280 Zfire

[Guest headshot]

i have a 79 and an 81 280ZX sitting at my house...i also have a a 77 and a 79 Triumph Spitfires sitting at my house...all of the cars are full independent suspension...the Triumphs have about 60hp and weigh less than 2000 lbs....some Triumphs came stock with straight 6's with about 130 hp...Z parts are kinda expensive but theres aftermarket companies make parts....Triumph parts are getting more expensive and hard to find and then ur confused as hell when it dosnt work when it should...so my thinking is...why not put a Z motor, tranny and rear end in a spitfire? light weight, smaller body, still a 2 seater, better milage?...just somthing im thinking about doing...i dont even have to use a straight 6...i could go with a 300 V6 or a V6 turbo even...that would be cool...so if anybody has any advice it would be apreciated...thank you

[Guest Mike]

$screw that... put SBC's in those little Spitfires:biggrin:

[Alex_V]

Naw a nice VQ30DE/T wouldnt weigh too much and still make alot of power.

 

If a 3300lb maxima can use one and get 13.5 in the 1/4 with only bolt ons and tuning, that'd be really fun in a 2000lb car.

 

~Alex

[Guest headshot]

sbc require u to make new frames not only for the fact that they weigh more, but the power created twsits the frame...and im not dead set one what motor i want...but im looking for a weight to power ratio of about 10-8.5 lbs per horse...

[Guest R&D Z Factory]

~ 200 whp, I would rock a CA18det, or a Stock Sr20det. that would get you the hp with also you can push those 4 cycs way back against the frame, and the aftermarket support is overwelming.

 

GL.

 

-R

[Gollum]

Yea, if you're concerned about frame warpage it might be wiser to go with a high reving low tourque motor.

 

You can get a 1.6 B16 honda to 200hp no problem. Stock they can put over 150 to the wheels. Most cases I've seen with minimal upgrades put around 170 to the wheels.

 

I'm no suggesting a honda motor, I'm just showing how one of the lowest HP modern 4 cylinders would work. There's lots of options out there, I'd just recomend staying with a light motor.

 

The Z motor is NOT light unless you're comparing it to a supra motor (or that inline 8 that there's been recent talk about ). Many V8 motors will be lighter than the Z motor, and nearly all V6 motors will be and you'd be hard pressed to ever find a 4 cylinder with more weight on it, even with turbo systems included.

 

In my opinion 200hp is atainable with nearly any motor with enough funds. Many 4 cylinders will have 200 or near HP out of the box, so the largest investment is just getting the motor in and running. Obviously you can save alot of hassle if you find a motor with a transmission that would be easy to adapt to the car.

 

Even the S13 SR20 motors had over 200hp stock.

http://www.japanracingengines.com/engineview.asp?id=38

 

Toyota makes some good 4 cylinders, but not many FR setups.

 

Even an older rotory motor would be 200hp out of the box. Not extremely light, but not bad on wieght as it's very low weight and it's a small package.

 

http://www.japanracingengines.com/engineview.asp?id=66

 

You could also spend a bit more and go with one of the newer rotory motors with 280hp stock.

 

http://www.japanracingengines.com/engineview.asp?id=65

 

There's lots of options out there. I'd imagine 200hp would scream in a spit too. I was sitting in one at a junkyard not too long ago, man those things are small. I'd love to drive one, but not on the SUV dominated street. 200hp should be pretty potent in one if you've got grip.