SHADY280

we still got him, he had posted on another thread aboot his rollcage and another on his tach, frank never gives up

rxKaffee

good good... Frank, whats it going to take to get full disclosure on this out of you? :P I'd have no trouble throwing a couple bucks in via paypal if thats what it takes to get ahold of this information

frank280zx

Well today i finished the rear hubs it is a direct swap you need to run the z31 cv's though. Good part is that apart from the hubs being a direct swap, so are the bearings, brake disk ( 88 vented) and calipers!! Get this NO fabbing!!

Note that because the Z31 stub axle is tapered, use the Z31 distance piece (bearing spacer) as the Z31 “B” spacer is the same length (55.95mm) as the ZX “M” spacer. If your 280ZX rear lower control arm housing needs the “N” length spacer (55.85mm) use the corresponding Z31 “A” spacer and if you require the “P” length spacer (56.05mm) use the corresponding Z31 “C” spacer.

This opens up a lot of possibilities for 280ZX applications as the Z31 stub axle came in three different varieties: a four-lug hub, a five-lug hub and a five-lug hub that used a vented rotor (which has a thicker wheel mounting flange). Utilizing either the turbo or the non-turbo Z31 companion flange you can use either the ZX CV axles (3 bearing joint) or the stronger Z31 turbo CV axles (with the 5 bearing joint).

Strange but I noticed that the diameter of the ZX stub axle is actually smaller (30mm vs. 32mm) than the first generation 1970-78 Z cars. The Z31 stub axle starts out at a 30mm diameter but then it tapers out to a diameter of 35mm where the wheel flange is. Nice upgrade.

( you need to run a brake line from a zx the z31 is to short to reach the hard line)
As i widened my track in the front ( read why below).
The 16" 8j rims in the rear still have 40MM to the fender i will use a 30MM spacer in the rear


What i did is lengthen my 'control' arm with 30MM this is enough to get camber control without your car camber plates being maxed out to either side. or other camber issues! it also set the stance a bit wider.. not a bad thing when body roll comes to play.
with a stock arm you do not get enough camber.
Given if i would put allot of miles on her i would go for 25MM.

So yeah these parts, two 25 or 30 MM spacers. camber plates, lowering springs (or coilovers) and 30 mm extension of the Control arm arm.

skittle

ohhh wow i would love to see pics of that

jmmorriso

Which year 280zx did you do the z31 swap on? I know the rear brakes were changed for 1982, but I dont know if the caliper mounts or anything else were changed.

apollo

John! What up man?! You still got the slicktop? Long time no see

Bleach

Oh wow! I was just pulling parts off my Z31 suspension yesturday. Thanks for the update!

I'll look into swapping those hubs onto the 280ZX control arms. Seems strange the Z31 axels will fit the 280ZX rear suspension as the ZX is quite a bit more narrow than the 1987-89 Z31 rear suspension. I'll bolt it in there and see if it works out.

frank280zx

if that would be an issue, you can always do the mod like the s30 crowd does when using modern motorsport plates.

On a S30 using The Modern Motorsports Z31 CV conversion calls for you to reverse the inner cage on the wheel side of the CV shaft, this reduces the shaft length by 3/8"
This is the case with the 300ZXT 4 bolt outer flange CV shafts (not the 6 bolt type) it requires the end cap removed, and inner CV race reversed, this effectively shortens each CV shaft 3/8" and results in correct rear geometry.
Since the s130 axles are used in s30 aswel this should do the trick.. i still have to do this though, but i trust it works, as my friend Xander has done it to his Z (s30 using the MM adapters)

Here are pictures of the outer CV joint bearing cage located in the stock orientation (ball bearings removed)...taken from HybridZ courtesy of Nigel did the swap.





and with the cage reversed...




It shortens the axle length just enough, especially if you grind down the end of the shaft a bit. And keep in mind, the axle is compressed the most when the suspension is at it's lowest. So when the car is on the ground the axle actually decompresses. These leaves 3/8" before they do bind!


Good part is that you upgraded yet another part on the s130 .. z31's make GREAT driveline donors

However this is all measured on s30's so we might not need to tore the cage.. i will know next week!

Bleach

Ok, maybe the Z31 half shafts are 2mm thicker at one point but that's not really a huge upgrade when the 280ZX axels can take plenty of power.

Here is a pic of the 280ZX and 1987 Z31 short side half shafts. There is quite a difference in length. Both of them are at the replaxed position.

Also, the entire hub of the Z31 is much longer than the 280ZX and from my measurements seems to be a larger diameter in the Z31 than the 280ZX. i don't see how it bolts in. Did you do this already? I looked at it before and thought that it would not work from my observation.

Are you talking about bolting in only the outter half of the hub with the lug bolts on it, or the entire hub with even the flange that connects to the half shafts?

