Datsun 240Z Engine Swap Into 1976 280Z

[@unclebuzz6913]

IT'S NICE TO SEE SOMEONE PUTTING A DATSUN ENGINE INTO A 280Z . WHEN I WAS IN MY MID 20S EVERYONE WAS PUTTING CHEVY SMALL BLOCKS INTO THEM. I AM OLD AND DON'T SEE TOO WELL . I AM NOT YELLING ... WOULD LOVE MORE DATSUN 280 Z 240Z VIDEOS

[@pminoregon9072]

I got chills remembering those plastic radiator drains. I never actually broke one but I was scared every time I drained a radiator.

[@rupe53]

an old trick for broken plastic drain plugs was to heat a screwdriver and use it to melt a slot in the plastic. Give it a minute to cool and use another screwdriver to remove the part that was broken flush.

[@rajkamal648]

its nice to see someone has the passion of bring them to life again....like yo engine swap, but why do all hard work n cut corners on welding n taking care of all those rust n patch in correct way,,,u know what i mean,,,maybe spent little bit more time on welding in correct way,,,this car u have had gone in up in value a lot,,,,i have a 1972 240Z,,,,,,n iam restoring it in such a way that after its done,,,,hardly anyone will able to tell what was welded or was worked on,,,,,, but thats just me,,,its yo build n u r in control of it,,,,,if iam showing someone my build i would make sure its done correctly so people can benefit from the build on youTube....again thats just me...don"t get me wrong i like yo work,,,, its 240Z u wroking on,,,,keep the good work coming

[@kerrykrishna]

Steve, I hope you realize how happy these vids make Folks like me. I SO look forward to all your Videos. Thanks!

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

Glad you like them!

[@bisniskidcali9998]

Agree!

[@richardsims1805]

Great reverse engine swat from a 240Z. Nice neat job!

[@mikego18753]

Thumbs up Steve. Thanks.

[@Rabblewitz]

Nice ... and yes I'd like to see more. Back in my 20's (many years ago) one of my wish list cars was a 280Z with a Chevy small block swapped in. Still like these cars, whether with the original engine or not.

[@hannchris2762]

Love the Datsun great to see it running and moving well done

[@fedijebri394]

These videos couldn't come out soon enough . You got me hooked . Keep up the great work

[@dylanaman6306]

Yes I would like to see more Datsun content 👍

[@MikeAarset]

Love those early Z cars. My dad had a 240Z he restored and when I was in High School. Snuck it out for a couple joy rides. After one of those joy rides I noticed I was missing two hubcaps. Went all around to different wreckers till I found a couple. Days later my dad noticed that he had a complete set of hubcaps. I guess I had just lost one. Oops.

[@benharrison2391]

This makes sense when you have a 240Z motor lying around, but for someone starting from scratch, you should point out that the Skyline motor is practically a bolt in. Even the 2.0 litre version is 215 HP, certainly enough for street use. For those who don't know the history, Prince motors got a license to build the Mercedes straight six, used it for several years and then Nissan bought Prince motors. After a few years Nissan modified the motor enough that they no longer paid royalties to Mercedes but retained the basic architecture - this was the motor in the 240-280 Z. They continued to modify and improve the engine until they came up with the RB series, used in the Skylines starting in the late 80s until about 2003 when they went to the V6. With the RB20 or RB25 option available, I would never put a Chevy motor in one of these cars.

[@dchamp1337]

Look forward to seeing you out playing with the Z.

[@ramonalonso1655]

More videos please. I just started working on my 76 and your videos have helped me a ton. I have a model car with the livery you added to your Z.

[@gazzafloss]

One of the thing things that killed off these classic Datsuns apart from the propensity to rust was that the later ones put on far too much weight with all the added equipment under the bonnet, good to see one "simplified" again.

[@GudrezBilly]

But my 280 ZX only weighs 200 pounds more than a 70s 270Z, despite my 280 being wider and having a bigger engine...? I get people disliking the 280ZX cuz it's bigger, but it's not much heavier despite being bigger.

[@GudrezBilly]

I suppose I see it when I looked up the 240Z weight.

[@warrenp2022]

Back in 1973 or 4 I test drove a 240 z with the salesman sitting beside me. Drove down the 55 mph speed limit divided highway to an 's' curve 30 mph exit, I dropped it into 3rd and powered through the exit to the stop sign. I had fun but the salesman turned pale!

