I will find a way to make it work if I go down the LSx conversion route as I WILL NOT go back to an auto! :vomit: Cheers Rob
early VT commodores i belive. i think it may have only been available for a year or less. Pretty good box. Its a getrag 290 from memory, good ratio's .compact size and can take a fair bit of grunt, they were used in ALPINA twin turbo bmw's that had 400 horse or so. should be able to pick one up for under 2k with flywheel etc.
We fitted the T56 but we had to cut part of the firewall and some of the tunnel and the gearstick came out in the 300zx position. We have massaged the tunnel area and now we can drop the box easily. The VE has a different shaped box and may fit easier - I haven't had a good look at it, but you have to use a VE engine or do a bit of changing to make it fit an earlier engine. An LS1 conversion, would be easier going twin turbo. The turbos could be mounted near the headlights or low mounted under the car. There are twin turbo kits available (may not fit a 300zx, but you may be able to buy the kit minus the turbo manifolds) for the LSX engines. The low mount would be less visible, and most of the heat would be under the car. VE manifolds are a different shape to the earlier ones and may even fit the 300zx? My car is a race car, so there are lots of things I can get away with that you can't on a road car. My experience is also different to others on here, as I was reamed by a dodgy mechanic, but what I am saying is true regarding ongoing costs and ease of maintenance, and must be considered if you are contemplating an engine swap. My conversion cost me bugger all as sponsors helped me out with parts and we fitted everything and made everything to suit what we were given. Twin turbo would have been the easier and cheaper option, but the 2 Garrett ball bearing turbo's I had were stuffed when the VG30 died. Everyone has different ideas on what they want and what they like. I am giving info on the LSX swap for people that are considering an engine conversion. It's not for everyone, I know. There are 3 types of people that want an engine conversion: 1. Someone that wants a cheaper way out of it. 2. Someone that wants something different or maybe less complicated 3. Someone that wants huge power. There are others that would not consider changing their engine to anything but original and spend thousands getting power out of it. Everyone is different. Having said that, re-powering a 300zx, whether it be a standard rebuild, rebuild for power, upgraded turbo's, or an engine swap - none of these are cheap !!! With car prices the way they are now, you could buy a near new car just as cheap !!! We had the engine fitted with the 300zx booster and master cylinder. It was tight and from memory we cut a piece out of the rocker cover and re-welded a dish into it. We were going to fit 8 throttle bodies so we put a pedal box in and took the booster and master cylinder out. The Getrag was on some of the 5.0 litre Holden engines (VS from memory) - not the LSX engines. Cheers Greg
Getrag 290 M35 option was available S1 VS V8 to S1 VT V8, both of these engines are chev pattern so it will fit the LSx block except 1 bolt which does not line up. Do not use the M34 option only 220ftlb rated. The Getrag 290 is rated to 400ftlb torque so is more than adequate for most. The problem with this box is it has very similar height compared to the T56 (tunnel mods), 1 less gear(5 sp) and the extension housing looks like it may foul the z tunnel. I have both VY and VE exhaust mani's in cast and tubular. With both sets the engine pipe can not clear the steering shaft. Cadilac CTSV mani's are the closest to clearing. I looked into twin turbo'ing mine. To run an intercooler the best option would be to retain side mounts with the turbos in thier stock location. This would require a different starter but there are some good small hi-torques available. Running the turbos down the bottom would allow nothing bigger than 28rs but that is enough anyway.Doing it this way you could even use all the TT pipework. The only issue doing it this way is rad size, but I am running a 56mm TT rad so we will see if mine overheats. No off the shelf Lsx turbo, supercharger, headers or extractors will fit, either here or US. Where I have my engine sitting there is no way you could get a clutch master in there. The right hand head is only about 40mm off the firewall where the master goes.
clutch master cyl . Where I have my engine sitting there is no way you could get a clutch master in there. The right hand head is only about 40mm off the firewall where the master goes.[/QUOTE] I had a 350 chev/supra 5 spd in my old hilux ute , no room for the clutch master cyl so i mounted it sideways up under the dash ( like in mits/toy vans) worked well.
