Guest 289z Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 So my brother for my birthday gave me a fresh 289 ford with a c4 tranny. The first car I thought of to put the motor in was a Z car. Today I just brought home a 75 280z that I was able to drive into my shop. So I have started to read posts on the form and was just looking for some input on where I should start next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
74_5.0L_Z Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Most importantly, you need a clear understanding of how you intend to use the car. Will it be strictly a street car? Will it be strictly a drag car? Are autocross and track days in your future? If the car is going to be used for anything but strictly drag racing then you probably want to get rid of the C4 transmission. The C4 has no overdrive and will make the car unpleasant to drive on the highway (unless you like 3200 rpms at 70 mph). You need to have a realistic understanding of the limits of your budget and time. Building a HybridZ requires a fair amount of money and lots of time. Most builds (assuming sufficient funds) require about 1 to 2 years to complete. During the course of the build, you will reach points where the amount of work left to be completed is overwhelming. It will be tempting to give up. At the same time, there will be other demands on your time and money. You will never finish a building a project like this if the Z is not VERY high on your priority list. It sounds like your brother is a fellow gear head. If so, this may be an opportunity for some serious brotherly bonding. If you have friends that are willing to spend time with you on this project, then everything will be easier. As I've stated above, there are a lot of hurdles to clear when undertaking a project like this, but the end result is worth it. If you take your time and do it right, the completed car will be an enormous source of pride and accomplishment (and fun). Good luck and remember that there is a lot of information on this website. Most of the questions have been asked and answered. If you search and can't find the answer, then feel free to post a question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frosty383 Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Most importantly, you need a clear understanding of how you intend to use the car. Will it be strictly a street car? Will it be strictly a drag car? Are autocross and track days in your future? If the car is going to be used for anything but strictly drag racing then you probably want to get rid of the C4 transmission. The C4 has no overdrive and will make the car unpleasant to drive on the highway (unless you like 3200 rpms at 70 mph). You need to have a realistic understanding of the limits of your budget and time. Building a HybridZ requires a fair amount of money and lots of time. Most builds (assuming sufficient funds) require about 1 to 2 years to complete. During the course of the build, you will reach points where the amount of work left to be completed is overwhelming. It will be tempting to give up. At the same time, there will be other demands on your time and money. You will never finish a building a project like this if the Z is not VERY high on your priority list. It sounds like your brother is a fellow gear head. If so, this may be an opportunity for some serious brotherly bonding. If you have friends that are willing to spend time with you on this project, then everything will be easier. As I've stated above, there are a lot of hurdles to clear when undertaking a project like this, but the end result is worth it. If you take your time and do it right, the completed car will be an enormous source of pride and accomplishment (and fun). Good luck and remember that there is a lot of information on this website. Most of the questions have been asked and answered. If you search and can't find the answer, then feel free to post a question. Thats one hell of a write up but true none the less, from start to where I am now my 74 260 Z with a 383 stroker, 5 speed SBC has taken a better part of almost 2 years where at this moment its a running car where only cosmetics are left and sorting the bugs from replacing the stock diff mount to a solid and taller front tires for clearance since I replaced the springs for a set of dropped springs. I have built this car as a solid street machine hence the five speed for fun factor. only thing I have found is that its alot safer running drag radials on these cars due to the almost uncontrolable skate they perpetrate on street radials. Another factor that did not apply to me was the cost of putting together a car like this. I am very lucky to have had a great friend that has had several V8 Z's and has led me in the right direction in the form of finding a very rust free rolling chasis to all associated conversion parts, (which in itself was a treasure hunt of sorts for used parts) which cut cost down dramatically not to mention I already had a drivetrain available. I would tell anyone willing to venture into taking on a task of building a hybrid that it is totally possible to spend upwards of twenty thousand dollars altogether to realize a project like this and thats doing everything yourself. I myself consider my fortunate friendship to a good source of knowledgable help and parts that were available and this site. I dont mean to jack this thread just adding my .2 cents. As a proud Z owner alow me to post a pic of my car. By speed38374, shot with DSC-W55 at 2008-05-16 By speed38374, shot with DSC-W55 at 2008-06-12 By speed38374, shot with DSC-W55 at 2008-05-16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 289z Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 I see myself using the car not as a daily driver, but as something to cruise locally, I have raced local autocrosses before and think this platform would be a good one for the local events. The closest track for track day is PIR and that is at least 2 hours away. I don't see using the car for that very much. There is alot of useful linformation on this forum and as I am new to this forum thought the best way to get to know where to start was to ask. I will be ordering the jtr book very soon and will begin stripping the car this next weekend. I will be documenting the whoile process that the build entails for me and will share my experiences with everyone interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frosty383 Posted July 22, 2008 Share Posted July 22, 2008 a shop service manual will help out in the area of wiring diagrams as well. look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilredZ Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I have 6 wires going to my engine so unless you're running EFI or something wiring the motor is as easy as pie...The power to the distributer, the oil and temp sending units, the RPM {coil} and alternator are the only motor related wires you should need for the 289 (I just pulled a 289 out). The starter wire should be hooked to a simple $10 12v solenoid (my solenoid is hooked {heavy + wire} to a battery switch). I may be adding a fuel pressure gauge in the future. I don't know if your differential is the short or long nose version but since it's a 280 I think it should have an R200 in there already...read up on this (elsewhere in the forum) since it's important. I am running a C4 and I have a Gear Vendors O/D unit in there. This car ran 11.8s all day long on RA1s and out handles a 300zxt (I know cause I raced a friend in his). Now im running a 370 (build Dart blocked 302). It's faster. As far as a daily driver...If I didn't have to drive 32 miles to work you bet I'd drive it to work! I have a slightly stiffer (than stock) Tokiko suspension and a B&M shifter with the C4 built for torque and manual shifting. I love to drive it and it gets around town just fine. Brakes are very important. My car has willwood all the way around but they are older willwood and need to be upgraded. I'd say it stops as well as the original 240z but that's not good enough for a car that goes 0-60 in 3.2 seconds. I need bigger front rotors and calipers. Motor mounts are critical. I have posted pics of mine in here. The placement is as close to perfect as you can get because I just have 1/4 to 1/2 inch clearance at the front of the oil pan and about the same on the bellhousing in back. Some people have cradlesd their motors (recommended if you are going to run high HP and a stick). I personally don't feel it is necessary if you're running 425hp or so with an Auto tranny since my car ran this way for 12 years with regular trips to the track. One of my mounts started to crack at the weld seam because the metal was not a heavy enough gauge. I just reinforced the seams and seems to be holding up fine. I am currently using off the shelf (Tri-y) headders but am upgrading to custom headers when I put the new heads in next month. 74_50 has very good and realistic feedback. You have to really want to do this and be passionate about it before you start....because it takes alot of work. If you want a car that just looks good, stick with the stock motor etc... If you want a car that is pretty fast and fun to drive drop in a modern Nissan motor. If you want to be able to smoke anything that comes near you, you will need a strong american V8 or one of several key Japanese mototrs (sr20det, 1JZ-GTE.. etc...built to the hilt with 20+ psi of boost). I like the V8 because it's cheap (relatively), sounds great (I get lots of thumbs up) and is easy to work on. But most of all you will need money, time, advice, intelligence and patience to do it right.... my $.002 worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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