The white one has a 450hp version with a t3/4 hybrid turbo.
I worked at “Z-shop of Miami” and “Datsun Dynamics” in reston, Va. so this is just what I do.
One thing I will never do is swap in LS motors into nissans when I can build a nissan to over 1000hp or twice that.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Devil 505 on February 21, 2026, 11:05:39 AM
That was a great video.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: xanax on February 21, 2026, 12:14:24 PM
That was excellent!
Thanks for adding yet another rabbit hole/time suck to my life, you jerk! Another channel I'm now subscribed to.
"I love wiring....the same way I love getting stabbed in the face 47 times." Classic.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Getback on February 21, 2026, 01:19:49 PM
:rofl :rofl :rofl
Excellent video! Makes me want to start a project but then I think about the old Goodwill adds suggestion that you have your 10-year-old project towed from your garage.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: icepac on February 22, 2026, 04:35:57 AM
I suspect that race driver “John Finger” is his grandfather and I recognize some parts manufactured by a “hybridz forums” member.
https://forums.hybridz.org/
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: RichardDarkwood on February 22, 2026, 08:01:55 AM
I remember back in the 80's someone saying it was illegal to put a V8 in a Datsun 280Z
Never knew if it was true or not.
A friend in high school put a Ford 460 into a 1978 Mustang Cobra II, he had to move the firewall back 4 inches to do it.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Captain Virgil Hilts on February 22, 2026, 08:39:07 AM
I remember back in the 80's someone saying it was illegal to put a V8 in a Datsun 280Z
Never knew if it was true or not.
A friend in high school put a Ford 460 into a 1978 Mustang Cobra II, he had to move the firewall back 4 inches to do it.
Nope, there was a kit. Local guy had one with a 350 and a Muncie M-21 4 speed. It was a fairly quick little car, but he cut corners, and started with a rusty car, so when it developed problems, it got parked and rusted away quickly.
I think I built maybe a half dozen small block Chevy V-8 Vega hot rods, a 10 bolt Nova rear end worked if you got the right offset wheels. I could snag a Vega with a tired engine, and either find a wrecked Nova, or a 4 door Nova, go to the dealer and buy the engine mounts and oil pan for a Monza, and have a fairly quick little car, cheap. On a couple week nights, or a Saturday.Had a deal with the local muffler shop for a dual exhaust setup. A local speed shop usually had aluminum intakes, and budget cam and lifter kits, with a roller timing chain. My cousins (distant) own a drive shaft shop. I eventually built a really stout one, it had a relatively well built 400 small block, a built TH 350 transmission, and I found a 4.11 gear for a 10 bolt rear.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: icepac on February 22, 2026, 10:11:48 AM
Fan belts turning upside down was a symptom of sagging engine mounts on the V-8 monzas.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: knorB on February 22, 2026, 07:12:31 PM
This kid builds some interesting setups.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: knorB on February 22, 2026, 07:18:31 PM
An interesting swap almost completed.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Captain Virgil Hilts on February 22, 2026, 08:57:09 PM
Fan belts turning upside down was a symptom of sagging engine mounts on the V-8 monzas.
Never seen it, owned a couple, worked on a bunch. Not sure how engine mounts would affect belts on a small block Chevy, every accessory bolts to the engine.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: icepac on February 23, 2026, 04:26:39 AM
The back of the belts rub on the sway bar when the mounts sag.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: AKIron on February 24, 2026, 04:11:15 PM
Interesting.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: icepac on February 25, 2026, 06:11:04 AM
Others have referenced the engine mounts issue in other forums.
