datsunlover

Hey folks, been a while since I've been online, but to make a long story short, I have sold my 75 280z and I'm trying to help the buyer out a bit.. the little plastic wheel got chewed up on my spedometer sender in the tranny, so the guage isn't working. (I swaped in the rear half of a 240sx 5 speed box, and had the sender unit too tight on the gear inside the trans I guess.. oops) It is the stock unit from my old 280 4 speed, so I'm hoping someone may have one laying around.. E-mail to datsunlover@hotmail.com or PM here. Thanks Matt G

Ahh, there you are! lol Well, the local guy finally got back to me last night, and sold me a 76 280z diff for $50 so I'm ok for now.

lol... ok, perhaps... been away for quite a while, didn't realise all the changes that have taken place here in the last few years... if evrything else got transfered over, you'd think admins would see I was always a decent helpfull member here, but I guess with 10000 members now its hard.. Ahem... I'm in midland Ontario Canada, an hour north of Toronto

Ok so either I am retarded and don't see it, or my first add was taken down for some reason... (Didn't think I broke any of the rules.. ? I know it says no warning will be given, but how about maybe an explanation of what the issue was if this is the case?) ANYway, still looking for a rear diff to fit my 75, and the last post in my other add was from a member in windsor I believe... Would have liked to keep in touch with him as I havn't heard from the local guy yet (has a 260z advertised, but not returning my phone calls.) There was also a member in FL(?) who I would like to keep in touch with as a 'last resort' so to speak. I am moving in a month and would really like to get this car drivable again.. Thanks

ok cool, so it WILL work, assuming my flanges are ok.. I've never workied on a 300zx, so I wasn't sure what changes they made to go with c/v shafts. I guess I'll have to drop my diff to find out for sure, only prob is like I said, I have to move in a month and as of right now, the car would drive itself on to a trailer if need be... If I pull the diff and run into issues, I'm in a pinch if I don't get it done in time. And I hate doing these kind of things on a timeline.. lol I stopped and looked at the 300zx today, and it doesn't have a finned rear cover, but it looks a little different than mine so I wasn't sure.. (hard to tell lying on the grass at 7:30pm lol) but I figure an R200 is an R200 so if I can just swap the pinion and side flanges I'd be back on the road.

Hey folks, been a while.. So last sunday I blew up my diff, and although I havn't pulled it yet, I'm thinking it's destroyed; Made a hell of a bang and then grinding/screaming noises, pulled the plug when I made it home (limp in 2n'd gear, thought the thing was going to lock up on me!) and it's not really oil anymore in there... its something that resembles graphite paste or very gritty anti-sieze lol..shiney! never seen so much metal bits on a plug before! My guess is a spider gear let go/chiped a tooth/ect and it was only a matter of time..made strange vibration/light tapping noises off and on since I started driving it this year again.. Anyway, this WAS an r200 I put in from an 82 280zx, which has u-joint half shafts, and like a fool I scraped the original diff I took out... doh.. First question, if I could get an r200 from an 87 300zx, (one rotten down the road, could get cheep) what's involved in switching it over (if possible) to run my stock 75 280z driveshafts? See, I JUST replaced all 4 u-joints, and on top of that I don't really want to get into a c/v conversion right now, I have to move in a month and need this car to drive/move under it's own power... 2nd Q, if the driveshaft's wont convert, could I not in theory swap in the 'guts' from the 87 diff to my 82 housing? (although I havn't got it out yet so theres no telling what has gone on in there... could be a total write off, case and all) Of course the simplest thing would be if I could find a 280zx diff somewhere close to me and just pop it in, but I'm not having such good luck with that Any help/suggestions would be appreciated Matt G

