Will a 350 chevy fit into a '78 dotsun?

Question

I'm thinking about putting a 350 chevy into a 1978 datsun 280zx. I don't have any dimentions for the car or the engine and i'm too lazy to find them. I'm hoping there is someone experienced in dotsuns that can help me out.

Answer 1

Won't fit

Answer 2

HI.... YES it will fit...
You just have to make or buy the motor mounts. Move the radiator... And all the small stuff to make it run...

Check out this 1975 280z 350 4bolt main
(you have to put it all together for some reason it won't post here)

http://images.traderonline.
com/EMedia/tarchive
2/8/36500118641000030_1.jpg

THis picture isn't the greatest but it shows it can be done. On short notice...

Also if you car already has the T-5 or T-10 5speed transmission the bell housing bolts right up to a Chevy Small block but you will need a better clutch system... Or just go with a TH350 auto transmission...

Good luck... Have Fun and don't drink while your welding....

Answer 3

It won't fit, but with enough work the vehicle can be modified to where it will fit. My son in law had a 69 Datsun PU with a 350, turbohydramatic 400 and 9" Ford rear end. To top it off the Ford rearend was shortened and Oldsmobile ends put on the housing. The six bolt front hubs were simply redrilled to the Olds 5 bolt pattern.
More work than it was worth, you say. Me, too.

Answer 4

I would use one with the short water pump. All first generation small block Chevys, 262 CI - 400 CI, use the same basic engine block.

Dimensions given for the short water pump version

Length: 27" from the rear mounting point to the water pump pulley.
Width: 22"
Height: 27" from bottom of sump to top of carburetor

The distributor is in the rear

The oil sump is in the rear

The starter is on the right

The oil filter is on the left rear

Weighs 575 pounds.

You can fit this engine into about anything, if you have the skills to do the fabrication. Don't expect it to drop right in.

Answer 5

A small block 350 Chevy will , but only if u customize the motor mounts, chop a big hole in the hood & put a custom hood vent, cut & customize the rear fire wall, & rewire half the car, customize the exhaust, shorten the drive line & cut room in the floor to move the tranny back, & u'll find a few other things u'd have to change, but if U hav lots of $$$ , tools & time, U can do it.

Answer 6

a 280z is a car, not a truck lmao

although on another note my dad and brother put a 350 chevy drivetrain in an old datsunpickup they had to cut out the entire firewall and such but it made for a very crazy fast truck especially since the axle in them was 4.11 and they dont weigh alot at all


good luck

Answer 7

I seem to remember a magazine article on this swap. It was Popular Hot Rodding or something similar. It isn't a easy swap for a rookie, so keep that in mind. And to the fellow who said it wouldn't fit, your not much of a gear head. Every true gear head knows you can make anything fit. All you need is a big hammer and a bigger pile of money.

Answer 8

Almost anything is possible if you have enough money. I've seen a Pinto with a 302. There was no room for your feet and the gear shift was practically in the back seat, but it would go like a bat outahell.

Answer 9

first of all if it is a 1978 then it's a 280Z not ZX...ZX didn't exist until 1979....thousands of people have done this conversion,it's one of the most common in the world...but,if you're too lazy to pick up a tape measure then you're not the type to do a conversion such as this.you can buy a complete kit at motorsports.com

Answer 10

Yes. It all depends on how much torching, cutting, and fabricating you want to do. My good friend in highschool has a 327 in his VW Beetle.

Anything is possible.

Answer 11

Got himself couldn't pull that one off!! You're putting a domestic engine in a foreign truck, the engine is far too big, and even if you could somehow cram it in there... your transmission couldn't handle that kind of power. Your in WAY over your head on this one!!!