tired 260Z motor, what would you do?

[Healey Z]

I just bought a car with a tired 260Z motor. It is leaking oil badly, running on 5, hard to start etc. I'm inclined to give it a few hours to see if it is worth fixing in place, but I have already mentally prepared myself to pull it out. The clutch/5 speed trans is new and operates great.

Is the 260 motor worth rebuilding? Should I look for a 240/280 motor as a core to rebuild instead? Would it make sense to transfer the FI on a 280 motor? What is the best way to get a 20-40 more HP out of these motors?

I have done a number of cars in my past, including 510's, a datsun roadster, but most my cars have been 64-66 Fords, I know nothing about Z motors, so excuse me if this is a pretty lame question.

[Z train]

Find a 83ish ZX and tranfer the whole drivetrain.

[Nigel1943]

The 260 engine has the same stroke as the 280 so personally I would bore the block to 86mm (260 is 83mm), fit flat top pistons which will give an approximate compression of 9.5 to 1 and overall a reasonable increase in HP. This assumes the rest of the engine is good.

[Healey Z]

Thank you for the replies. If I did go through with a rebuild of this motor and bored it and changed the pistons to get to 9.5:1 (what is a stock motor?), is there a street/performance cam change that would be recommended?

p.s. The motor/trans is in a 1963 Austin Healey

[madkaw]

I'm confused, is it a tired old engine or a rebuilt one? Running on 5 cylinders with a fresh bottom end and using oil. This thread is not making sense. You might want to start over agin from the beginning. Interesting-if not very cool-application of the Z motor in the Healey. The car oughta really go with that Z motor-if you get it running good.

[doradox]

Seems clear to me. Tired, leaking, running on 5, hard to start. No mention of fresh bottom end that I can see.

Steve

Edited October 3, 2010 by doradox
spelling

[Bruce Palmer]

Well for crying out loud, of course it's leaking!! It's in a Britich car!! Look out here comes Arne to the rescue of all things Briitich......

[Healey Z]

The motor swap was done 20 years ago. The motor drives like it is tired and feels like it it is running on 5 cylinders. I confirmed my suspicion by removed the plug wires one at a time at idle and #4 had no change in idle. I will do a compression check when I drag it home next weekend to see what I am dealing with. I priced in and I'm assuming that this motor is coming out and now looking for what my best path is, assuming the motor has to come out of the car.

It will be a great combination when it is working; vintage British sports car looks, Japanese reliability and good looking American guy driving it.

[pwd]

If I were you I'd find a period A-H engine and put it back in, thereby increasing the value 5-10X.

[beandip]

If you can come by a good 280ZX engine , go that route. This is what I did and have been vary happy with the results.

An '82ZX, I milled the head .030 giving 9.5 to one. The non turbo motors have flat top pistons. I dumped the injection and kept my SUs . I have a Erson midrange street cam. The overall performance is great plus I am getting right at 30 mpg on the Hwy. I also installed a 5 speed. I run mid range gas and could likely run regrlar if I retarded the timing.

These blocks are amazing and will go 250k easily and not need to be bored. So If you do this most likely all you will need to do is have the crank checked and maybe polished , hone the cylinders and new rings and have the head milled and valves ground.

[Healey Z]

If I were you I'd find a period A-H engine and put it back in, thereby increasing the value 5-10X.

PWD, your point is valid, although your math is off. It is more like 1.5 to 2.5X. Below are all the cars for sale in the US: craigslist, ebay, hemmings etc.

A few things. These cars are horribly unreliable. I went through the stack of repairs on the car and it had to add up to $25K. The original motor/trans are heavy and not that powerful. This car has already been converted from two 6 volt batteries, and a positive ground. A number of the things that make these cars pieces of art in a garage under a cover have been changed (mainly the electrical system).

I did find a '61 engine/trans and by the time it is rebuilt and ready to install, I would be at $9K or so.

My desire is to have a fun, affordable, great looking and reliable vintage car to drive, so thus my path for Z power.

$75 show winner restored

$58 restored, show quality

$55 restored, show quality

$50 restored, show quality

$47 restored, show quality

$44 restored, show quality

$39 excel condition, partial restore

$39 65K mile, partial resto

$39 restored

$38 excel condition, partial restore

$38 mechanical resto, looks decent cosmetically

$38 low mile original

$37 unrestored driver, needs some work

$36 low mile partial restore

$36 driver

$34 partial restore

$32 mechanical resto, looks decent cosmetically

$32 driver

$31 no details

$30 44k original miles

$30 driver, needs mechanical work

$29 low mile unrestored car

$29 driver, minor mech and cosmetic

$28 driver, minor mech and cosmetic

$25 unrestored driver, needs some work

$21 runs, nothing major, needs restoring

$20 complete car, runs, decent looking, needs work

$19 restorable, starts

$18 driver, needs minor mechanical, and cosmetics

$17 unrestored car, complete non running, decent condition

$15 starts, complete, needs total restore

$15 unrestored car, complete, need total restore

$14 complete car, doesn't run, partially assembled

$13 total resto project…no pics or details

$8 disassembled car for 20 years

Edited October 3, 2010 by Healey Z
some more thoughts

[Bruce Palmer]

So you're doing it for you and your enjoyment, right? In that case any choice you make is the right one.

I know for Sprites and Midgets going Datsun A series engines and 5 speeds is a big upgrade.