Z32 Tranny Install Writeup

[Garrett76Zt]

OK I'll get right to it.

Heres the basic kit. You will still need to get a driveshaft made.

This kit is available for sale and can be purchased through Mazworx.com



In order to do this swap you'll have already taken the bellhousing of the Z32 trans off to get it machined to accept the adaptor. But I'm gonna cover putting it back together just in case.

Heres what you should have.



I stood mine up like this for reassembly but it could lay flat too.



The first thing you'll need to do is locate this thrust bearing with matching plate.



The bearing goes here on the countershaft, rollers facing up.



And the plate goes here, concave side up.



Make sure your mating surfaces are clean and then silicone up both sides.



Next go ahead and install bolts and zip em tight.



Now turn your attention to the shifter and shifter plate that came in the kit. 4 bolts/nuts and mount it in the same location as the stock shifter. The plate is installed over the shifter linkage.



This spacer setup also needs to be installed with the shifter as pictured.



Now that the shifter is installed, make sure that the tranny is in NEUTRAL. Now turn your attention to this sleeve/ball/spring setup. Guide the sleeve in first, then the ball, then the spring, then the tightening bolt. Tighten all the way down.



Installed



The last thing to do is to clean up the mounting surfaces on the front plate, inside the bell. There is a large C-clip snap ring that goes on the main bearing, and a smaller C-clip that goes on the striking rod that comes through the bell. Sorry didnt get a pic of that. Once those are installed, silicone the surfaces and bolt it up.

Now you'll want to setup the fork/throwout setup. You will reuse the L28 throwout bearing and use the Z32 fork. Once that stuff is on you're ready to bolt it up.

Now grab the adaptor and bolt it up to the engine using the tapered bolts (for the countersunk holes).



Now before you bolt up the trans, there are two areas that need a little attention with a cut off wheel. the first is the shifter opening. I took off a tad more than needed but the shifter will sit further back than the stock shifter does.





Now the second area that needs attention (I took pics, but now cant find them ) is the Tranny crossmember ears (1972 and up I think). The case of the z32 trans is a good bit wider and needs a little more clearance. Take the cut off wheel and take a good 1/2" or so off the inside edge. Pay particular attention to the front drivers side ear as this is where the most interferance will happen. This ear must have more material removed, even cutting into the bolt hole and upwards.

At this point I tilted the engine back a bit and bolted the tranny up to the adaptor. Then using a jack to support the underside of the tranny.

With that said, this is how I chose to do the tranny Xmember. No its not the most glamorous approach but it uses the stock tranny crossmember and I can GUARANTEE that it AINT GOING NOWHERE. If you wanna cut off the ears and relocate them or weld up your own crossmember, be my guest. Hehe

The Z32 mount location is further back. Bolt your stock crossmember pieces to the trans and jack up the tranny into the tunnel. I slotted the bolt holes on the mount so that the crossmember comes up exactly rearward of the ears. With the trans all the way up in the tunnel, I then ran two 1/2"x7" Stainless Steel Carriage Bolts through the ears and into the stock crossmember, using lock washers and nuts on either side of both ears. With all the nuts tightened its SOLID. This philosophy is identical to how an engine stand works.





I went ahead and took some pics of shifter location now that the tranny is installed.





Driveshaft specs:

Length I gave them was 29 1/16" from flange to output shaft

Flange yoke I used (same as zx turbo i believe) Powertrain Industries(spicer) part #3102-20

Slip yoke I used (30 spline z32) Powertrain Industries (spicer) part #3103-30

Spicer U-joints 1310 series #5-785X

Spicer Tube Yokes #2-28-437

They had to order a few of these parts in which tagged a few bucks onto the bill but my total was $304.39

This Driveshaft is good for 800+ft lbs torque

[OlderThanMe]

so are you going to get a real tranny mount made up? that looks just not look right for a high horsepower car...

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Thats a great write-up. I like the format that you used with the text and the pics. So many only have text and it's tough to figure out what people are talking about.

I want to add something about the tranny mount. Looks like your solution might be a great temp solution but, I think with the kind of real fun, power, and punishment your going to be putting to thru there I would suggest at the least some grade 8 bolts. But, really a better mount needs to be made. Maybe putting some tubing or pipe of the right size in the ears of the orginal mount would help it to not move around and last longer.

If you came up with a good mount you could sell it as an add on to the kit.

I only add this because I'm sure you drive your car like I do mine and that thing is going to have some real stress on it.


Please, update us as soon as you get the driveshaft in and can give us a driving impression of it all.

[Garrett76Zt]

I have done this once before, on the pinks car. Tranny mount was fine after multiple 6k launches. The shifter takes a bit of getting used to. it comes straight up as opposed to a tilted back feel. But overall its very smooth.

[PrOxLaMuS©]

why dont you just cut off the tranny mount and slide it over and weld it?

still uses the same stock mount.. just welds a few inches over.. while your at it.. weld in some thick sheet metal to re-inforce it

[CruxGNZ]

As far as the transmission mount is concerned, it will work fine. Sure, it may not be pretty, but he doesn't have a welder to fabricate stuff.

