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Zsane that looks like early Zs rear suspension the Question was directed at 280 ZX where the problem is to maintain the correct angle of the main trailing arm support as R230 only has 2 front mounting bolts not 4 as in standard. Although the problems with shortening the 2 driveshafts would be similar to fitting into early Zs. Neil

The main disadvantage would be increased road & Diff noise. 280ZX rear suspension rides on 3 rubber mounts, at the rear of the Diff and at the ends of the Main trailing arm support. If you only make the diff one solid, the bolt may continually work loose or the mounting you fabricate may crack & break. Yes diff mounts are expensive as I bought one to fit my viscous modified R200 because they are different to the original R180 (mine was an auto). So there you have it , I assume that yours has been attacked by leaking oil which is common. Neil

Depends on what you are trying to achieve, if you lower the ride hieght you will get negative camber anyway. For toe in caster adjustment you could adapt the inside adjusters off a Z31. If retaining standard ride height you can increase negative camber by altering the angle of the trailing arm main support by by putting a wedge under the 4 diff mounting bolts. Always get your alignment checked by proffesional aligners after any alteration otherwise you will just waste a good pair of tyres. Good luck, Neil.

Well my spin on this is that you would have to build a full support over or under the differential because the diff housing is an integral part of rear suspension geometry. From my investigations if you use the later multilink rear assembly out of a Skyline or S14-S15 200SX which appear to be identical as best I can tell and remove the R200 and replace it with R230 noting that SX use tripod shafts Skyline 90mm birfield Z32 100mm birfield (Q45?) Disadvantages are wider rear track. Suspension cage modification is mainly only to thefront mountings which need to be narrowed and shortened, the rear mounting points would line up with existing subframe that supports rear diff mount. Another advantage is better clearance for dual exhaust. I have pics of an S13 Cage in place if you want me to email just ask. NOTE i am talking about 280ZX. Neil

Many thanks Jim, I tried everything to download off the original site but always ended up with an I/O error and couldn't read the file. I downloaded off your site no problems , so now have a stack more info to play with. Was hoping for chassis dimensions to add more info to Multi_link rear end document I was working on but still plenty of other good reading. As Nissan is a very good parts bin manufacturer a lot of parts are easily addapted between models just need to check your info. Yes I was using I/E on 25 GB spare hard drive space and 256MB ram seems there is something wrong with the integration between Acrobat and I/E and the original file. Anyway going for a months holiday so will catch up on my return. Neil

Thanks Stony. Ive been looking out for this for months and now it is tantalisingly close , but when I download it I end up with 800 odd blank pages that I cant save and locked up my computer when I tried to print a page. Has anyone else successfully downloaded this file. Any ideas on what is happenning, or is it corrupted. Help please? Neil

Sadly this is a subject I know too much about. If using any sort of sandblast unit DO NOT USE WHITE SILICA SAND, it will damage your lungs similar to Asbestos. Use Garnet or similar abrasive grit. Do not rely on paper dust masks, use appropriate grade of cloth mask to suit dust from grit. From experience I can inform you that what takes about 15 Min with hobby blaster can be done in 60 Sec professionally, so if you have an Abrasive Blaster in your vicinity I would recommend you take transportable components to them. Despite all the bad consequences I still met a lot of car enthusiasts and got to work on some fabulous cars including a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso. But please be careful! Neil

FYI the perspex bonnet vents on a genuine Ferrari GTO fed fresh air into the interior of the car and were nothing to do with carburation. Neil

The 280ZXR rear wing kit is still listed on Courtesy Nissan. Part No99996-R8000 US$200. Something you can check if it is actually still available. Neil

Stony if your talking about birfield type, not tripod type, it goes like this. Put halfshaft vertically in vice with joint to be removed at the bottom, remove bands and slide boot up out of the way. Using two pieces of cloth wrap one around boot so you dont lose or contaminate grease, wrap the other around joint for the same reason. Now "ring" the shaft 3 or 4 times with steel hammer to centre circlip. Now the book says gently tap joint with rubber or neoprene mallet but the ones Ive done have taken a good sharp rap. If you dont have soft mallet use a piece of wood between joint and steel hammer. Best to have something underneath to catch it so you dont damage the joint shaft. Pity they got mixed up at reco. Good luck Neil

Early S13 has the same 2 trailing arm suspension as Z31 thats why I thought it may be a relatively straight forward swap. One of the parts guys I spoke to said that the early S13 cars had dimples marked on body where multi-link would mount, but haven't seen it myself. Neil

yes I was talking 280ZX. Probably would be almost bolt in on Z31 because of similarity between it & SX. SX and Skyline appear to have same track, Z32 is 1535mm and uses a 4 bolt bracket for front diff mount. I have other pics but personal gallery pics too small for detail. As for front wheel offset maybe use Z31 or SX stuts and hubs. I woundn't go cutting arms as too easy to lose geometry. I wanted the deep wheels so have stayed with normal 280ZX 2 but swapped in the viscous LSD and am just organising shorter driveshafts. Neil 8)

