SATAN

$200 from a yard is kinda steep, but from a private seller it would be a good deal. As far as the diff goes, it doesn't really matter much as you can take your Q45 carrier and put it inside your long nose R200 case. I have done it. You would have to have custom half shafts made. This would eliminate the need to use custom this that and the other thing to mount it up. Again, all you would need is custom half shafts. But you would need that anyways. Since you can swap the carrier into the case, obviously you would need the ring gear off of your 280zx, that way it works with the long nose pinion gear. Now on the power rating... 300whp is nothing for any of the R200's to handle. There is a guy who has an open diff, two pinion, from a N/A 86 300zx making 700whp. Hasn't broken it. As for the gearing. 3.5 is not high at all. That would be great cruising on the highway with that ratio. However, I don't know if that is the actual ratio or not, so I am just taking your word, but it sound about right. But none of that matters if you are putting that carrier into your case, as you would be running the 280zx ratio's anyways. If you wanted to bolt up the entire Q45 case and everything, then that is a different story, and you will need more parts than what you pull off of the Q45.

I would say that 450 for the VLSD with half shafts is a pretty good deal. It will handle 400whp pretty alright. Obviously the VLSD is what comes in the z32's and they seem to hold up pretty alright. However, just a correction. The VLSD from the 300zxt was ONLY found in the 1988 turbo SHIRO edition. The regular 88 turbo's had CLSD as did the 89 turbo's. Also, there were LESS than 300 z31 turbo's made in 1989. So, not that it matter's, but it is out of the 88 shiro.

What exactly is "an easy launch" when you are running a 9.36 @ 148mph?

There does not appear to be anything special about that diff. Looks like a regular r200 2 pinion open differential. And yes, spinning the pinion shaft will make both axles spin in the same direction no matter what diff. However, if it is an open diff, you can spin one AXLE and the other AXLE will spin in the opposite direction. That is most likely what would happen with that diff. As was mentioned, the only sure fire way to tell without axles is to pull the cover and look inside. And yes again, any 300zx turbo from April of 87 all the way through 89 came with a CLSD EXCEPT the SS in 88. It came with the Vlsd.

Just to update this thread a little... Got a z32 CAS, (Mitsubishi kind). Had to drill out the studs holding it together. Pulled the guts out of it and put them in a z31 distributor. Two of the mounting screws came close enough to where I could run them in, but the third had to be drilled and tapped, no biggie. Oh, I also had to take the z31 dizzy to the band saw and do some creative cutting for the z32 cas to fit right. No biggie there either. For the disk to sit at the right height, some creative shimming with washers had to be done. Here is what I came up with. Now, I have it in the car, but the AEM is not picking up engine speed for some reason. Still got to do some tinkering, but I'm sure it will come along. Thought maybe I damaged it in the process of swapping, but an OEM cas KNOWN to work, does the same thing so... gotta be something else. Now, if I could just figure out how to place what slot on TDC... Thought I had a better pic of it, but this is all I can find right now...

I posted in this thread earlier that the 90-96 Q45 input shafts and the R230 input shafts are the same spline count and diameter. THIS IS WRONG. They are NOT the same diameter. The R230 spline diameter is 1mm larger than the Q45 spline. As far as spline count goes, I am still trying to figure out of the R230 is a 30 spline like the Q45 or if it is a 31 spline. Anyone know 100% by counting?

I don't think that is really the case. A lot of the stub axles break simply due to drive line shock. Streetfighter has a 2JZ in his z31 making 700whp on stock z31 axle stubs. He does not race it at the track though. Many other guys DO race them at the track with FAR less power, but yet manage to break theirs on the launches. People have even cryo treated good inspected one's. Results are still the same. Wheel hop has a lot to do with it also. Again, it is just driveline shock coupled with substantial torque. I can't help but think that the 280zx axle stubs are stronger than the z31 stubs though. jnjdragracing is popping wheelies on his stock stubs! You don't see that with z31 axle stubs. People break those with as little as 350ft/lbs and some drive line shock. I agree the z31 half shafts are good for the majority of people, but they do still break. This is why I sleeved mine with 4130.

My rear end on my z31 consists of... 1988 300zx CLSD modified to 6 clutch shimmed to 75 lb/ft break away. Stock 29 spline input shafts into the diff. Sleeved stock z31turbo half shafts with 4130 Cr-Mo .081" thick pipe. Mark Williams large axle stubs and companion flanges. 4140 Cr-Mo through hardened. ARP wheel studs. Differential and rear subframe are solid mounted with steel brackets. Unfortunately, I have not run the car with this set up. My last setup was an entirely stock 88 turbo rear end. I managed a 1.67 60 foot time in a 3200 lb car (with driver) with that. Made about 450whp, don't know the torque. This time around, I am estimating 850whp and about 6-700 ft lbs torque. Hoping to hold 1.4 or better 60' times with same weight car.

I was unaware of the Main hoop rule being .120". Is that just if it is .120" Cr-Mo or is that mild steel? I also have my main hoop braces actually running TO the rear strut towers. It seemed like the best thing to do for load transfers and for safety. I hardly EVER see cars like that though? They usually run all the way to the rear of the car. Why is that? Original Poster... How did you manage to weld around the entire bar where the A-pillar bar meets the roof hoop? I looks very tight in there. Looks like it could only be welded all the way around if the roof were removed. Actually, it looks to be that situation in a lot of the corners of the cage. It looks like a very nice cage though, very pretty.

Thanks, I'll try that. Nope, just storing them against a brick wall. Unless it's a magnetic brick wall...

