duragg

I probably spend about 20x time searching Hybridz threadz than posting. There should be a rating for Posts and Searches! In truth, hasn't every single issue on a Z been discussed 18 times over. Everything! How much is really truly new? Yet.. I read 10 threadz on the same damn thing and in between the lines, among the coal and fossils I'll find a little diamond... that one little diamond. I'll cross refernce to what the FIAT guys are doing with Webers, or the Porsche guys with blowers and I might even see what the Suby guys are doing with R180s (but not likely). In the aviation world we struggle on type-specific forums and groups to keep the quality up, yet run through enough new candidates to promote the best. A forum called "Beechtalk" does a superb job of this. VERY tight to the Terms of Use and zero tolerence to the decorum rules. (Airplanes are aluminum so we have to be more gentle with each other.) My problem is I have a WP, a veritible "Mama's boy" and I want everyone to get along and have a good time like I am. So I pick on CertainD members because I perceive them to be "mean", When they probably, most likely, by all means, (maybe) they aren't. But if we don't allow or or if we discourage posting of Old-Business there is a risk of squashing good information and new ideas and tricks and new angles on old problems which is the heart of Hybridz. Tj

And what kind of money does a person spend on a 3.4 Race motor? Are these $20k USD? $10k? I have no concept of what this type of perfection would cost.. What HP and RPM would you be pleased to see?

Yep, sure does look the same. Im sure I just paid twice what you did for the same exact part. Oh well, Daves a good dude and just a short drive to pick up is nice. Cash discount... he likes that. Going to drop at Superfinishers tomorrow and let Mike verify its nice and true then get the F/W, disk and PP bolted back up. Then focus on fixing the tranny. Then full circle back to the top of this thread and pour the juice back in... Think you will be running by the February NASA meet? That would be great, but you probably won't want to Flog the crap out of your motor like I was doing.

When i installed the BD stuff there was a lot of custom work. Just keep cutting, welding and grinding and welding more until it all fits. Oh, and a WHOLE Lot of banging. I literally cried when I first tried to fit everything and the shop owner just laughed. Gave me the plazma cutter and a bigger hammer, pulled up my panties and started going to work. It was actually fun once I realized there was not perfect fit. just a template to start from.

When you do lapp them together, they make a real visible grey-ing of the surfaces and you can see the perfect wear pattern. My best friend owns a machine shop that does nothing but Lapping, Honing and Superfinishing, so I had some help on that one. But reading other forums that the Drivetrain.com synchros are junk. Regardless, now I know how to measure and what I am looking for.

FLASH: Just got a handy tech from Nissan to tell me the shift Rods are NLA> the new forks is superceded to 32808-Q0101 for $65 from dealer. $35 from NPZ. I suppose the 1/2 fork takes most of the beating. Yay: 32800-E9415 ROD ASSY-FORK NLA 32805-Q0101 FORK SHIFT

Just got word from Nissanpartszone.com that the shift fork is discontinued. Trying to see if a replacement is available.

I did order a new 1/2 fork and just guessed on the year since I don't have the VIN of the donor. Also going to pick up an Arizona Zcar flywheel later today. 12lbs. I already am using his clutch. Try to support local vendors where I can and the quality looked great last time I was at his house. http://www.arizonazcar.com/clutch.html Now that I know how better to measure syncros and what to pay attention to I think this rebuild will be a lot better than last. I understand the box better now. And can pay more attention to the things I want to improve.

I admit to not knowing exactly what an adjustable slave is. Different than adjusting from the pedal side? Or does that allow you to set desired pedal height and then move the throwout from the slave side? The forks themselves are all Aluminum on the 3 FS5w71B I have worked on. Ordered all the other parts and hopefully have by weeks end. For this round as a basis for experiment I will just rebuild per stock book specs and see how that changes things. Still looking for a spare tranny I can get more aggressive on with other unknown mods.

Where did you end up ordering parts? I rebuilt mine 2 years ago with drivetrain.com parts and the synchros are gone about 1000 miles later. Just ordered new stuff from nissanpartzone which is supposedly OEM dealer parts.

Glad you got it fixed. I once had a sway bar attach point break loose and that made a holy racket on bumps.

I guess I will order from www.nissanpartszone.com? The dealers just don't seem to want anything to do with this. I was thinking about replacing the shift fork for 1&2 but unfortunately I don't know the exact year of my tranny. They made some change mid-year in 1983 so I have no idea. My 1/2 shift fork has strange plastic dowels in it. My 3/4 and 5/R does not have them. http://www.nissanpartszone.com/Page_Product/PartDetail.aspx?ModelName=280ZX&ModelYear=1983&ModelSeries=S130&FileType=268&SelectConditions=(4=MT;5=F5;)&ShowConditions=(4=MT;5=F5;)&seeDesc=False&goBack=True&SectionNo=&ComponentsNo=328&PageID=28925#ctl00_cphView_pnlPartList

Must have been oil on exhaust. And the 5 inches of standing water on turn 3 and 4 that burned off on the straight. It is just cool how many people say they appreciate having an old Z on the track. And to me, that makes it all worthwhile. .. Plus the fact that it is still "competitive"..

