You might be able to modify the lower control arm to fit the 280 ball joint. I think the differance in length is the 280ZX control arm , which requires the crossmemeber to be modified slightly. The calipers need to be milled so they fit inside a 13" wheel but that isn't such a big deal.
Nissan Motorsports makes a coil over kit for the 1200 , do not know if it is still available. The adjustable ride height is neat to have but for a street car I never want to be bothered setting the corner wieghts every time I make a change. For the race car I have access to scales.
I'm using the H145 limted slip with a 4:11 gear , with my mildly tuned 85 HP wonder the lower gearing is no biggie. Also I did get the good racing valve springs so the motor will pull 8K no problem.
As for the A12 head on A15 not sure on that. For SCCA I have to run the A12 , Vintage doesn't care as long as it is an A-series but because I run VARA and SCCA I stick with A-12 block and head.
Basicly my car uses A12GX bottom end including GX cam , H-prod head with race valves and springs , weber 32/36 and header with 2" exhaust. Suspension is coil over 280ZX strut w/Tokico's in front , Koni adj rear shocks Nismo springs with track bars in rear. Addco 7/8 front bar and 5/8 rear. Over the last 15 or so years I've put maybe $4500 into it including the price of car.It is completely uncompetitive in everything except vintage and local Auto-x. The car always runs flawlessly.I insturct at track days and whenever I give a student a ride most are unispired by the complete lack of acceleration leaving the pitlane but after a couple laps they always remark what a fun little car it is. I've run some very fast cars including a 1000cc Yamaha powered single seater and by far I always have the most fun with the 1200. feel free to ask as many questions as you like. The guys on this page have an amazing amount of knowledge.

B210 glad to hear my street 1200 will become a reality.

Tom

PS I almost forgot Wilwood Dynalites are $130 a piece

Anti-sway bars can be picked up from ADDCO , 7/8 front 5/8 rear.
A 280ZX strut will fit but you will need the control arms and radius rods. The problem you will face is if you lower the car more than an inch or two you will need to flair the fenders. I would just put the coil over kit on e-bay. coil overs are fine for us racer types but unless you have access to scales you can actually screw up the handling with coil overs. The 240Z rear springs in the front work well.
I still have the leafs in back but they are the NISMO ones and don't suffer the pick up truck chatter over wash board surfaces.
As for brakes Wilwood makes a caliper called the Dynalite (twin and 4 piston) , these will fit over the standard rotor. You will have to make a mounting plate. I used Dynalites on a single seat D-sports racer I had a few years back. (The car used VW Scirrocco uprights) The vented ZX rotors are nice on my 1200 but the calipers had to be milled to fit inside a 13" wheel plus I use a wheel spacer.
Ball joints can still be had from a good parts store , although I use all rod ends and spherical bearings so my knowledge of ordering them is at least 5 yrs old.
One day I still would like to have a strictly street 1200. I plan on running the Addco bars , Wilwood calipers , 240Z spings with tokico inserts , Nismo rear springs and a set of 185/60 13's. Motor would be A14 with header and 32/36 weber. Throw in some nice period Recaro seats. This should result in a car fast enough to have fun with but mellow enough to keep La Policia concentrating on all those decked out Civics they love to pull over.

Tom

First welcome to 1200 ownership. I've raced mine since 89 or so and it has been in a circle of friends since 85. I've raced or owned a variety of Datsun's B210,510, 240Z and I like the 1200 best.
For a cheapy suspension upgrade you can use 7/8 front bar , 5/8 rear bar, lowering blocks in the back and 240Z rear spring with one coil cut out. I used this set-up on the car at SCCA Autocross and Club races from 89-92.
Since 92 I've had 280ZX coil overs , control arms and radius rods.(crossmember is modified) The rear uses NISMO springs with Koni shocks.
As for 15" rims , well , remember the 1200 came with 155/12" tires so without some flares I'd say stick with some 13 x 6 Rims. The A12 motor only puts out 68 HP so those big tirels will act like four giant flywheels and slow the car coming off corners. Eevn on a street car it is noticable. Unless you plan on putting a twin cam motor go the old school route.
For a starter go with cheapy suspension set up some 185/60 13 grippy tires(Kumho/Falken) and put on a weber 32/36 carb with a header and 2" exhaust. Also get some good brake pads. This will make the car loads of fun to drive.

Tom Grossmann

I would concentrate on unsprung wieght like the diff. I stripped my car then concentrated on get the cg lower...dropping the motor tranny and mounting things as low as possible.
Whenever trying to get a car light I always remember a story of a California GT3 team. One car was built right to the wieght limit the other was for actress Marsha Mason....she wanted the car to be safe as possible so some more tube was added. Well the go fast car breaks and Mason graciously offers up her car , so the team can get points. Well Her car turned out to be faster due to the stiffer chassis....I just keep this in mind when trying to lose another 100lbs .
Keep in mind I weigh 135lbs so my car can afford to be fat.

Tom

General as someone with 19 years of road racing under my belt take this advice: Do not get hung up on a particular car type or feature such as disk rears. If you are looking to be competitvie the thing to do if you haven't, is go to your local track and see what cars are competitive and buy one already prepped.
It is much , much cheaper to buy a prepped car than to build one.
With that said if you're a Datsun / Nissan die hard and just want to have a bit of fun then great find a prepped 200SX and have fun with it.
I don't know what your racing experiance has been but even at local SCCA club races there will be some really good drivers and you will not likely be competitive at first. So get yourself a cheap reliable starter car that you can easily afford. You will find the serious club racer spending $750 to $1000 on a low tech ITB VW Golf. Even a cheap arse like me who runs a dog slow car just to have fun , is spending $400 a weekend.
Back to your original concern on disc rear brakes , contrary to popular belief going fast on a road course does not consist of roaring up to a corner and standing the car on it's nose. Trail braking is how you keep your momentum and that just requires keeping the brakes cool.
The only racers I know who have had problems with drum rear brakes are the Improved Touring RX2/3 and early RX7 guys and that's becuase the engines were making 60 HP more with the class not allowing brake upgrades.

Tom

I do not beleive it is a straight bolt in , your car will have an A12A vs. the 1200's A12 motor mounts are differant and the alterantor is located differantly.Chekc the tech section and it should answer most of your questions.

Tom

Tom , in Vegas here. There are plenty of outlets for your 1200 and A series motors. Nissan Motorsports , whom you can order directly from , supports these cars still. I've raced my 1200 at SCCA events since 1989 , this year I'm switching to vintage and also going to do a Tarmac Rally with it.
For a street car the A14/15 is a good swap. You will get a 12 HP boost over the stock 1200.
I run the A12 due to rules , for your A12 there are a lot of small things you can do to bring the horsepower up.
The electronic ignition from a 210 will fit , a weber 32/36 down draft , header , A14 Valves , clean up the ports in the head and a mild street cam will get you to around 85HP (remember stock is 68). Throw on some sway bars , good shocks and better brake pads and you will have a fun little street car for an additional $900-$1000.
Once you go beyond mild to moderate tuning the maintenance intervals are very short...A12 race engines are about 140 HP but only go 6 hrs between rebuilds.
My racer started life as a $280 daily driver was up to $1800 at the first race weekend and now has about $5000 total invested , not bad for 16 years of fun eh??

Tom

PS I flog my car and generally show it no mercy , these things are tuff

My subjective answer would be the 1200 obviously but...

Real world the 240Z , why? The 240 brought legitamacy to Datsuns and for that matter Japanese cars. Prior to the Z they were thought of as Jap junk.The roadsters were liked by enthusiasts but the Z had a wide spread appeal.....the Z did for Japanese cars what the Mustang did for muscle cars.

Tom

Thank God...you're a racer. Sorry for the rant those guys drive me insane.
Go to the tech section on this web site there is an extensive post on the subject. I've considered the set-up but now that I run my 1200 in Vintage the injection part is a not legal. Welcome aboard , good luck with you're project and keep us posted.

Tom

When you say "street" race do you mean drag racing or those geeks who actually race on the street???
If it is so called street racing do yourself a favor and stay away from those guys , they can't drive and the car prep is questionable.
Your local drag strip should have test and tune nights where anybody can run or get yourself to a track day or local SCCA Autocross.
This Monday I was at an instructor seminar for track day instructors with a group of fellow racers. The folks putting on the event were from Russel racing schools and we all agreed that the absolutley worst guys to have to deal with are the testastarone fueled street racer.Also real racers , race on street courses not streets...Long Beach Monaco etc.
I know I haven't answer your question nor will most folks on this site if your aim is to go out to the street racer geek fest. Did I mention I hate "street" racing??

Tom