Guest murileemartin Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Hey folks, I'm putting together an entry for the May running of the 24 Hours of LeMons race. Basically, you can build anything you want as long as it costs less than $500 (safety gear doesn't count against that limit). We've got several roller-cam 5.0 engines and 5-speeds sitting in the shop, and now we have the offer of a free Z31 Nissan Z with a dead engine (not sure of the year, but it sounds like an '85). My question is: if you assume that we don't mind ripping the hell out of the car, doing a bunch of fabricating, and making the car look ugly (and that we also don't care about smog legality or making the factory engine accessories work), is it still too much of a PITA to squeeze a Ford small-block into a Z31's engine compartment? Our crew chief is an old street rod builder who can make anything, but if the engine compartment is narrower and/or shorter than the engine we won't bother- free car or not. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Hmmm, I'd have to look into it to be sure, but I'm pretty sure the Z31 engine bay is WIDER than the S30 and S130 engine bay that people have fit windsor motors into (even 4.6 mod motors). The S30 and S130 were designed for an inline motor, and are long and narrow, wereas the Z31 was a 60 degree V6 that's pretty wide and short. I'd imagine length would be the main issue, but if you're ripping most of the car apart you should be able to get the engine right up against the firewall making front clearence easy. Engine height might be an issue, I'm not sure. Hopefully the pan fits in nicely, then you just have to worry about the hood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest murileemartin Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Thanks for the info. I'm not worried about hood clearance- that's what the Sawzall is for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Well I just found out that a member here has been selling manuals for LS1->Z31 conversion. If you can fit the LS1 in there, the 302 should fit just fine. The manual might be worth checking out, but if you're confident in your ability I'd just jump right in. $40 for a manual that might not help you out at all might not be worth it. You're not going for a fully street functional swap so that should elimiate alot of the headache. Good luck, and post info here about the swap if you can! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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