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LiamR's 280z Restomod - SR20DET to RB25DET
- Thread starter LiamR
- Start date
LiamR
Club Member
Yeah mate I've been told that. I am deffo doing the long nose crank mod for the oil pump so the crank will have to come out anyways. I'll see how I feel about it and inspect the bores etc and make a decision from there.
I think I'll end up going with 1050x injectors and r35 coils. Unless I can find a better cost effective solution. How are you getting on with yours dude? Yours is a 280z too isn't it!?
Liam.
Robbie J
Club Member
yes, it's a 280Z 2+2. They have more metal in the tunnel! The gearbox and engine are in. Doing the suspension now so we can work out the flares then it's in for paint, hopefully, this month. I went for R35 injectors but I'm only aiming for 380HP
LiamR
Club Member
Lmao. You can be the Hector of the RB25 swapped Z's.
LiamR
Club Member
Yeah I've heard they have more metal in the tunnel. I have the stock rb25 box so I'm hoping there will be more than enough room to get an exhaust in etc. I'm denating about the gearbox mount at the moment. Ita a choice between apex mount or the McKinney one. I've been told the apex angles the gearbox incorrectly and the gear stick is too low so may need spacers to get it at the correct height. Just a pain choosing as the apex one will all come together when I order the front subframe setup etc. The McKinney is perfect placement apparently, but then from a different (unreliable so I've heard) supplier.
The sump I've decided to get a Pat Bowser custom sump made up from the USA.
Robbie J
Club Member
We, well Martin made the mount in about a day, then added a exhaust cutout the next day. All I'm doing to the engine is better injectors/induction/exhaust/remap/coilpacks and re-cored turbo with slightly bigger one. My R33 GTR had 2 small fast spinning turbos, injectors, intake and exhaust it produced 440BHP. The map was done by tweenierob (who was killed while mapping a GTR) 11 years ago so I expect more today with better mapping tech. rebuilding the turbo will give you more, they are light cars so lag should not be so much of a issue
later on I might change to a modern turbo, but nothing is cheap...
later on I might change to a modern turbo, but nothing is cheap...
LiamR
Club Member
I'll probably end up going for the apex mount and add a spacer to adjust the height to my own liking. Yeah I only have an S2 so I'm not sure on the power capabilities and reliability as stock. I know the Neo is stronger in stock form than an S2.
I have a reputable tuner that has given me some good info on what works when the engine is modified.
I have a reputable tuner that has given me some good info on what works when the engine is modified.
Wally
Club Member
I didn't know Apex did the rb25 gearbox mount. I've got their cd009 mount if you need pictures or measurements.
LiamR
Club Member
That's the mount mate.
It works perfectly with the rb25 gearbox too. Ohm told me it fits and some guy in the US confirmed it does, but it leaves the gear stick in a lower position. I would need to space the poly mount to raise the tail end a little I think.
LiamR
Club Member
That's exactly why I just went for a 5 speed. Wanted it to be as simple swap as possible. Bolt in Barry style haha!
Robbie J
Club Member
my only worry was getting a good 5 speed
LiamR
Club Member
Hey mate!
Yeah it's been a long time coming buddy. I thought theres enough stuff done to actually start a build thread of some description haha. Can't wait for it to be stripped down! Going to look awesome.
Jay.
Club Member
Excited to seeing the progress!
LiamR
Club Member
Sorry about the lack of updates, but I did say that this would be a slow paced thread with me being away.
So the talks between me and my mate Ste began... The dreaded.. shall we get this project started then or what?... there's no going back. YES LETS DO IT!! This is the last picture of the car fully assembled and roadworthy in 2020.
So the SR20DET engine and gearbox finally sold so it was taken out of the car. My mate Ste told me he was going to start taking it out. About 2 hours later I got this image sent to me on Whatsapp haha!
With the engine out and the front fully stripped down, the front end could be seen for what it really was... a state. Definitely needs work, and LOTS of it. Here are the findings so far...
RH Bonnet hinge, outer
RH Bonnet hinge, inner
LH Bonnet hinge, outer
LH Bonnet hinge, inner
LH Bottom of windscreen
RH Bottom of windscreen
Under scuttle
It looks to me that it has received some front end damage and tried to be pulled/repaired. Luckily Andy at APS has said he has all those repair panels so it can be repaired properly!
Whilst scouting around social media I bumped into someone who could make custom badges. We spoke for a while and a few ideas were put forward and after a few hours we came up with a design that I was happy with. I wanted something that looked OEM. This was to replace the badge on my coil pack cover. I was then approached by someone on the S30 life FB page, about badges, as he saw my RB swap project and was currently doing one himself. He showed me a badge that he had made, but I tweaked it a little to my liking with different colours and design and he agreed to make one for me too. There is still some colour changing to be done to make it 100% (the center of the lettering) he is addressing those issues now and making me another one. I think they turned out great. Love the little things like that.
So the talks between me and my mate Ste began... The dreaded.. shall we get this project started then or what?... there's no going back. YES LETS DO IT!! This is the last picture of the car fully assembled and roadworthy in 2020.
