s13 chevy 350

[ourmartyr]

so i know there are a lot of people doing this swap... it's insanely easy except for the mounts... but luckily i have two or three master welders at my disposal. see... at first i was going to do the insanely hard vg30dett swap... i did all my research and have enough money to purchase it, and then a friend said he had a ca18det lying around that i could have for 500-600$ and considering it only had 50k miles and several upgrades including the SR turbo.. i decided i'd do that instead. now the kid cannot find the ca18 because his friend who had it disappeared. and then my best friend happened to mention he had a 1980 carbed small block lating around... with an auto transmission... both under 40k miles. guess how much? $100!!!!! and since i'm a senior in highschool... i can do all the work inside the schools auto shop. i'm buying a brand new 1980 corvette 4 speed transmission from autozone and trading in my core transmission for 300$ off (you know... core charge bull****) and since one of my other good friends works there... 25% off! anyways... for about the price of an s14 sr, i can completely rebuild the whole motor... bottom up, valve train, cams, MSD ignition, magnacore wires, holley or edelbrock carb... etc... and i just found out my 1990 s13 was manufactured in canadia... meaning it comes stock a VLSD. i can't wait... this swap will be complete way before spring. without a doubt. i will keep you all posted. will plenty of pictures!

This is my s13 just recently painted jet black... from its hideous faded and peeling red. all painting was done by myself and my friend who's selling me the small block.By the way... the first picture is me acting like a jackass after sanding for several hours straight... god i hate sandpaper...
Modified by ourmartyr at 12:44 PM 12/7/2007

[KA24Power]

not to **** on your parade.. but the 1989 and 1990 CDM s13's only had an open diff. I know, I have 2 1990's. The 91+ all had factory LSD

Other than that, sweet!

I'd love to drop a 350 in my 240 but I need SOME fuel economy.

[ourmartyr]

thats not ****ting on my parade at all actually you saved my ***, i'm really glad you pointed that out... so now i know what else i need to get.

[KA24Power]

no problem man. have fun with the swap. a guy at my school has a 280z with a 350 in it and that thing hauls ***

[morbid]

How much does that engine put out? I don't know **** about american cars.

[eazye2000]

How much does that engine put out?

A 1980 Chevy 350... Depends on what it came out of. And what he's going to put in it. They can do an easy 350hp/tq and still not break a sweat. He could turn it into a 383 stroker quite easily and hit 450tq and still run pump gas.

God I miss my ol' chevy small blocks.

[morbid]

So these chevy engines are easy/cheap to make pretty fast? And they are pretty reliable too?!

I want one.

[idahotuner]

i want ot do a V8 swap on my next project. but that wont be for a while

[ourmartyr]

i'd hope they are reliable, lol chevy has been using them in almost everything since 68. and the only years that aren't fully compatible with all the older models are the newer LTs.

oh and this is my year and model:

L82

Years: 1973-1980

The 1973-1974 L82 was a "performance" version of the 350 producing 250 hp (186 kW) and 285 ft·lbf (386 N·m) from 9:1 compression. It was down to 205 hp (153 kW) and 255 ft·lbf (346 N·m) for 1975. It was the optional engine again in 1976-1977, producing 5 hp (4 kW) more. The 1978 L82 recovered somewhat, producing 220 hp (164 kW) and 260 ft·lbf (353 N·m), and 5 hp (4 kW) and 10 ft·lbf (14 N·m) more for 1979. 1980 saw another 10 hp (7.5 kW) and 15 ft·lbf (20 N·m). i mean it's a LOT less horse and tq than the 73-74 but for 100$ and the ability to completely rebuild it... yeahhh oh and i forgot to mention only two wires to run! yeahh... and you could even put a monster supercharger on it and it wouldn't even feel the parasitic drag.

[phleb]

A 1980 Chevy 350... Depends on what it came out of. And what he's going to put in it. They can do an easy 350hp/tq and still not break a sweat. He could turn it into a 383 stroker quite easily and hit 450tq and still run pump gas.

God I miss my ol' chevy small blocks.

Not only is it easy, it's cheap. So cheap in fact that if you buy one of these kits that has heads, a cam, some timing stuff, and run the carb they tell you to, you can get ~400hp/400tq. The small block invented the aftermarket, and now you're kinda making me want one in my car.

[Conrad427]

The older SBC's are pretty useless for any kind of performance application. The stock heads and cam are crap, not to mention the block is made of iron. Thankfully the SBC all but invented the performance aftermarket (wow thats sounding cliche now adays) . If it were me I'd get myself a roller cam, roller rockers, aluminum heads, dual plane intake manifold (better for street driving), a 750cfm carb with mechanical secondaries, and a decent set of headers. Dependent on cam and heads youd be around 400-425ish horse flywheel if you kept it stock displacement. As mentioned, if you decide to stroke it then the sky is the limit. Forged 383, huge cam, monster heads, single plane intake, 1200cfm carb, 300 shot nitrous ......