i dont reckon the 6 speeds are shit hot anyway. i think they are poorly spaced and 6th is purely for economy. strong box , no doubt but the extra gear does nothing for me
I got a tr 6060 to go behind mine and personally after doing a fair bit of research it shits all over most gearboxes in its price range. I took a mates VE clubsport for a little thrash just to see how much better it changed then the previous t56 and it is qutie amazing how different it is. I have a t56 bellhousing which is about 10mm shorter then the tr6060, this should allow the correct mating to the older ls1 engine, it not you simply put the tr6060 housing back on and change the spigot bearing in the ls1 crank to the newer ve type. Im hoping the textralia z grip ive got doesnt interfer with any of this either. Clutch Master poses a big problem for me aswell. Thunder has mounted his engine low enough so it just skims over the top of the right hand head (coil packs had to be moved). I will try to get it this low but if not i will have to retrofit an internal operated clutch master like the guys that do 240sx ls1 conversions use (kit available). with my corvette sump and a little bit of tig welding i should be able to sit the engine low enough to run the standard clutch master.......i hope we will see
Yeah, I agree Niall, 6th gear is useless and the shift is not very good in the t56. Z32tt, if you have a look at my conversion thread, the engine cannot be mounted any lower retaining the standard crossmember. The Moroso sump only sits 6mm below the crank scraper, any less and you will have oil drain issues. This is alot closer than your sump. IMHO the Moroso sump is the only sump to use, gives the lowest possible clearance and retains good oil drain back.
well for my sake im hope your wrong lol. I have msgd thunder about this and with the firewall modification they were able to use the sump im using and modify it to fit around the steering rack. hopefully with a different firewall it will fit. if not ill trash the zed and get a 180sx and get a kit to fit it the motor/box.
We had to cut a portion of the DS rocker cover and weld a dish into it to make it fit and this was the standard Jap spec clutch master cylinder. The sump was a stock USA sump that is available from the people that import crate motors. There is a kit which includes the oil pick up and if you shop around, you can save hundreds. We got ours from Eagle at Milperra. The sump needs to be cut and shut as it is too deep. It needs to be either bolted to a jig to weld it, or a block otherwise it can warp and it will be stressed when fitted. The sump ends up with a 90 degree corner in it which need to be re-inforced to avoid having a weak spot. After about the 3rd go at modifying the tunnel it is now perfect. We can drop the box easily. Initially it had to come out with the engine. We also cut a small hole in the passenger side of the tunnel to access the clutch bleeder, but now there is a remote bleeder kit available. We bought a 1 piece tailshaft from Perth Z and this was used to make the new tail shaft. We have had problems with the T56 as it cops a beating when drifting and the new VE box is stronger. There was also a T56 that came out in the VZ HSV which is a bit shorter than the normal T56 and it is supposed to be stronger than the normal one. If you have problems with the starter on the twin turbo kit, the guy next to us has an XP Ford with a 351 and he had his bellhousing modified to move the starter to the other side. This may be an option if you have problems. The GT28Rs is plenty big enough (unless your are after insane power) as some of the twin turbo kits are just using small Chinese Bush turbos that are $400 each. They spool up quickly and get rid of any low down torque problems. I towed the car trailer with DriftZ with a Cross8 fitted with these and it pulled the trailer with ease - I didn't even know it was attached. These turbos are fitted near the headlights. The reason I mentioned the turbo kits, I know they won't fit, but a lot of the componentry is needed and it may be cheaper to buy the kit without turbo manifolds than buying all the components. The kit usually comes with a mail order tune and everything you need. For low mounted turbos, I think there is a special oil pump used to control the flow of oil through the turbos. Cheers Greg
If I did the conversion, I don't think I would turbo her (maybe supercharger ), so if I kept her NA would you recommend a dry sump solution? That would surely allow more clearance for the clutch and a better fit in general unless I have my facts wrong? I don't intend to have A/C (got rid of mine) so would have the room spare for the pump. Cheers Rob
Dry sump won't give you much more room at all. If you do your normal sump well it won't give you any extra room at all.
