body swaping best parts to leave / swap

[ovenfood]

So my first Z is my 1983 280zx 2+2 T top it's a 99% stock standard rusty NA car. I've loved this car and a while back it had too many faults and I had to take it off the road and it sat outside in the weather for a little over a year and that didn't help the rust. Recently I made a deal with my friend to remove my rust... with a rare 1979 280zx 2+2 hard top the 79 is a 50% done rust free resto and I saw it for the 1st time yesterday and I'm in love all over again.

 

 

My question is there many parts I should swap into the 79 (its a primer coat rolling chassis with parts in boxes) or work / re-work I should look at doing to the body before I assemble / paint.

 

I was thinking the brakes on the 83 are going to be bigger from what I've seen in other 79's but is there any other parts? The plan is to use an RB20DET in 79 and the engine block in the 83 for a L31 stroker for my C110. Even tho there is a full mint blue interior for the 79 I'm going to have a mostly stripped car so luxury parts like that don't phase me.

 

Leon

[Gollum]

The later S130's power steering is, oh I don't know, just about a million times better than the earlier power steering. But if you have or prefer manual steering stick with that, it works just fine other than having a slower ratio which can be a pita at an autox.

 

I've done quite a bit of my own research comparing 2 seater versus 2+2 chassis when cutting them up, but I haven't done much comparison between the 79-81 and 82-83 cars. I'd imagine they're mostly identical but I wouldn't throw out there being vast differences in the bolt on body parts like the doors, hatch, etc. The later cars had power lock options which the earlier didn't that I've seen. It also seems the later ones don't deal with corner windows leakage like the earlier ones tend to, so I believe something changed there but that could simply be the seal they used.

 

I personally prefer the later bumpers, but any of the full fiberglass bumpers look worlds better imo. But that's just me. Behind the dash they're mostly identical. Obviously the auto climate models have some different bits here and there versus the manual models, but it seems like they all use the same blower motor and heater core units.

 

I prefer the later brakes too, though I'm not sure how different the rears really are at all. There's other little differences here and there, but another that would concern me, is the wiring. Try to use the wiring for the chassis you're using. There's quite a few points that are different that are NOT fun to convert. I converted a '81 COMPLETELY over from a '83 turbo donor down to EVERY last wire, even the stereo harness. It's NOT a fun job. Took a solid week, full time (not working at that point in time) and LOTS of labeling and still head scratching. Again, not a fun job, and the only reason I did it was to use the factory turbo gauges.... shouldn't have gone through all that in hindsight, as it just helped derail the project and was a contributing factor in not getting it on the road ever. (the larger factor was my age, budget, and lack of motivation once I had a S30).

 

Take lots of pictures, not just for us, but for yourself. Every time I see old pictures of a project of mine I wish I had more.

[ovenfood]

thanks man I am upgrading so many parts that most of the stuff you mentioned won't even be from a Z but it's great to know the differences. One thing I can see being an issue is the wiring as I'm mostly sure the new car has none... But since it's a 50% race car I'm not going to worry about too many luxury's also it's going to have an RB so I spose it's going to be fun

[Gollum]

thanks man I am upgrading so many parts that most of the stuff you mentioned won't even be from a Z but it's great to know the differences. One thing I can see being an issue is the wiring as I'm mostly sure the new car has none... But since it's a 50% race car I'm not going to worry about too many luxury's also it's going to have an RB so I spose it's going to be fun

 

If you're like me and doing a "street driven race rod" then I suggest doing wiring from scratch. It might sound like a ton of work, but I sketched out a wiring diagram for my S30 chassis wiring the other day and it's not all that much really. The major complications are where to place relays and wire routing, and deciding what circuits to use switches with or without relays. Relays are wonderful for high amp circuits, but they can needlessly complicate a simple circuit like the radio/accessories. I've been looking for a good automotive or comparable 12v circuit breaker to use instead of fuses (that are affordable. The search hasn't gone too well but I also don't mind cutting up a spare '83 turbo chassis harness as my fuse panel donor.

 

If you're going to do it that way, look up some hot rod wiring diagrams, as they make it super simple and easy to clearly see how the systems work and should be laid out. There's many "right" ways to do wiring, just as long as you use the right part for the job. Don't use $1 switches, and use relays for high amp stuff like headlights, horn, etc.

