G-Tech

just as an update for anyone who is replacing the windshield on a 280zx or i think more importantly to someone who is stripping a 280zx to restore it...be aware that the clip strips for the molding to snap into at the top and bottom of windshield is not available anymore....there is companies selling what nissan says is the replacement for the original but i have had 2 professional installers now come and look at installing my windshield and both refused to use the clip strips i have purchased. they are both struggling to find an original strip laying around in a warehouse somewhere. the one guy told me id be better off glueing the clips in after the windshield is installed but that mostlikly will leave a gap somewhere and will be unable to ever remove the trim without bending the crap out of it. the strips they sell now leave an ugly seem at the top, the molding will sit high and not flush with the windshield and concerned that the molding will not even stay attached well. both companies i have spoke to say they have not heard of any issue but also have had no personal experience using them and even told me they look strange to them as well but said thats what nissan says to use. if you have to change your windshield do what you can to save the original strip and if you dont have to take it out to restore or paint your car DO NOT take it out.. this has turned into another fantastic headache that my oddball S130 is known to give...

i am very familiar with my 280zx, ive had it very disassembled and reassembled many times now over the last 15yrs of owning it. however this is the first time ive replaced the windshield. the problem im having is with the strip (that attaches to the body) for the molding clips. as you can see in the pics, the old upper clip strip (1st and 2nd pic) has a slot at the bottom, you push the clip down in the slot and a tooth on the clip holds it from coming out. The lower is the same just reversed. The new clip strip i purchased from z car source looks completely different and i cant figure out which way is up or down. i talked to zcarsource and he assured me its the right piece and i believe him but he wasnt able to help me with which way it went either. I had a professional installer look at it today and was confused as well..he was familiar with the clips and the old clip strip but not the new ones. Has anyone with a 280zx gone threw this yet or can anyone help me figure out which way this should go.lastly, either way i try to fit the clip, it seems to sit up high, like when i attach it to my actual windshield molding it looks like my molding is going to be raised up. once again the s130 is the oddball but it means too much and im in too deep to move on. Thank you for any help or suggestions

thats a pretty old post, you will be lucky to get a reply. looks like he drilled threw the shaft on both ends and just put a bolt threw it. there isnt any splines on the universal joint he used. your going to want to support that somehow or it will be floppy. he mentioned a carrier bearing, i think thats what the black painted tab you can barley see is for. the carrier bearing is probably mounted to that tab but you cant see it.

is there any designated spot to purchase hybrid-Z t-shirts or stickers? ive seen a couple post for them but they are old so i figured its useless to try to get ahold of anyone on them. thank you

That's just my fuel filter. It never hit the ground, just got real close before I stiffened up the suspension. I went to a gravity feed setup so the fuel pump doesn't have to pull the fuel out of the tank...they are more efficient pushing fuel then pulling.

sorry to go off topic but what the heck is with the Mercedes?!?!?! that thing is awesome!!!

Headlight cover are just regular tinted ones. Tires were stock size. You can go lil more offset. I have 17x8 0-offset on the rear now with 235's. Stock 14's are only 6" wide, I wouldn't go more then a 225 but I've seen people do things I wouldn't

this was mine with the 1" lower springs. way,way,way back

yes they are the best place to buy them from. if you spend some time looking, you might find them cheaper but msa is the best if you just wanna make sure your getting the right thing. before you buy inner tie rods, look into what it takes to change that. i just did outers. and dont bother with wheel bearings unless they are bad. if you ever do front brake rotors, you will have to change them then and doing the rear wheel bearings involve pulling the stub-axles out. the pic looks like what you should end up with with eibach coils. there is only 1" drop coils for sale and thats it, anything more and your getting into coilovers.

i believe you can keep stock struts. id call and ask 1st. most people like i did get a set of tokico shocks and struts. the front is a bit interesting, the strut casing and spindle is 1 unit. if your shocks have never been replaced in the front, then you actually gut the strut casing and slide a new shock in the tube. not a bad job, just strange. yeah, poly bushings are a nice upgrade. makes things a lil stiffer but it will handle better. while your at it, replace balljoints and tie rod ends. if wheel bearings are not making noise then you can skip that but that would be about all thats left to say you rebuilt the whole bottom end of the car. not sure on sway bar dia., got rid of my stock one long time ago. id call motorsport auto about using the stock strut and shocks and see what they know about the sway bar. they are not the cheapest place usually but they have lots of info. and yes, that motor is simply to blow air onto the intake, funny huh...im guessing they had a reason...

eibach makes a 1" lowering spring. that would be the "right way" and the most affordable. i ran them before, good quality.

its a couple years old but doesnt look good. looks like what i went threw with showcars.com in canada

I am doing the same thing with the electric line lock but using it to lock out the rear brakes. To keep a cleaner engine compartment..plus it would feel weird not using my foot on the brake pedal when doing a burnout... But dont forget to release it when your done or you wont have rear brakes when you get to the end of the track...

