I dreamed of all sports cars when I was kid in the 70's. The one's I hoped to afford like a Countach and the one's I knew I could afford like a 240Z.

I bought a '72 240Z the day I turned 16 for $1600. Boy was that a learning lesson! Total rust bucket. I sold it a couple months later to a junk yard for $300 because it needed to be put out of its misery.

8 years later after college, I bought a mint condition '78 280Z. I spent the next 10 years putting a bunch of money into hot rodding and painting it only to sell it to a coworker for the same $3000 I paid for it and bought my 930.

When I sold the 280Z it had 240 bumpers, front airdam, rear spoiler, headlight covers, and 15x7 wheels. Under the hood it had a rebuilt '75 280Z engine bored 0.040 over with Nissan racing pistons cut down to 9.3:1 compression, cam, headers, and a 280ZX intake manifold. Behind the engine was an '83 5-speed and rearend which had the best ratios. Underneath was Eibach springs, Tokiko shocks, homemade strut braces and thick swaybars.

And the A/C worked! Funny story on the A/C: I spent a bunch of time on a Bridgeport at work cutting excess weight off the stock cast iron compressor mount. When I told a fellow Z-car guy what I did he said I was going way overboard since the ZX aluminum mounts were so light already. Doh! I went to a pick a part the next weekend and bought an aluminum bracket for probably $10.

Actually (at least here in SoCal) there is some truth in what he said albeit a little harsh.

Thanks Yasin, as I said in my email, I hope he'll be OK so I can kick his ass when I come down. I'll let you know when later in March or April and hopefully timing will work out for everyone. Merry Christmas to you and everyone, 2021 is going to be a great year!

what are the favored engine swaps for the 240Z?

L28 is a no brainer. 350 Chevy was used in the SCARAB and there's a tried and true formula.

Personally, I like the RB26DETT but, takes a bit more modding than the 350.

SBC is popular

I would like to see an M3 I6 conversion

A Scarab...now that is a Datsun that would I would drive...

I’ve seen a few RB26DETT, that’s pretty awesome. A local engineer had a really clean LSX swapped 240 that was very nicely done and apparently went like hell.

Funny thing is that once you drop that 350 in, suspension mods are an absolute must because without, the near perfect neutral handling of the Z car is ruined.

A snappy 240Z is a wonder to behold behind the wheel.

We have a local with an original SCARAB in a dreamy olive metallic.

That would be awesome as well in keeping with the form which is why I like the RB26.

I think the ultimate engine for a Z, maybe, would be a 3.0 V6 twin turbo. Light, compact, lower center of gravity, enormous horsepower. Maybe find a wrecked F-Type on Copart. :)

Absolutely. Although I have never driven one, I understand that was exactly what they did with the SCARAB.

I would be interested...but just cannot justify another car (and that one is probably really expensive). Just the price of the really nice stock one posted here (or any 911 seems like crazytown these days). Maybe I am stuck in the 70's.

I put down 440hp and 475 torque in my turbocharged L28 which I still have, there is no need for SBC Chevy conversions, BMW or LSX swaps. 400hp in a Datsun is a handful, yet reliable.

Installing a RB25 or RB26 is not for the feint of heart and buying the engine just by itself is an easy $4-5k with the matching transmission.

Here is my bored, stroked, higher compression and turbocharged L28.
https://scontent.fhou1-2.fna.fbcdn.n...47&oe=600B8AAF