ratsunn Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Hi everyone. I am new here. The more I researched about Datsun 240Zs the more I heard about Hybridz.org so I thought I give it a try and see if this community can help me select the right parts for the 240Z project I am hoping to start. I will not drag race with this 240z. It will be a street car but would like some power. I will be swapping the original motor for a 82 turbo motor with a F54 block and a P90 head. Thank you all very much in advance. Here are my questions. What differential would best fit a daily car with some performance with a 82' 280zx turbo motor? please explain why as I am not too fimilar with datsuns. I have just recently fallen in love with them. Since I will be swapping the motor what others parts I would have to change in order for the car to function perfectly. For example: wiring and etc. What are the most populer and good datsun 240z suspension swaps? Any brake suggestions? I am planning on changing the drum brakes in the rear...any recommendations? Basically my main concern is picking the best parts I can afford and find for a 240z I plan on getting. Best for a street use with some performance. Best differential, best brake system, best suspension. I will admit I dont know much about swapping motors and parts of the cars but I do love these cars. I am learning. Excuse me if I mix things up. Thank you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/111201-hybridz-forum-rules-read-now-before-posting/ Read #2 and #4. Most of these (especially brakes and turbo swap) have been discussed extensively already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratsunn Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/111201-hybridz-forum-rules-read-now-before-posting/ Read #2 and #4. Most of these (especially brakes and turbo swap) have been discussed extensively already. Thanks, Zetsaz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Don't be discouraged if folks don't answer right away. There is so much to read here and some really brilliant posts that already exist. Search and even use google to search the site as it seems better at times. I would suggest don't change a thing on your car, keep it Stock and tune it up. Take the time you would wanted to mod anything and read until your almost sick. You might change your mind on what you want!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Since I've mentioned the rules already and I just reread my message from late last night it seemed blunt, didn't mean for that. Most of what you're interested in doing to the car you can find info on in the FAQ section of the forum. Tons of people do coilovers, but they require extensive custom work because there's no "bolt on" coilover set up for our cars. KYB with Vogtland lowering springs seems to be the more cheap alternative now that Tokico doesn't make the springs we need. The differential you want is entirely up to you... with a turbo set up most people use the Borg Warner T5. There's a big write up on the FAQ section on brakes. You don't even have to use the search function to find that one. Gives you lots of options with different parts you could even find in a junkyard. Just remember there is no "best" My biggest advice to you (which I have a hard time convincing myself to follow. Is that the first thing you need to do is get the car running stock as originally intended. Drive it around like that for a while THEN decide what it is you really need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Nothing wrong with Blunt. It saves everybody's time. If you won't do it, someone else will. The questions that get the best answers are not those that come from someone totally clueless asking like a voice in the dark "What do I do, please help me!" It really gives nobody any inkling of skill level, or cognitive ability of the poster. NOW, on the other hand, when that voice says "I read this, and think this is the way...correct me if I'm wrong and point me in the right direction." THAT kind of post usually elicits a lot of response because the respondents get a feel for the skill level of the individual, how their thinking processes work, how they can relate to already written information.... in some cases it becomes obvious that simply a photograph will give the guy the line to 'haul in his own fish'! And then the one asking for help gets a genuine understanding of the material covered, and a great sense of accomplishment knowing nobody 'held his hand' but he figured it out and just needed some pointers on vague points. Or maybe just needed to get validation that his understanding that he reached ON HIS OWN was correct. I much rather prefer to tell someone "Yep, you got it!" When there is nobody there who can give you that, the world can be a cold, isolated place indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Hi everyone. I am new here. Yes. The more I researched about Datsun 240Zs the more I heard about Hybridz.org so I thought I give it a try and see if this community can help me select the right parts for the 240Z project I am hoping to start. I will not drag race with this 240z. It will be a street car but would like some power. Why? I would seriously consider getting the car running properly and handling first. Spend some time at Grattan getting suspension dialed in and learning to drive the car. Really, the last thing a 240Z needs is significantly more power. I will be swapping the original motor for a 82 turbo motor with a F54 block and a P90 head. That will make it a 12 or 13 second 1/4 mile car. And EXTREMELY unbalanced with a stock suspension. Thank you all very much in advance. Here are my questions. What differential would best fit a daily car with some performance with a 82' 280zx turbo motor? please explain why as I am not too fimilar with datsuns. I have just recently fallen in love with them. What is your intended use for the car? I have a 3.70 R200 ATB differential in my 1973 Turbo 240Z. With the transmission I have, that gives me 65 mph around 6,500 rpms at the top of second gear. The top of second gear arrives in well less than 5 seconds. Some like a 3.54, others keep the 3.36. I think the 3.36 is far to deep a gear to have personally as at 50mph with a late ZX five speed in fifth you are all of 2,000 rpms and really lugging the engine below boost threshold. A 3.54 will be better for roll-on to top speed like lazily coming down an on ramp. With the 3.70 going down most standard freeway on-ramps will put me easily into triple digits shifting into 4th gear at 105mph and accelerating through to my opening in the fast lane... Since I will be swapping the motor what others parts I would have to change in order for the car to function perfectly. For example: wiring and etc. As above, read, read, and read some more. Don't buy