Junkyard engine

[Shakey]

Have found an engine from an '82 280zx. Have only discussed this over the phone with the yard owner and was told that it has a P79 head on a F54. First is this the correct head for the '82? Or has the previous owner switched the head from a P90? The car has about 120,000 miles and is a 5-speed. Looking for a winter project and trying my hand at a rebuild. Any thing I should look for before buying this? The car has the gas tank and radiator gone so I can't start it. Thanks for the help.

[Fun_in_my_z]

Will it turn over? Dose it have oil in it?

[messenger]

Junkyard engines are a tough call. It is alaways good to see the car in person the motor is being pulled from, that way you can verify things like how long the car has ben sitting in the yard and the "real" mileage.

If you go see the car in person it is always nice to figure out why the car is there in the first place. If the car is in perfect conditon cosmetically you have to wonder "why is this thing here in the first place"?

It is always good to see the car smashed in the side or rear end, that way you can at least assume it ran decent until it met its end. Front end collisons are sometimes ok but can cause harm if the car was driven with lack of fluids, or obvisouly the engine it's self may have ben hit.

[Ed]

First is this the correct head for the '82? Or has the previous owner switched the head from a P90? The car has about 120,000 miles and is a 5-speed. Looking for a winter project and trying my hand at a rebuild. Any thing I should look for before buying this?

This is the correct head for the 82 ZX. The P90 came on the turbo. As long as you can turn the engine over and overall the engine looks to be in good shape it would be a good find. Your going to rebuild it anyway, correct? Pull the oil plug out in the yard and inspect the oil that comes out. Look for metal shavings or pieces. If it's just dirty then the engine "should" be fine. Also take the 5-speed the diff and the starter.

[Shakey]

At this time the engine is in the car so I'm sure the yard will let me take in a battery and turn it over. They were not sure for what reason the car was salvaged but did say they probably have the PO name and number so I could contact them. Besides doing a visual on the oil anything else?

[beandip]

Is this going in a 240 ? are you going to run SUs or injection ? If you don't already have a 5 speed and plan on going this route , if you can afford it . Buy the tranns as well. The engine has flat top pistons and the head has round exhaust ports. A good combination , if you dont already have a electronic ignition grab this one and the coil again if you can afford . See if they will swap the module that is on the side of the dist for one from a '79 or '80 marked 12 80 . If you want to know what gear ratio that is in the diff let me know . I am installing the same engine in my 240 this week or next. Like was mentioned before look at the oil this will tell you alot on how the engine was maintained before , you might be lucky and just be able to clean her up and install it . That would save you acouple of grand if you can get by without a rebuild.

[240Zdragon72]

This would also be a good time to rebuild the engine. Then you can have 0 miles on the engine and not worry about it braking down in the near future.

[Shakey]

Thanks for the suggestions. Here in Wisconsin Z's are few and far in between. This is the only Z in the yard so any parts will have to be taken off this car. I already have done a zx 5-speed and 4.11 change to my 240, but will probably try and negotiate for the tranny. This engine is my first attempt for a rebuild and if it does'nt work out I still will run with my currently installed NA engine.