23rd November 2014, 10:22 Horrible cars! I had a 75 with the small 262 V8 and manual transmission. It was a warmed over Vega. The transmission was not even rated for the torque the V8 had. Which was no problem because they used the 4 cyl. clutch. You were lucky to get 40k miles out of the clutch babying it. The front suspension could not handle the weight of the V8. The motor mounts sagged enough that soon the crank pulley rubbed on the sway bar when you hit a bump. The upper A arms broke out the unibody they bolted too before 80k miles. You had to jack the motor up to change a back spark plug. Absolutely the worst car I ever owned.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Captain Virgil Hilts on February 25, 2026, 06:36:39 PM
LOL. The H body wasn't nearly as problematic as people claimed. And they made pretty good hot rods if you knew how to work on them. Yeah, they were mid seventies ECONOMY cars, if you tried to run them hard, you had to do some upgrades. But a properly set up V-8 Spyder was a nasty little beast, quick in a straight line, and agile in the corners. I never had one rub the balancer on the sway bar.
And honestly, the V-6 stick shift cars were a good balance of decent performance, for an economy car, with reasonable economy. They were not miserable slugs to drive like most.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: icepac on February 26, 2026, 08:03:00 AM
I can find at least 10 more references to this.
I discovered it in 1980 on a 1975 monza.
Just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean it wasn’t an issue.
I have seen and fixed it plenty of times since 1980 but I likely have much more experience.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: fuzeman on February 26, 2026, 09:05:58 AM
I’ve got 2 older Chrysler minivans and this interested me a little. Doubt I’d ever get that into modding them though. I’ve seen some made into shorty vans, pickups, etc. There’s one south of me that is two fronts put together.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Eagler on February 26, 2026, 10:05:29 AM
Seems to be getting harder to find full size pickup trucks with a v8..
Turbo 6 cylinders seem to be the way they are going...
Eagler
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Shuffler on February 26, 2026, 11:56:31 AM
I had a 75 Vega Station Wagon Estate that we built into a 4WD. The unibody Vega was sitting on a 75 GMC Jimmy frame with a built 350, 203 transfer case, 373 gears. All running on 38.5 Monster Mudders.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Captain Virgil Hilts on February 26, 2026, 05:21:01 PM
Just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean it wasn’t an issue.
I have seen and fixed it plenty of times since 1980 but I likely have much more experience.
I never said it didn't happen.
I've been doing this since 1978. I have worked at independent shops (managed a couple), dealerships, tier 1-4 suppliers, and for a major international OE. I have an NHRA National Event win, several track championships, several track records, and been part of a few national records. I still own my own shop, despite working for someone else.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Animl-AW on February 26, 2026, 05:46:50 PM
I’ve got 2 older Chrysler minivans and this interested me a little. Doubt I’d ever get that into modding them though. I’ve seen some made into shorty vans, pickups, etc. There’s one south of me that is two fronts put together.
I knew a guy named Bill Howell, he raced NHRA Stock for years. At one point he had one of the turbo minivans he raced, the index was stupid soft, so he ran it off and on for years, he'd literally scavenge engines and transmissions from salvage yards, and run them until they were too tired, and start over. He had a 68 428 Mustang, his daughter would get so pissed over him buying stuff for that mini van.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Captain Virgil Hilts on February 27, 2026, 10:25:15 AM
Seems to be getting harder to find full size pickup trucks with a v8..
Turbo 6 cylinders seem to be the way they are going...
Eagler
That's the way the idiots are all going with 1/2 ton pick up trucks. Even turbo 4 cylinders. They only look at certain output numbers, they ignore the stress on components required to reach those numbers. The insane fuel economy standards have driven that. They've also driven the ridiculous 8 and 10 speed transmissions. If you're not talking about a Class 8 truck, you don't need more than 6 speeds. If you do, it's because your engine has no torque and a lousy power band. It's a numbers game now, though, if you don't have 8 or 10 speeds, idiots won't buy your new truck, and that's who buys a new truck. And that's why a new 3/4 ton truck is $80,000, and a new 1 ton is even higher. I have two 20 year old trucks, a 3/4 ton, and a 1 ton. Not for sale at any price. Even my wife's mid size truck is 20+ years old.