[LOLVtak]

Not to be negative but I completely disagree with this swap, the 350 motor weighs in at around 650lb completely suited up. The 240sx and especially the s13 chassis is a very lightweight car with an almost perfect weight ratio for multiple types or racing including autocross and of course drift racing, I'd say throwing in a beastly hulking engine would only hinder the car's real potential. Now if you're looking for a drag car go right ahead but remember that the 240sx much like the 300zx has barely any weight over the rear wheels making it hard to put all that power on the ground. Not to mention you can easily tune an SR20 or if you had the money an RB26 to the high expectation it seems you have for your V8.

I'm not going to ramble on so I just want to say I don't think it's a bright idea, good luck though.

[2LO4URHO]

^ That's what the Ls1 is for Aluminum Block and heads.I'm also trying to do the swap I have 2 89 240sx's coupe - one is my daily and the other is gonna be the beast- I wanna do a swap in both but I'm considering going carburated for the meanwhile since it's cheaper and easier to find and install + this would be my first swap after I get the hang of things and have a little more knowledge I'll swap it for the Ls1. I wet my pants when I hear a beefy old school Chevy Once I swap to the ls1 theres plenty of other cars I can drop the iron block in, most of them already in my yard example 41 Chevy master deluxe

[DougRoost]

Why did you guys go to the time and expense to paint the car w/o removing the dents??? And why not change to the '91+ nose while at it? Or were those not final pictures?

[Clawhammer]

Why did you guys go to the time and expense to paint the car w/o removing the dents??? And why not change to the '91+ nose while at it? Or were those not final pictures?

Because the pignose is sexy? DUH

[nieko]

well see.... some people actually like the piggy nose dude lol

[Acumo]

do your research, complete ur homework and get to work! gl man

[240wootie]

Why did you guys go to the time and expense to paint the car w/o removing the dents??? And why not change to the '91+ nose while at it? Or were those not final pictures?

dude, do i hear another piggy vs chuki thread starting?? oh yeh, and a stock ls1 will kill any stock nissan engine.. if i had only thought ahead...

[redlineracer]

if u can get an 80s small block chevy try and get tuned port injection its the best of that era. people still use tpi setups on hot rods and engine swaps

its the corvette engine of the 80s

[idahotuner]

yea there are some quit noticeable dents it seems like you would have wanted to fix those at least.

[ourmartyr]

Why did you guys go to the time and expense to paint the car w/o removing the dents??? And why not change to the '91+ nose while at it? Or were those not final pictures?

I was too lazy to remove the dent in the rear... but the reason i didn't remove the front one was once i'm done with the motor... it's getting the s15 silvia headlight conversion. (s13.5 strawberry faceeeee) and plus i think chuki is hideous. piggy all the wayyyy until s15. and as far as the block is concerned... i'm completely stripping it down, sandblasting the whole thing minus the cylinders obviously... painting it... and rebuilding it from the crank up. the way i'm building it, it will be able to handle a constant 25lbs boost (if i wasn't raising the comp. level). but i'm not doing that. i'm going with the 1980 corvette transmission (4sp manual), eagle crankshaft (1000hp rated), 600-700hp rated connecting rods (6in not 5.7in), High Comp forged heads, completely ported and polished heads with extensive valvetrain work, 2.02 intake, 1.60 exhaust, all stainless springs etc... fully ported and polished intake manifold, holley or edelbrock carb (650 cfm) 750 is WAYYY too much. i actually want at least a little gas mileage. I'm gonna fashion a makeshift cold air intake with bypass valve. probably hooker headers to a 2.5 inch Y pipe to a 3 inch test pipe, 3 inch stainless all the way back. of course a performance fuel pump (it's amazingly cheappp). MSD igniton (because its the first year with electronic ignition) with magnacore wires for sure. then i think i'm going to work on suspension.
Modified by ourmartyr at 1:04 PM 12/7/2007

[ourmartyr]

as well as the z32 brake swap... i already have the front hubs, i just need the rears and front and rear calipers.

[ourmartyr]

Not to be negative but I completely disagree with this swap, the 350 motor weighs in at around 650lb completely suited up. The 240sx and especially the s13 chassis is a very lightweight car with an almost perfect weight ratio for multiple types or racing including autocross and of course drift racing, I'd say throwing in a beastly hulking engine would only hinder the car's real potential. Now if you're looking for a drag car go right ahead but remember that the 240sx much like the 300zx has barely any weight over the rear wheels making it hard to put all that power on the ground. Not to mention you can easily tune an SR20 or if you had the money an RB26 to the high expectation it seems you have for your V8.

