'75 280Z - preparing for '06 350Z 6 speed drivetrain conversion

[HusseinHolland]

I don't see any other threads like this on here, so I hope this is not inappropriate. Honestly I don't care for the HybridZ website, so I don't feel inclined to post there much. This is my long term plan for the 280Z.

A neighbor who is also an old car buff stopped by about a month ago, he told me his wife's uncle had an '06 350Z that wouldn't pass inspection in RI ( I had told him earlier that I was considering a drivetrain conversion at some point in the future). The car is mechanically sound, so having the entire vehicle for the cost of an used engine & CD009 trans of unknown pedigree made sense to me. My personal experience with buying JDM drivetrains has not been pleasant.

I'm going to look into adding ABS as well. I always forgot I have to manually modulate the brakes in my Fiat, and with a large increase in HP, it is more of a concern. 

I may transfer the seats also, not a fan of the flat 280Z seats.

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[Patcon]

I will enjoy watching the progress .  Glad its here.

I believe the 06 still has the external slave cylinder, which is good.

I would think ABS could be challenging. 4 tone rings, wire, controls & logic...

Car should be a lot of fun with that motor and 6 speeds. We had a 350z for a while. It was a lot of fun. Pretty quick and much heavier than a 280z.

400-800#s depending on the 350...

[HusseinHolland]

 

3" Exhaust thread (prep)

My Z with the organ donor

Considering the Apex Engineered Front crossmember, so the basic drivetrain geometry will be established up front.

[HusseinHolland]

Notes - 2006 VQ35DE is the "revup" motor. Need to figure out how to increase plenum volume - stock plenum is tapered to fit under the cross brace.

Forgot to post this some time back. Apex Engineered VQ35DE crossmember, Engine mounts, Trans crossmember  & subframe kit

370Z aftermarket (cheap) header - has to be modded, however apparently this version is a better base to work off

Edited January 5 by HusseinHolland

[Zed Head]

On 6/17/2023 at 3:33 PM, HusseinHolland said:

his wife's uncle had an '06 350Z that wouldn't pass inspection in RI

What failed?  The top looks in good shape.

[HusseinHolland]

Just now, Zed Head said:

What failed?  The top looks in good shape.

Apparently the rear subframe attachment points are rusted to the extent that they would not expect it to last 2 years - which is the duration of the RI safety inspection. 

[HusseinHolland]

Putting this here so I don't forget - fitting the CD009 requires a (reduced) shifter extension - have to figure out what to do here. The main purveyor of a workable solution (HokePerformance) stopped making them about 4 years ago

Pic from HybridZ build

stock (my) opening

Stock shifter 

tunnel clearance  edit. -he notes that the shifter needs to be 5" back from stock 350Z setup to fit existing location

 

EDIT - further searching came up with this one - I've emailed them to see if it fits S30 chassis

EDIT. -they don't know, however it puts the shifter 6" forward of stock 350Z, so it should be perfect. I may need to dogleg the shifter, not a big deal.

GKTech shifter

Edited January 9 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Ordered a generic Jeep CJ6 3 row aluminum rad. Has the I/O in the correct orientation for the VQ35DE (reverse of stock). Similar overall H & W (24.25W 20.75 H). I will have to modify the mount flanges. Significantly less than a Datsun-speciifci rad, which I would then have to modify anyway.

 

Edited January 6 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

Gauges? use 350Z?

Speedhut? 4.5" GPS dual speedo/fuel, 4.5" tach, Oil press, Coolant, Volts?

I think the Speedhut gauges would look more in keeping with the car. 

Plenum mods

Boils  down to removing 5mm off the 1&2 runners, adding a 5/16" spacer to offset the upper plenum taper

 

Edited January 8 by HusseinHolland

[grannyknot]

8 minutes ago, HusseinHolland said:

Gauges? use 350Z?

Speedhut? 4.5" GPS dual speedo/fuel, 4.5" tach, Oil press, Coolant, Volts?

I think the Speedhut gauges would look more in keeping with the car. 

Plenum mods

Boils  down to removing 5mm off the 1&2 runners, adding a 5/16" spacer to offset the upper plenum taper

 

I went with Speedhut gauges on a previous Z because they offer so many different options for back ground colour, typeface, needle colour.  It's not hard to put the combinations together to end up with a fairly stock looking gauge if that is what you are looking for. Their GPS speedo works perfectly.

[HusseinHolland]

5 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

I went with Speedhut gauges on a previous Z because they offer so many different options for back ground colour, typeface, needle colour.  It's not hard to put the combinations together to end up with a fairly stock looking gauge if that is what you are looking for. Their GPS speedo works perfectly.

Did you buy adaptor plates to fit them to the dash? I see Skillarid sells ones for the Tach & Speedo. I'd rather not destroy my original gauges, which are all in great shape.

[grannyknot]

No, I cut up my original gauge backs to fit them in, the car was so heavily modified there was no going back anyway.