 

The only wiring I need for MY car is:

 

Headlights

EFI

Fuel Pump

Coil

Tail Lights

Turn Signals

Reverse Lamp

License Lamp (same circuit as tail lamps)

Wipers

starter

alternator

stereo

defrost (custom arrangement)

 

The thing I've found and the reason I suggest going custom like this in your case, is that the more you remove from your harness the more likely you're going to introduce problems. There's too many pieces that have power running in series and/or parallel. If you want to making it clean without tons of empty wiring connectors, you'll end up doing more work than making a custom harness. That's what I ran into with my S30. I started gutting everything I didn't need (280Z so there was a TON of needless crap) and it quickly got out of hand. You say "hey, I don't need this, and the wiring for it is one it's own fuse" and yank it out, only to find tons of hidden crimps and splices in the wiring that tie everything together.

 

In hind sight, even if I'd completely finished my rewiring using the stock harness it probably would have been a fire hazard. Simply too much cutting and splicing to be safe.

 

Post some pics when you got them.

[ovenfood]

Yer I agree that does sound better I don't think I'll bother with CB's as the guy swapping the ZX with me is a good friend and scraps cars so getting new fuse's and relays is easy for me I do like wiring stuff but I can see the custom wire loom is going to take a lot of time I'll just have to make a list and try not to get lost

 

Pic's are a definite I'm a photo ***** and the car gets dropped off Saturday if all goes well.

 

Also on a side note the apprentice painter at work told me about a new paint that they are using now I believe it's called "water bom" paint and it's water based. He told me for a home job this stuff is perfect as it dry's so quick and is easy to fix dry spots. Apparently it's a satin finish so you still have to use a 2 pack clear if you want a gloss look but it does sound like some good stuff.

[Gollum]

Yer I agree that does sound better I don't think I'll bother with CB's as the guy swapping the ZX with me is a good friend and scraps cars so getting new fuse's and relays is easy for me I do like wiring stuff but I can see the custom wire loom is going to take a lot of time I'll just have to make a list and try not to get lost

 

Pic's are a definite I'm a photo ***** and the car gets dropped off Saturday if all goes well.

 

Also on a side note the apprentice painter at work told me about a new paint that they are using now I believe it's called "water bom" paint and it's water based. He told me for a home job this stuff is perfect as it dry's so quick and is easy to fix dry spots. Apparently it's a satin finish so you still have to use a 2 pack clear if you want a gloss look but it does sound like some good stuff.

 

Here in california they've made water based paints a legal requirement for auto body shops. It's been hell for some shops to learn the color bending curve. It drys different, peals different, and sun fades different. It's also more expensive from what I've heard. But, on the plus side it's WAY better to spray from many standpoints like what you mentioned. Doing a complete paint job removes most of the shortcomings, so in your case I'd say go for it!

[ovenfood]

yer I'm pretty keen on it

[HowlerMonkey]

If you're gonna swape, then don't stabe the pedal or you will pope your tranny.

[ovenfood]

can you explain what you mean there?

[HowlerMonkey]

I would check both cars to see what rear end and axles they have.

 

If your 1979 has u-joint axles and a r180, you might find that the 1983 has updated axles (c/v type) and a R200 in addition to a much simpler rear brake setup.

 

It's possible that your handbrake cable will be specific to each year's rear end hardware.

 

I had the same issue with a 1981 280zx turbo and a 1983 ZX and luckily worked at a toyota dealership that let me stay late so I jacked both up side by side and swapped the entire front suspension by disconnecting the steering shaft from the rack and dropping the entire front crossmember that had everthing.

 

Not much to undo but the crossmember is not easy to move around and position for re-installation if you're alone.

 

You can suspend the engine, unbolt the 3 strut bolts on each side, undo the steering shaft, disconnect brake lines, unbolt a couple of fuel or vacuum lines from the crossmember, one nut each from engine mounts, and undo the few bolts that hold the tension rod boxes and sway bar, undo power steering lines from pump/res.

 

Then you just swap the entire thing as well as the power steering pump....which is usually different between those years.

 

Doing it at a shop only takes about 1 hour but doing it at home would take a lot more time in planning how you will suspend the car and the engine.

 

You can do the same for the rear but check the driveshafts to make sure they are interchangable with each other or you will have change transmissions at the same time.

 

After easily doing the front one evening, I stayed late the next night and did the rear which only took a short amount of time but I ran into the driveshafts being different which required me to swap the transmission.

 

I wouldn't have been a big deal but I had to do this to both cars in order to have two running cars when I was finished.

 

I got done so late that the gates were closed so I found the only spot open along the front of the dealership, kicked a pole until it came lose and removed it, drove over the hedge, replaced the pole and drove home.

 

The next day, you couldn't tell a car had driven over the hedge and the rain washed away all the soil flung around in my fury to remove the pole.

[ovenfood]

That's a pretty funny story I'll be using my S2 bonnet as well so its an S2 hard top...

[ovenfood]

 

It's here