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No 5th gear at all after 5spd swap (77 280z)


dashpot

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Hey All,

I've searched all over for this topic and can't quite find what I'm looking for.  Part of it may be my being green in the drivetrain area.  

I took a 76 280z (CA) and put the motor and 5spd from a 77 280z (2+2) in.

 After getting everything in place, the car drives and goes through gears 1-4 okay.  It won't go into 5th no matter what and has a little trouble with reverse.  From what I've read this sounds like a shift fork replacement is in order.  I don't see any interference issues with the shifter and tunnel.  

1) Would you put your money on this needing a fork replacement?

2) If so, I assume this requires pulling the trans... I'm a little hesitant with my skill level to make any assumptions at this point and start dissecting

3) Any guides or advice on approaching this?  

 

Note: I do have the 4 speed I pulled out of the car if there is anything I can use from it.  Sorry for the naivety... I'm dying to finally get some summer fun out of this thing.  Thanks!

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The lever doesn't go into 5th.  So it's not like it's grinding or anything, more like hitting a "wall".  The lever also takes about double the force to move to the right side (5th, R) than the left (1st, 2nd) if that means anything.  I trust the guy I bought it from that it's a 5 speed and I'm pretty positive I ran it through the gears to verify at a stop (the car it came from was never really driveable).  In other words I would be astonished if this was not a 5 speed, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't missed something like this before - especially with this being so long ago.  

It didn't have a factory knob on it ever... some aftermarket hideous wooden ball.

Are there any part numbers visible with it mounted to the car I can do a sanity check on (now that I'm paranoid)?   

If this is indeed a 5 speed, would you expect both 5th and reverse to work the same/not at all?  

 

Thank you

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Take a look at the top of the trans, if there is a plate that is about 1" wide and 5 to 7" long, then it's a 4 speed, if not then it's trans tear down time.

I've seen more than a few people assume that just because the trans was in a 280Z (2+2) that it is a 5-speed, when the 5 speed was an option and many had 4 speeds installed.

The fact that it's harder to move the gear shift to the right to go into the reverse and possible 5th gate, makes me think that it's actually a 4 speed.

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How are the bushings in the shifter?  If they're bad they'll let the lever move too far and it might bind up before it moves far enough.  There's a round plastic one on the bottom and two at the fulcrum pin.

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If you can't see the plate on the top look at the area around the speedo cable.  Here are two pictures I took a while ago of my 76 4 speed and 78 5 speed.  Trying to find a way to tell them apart from below.  The 78 5 speed case is almost straight as it passes the speedo cable.  76 has a noticeable bend.

post-8864-0-41644000-1435893366_thumb.jpg

post-8864-0-63805600-1435893375_thumb.jpg

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Thanks guys,

The shifter bushings look good.  There's a fair amount of play in the stick but I expected that (not knowing how much is normal from a 40 year old car).  Once I get time I will check for the plate on top as mentioned by Six_Shooter.  

I did, however, have a moment to run out and snap a picture of the speedo cable area as mentioned by NewZed.  If that indeed is a 100% way to tell the trans apart, mine matches the pic on the left (4 speed).  Now that I feel like the ultimate moron, I will try lookin for that top plate to verify, as well as contacting the PO to try and figure out what happened.  I don't know how that was missed, but I can't argue with what it is.  At least with swapping the motor (goal all along) it was easier to leave the trans attached (working on all the explanations for my buddies that helped me with this project.. hahaha).

I'll post up any other evidence I find that verifies for sure what trans this is.  Thanks again.

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I don't know that it's a 100% guaranteed method, but those are real pictures of real transmissions.  I've used both.

 

Drawings of the plate are in the FSM MT chapters.  Pretty obvious when you see it.  Posted 76.  Look in the 78 FSM for 78.  It's smooth up there.

 

 

post-8864-0-25924900-1435953922_thumb.png

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