Dropping 83 ZX Motor Into My 77 Z

[Captain Obvious]

What about the lower end? I've heard reports that the oil pan designs are different and the oil pickup tube is in a different location? I can certainly swap pans and sump tubes between the two, but if I don't have to, it's less work.

Anyone have any more info about the situation?

[Jeff G 78]

You can leave the rear sump pan on the F54 engine. This was discussed a few months ago and it was concluded that you don't need to swap it unless you want to. If you do swap the pan, swap the pickup and the dipstick. Otherwise, leave it alone.

[Zed Head]

Might be worth double-checking the intake manifold. I'm sure that they're different but don't know how significant it is. I remember thinking that the throttle linkage would take some work because of the the throttle body location. And the BCDD is different. The throttle bodies won't interchange because the bolt patterns are different and the ZX throttle body has a smaller opening.

In retro, it does look easier to stick with the early N42 (N47?) intake.

Make sure that the divider inside the exhaust manifold hasn't rotted away. It was on my engine, creating a large open cavity for all six ports. No pulse separation.

[Captain Obvious]

Thanks Zed Head, I'll double check the locations of stuff.

My original thought was to go with the 77 intake because I liked the way it looked, so I was happy to hear that the 83 stuff didn't fit right. Provided the validation and justification I needed to swap it onto the 83 motor. But then I was looking over the 83 intake system and I'm seeing some beauty in the functionality. I like what they did with some of the items like the BCDD and the PCV systems and now because of the functionality, the 83 is looking more attractive to me than it did before.

So now I guess I could go either way. I'm thinking that if the location changes are not as significant as you originally alluded to, then I may try to make the 83 work.

Heart says 77, buy head says 83? Does that make sense?

[siteunseen]

Some of these are relevant.

Edited September 2, 2013 by siteunseen