What would you do?

[Robin]

I am preparing to pull my L24 out of the 73 so I can do a complete paint job. The L24 needs to be rebuilt, (bad compression) however I have a good L28 in the shop. My intentions when i bought the 240 was to keep it original, but now I have 2 choices here, rebuild the L24 or go with the L28 for a little more oomph. I am going to stick with the carbs., be it the L24 or L28. Money of course is an issue but that is not my train of thought at this point... What would you do?

[LEB]

Easy decision.

Just decide not to decide.

Have your cake and eat it too. I also have a 73, just painted. Change the carbs and use the 280. Just save all the original stuff.

I'm looking for a 280 to rebuild and a 5 speed.

Make it more drivable but don't loose the original in case you change your mind later.

Larry

[Arne]

Yup. Get the car back on the road by using the good motor, regardless of displacement. But definitely keep the L24 (assuming it is the numbers matching original) for future.

[beandip]

I did what your are starting . I removed everything except the suspension . All of the glass and wiring . Did the rust repair , body work and paint at home in my garage. I did trailer the car to the welder for a floor pan replacement after I had installed the new one. I am saying I , EScanlon was a major help. Instead of going with the L-24 , I set it aside and installed a good F-54ZX engine and used the SUs. I vary happy with the results . I also replaced the Diff with a R-200 with a 3.70 gearing . Together it REALLY woke up my Z . I kept the old engine but I am thinking of selling the rods and crank to someone building a stroker . My Z is not a all original car as I have said , and will never be a Concours car . So in my opinion , numbers matching means nothing for my car . If you are planning on your Z for a pleasure driver . By all means do the 280 . My 2 cts. Gary

[=Enigma=]

I have a mostly original numbers matching car, but my plans are to put the original L24 and 77'ish 5spd in storage, and swap in an 1980 280ZX(F54/P79) motor, 80' 5spd, and R200 3.90 diff all recently aquired. The L24 only has 78K original miles and runs great, but I'd like the extra power of the L28 which has compression readings in the 190-200 range. It appears that it may have been rebuilt at some point as the car I pulled it from had 240k mi. Basically the same thing Gary has done with his. I will of course ditch the FI in favor os the SUs for now, and maybe switch to triples at a later date with some head work and a mild cam. I plan to drive and enjoy this car, and as a 73' I see no reason to try to keep it all stock.

[kmack]

Ditto on your situation here.

My car was originally going to be a show car/weekend driver when I started. I even found the original engine (by luck, though). So I now have a numbers matching car, even though the original tranny has since blown-up.

But I have swapped out the orig. L24 for an L28 out of a '76. I absolutely love it!

My L24 is still good. I had replaced all seals and rings in the motor and it pulled just over 137hp at the wheels on the dyno, too! But the decision has been made to sell it to make room in the garage.

I have no desire to keep my car original anymore. That is my choice. So if anyone is looking for an L24, let me know.

[Montezuma]

Much like Gary, Enigma and KMack I have an all original number matching 73Z, I don't see much sense in keeping it original and have since decided to go for a free rebuilt L28. I will keep the L24 for future prospects. I unlike the others will keep my car an automatic (family reasons and the main reason I even have the car). I really need the extra horsepower from the 2.8 to get my car going faster forward. Unless you got a very low VIN # Z I don't think originality is a very big deal at this time.

Enjoy the Ride.

[Robin]

welp.... sounds like everyone is in favor of the swap, seems like a good choice for sure. Thanks all for your ideas, mucho apreciato!!

[240ZGL]

Matching numbers are always a nice thing to have. I'm reworking my 2.4, I think it will be just fine and as all the others out there keep pulling those 2.4's out of there 240's and dropping in the 2.8's a real resto 240 will become harder to find. A 2.8 is nice to have but if you ever go to sell it, the original motor is worth more to a collector.

[hls30.com]

Install the l28 to enjoy, keep the L24 to rebuild and show(when you have had enough of the go)

Will