Those stupid little engines and 8 speed transmissions are somewhat useful, if you haul garbage, or $500 worth of groceries. If you have an actual load, and you actually use your truck, they'll be useless, and worn out quickly. And when you do actually use them, as a truck, not a passenger car, they don't get any fuel economy, and they break stuff. Most of them drive like crap, they're miserable. The average customer now is entirely too stupid to know they spend $1,000 a month on junk.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: icepac on February 27, 2026, 11:22:30 AM
My experience level matches yours in regards to time spent but in different areas of automotive experience.
Maybe that’s why I noticed the monza engine mounts issue before the chevy dealerships.
I started rebuilding McCullough go-kart engines and two stroke boat engines at the age of 11. One year after winning my elementary school science fair with a working steam turbine.
I’ve been a general manager for Blue Streak in addition to designing test equipment profiles and taking on problem computers like the problematic 16159278 corvette ECUs.
My last automotive employment was as a Toyota “Field Technical Specialist” traveling to dealerships to fix the cars that the master techs. at the dealership could not……..without alienating them.
Somewhere along the way, I suffered through organic chemistry and actually grew to like it once I realized my interests were more suited for molecular biology.
During that time, I got my private pilot (5 weeks) and an “airframe and powerplant” certificate but I then had to fulfill the documented employment history by working in miami international airport’s corrosion corner on planes that were barely airworthy owned by guys who cut corners.
One of the constellations later crashed when they thought flying out on 3 engines to save the money it would have cost to ship or repair the dead engine.
I bailed and found myself driving a “j-ported” RX-2 in miami attending classes in the “eastern airlines pilot entry program”. I had gotten employed at eastern as a helper because the owners of the constellations and C46s would not sign me off after because I told them “you guys don’t deserve to own a constellation”.
Eastern went on strike and that killed the program so I ended working at “Z-shop of miami” and on their IMSA GTU 280z.
My designs are all over the place on the current fastest street legal and driven car on the planet which had me designing a gear position sensor for use with the ams1000 made of only two moving parts which kept our car fastest for 9 years even though it was designed for a single event. I can share the design because they moved to completely new engine management scheme.
Title: Re: Engineuity
Post by: Animl-AW on February 27, 2026, 11:27:09 AM
That's the way the idiots are all going with 1/2 ton pick up trucks. Even turbo 4 cylinders. They only look at certain output numbers, they ignore the stress on components required to reach those numbers. The insane fuel economy standards have driven that. They've also driven the ridiculous 8 and 10 speed transmissions. If you're not talking about a Class 8 truck, you don't need more than 6 speeds. If you do, it's because your engine has no torque and a lousy power band. It's a numbers game now, though, if you don't have 8 or 10 speeds, idiots won't buy your new truck, and that's who buys a new truck. And that's why a new 3/4 ton truck is $80,000, and a new 1 ton is even higher. I have two 20 year old trucks, a 3/4 ton, and a 1 ton. Not for sale at any price. Even my wife's mid size truck is 20+ years old.
Those stupid little engines and 8 speed transmissions are somewhat useful, if you haul garbage, or $500 worth of groceries. If you have an actual load, and you actually use your truck, they'll be useless, and worn out quickly. And when you do actually use them, as a truck, not a passenger car, they don't get any fuel economy, and they break stuff. Most of them drive like crap, they're miserable. The average customer now is entirely too stupid to know they spend $1,000 a month on junk.
All true. That said, 80-90% of pickups aren’t sold to do work. They aren’t on farms or even off road, many have never seen a load. Hey are sold to suburbia as a status symbol more than anything else. So ya, in old skewl use of a pickup, sure this applies. But if you’re just going down the road as a status symbol not so much.
If I were to buy a pickup to work hard it would be 8 cylinder or diesel.
So it comes down to what is a $50k-80k pickup used for.
Side note Knew a guy who dumped a 427 L88 into a 70s Opel. That car fell apart around that beast. Fast as hell, dangerous as sin, didn’t last long.