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Another ls1 swapped for the books - 76 Datsun 280z
Fell in love with the datsuns and decided I had to get one. Looked for a few months, ended up finding a diamond in the rough insanely close, about an hour away from where I live, about 30 minutes from where I grew up. Immediately went and picked it up the next weekend. Started ripping it apart, sanding down the little bits of surface rust here and there, then coating with bedliner etc. Typical Datsun ****.
Mods so far.. xxr wheels and tires, fender flares, eibach lowering springs (for now), some paint work on the trim around the windows, corbeau reclining seats, and an old double din pioneer touch screen I had from my last vehicle. future plans... built top end ls1/t56 swap. lookin to score upper 400's maybe 500 with some decent driveability. It wont be a daily, itll just be a playtoy. Plannin on gettin the swap done first, then tossin on top end parts and a cam another day when i get used to the power of an ls1 in a 2300 lb datsun
Anyone got any good input for heads and cam combo to get me around 500+ hp? It wont take me much tq to push this little datsun so this ones gonna be pushed for for horsepower. I dont feel like destroking the block and going through bottom end work, just wanna put a good set of heads and valvetrain, ls6 manifold, good cam and wind her up and get some good numbers. any suggestions for ring gap or anything else if i want to go nitrous later?
also, planning on going t56. id imagine ill need to build it up a little to handle 500.. best place to send it in NC?
Also, im a college student and I work at a bar so moneys tight but its a good bar, so im not completely broke yet, but am about to be starting this build lol so good deals are always appreciated. Got an ls1 in the mail headed my way that just needs a water pump and an alternator, which i can scoop up from the local pick n pull, hes including everything else in front of the clutch. Will be in the market for a t56 after i get moved to my new house and start back up on the project in a month or so.
Excited to see this build! Love the old Z cars. Doing a 240sx as we speak. Ever thought of doing a mild turbo setup? 8lbs to this beast would be pretty nasty!
Excited to see this build! Love the old Z cars. Doing a 240sx as we speak. Ever thought of doing a mild turbo setup? 8lbs to this beast would be pretty nasty!
thinkin about it, if i get it up to 450-500 ish all motor maybe 550-600 with some spray and feel like its not enough ill sell the 5.7 and buy a 6.0 iron block from someone and boost it up to 700-800 but i dont think im going to get tired of a 500hp all motor 2700(ish)lb rwd car. ive lost my license for a year for speeding too much and dont really to too much racing anymore (unless i find a few track days at VIR to take it to), i just want somethin fun i can drive around the mountains thats halfway reliable and powerful. i also want to keep it as light as possible to help handling
got the stock drivetrain removed and ready to shave the engine bay
got the dash and stock ac unit and under dash crap all cleaned out
sweet 15 gal aluminum fuel cell from from summit racing, got it second hand and never used for 150 bucks local. made my own brackets to mount it flush with the floor in the trunk
after an hour of some practicing i finally got some good beads goin with the millermatic
now i just need to cut some aluminum sheeting to cover it all up and make it nice and sealed
Its actually more around a 26-2700 pound road car probably, but still good power to weight. I have an LS swapped 78. People with the same year as mine swapped seem to be around 28-2900 +/-. I just got mine running and with bald tires and stock engine I can burn off 1,2,and 3 easily.
Timely post, I'm doing the exact same swap now only mine's a 75. NEarly every part of the car has been replaced or gone through (brakes, int, suspension, etc.) I have everything together and should be pulling the engine this weekend. Attached is a pic of my engine and the car itself. Looking forward to your progress.
Timely post, I'm doing the exact same swap now only mine's a 75. NEarly every part of the car has been replaced or gone through (brakes, int, suspension, etc.) I have everything together and should be pulling the engine this weekend. Attached is a pic of my engine and the car itself. Looking forward to your progress.
[QUOTE=straightpipez;18446156]Timely post, I'm doing the exact same swap now only mine's a 75. NEarly every part of the car has been replaced or gone through (brakes, int, suspension, etc.) I have everything together and should be pulling the engine this weekend. Attached is a pic of my engine and the car itself. Looking forward to your progress.
thats sweet! i really like that blue. have you found anywhere that makes 1 7/8 longtubes that will fit the swap? iv seen around a few guys have managed to custom build them. i have a good friend who fabricates and is a boss on a tig, said we can give it a shot. also, what motor and trans mounts are you using? i want some beefy good quality mounts but not solids. that little datsuns gonna shake like crazy
Talk to Bruce at Hawk's Third Gen. He makes long tubes and killer mounts for the Z cars. Super nice stuff. I used John's Cars for my mounts because Hawk's mounts won't work with the JTR shorty headers I had. The parts aren't on the Hawk's site you'll need to email or call. This link has some pics he sent me:
If I could have done it I would have used all of Bruce's stuff. Try Dirty Dingo as well for mounts. With the popularity of the LS engine there are better choices of mounts. The John's Cars parts aren't nearly as nice as Hawk's and the mount price is the same.
Well it looks like I have to have 50 posts before I can reply on any one elses threads, or post new threads since im a newby to the forum site, so ill add a few new pics here and there to show some progress and take up some of those 50 posts...
the start of the heart transplant. still has the shitty 40 year old wiring and the ol l28e from the factory. glad to get rid of it for a quick 600 bucks that went towards the new drivetrain
still need to get the speedo and tach fitted in there. i love the new autometers though. 10x better looking and will be way more accurate and sturdy than the old factory gauges. carbon fiber ultra lites in the factory holes lookin real sexzy
Thanks for the update. 280Z's are awesome! Sorry to hear about the spun rod bearing. Good thing you went through the engine. Looking forward to the next update.
that single thread has to be the most useful thing anyones ever done for n/a power. thanks for postin it up for me!
and its all good man, thats what anyone should expect when finding "deals" on craigslist. I go through anything I buy secondhand though, just to know whats up. Now I know I will essentially have a brand new engine and wont have to worry about the history.
found the perfect secondhand cam, big thanks to rmata for the contribution and for the smooth sale. cant wait to get this bad boy in. now i just need a hundred other parts lol
if anyone reading this has some extra parts and wanna pm me feel free to.
still need:
ecm for a 99-02 ls1/t56
the rest of the stuff im gonna have to suck it up and buy new