Drftn280zxt

Yeah I think they are little to flashy, but I like the lip. The design is just a little to intricate for me.

Tell me what you think. I refined the design a little and gave it more functionality. Plus I have changed the headlight design. If you notice I gave the inner curve of the headlight bucket more of an aggressive angle (hence the reason it does not follow the line in the hood as the stock would have) Also the first one is a "manual photochop". I printed out a picture of my Z (black and white) then drew on it the widebody, wider wheels, etc. Thus creating a semiaccurate representation of what I want my ZX to look like. I traced all the orginal body lines that were not affected. Then trasferred the whole new depiction to another paper to make it look real. Plus I flipped the image. As hard as it may seem the picture in my signature is the one I used for that drawing!

How wide do you want to go? And how much much are you willing to pay, for the flares/ wheels. Do you want just a basic flare like ZG flare or a more "stock" look, like the flares seems as if they could've already been there. Ask yourself those questions, and then we can talk about options. Some like subtle flares, and others -cough- like myself, like the great big widebody custom jobs.

Same here, and those springs sound insane. I mean Tickwon said his spring rates were 200 front and 225 rear, and he said his was stiff and that accel squat was very minimal. So doubling those numbers would probably be rediculously stiff. I am guessing on this though. Anyone else, list your 280zx spring rates. By the way what are the stock spring rates?Yeah I would just pass up that deal on Ebay, sounds like ricers, go with names you can trust, ModernMotorsports or Ground Control. I've got my doubts about Techno Toy Tuning too, I've never heard of their products, not seen anyone use them, hence I'm unsure of their product quality.

Nice work.You definitely got me hooked on making the back end smooth. Looks good, I just think you should add some more of a rear bumper. those tails look a bit out of proportion, just my .02 Nice presentation though!

does Ross C offer camber plates and swivel upper hats? And how do Ground Control springs measure up against Hypercoils? I and the decription is kind of vague. What type of shocks? How adjustable? What brand?

I've got some interior designs (drawings) put together for the 280zx. Send me a PM if you would like to see them.

with knowing all of that, and taking into consideration what I plan to do engine ways, a 3.9 might not be bad, more offline acceleration (more break away power) without sacrificing to much top end. Oh yeah my intention are not to drift while autoXing. I plan to drift at drifting events, ie Drift Day or the like. I think that a 2way and 3.9 gears ought to do it. If I got 4.11 of lower, I have to much torque, and I'll just be spinning in high rpm. If I stick with what I've got I can't gurantee I'll be satisfied with the torque response later. I think I've got a solid decision, but any opinions are welcome, I'll take all the guidance I can get, all it takes is one person with different input.

thats what I thought.

thanks for filling me in. Even without the ebrake, that ought to be a kick a@@ system.

thanks for the FYI

yup. what ^^^ he said (sorry about that long post, but hey it is very informative and answers a lot of questions)

okay now I'm confused. Does backspacing take into account the outer flange? I thought it did. Okay so refresh, 240Z's need at least 4.5" bs w/o coilovers and at least 5" bs with coilovers. So what about S130's, same thing or different?

awesome. Do you autoX. Would you reccommend stiffer springs for someone wanting to autoX and drift? The Z is stiff, but I kinda like the bone jarring ride so maybe 225lbs front and 250lbs rear?

thats why you have to call him/ email him to request a full coilover set. Something I will do in the future. Tickwon- how stiff does your car ride- stiffer than a 350Z? do they really eliminate the "squat"?

I believe JamieT is running eighteens with ZG's. Drop him a line, I'm sure he would happy to tell what they are like.

I have the Cusco front and rears,excellent quality, and modification to the rear strut tower covers is necessary. Also some minor modification may be necessary to the hood. I've noticed that the bar has put small dents on the inside of my hood, but otherwise they do the job well

you would want 0 offset. Because a 9inch rim is really 10" wide. thus with 5inches of backspace, correct me If I'm wrong Jamie, which is required at minimum on a 240Z that would would put the offset at Zero since the centerline is at 5". Hope that helps.

