RHD 280ZX w/ RB26 and AWD.... 13" brakes Z32 brakes and coilovers

[Z-Fever]

I own Z-Fever and have been building Nissan cars for 23 years now (2011). I used to work on this car when the Original owner brought it back from Japan. I always told him I wanted to buy it. One day his wife sold it to some guy because he was going through a divorce. As luck would have it, the guy called me looking for an alternator. He couldn't find one and was fed up with it. He had only owned it for 2 weeks and hadn't even titled it yet. He kept asking the parts stores for an alternator for an 81 Fairlady Z. Of course, the genius' at the parts store couldn't look it up because the books don't use the name "Fairlady". He was all too happy to sell me the car for $500.

I stuck a 280ZX alternator in it and 1 hr after getting the car towed in, I was driving it home.

 

I promptly began working on a dream project of mine. Here is the build:

 

 

Here is the stock suspention:

 

We removed the struts:

 

Then I pulled a set of front spindles from an S13 240SX and pulled the 4-lug hubs off and replaced them with new 5-lug hubs:

 

Then I pulled off the stock steering knuckles and ball joints and installed new OEM ball joints:

 

Then I installed a set of Tein Basic coilovers for an S13 240SX:

 

I had to open up the top mounting area of the strut to make room for the coilover camber plates:

 

Then I installed a stock set of Z32 300ZX twin turbo 30mm calipers along with 13" Brembo rotors from an 03 350Z and some custom caliper adapter brackets that space the caliper out further. I also added some custom stainless steel braided brake lines. This is the result:

 

Now I started working on the rear brakes and suspension:

This is the stock brake caliper and driveshaft:

 

We removed the factory calipers, rotors, axles, and differential:

 

I also removed the factory 4-lug stub axles:

Then I removed the stock backing plate:

 

Then I acquired a set of 5-lug stub axles from one of my many parts cars (a 1987 Z31 300ZX):

 

You can see the difference between the stub axle spacer on the left from the Z32 and the one on the right from the S130 280ZX:

 

Then we worked on the brakes. I machined my own mounting brackets for the Z32 calipers and using Z32 x-drilled rotors and custom stainless braided brake lines:

 

Then I started on the rear suspension. I again chose the Tein S13 coilovers. The only real difference is the upper mount inside the chassis. The stock mount uses a 3 wide bolt pattern. Whereas the S13 uses a 2 bolt pattern. I simply used one bolt hole and drilled one bolt hole to mount the strut to the chassis:

The lower mount is the same:

Here is the finished product:

 

So this is where we are now. I have mounted a Skyline GTR differential by making custom mounts and axles. I will add pics of that tomorrow.

I also have my RB26 fully built already. I am making this car AWD as well as it already being RHD.

 

Here is a pic of my engine:

 

I hope you like the build. I will post more pics soon.

call us if you nee anything or have questions.

Doug

813-877-7600

[ArchetypeDatsun]

OMG!!! i think i just jizzed my pants. Excuse my rudeness but you sir are a bad ass, i hope your project goes well I'm very sure everyone here is going to want to see this monster getting put together. You guys do awesome work on any car you touch i had called your shop before about the VQ35 swap for a 280zx but i think this RB might have won me over again please keep us updated.

[slownrusty]

Holy mother of god!

[DREW RBZ]

That is frikkin awesome!!! Very very cool. Cant wait to see this beast when finished.

 

Also wanted to ask what the spec is on that turbo.

Edited October 7, 2011 by DREW RBZ

[Z-Fever]

It is an ITS T76 turbo

[JSM]

Someone told me you're getting out of the business?

[Forcer]

I was actually thinking about sending an e-mail about this car after I saw some pics on your site. You wouldn't happen to have some pictures of it on the ground with this suspension setup, would you? The finished product should be awesome.

[calvin280zxt]

post vids when you put that warlock under the hood please

[FricFrac]

Awesome project. Very interested in the AWD setup....

 

Just curious why you went with the S13 Tein coil overs rather than the Megans?

Edited October 8, 2011 by FricFrac

[tec280zx]

Nice, I did the same thing minus the rear brakes.

[m1ghtymaxXx]

Speechless.

[WreZ]

You truly do own Z fever sir!

[tru-jdm]

First off, congratulations on acquiring a RHD 280Z! I was beginning to think NO ONE ELSE in the US had one of these rare lil' nuggets of goodness! I've only owned mine for about 10 months, and took it from "mothballed over a decade and not running" to now a daily driver. there are still issues, of course, BUT...

Ya just don't see these things on the road!

I'd be interested in knowing if you had to fab any parts in getting the 5-lug to fit, and if so, whether you could fab/sell them to me. I'm a technician at a local indie shop, but we dont have any of the expertise to fab brake/suspension parts... at least, not to a degree i'd be willing to trust my S130 on!

Thanks for sharing this wonderful project, and i'll probably be calling you about this!

[djz]

You might want to rethink the front end, the ball joints look like they are maxed in one direction. The S130 lower arms don't have the ball joint angled upwards like the S13 arms do.

 

How much of the floor are you going to have to chop up to fit the front driveshaft and transfer case in?

[justin260z]

Updates??

[abes]

Updates??

[rwdawg2]

As djz pointed out you might need to rethink your front end. You will have tons of positive camber even with the coilovers maxed out.

 

I have some angled maxima ball joints that I could sell you that would correct your problem fairly easily.

 

PM me if you are interested.

[bigjake34452]

What a wild build, can't wait to see some more progress!

[yarddogg77]

I really like the work. Great tutorial, very informative. Just curious. Are those struts stock from the 240sx I think you said? Should I be looking for an S13 parts car in the future? Where'd you get the front 5 lug hubs?

Edited January 7, 2012 by yarddogg77

[rwdawg2]

As mentioned earlier. Did you ever look to see how the front end aligned after the s13 knuckles and coilovers on the stock control arms and ball joint?

 

I'd like to see more info on this if you would like to share. There was a guy on here (hybridZ) that did this with the s13 knuckles and coilovers but he said to get the correct suspension geometry you would need to lengthen the stock control arm and use an angled ball joint (like that of the old maximas).

 

Love what you have done though. The idea of the newer suspension with a 5 lug swap and bigger brakes is exactly what I want to achieve. I just want the most adjustability without having to sacrifice safety.

 

MORE INFO

 

Thanks,

Lindsey