bluezx

Nice work on the rear suspension mods. Using some different parts I've done the same thing to mine: solid mounts,inner and outer camber/toe adjustment,coil-overs,ect. I've got a Z32 VLSD diff installed in my original long nose R200 case and am still working out what way to make up the axles. Could you give some more info on how you put the axles together? Thanks,Mark.

If you've installed a Borg Warner T5 5-speed for our turbo cars, make sure your using the correct automatic transmission fluid in it. Not sure if fluid is your problem but different fluids affect the shift quality on the t5 and some people don't know they are ment to be filled with ATF, not manual transmision gear oil. Side note. I'm using Mobile 1 synthetic 10w40 motor oil in my T5 as recomended by another member here and it works well. Also switched from a billet aluminum to a rubber grip type shift knob to help fight the heat transfer. Mark.

I'm using the same Kei Office coil-overs in the rear of my 82zx. They're very stiff and greatly improved my car's launch and cornering abilities. I got a good deal on just the rear set from a local jdm importer because one was damaged. Was told they came out of a wrecked skyline. Working at a machine shop at the time I was able to fix the damaged one and modify the 2-bolt top plates. I turned down the dia. of the top plate and redrilled for the 280zx 3-bolt pattern. Pressed in 3 studs and after adjusting them most of the way down they dropped right in. The Skylines adjusted length was to tall for my car but they still allow enough adjustment to lower my car as low as I want. The only downside I see to using these is the lack of readily avalible rebuild inserts you mentioned. If they ever need to be rebuilt I'll throw some stock ones in and try to find a source for new inserts. Please post if you find a source for these parts. They can be fully dissasembled with the correct wrench. I made one that looks like an angle grinder 2-pin type spanner to take them all the way apart. They are very well made and I'm sure the basic insert needed to freshen them up can be found somewere on the web. I got the Ground Controls+camber plates from Gabe a while back but haven't got them in yet to give an impression of how they work with the Kei Office rears. Nice job on you're install. Mark.

Adam 78280z has some listed in the vendors forum for $20.00 shipped from F.L. Check out his post. Looks good and the price is right. Mark.

"mark, i think i might have seen your car on a friends, friend's photo on facebook.... greenville and a rb25, probably not alot of those..." Nope, sorry to say thats not me.. I was working a deal out with a local jdm importer for a complete rb25 set-up when I got a good deal on an 82turbo donor car so I,m sticking with the l28et for now... My wife and I are planning a roadtrip to Charleston and Hunting Island this spring, mabey we'll stop by to check out your progress then. Anyway, not wanting to derail your build thread any more so I'll pm you some time. Keep up the good work, looks like it's gonna be a beast when complete! Thanks, Mark.

Yeah man, no rush it's just I side project I'm working on. I'm running a shaved intake and custom fuel rail right now and playing with ideas for an ITB set-up next. Maybe this spring or summer we can work something out. Again, very nice build and thanks for the reply. Mark.

ZT-R, Great looking build! Any chance you're selling the ITB set up you replaced with that new intake. I've got a tripple carb intake for an l28 I'd like to adapt rb26 throttle bodies to. Just thought I'd ask since I noticed your in S.C. Mark.

The factory tow hook areas are blocked by my intercooler. So I'll either install one dead center in the bumper with a plug for the hole or at the top of the airdam opening just out of sight like the placement on the 350z. I'm also starting to make a front splitter/skid plate to protect the front edge of the airdam out of some aluminum diamond plate I scored at a scrapyard a while back. I can't find any examples of these kind of mods done to s130's so if anyones got any pics they'd like to share I'd appreciate it. Mark.

Looks like a classic case of planned obsolesence, all thats left to do is scrap the car and buy a 370z. Those bastards! On a serious note, if it makes you feel better take the broke part and the "new" replacement to your guy and have it reinforced at the spot welds. Just make sure there is clearence for the new one to fit properly. I'd also clean up any surface rust on both sides of the firewall from any brake fluid exposure with some rust converter while it's all easy to get to. Mark.

Found something I like better for what I'm doing. I like that you can easily remove and stow these away when not needed, discrete and functional. They screw in like the oem 350/370z ones. Any ideas on install or placement of these?

I'm installing my MSA II body kit and looking for pics or ideas of tow hooks used with this kit on my 280zx. Something like these photos courtesy zccjdm.com

I saw a 240z 3d model on Google Sketchup in the warehouse it's taged as zcar by user: raptor 117 .Seems like i read somewere you can use Sketchup models in Autocad.

zeeboost, Rereading this post I realize it's not my place and was very rude to have called dibs on the part. What can I say, I jumped the gun and apololigize for my poor edicate... Hope it all works out for you, sorry for my mistake. Guess I'll go look for a ZXR wing deal to try to steal out from under someone next lol Happy New Year!

