My Track Car - 1981 Datsun 280ZX

[@ricky91236]

Love to see people keeping the old school Datsuns alive. I have a 79’ 280ZX as well.

[@BlazebeatRacing]

Nice ride man! Get some upgraded pads and slotted rotors and you should be sub 2:00! And I'd recommend getting a 256/280 cam. Mine added a lot of kick in the higher rpms while keeping the car nicely streetable. I also put an ST rear sway bar in but didn't upgrade my front sway bar on purpose because that translates to a bit of oversteer and faster cornering.

[@Callum_Z32]

Are you running stock management with that cam?

[@Archetype_Datsun]

Makes me miss my old bronze 81 ZX super fun when I had it when it was mostly stock other than the big sway bar kit, new bushings, 16x8 wheels, tires and exhaust, huge difference and fun around the back roads.

[@S130Ace]

My damn hero!!!! Lol. I love these s130s. I have a few still and id love to do a trackday along side this silver bullet. Im in Sacramento and do track days every now and then. Post or let me know when you go to Thill, Sonoma, Leguna, or even buttonwillow (haven't been to yet) ill definitely would join. Keep up the progress and im now following as i just found ur videos.

[@HooliganGarage-650]

Thanks man! It would be pretty sweet to have a pair of Z's take on all the modern sports cars. I might hit Laguna Seca in the end of November. I've got improved brakes on the car now, but I'm debating whether or not to install adjustable control arms before my next run.

[@S130Ace]

@@HooliganGarage-650 that will definitely help with the feel of "barreling in turn" feel. I knew a guy that had the T3 arms upfront and he said it helped along on the turn in (confidence inspiring). I waited last year for the black Friday sale and ended up buying stuff for my Celica instead. This year for sure will get the arms and torsion bars.

[@Ivan_2201]

My zx suspension wise is almost there i need coilovers and probably a strut tower brace to make the chassis is bit more stiff. I got T3 tension rods, tie rods and there quick steer knuckls. Changing the caster makes a huge difference when taking corners. Recently took the car in for an alignment and they put the caster back to stock. Taking my twisty highway on ramp feels more sketch now lol, upside is steering at low speeds is a bit easier. With the quicksteer knuckles i can take tighter corners more aggressively. The initial turning input feels so crisp too. One of the down sides though is that during highspeed corners it doesn't feel as planted. This is my track/ autocar only thing is ive yet to take it to any such event. I mostly just hit twisty back roads

[@HooliganGarage-650]

Interesting. How much caster were you running compared to stock? I've been thinking about the quick steer knuckles as well, but curious as to how it affects steering effort.

[@Eah2019]

I'm thinking of buying one.

[@HooliganGarage-650]

That's a great idea 😎

[@Eah2019]

@HooliganGarage-650 I guess I'm convinced. Just keep making videos! The one thing I wish people did was make more videos about this car because it seems like it has super, super high potential.

[@krjourneyfan78]

Interesting details. Enjoyed the video.

[@calebfigone69]

love the content keep it up

[@stephenmcgroarty2682]

I am still going through setting up my car, but the braided brake lines and the DOT 5 brake fluid should help a lot.

[@HooliganGarage-650]

Will you be running stock calipers and rotors?

[@stephenmcgroarty2682]

@@HooliganGarage-650 I am going with the stock calipers but some after market rotors, pads, fluid, and braided lines.

[@bogrees]

The new Z is looking sharp!

[@tbr8d]

I'm on a team that runs a 81 as our 24hrs of Lemons race car. We also realized the stock brake shortcomings and have moved to Wilwood calipers and 12" diameter rotors front and rear from a Nissan Sentra SE-R SpecV. We were running Raybestos ST-43 pads in the stock brakes, but are trying Porterfield R4E in the new Wilwoods. We are on stock springs at the moment, but I'm definitely curious about a coilover sleeve kit and what spring rates people have success with on track?

[@HooliganGarage-650]

Interesting. How did you go about adapting those brakes to the spindles/hubs? My spring rates are 300/275, which from what i've read is seemingly considered moderate for track use.

[@tbr8d]

We had a tight timeline to solve the brake issue so we just bought kits from Silver Mine Motors. Rear rotors bolt up directly and the front rotor gets the center bore opened up to 81mm and then 4 holes drilled at 103 BCD to bolt up to the stock front hub. Rotor ends up really close to the ball joint, so we will see if that becomes an issue. Of course we want to go high on the spring rates, but fear we will exceed the rebound adjustment range of the tokico struts we have. Good to know 300/275 can be controlled by a street strut.

[@Live4themoment87]

I definitely recommend the Yokohama advans, I run 225/45r16s on my '81 280zx. And as for brakes, I run StopTech drilled and slotted rotors with semi metallic brake pads. But I also ran brake ducting into pack plate to cool the rotors. It's the only option without the $1200 big brake kit..

[@HooliganGarage-650]

Ah interesting. I've been looking into stoptech rotors and pads. Seems like the options are that, or one of those massive wilwood big brake kits, but those seem a bit overkill.

[@the.fitgent]

Do you like the ST sway bars? Thinking about getting those soon. Do they improve the “plow” you talk about?

[@HooliganGarage-650]

The ST sway bars have definitely reduced body roll, and they are significantly larger than the stock ones. However, compared to other sets, the front sway bar is about 1/16th thicker than any other front sway bar in other sets. I did not have this in mind when I ordered my coilovers with 300/275lb F/R Springs. Having stiffer front springs plus this oversized so-to- speak front sway bar is one thing that I believe contributes to the plow. What I should have done is gone with a 300/300 set. Why? Well, the combination of these two setups makes the front end significantly stiffer than the rear end, and when this occurs, an environment for understeer is created. I'm thinking I could counteract this by altering the caster and camber of the front wheels (With aftermarket control arms). Or alternatively, I could just purchase stiffer rear springs, though the trade off could be a higher risk of lift-off oversteer. If you are considering ST's for your Z, you will absolutely see a difference in handling, but you will want your F/R spring rates to be equal right off the bat.

[@markwilson8985]

Did the 280zx still have the hidden tool storage in the deck? That you could fit a bottle of Jack Daniels, to go with the dime bag and pack of cigs.. lol

[@nos1000100]

there are two storage bins behind the seats and one littler bin just behind the rear left hand tire.

[@markwilson8985]

@nos1000100 Rite on, My 240Z had/has em. I had forgot if my 83' 280zx turbo had them. By that time I didn't have the need to hide a 1/5 of Bourbon.. lol

[@nos1000100]

@@markwilson8985 my 1986 300zx has a large compartment that had a divider in between too. I'm not sure if the z32 has anything like that though. I want to convert the ones in my 280zx into 6x9 speaker boxes

[@markwilson8985]

@nos1000100 I did do that on my Restored 72 240Z. Put some Insulation and or dinomatt. Fyi, I dont think it gives you great stereo separation. But, normally I wanna hear the purr/roar of the engine anyway! So, not a big deal.

[@nos1000100]

@@markwilson8985 I'm not worried about proper stereo separation. I just want something with a little more balls than the stock 6" speakers

[@s.a.f.r.a6403]

Theres only 2 wheels in my opinion that work on a Z car and thats the Minilite or Watanabe style as people more commonly refer and Enkei 92 Mesh wheels