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need some advice about a 302


Iowa280zx

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I have a n/a 83 280zx that i've been thinking about doing a 302 swap on for awhile.

 

Today i found a running 302 with tranny for 50 bucks that a friend wants to sell but that catch is that it came out of a 84 marquis, isn't the HO version that stangs have and I've read that these are a clunky v8.

 

Any truth to this or should i be ok to do the swap? I don't care about my car being god awfully fast, I just want the v8 power because the motor in my car drives fine but is showing it's age.

 

Anything you guys tell me would be much appreciated.

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According to wiki (which has been known to be wrong sometimes) the 83-86 Marquis only had the HO 5.0 in Canada. The US models had a 4 cylinder lima, inline 6 mileage maker, and the V6 essex.

 

At any rate, these ARE good motors, as far as the block goes. The 302 of the windsor family has a slew of affordable go fast parts of them, and 300hp is perfectly realistic on a very tight mod budget. With some good aftermarket heads 400hp should be relatively easy. If it has the nice 87+ mustang EFI (which I doubt since it's an 84') keep it and tune it. If it's carb'ed then just dump that carb and get a new intake + carb for it. With free flowing exhaust it should be putting out 220+ hp. Main limitation should be the stock heads which are most likely iron. Even some cheap used aluminum heads from edlebrock or trickflow should do wonders. Cams are cheap too. E303 and X303 are crowd favorites.

 

If you can make your own mounts and are able to do the entire swap yourself, I'd say go for it.

 

If I didn't have to deal with smog testing I'd be working on a 5.0 powered 280ZX myself.

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I can tell you from experience, it's no picnic. Easier than most yes, but that doesn't make it simple, especially depending on the year of the engine versus year of the car. Since your car is a 83' it shouldn't be too bad.

 

Did you pull the driveshaft with it? Was it the same seat count as your car? (both 2 seaters, or both 2+2s) You'll want that driveshaft at any rate.

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Funny you mention nitrous... A lot of the cracked blocks I've seen on the net have been nitrous motors, or rev'ed too high.

 

I've seen guys pushing well over 500hp on stock internals though. The key is to make the power via quality heads, and keep the RPMs low.

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  • 1 month later...

That year of Merc with a 302 has the CFI injection, a version of throttle body injection with two injectors mounted to the TB 4 barrel style. It is not a HO engine, and does not have a roller cam. Later years '87 or so, had the familiar 5.0 SEFI intake everyone knows from the Mustangs. And "pretty good" is not what I would call any production SBF head until the GT40's.

 

Having had an '84 Grand Marquis and several Mustangs, I'm not just talking trash.

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