z31 q's

[slideways...]

ive been tossing around the idea of obtaining a z31, and had some questions for z31 geeks...

1. ive heard that the suspension (rear suspension especially) isnt great. i dont know for sure what it has under it. anyone know what its got underneath?
2. also, ive been thinking of sticking my KA24 in it...what does the front subframe look like as far as motor mount locations and the transmission mounting point?
3. what rear end does it have? IIRC its the r180 but i could be wrong. LSD or no?
4. any other quirks or notable downfalls of this model?

[DeleriousZ]

Originally Posted by slideways...

ive been tossing around the idea of obtaining a z31, and had some questions for z31 geeks...

1. ive heard that the suspension (rear suspension especially) isnt great. i dont know for sure what it has under it. anyone know what its got underneath?

front rear

with some decent struts and springs, it'll be just fine

2. also, ive been thinking of sticking my KA24 in it...what does the front subframe look like as far as motor mount locations and the transmission mounting point?

are you fucking serious? "here's an idea, lets take an engine with 2 less cylinders and .6L less displacement and throw it into a heavier car"

3. what rear end does it have? IIRC its the r180 but i could be wrong. LSD or no?

all z31's came with an r200 differential, the 84-89 n/a and 84-4/87 turbo's came with an open diff, the 4/87-89 turbo came with a CLSD, and the 88 shiro came with a VLSD, all differentials are interchangeable, some need to change the companion flange, and the vlsd's require the matching half shafts

4. any other quirks or notable downfalls of this model?

the oil pressure sending unit and cylinder head temp sensors go every time you look at them, the timing belts need to be changed regularly (60k miles) and most of them have rust... they're 20 year old nissan's after all

look for a turbo, if you can't find one, get an n/a and turbocharge it, the n/a's are slow, and a ka swapped z31 will be even slower

[Hodo]

Originally Posted by DeleriousZ

front rear

look for a turbo, if you can't find one, get an n/a and turbocharge it, the n/a's are slow, and a ka swapped z31 will be even slower

SLOW..... I dont think it would beat a John Deer 5 HP riding Lawnmower.

[slideways...]

haha. you obviously havent seen my KA. its not completely done yet but with the base tune right after assembly it should have around 275-300whp, and within a year of tuning im shooting for 400.


oh yeah i guess i forgot to mention my ka has this hanging off the side

[slideways...]

is the rear just spring/shock/LCA? simple enough. thats ok i didnt expect the handling of a miata. and i like that it has an r200. that means i dont have to come up with too ridiculous a driveshaft. just have to get the length right.

[DeleriousZ]

honestly dude, you're a moron if you drop even a built ka in there... vg30et's make up to 500+hp on stock internals... for the amount of money you'd put into the ka to get it to 400rwhp, you could have a vg pushing 6...

[Hodo]

I am with D-Z on this one. A KA24DE-T is a good engine but, you are forgetting the number one rule of power. DISCPLACEMENT! A larger discplacement engine can put out more power, more reliably than a smaller engine being pushed harder to do the same. Just go to the track and watch the 10second Hondas run...... then ask them how many passes they get before they have to rebuild the engine. Then ask the 10s Small block V8s how many passes they make before a rebuild.......... I can think of several streetable daily driver V8s and V6s that dont need to be detuned to run on the street at 600HP. I have yet to see a 4 cylinder keep up that kind of power for any respectable amount of time.

(let me clearify 4 CYLINDER IN A CAR! not a boat or a sub or a plane if any)

[slideways...]

all this is true. except it will be cheaper in the long run to swap a built KA than build and turbo a VG. because i already have the KA, and most of the parts i need for the build. unless of course for some odd coincidence the VG has the same bore/relative piston size as the KA, which i doubt highly...
and if im making 400 hp on the street on pump gas, i wont miss not having 600. this is not gonna be some supra killer. just a fast semi-daily driver.

[slideways...]

oh and 400hp wont be anything for a built motor to run reliably. the KA can hold more than that with stock internals. i wouldnt be surprised to see a built KA hitting a sort of reliable 800whp soon.

[DeleriousZ]

whatever man, it's your car

[slideways...]

but about my question of what the front subframe (engine mount locations) and transmission mountup points look like...anything close to a 240sx?

[DeleriousZ]

beats me, it's somewhat similar to rb mounts, just a little wider... the tranny mount is damn near dead on

[longlivetheZ]

Originally Posted by DeleriousZ

front rear

with some decent struts and springs, it'll be just fine

are you fucking serious? "here's an idea, lets take an engine with 2 less cylinders and .6L less displacement and throw it into a heavier car"


all z31's came with an r200 differential, the 84-89 n/a and 84-4/87 turbo's came with an open diff, the 4/87-89 turbo came with a CLSD, and the 88 shiro came with a VLSD, all differentials are interchangeable, some need to change the companion flange, and the vlsd's require the matching half shafts

the oil pressure sending unit and cylinder head temp sensors go every time you look at them, the timing belts need to be changed regularly (60k miles) and most of them have rust... they're 20 year old nissan's after all

look for a turbo, if you can't find one, get an n/a and turbocharge it, the n/a's are slow, and a ka swapped z31 will be even slower

Except the part about the oil pressure sending unit and cylinder head temp sensor...as you know, I have had 3 of these cars and I've never had any problems with either of these things in any of my cars. What you most likely WILL have trouble with is the alternator. I can almost gaurantee it'll go out at some point. If it doesn't, it will...I've had to do it in EVERY car I've had...it's not too hard to change, either. When you get the car find out if it's been changed. If it hasn't, do it. Put a Maxima alt on it (did this on my 86T and it's a direct bolt on and puts out much more amperage than the stocker) and get a new battery and you're golden.

As for the timing belt, it is supposed to be changed every 60K miles. However...my first one had to have had around 200000 miles on it when I sold it and I drove the FUCKING SHIT out of the thing and NEVER changed the timing belt on it...dunno if it had EVER been changed. The timing belt on the VG30E(T) is thicker and wider (just overall more beefy) than some cars so it's not as MUCH of an issue as people may think. Yes, it is an interference timing system but the odds of that coming into play are slim.

One other minor thing that goes wrong on them are the power windows. Again...I can almost gaurantee one of them will quit working. My driver's side window quit working on my first one and my second one and it's already been replaced by a previous owner on the one I have now. I've never had one fixed so I dunno what it requires...

Overall, these cars are seriously fuckin bulletproof, man. If you want something affordable and reliable, it'd be hard to do better.

[slideways...]

thanks for the reply. im pretty sure this is the car i want. now i just have to talk myself out of buying a DOHC 6g72 to swap into my dodge shadow...

[masood]

man..... ka on a z 31 would be gay and slow