Ok so I keep finding these $200-300 90-96 300ZX rear ends w/ axles and have wanted to do a rear end swap for some time so that I can hit up the drag strip occasionally and not worry about grenading things...

However I have some questions:
The AP1 FD is 4.1, and I would like to keep it that way for speedo accuracy.
I've seen 2 different FD's listed for the 300ZX though, one on a 300ZX-TT page that said something around 3.68 or so, and another number on some other pages that said 4.08.

How do I know which is which? Also, is 4.08 close enough to 4.1 for the speedo to still be within 1-2mph at freeway speeds? If not is there any way to get exactly a 4.1 in the Nissan pumpkin?

Last but not least - is this swap something that I could do on a weekend with a buddy, welder, pizza and 12-pack?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kalm_traveler &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ok so I keep finding these $200-300 90-96 300ZX rear ends w/ axles and have wanted to do a rear end swap for some time so that I can hit up the drag strip occasionally and not worry about grenading things...

However I have some questions:
The AP1 FD is 4.1, and I would like to keep it that way for speedo accuracy.
I've seen 2 different FD's listed for the 300ZX though, one on a 300ZX-TT page that said something around 3.68 or so, and another number on some other pages that said 4.08.

How do I know which is which? Also, is 4.08 close enough to 4.1 for the speedo to still be within 1-2mph at freeway speeds? If not is there any way to get exactly a 4.1 in the Nissan pumpkin?

Last but not least - is this swap something that I could do on a weekend with a buddy, welder, pizza and 12-pack?

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the 4.08 is the non turbo rear. its geared almost identical to the s2k.
this is not a bolt-in affair. someone makes a kit, but its retartedly expensive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jbell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
this is not a bolt-in affair. someone makes a kit, but its retartedly expensive.
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i looked into this too since i keep busting through rearends. it was a couple thousand to get the kit and diff and do the swap. im not sure how hard it would be to fabricate your own kit but i would not recommend it unless you have experience in it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ReddotsS2K &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i looked into this too since i keep busting through rearends. it was a couple thousand to get the kit and diff and do the swap. im not sure how hard it would be to fabricate your own kit but i would not recommend it unless you have experience in it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

to be honest.. that kit is absurdly overpriced.

if you went to a GOOD shop with a z32 diff and $1000, they should be able to fab brackets. then spend another $1000 to get some custom axles/driveshaft


edit:

looking around, i found this one: http://www.inlinepro.com/catal...d=171
$3000, much better than the $7500 one i was talking about, but couldnt find.

 

hey kalm,

so the R200 diff is a legendary diff amongst us nissan guys, they did make a 4.1 diff but it was open and no good.

as for speedo accuracy, the little yellow box will work for recalibrating it. also a 3.8X is kind of long when compared to our 4.10

as for driveshaft, you take the yoke off of the trans and the yoke off of the diff,go to any drive shop and say "i want this on this end and that on that end and i want it this long" hand them something close to 250 bucks and come back in a week for it. also get a 2 piece if you can.

as for axels, you're gonna have to ask the drivetrain shop about that. they will be able to make em but dont expect it to be cheap.

also when it comes to diffs...some nissan ones were viscus so watch yourself. very few were gear type or atleast they are hard to find. i hear that some subarus used the R200 diff also so that might expand the range of useable options. also keep in mind that most of these diffs have been abused and were in much heavier more torquey cars.

lastly, if you want more info on the R200 diff itself (as there are one or 2 renditions) check out any 240sx, old 200sx (when they were RWD) or 300zx forum. its mostly stickied somewhere

 

Can't you upgrade to the AP2 rear end? Isn't it beefier than the AP1 and it still bolts up?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by envee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Can't you upgrade to the AP2 rear end? Isn't it beefier than the AP1 and it still bolts up?</TD></TR></TABLE>
changing to an AP2 setup is pretty much the same thing as getting the Comptech reinforcement piece. The only real difference was the bearing caps which Honda thickened on the AP2 diff housing because they were the cheapest-to-fix weak link that people had problems with in the AP1.

Now... I can for sure pick up a complete 300ZX non-turbo LSD rear end AND it's axles for $300. I have several up on the screen that I could buy any time now.

Looking at the kits for these, it seems they are made specifically for someone who wants to build a real race car with zillions of HP (that inlinepro kit says it's designed to handle 1000hp).

I just want something that will stay together on a normal street car - and am not planning on putting out absurd HP numbers as this car will always remain a NA street car.

Does anybody have pics of this diff installed or maybe even installation pics? if it's just brackets, driveshaft customization, and axle customization it shouldn't be too expensive to put together. I know of local shops that can do both the axle stuff as well as modifying the driveshaft and between me and a buddy we have everything you could want for making steel brackets...

 

In the AP2, I thought that enforced the over all case too? Something like 10-15%.

 

Have you blown a diff yet?

