454 powered 300zx

[shannonferguson2000]

I was tired of the jumble of the stock harness and I want the engine bay to look as clean as possible so I chopped it to pieces. Dan was kind enough to come over and help me out with the i.d. and re-wire of the components I will keep, if your not confident, dont chop your harness, I was over confident but it will be fine, thanks dan:
All of that mess can turn into this with the blink of a pair of sidecutters:
Here I had to make the decision of showcar firewall and a firewall and tunnel that was going to keep the rumble of tubular headers from beating out my eardrums. I used a spreader to coat the firewall with Vulkem and it came out very well. I prepped it to be smooth but in the end smeared rubber on it anyway(no worries the big block will steal all of the attention anyway):
Im absoloutley torn on paint color, but thats another story all together...

[DTS300Z]

No sweat man! We'll get back on it this weekend...

[jona300zx]

nice work man!!!!

[shannonferguson2000]

Well I originally wanted to go with the TH350 for my transmission but that brought up a few issues including but not limited to : 4000 rpms @ 65mph(not going to fly Im daily driving this car), so my final desicion after researching a bit was to use a 2004R transmission with an overdrive gear ratio of .67, when combined with the stock r200 rear end will be more like 2200 rpms @ 65mph. Tomorrow i will pick up my Daaco torque converter, transmission rebuild kit, seals, filter, fluid and start and finish that project, mate the engine and transmission for the final time, and hopefully get some wiring done(door wiring diagram is like a unicorn, everyone has heard about it, but no one has actually seen one)

Wire I.D is sooooooo fun!

[shannonferguson2000]

Well if anyone wants a transmission crossmember that works beautiful for a TH350 TRANSMISSION and bolts up like factory to the Z32 mount points, let me know. The 2004R I am using mounts in a different spot so I had to fabricate a whole new mount. I repainted the engine bay and finally have the motor and transmission permanently mounted, for sure this time, I hope.


Header clearence was tight on everything, including but not limited to: engine mounts, oil pan, power steering box, steering rack, starter, firewall, concrete,ect.




So the solution was to make one off headers that would clear everything, and after hours of fabrication here are the ONLY headers that will work for this swap:

[zxFarside]

Lookin bad a** so far.

[NolimitZ32]

Cant wait to see vids of this thing. serious props man.

[shannonferguson2000]

It seems as though nothing on this build is going to be a straight forward bolt up. After fabricating the headers, getting them to fit in with clearance was a major issue. Many bolt heads needed massaging as well as grinding touch points on various components. But, when all was said and done they fit very nice and still had wiggle room. The next improvment was made to the headers themselves, wrapping them in asbestos like wrap. If you have never wrapped headers, you should, its lots of fun and with patience the wrap can turn out looking really cool not to mention drastically dropping under hood temps if done right(see how many z32 connectors crumble when you touch them)

And if you take the time to wrap them, spray them with the appropriate silicone based high temp coating!

Here are some pics of the engine progress: coated headers installed, oil filter relocated(it was 1/4" from touching the header), pulleys installed, corvette mechanical water pump(electric was too long),fuel pump, and alternator bracket almost finished.




So tomorrow with any luck I will be posting pics of finished belt drives including my hybrid z32 power steering pump!

[Milton'Z Nissan'Z]

Very well done! Have you been keeping track of your build hours just for giggles at the end?

[DanDrath]

This build is sick i really want to see the finished product. I also wish we still had the normal bow down smiley face because thats how i feel to you

[shannonferguson2000]

I have to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 300-400 hours at least. I havent taken a day off of this build in like 4 weeks. Today was the best day of this build so far. I want power steering,period, and a cheverolet pump was not going to work because of clearance. So I took a z32 pump and aquired a toyota 4 runner pulley from the junkyard. Z32 pulley is serpentine and i need a v groove. I welded one to the other and had a sweet "looking" ps pulley. Then I realized that the combination of the two was too long to get a nut on the ps shaft. Thats where those ugly stang wheels came into play, one had a lug that was just so made that it fit down in the space where the toyota pulley was press fit and threaded on like magic.(98% luck). And after modding the z32 ps tensioner bracket, we now have POWER STEERING( after I run two AN lines):

[GsaSlick]

The 454 in my garage is sitting there mocking me knowing that I will never have the time or know how to put it in my Z. This project is amazing.

[shannonferguson2000]

My Dad building wires and valve covers finally built.





Radiator, Fuel lines, and a Carb and it will be video time!

[heyahh]

I feel for ya on all the fab work you're doing. I did a SBC in my Z32 but chose to adapt it to the Nissan transmission rather than cut out the tunnel. The adapter plate was relatively easy to make and the drive train is still holding up to 600hp, although I have yet to try to really hook it up with slicks. Also had to fab my headers & exhaust from scratch along with motor mounts, Alt & P/S pulleys & brackets etc etc. Nobody makes anything for this kind of swap so it's up to us to figure it out.

My dilemma now is trying to find a set of OEM rebuilt drive axles....can't believe they're just not out there unless you want to pay over $1,200 for a pair....

[NORCAL300ZX916]

i did a jdm swap in my drive way and omg i didnt think it was gonna fit and i watched the same size motor come out...bottom line u are a GOD!!!

[DCaff300ZX]

Sweet project Shannon, nice to see some old-school muscle shoved into a Z32...makes me think about my old FE Ford monster and my NA in a whole different way.

[txQ45]

You can get a manual valve body for the Z auto trans now .. been used in a couple of cars
Skyline ran 9.9
Z32 ran 9.4
WRX ran 8.6 all 1/4 mile times

trans parts at www.aaa-hiperformanceauto.com

[iandrew89]

Looks amazing!

[REDWINTERZ]

This is an incredible build. I can't believe I haven't seen this before! You sir, are amazing.

[GsaSlick]

Update please Hope it's going well.

[CrazedZ32Owner]

please reply i want to see the end result and to see a video *bump*

[shannonferguson2000]

Sorry about the delay in updates, the bodywork was slow going(I checked for perfection in 5"x5" squares), I want it to be perfect, so here is the car in seal prime and the rear end drained, checked, and filled :


and a pic before after mock fit befor i started the bodywork, I will be done in about a month, hopefully, and i will keep better updates!

[DCaff300ZX]

Happy to see you are still at work on your beast, the body work looks great!

[zxFarside]

Need updates!

[240sx seller]

this build is great. I never thought of this being done in a z32. great job and good luck with the rest. Hope you can get traction

[DanDrath]

we want videos we want videos we want videos

[stebo0728]

Mods ... u may as well sticky this one

[CrazedZ32Owner]

i 2nd this motion!!

[shannonferguson2000]

Sorry about the updates, this car quickly became less of a labor job and more of an all out money consumer. I haven't cut shortcuts on the fabrication thus far so i really dont want to now. I accomplished alot (in my mind ) in a very short period of time and it seems as though the last little bit is taking forever. I have only a few more loose ends, wiring being a major hurdle, and I will shoot some video. I think Im realistically 60-70 days from completion because I had to go back to work to pay for the finishing touches. I will update with some new paint pictures asap!

[CrazedZ32Owner]

yay!!