With this setup, the 280Z spun a dynamometer with the power of 575 ponies, with nearly 600 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels. The blower and snout were ported, a larger 102mm throttle body was soon en-route, and a water methanol injection kit helped to squeeze the most out of the engine without risking detonation.
#240z bashbar install#
As you can guess, an LSA supercharger found its’ way to Wilson’s garage at some point, but it wouldn’t be enough to just install the supercharger as it sat. The Chevy LSA engine was a factory-supercharged engine which came in the Cadillac CTS-V, and is often seen as one of the best examples of factory forced induction that is easily adaptable to other engines.
Wilson jokes “It was probably the most expensive way to build an LS1.”Ī year or so later, the stroked LS1 was no longer enough power, and a conversation around a supercharger was brought up. By the time the engine was actually swapped in, the only stock part of the engine was the block, and even that had been bored to accept the new rotating assembly. While the engine was out, why not refresh it a bit with some new parts? What started with a new intake manifold soon lead to a forged stroker rotating assembly, some ported and polished LS6 heads, and the ‘simple’ engine swap got slightly more modified. Wilson and friends pulled the engine and wiring harness from the Firebird, and then discarded the chassis.
#240z bashbar manual#
Heart SurgeryĪ 1999 Pontiac Firebird was located, complete with a running Chevy LS1 engine and T56 manual transmission, and the car was purchased. If the original engine transplant went so smoothly, who’s to say that another engine swap with a more powerful engine wouldn’t go just as smoothly? First, it was time to track down the engine that would become the new heard of the 280Z. Then came another weekend gathering with the friends, in which the topic of a Chevy LS engine swap came up.
#240z bashbar driver#
But somehow, the 280Z successfully fulfilled the role as the daily driver for over a year and a half. To say this car was a learning curve for Wilson was a bit of an understatement. Of course, since this was Wilson’s first manual car, the test drive took a bit longer than expected, and may or may not have included a few stalls along the way. Wilson hadn’t worked on his own car previously, so the process of swapping the engine was probably a bit prolonged, but at the end of the weekend, the engine was fired up successfully, and Wilson took the car for a spin around the block to get the feel for his new daily driver. Over the following weekend, Wilson and his alleged friends got to work pulling the seized motor and swapping in the spare 2.8L inline 6 engine into the Datsun. To those of us who have motor oil in our veins, the start of this love story may sound familiar. Wilson and his buddies loaded the car up on a trailer, towed it back to a friend’s garage who had some extra space, paid the $2,000 asking price, and started the journey towards a “reliable” daily driver. When a local 280Z popped up for sale on Craigslist for $2,000 with a seized motor, but a second “mystery” motor included with it, Wilson and his so-called friends decided that this would be the perfect candidate, and the weekend spent swapping the seized motor for the “mystery” motor would be a perfect bonding experience for the crew. Somehow, possibly influenced by a few weekend beverages, some of his so-called friends convinced him that a 30+ year old Datsun 280Z would be the perfect vehicle for a daily driver. When Josh Wilson got a fancy new car a few years back, he decided that he wanted to find a simple, reliable daily driver to keep the miles low on his new car.