just the engine. See it run in the car beforehand if possible. NOTHING SUCKS MORE than trying to troubleshoot an issue on a swap going "well, I never heard it run, so is it the engine or my swap?" If you hear it run and know what it does before you pull it for donation into the S30, then you can say "I know it ran fine in the other car, so it HAS to be something I did" and it VASTLY narrows down what you have to look at to solve the issue. What are the most populer and good datsun 240z suspension swaps? As in changing individual things? Or changing entire suspensions? Poly bushings are almost mandatory if they aren't already on the car. Really, you need to specify what your use of the car will be to determine which suspension direction you should go. For my Wife's car, I poly bushed everything when I got it, before she ever got in. A whole $70 at the time. Stock Springs, Stock Struts, Stock Stock Stock...it's a wallowing pig at the autocross, but runs within 5 seconds of the fastest S30 regularly. People can't believe how really WELL the stock Z Suspension is...it's a well designed SYSTEM and you need to look at the whole to determine the parts. Changing one thing will affect everything else. You will find that you end up changing groups of things... I concur with the above where they said get it running right, and drive it THEN determine which direction you want to go. I put Tokiko Adjustables on my 2+2 and set them on '3' for my Wife's sake. Did an AutoX one weekend, and forgot to set them back.... a few months later went out to change them to '5' and realized "Hey, this isn't as bad as everybody made it out to be!" A lot of this is 'butt dyno' subjective stuff. As a fat dude my feeling on stiff shocks and high spring rates will be CONSIDERABLY different than someone who weighs 132# and has a 110# girlfriend riding in the car. For me 275# Springs and the shocks on '5' are 'a nice Sunday Driving setup' when Mrs(ex) Hutt is along for the ride, but for the Emaciated Set...that would be like an Oklahoma Buckboard going over 4X4's at speed! Any brake suggestions? I am planning on changing the drum brakes in the rear...any recommendations? Why? In a word: Don't. Adjust them properly, run good friction material, and most importantly run GOOD BRAKE FLUID, something like Motul RBF650, the issues become the cheap pads going away, or old fluid with lots of water in it boiling and causing poor braking (after the obligatory forgetting to set the rear brakes properly!) My stock brakes can stop the car repeatedly from 100mph in quick succession and put me up on my belts, and even lock the tires... The stock brakes are extremely competent for 95% of the driving out there. If you aren't tracking the car, or running track sessions exceeding 30-45 minutes...save your money. Basically my main concern is picking the best parts I can afford and find for a 240z I plan on getting. THERE IS NO "BEST"! Best for a street use with some performance. THERE IS NO "BEST"! Best differential, best brake system, best suspension. THERE IS NO "BEST"! THERE IS NO "BEST"! THERE IS NO "BEST"! I will admit I dont know much about swapping motors and parts of the cars but I do love these cars. I am learning. Excuse me if I mix things up. Get to reading, and learning, and realize just because you think it needs to be changed, doesn't necessarily mean YOU have the skills requisite to require that change be implemented. Meaning, unless you're driving better than John Morton, consider spending money on improving YOU before you start doing anything other than getting a good running, stock car. As I said above, my car is running most AutoX's with the same driver within 5 seconds as the fastest S30 out there. Is $30,000 worth 5 seconds to you if you aren't going to be tracking the car regularly? If not, spend the money on you and leave the car alone until the skills requisite to need more of whatever is really due. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted October 27, 2015 Share Posted October 27, 2015 Tony once again telling it how it is... haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seattlejester Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 True words, take them to heart. Tony did an excellent job of answering your questions, get the car running and see what you don't like about it that you want to change. Read read read, everyone is going to have an opinion and everyone is going to have a perspective. Don't think of modifying right away, get the car running. An engine swap is pretty involved as is, throwing in differential, brake, and suspension work at the same time means you are building yourself a mountain of work. As tony says, get the car running. Throw on the repairs for the stock suspension pieces, bushings, shocks, maybe new springs, new lines, new masters, etc and see how it performs. The problem with "best" is that it will be different. What I may think of is the best will not be the best for others for sure, and each style has its merits and demerits. Relying on others to filter the results from you won't help you in any way. Read and find out why something is preferred over the other, don't fall into any traps. Land speed racer may want a 3.13 diff, an autocross might want a 4.11 diff. A drag racer may find the stock brakes adequate, a hardcore cone head might want a little more bite in the rear. Your stance guy is going to want air bags, your track guy is going to want fully adjustable suspension with quality shocks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
az240z Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 Tony I must say that that was one of your best response to a new poster.. You must be getting mellow in your old age.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgsheen Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I'm a big fan of turbo swaps, but I suggest your find out a bit more about your "platform" - the frame differences between the 240Z, 260Z, and 280Z - and how that might relate to your ultimate power goals. Now, I'm mad that I said that first because it puts horse power back in your mind. The advise given above is absolutely true and most noobs ignore it. Get your Z running and driving, sort out the suspension, know your car - then decide what you want/need to do with the powerplant... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetsaz Posted November 3, 2015 Share Posted November 3, 2015 I will add that horse power is something that looks great in a magazine or in some extreme build, but proper suspension and your own driving is what gets you around the track. Even if you're planning on pretty much just as street car most of the power will never be seen and the real fun is in how you drive and how well in tune the car feels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.