 

if you believe you can do it, go for it. fab it up and let us know how it goes... i don't know your fab skills.

just first question... can you weld?

 

yah tehy did but its about the pinion and ring gear

 

I think I remember reading somewhere that the driveshaft joint on the AP2 diff is different than the AP1. What modification do you have to do to use an AP2 diff?

 

No I haven't blown a diff yet because I knew before purchasing the car how notoriously wussy the stock rear end is. I'm just looking to get a beefier one so that I can hammer on things without being paranoid (in my old 88 Prelude I dumped the clutch at 5000-6000 all day, shifted quickly etc and never had any differential or axle problems... still haven't some 6 years later).

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jbell &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you believe you can do it, go for it. fab it up and let us know how it goes... i don't know your fab skills.

just first question... can you weld?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes I can weld steel. Haven't had any practice with aluminum, but if it's just a matter of brackets then I'm sure steel would be the material to use in the first place, right?

Worst case scenario I make my buddy who's a professional welder do it since he's got years of daily experience VS my "I've been trained how to" experience hehe.

I'm just unfamiliar with how these types of rear differentials mount in cars since 90% of all cars I've worked on were FWD, and the other 10% were actually solid axle trucks/suv's heh...

 

It's really funny how the newer the car the weaker the axles. DA axles are much stronger than those from an EP.

Throwing that out there.

Also, I think you are fine with you stock diff if you aren't going for high HP and drive it responsibly enough and change the fluid enough.

 

they have 4 massive bolts that go through teh diff from bottom to top and mount to a "mustasche" bar or a rear subframe in a nissan. it looks like a mustasche or a boomerang but with less of an angle to it tehy also have a rear mount, looks like a triangle with two holes at the bottom and 1 at he top that is sitting in polyurethane like a body mount

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by street_ruler &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">they have 4 massive bolts that go through teh diff from bottom to top and mount to a "mustasche" bar or a rear subframe in a nissan. it looks like a mustasche or a boomerang but with less of an angle to it tehy also have a rear mount, looks like a triangle with two holes at the bottom and 1 at he top that is sitting in polyurethane like a body mount</TD></TR></TABLE>
Thank you! makes a little bit more sense now. Your next task, old Prelude buddy, is to go take a pic or two for me!

 

OK, I have Inlines diff kit. It works great. As for making your own, good luck. You will NEVER beable to have a drive shaft, axels, and brackets made for $3000. Look on DDS web site, There stage 5 axels are $1600, just for axels! Inlines kit comes with everything you need - the diff.

You guys talk about how the nissan diff is WEAK/OLD. The diff is 10X stronger then ours. I have had no problems with the diff or the kit.

As for the OP, unless you drive like a *** your stock diff should be fine. I NEVER lost a diff and I drag my car at the track at every nopi event around and it never broke but it did make noise.

Dont spend the $$$ unless you need too

 

No one answered my question

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by envee &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No one answered my question </TD></TR></TABLE>

?

 

i dont own one anymore, i sold it. sorry dude

as for blkturbos2k

1600hp is a cool idea but what calm is looking for is something he can drag launch an NA car from time to time on without destroying the ring and pinion gear.

axels that can hold tons of power and are considered to be "stage 5" (what ever that means) are nice but last i checke we only had 4 cylinders and its not a funny car. you can have axels made for alot less than 3K and i just had a driveshaft for my 460 powered 83 capri made for 27X bucks (it was like 278 plus tax) so its alot cheaper than you might think to ahve this kind of work done.

you really only need an axel that is as strong if not a little more than what we have now as those dont break its the diff from the impact of dropping the clutch and the pinion gear teeth slamming into the ring gear and the case thats weak


also i wasnt saying that the dif from a nissan is weak or old, its just that tehse arent new...they have been beat on so look for bearing wear, noise, tall clearences between the pinion and ring gear ect. dont expect a flawless diff that was made in 94 and driven hard since then. remember what nissans like this are used for. most diffs reant maintained well because people that arent car apt, forget that theres oil back there and LSD addative ect.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blkturbos2k &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Scroll up. lol.

 

thats not related to this, thats why it wasnt answered.


take your diff yoke to napa and say i ahve this diff and i need to make the yoke fit that ap1/ap2 driveshaft. what U joint do i need? tehy will measure it and spec it out and give you or order the one you need.

and when i say go to napa, i mean any good parts house, not some idiot store where they sell you colored wipers and neon stuff

 

It is infact. He is not wanting to spend the money on the 300zx swap, so I was asking about an alternative.

 

he deosnt want an ap2 diff, it still chunks alot as opposed to the long nose R200 diff


but i edited my above post

 

IF his car is staying damn near stock then the stock diff and axels should be fine. I never lost a diff with over 450rwhp. If you dont know how to drive then your diff will take a ****.

No matter, he shouldnt fix whats not broken