So the SR20DET engine and gearbox finally sold so it was taken out of the car. My mate Ste told me he was going to start taking it out. About 2 hours later I got this image sent to me on Whatsapp haha!
With the engine out and the front fully stripped down, the front end could be seen for what it really was... a state. Definitely needs work, and LOTS of it. Here are the findings so far...
RH Bonnet hinge, outer
RH Bonnet hinge, inner
LH Bonnet hinge, outer
LH Bonnet hinge, inner
LH Bottom of windscreen
RH Bottom of windscreen
Under scuttle
It looks to me that it has received some front end damage and tried to be pulled/repaired. Luckily Andy at APS has said he has all those repair panels so it can be repaired properly!
Whilst scouting around social media I bumped into someone who could make custom badges. We spoke for a while and a few ideas were put forward and after a few hours we came up with a design that I was happy with. I wanted something that looked OEM. This was to replace the badge on my coil pack cover. I was then approached by someone on the S30 life FB page, about badges, as he saw my RB swap project and was currently doing one himself. He showed me a badge that he had made, but I tweaked it a little to my liking with different colours and design and he agreed to make one for me too. There is still some colour changing to be done to make it 100% (the center of the lettering) he is addressing those issues now and making me another one. I think they turned out great. Love the little things like that.
LiamR
Club Member
The car has now had all the major parts underneath taken off it. There are no real pictures of it, but feel free to watch the YouTube video my mate made for me to see it being stripped.
Whilst that was being done, I ordered a roll over jig from Ade Foreman. Other guys on here have seem to have some good words to say about it, so that's the one I went with. Just got to try and work out how to attach it to the chassis. My rear end has been fully smoothed by the PO so that will take some fab work I think... If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.
We are a little nervous about the strength of the car when putting it on the jig, so we are going to fabricate some bars to sit across the door openings...
The strip down revealed another small rust spot... on the RH side dogleg. Hopefully it isn't too bad and easily repaired. Looks like it MAY have been repaired in the past.. I'm sure blasting will reveal all.
The floor pans need replacing. They are horrid! Always nice when the car is imported and they use a fork lift to get the car out.
The back end inside looks to be in pretty good shape! Thank goodness.
The windscreen was the bit we were most nervous about, bit it came out a dream! PHEW!!
My friends Garage is looking rather full of parts from the Datsun right now. Huge thanks to him for storing them!
Whilst that was being done, I ordered a roll over jig from Ade Foreman. Other guys on here have seem to have some good words to say about it, so that's the one I went with. Just got to try and work out how to attach it to the chassis. My rear end has been fully smoothed by the PO so that will take some fab work I think... If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.
We are a little nervous about the strength of the car when putting it on the jig, so we are going to fabricate some bars to sit across the door openings...
The strip down revealed another small rust spot... on the RH side dogleg. Hopefully it isn't too bad and easily repaired. Looks like it MAY have been repaired in the past.. I'm sure blasting will reveal all.
The floor pans need replacing. They are horrid! Always nice when the car is imported and they use a fork lift to get the car out.
The back end inside looks to be in pretty good shape! Thank goodness.
The windscreen was the bit we were most nervous about, bit it came out a dream! PHEW!!
My friends Garage is looking rather full of parts from the Datsun right now. Huge thanks to him for storing them!
LiamR
Club Member
Finally, I had a huge parcel arrive from the USA.
It has pretty much most of the rubber needed to rebuild the whole car. All new weather seals, new under bonnet rubber, headlight gasket rubber, rear light gaskets, plugs grommets for the floor etc etc...
Oh and it contained new JDM 240z rear lights and rear light surrounds! Reproduction ones of course, but I hate the 280z rear lights. 240z looks so much cleaner. The amount I'll have spent on this car trying to make it look like a 240, I may aswell have bought a 240z!!
I think that's all for now.
I have managed to get a flight back to the UK from Saudi Arabia next week on 27th... been stuck here for all that time! Finally I'll get to do some work on the car.
Thanks for reading!
It has pretty much most of the rubber needed to rebuild the whole car. All new weather seals, new under bonnet rubber, headlight gasket rubber, rear light gaskets, plugs grommets for the floor etc etc...
Oh and it contained new JDM 240z rear lights and rear light surrounds! Reproduction ones of course, but I hate the 280z rear lights. 240z looks so much cleaner. The amount I'll have spent on this car trying to make it look like a 240, I may aswell have bought a 240z!!
I think that's all for now.
I have managed to get a flight back to the UK from Saudi Arabia next week on 27th... been stuck here for all that time! Finally I'll get to do some work on the car.
Thanks for reading!
Garaculas
Club Member
Coming along nicely! Hope the gremlins are kind when you get her taken back to bare metal, always fun finding out previous repair work and what’s needed.
I think I have that exact same box of weather stripping and rubber in my garage, a must have for any big rebuild. Keep up the good work
I think I have that exact same box of weather stripping and rubber in my garage, a must have for any big rebuild. Keep up the good work