hello

[SnailPowered]

Hello all, I am currently a soldier in the US Army. I have been in the Army for 6 years now and I am on my second deployment to Iraq. The last time I was home on leave I purchased a running/driving 1969 AMC Rambler because it reminded me of a 67 Nova and was only $600. Upon returning to the States I plan on doing a complete overhaul of the car. My current idea for modifications to the car are 1990-1996 Nissan 300ZX suspension because of availability of aftermarket performance parts and I like the way the 300ZX handles and rides. Then I want to drop an aluminum block/aluminum head 60 degree V6 in with a T3/T4 turbocharger. The car is rear wheel drive so I am also lusting after putting a Tremec T56 in it.

Here is where the questions for this forum come in:
Can I put a 2.8L crank in the aluminum block for the shortest possible stroke and largest possible bore?
Can I hook a T56 to the aluminum block engines?
Is there a suspension from a 60 degree vehicle that you would recommend over the 300ZX?

Thank you all for reading this far and I looking forward to learning much from this forum and imparting as much knowledge as I can on the members here.

[bszopi]

Welcome! Your project is definitely intriguing, but I just wonder... Why are you so set on using the aluminum block? Trying to find one, first of all, will be a task, and then the price just doesn't seem worth it for what you are trying to accomplish. Plus, you have much more options with the newer blocks. As far as bolting a T56 up to any of the 60V6 engines, I am pretty sure there is an adapter out there which will make it easy.

[SnailPowered]

I want the aluminum block for weight saving. The car has a cast iron straight six in it now so I realize that just about any newer engine is going to save weight but an aluminum block would be awesome. I have found a few on eBay and they were actually reasonably priced because I was originally thinking about going with a 1JZ Toyota motor which would cost about $1800 and weighs about 500 lbs. I am a pretty red blooded American though and putting a Japanese motor in an AMC just strikes me as wrong. From reading Wikipedia it looked to me like an aluminum block wouldn't be hard to come by, am I wrong? I am also going to be working on the car in Arizona where there are fields of junkyards and I can probably find a running car with a good block for under $1000. I am open to suggestions though on how I should go about my project because everyone has their own ideas and I surely do not have all the answers!