do another LS1 project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZeeVette Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Thanks for the info Dale. Too bad, I would have liked to have had the lesser weight from the LS1, but you're right maybe next project. FYI, I cut the firewall and boxed in a new one that sits about 5" further to the rear to give clearance for the rear of the motor, and cut the shock towers out (no need with the corvette front suspension) and welded in plate there as well. Header clearance is no longer an issue, heh heh. The Corvette IRS in back looks great, it's so beefy compared to the Datsun unit. Okay, I'm off to Ebay to shop for an LT1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 You weren't kidding when you stated you don't do things half way, seems to me you could fab up some mounts for an LS1, with the engine set back that far any off the shelf mounts that you could buy wouldn't fit anyway. Just my thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 I agree with Paz8. With all the work you did putting in the Corvette suspension an LS motor shoud be a walk in the park. Enouhgh people have done it that there is plenty of help available. goto http://www.brokenkitty.com for a bolt in LSx kit. The JCI kit, combined with JTR headers, should make the LS swap no more difficult than the LT1 swap. Or go to this link http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=105868 if you want to build your own mounts from scratch. With your new firewall this method will give you more flexibility in placing the engine. Do you even have the Datsun crossmember anymore? You will need that for the JTR mounts on the LT1 motor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deja Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Damn Dude, that is one intense modification. Like some have said fabricating mounts for the LS1 would be simple by compared to what you've already done. Got any picts of the suspensions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
240Z-DET Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Pics man, we want to see pics!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnutthehutt Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Ditto, pics please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZeeVette Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Thanks guys for the info, I found an LT1 with six speed for under 2500, so bought that yesterday, picking it up next week. No Pop, no Datsun crossmenber anymore, up front it's all Corvette I do have pictures, most of them aren't good, but I attached two here for you. One is the Corvette rear end installed under the Datsun, and the other is a 45 degree view showing down into the engine bay, shows the cutback firewall, and the vette wheels and tires, lol. Sorry I don't have a pic of the crossmember, front suspension and vette rack and pinion, I will get some taken and post them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnutthehutt Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 ZeeVette, I've been contemplating the number of hours that it would take to do exactly what you have with the rear end on my own 240. Any estimate? Many of the members here have posted worklogs, documenting mods step by painful step. Would you be interested in doing that, or even providing more details? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ZeeVette Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Sorry have to work off memory here, as we did the original chassis mods in 98. I didn't keep any notes, but removing the rear end and replacing with the Corvette unit was reasonably easy. But I did have a local shop do the installation after we removed the old one, I wanted to make sure it was installed correctly aligned, didn't see how I could do that by eyeball. They did all that work in about 12 hours, including welding. I boxed in the frame rails, and mated the vette crossmember up front. My friend and I did all of the torch work, there was a lot of that, lol. The rear end is so much bigger than the stock Datsun unit you can't use the stock gas tank. I will order a fuel cell custom made to fit the area when we get the project a little further down the road. The total money I have tied up in the car now is around $6000.00, with at least another $4000 to get it to a driver stage, and another $4000 or so to get it to where I want it. I spent virtually every spare hour I had in 1998 under this car, I have no idea how many man hours, but probably 300 or so. My goal for this year is to get it up to the point where it runs and drives, if we're lucky we'll get the cage in it and go autocrossing. Tuning the corvette suspension for the shorter, lighter Z car will be a challenge too. And I need to find a body kit with fender flares wide enough for the vette track, right now the rears are outside the body by at least 7" on each side, and the fronts are out by about 4" on each side. I remember the old GTU-Z body kit that Arizona Z car sold, I think it would have been perfect, but can't find anything like that anymore. I will get some better pics taken and try to document this project better from here on out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnutthehutt Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Yeah, I didn't think it would be very low. Thanks for the quick response. Those wheels are sticking out pretty far, maybe too far for the YZ kit, but there has to be something that will fit over them. If not, it doesn't seem like you're lacking in the ability to get stuff fabbed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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