By Craig Sparkes
I was watching an old DVD on the beginnings of hot rodding and was struck by the amazing diversity of engines swapped into the early cars. Chevys, Olds, Caddys, Pontiacs, Fords, Lincolns, and Chryslers were swapped into all brands of cars. Some even had nicknames like the “Studillac” – a Studebaker with a Cadillac V8 swapped in. As we got into the 60’s, engine swaps were still very popular but seemed to run in “brand families”. That is – small block Chevy upgrade swaps from 283 cu. in. to 350 cu. in. engines or swapping in a “big block” 427 into your Camaro, Nova or Chevelle. The decades’ of the 80’s and 90’s with stricter emission laws narrowed down the car enthusiasts’ choices to ‘bolt ons” such as turbos, EFI systems and hot chips. Mustang 5.0 lovers got a lot of aftermarket heads, intake systems and cams to rival the choices of small block Chevy fans. But engine swapping using different brands of engines seemed to lag somewhat from those early days.
As you can see from my icon and if you visit my “garage” here at Wild About Cars, you’ll notice I own a Scarab Z. This is a Datsun 240Z with a small block Chevy (Gen 1) and Borg-Warner Super T-10 4-speed swapped in. In looking at Datsun/Nissan forums and sites, I was struck by the huge diversity of engine swaps going into these iconic cars. In addition to Chevy small blocks (Gen 1 & 2 and the LS/LT series) Z-car owners are swapping in Ford 5.0 and newer 4.6 V8’s; Toyota V8’s (1UZ); Toyota straight 6’s (1JZ & 2JZ) and a host of Nissan engines from Skylines (RB20/25/26) the newer 300ZX V6’s (VG30/35/38) as well as the latest V6’s from the 350/370Z (VQ series). Datsun 240/260/280Z owners are also upsizing their engines with newer 280ZX models and adding in a hefty doses of turbo charging as well.
Looking at the Datsun 240/260/280 Z car scene it feels like the early days of hot rodding all over again. This makes sense as Nissan made hundreds of thousands of Z cars in the 1970’s and they are plentiful, inexpensive and seem to take just about any engine swap you can think of. I’ve even seen big blocks in them (although for drag racing only). These cars make great performance platforms as they weigh in from 2,400 to 3,200 lbs. and with 300+ HP engines, the HP to weight ratio is highly favorable.
The bottom line is that traditional hot rodding is alive and well in the ranks of Datsun Z car owners. Engine swaps, different transmissions, wheel/tire combos and rear diff assemblies are even more diverse. Other makes such as Honda and Toyota have lots of swaps as well, but these tend to be more in the “brand family” line with Acura and Lexus engines finding their way into the lower priced economy car lines. And to be sure, these make for some pretty hot rides.
So, if you are thinking of getting into a “project car” and want the best bang for your buck – the Datsun Z makes a good starting point. Watch out for rust and you’re going to have a blank canvas for building your project with the greatest amount of engine choice.
