300 ZX engine in a 240?

[peterc]

Anyone had any experience with swapping an engine, engine/tranny or engine/tranny/diff from a 300ZXinto a 240?

If not, any opinions as to the advisibility of said swap? If I understand correctly the 300's V-6 weighs less than the straight 6 with twice the horsepower. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

[XYZ]

Check www.hybridz.org. They do a lot of different mods. There's a link from this site in the web links section. Good luck!

[peterc]

Thanks XYZ!

Interesting site. It wil take a little browsing to see if anyone has actually done this swap before.

[kmack]

Somebody has done that swap before. I used to have a link to their website until I had to replace my motherboard. I believe the engine designation for the 300ZX ('84-'89) is VG30, so you might do a search on HybridZ for that. Good luck.

[Ivan]

are you sure they weigh less? it's a pretty big engine, you won't have much room left in the engine bay, also how much is the engine going to cost you?

[2ManyZs]

It fits in a 510 engine bay, so a Z should have even more room to spare....

I've seen many pics of the swap, but can't remember where they were....:stupid:

Ought to be ablt to find one in a junkyard for a few hundred form an early car, but they will only have 170hp or so.... can't remember which years had what hp in the early Z-31's.

[dohc]

Hi Peterc,

I've been looking at putting the VG30DETT engine (twin turb version) into a 260Z.

I've found a guy to do all the physical modes and he is 100% sure it will fit and although the engine is slightly heavier (if you include all the extra's) it is set further back towards the fire wall so handling shouldn't suffer...

Let us know what you find out though as it is still an expensive path to take!

Cheers,

R.

[peterc]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. I was away for the holidays, hope everyone had a super Christmas or Festivus or whatever you celebrate.

kmack, thanx for the link (XYZ steered me to it as well). It's got a lot of interesting and relevant info.

Ivan, the reason I started thinking about this swap is that there is a 300ZX for sale here (Ottawa). It looks pretty beat up and I haven't been able to contact the owner yet. So I don't know any particulars (age, mechanical condition, selling price etc), but I thought if he was selling for parts it might make an interesting project (like I need another one :stupid: ). As 2ManyZs pointed out, fitting it in shouldn't be a problem. But that was one of the reasons I was trying to find someone who had actually done this swap, just to see how easy/hard it would be. On the other hand, I've since found out that the I was mistaken on the horsepower rating. As 2ManyZs points out the early 300ZXs only put out around 170HP. So no real gain for all the bother.

On the other, other hand if the one for sale is a TT model......

. But not much chance that a car that new would look so beat up.....mind you, this is Ottawa, Rust Capital of the World. I got my 1983 280ZX from the car's second owner, who bought it in 1985 (the sale records confirm this). She told me that the car was in pristine condition when she bought it, and had never been in a body shop. No reason for her to lie as she gave the car to me. She took it off the road in 1996 due to excessive rust. When I started tearing it apart this winter to see how extensive the damage was, guess what I found. Both front fenders were totally rusted out where they join the front valance. The original owner had a body shop weld skins over the joints and bondo'd them, then repainted the whole car. And the car was only TWO years old!!

dohc, did your buddy give you any idea what the conversion would cost? Are you thinking of doing a straight swap, or are you going to rebuild/mod the engine before installing it?

Again, thanx everyone for your input!

Peter

[2ManyZs]

The early model would hardly be worth the effort in a Z since you only gain 10hp or so to begin with, but the last generation would be a viable alternative. They had 210 or so (can't remember exactly) in non-turbo form.

Hardest part with a swap like this is making the engine/trans mounts as I don't think I have ever seen any advertised at least in "kit form", and the electronics and wiring are going to be a major headache.

I'd do it if I could find a cheap enough parts car..... I would try to find a complete car you could buy instead of buying the parts after they have been "taken" out, hard to tell if you have everything you need if someone has already stripped the car. Then you could just scrap the rest of the chassis after you cannibalize everything you need. You could probably modify some of the stock Z-32 mounts to make them work in your car... just a couple more ideas to think about.

[peterc]

2Many,

ya, I was thinking the same thing, it all depends on how old the one for sale is. Guess the only way to find out is to call.

A complete car would be the only way to go, you never know what parts you're going to need. I figure there would be some mounting mods to be done to accomodate the new engine/tranny. Hence the reason for the original post. I was hoping that someone had already done this mod, and save me a lot of trouble.

[dohc]

Hi Peter,

Sorry, but the fabricator that I spoke to was keen and knew he ccould do it but just hadn't done it yet. Price wasn't really discussed either! I trust he could do it as he had a 510 that he'd just put a RB25 into and a Silvia (mid 90's one) with the VG30DET in..... Most of his works on Cobra's with 500ci Chevies etc so I know it will all be strong

As for sourcing an engine I was going to get a half cut straight from Japan. That would have everything I need plus a couple of panels to sell off (hopefully) and recoup a bit of the cash.

Can you guys get half cuts imported to the states?

Cheers,

Ross.

[Mudge]

Yes, we can get front clips/"half cuts" to the states, I've seen RB stuff though in the $6-$7,000 USD area, forget it

I remember the NA VG30 hitting 222 HP eventually, earlier on it was even less.