hey all firstly, my boss has offered to sell me a 355 (stroked 5ltr out of a VT) the price is a steal for what is included so i am interested. being someone that loves V8's and my zed i want to join the together, i just have a few questions before i go buying it. has anyone put a 5ltr into a zed? anyone know the legal side of doing it? weight distribution? ect, i am going to find out the ADR myself but doesn't hurt to ask and what (approximately) is it worth for the machining? tail shaft? input? bell housing? ect? i know it is an expensive road but there are quite a few people that have spend big $$$ on there zeds and this is how i wish to spend my money Ben
Holden 5.0 has been done before and is a relatively nice swap. Use an LC/LJ conversion sump, custom mounts and extractors. I would steer towards to 5 speed intended for that engine and would fit well in the z tunnel. Stand alone harness for the Holden ecu is available thru various places. Over all not a complicated swap. Will be tight around the rad/ fan area but that is usual. Tail shaft will be approx $500 to have a new one made to suit. Swap is legal so no worries there, may be a few hurdles with engineering depending on your state but nothing overly exciting. The extra weight will not be enough to worry about. Go for it I say.
Sorry but I have to ask the obvious. Why? According to Wikipedia the VT had 3 V8s associated with it: The standard 5l V8 with 240 hp, the HSV 5l V8 with 261 hp and the 5.7 litre Gen III V8 with 300 hp (this is all crank hp by the way not at the wheels). Your stoked 355 V8 being 5.8 litres will presumably have similar hp to the 5.7 litre Gen III V8 with 300 hp. Now what else has 300 crank hp? A stock standard TT Z32! For a fraction of the money you'll spend on the V8 conversion you'll get a lot more hp from the TT. That being said yes it is possible V8 conversions have been done a number of times before. There WAS one for sale here: http://www.aus300zx.com/forum/showthread.php?t=327377 It is your money though and if that's how you want to spend it good luck to you.
as far as I understand the V8 is narrower than TT shorter and lighter but that may be the LS1 I am thinking of, easier to work on sounds great parts are cheap and V8s only need mild cams and an exhaust and your away
honestly, just for something different, and for something to fill in my time with. engine is un-assembled* as for power, i should get pretty good power from it (can find out the "expected" power tomorrow) motor wont be lighter, full cast iron motor is costing less then $4k. so cheap indeed. everything is ready to be put together heads are even wrapped up ready to go on. (i work at an engine re-builders so even if i struggle, help isn't hard to get)
ive considered a similar swap before, holden (or ford) 5 litres are plentifull and cheap, and the aftermarket gear available is almost limitless, from cams to pistons, turbos and blowers, stroker kits and headers. and all reasonably cheap. being that your zed is NA , it will be an upgrade, and will produce a unique car with heaps of torque if done right. my vote, go for it. just be prepared for a reasonably expensive "set up" cost to get it inot the zed and running.
Ben, contact lysergic, he put a 6L in his zed He might be able to give you some tips, otherwise, have a read of his build thread. I can think of 5 reasons Unique. Torque. Cheap. The sound. Easy to work on.
If you use the holden box you may find that you will have to revert to a cable clutch. Not friendly on our flimsy firewalls. A V8 with a pair of turbo's would be killer!
I have been chatting with my boss (kissing his ass mostly) and we have worked out a deal, so ill be saving over my Christmas holidays and will start a build thread early next year. looking forward to the new year. ben
When you put a V8 in a ZX you have to alter the spring rates ,re-cal your speedo, change your fuel pump,propeller tale shaft ,wire loom ,engineers [$] report ,ect. You have got to way up the effort on a 20 year old car .Is it worth it ? or just over haule a TT engine.
In essence you are correct however remember its not only a 20yr old car its also a Z and in that context either all money spent on a Z is worth it or (and more likely correctly) we are all stark raving mad and throwing good money after bad every time we spend anything on our Z's
So your saying spend my money on a turbo vg30? Isn't that exactly the same as putting a v8 in. Money wise that is, so Please elabirate.... And is it worth it? When is spending money on a car worth it no matter what car it is. Edit: how many people own a zed with a stroked 5ltr? No one? How about a v8 at all? 4? 5? It's something different.
What ever the logic. Its your time and money. Do what ever the hell you want, lol. There's more v8 zeds then what you think, but what ever the out come. Go hard or die trying. Should be a bit of fun when done. Albeit I really don't like these engines (mainly due to the stigma brought upon them I guess) a gm 5L is about as simple as they come. To be uber cool when done, boost it.
IMHO ... V8 conversion is not for POWER, its for something else IMHO ... V8 conversion is not for POWER, its for something else. If you want maximum power, and building a fast car that you will only have for a couple of years go the boosted TT route as it is cheaper. On the other hand, if you want the sound, the feel ... that only a V8 can give over the V6 then go for it ... but note that you are going to be spending money that you can never expect to recover a portion of in resale. If you do choose the V8 route then a GM engine is probably a cheaper solution for getting grunt modifications and general spare parts ... though a VH45 is a very-very-very good strong engine. ... but don't expect much more than 200KW at the wheels ... though 0 - 120 km/h will be awesome in sound and acceleration. cheers.
