NinjaNate92

Sorry for the stale thread. Time to bring this back with some updates from the past 4 months!!!!!! WOOO! Finished the other pieces of the engine mounts. Ka trans fits onto the stock L series transmission crossmember! Perfect! And we have landed. It's far enough forward to access the 02 sensors, bellhousing bolts, and the slave cylinder. Time for some wiring. Drove it to the exhaust shop and this is where something terrible happened. The Sam seized due to no oil starvation, snapping the cam gear right off the cam. It died right at the top of the driveway to this shop lol. So I towed it home. and since replacing both heads was more expensive than getting a whole long block... a lower mileage (200,341 miles) from an LS400 was pulled :) This car was absolutely immaculate and had only been there a few days. Upon later inspection.. It had a cracked distributor, which is why I think it was there. http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii63/NATEMAN360/3A97F995-80C5-43BA-B68E-DCAD305F3836-2917-00000153298EC8DE_zpsd058ae94.mp4

Learned how to weld to weld the motor mounts up. I love it! Also, check out that torque curve! (In red).

The other half of the motor mounts before trimming.

I'm sure it looks pretty weird but it'll make more sense in a few days when I get further :)

So good news! The spline count on the 240sx trans is the same as the 280z driveshaft! It got right in, I got some measuring done, and trimmed the dust guard on the driveshaft so it'll go in a little further.

A couple minutes on a grinder and a couple minutes of regret. I'm honestly not worried about it at all.

Update time again, I haven't had much time or money lately to make much progress. But here it is so far. Half way through motor mounts, modified the drivers side header and got my throwout bearing back from the machinist.

Update Time: I've been waiting to get my throwout bearing collar to be machined to accept a 1991 Mustang throwout bearing, since I had it laying around and its long enough to make up for the thickness of the adapter plate. I had to saw the drivers side header in half to make the other half fit. Also there's a flood of parts coming! I honestly don't think I'll finish it by Saturday as planned for Bayline. All that matters is it's done soon :) If any of you guys have instagram my handle is ninja_nate9.

So far it's 1 of 3 that I've seen. The only 280 though, like I said. And as far as a budget goes, it's not very cheap considering the amount it costs to go with a manual transmission. $1,000 to convert it at least along with the headaches.

The first 280z I build, about a year ago, was a 5.0 with a mustang 5 speed. Now its my daily driver and its tons of fun and very cheap to maintain. In order to convert a 1UZ to a manual transmission you have to use a MR2 (3SGTE) or 4Runner flywheel. I went with the 4Runner because the ring gear for the starter is on the right side and all I needed machined was the 8 holes to crank. As far as the rest of the drivetrain goes; the pressure plate is also from an MR2 and the clutch disc is for an SR20. The pilot bushing needed an adapter to accomodate for the small pilot bushing from the Nissan transmission. The throwout bearing sleeve or whatever the technical name is needs to be lengthened 5/8 to 1" to make up for the thick adapter plate as well.

Yes I could have used a Toyota trans, but I found a 240sx transmission (FS5..blah blah) for cheap and the adapter plates were near the same amount. It should hold the power just fine. This isn't going to be a 700whp monster, just a quick, smooth beast with 200 ft lbs of torque at 1,000rpm :D and for the sake of BEING DIFFERENT.

Hello everyone, here I am again building my second V8 swapped Z. I blew the headgasket on my L28 and didnt feel like rebuildilng it along with its 3 speed auto. The build this time is not an American V8, but instead a 4.0 Liter, DOHC, 32 valve, Toyota/Lexus V8 sourced from a 92 Lexus SC400. I didn't want an auto like my l28 had equipped, so I decided to make it a 5 speed. Toyota never ever made a manual transmission for this engine series though. So I bought an adapter plate and picked up a nissan 240sx 5 speed. I think its safe to say this is the first 1UZ-FE 280z. Thanks for reading and enjjjjjoy! Engine and trans pulled. Later!! Picked up the 1UZ. I even got it to run in the junkyard before I had it pulled! Look how clean it is! Picked up the transmission with an SR bellhousing, but I ended up swapping it for the U.S. 240sx bell. Adapter plate aquired: It bolts together!!! Here's a quick test fit that brings back memories of the 5.0 Z. Modified Toyota 4Runner flywheel. Here is from today 7/27/14. I plan on having it on the road in 6 DAYS for the Bayline show in Oakland, CA. But we'll see.

Start: Jackson, Dennys Time: Saturday, Oct 19, 3 PM Destination: Silver lake, right on highway 88. Does anyone from the Sac (or where ever) area want to accompany 3 other Z's and I up Highway 88 to Silver Lake and back down Highway 26? We will be meeting in Jackson at the Dennys at 3 PM, heading up 88 to Silver lake and on our way day we will take highway 26. Let me know if you can make it! :thumbup: