Infiniti M30 thoughts

[Lesac]

Yes I know this is a Z and Silvia board, however what about its lesser known (in the USA anyway) brother.
I have the opportunity to buy a 92 Infiniti M30 convertible in very good shape. It has been garaged and not run for the last 7 years, however when parked it ran fine but needed a new front balljoint. well heres the kicker, It would only cost me $200 for the whole car. Im fairly confident that I could part the interior and other things to make the car almost pay for itself.
on to the point. I really would like to make a budget drift car out of it, but what I dont want to do is sink a ton of money into it. I know with slight modifications s13 suspension works on them as well as a hand full of R31 parts. I already know I will have to go through all the fluids and do a complete tuneup to get the car running again but its only $200! Also I know Z31 transmissions can work to swap it to a 5 speed and this would be a definite thing on my to do list. as well as a rollbar to make it pass inspections for drifting.
So, If you were in my shoes would you buy it and start the project?
Thanks guys

[fliprayzin240sx]

I would and then slap an RB25 in it.

[sil80d]

I got my m30 coupe for 600 running. Don't waste your time with a vert.

[benarovi]

there cool cars, interior is nice for the year, pretty comfortable. my friend has one, just did a 5 speed swap and diff. his has 230k miles still runs awesome drives great

[future]

Rb25 swap it and its good!

[brewster240]

they kinda suck for drifting.

the rear suspension is trailing arm, not multi link like s chassis. youre not gonna get money parting out the interior, cause the same shit breaks on all of them, and who the hell is gonna buy it?

for $200 id fuck with it. will be fun. head on over to f31club.com

[sil80d]

There is a shop in phx that can fit an s13/14/15 subframe into it. That is where I got mine done. I also swapped an s13 front subframe with s14 Lcas spindles and tien super drifts. Now it is just sitting till some time next year. I have to many cars

[Lesac]

the fact that its a convertible is the only thing keeping me from jumping on it.
I know i can get at least $200 back out of it just by taking it to the junk yard.

[Lesac]

So I said screw it... its only $200 and turned out to be in better shape than I was expecting
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8095268141_daaa481955_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8045/8095273000_5efa4ab4e9_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8095273366_89b58bf839_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8095273930_2c0ab1fb0b_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8463/8095274300_d8974e6b05_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8331/8095270153_0de83a5619_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8095270569_71303cfaf5_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8095271073_a4bd857def_c.jpg

Not sure if drift car or daily, or just fix and sell.

[2tonecoupegrl]

Pretty cool!

[NoPistons!]

Pretty sure you should keep that engine in there. Damn good score on the car overall. Jealous. =D

[brewster240]

ill give you 300 for it!

[nismoracingsx]

wash it and daily it, at least that's what I would do with it :)

[Lesac]

wash it and daily it, at least that's what I would do with it :)

washed it, put gas and a new battery in it, it fired right up and EVERYTHING including A/C works. this may be what happens.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8184/8098453216_9572306c9b_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8098461445_542aaacdd1_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8194/8098500849_454e015ba8_c.jpg

Also there is a guy in town that has a z31 N/A manual transmission complete swap sans clutch for sale for $225. Is this a fair price? I have no idea what Z parts go for.

[brewster240]

enjoy your terrible gas mileage and squishy suspension.

the z31 clutch pedal is a bit long, the driveshaft and crossmember wont work, shifter will be forward in the hole, but it will fit.

225 for a good trans and flywheel is still good.

240 clutch pedal works better. driveshaft will need to be modified, or just get a new one made.

[NoPistons!]

Yeah, 99.9 percent sure you need a custom shaft. Should probably keep it automatic for a bit until you do some homework on the swap. Check the f31 forums out. Been touching base with a friend on his swap and he's not exactly having it easy with it. He's using a 71c with electronic speed sensor. Wont work with his cluster because it uses a mechanical cable speedo. Still no word on driveshaft. Driveshaft shop should be able to hook you up if you give them the length. Output shaft has same splines as 240sx. Diff flange might be the same as 240sx as well if it's an r200.

That being said, do your homework.

[Lesac]

Ive actually been on the F31 boards the last week looking at everything I can on the swap. looks fairly strait forward. Ive done a few subaru transmissions before but never a nissan.
Know for a fact that the drive shaft wont work. still looking into the speedometer issue.
I fully do not expect it to be a strait forward drop right in bolt it up and go.

Thanks for all the input guys!

[brewster240]

your car is a 92, it has electric speed sensor, not cable.

id go with shaftmasters.com or a local shop for driveshaft, not dss. they are rediculously expensive.

the drive shaft will be real long if you go with a one piece, and prone to vibrate. a local shop should be able to put the front yolk from the z31 shaft onto the front half of the m30 stock shaft.

the m30 diff flange is same as 240.

[SHARKERIOcoupe]

I love my m30, nice find awesome deal.
convertible :(
still cool!
F31club has a lot of answers.
Garret from Get Nuts had a sick m30 drift car and he did all the work, subframe swaps, suspension, cage, like four different engines.
any way awesome dude.
facebook "Nissan Leopard/Infiniti M30 Owners" group :)

[Milford240sx]

So I said screw it... its only $200 and turned out to be in better shape than I was expecting
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8095268141_daaa481955_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8045/8095273000_5efa4ab4e9_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8095273366_89b58bf839_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8329/8095273930_2c0ab1fb0b_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8463/8095274300_d8974e6b05_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8331/8095270153_0de83a5619_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8470/8095270569_71303cfaf5_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8095271073_a4bd857def_c.jpg

Not sure if drift car or daily, or just fix and sell.

Is that your miata it looks hella clean

[brewster240]

did you really have to quote all the pics to ask that?

[Lesac]

it is, thanks for noticing :)
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6159/6223445844_307c5a7741_z.jpg

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6053/6223442878_7e4d57175a_z.jpg
the evo used to be mine too, but I sold it to put a down payment on a house.

[ShakotanGazelle]

You can use any S13/14 transmission if you get a Z31 NA bellhousing. It's the same FS5W71C transmission. You can bolt in a Z32 or Rb25 FS5R30A transmission if you use a Z31T bellhousing.

These cars are cool and the VG can take a serious beating, and you can use stock Z31 turbo parts along with a decent size turbo (HY35, GT35, etc) and boost the piss outta it.

[brewster240]

why go through all the trouble of getting a z31 bellhousing?

youre more likely to find a working z31 71c than a bellhousing.

you can use z32 trans as is, just use a maxima flywheel. the z31 30a bell is pretty rare.

you CAN NOT use all stock z31 turbo parts. its a lot of work to make z31 turbo manifold work. youd have to make a motor mount, figure out how to clear steering etc.

[wacko2]

my friend has a m30 with a rb25 manual, push on the link see his m30

http://zilvia.net/f/cars-sale/480772-sleeeper-rb25det-m30-nissan-leopard-trade-sale.html

[Miguelone]

M30 is really just an R31 Skyline underneath, yours even has the R31 style dashboard.

Chuck a redtop RB20 in it for awesome points.

[Scope240sx]

For 200 this is pretty sweet, irrelevant that this is a vert however.
Cool get around car if you already have something more spirited to drive.
Color is cool and interior is nice and cheez with the wood stuff, I like it.