outrider Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 (edited) I started a topic a while back, showing my 74 260z that I am doing a 7m swap in to. Since I had a whole donor Supra to take parts from, I decided to yank the front and rear subframes, and see how they might look under the Z. I'm stripping it down to fix some rust and paint it anyways. So far I've only worked on the front. I suppose at this point I'm pretty well committed to the swap. It looks cool and different anyways. The front fit in nicely. It required notching the frame rails to get the height right. Width wise, you would think Nissan had always intended for this to fit. I've cobbled together front struts using the Z springs and tops, and the Supra rear strut assembly. I'm thinking about just trying to build a custom coilover with parts from A1 or something. Open to any suggestions here. I can tell the spring rate is wrong with the current setup though, it's merely holding things together while I fabricate. Ride height is about perfect though, with everything loaded down. My other question is on the engine placement. Using the Supra subframe, the 7m dropped right in to the car no problem. It feels like it sits a bit forward, although the stock L26 did too. Honestly it looks close to stock, and the Solstice tranny I'm using lines up with opening for the shifter as well. So that all looks well, radiator will fit, etc, but I'm curious if it would be worth my time to move it backwards closer to the firewall. I have probably 5-6 inches I could go back. I would have to modify the shifter to compensate. On the flip side, where it's sitting right now, I might have to modify the hood a tiny bit. So I'm not sure what direction I should go here. I suppose it's worth the thought that since it's stock mounts on a stock subframe, that the weight distribution over the front wheels should be similar to what the toyota engineers intended in the Supra. Although the Z is much shorter overall, and this may upset the overall weight distribution of the car. I'm starting to creep outside my comfort zone of knowledge, so I'm hoping someone has some input on these two items. Here are a couple pictures, and before anyone says anything, the grade nothing tractor supply bolts holding the subframe in will be replaced with proper hardware at final assembly Edited August 6, 2015 by outrider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter72 Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 I had thought about this front subframe swap before, I threw the idea out when i found the overall front end, to be wider than i wanted it. I rememberit being 4 inches wider then the z's measurement. How much wider have you found it to be, over the stock z's ??.. The rear suspension should be interesting... I wIll be following your build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outrider Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 I would say 4 inches sounds about right. I don't remember the exact measurements off hand. However... The stock Z wheels I believe are 0 offset. Stock Supra wheels are something like 30-35mm of offset, which is a little more than an inch. So if you subtract that, the wheels actually only stick out about 1.25 inches on either side. I'm hoping between flares and wheel offset, it won't be noticeable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outrider Posted August 6, 2015 Author Share Posted August 6, 2015 I slept on this, and am about 98% sure I should try and move the engine back as much as I can. I'm still hoping someone with experience will come along and say it won't effect the handling, and can just leave it as is. I suspect the opposite will happen though. So much for dropping right in on the stock mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted August 6, 2015 Share Posted August 6, 2015 It looks like it is a couple inches in front of where mine is mounted at which point you are going to run into some problems once you start mounting the fan and radiator. Moving it backwards would probably be a good idea. The weight will be on the subframe so moving it is not a huge deal and the weight distribution shouldn't change. I think the moment might change, but probably for the better if you are just moving the engine back and keeping the mounts the same. Interesting I've never really heard about the solstice transmission before. Honestly the 7mgte has so many mounting holes on the side of the engine that fabricating mounts is really not bad. And seems like you have the capability to fabricate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter72 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I think another member swapped a lexus front end into a S30, Looks good so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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