I'm looking for some cheap ways to give my 280zx a good fix. It has an R200 diff. and I was wondering if I would be able to take the lsd diff. off of an 87 or 88 300zx and bolt it right on. If It doesn't bolt right on what would I have to do to make it fit?

 

The 87 - 89 Z31T R200 clutch-type LSD will bolt right in, but you will need to swap the driveline flanges.

The 88 Turbo SS has a viscous LSD & uses different cv hookups, so avoid that one unless you want to swap cv's as well.

EDIT... word of advice... unless your 280zx is pulling 200+ hp... it's really not worth it to swap in an LSD. You won't be spinnin the tires hard enough to really make that LSD useful.

As for your "cheap ways to give your 280zx a good fix," LSD isn't one of them... $700+ from Nissan... $1700 from Quaife... $600 - $800 on ebay... $60 from a junk yard (if you could even find one... lol)

 

I was going to find used, good condition/priced one.

 

Let me know where ya find one!

 

ya, remember its the turbo models those last 3 years. The non-turbo 300ZX has an open differential.

 

What year is your ZX and what transmission do you currently have? If it's an 82 or 83 5 speed, you already have a 3.9:1 rear end. Putting in the 87-89 300ZX R200 LSD will actually hurt your performance by changing the gears to 3.7:1. You'll actually get worse acceleration.

Unless you're spinning the inside tire on hard turns, the LSD is not going to do much for you either. I did it in my 240z because it has a better gear ratio (3.7:1 vs 3.36:1) and I'm putting in an 83 ZX 5 speed to go with it.

Best thing you can do to give your car a little more kick is a full and thorough tune up. Make sure you're vacuum advance is working and set properly. Put in a new air filter (K&N), new plugs (NGK), new wires (Magnecor), new cap and rotor (Nissan). Clean every electrical connector on your wiring harness including the connector to the ECU. Go to the link below and rebuild your AFM:

https://www.zdriver.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15277

Put some lower profile tires on your car to shorten the final drive ratio a little more. This will also make your speedo read a little faster than you are actually going, giving you the impression of greater speed!

Seriously, you will be amazed at the difference all this will make in your cars overall performance.

 

It's a 1981 with a 5 speed.

 

This may not be a "fix", but do the mass airflow cleaning deal that Fairlady posted, and you will see a difference. Other that, I'm not sure. I run Chevron gas and additives, and my Z runs GREAT!!

PS: I've done the airflow rebuild and it works!!!!