The grind thing is normal in my exp, just the nature of some transmitions; if they are still spinning forward internally and you try to jam in reverse, it won't go. Putting it in first 'stops' the trany. And I don't think that has anything to do with your driveline clunk. Trust me, cause my rear diff just exploded yesterday :/ Was trying to get rid of the clunk and a weird noise sometimes when I took off... kind of a clunk clunk clunk/rattle, but it would go away after a few seconds. I figured it was u-joint related, and changed all the u-joints; seamed to be better but then some noises came back and out of nowhere BANG! Felt like some one hit the bottom of the car with a sledge hammer! This was at about 60kph and the noise that it started making THEN, I figured the driveshaft had come off or something... Pulled over, reached under the car and could turn the driveshaft about 90* So I limped the car home in 2nd gear (any higher speed the noise would get louder and scary) Pulled the drain plug on the diff and it's not fluid anymore, it's grey/metalic sludge and I have never seen so many metal filings on a drain plug magnet... Havn't got it out of the car yet to disasemble and trouble shoot, but my guess is a bearing let go, or maybe lost a tooth on one of the spider gears... Either way, I would consider at least checking your rear diff fluid I had at least that much play at the wheels too..

heh heh.. I've been out of the loop for a while, and no I did NOT realize you had sold it a few years ago... but just an irony here, it's back up for sale again! Saw it on kijiji last week...

Thats pretty cool.. except my pos computer doesn't like to run it without freezing.. lol:icon56:

Funny this thread is STILL around! lol I was just looking at my car the other day and since I figured this out, it has worn a bit more, but I never did jet around to fixing the door pins (drivers side) which are not so good.. and the pass door is still perfect, so I'd say once it's working, just keep it lubed and it should last. BTW,Trumpet, your sig pic looks a LOT like my Z when I first got it..same slotted rims and everything.. it's weird!

Just to add to the climb cutting comment... Be sure you're not taking too heavy of a cut, and slightly lock the table, or one of several things can happen; 1- It will stall the machine, usually breaking/chiping your cutter, 2- the table can start 'walking' back and forth (you'll know it when it happens lol) as its cutting, leaving a TERRIBLE finish and also possibly breaking the cutter. Oh, and as for plunge milling, I usually just drill a pilot hole either way, cause it gives some clearance at the center of the tool for chips to get out. Alluminum especially can get gummed up and stick to the cutter quickly, and before you know it, snap your tool.

Funny thing... mine does now too! (although, it's not really a lighter anymore...) The REALLY funny/ironic thing about this, is I didn't tell anyone I rigged a push button start in place of the cig lighter... well, sitting in a parking lot with a friend one day, and he wants to light up.. he reaches over and pushes the button... yup, the car was in gear and the key was on. Lucky I was quick to push the clutch in, or we would have launched out of the parking space into the street!!

I think I been here for 10 years... oh.. where does the time go....

I may have the switch you need.. I'll look through a box of parts in the shop. I striped a bunch of bits and pieces off a 71 a few years ago and I'm sure I grabbed all the switches/ect I could see.. lol

I wonder if those are the same centers as the caps they put on the old 13" steel wheel 'hub caps' you know, the ugly plastic ones that cover the whole wheel? I've got a set in decent shape in my garage somewhere, I'll see if the center section comes off...

I did something stupid the other day in fact... I chock it up to working on a house for the last 6 months, and I've lost some skills in the shop.. lol I tried for hours to get a GM ignition module to fire my 280, and couldn't get it to go for the life of me... FINALY, I realized the mod. was not grounded properly.. durr... the funny thing is, I had a plug out of the motor, sitting on the valve cover so I could see if I had spark... After grounding the ignition module, I walked over to the drivers side, reached in, and cranked it. Keep in mind it's been cranking for hours, there is lots of fuel, and NOW.. lots of spark.. POW!!! Dang thing fired up and ran pretty good on 5 cyls!! It took me about 30 seconds to clue in and shut her down..

Hey scott! Nah, I think 2 or 3 months should be enough time for me to find, well.. something to do with my life! lol 2-3 months of storage fees shouldn't ding me too bad, and if I havn't figured something out or found work during that time.. , I guess I'll make the decision then to part with the Z... But for now, I'm actually kinda excited just to be a 'free man' and just pick up and go... should be an interesting time...

lol... fellow /btard here, yes I thought every on of those was funny.. especially the csi ones, terrible and crude, but still funny.

