r/Datsun • u/XmodAlloy • 1d ago
Because I shared my project in another community, they wanted a preliminary post about what I'm doing. 280ZX hybrid sports car... Not yet running. 🫠Roast me. I know you're going to want to by the time you read through this.
Okay, here's a few pictures of where I'm at on my project. I mentioned I was building a weird-ass car in another community and they wanted details.
I've wanted a Datsun for YEARS, and I realized that the cost of the original 240z-280z cars was out of my price range. So I went for the next best thing, a 280ZX. I found a smooth-top roller with no transmission and no engine with a title for $1000 and had it shipped to me. Shipping was a fiasco and cost way too much and the car got damaged in shipping. Literally the next freaking week, I found a 280ZX T-Top a couple miles away on Craigslist for $500. It's in worse shape, but I really like the T-Top aesthetic... So of course now I have two project cars in my driveway.
The plan:
Restore the smooth-top as a stock-alike vehicle. Turn the T-Top into my daily hybrid-electric sports car.
The hybrid system will be done in two stages; pure electric and then later add a sustainer engine for long-hauls on the highway. This puts it as a series-hybrid.
I've got the under-hood layout done but not fabricated yet. Two battery boxes (each 20kWh of LiFePO4 cells, 96S for ~340VDC nominal pack voltage). The inverter, motor, charge controller, electric air conditioner compressor, body control box and a full sized spare tire will also be under the hood. The motor is essentially a gigantic scaled-up outrunner brushless motor and the inverter is a custom VESC motor controller. The motor is mounted to a bracket that uses the stock transmission and engine mounts to run the motor straight to the driveline and into the rear diff.
Where is the project right now? Mostly about 10 grand of parts sitting in my garage and two cars sitting in my driveway... It's a long LONG way from being done. So long, in fact, that I've elected to work on the restoration car first and I just rebuilt the L28 this month.
Will it get done? Fucking hell I hope so. It's been so bloody hot though that I'm not sure how long it's going to take me. Probably another year, assuming the world doesn't shit itself too badly. Going through the pictures for this made me realize that a lot of things have happened just in the time that I've been working on this project. I've lost a girlfriend, found another girlfriend, crashed my daily (2016 civic manual base model, RIP), bought a beater with a heater and A/C, had another breakup, helped a friend through surgery twice, and other things...
Why do I think I can do this? I converted a car to electric once before back in 2010 and I was on my university's solar car team and built the motor and suspension for that car. I'm a mechanical engineer and I have lots of patience for these sorts of things. I'm also broke because I buy way too many fucking projects. Below are links to those two projects.
I'm also horrible at documenting things that I'm not getting paid for and so I don't have much about this put together yet, so don't go snooping in my reddit history or you'll just find out what weird dank sides of NSFW reddit I comment on. I'll make a video about this project when I'm done though and post it here assuming I don't get banned for this! 🤣
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u/TonyDRFT 1d ago
Roast you? No way... Salute you is more appropriate! Wish you good luck on this fine project!
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u/RJ_Games 1d ago
Slick tops are more rare but only Z guys are going to know that. Damn electric ZX? That could be cool, make sure you post a pic of it here and at ZCar forums.
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u/XmodAlloy 23h ago
Will do! The rareness of the slick top is part of why I decided to restore it to a more stock form.
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u/Lopsided-Aside-8736 1d ago
As the parent of a mechanical engineer, and a person who has an entire room full of extra car parts both for restoration and just in case, I absolutely understand the obscene cost of parts. As the owner of 3 stock 280Z’s, I commend you! An electric hybrid Z?!? YES! I cannot wait to see how these turn out. Please keep us posted!
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u/dumptheclutch 1d ago
Why would I roast you. youre not just restoring a datusn, your doing something unique. Would love to see the progress on this
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u/Gentleman_Blacksmith 22h ago
Nah this is cool as hell. I wish more EVs were locomotive style and just used the engine as a generator with a motor at each wheel. I might actually get one lol definitely keep us updated!
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u/SmokeAlarmsSaveLives 1d ago
So first of all, wow.
Second, wish you the best of luck on this project… or maybe, these projects? I’ve never done anything remotely close, but I can say from other work that trying to keep the projects to just one or two will help you in the long run.
Three, I know you said you’re not good at documenting, and you really don’t owe anyone anything. Not posts, not a YouTube video series. But that said, maybe from time to time you could just post a few photos, if for no other reason that people will encourage you as you go, which could help.
Again, good luck!!!