[Cody 82 ZXT]

Originally Posted by Mat73GNZ

As far as the transmission mount is concerned, it will work fine. Sure, it may not be pretty, but he doesn't have a welder to fabricate stuff.

I thought it was mandatory to have a a full fabrication shop when you became a member of Hybrid Z. J/K

[Z-Gad]

Nice write-up Garrett

[Garrett76Zt]

I updated original post with driveshaft info

[kjones]

Garrett,

Hey! Great info!

How much did they take off the bell housing? Is it the exact amount of the thickness of the adapter? If so, I guess the real question is, how thick is the adapter?

Ken

[Alex_V]

Garret, it would be pretty easy to shorten the shifter to get it near stock or the same as the stock position but nice install.

~Alex

[Garrett76Zt]

Originally Posted by kjones

Garrett,

Hey! Great info!

How much did they take off the bell housing? Is it the exact amount of the thickness of the adapter? If so, I guess the real question is, how thick is the adapter?

Ken

I believe its 1/2" Ken. And yes they machined out exactly the thickness of the adaptor.

[kjones]

Rick and I were looking at a 1988 Z31 turbo shifter the other day... The Z31 turbo uses the same tranny as the Z32. The only difference is that the shifter is not remotely mounted. I think that solution would make it fit pefrectly with no need for cutting. If we can get some pics of a 88 Z31 turbo shifter it would be useful. If no one has them, we'll try to post one next time the owner is around.

[Garrett76Zt]

Originally Posted by kjones

Rick and I were looking at a 1988 Z31 turbo shifter the other day... The Z31 turbo uses the same tranny as the Z32. The only difference is that the shifter is not remotely mounted. I think that solution would make it fit pefrectly with no need for cutting. If we can get some pics of a 88 Z31 turbo shifter it would be useful. If no one has them, we'll try to post one next time the owner is around.

Yes, you are correct, In fact the 87-88 z31t trannies are identical to the RB25 tranny with the exception of the bell bolt pattern. I see no reason you couldnt use a 87-88 tranny for this. I dont think it will make a tranny mount any easier, but if all you're concerned about is the shifter location then there ya go. the 87-88 trannies are just typically harder to find . . .

I'll drop a hint though . . . Im not 100% positive but I think that the Later VG30e 2wd pathfinders may have used this "shorter" transmission. Someone needs to check it out. In a similar way, the nissan trucks, hardbody's,etc. used a shorter version of the "C box" tranny aka 240sx tranny. The "stubby C box" if you will . . .

Isnt Ricks Pathy a 2wd? roll up under there and check it out. . .

[kjones]

Originally Posted by Garrett76Zt

Yes, you are correct, In fact the 87-88 z31t trannies are identical to the RB25 tranny with the exception of the bell bolt pattern. I see no reason you couldnt use a 87-88 tranny for this. I dont think it will make a tranny mount any easier, but if all you're concerned about is the shifter location then there ya go. the 87-88 trannies are just typically harder to find . . .

I'll drop a hint though . . . Im not 100% positive but I think that the Later VG30e 2wd pathfinders may have used this "shorter" transmission. Someone needs to check it out. In a similar way, the nissan trucks, hardbody's,etc. used a shorter version of the "C box" tranny aka 240sx tranny. The "stubby C box" if you will . . .

Isnt Ricks Pathy a 2wd? roll up under there and check it out. . .

Garrett,

I think what we were focused on was that the tranny is identical but there is a different shifter which mounts kinda like a T5 shifter mounts. This would eliminate the need for that remotely mounted shifter (even on your car). It fits right into the top of the tranny when you remove the shifter cover.

Using this shifter would greatly minimize the installation difficulties and probably make the kit cheaper too since you wouldn't need the shifter or remote mounting flange that comes as part of it... Basically any aftermarket shifter for a Z31 turbo (88-89) should work in the stock shifter hole with no cutting (hopefully)...

I will take a look and try to confirm these findings a little further

[Cal Poly Zmanaustin]

Garrett,
Thanks for putting this together. Great thread. I vote to make it a sticky.

[nismopu]

they do in fact use a shorter tranny but its just about as rare to find as the 87-89 300zx turbo 5 speeds. Also, when the frontiers came out they used the z32 style shifter linkage and also I think the length is the same. I am curious if the fs5w71c's shifter would work also? Anyone got any input on this? peace.

[frank280zx]

can someone sticky this!!

[spotfitz]

I have a '92 Pathy 2WD 4dr if you need some info from it.
On a side note: It's great being able to slide up under a vehicle to work on it without having to jack it up. Changing a 31" tire sucks though.

Heres a good site for Pathy info aswell:
http://npora.ipbhost.com//

[seth]

Originally Posted by frank280zx

can someone sticky this!!

I second that