Go to my Personal Gallery i have put up a pic I took while testing out this theory on my spare 280 ZX if the susp cage is narrowed about 40mm on rhs and you use 2 left driveshafts & 40mm offset wheels you end up with 1420mm track. you need to change oval top arms to straight ones to clear strut and extend front cage mounts using existing 280ZX front mounts. Later S14-15 have 3.69 & 3.9 Diff ratios. Looks doable to me.

Yes the info I saw on it showed the two cams stacked vertical one above the other in the valley of eng with one cam for exhaust valves the other for intakes I think it was to possibly apply to their v6 as well. Neil.

For those of you doing the r230 swap I thought I would let you know that the outer joint can be disassembled see personal gallery. Remove boot & shaft ,tap centre spider down on one side to reveal balls on other side, then pry out with small screw driver, repeat till all balls removed. The cage has 2 larger holes, align these oposite each other as shown to remove cage with spider. Rotate spider so that one leg is in larger hole & remove. Adapter can now be welded on and the joint reassembled with new grease. Cheers, Neil.

Well it all depends on whether you want something to suit yourself or enhances the so called GTO look. If you want something thats out there use Ford's Blue Print Pearl its nice and in your face. If the body prep is excellent or better any bright colour is going to be good. Ive uploaded some pics to my personal gallery of what inspires my project. Neil

Maybe if you you ripped off the hood and guards you could try this with your Jag V12. http://hotrodphotos.co.uk/pages/pages.V12.T.rod/V12JagT7.htm Doesn't look like its too over the top Maybe something a bit more subtle. http://www.keislerauto.com/Jaguar/performance_upgrades/Performance_Jaguar.htm We had XJS's racing here years ago and the howl of V12's in full flight was spine tingling compared to V8's and turbo's. Neil

I entertained the idea of Jag V12 & could have bought late 93 6lt with auto Aud $12000 had 6500kms on it. But the info that might interest you was that some Jag specialist in New Zealand made alternative central intake manifolds, sorry lost the info, but something to look into. They were using 6 speed Getrag gearboxes. Have fun. Neil.

Just had another thought. If it ran better with PCV circuit open you may have an intake blockage, check air cleaner and intake openings as well as seeing that the flap in the air flow meter is moving freely. Neil.

All the service manual states is not to mix and match CPUs because they may have different pin assignments, I definitely wouldn't alternate 79 with 83 and I cant see any difference in air flow meters on N/A but a turbo one would be different but someone else may know better. Neil

Ok, the three things that happen to EGRs is they jam closed and clog up (best scenario), they jam open when engine is running and hot (worst scenario) or the heat shield is removed and the diagphram cracks. Remove PCV from bottom centre of manifold shake it, if it rattles its OK if not soak it in solvent till it does. Normally the EFI on 280zx are very reliable most problems are the same as carbies vacuum leaks and fuel blockages or contamination. Persevere and you will get on top of it, my first 280zx engine frustrated the hell out of me too. Neil

Those toyota quad cams have got 6 bolt mains and have been modified to make pretty outrageous HP, change the pistons and they take a supercharger pretty well. Neil

Well having timing marks on the pulley as well as the Timing case would certainly be confusing. 1- remove spark plugs (to make turning engine over easier) 2- remove dist cap noting position of No1 terminal (No 1 plug lead) 3- using bar and socket on crank pulley bolt turn engine by hand till rotor is almost up to No 1 position. 4- remove rocker cover. 5- watch valves on No6 cyl, exhaust is closing and intake is about to open 6- turn engine until the two valves are "rocking" judge the mid point and check position of marks on pulley in relation to TDC timing mark and note or mark the closest pulley notch. The position of TDC will be within a couple of degrees using this method, unless timing chain is severely worn. If the EGR is frozen open it is just like a major vacuum leak. I've worked on 4 280zx motors recently and the EGR and Air regulating valves were stuffed on every one thats why I keep suggesting it. If it is a blocked cat you can always do the New Zealand trick of smashing the internal ceramic honeycomb with a steel bar and hammer. Hope you solve it. Neil 8)

Yes John you are quite correct, we are not worthy! I recently picked up a VLSD and when the viscous coupling is cold you can counter turn the two axles with effort. Neil

Yes he is, on the transition from exhaust stroke to intake stroke the piston is rushing up to the closing exaust valve then racing away from a rapidly opening intake valve so if you change the centreline of the overlap you change the valve to piston clearance. 8) Neil