86murdoc

The car is on hold for now, I had to move money around to pay for an A&P certification school. Should be back on track this September.

Yea I had not ruled out s14 shocks for the rear, I was still doing some reading on shock length and what not for the s14. So far I have gathered that the s14 shock is 5 to 8 inches in length compared to the s13 shock. Which would cover the distance needed for proper movement. I would like to test fit the S14 shocks before I make a decision.

Yea either the s14 or the R32 subframes would fit....the s13 subframe was more available and after an intial fitment I liked where the wheels would be. I guess its just preference, I also plan on running fender flares with 255s all the way around. I also didnt want to make my own subframe attach points and the junk yard in the area had a few s13 so I was able to get the mount areas easily and for cheap. One JDM 2+2 build used the s13 subframe with R32 mounting points http://www.takkun.net/dri-z-000.htm I liked the way they swapped the mounting areas but I plan on a different approach for the strut towers. I think the subframe install starts at part 323 on the webpage... Im still searching for my damn camera cord so I can load more photos.

Alright went to the junk yard last weekend and cut out a S13 rear subframe mounting points, also got S13 front subframe control arms,spindles,shocks and brakes. Started today on cleaning up the mounting points and prepping for the swap. Did some measuring for shock placement and came up with the best option to get the S13 shock to mount to a S130 shock tower while still keeping the correct amount of travel for the suspension. More to come on the shock placement we are currently trying to get the angles correct for the shocks. Subframe install should happen within the next month or so due to money...

Engine bay about done and ready for paint, I had it stitch welded yesterday after work it looks pretty good. I seem to have misplaced my camera cord so when I locate it there will be pictures. Currently cleaning up some rust issue, there was a bad repair on the left rocker to quarter panel area which caused water to eat some metal away. I cut out the old stuff just need to pick up some sheet metal. Thats all for now.

Well picked up a S13 rear subframe today out of a salvage yard it has every thing included except the diff which we left there. Its late I will post picks of it tomorrow most likely.

Thank you Frank for the input, haha actually I had been looking at the S13 rear subframe over the past week and I will be picking one up today hopefully from a salvage yard. I knew about the R31 mounts and had attempted to get a set from rawbrokerage but he was out of stock so I moved on....I have not yet purchased the mckinney set, so I will hit up the other Ebay to source a set. To be honest I had gotten tired of failed searches for the topics I had questions about and jumped to the first thing that I found that made sense which probably isnt the best thing to do. I look forward to hearing your input as I continue the build.

I want to mainly circuit track the car at least thats the over all goal. With the trailing arm design the car will/may not handle properly under acceleration out of turns as in the rear will squat to far changing camber and throw the chassis off balance. I had read a few places that the S30 rear set up was better than the trailing arm, granted I havent seen a S130 with an RB go around a circuit track so all I have to go off of is what I have read and the S30s I see at our local track super laps every month. I also want to try something different that sets my car outside the norm for S130 builds. The arizonazcar control arms would give me full adjustability on the control arm side allowing me to have full control of how the car handles. I understand that the control arm isnt the only factor in how the car handles and the AZC kit that I am looking at covers the other parts of the equation.

Yea I had read a few of those threads previously and its not that I didnt want to use the newer set ups (Z31,Z32,S13) refering to the struts ect, but I wanted to get away from the stock trailing arm and go to a normal lower A arm which the S30 has.

January I purchased my '79 280ZX for 700 bucks shortly after getting it home we pulled the L28 out and started thinking of engine choices. After many ideas were thrown around I decided I would go with the RB25DET and so the money pit begins. A loan and ebay visit later the motor was sitting at my house. The loan covered engine purchase, oil pan, greddy style intake, and engine mount kit from mckinney motor sports. Now to switch gears a bit, with limited adjustable suspension choices for the S130 as well as brakes to handle stopping the RB, I decided to do something different and swap subframes from a S30 chassis. Surprisingly there isnt much difference between the subframe areas of the S130 and the S30, after a visit to the junk yard I had the subframes from a 240Z. Here is a picture of the front. To further explain the need for the swap, I went to ArizonaZcar.com and saw that they had a fully adjustable control arms, shock/spring assemblies and the brakes I was looking for. My over all goal is to build a RB powered S130 that goes around corners. The rear A arm set up for the S30 will have to be partially fabbed to make it work and after a few measurements I believe that this swap will work very well. The front subframe initial fit went well the mount points for the subrame will have to be cut and a wider plate will be welded in to line up with the holes from the frame. I will throw front fitment pictures up tomorrow. I am open to any advice on the build over all , I will keep this thread updated every few weeks.