Guest Anonymous Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 I am thinking about buying a good 83 280zx from a friend. i do however know i want a new engine. I know that those 350s fit, but could i pull somthing bigger and more powerful out of lets say a 71 transam with a 455. would that fit? or just a 426 or so? i dont know at all what will fit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest super280z Posted August 25, 2001 Share Posted August 25, 2001 well howdy! welcome to the forum. its always nice to see new people on here wanting to learn about hybrid'z. well i've got some new's for ya. the 455 can be made to fit. however it's going to be a huge amount of work and even more money. the run of the mill small block ( chevy, ford, mopar, pontiac, whatever) fits great between the fenderwell's. just remember that you're going to have to put some form of exhaust system on it. if headers and/or manifold's are a tight fit on a small block, dont count on it being any easier to get them in on a big block. unless you put a tight set of upswepts.. remember you can do anything you want as long as you and your pocket book are up to it. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 What will you be doing with this car? Strictly drag racing or street driving too? SCCA track day, parking lot racing around cones (AutoX)? If it's not strictly a strip car I'd suggest sticking with a small block or a GN motor ( ). Seriously, how much power can you put to the ground? My car is running rough right now, an ignition issue maybe, it's certainly missing up high. However I'm able to burn a set of 245 drag radials EASILY. My motor was built to make between 400-450HP, I doubt it's making 400 right now it's running so pig rich. With the power I have I can roast the tires and break 2nd loose quite easily on stickies. What I'm trying to say is that the mods to put that big block in there are just the beginning. You'll need serious additional mods to put the power down. More power after a certain point is just parts breakage and loss of traction IMO. At least two folks here have done the BB, one of them is a single digit dedicated race car. Is that what you wish to build? If so you can make anything fit - I think Ron's got a tube frame up front... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 There's a 455 Pontiac in a Z here in MD - a bud saw it the other day. BTW, a Bill Mitchell motown 427 small block is puts out 530 hp, 540 ftlbs of torque on pump gas. Check out: http://www.theengineshop.com/engine.shtml Ouch, $9500 for it though. Just a stupid-simple carb motor that runs on 93 octane and makes tons of torque down low and up in the 6000 rpm range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 Umm Pete - that MoTown motor is UNDERRATED! Yup, according to what I've read their initial dyno runs (dyno test each motor) are consistantly HIGHER than the advertised horespower ! They're considering upping the power rating later on as a result. It seems that as they've assembled more and more of these, tweaked their setup, etc. etc. they've steadily gained power but never revised their rating. Sick power to be sure but it comes with a serious pricetag too. They may offer aluminum heads down the road BTW, at that point it'll be a MUCH more interesting package for a Z IMHO. One very nice motor though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted August 26, 2001 Share Posted August 26, 2001 Wow Pete, the last article I read was with iron heads I think. Those motors are QUITE stout it seems. Honestly though, with that or some of th eother sicko' torque monsters that are being tossed aorund I have to wonder how traction will be gotten. I think a smaller lighter motor with more top end and less torque is likely to be as fast for less. Obviously at a certain point the bigger motor is better but geez, I'd liek to do more thna go straight and wheel tubsslicks tend to prohibit much of that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 As far as the pontiac 455, I may be wrong, but I think its physically about the same dimension as a pontiac 350 (not a Chevy 350, that GM put in pontiacs later, but a REAL pontiac 350...). It might be a bit heavier due to a bigass crank and such though. As memory serves though, I believe its dimensionally smaller than the other 455's in Olds and Buicks? Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dp351zcar Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Pontiac V-8s are all the same size on the outside 326-455. The size of the block is about mid way between a sbc and a BBS ie a small big block or a big small block. I owned a GTO 20 years ago and I still feel that it is a underrated engine. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 They already offer it with AL 220 Motown heads. That's the one I was quoting hp and torque for (from their site). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jens Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 Another crazy idea how about a cadillac 500 they make tons of torque and weighs the same as a iron 350 chevy then fitted with a performer intake. Its easy to reach 450 hp and 580 ft/lbs with bolt on parts. See the hot rod articles in the bottom of this page 2000$ torque pig and 4 grand 512 hp caddo http://www.geocities.com/bluebiarritz/cadintro.html It would need a subframe and a welded rollgage and at least a jaguar or ford 9" rearend with huge tires. But a 351 windsor stroked to 426 would be easier and lighter to fit. http://www.rpmengines.com/RACING/mild_performance_engines.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 You and me both. I had two friends in high school with 65 GTO's with tri-power etc and they were awesome cars that were scary fast for the size of them. Another friend had a 67 GTO with the 400, that one would light the tires nearly a block. Real fast to say the least. It was a automatic with the extra gate on the shifter for manual shifting. Might be snug, but one in a Z would be pretty cool in my opinion. Regards, Lone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 I'm with ya on the Pontiac motors - I helped a bud in college build a 69 GTO 400 up - ram air III heads, nice cam, 4.11:1 12 bolt posi, Muncie M-22. That thing was a hoot! Low end torque was incredible. Best part was he had me drive it while he was a way at school! Too bad the motor is heavy for a Z. Seriously, if I was looking for cubes, I'd be looking at a 400+ SBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jens Posted August 27, 2001 Share Posted August 27, 2001 A pontiac 455 with a aluminium intake isnt much heavier than a all iron small chevy. The problem with pontiacs is the weak rods and the small exhaust ports. But it can beat a hot small chevy without going over 5500rpm. The 10:1 comp cadillac 500 is much more fun because its bigger and got the oil filter and ignition in front of the engine with a mt15 cam performer and modified chevy bigblock headders it delivers close to 450 hp/580 ft/lbs and will never have to be reved higher than 5200 = the stock rockers and rods will survive. The deck height is 10.8" and the crank can be offset ground to 4.55" = 540 with chrysler 440 rods 570 cui has also been built. a 500 weighs 585 pounds with a performer intake. this is close to a 455 and a iron chevy 350. A chevy weighs 100 pounds more. A buick 455 is also easy to get 450-500 hp out of and got the same weight as a 455 pontiac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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