[@milliewilkie1969]

Steve you are a very clever guy for your age ..can you please always put links to the other episodes if in a series like the Pink Frog Eye as we can never find them xx

[@brianhead4720]

I would do something with the rockers! Great job!

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

Have one for the pass side waiting to get the drivers side rocker.

[@xLSDxUCSB]

Super excited to see more!

[@neilmurphy845]

Can't wait to see this car running.

[@alexp5325]

can't wait for the next episode of the build.

[@TheFurriestOne]

Getting close to a first-drive!

[@stephenricketts7764]

Interesting stuff Steve. That was a reasonable straitforward swap and now much easier to work on. All thats left to do now is get some working brakes and you will be good to go. Thanks for the video Steve. 👍

[@smokerschuggin475]

That’s awesome! I’d love to see more of both of the z cars!

[@winnepoo9788]

This was awesome! Thank you.

[@lewisstallings5485]

Keep it up Steve ! Love the Z cars!

[@icerazar713]

Nice to see this up and running again. I've always had a soft spot for the 240's and 280's. And the early 80's RX7. If you're going to run that at events, aren't you going to need hood pins?

[@scottmeeker9971]

Cool intake and carb setup 👍

[@sikandar223]

Wow

[@colinlentz7950]

Its really cool to see what one kind of looks like. My family has my grandpas 240z that he bought new nearly 50 years ago. I hope to get that project finished this summer and hope you get yours too.

[@isthynamewart]

More please Steve.

[@johnoldonekanole602]

Ok for real what is your day time job , because what you show us is a dream job . You are so skilled at all you do . Your welding looked top notch. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us

[@megadouche7030]

Sweet Kraco tunage

[@gregmaxfield4405]

Thanks Steve. I look forward to your videos each week, you have such a great range of topics and vehicles. I love your Sprite episodes as i owned both a Mark 1 and Mark 2 Austin Healey Sprite(s). Keep up the great work. 🙂🚜🐻 Bear Queensland Oztralia.

[@mcnamarasgarage]

Did you put a new clutch in while it was out?

[@micheltebraake7915]

I am curious what you will do with this car, rally, rallycross, autocross, etc....

[@roberthepburn6087]

nice work and you make it look simple which we all know it isn't at times. I am about to redo a 1974 Lotus Europa that was a barn find and was put away 44 years ago. It is going to be a lot of fun and frustration, I think but well worth it in the end. Also did a BugEye last year that is fully operational and way cool to drive

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

The Lotus will be much tougher as some parts are very difficult to find. I hoard as much Lotus parts as I can.

[@jmilton5842]

Chip Foose did a restomod on a Europa a few years ago.

[@davidnelson6893]

Yes ok for me

[@rodlister3098]

Really love your Video’s

[@born_again_torinos]

Very nice Steve, almost as nice as a new Lectra video. 8^)

[@bradfordeaton6558]

What kind of carburettor is that? It looks sorta like a Rochester 4bbl.

[@shauntvr4312]

Nice job 👏 👍 👌

[@ImsTwo]

good video. how about using weber carbs on it?

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

A more interesting swap is that I could take it back to fuel injected, but more reliably, by installing a 4BBL fuel injection throttle body kit like you would do on a muscle car.

[@Turbochargedtwelve]

I’d watch that for sure. I think I saw they were making a 2bbl version too. Which ever satisfies the airflow demands!

[@GalleryBones]

Yeees more Datsun ! Beautiful car

[@johnstobbscpa8081]

Interesting. Why would you reduce the cc by 400 cc? Less power seems to be less joy? I have to admit I owned a 1987 1/2 280 Z which I loved. Especially 3rd gear.

[@lookforjoe]

Why did the swap? What was wrong with the 2.8L? I didn't catch an issue mentioned in the last video...

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

There was no issue with it, I am planning on using the car for rally racing and want a non-electronic engine for reliabilty.

[@lookforjoe]

@@ThisWeekWithCars - curious - couldn't you just have swapped out the EFI setup for a carb setup & kept the 2.8L? Apologies for all the questions.

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

You would have to swap more than that, the ignition system and distributor would also need to be changed. It is in fact cheaper to have bought the 240z engine than to buy all the parts I needed to change the 280z engine.

