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W48 Intake Manifold on 1976 280Z?

870 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  benzvr6 
#1 ·
New member here who recently acquired a 1976 280Z. This is my first Z, so I’m in learning mode and will probably post many more questions than answers for a while. Thanks in advance to forum members for your help and expertise.

My question is “What problems will I have (if any) using a W48 intake manifold (from a na 280ZX I think) on a 280Z?”

I know – strange question, but here’s the background and why I ask...
  • The car has not been registered (and probably not started) since 2007.
  • The car is complete, mostly original, but had the intake manifold removed when I bought the car. I did get the manifold that (supposedly) came off the car.
  • Engine block is numbers matching; head is an N42
  • The seller indicated that the intake manifold he gave me is the one that came off the car, but he had many Zs (240, 260, 280 and 280ZX) and I think it is possible that it got mixed up and he gave me the wrong one.
  • The manifold I have is a W48 casting (the one with webbing between the intake port tubes). From everything I have read that intake manifold is from a non-turbo 280 ZX.
  • The car has a 5-speed installed which I don’t think was an option in 1976, so the car is obviously not completely stock. It is possible that someone also changed the intake manifold to a W48, although I don’t know why they would.
It seems like the functional differences between an N42 and W48 intake manifold are minor even though the webbing between the tubes makes them look much different. Before I go to the trouble of installing the intake manifold and connecting everything up, I just wanted to see if anyone is aware of any problems I am going to run into. I know some people swap heads for various reasons and thought maybe someone has experience using the W48 intake manifold on earlier Zs.

If pictures will help, let me know what you want to see and I can provide them. Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.
 
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