Phantom

The steering shaft issue seems to be fairly common on LSZ's. My '77 280Z (which is manual rack & pinion) has a large diameter hole in the driver side motor mount to allow the stock steering shaft to go through. No elegant but has worked well for 23 years. Don't get in the death spiral of needing another modification based on something from a previous mod which was based on a previous mod, etc. I saw that alot so spent a lot of time noodling over fitment issues to keep things as simple as possible. FWIW - the 280ZX and the 280Z are very close i weight so would imagine the 280ZX would be fine without power steering.

Having driven an LS1 280Z for 23 years now I can attest to doing all that you can to stiffen the body. 240Z's weren't call "flexy-fliers" for no reason. The 280 body is better but I still flexed the body and had to reseal my windshield twice with a 380 HP first gen LS1. You might weld tags to the roof and then to the rollcage for just a bit better rigidity. What are you doing for gauges? fuel system? AC/heat? Sound system? Exhaust? stock seats?

I've been using a Dynomax muffler since 2003. It is a dual 2.5" and single 3" outlet. It is is in the stock location on my car with a custom bolt on tip that opens to 4". The muffler is valved so that at around 2500 it opens up. Up until then the car is very quiet but definitely becomes more pronounced at the higher, full throttle, RPM's. I actually got a random compliment from a guy this past Saturday at a stoplight saying how nice the car sounded. Go figure. contact me at: thebarn93@gmail.com if you have any questions.

With my stock suspension I went with a 16x7 wheel with 0 offset. With that setup I was able to run a 225/50-16 tire and have it clear the suspension and the fender. Stock size tire is a 195/70-14. A 205/60-15 would be the standard +1 to maintain the same tire diameter as the stock and thus not screw up your speedometer. If you stay with 15" the best size combination for a stock wheelwell is 225/55-15 on a wheel with a 0 offset.

Mine ended up 48 front/52 rear with the LS1/T56 combo. The LS1 obviously has a lower CG than the L28 and it sits farther back with everything but the accessory drive behind the steering rack. Having driven the car for 31 years now (20 years with the LS1/T56) I'm confident that the handling is at least equal to if not a bit better than the L28. It does require more finess as the L28 never gave me lifting throttle oversteer which I can get with the LS1. The Ls1 also improves throttle steering in corners once you get the car figured out. One thing - it does not forgive stupidity with the throttle.

For what it's worth my car ('77 280Z) was used by JCI to develop their LS1 conversion components. I have an LS1/T56 combo in mine. I had my280Z axle weighed with 3/4 tank of gas before the conversion and it was a perfect 50/50 with 1400 lbs on each axle. After the conversion it was 1400 front and 1430 rear but that was with a heavy torque tube design underneath. With standard transmission & differential mounts the distribution would probably not have changed at all. Just know that when you sit down in the car about 2/3 of your weight will be on the rear axle. Yup, with a driver, you'll be tail heavy.

Lawrence, The JCI kit was developed on my '77 280Z back in 2002/2003. My drivers side mount for my LS1 is centered below the front two exhaust port which obviously puts it in the front half of the block. I have a great photo of the passenger side mount but don't seem to have a good one of the drivers side.

How were the axle shafts themselves? Were the u-joint pockets snug or were they a bit loose? They should be snug or your problem will come back quickly. I just had to replace the u-joint on the driver side half-shaft only to discover that it took locktite on the axles to get them to stay put as they were worn. 250K on the car and the last 50K with an LS1. Passenger side still has original 1977 factory u-joints. That is a really scary thought at this point. CV joint halfshaft upgrade in the near future.

Thank you Madkaw & DuffyMahoney. I'm always very careful whenever i make a big change in my car. Y'all gave me some peace of mind. DuffyMahoney - I see you are from Sandpoint. You ever go to the Lost in the 50's events? I was up there in 2019 for it. Got 3rd in class. Here's a pic of my buddy and I at the show. He's from Sagle. .6ADD874C-0E3A-4E59-8CEC-F5947E11E769.heic

Did you install yourself? Were there any issues or things that I should be aware of prior to installation? How long have you had them? Any interference with stock ebrake cable or sway bar? Looks like you have a 240Z? Are you running an R180 or R200?

The 280Z stub axles are stronger than the 240Z stub axles and can withstand more abuse. That being said, if a car is built for drag strip use then eliminating them is a good idea. At that point you should just convert to a solid axle rather than IRS. I've had my car for 29 years and 150,000 miles. 99% of it's use has been "spirited" daily driving which is what my goal was when I built it. Yes, it has been competed but only occasionally. The fact that my stock, original spindles are still doing well after a total of 250,000 miles - yes bearings have been replaced - should give a pretty good indication that they can continue to meet the demands that I put on them.

I would suggest you spring for a Nissan Service Manual. They have some excellent wiring diagrams in them. Sounds like one or more of the PO's have fiddled with the wiring some and left you with issues.

I have an LS1 powered 280Z backed by a T56 and a 300ZXT R200LSD. The weak link in the drivetrain are the stock original (250,000 miles) half shaft u-joints. To keep running I recently replaced two of the u-joints only to find out that the half shafts are worn where the u-joint caps are supposed to press in lightly. So now I need half-shafts giving me the perfect excuse to upgrade to CV's. Although the LS1 is stock, 325HP/326 torque that is too much for several of the conversions currently offered or the vendor has no idea how much HP the shafts can handle. No - I'm not going to spring for the Ford 8.8 conversion. Great upgrade but too expensive for my current situation. I've pretty much settled on the Z Car Garage CV upgrade but I really need more input before I spring for them. Anyone here that actually has their CV axles on their Z's - and driving/competing them? I am looking for hard factual feedback on perceived quality, any installation issues, and durability. Thank you in advance

Actually, JCI is owned by John Radevich, not Ruskin, at 800 Jaguar Lane, Dallas, TX. The "Broken Kitty" is his website: www.brokenkitty.com I own the car John used to develop the kit he sells now. My car has been on the road since June of 2003 and I have had no issues with his components. One point, however. He equipped my car with a torque tube set-up between the T56 and R200 but the kits have a transverse mount for the transmission and the differential maintains it's front mount.