Its fine with aluminum and with stainless. It is just with mild steel. I will go to dip the rod, and right as I get close to the puddle, it will pull to one or the other pieces of base metal, just like a magnet. Not a heavy magnet, but enough to pull my rod. Just wondering if anyone else experienced something along these lines.

Just curious as to if when welding mild steel with your TIG welders, your filler rod likes to stick to the base metal right as you go to dip it. When welding, I will go to dip my rod, and then all of a sudden, the rod seems to spring toward the base metal, like a magnet is pulling it. I understand that when you put that much juice through metal, that something like that can happen. I was just wondering if it happens to you guys. It is pretty annoying and sometimes it messes up my nice bead. Do you guys have a solution for this? Sometimes I find myself sliding the filler rod on the base metal and then into the puddle. This keeps the rod under more control as it is already stuck/magnetized to the base metal.

Unfortunately I don't have many more details, although not many more are needed. I have pictures sorta... But the Q45 carrier was bolted in and spun freely. I never set my lash, but that could have been done just like any other diff had I gone that far. Here you see the long nose (88 turbo) diff on the right and the 1990 q45 diff on the left. Never mind the piss poor work station... Here you can see it bolted into the z31 long nose R200 case. All I did was switch the ring gear. Ok, actually you cant see it bolted in cause I took the picture before I actually bolted it BUT. It works, I promise. Here it is from the front... At this point, what I would need is the q45 mating flanges on the CV axles. Then I would have to have a custom center shaft made. WHY? Because the spline on the q45 axle is different than the z31 axle. Therefore the race's or whatever they are called (part that rests on the splines inside the CV joint) are not compatible between the two vehicles. Thus a center shaft with q45 spline on one side and z31 (or whatever the other side you have is) spline on the other. Also don't forget to make the axle the right length. I priced axles and they are typically about $200 a piece. Sometimes cheaper, sometimes more. At this point you can disassemble your BDO half shafts and hybrid them together to make the one you need. Like I said. Lot of work to gain that extra .9mm of input shaft diameter.

I can say that the 90-96 Q45 30 spline carrier (part that the ring gear bolts to) bolts right into the long nose R200 case. I did it. I wanted the larger 30 spline input shafts, so I pulled my 88 300zx turbo diff apart and installed a 1990 Q45 carrier into it with my 300zx ring gear bolted to it. Plugged in the Q45 half shafts and all was well. I ended up not going that route because I would have needed different half shaft axles to be made AND the Q45 input shafts were only .9mm larger than the z31 input shafts. Not enough of a gain for me to continue on.

It took me a good 20 minutes to read that sentence. Common knowledge time. Advanced timing = cooler water temps. Retarded timing = hotter coolant temps.

Wrong thread, don't know where the right one is though. Don't know 280z subframe but... z31 subframe is way narrower than z32. People put 240sx sub's (Which is same but narrower than z32) into the z31. This enables MANY different suspension options along with short nose R200 options. Even R230 options are close to bolt on with that style subframe.

Yes they can. They have my set on file. so they could pull that up again if need be. However, if you are doing something different, they would need to know as much info as possible for obvious reasons. They are in Denver essentially, so I just drove up there and gave them one of the M.M. Stubs with a bearing on it and an OEM companion flange. They made the kit from there. I have the bearing part numbers if you need for the z31 rear end, but can't help on any other application. The M.M. components were not hardened at all. I know this because I had to take them to the machine shop across the street from where I work and have the center ring machined down so my nissan wheel would fit onto it. This was all before I decided not to go with M.M.

Hmm, no pic showed up. Now, don't take this as bashing on Modern Motorsports, because they were very good and fair to me when I had problems with my set for the 300, but... When I was talking with the guys at Mark Williams enterprises, I brought them the Modern Motorsports stub, and said " I need a companion flange for this." They said "Well... No can do. That is a very odd ball spline that is on there. That and a spline that fine should not even be used in drag racing. Not to mention the fact that they are not even hardened." SO, they made me a completely new set (while using the M.M. bearings) That had a more coarse (and more common) spline on it, along with it being through hardened 4140 Cr-Mo, and thread in (not press in) studs. I am confident that MANY other things will break on the car LONG before these even break a sweat.

Yes they did. The issue with the CV shaft holding in the carrier is... Paranoia. Ok not really. I know a guy in Puerto Rico who has broken them. Snaps the splines straight off, just like on the stub axles. This is in the standar 29 spline R200 though. He now runs the R230 in his z31. I was under the impression that both the Q45 R200 30 spline and the z32t R230 30 spline were both 30.9mm. According to this thread though, the z32t R230 is still a 30 spline but is 1mm larger in diameter than the Q45 R200 30 spline. Normal R200 = 29 spline and 30mm. Q45 six bolt R200 = 30 spline and 30.8mm Z32T R230 = 30 spline and 31.8mm here is what Mark Williams made for me.

I personally use Clutch specialties in CA. He can build you pretty much any clutch you need at a very competitive price. So if there are very few options from the companies you are looking at, try them out. Good quality stuff at good prices.

Sweet Christ, we're like roaches... Someone try's to turn out the lights on a z31 and we swarm in defending it LOL

The ONLY car worthy of being called a Z...

I use the same thing, only I make sure to use two of them coupled together. This way I can put the screw section on opposite sides of each other for balancing reasons.

The only way I was able to do it with the Q45 diff was to use a dead blow and just continuously pound on it until I could get a prybar in there.

I went with the same kit from MM except for the z31, and ended up having fitment problems. I had Mark Williams make essentially the same thing but stronger. I am hoping the R200 CLSD output shafts/cv shafts will hold inside the diff. I sleeved the axle on the CV shaft with 4130 Cr-Mo pipe, so now I am only concerned about where the CV plugs into the carrier.