Well like these guys said a good drift setup is a good road course setup. To answer your questions, as they have already been answered. Tighten up the chassis. parts reccomendations -largers sway bars -strut tower bars -if you really want to get serious- go for a roll cage- this will be extremely beneficial in stiffening up the chassis -coilovers- there are not many options here. Either custom make them or contact RossC at ModernMotorsports -also I would replace all of the rubber bushing with urethane -LSD, it is almost 100% necessary. You can drift w/o it but it is very difficult -My reccommendation would be to get an R200 if you don't already have one and have Leith install a 2way lsd. I know that this next summer I should be getting one from him. For what he is asking it is a real bargain. And you can't argue quality, the diffs he sells are exactly the same as the Nismo version -another thing, that I just discovered that would not be a bad investment are bigger brakes through Arizona Z car -and in considering ^^those^^ looking for some good wheels wouldn't be a bad idea. When I say good I don't mean Motegi Racing, or Konig, I mean Volk or Gramlights, something forged aluminum will do the trick. You want to minimize that rotation mass as much as possible -try avoiding spacers for structural integrity- this could become very important in drifting where the wheels and studs do see a lot of stress. This will not be an easy undertaking. Some research is required (that I have not yet completed). Like figuring out what spring rates I should shoot for. I am starting to think that running spring rates similar to what is available aftermarket for the 350Z might work well for the S130. I like you am doing something very similar, building a drifting 280zx. Only I do not have money to spend being a college student, most of my wages go toward my education. Plus somethings to consider. Do you have an automatic trans or manual. If auto get another car immediately or do a manual trans swap. Also a lightweight flywheel would be very very good. Getting those tires smokin is the point, and a flywheel will really help to keep the car in the torque band. I'm assuming your car is not turbocharged - I do not believe turbo was an option in 1980. This will further make things difficult. Because as is w/o turbo, and with knowing the 280zx is a heavyweight, you do not have a whole lot of power at hand. So performance additives will need some consideration if you intend on drifting competitively (sp?). N/A is a big limiting factor, but can be worked with (I have very little imput here since I am planning out a twin turbo build). But in the long run a turbo build might cost less, and give more pleasing results. Consider yourself warned, a good solid drift spec/ or road course ready S130 is going to put a considerable dent in your pocket. Especially the engine build. Not to discourage you, but if you want a drift machine and quickly with guaranteed results go for a 240sx or AE86. Otherwise, welcome to my world of researching a lot to find parts to make something out of the ordinary. Its nice to know I'm not the only one with intentions of do new things, and trying to bring the 280zx into more acceptance. Hope that helps. If you need anymore help finding parts or whatever jsut ask me since our projects sound very similar. Mine is just going a "little" further, at least on paper that is. Goodluck- keep me informed on your progress

the 17x8's outta fit. and they will probably be flush (you may or maynot have to roll the fenders) But the rears I do not think will fit. I think you might need spacers for the rears to fit with that much backspacing. Plus I do not believe I've heard of anyone running a rim wider than eight inches without ZG flares.

bump! Okay I'm getting mixed responses here. Half of you are saying go with 4.11 gears. And then the other half is saying if your going turbo have 3.3-3.5 gears. I do not have intentions of building a drag racing machine, so I would expect that a high gear ratio like 3.3 would not be desirable for road racing, autoX, or drifting. Low end torque is very important because those tires gotta stay loose. In the low end (no boost) turboed cars don't have a whole lot of torque (at least my Z doesn't seem to) so I would think that the taller gears would be benificial, and then at higher rpm when the diff is not supplying the torqey advantage the turbos are spooled and accomodate for lack. So would 3.9-4.11 gears be more desirable? I want to make sure I have leith put together the right setup when the time comes. From my uderstanding and research my Z has a 3.545 open diff.

that makes sense, there is nothing there, so yeah that would be off the map. Thanl for informing me.

very nive man, I knew the ZX would look good with the rear end rolled around like that. That is very similar to what I want to do. Can't wait to see it painted. IMO I think the car would look even better if it sat just a smidge lower. Very nice work. Did you do all the custom work on the hood, or did you manage to find a hood with louvers. I'm assuming the vents in the fenders are functional right. Nice air-dam. Yeah I think if you paint your front bumper the same color as the car, it will look really good. As for the chrome piece, clean it up, it be a good component to compliment the polished lip on your wheels and the B pillar trim. Just my .02