Wow!!! Very cool. It's fun to have a family tie to a car...that's how mine is too...how much more you have to go to fire it up? Kinda wish I kept my motor swap in the nissan family. Just felt it was gonna be cheaper to do a LS motor. Not sure that is true when all is said and done. Looks awsome!!!

i noticed yesterday on another thread that "miles" had pointed out a shop called Z fever (or now called fever racing) that has done swaps for the s130. i checked out their website today and found that they may have something to offer for swapping a LS into a 280zx. not sure exactly what but for those trying to get the swap done, that is another resource to contact. if someone calls them, please post results here.

tire rack and carid have some. cheapest i see is $100 each. just when your searching, put in the car info so it will tell you if they fit or not. you need to be concearned with center bore diameter also if you are just searching without putting in year/make and model. try ebay too. if you check ebay, make sure you dont get something that needs adapters. you dont want to get into them if your gonna do any racing. when you put in make and model of your car (im sure you know) your car is a datsun and/or a nissan. so if you dont see datsun, then put in nissan.

no, they are 5 lug. you have 4. 114.3 is correct and everything else was fine

i only know from beeing a 280zx owner that very very little things can switch over from a s30 chassis to a s130 (280zx). i know for v8 swap motor mounts there is different ones for each chassis. if you have good fab skills you could probably make it work but you might be better off with something universal and make your own. like miles said, keep searching here and just google in general and see what you can find. the 280zx is the odd ball chassis and not much is gonna be easy. if you have fab skills like welding mainly, i would say get the motor sitting in the car and see what you can do from there

Good to see another one completed...its not an easy task for the s130 chassis...if you ever wanted to do the headers a different way you could get a blockhugger header for the pass side and a manifold style that exits towards the firewall for the driver side..that's what I did for years. If you do go turbo then what u have is good. I think at times doing what everyone else is doing by adding a turbo but then I go for a rip and realize that I have absolutely no need for more power. Nice to see another option for the oil pan. That is definitely another major stepping stone for this swap in the 280zx. I did the same engine mount combo. Good job, dare to be different!!!

Funny, watching your video cause I'm going threw the same struggles like sanding, then sanding, then sanding, etc..and missing the fact that u wont get the edge of the cowl painted when the car is assembled, and just having to deal with it...its real life struggles your having... I'm frustrated with sanding and there might be a thing or 2 that are not perfect but watching your videos make me relieved I'm not the only one....great job!!!! Bought couple of your shirts(one for me and one for the wife) to try to do my part to support the cause....

What year car ? You cant tell what its held up on?

im no expert but i have looked at altering or making new trailing arms for my zx and it doesn't seem so straight forward. they are a semi-trailing arm, they are not just 90deg to the wheel, they are mounted on an angle. i wanted to do something because the wheel pulls forward when the car squats. and the zx's like to squat. i have 17x8 with 0-offset with 235/45 tires and i had to clearance the front of the wheel well lip. it was actually hitting the front of the wheel well. i have a 400whp LS motor in it but i also have 380lb springs in the rear and the car comes stock with 125lb springs. you can put like eibach springs in it but its still gonna squat pretty good even with a stock motor. i want to eventually figure out how to move the mounting point for the semi-trailing arm back more. you can play with the offsets and run inward more. i have lots of room to the inside left over but my opinion (again im no expert) but with a car that squats alot, once it does, and you have some crazy offset wheel, the tire is not gonna stay flat on the road and you will just end up riding on the inside edge. so i stuck with 0-offset cause thats what the car was designed for. and i get lots of traction. ive road coarsed it and i go to the dragstrip alot and i am very happy with it. even when i had a stock v8 in it and was still running the 14x6's the car hooked pretty good. the zx's get lots of traction as is. im not saying something different cant be done or that it would be wrong so do whatever you can do. i see that there is others with the wider tires but id be curious if they rub when they are hard on them. good luck

think you mean patch panels? i have yet to see anything for that. and get a hard dash cover. they are still cheap and look really good. just put down some good RTV or the sun will warp it. but if you keep a sun visor for the windshield that will make the cover last a lifetime.