4.distance between mounting holes center to center-------- 4.125" still no z31 to measure. p.s. What's the "interesting engine"?

Dibs on Pantera hatch (if price is right). Glen you have a pm.

Here's some measurements off my 79 280zx: 1. distance between inside of frame rails -------- 26.000" 2. distance between outside of frame rails ------- 31.125" 3. distance between center of mounting bolts ----- 28.625" No motor or crossmember in it makes it easy to get these dimensions with a tapemeasure. Hope you weren't expecting metric. No 300zx to measure here. Mark.

I saw an M30 at my local junkyard recently... Looks like I'll have to revisit it after X-Mas. Thanks for the info, pics would be nice.

Great looking s130! I'm working on the same front Z31 suspension mods you listed and have a couple questions. 1) Did you have an issue with the length of the stock tie-rods with this set-up after lengthening the lower control arms? 2) How much did you lengthen the control arms to get the camber right? Thanks for any info you can share, Mark.

Being different is what I love about this site. I've also searched a bunch and haven't found anyone thats put a shortnose diff in an s130 without a full suspension swap. What's your plan for custom/hybrid axles to make it work or will the stock cv's mate with the cusco clsd? p.s. Great build so far. Looking forward to updates on it's progress.

This past summer I got a shortnose R200vlsd out of a 90 300zx na with plans to adapt it to my 82 280zx. After hours of searching I found the best way for me to acomplish this was to keep my longnose r200 housing with it's ring and pinion gears and install the vlsd into the longnose case. Here is a link to a great writ-up on different ways to acomplish what I'm talking about. link For me this seemed like a better solution than adapting the shortnose case to my crossmember keeping it a bolt on project except the axles which you'll have to figure out either way you go. My link Hope this helps. Mark.

If you haven't done it yet, I highly recommend downloading the factory service manual from xenon's site as linked to in Philbertz's reply. The Haynes and Chiltons manuals are ok but the FSM for your specific year is a must have for sorting out the kind of problems your dealing with. To start I'd get the right amp fuses in the right places before your problems get bigger. A 30 amp fuse wont keep a 10 amp circut with a bad connection from burning up. Keep in mind to that it's not uncommon for the original harness to have some unused connections for features your car did not come with like the headlight washer system or automatic climate controls for example.

Yes the stock downpipe is castiron with a very tight(restictive)90deg bend that is hard to reproduce in 3" pipe. A good exhaust shop can come off the stock downpipe with 3" back but it will still be a bottleneck in the system if it's not eliminated. I removed the stock downpipe and made a 3/8" thick mild steel flange with a 2 1/2" opening and used a 2 1/2" mandrel bent 90 to start then transitioned to 3" for the rest of the system. This is not ideal but works very well for me. The problem is theres not much clearance between the outlet of the turbo and the firewall on S130's. Search "turbo downpipe" and look at the way others have done this. Lots of info if you search. When you search for pics of custom downpipe installs keep in mind that S30 turbo swaps have more room to work with in this area because the firewall sits back further. Also, make sure to use some sort of straight threw muffler for best results stay away from chambered mufflers on turbo exhaust systems the less restriction the beter. Hope this helps. Mark.

If you have cleaned all the connectors especialy the chts,tps and afm one thing you can check is action of the afm flapper door. Take the boot off in front of the afm and push the flapper all the way threw it's range off motion. Does it move forward smoothly and return to closed position on it's own? If it feels sticky in action at all or creeks like an old door hinge hit it with some WD40 and work it out.

Here's a pic of the diff I've pulled from a 91'300zx non-turbo And a link to installing it in a Z31. http://www.88hybrid.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=87755&sid=a4ea4180b8efd1370218379f5c2311a2

Thanks for the feedback guy's. Pure Pontiac, I haven't installed the lsd yet and do plan to shim it. Were's a good place to get shims? I found the thread on Z31 performance and it was very helpful,thanks. 260DET, Not sure I understand your warning about the pinion. I'm only using the vlsd from the shortnose diff. The long nose case will keep it's original ring and pinion gears. So, unless I've missed something the main issue to resolve is what hybrid axle combo it's going to take to connect the output flanges of the diff to my stub axles correctly. My plan is to try to install the inner cv joints from the Z32 axles onto my s130 axles and test fit to see if they'll work or need to be modified.