So I got this email last week about my account being 'purged' so I thought id log on and keep it goin for now... I see a few names I recognize, and a lot of new ones, but maybe a few people will remember me Anyway, I was buisy last summer playing with another project (V8 Mazda rx7) and working, and then the bottom fell out of everything.. Split up with my girlfriend, got laid off, my truck broke, and even my cat got sick and I had to put her down.... All in the span of 2 weeks in the begining of september 08. I know, sounds like a country song... I figured things would turn around.. got by on a few cash jobs and unemployment (witch is a JOKE btw...) but it has only got worse; my old boss is selling machines, and hasn't had real work for 5 months, places are laying off and a few have closed.. so I have been working on my house non stop for the last 4-5 months and it's about done. There's a sign out front, and with luck I'll sell in a month or two.. Should get out with enough to pay off the mortgage, all my debts, and have a bit left over.. Sucks though, cause the place is really nice now, got my jam room in the basement, a decent shop, still have the Z (had to sell the RX7) and tools galore... but with no job, just have no way to pay all the stinkin bills! I'm gona try to hang on to the z, and hopefully get back to it someday.. Short term plan is to get a storage unit for the z /parts/some tools and take my music gear and some clothes with me and go on the road for a while this summer. Gona off the daily driver 01 Exterra for whatever I can get, pile my stuff in a 93 Suburban and jet. (bought this thing for $800 last fall, runs good, cheep to fix and has enough room for all my crap ) A friend (also the drummer I've been jaming with, AND my engine builder) is gona come along for the ride, cause he's got nothing left here either. He has a brother and some friends out west who play, so it seams like the time to do it! Anyhoo... I'm tired of writing a novel, so I'm gona go now. Later folks. )

Figured I'd write a little blurb about my home made brake upgrade on my 85 Mazda RX7. It's a fairly similar car to the s30 Z's (weight, size, SMALL factory front brakes, ect) and I've got a burly chev 350 up front now... yah. stock wasn't gona cut it. Sooo... started messing around.. After a week or so of annoying the parts store people, some late nights at work (after hours) and about $350, I've managed to get rotors/calipers and pads from 95+ ford Contour/Mercury Mystique (sp?) attached to the Mazda's front struts. (acording to my friend at Ford, they are about a 3700 pound car.) The hard part was making 'hubs' out of the old rx7 rotors. The stock rotors are a slide on rotor, with the typical tapered bearings, nut and cotter pin, but have a raised 'hub' area sticking out off the rotor surface (kind of like a dually truck..) with the stud pattern THREADED in them. grrrr.. I hated that anyway. So I turned down the rotor surface enough to get in from the back side, and milled out (through the old Mazda pattern, which is 4x110mm... stupid..) the 'new' pattern into them and pressed in studs. (This whole affair obviously wouldn't be required on a Z however) As for bolting the calipres on, I just made some brackets out of 1/2" alluminum to bolt to both the new caliper and the existing strut mount. Spaced accordingly to center the caliper/pads on the rotor with some thick washers. I know the ford 4.250" patern is diffrent than the Z's, but redrilling to the 114.3 wouldn't be too hard imho. The calipers are single piston, but they're HUGE (almost the size of the ones from my old 91 GMC 1 tone dually!) and the pad area is about double from stock, which also is pretty close to the Z. Now.. although the initial cost of the calipers is a hit (about $160 a piece), $25 a rotor and $40 for pads is alright by me! Obviously, this wouldn't be a simple 'copy and paste' to work on a Z, but possibly another option to the toyota swap.. And I have to say I'm VERY happy with how they work.. I only WISH the Z would stop like this! It's actually better than my girl's 2004 Sentra SER! (although she has ABS... Meh..) The stock master cylinder seams to work them very well, although it travels a little further before the brakes grab.. to be expected though, seeing as I've increased the volume of fluid that is required to work them, which the stock master wasn't intended for. Anyway, thought this may be of intrest to someone, I'll try to get some pics if anyone wants.