S130 R180 to R200 swap guide:

[zeeboost]

It's not much, but hopefully it will help others trying to swap their R180 for an R200. I searched this forum for some info on the swap and found one post years ago where Ross C mentioned something about it, so I'd like to elaborate a bit on it.

 

A few months ago I purchased a 1983 280zx n/a that had a hole in the block (see sig) due to the previous owner driving over a month without oil. Since then, I've installed an L28et and Borg Warner T-5.

 

The previous transmission was an automatic, but I was able to still use the same auto driveshaft; I just had to cut the collar to where there was about an inch left. However, the turbo driveshaft won't bolt up to the R180 because the bolt pattern is different. The turbo driveshaft has a rectangle pattern, while the R180 companion flange is a square pattern. I was just going to change the pinion flange, but after removing it from the R200, I saw that it wasn't going to have that much luck. So, I removed the R180 and halfshafts and installed the R200 and halfshafts...well, almost.

 

There are two things you will need to modify to get this to work. One is the rear diff mount - you just need to ream out the holes (dremel) so the mount will slide over the larger studs of the R200. IIRC, the threads are M10 x 1.00, compared to the R180's M8 x 1.00 studs.

 

So, once the diff mount can slide over the studs, you'll find a new problem: the stud that slides vertically through the center of the mount is too far forward, and will not allow the rest of the bolts to line up. Then I noticed that the stud came out of a slotted hole, so it looked like I should be able to slide it. Actually, you have to flip it:

 

 

 

 

First I removed the two bolts and nuts (already removed) in the areas pointed out in this pic:

 

 

Then I lowered the gas tank a bit...enough to slide this out:

 

 

 

Once you slide the two bolts out, you will notice the stud is very loose. Now you need to get under the rear hatch carpet, where you'll see a black square pad glued down to the center area of the rear hatch. You need to remove the square, and then pull the block out that was underneath it (sorry, that was the best way I could think of describing it) - this block has the diff stud on it. Since the stud is offset in the block, simply flip it around and re-install it. Now the differential will be able to bolt up without any issues. I now realize I should've taken more pictures, so if you need me to draw anything else out or if you're confused about something, I can take some more pictures if necessary.

[80LS1T]

Good write up. I'm glad I figured out that I had to flip that stud coming through the hatch area before I started to modify things to make it work. I found the R180 to R200 swap very straight forward for my 280ZX.

 

Guy

[chris51608]

thanks for the write up men really helps but i will like to get some more pics or something