hoggrvy&chitlns

greetings all, after a long absence from wrenching, i have a hankering to embark on a new project, i was a 510 fanatic in my younger years, had 4 of them, in the days when a 2-door 510 was just a matter of checking the want-ads, driving em to death seemed perfectly acceptable, anyways later i bought a 73 240 that i basically left stock aside from dome-top SUs early bumpers and a 280 5speed, this was my daily driver for over 5years, then everything went at once, rear-end started clunking, transmission started howling, engine smoking.... been sitting in my garage collecting dust (but not rust) for the past 12yrs. The plan had always been a healthy L28 (triple DCOEs ???) but something always seemed to push that to the back burner. Fast Forward ... after always having considered V8 conversions a form of sacrilege, the idea of a mellow V8 rumble over a screaming inline6 sounds appealing. I am looking for advice and opinions, looked over the chevy crate motors, the ZZ4, 355hp 405 ft lbs, complete with aluminum heads, aluminum intake, HEI dist,4-bolt, premium internals, etc. at $3700 seems a bargain... will this be too much? id use the stoutest 280zx rear (no ford or jag conversions plz) Most of the conversions i've seen are automatics, i would have a real hard time driving a sports car with an automatic, but the idea of carving up sheet-metal doesnt appeal either, what exactly is involved in squeezing one in? Is the Doug Nash 5speed still a popular trans? Anyone manage that? My heads spinning as i type... btw this is a clean mostly original car, pristine interior, but still a 73, and not of much interest to collectors in my experience, so, in my mind a good candidate for a conversion such as this, waiting to hear from any and all