scrap487 Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 ok I was coming back from the gorge today in my dads 83 nissan 720 4x4 pickup w/ the z24 and 322k all original miles(nothing rebuilt except head 60k miles ago) and a rod bearing blows, ended up driving back to portland at 30mph w/ smoke n crap goin everywhere... just picked up an ea81 I was planning to rebuild and soop it up for my wagon, but now considering possible swap into the nissan since a good z24 isnt readily available for it. anyone know what might be required to make an ea81 work with a nissan transmission? I know its probably not the best swap for a nissan pickup but its what I got right now, and I know the ea81 is tougher than the z24, and its smaller, but it wont put out as much power as a good z24(it will however put out a LOT more power than my tired z24 had before it toasted the bearing). the other idea I was playing with was maybe get and ea81 and a 4spd d/r transmission and put that in? I didnt really want to play with the linkages, but its gonna essentially be the same thing as one of those monster soobs with a nissan tcase n stuff, be kinda sweet to have a 16 or 20 speed pickup with an insane crawl ratio. lemme know what you guys think, I'm gonna go see if I can find out anything about the nissan transmission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 OMG! Not even something that I would have considered. My 510 w/Z20 will keep up with, if not outrun, my EA82T. If I had the Z24's extra 20% displacement it wouldn't be a match at all. I just can't imagine dropping to about half the horsepower... My disbelief set aside, a little creativeness should allow you to fit the EA81 and d/r mated to the Nissan T-case. Still would seem cheaper to get a JDM Z20 (or larger, if JDM used the Z22 or Z24). Or maybe the VG30... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 well I dont know anything about the vg30 but I might go with that... I dont like the z24 that much, and the one I got is definately quite a bit LESS powerful than a rebuilt ea81. I dont like working on z24s, I dont like the Z series of engines at all, and they arent all that tough. the thing is here, its all about what i have to work with right now: not very much money and spare ea81 waiting for a rebuild. yeah its gonna cost some to rebuild the ea81, but it should be cheaper than buying an engine rebuilt by someone else. and if it works with the nissan tranny I'd be set... I've heard JDM engines are like grenades waiting to go off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 I love my JDM Z20... but I have only put about 100k on it so far. It has significantly more usable power (broader torque range, actually) than either the original L16 (duh!) or the L20B that replaced the L16. I have had very good experiences with JDM engines. The Z20 was only about $250 when I bought it 100k ago. My wife's EA82T has had a JDM for about 6 years now, still running strong. It is important to find an honest importer, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another from the importers that I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted January 16, 2006 Author Share Posted January 16, 2006 hmm... where about in washington are you? you think you might be able to tell me a good place to go or help me find an engine? I think I might just put in another z24 just to simplify everything so i can get it back on the road asap. I gotta take that back, 322k miles with a lot of offroad use and never a major rebuild, I think thats a pretty tough engine. playing with the idea of a subaru powered nissan... since so many people use nissan drivetrain parts for their subarus... lol gonna send you a pm in a second Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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