Lesnocker

Well since the I found the 81's frame is rotten I found a local guy that dismantled 300+ z's he is letting me build one of his left over Uni bodies....its a 80 slick back from tx.

My motor and tranny are new so im swapping them in. Any real difference between the year as far as wireing / computer .

He told me how easy it is to swap out the steering.. The 80 has a box next to it is a 82 turbo with the rack...Which is better?? I heard rack is better performing but the box is stronger....

Next he has 250+ turbos some still in the nissan box. Was told they used dished pistons to de-tune some 81's

Mine has dished pistons said simple bolt on with my fresh motor??? the 80 is a N/A worth the time and pain? and lastly which is better the N/A tranny or the turbo....The turbo's felt much nicer then the n/a in engagement and it does have a better ratio?

So now im a kid in a candy store thousands of parts guy bought out inventories of the datsun dealers how good would a 30 yr old turbo still new in the box actully be???

NismoPick

Rack and pinion is better. You never see any box steering in today's sports cars.

The "turbo" L28ET motor has dished pistons to lower compression ratio. Lower CR is needed due to increased CR as boost increases, and old school efi technology unable to effectively adjust for raised CR.

As long as the boxed turbo has been taken care of, it should be fine. Just check for shaft play & make sure the oil ports have caps in them to keep dust out.

Lesnocker

Great going to fit the rack in.....he did say he has the J-spec rear end think he said its a 3:90. wants $190.00 and he has 240-300 ZX transmission's what would be the best for launching Im looking for a " shotgun " never will put this car over 90mph. Looking to have something for stoplight fun.

NismoPick

J-spec rear end? Never heard of it... though most all 280zx 5speeds came w/ the 3.90 ratio R200 diff. http://webspace.webring.com/people/cz/z_design_studio/

If it's a 3.7 LSD rear end... then it's worth something.

WanganDevilZ

You know this aint no ten second race...

Lesnocker

Well first is at 80 mph maxing my federal spedo I'm scared shitless of my tin can and the shaking wheel ,dash, seats ,visors, mirrors, fenders, hood lol I can go on so something that fly's between 0 and 80 is just fine.... But ol red got 218000 on a broken spedo the 56000 mile 1980 may be a lil more tempting to its 120 max one year hmm 120 to 80?

Its a 3.7 he works with me so I was corrected in a 2 hour discussion that left me feeling a lil dumb from what I got from him today was to run my 2.8 and no its not dished.........Per the discussion... And run webers then a 79 turbo 5 speed to the 3.7. Would this give me a lot of bang for the buck which is at 700.00 car and all

Or I can spend a lot of cash and go with a lot of his personal SC-CA racing parts such as Weber throttle bodies one for each cylinder 450.00 race heads 1100.00 or a full Nissan 24hr Daytona racing spare engine in a crate since 79 $4500.00 and 513 hp?

Thats a lil stupid but I have a one time chance here with about 2300.00 to spend. If there is any one rare part or set up Id love to hear he probably has it. Like to get into the 200-250 hp range with a n/a. Guy is having health issues and just got the 370 so he wants to be done with the stuff.

NismoPick

Is it a 3.9? 3.7? What year did it come from? Again, unless it's an LSD (with the finned cover), it's not worth anything. What rear end do you have now? The 3.9 or the 3.54?

Lesnocker

It has a finned cover a 3.7....It came from Datsun dont know what it was Nismo or what they had when it was datsun. think he said its a spare for one of the scca cars...He was a builder in the late 60's-80s...he owned Smitty built in Finleyville Pa Some of you on here may know him.

Anyway Its a 3.7 now mine and the 80 has the factory R 200. From what I feel in mine the motor and tranny seems to out run the rear end...car winds up quick but im not gaining any speed. Now this is where im lost do I want Lower gearing for the car? And the R 200 is a solid rear end what of this 3.7. I drive my 81 hard and do some nifty power slides am I going to break it.

The steering has been swapped. Also had to change the spindels and some brackets but was fairly simple. Added KRB struts Have Poly bushings but he got a set of what looks like tie rod joints to mount the sway bars to the a arms....What I got is factory looks like 3/4 he has 1 1/2 but i think thats going to kill the ride?

Niku-Sama

the "nismo" name wasnt arround till some time in the 80's but there was performance parts before then.

I also thought 4.11's were worth something aswell