[@lookforjoe]

@@ThisWeekWithCars I see. I've become interested in looking at Z videos because I have a 78 280Z in transit. Looking forward to working on it

[@bobmanzi7712]

great stuff thanks

[@SudosFTW]

would rather have seen the frame get cut out in those spots and then the new piece welded in, but I understand stamping them like factory can be time consuming. I really hope no one from the welding/datsun fanatic sides of youtube comes over here and starts blasting the work you're doing here because personally I think it's doing great.

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

And when Kevin got this car in his video everyone said he should just send it to the scrapyard because it was too rusted and I get blasted because I am making it usable again.

[@adiamondforever7890]

After seeing this, time for my son to work on his 240Z, and for me to work on my Avanti R2, neither have run for years. Ouch. Have fun

[@windronner1]

Great video. Love Z’s. But why replace if engine ran? In each car?

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

A lot of parts are not available for the 280Z motor so I can use the parts off this one to keep my Yellow 280Z going. The 240Z is getting a 2JZ motor and the good 240Z motor is perfect for what I am going to use this 280z for.

[@windronner1]

@@ThisWeekWithCars Thanks for the quick reply!! You got a great little channel, compounded by great 1st hand work experience and terrific automotive classic car knowledge. Furthermore your time lapse editing to move from point to point during swap is VERY GOOD> The only grey area in your channel is a) you don't tie a series closer together in time frames like the Z's . Or , b) take 15 sec background intro at beginning of each specific video 'Series' to remind viewers where you launched from previous video. Thanks.. Keep Going!!

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

One day maybe I will have many times the subscribers. I would crank out a video every day and move through projects like butter if I could spend each day working on a video but right now I try to fit in one day a week to doing this. I have to say it has been motivational for me to work on things that I would have otherwise kept putting off but on the flip side it takes longer to do anything because I have to worry about the camera being able to see what I am doing.

[@eggy1962]

@@ThisWeekWithCars do the cameras you use pick up a laser pointer? I did notice you highlighted some items

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

I put that circle in after filming when editing.

[@tameshiah5012]

I don’t get it …I turn my EFI 1978, 280z and it was running I remover all of the EfI wire’s .. Rebuild my whole Engine into SU carb and now yet, I receive no spark. I did everything to the letter from what I know and understand I could use some help

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

If you run a wire directly from the battery + to the coil + do you have spark?

[@davidfinkelstein7986]

I have a triple Weber intake with carbs and linkage that I got a payment for some work i did. Are you interested

[@calebsimcoe7102]

I know this question is completely off topic, but what happened to your M109A3?

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

Parts just arrived new video coming soon!

[@hatrickmusicnz]

More 240zs please

[@wilson42cc]

Moto migs channel, has a MG , he could use some advice,,

[@pkd4697]

I noticed when you mentioned that you pulled all the emissions control stuff out that you also pulled the charcoal canister. If you are running the oem tank, you might want to put that back in.. . at least if you want to drive with the windows up. When your eyes start the water, you'll understand why I say, leave that in!

[@georgedalas8303]

Make it a drift car

[@oldcarnut1]

Nice car should clean up well. Fix the Saab

[@deep6thisdeep6this92]

too bad that model year fell into the "ugly bumper well" caused by U.S. federal laws requiring bumpers to withstand X amount of crashing force with only Y amount of damage. unfortunate...that legislation, which was repealed in a few years, ruined more cars than one would expect. what a shame.

[@ThisWeekWithCars]

I have ideas to fix that but haven't decided for sure which approach I will take.

[@deep6thisdeep6this92]

@@ThisWeekWithCars got to hear. i've noted that some cars with the 5mph bumpers, especially imports, can be difficult to modify...big fan of the Z cars. had new 300ZX twin turbo BITD and loved it.

[@rupe53]

actually, that legislation still stands. It's just that they don't use a bolt on bumper / shock system as a solution. The cars still need to take a hit within a certain damage limit, but it's now done with designed in crush zones and plastic panels for what pass as bumpers.

[@deep6thisdeep6this92]

@@rupe53 thanks, didn't know that. ... i always stand ready to be corrected.

[@patrickfort4467]

Please get rid of those awful bumpers, the bane of 70s cars.

[@Stevesbe]

V8 all the way cost 6 cylinders are turds