Experimental Mods with unknown results.... 1) Deleting every other synchro engage tooth. 2) Shimming up the springs under the 3 keys that push the synchro ring into the gear. 3) Heavier spring on the 1/2 ball that holds the fork in gear.

I read about deleting some synchro teeth on another forum and might consider that. Need to read more on that. I have come to realize this is a track car, not a drag car. (Drags require windows up, NASA events are windows down... its the little things that make me happy). However after seeing that my synchros are all WAY under spec, perhaps I will just rebuild to proper spec and see how that goes. But faster bang-shifting does sound fun... This will be my 3rd FS5w71B teardown / reassemble and so far-so good actually. Glad to be able to learn exactly how things work and tweak them to my needs.

Will try to order GENUINE Nissan rebuild parts tomorrow. On the list in this picture should be: * All 5 synchro rings (1-4 same, 5th different). * Superceded reverse check assembly (just in case a newer version is better..?) * New 1/2 shift fork (is superceded P/N). * New components on the lock ball assembly for 1/2 with superceded p/n * gaskets and some other little stuff. * Shifter end bushing

Pulled tranny and disassembled. The synchro-balk clearance is supposed to be 1.2mm to 1.6mm but none of that was there. All were way under. 1st was 1mm 2nd was .5mm 3rd was 1.1mm 4th was 1.31 5th I forgot to write down. So whatever clearance I measured, or thought I measured, or wanted to exist when I put it together last is now AFU. All gear clearances were in spec and the gears themselves looked perfect, so the grinding must just sound worse than it actually is. A bunch of pictures below, along with the flywheel and clutch which have odd wear? Good news is the RMS I thought was leaking is NOT leaking. Guess it is the VCG afterall. I think this is the right measurment place. Basically it measures how deep the brass ring goes into the gear. This is too far in and hence doesn't work. Supposed to be 1.2mm to 1.6mm and this one is maybe .5mm -> uploaded wrong picture. I don't have a pic of the proper measurement place. the 1/2 shift fork is different than 3/4. it is not as rigid and has the plastic dowels. Never quite got this, related to popping out? This is the 3/4 fork and 5/R looks the same. Rear main seal not leaking afterall? 240mm flywheel I will probably chuck and get a lighter one while I am here. Arizona Zcar pressure plate. Funky wear? Only probably has 500 miles.

Boy am I in trouble. ... I'll be reporting to TonyD's office for this screw up...

Sometimes I wish I had taken up golf.

I used the Arizona Zcar Organic clutch, but just a stock 240mm flywheel that was leightened some. If I pull the tranny I will probably go to the lighter flywheel while I am there and gives me a chance to fix the oil leak too. I guess its easier to pull tranny from below rather than pulling engine and tranny together?

I should probably weigh sometime but i have a few other faults to correct before the next event in February. Tranny is #1, need my brake pedal to sit a little higher so I can blip throttle better, or vice-versa, fix heavy front bias, few other things. When really hammering the car hard it gets a little stinky? Probably oil burning off parts of the exhaust that aren't normally that hot?

I do wonder about the nut. But the later models are even reverse threaded. This is making me want to go pull the tranny right this very minute... and I am supposed to be cleaning the house today...

Well I can't live with it anymore. Track day yesterday and it tends to pop out of second and grind. Hopefully I haven't damaged it more than necessary. Choices are: 1) rebuild another which doesn't allow me to learn what went wrong on this one. 2) open up this one and try to learn what I screwed up, but which wont show me if I somehow assembled it wrong. 3) get another unmolested one and do them both side-by-side to compare & contrast with the FSM.

Amazing day at the Firebird West track yesterday. Pouring rain all day actually made for superb training on car control. The Z did great. An interesting combo of handling and power. Just about everyone has a "Z story". Either they used to own one or their neighbor had one or somebody took them for a ride. Its pretty cool that people like the old Z cars. Classic? Several people said the Z car sounded awesome chasing that GTO on the straight up to 7300 in 3rd gear. None of my other classmates would turn off their traction control (GTO, WRX, 335i). Only me and the Miata guy spun out ever. Watching the RHD Skyline chase the 1000hp Viper in rain was cool. And the sound! Will post a vid soon.

Busted butt all week to get ready for my de-virginification: NASA HPDE-1 (FNG) Up at 4am. Pouring rain in AZ. Made for certain I was the 1st guy through Tech while it was still dark and wet. Slipped by the inspectors somehow. Still pouring rain... and scary dark..