Datsun 240Z Engine Swap Into 1976 280Z 

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

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

I’ve had many Z cars in my life from 240-280Z and ZX n/a and turbo. I could not kill any one of them. I had an 81 na that didn’t have an air filter for years and ran like brand new. Never checked or changed the oil. I apologize for that but I was young and trying to blow it up to get a new car. Didn’t happen. Used to get them for 500 bucks all day long. Now they are 3-4 grand for rust buckets

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

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.

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

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.

Yes I would like to see more Datsun content 👍

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

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

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.

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!

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. 👍

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

Super excited to see more!

Can't wait to see this car running.

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?

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.

Look forward to seeing you out playing with the Z.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Keep it up Steve ! Love the Z cars!

Cool intake and carb setup 👍

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.

I would do something with the rockers! Great job!

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

Thumbs up Steve. Thanks.

Getting close to a first-drive!

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

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

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.

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

Really love your Video’s

Wow

This was awesome! Thank you.

Nice job 👏 👍 👌

Yeees more Datsun ! Beautiful car

Sweet Kraco tunage

More please Steve.

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

great stuff thanks

Yes ok for me

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

More 240zs please

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

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.

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

good video. how about using weber carbs on it?

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

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!

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

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

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

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

Make it a drift car

Nice car should clean up well. Fix the Saab

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.

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

V8 all the way cost 6 cylinders are turds