The Z31 brake calipers do line up and would bolt onto the 280ZX control arm, but I'm not so sure the calipers are set up for correct positioning on a larger diameter rotor. If you actually did this then that's different.

I'll try the outter hubs with lugs bolting onto the 280ZX suspension. The entire rest of the suspension can remain a 280ZX part. I dont' see a need to do all that work for Z31 axels.

Bleach

the rear 280zx suspension I have extra that I took pics of is a U-joint setup.
I looked at the CV setup in my car and it does look longer on the inside of the hub so maybe it is closer to the total width of the Z31 hub. I need to get another CV rearend if I'm going to build this entire setup outside of my car.

jmmorriso

ive still got the Z, Havent even touched it in like a month or so, want it?

frank280zx

Hi bleach hope that i adress all your q's here,

I bolted them in they are not longer where it counts, you need to run the z31 bearings though!
You need to swap all the bits, hub flange and axles.
Also the larger rotors and calipers fit, the caliper is bigger.
And to think of it it makes sence! as the 84 models ran s130 hubs.. they did not change the entire trailing arm for this..
You cant bolt the s130 back as it does not fit the z31 hub has larger diameter
And the s130 do not bolt up to the z31 flange.
If you go hubs, you need to go CV axle aswel.
Hope this helps

Bleach

alright, sounds good. I'll just bolt it up and see how it goes. I'll take some pics as I go.

lww

Seeing as how there's an '84 Turbo in my friend's junkyard, I'm highly interested to see how this comes out.

I'd definitely like to go with the Z31 5 bearing CV's and 'upgraded' disk brakes, but I want to retain the stock 4 lug bolt pattern.

frank280zx

interesting what year z31 is that ? i have different hubs ! and i have different stubbies .. i have four bolts..

Bleach

1984/85 Turbo would still be 5-lug right? The turbo got 5, the NA still had 4 the first two years.

frank280zx

Wel i dont know it seams that you can use the s130 shafts.. As you seem to have the right flange ( do they line up bolt pattern wise??)
These axles are the 3 ball system not the 5..
Later flanges seem to be bigger as far as i can tell from pictures and on top of that only four lugs.. So only 84/5 cars had 4 lugs on the NA and 5 on the turbo? If you don't want to mess withs hafts. this could be your solution.. i just wonder if they are 35MM or 30mm hubs in that case. Or if they are s130 with a different (5)lug side, but same flange.

Well get them apart haha you have the power!

lww

Damnit, that's right. If I want the 4 lug hubs, I'll have to be satisfied with the non-turbo...

Bleach

Just go 5-lug and buy some real wheels

frank280zx

From the looks of it and some trial fitting i will run 10j !7" rears and 8,5" front ( 275/245) and i have no issues with rubbing in the test set up

frank280zx

Well it is getting together i seam welded the rear sub frame and trailing arms.. swapped the bushings for poly ones .. and test fitted my 17" 10 J



not a bad lip!

and from testing it seems to work out fine

here is a picture of the rim with arm attached and a brake disk in between, it space it clear of the arm.



Sofar they only thing that can go wrong is the filler neck as far as i can tell, but that would be a sign i have to get a fuel cell sooner than i wanted

My OBX HLSD is all done aswel.
I plan on using a MSA sway bar kit with end links. this way i have minimum rubber and polyurethane.
Next week 300zx cv axles and bolting up the rear sub frame so it is ready to be swapped on the car

Bleach

nice lips!

I see your inner hub has 4-bolts for the axels to bolt up. Is that a Euro thing?

I remember my CV axels bolting up with 6 bolts in both the 280ZX and Z31.
I was going to test fit the Z31 hubs into my 280ZX trailing arms but I couldn't get that big nut off. I since then bought a steel pipe to add some leverage but problems with my Pulsar delayed me. Maybe I'll get that stuff bolted up this weekend and see how it looks.

thanks again for the update! I'll be following in your steps

frank280zx

Nope i m pretty positive all later z31's have this setup, it is not only 4 bots but a larger diameter aswel

btw i used an airtool to get those phukers loose the sure dont like to come loose!! i soaked them in pb!!

SHADY280

mine also have 4 bolt on the outer side. 6 bolts seems odd to me. i got a shop to do my rear bearings, it took them 4 hours of pain, it was worth every dollar. they were original nissan parts too, and seized.

frank280zx

These are two strengthened and seam welded front control arms, we measured that they needed a 25 MM extension for my 8,5 to fall within the fenders top and clean up the camber issues involved with running a z31.
Thanks VA-Motorsports!!(my friends shop) i keep learning from them
Only they would TIG weld for costumers etc .. it is great to watch and learn to think that motor sport way