Would you bring this kitty home?
We’ve seen some pretty crazy Hellcat engine swaps, but this 2004 Nissan 350Z is one of the cooler concepts in recent memory. You have to admit the 350Z looks pretty cool, but the anemic six Nissan threw under the hood meant the Japanese sports car was writing checks it couldn’t cash. That’s more than fixed by shoving a supercharged Hemi V8 up front, making this an interesting Japanese-American hybrid. But there’s more to the car than just that, so read on.
If a Hellcat swap into an old Dodge Power Wagon is more your thing, click here.
You’ll immediately notice in none of the photos the Hellcat 350Z is fully assembled. That’s the first red flag on this car. Why hasn’t the guy buttoned things up, reinstalling the headlights, front bumper, taillights, etc.? The natural conclusion is that not everything fits with that massive American muscle mill squeezed in there.
You’ll see in the photos it looks like this guy used a Hellcat crate engine. That means it’s not a junkyard motor and it has no wear from a previous owner who didn’t maintain it properly, which is a plus.
The owner obviously has been getting peppered with questions about his partly finished project, and we can understand why. Instead of gladly answering them all, he says he’s not going to answer any of them and instead has told everyone to look him up on Instagram and YouTube under his username: 3f1ddyzeejay. That’s not a great sales pitch, especially when you find the last video update on this project is from October 25, 2020. Why did the guy just stop working on this project?
From the video update you learn the car fires up, it has a complete fuel system, and the rear was rebuilt and installed. With the OE radiator installed, everything just barely fits, but the guy needs to figure out some new hoses, which shouldn’t be a huge problem. We doubt the hood will close all the way, so that’s likely one of several issues. Then the guy starts hitting his followers up for cash, so that’s probably where the hang up is. Something about completing this build is going to be costly, we’re guessing, so the guy decided to cut bait and move on.
Would you take your chances with this build? Would you see it to completion? Or do you think this is a money pit waiting for the next victim? Sound off in the comments.
Check out the Facebook Marketplace listing here.
