V8 swap help

[CUSTOMmade]

Hey guys,

I'm looking at doing a V8 conversion on my 240z. Trying to decide on an engine, so its between an LS1 or Toyota quad cam V8.

The LS1 seem to be the easier of the two with mount kits available and performance parts. The Lexus V8 is very cheap here in Australia you can pick them up for about $1500-$2000 from a wreckers compered to the LS1 about $4000-$6000 with a trans but it looks like I'll have to make my own mounts and buy a adapter kit for the trans if I go the Lexus route. Having said that I may just make the mount a solid engine plate for either engine i choose.

 

I would like to supercharge it also so if I blow the engine $1500 for a new one is a lot cheaper.

So could anyone who has done these conversions please give me their opinion as to who much co$t was involved and their general view.

 

Also what do people think of the LS1 kits? witch do they think is better and why? (JTR or JCI)any others out there. I want the car to handle well as it will be used for track and street so i would like to get the engine back and low for 50/50 weight distribution. What are your thoughts?

 

My thoughts are the LS1 would be a simpler job being able to just put in an engine and trans combo without the hassel of addapter kits and constructing mounts for it all(if i dont ude an engin plate).

 

But the Lexus would be cheep to replace if i blow it affter the cost of building the convertion my self and it seems like a very strong engine.

 

 

Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated

 

Luke

[Pop N Wood]

JTR doesn't make a kit for LS motors, only the first gen SBC motors. So that simplifies your choice to the JCI kit. Everyone who has the JCI kit seems happy with it, so hard to go wrong there.

 

People have posted corner weights on their JCI LS Z's. The weight distribution is good, if anything it has a slight rear weight bias (3/4 of the driver's weight ends up on the rear wheels).

 

You can use either the JTR or JCI trans mount with either kit. It might even work with the Lexus motor too. Conventional wisdom says to get the JTR headers and not the JCI ones. Either way buy the JTR manual. Even though it doesn't cover LS swaps, it has a ton of useful info for any type of engine swap.

 

I am putting in a carb'd LS2 motor with a TKO instead of the T56 trans. The shorter trans and taller carb meant I had to build my own mounts to get everything to just fit. That of course meant a custom alternator set up. All of that took a fair amount of time to figure out and much trial and error to get right.

 

Do yourself a huge favor and unless you are the type that has knocked off dozens of engine swaps in a weekend or a hard core racer who just has to have that last little bit of weight distribution, get the JCI kit and spend your time enjoying the car rather than thinking about all the different ways of installing things.

 

The Lexus motor would be cool. The JTR manual shows a Lexus swap in a Z. They do mention how much work and money it was compared to a SBC swap.

[CUSTOMmade]

Thanks for the info pop sounds like the JCI kit might be the way to go

[m1noel]

I know the JCI kit saved me tons of time. I'm was not building a hard core racer, and the kit made it easy for me to do the swap in about 5 weeks working just a couple of hours here and there. And now I have a really nice car to drive that should be extremely reliable.

Mike

[zed240au]

hi luke having done a early nissan v8 install and now completing a ls1 install id have to say go with the ls1 what you save in engine costs on the late model injected toyota or even nissan v8 you will more than spend on creating your own mounts as well as the bell housing and manual conversion for either of these v8s plus theres no after market parts avilable when you want more hp custom cams and porting all costs way more than off the shelf ls1 parts plus plenty support avilable for ls1 installs

 

That said the ls1 is not a straight forward install in rhd car but i can tell u hurdles as well as fixes for rhd ls1 install right hand side extractor is major issue as well as minor alternator issue

 

mick

[CUSTOMmade]

Thanks Mick its nice to get some feedback form a nother ozzy and i think what you have said is right so I think im gonna go for the LS1. Did you use a kit when you did yours and did you go for an auto or manual?

[zed240au]

I used Johns car kit with right hand drive the steering and starter motor are on the one side so i doubt you could do it any other way the jci kit gives u mount well forward and just enough room to get a extractor down

 

Made my own gearbox cross member along lines of jags that run specs

Using 6 speed manual

 

mick

[Boy from Oz]

As my name suggest I'm also from Oz, and I'm doing a RHD LS1/t56 swap. z240au is a trailblazer with this RHD build and has been extremely helpful. One aspect you need to keep in mind is the registration requirements. You cannot run a supercharger LS1 legally in this country, in fact, the normally aspirated 5.7ltr is the absolute limit. I spent a considerable amout of time researching and obtaining an in-principle agreement with an Approving Engineer before spending time and money on this project and it may be in your interest to do the same - you are on the right track with HybridZ.

 

Here is a sample of what is involved: http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/safety/bulletin/vsb_ncop.aspx See NCOP3 Section LA Engines 3 Feb 2006, and that's just for starters. You'll need upgraded brakes and a rear end for registration. I don't want to scare you off, rather, I'm just providing some information.

 

I have just this week purchased a wrecked VZ Ute ($5200) for a donor car. Apart from the engine and gearbox I am also proposing to install the diff, shortened tailshaft and air-conditioning system. I was someway down the track of fitting a GM diff when I discovered the need to know the gearbox inclination angle before the diff itself could be correctly positioned, hence the recent purchase of the Ute. It's big issues like this that you can come across if you start to deviate from what is a standard swap. You really need to sit down and work the whole thing through from bumper to bumper before you start.

 

If you send me a private message with your e-mail I can send you some of the documentation I have prepared.