I'm not going to ramble on so I just want to say I don't think it's a bright idea, good luck though.

alright now after typing that essay... let me attack this one... FIRST OF ALL the 1980 chevy small block weighs 575lbs fully dressed(cast iron). the LS1 manual weighs 497.2lbs manual with pressure plate and flywheel. the KA weighs in at about 368lbs without transmission... now figure 100-150+ for transmission) so even at most.. thats like a 100lb difference. now take a look at where they sit in the engine bay... the 350 sits farther back therefore THE CENTER OF GRAVITY IS MOVED TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE CAR rather than at the front because of the KA. all i need to place the power to the ground is a VLSD. and not only that but i plan on redoing the whole suspension and doing the z32 brake and 5 lug conversion before i do my s13.5 headlight conversion. and yes it's a lightweight car... therefore my power to weight ratio... yeah will be through the roof. and you said if i wanted power go to an rb26? are you aware that not only after purchasing that engine i'd have to find someone with a spare rb25 transmission and use that? and not only that but i believe that engine weighs more fully dressed. plus i can get WAY more horsepower naturally aspirated only spending the amount of money that it would cost for that motor, not to mention the pirce it'd cost for an install... unless you're a nissan god/ WELL experienced mechanic and can rig that engine up. next off sr20?! hahahahahhaslfhlahah. you're going to compare a 2.0 aluminum block to a 5.7 liter cast iron beast? ALUMINUM IS FOR CANS NOT BLOCKS. what are the availability and cost effectiveness of the sr20 parts? how about the rb26? because oh look... chevy used the 350 in almost every car and truck they made! all the parts from 68' and up to the LT series are completely interchangeable. hmmm... did you notice your keywords there? "if you had the money" yeahhh... look at the cost of the small blocks parts compared to the cost of any of nissans parts. don't get me wrong i LOVE nissan engines, ca18det and ka24det all the way. but high expectation? the horsepower estimates i posted are my low expectation. chances are with the 13:1 comp ratio its going to be running... it'll blow the doors off most ANYTHING that will come its way. plus if you read my story, my plan kept changing engines dissapeared... and this one was right in front of me the whole time. for $100! how could i go wrong? install will be easy as pie, theres like two wires... plus i can literally start the damn thing on the ground with a can of gas. AND I will be the only one around my area with a chevy small block in their 240, not to mention the only one without a stock KA or slightly modded sr20.

[idahotuner]

that is alot of info i will be back to read it later

[2LO4URHO]

Do it! Are you gonna modify the crossmembers and all that yourself? Please show pics of any mods necessary for the V-8 swap.

[ourmartyr]

yes, i will be modifying myself. and i will post plenty of pics.

[2LO4URHO]

I wanna use this block I have for now, came out of a 91 Caprice Classic 5.7L Aftermarket Cam and Double hump heads from an earlier model engine. What can you tell me about the double hump heads? I want to use it but people tell me it'll be way more difficult to set up due to its a throttle body fuel injected but I also heard there are kits out there to convert it over to carburated? Would that be a good idea? Or atleast for now while I'm learning and is it worth it or should go with a different block?

If I can use this block what transmission should I stick on it? 5spd from what model car? Thanks bud.

[idahotuner]

good. pics will be awesome

[phleb]

alright now after typing that essay... let me attack this one... FIRST OF ALL the 1980 chevy small block weighs 575lbs fully dressed(cast iron). the LS1 manual weighs 497.2lbs manual with pressure plate and flywheel. the KA weighs in at about 368lbs without transmission... now figure 100-150+ for transmission) so even at most.. thats like a 100lb difference. now take a look at where they sit in the engine bay... the 350 sits farther back therefore THE CENTER OF GRAVITY IS MOVED TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE CAR rather than at the front because of the KA. all i need to place the power to the ground is a VLSD. and not only that but i plan on redoing the whole suspension and doing the z32 brake and 5 lug conversion before i do my s13.5 headlight conversion. and yes it's a lightweight car... therefore my power to weight ratio... yeah will be through the roof. and you said if i wanted power go to an rb26? are you aware that not only after purchasing that engine i'd have to find someone with a spare rb25 transmission and use that? and not only that but i believe that engine weighs more fully dressed. plus i can get WAY more horsepower naturally aspirated only spending the amount of money that it would cost for that motor, not to mention the pirce it'd cost for an install... unless you're a nissan god/ WELL experienced mechanic and can rig that engine up. next off sr20?! hahahahahhaslfhlahah. you're going to compare a 2.0 aluminum block to a 5.7 liter cast iron beast? ALUMINUM IS FOR CANS NOT BLOCKS. what are the availability and cost effectiveness of the sr20 parts? how about the rb26? because oh look... chevy used the 350 in almost every car and truck they made! all the parts from 68' and up to the LT series are completely interchangeable. hmmm... did you notice your keywords there? "if you had the money" yeahhh... look at the cost of the small blocks parts compared to the cost of any of nissans parts. don't get me wrong i LOVE nissan engines, ca18det and ka24det all the way. but high expectation? the horsepower estimates i posted are my low expectation. chances are with the 13:1 comp ratio its going to be running... it'll blow the doors off most ANYTHING that will come its way. plus if you read my story, my plan kept changing engines dissapeared... and this one was right in front of me the whole time. for $100! how could i go wrong? install will be easy as pie, theres like two wires... plus i can literally start the damn thing on the ground with a can of gas. AND I will be the only one around my area with a chevy small block in their 240, not to mention the only one without a stock KA or slightly modded sr20.

Either way, this swap is gonna be awesome. Keep updating sir.

[idahotuner]

nice that motor will be sweet when you get it cleaned up