Robert's Bad LSZ 78' 280z Build

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Mr. Pina paid us a visit well over 2 years ago, initially inquiring about building an L28ET powered 280z. He liked what he had seen on Mr. Bullock’s 400+ WHP build we did for his L28ET powered 2+2 and was interested in running the numbers on such a build. We wrote him an estimate, and at the time he was still in the process of securing a car, and would reach back out if he decided to pull the trigger. About a year passed by, and one day Mr. Pina reached back out to us, now inquiring about an LSX swapped 280z build. He had already secured a mildly built motor, and a chassis, that at the time, was at paint and body. We discussed several different ways to approach it, and settled on the traditional LSX engine swap, coupled with a Tremec Magnum-F 6 speed manual, and an Apex Engineered Ford 8.8 Rear Differential conversion kit. Mr. Pina left us a deposit to secure parts and get the ball rolling on our end.

A few months later, we were ready to accept the vehicle and begin the work. He brought us a rolling shell straight from the body shop, having been a former drag race car, we had our work cut out for us. The vehicle was missing a good portion of the brake and fuel system hard lines, electrical harness, and what electrical was there, had been horribly cut up and damaged from shoddy shade tree weekend racers.

Between parts that Mr. Pina had been accumulating over the course of the body work portion, and parts that we suggested and secured on his behalf, we slowly pieced together this gigantic jig-saw puzzle, one piece at a time, and more often than not, taking two steps forward and one step back. Some of the major headaches were the state of the electrical harness, and just how far gone it was. We pieced it back together in stages, as our initial plan of attack was to get the vehicle able to start up and run under it’s own power, with non-critical electrical circuits being a secondary concern. Everywhere that we could replace a part with a new, and or modern component, we took that approach, as depending on used 40+ year old parts can turn a build into your worst nightmare very fast.

While we had the dashboard out, we opted to install a vintage air hvac unit under the dash, install all new Speedhut gauges, as well as a double din radio. All of this was accompanied by 100% all new wiring, either provided by their respective manufacturers, or custom built by us in house. Mr. Pina complimented the interior re-assembly with a whole host of goodies. We installed a Vintage Dashes reproduction dash board, full catalog Skillard interior panels, and leather Recaro racing seats. The final piece of the puzzle for the interior was to repair all of the factory wiring that had been hacked up, and upon re-assembly, put down Killmat sound deadening material, and a new carpet kit.

While the interior and electrical work ended up becoming it’s own storm of set-backs and frustrations, we were fighting a two-front struggle, by adding additional layers of complication on the mechanical side as well. For starters, the front engine crossmember had been modified to accept what we presume was some kind of small block Chevrolet v8. We had to cut out the engine mount points, and start over with freshly fabricated flat-steel pieces, that we welded back onto the crossmember to restore it back to factory specifications. The Dirty Dingo engine mounts that Mr. Pina supplied were intended to work with an unmolested OEM crossmember. Once that was taken care of, we sourced a set of Hawk Performance long tube headers for use with his mildly built Gen IV 5.3L V8. Hawk Performance advertises their headers as direct fit with no modifications, which is more than likely true, however having received Dirty Dingo engine mounts, there were a few clearance discrepancies we had to address.

We ended up re-locating one of the runners that was closest to the steering shaft, as it was hitting. There were a couple of small sections of the floor pan that interfered as well, so those were clearanced accordingly. Once we got the engine and transmission located, it was time to focus on the suspension, and Ford 8.8 Rear differential conversion kit. Unfortunately at the time of purchase, we were not aware that the Apex Engineered Ford 8.8 swap kit was still in “development”, and was advertised effectively as a completed and tested kit, ready to go. We found very quickly that was not the case, as from the time we initially ordered and received the kit, to getting around to installing, that the kit we received was no longer the current generation, and had been superseded due to fitment issues. We did work with Apex Engineered very closely to get all of the revised pieces, however this was not fully realized until after everything had been installed in the vehicle, and we paid an outside precision alignment shop to set the suspension up. We had multiple instances of parts either not fitting correctly, not working together, or coming into contact with the body, parts missing and not accounted for, the works.

After a good portion of delays, we were able to secure all of the revised pieces for the rear suspension kit, and the rear axles to get the kit working properly, and subsequently re-aligned. Unfortunately due to our extensive troubled experience with this kit, we have doubts for any future utilization of this kit, so if you’re considering the Apex Engineered Ford 8.8 Kit, proceed with caution, and get as much information from anyone who has purchased it as possible before you commit. Others have had a great seamless experience with their kit, however it is very unfortunate that this was not our experience in house, with 2 of these kits.

Once we got the suspension, rear differential, and braking situation finished, it was time to finally begin breaking in the engine, field testing the entire car, and checking over everything. All of our builds have a strict 500 mile quality control period, and during this time, we break the engine in, which includes several oil and filter changes along the way, as well as constantly checking for leaks, loose or excessively worn parts, and periodically documenting everything in the process. We noted a few odds and ends that needed some minor correcting, like random small fluid leaks, rattles, squeaks, things of that nature. The first major snag we ran into was driveline vibration. We had excessive driveline vibration with the initial road test, which only got worse as we put more miles on the vehicle. Lifting it up, and checking our driveline angle resulted in finding a 3.8 degree angle of attack on the driveshaft. We did not initially check it, as we were told by Apex Engineered, that the Ford 8.8 differential kit would place the new differential at the exact angle as factory. We further tried to reinforce this as fact early on by purchasing an Apex Engineered transmission crossmember. We soon found out that the AE 8.8 kit was developed using their front crossmember and LSX swap engine mount kit, and that is where the tolerance discrepancy came from. We raised the Dirty Dingo engine mounts as far as they would go without the header contacting the body or steering shaft, as well as shimmed the AE rear subframe to give it a more upward rake to remove some of the driveline angle. After performing these steps, we got a much more manageable driveline angle of attack at 1.7 degrees.

Between waiting for parts that were delayed, set-backs on the electrical side, adding more to the build under the “while you’re there clause”, and having to deal with poorly fitted parts, and their superseded replacements, this built took approximately 2 years to complete. We like to highlight this fact, as we pride ourselves in our attention to detail, as well as our quality control process. We truly strive to deliver an unmatched, and top notch quality product, and that takes time to do it properly. While another LS swap build closes, we look forward to learning from our mistakes and experiences, and applying them to the next build.

ENGINE SPECS

DRIVETRAIN SPECS

Exterior/interior specs


Christopher Miller