mobythevan

Also, did you use the JTR tranny mount. Just curious if this tranny mounts in the same spot as the other GM trannies that fit with the JTR mount. Bryan

How did you set up your clutch linkage with the 4 speed OD tranny? Just looking for some ideas. Did you fab the linkage or find some that worked for you? Bryan

It looks like this tranny may have been put in the 6.2l chevy diesel pickups of the early 80's. I found info suggesting that it was an option for gasoline Chevy and GMC trucks. Bryan

Is there an easy way to identify this tranny at the junk yard. I saw something about an MY6 code. Of course none of the junk yards I talked to beleive that there was ever a manual 4 speed overdrive that was put into any mid 80's gm pickups. So I am going to be crawling around at the junk yards looking for one of these. Does anyone know if there were particular models that had this tranny? I was able to dig up one picture of the tranny, but not much else about it.

I ran directly from my rams horn manifolds on my van when I first stuck the motor in. Put the motor in at my father-inlaws shop and then drove home with no exhaust. About 4 miles through town, it is one of my most memorable hot rod experiences. Of course it sounded like a monster truck. This Harley guy was setting at one of the stop lights so I gave it a little rev, since they do it all the time. You should have seen the look he gave me Then at another stop light I ended up first in line next to a Z28, oh crap, this is not a good situation, way too tempting Well, I didn't even have throttle linkage hooked up. So I am running the throttle with my right hand (cover removed from the doghouse, its a 68 van) and steering with my left hand. TH350 tranny. So the light turns green and I go WOT. HOLY CRAP, I bet three people had heart attacks that day. Since I was at the mercy of the tranny switching gears the camaro got about a half car length before it hit second, then I started a steadily pulling away. Then the thing over heated at the next stop light. The only other trip the van made without exhaust was to the muffler shop about two blocks from my house. What fun though, I would have been up a creek if I met a cop that day, but oh well young and stupid....

I like that mount that Ron Tyler made. I am sure I will do something similar. what do you think about cutting and removing the center of the origional diff mount. I would only keep each end to support the swing arm but do away completely with the middle. Do you think this would affect the stability for supporting the swing arm? I would incorporate a safety feature so that if the diff rubber mount broke, the front of the diff would be supported. This makes my life simple if I can just cut the origional front diff mount.

I got the 2-2-1819 part in yesterday and tried it out last night. Fits great.

After talking to the local driveline place I had them order the spicer 2-2-1819 part. I'll post the results. If he can't get that part he is going to order the 2-2-1899. We'll see what fits and I'll let you guys know. The differences between these two parts seem trivial. He explained that the joint angle listed should be the maximum angle allowed for the u-joint not to bind. He wasn't sure why they listed 0 angle for the 1899 part unless there chart was missing info. Both of these parts use the 1310 series u-joint. Bryan

Ok, I went out with the calipers and did some measuring. The numbers I came up with look like spicer part number 2-2-1899 will work. Interesting that I measured the flange dia. to be 4.06 and this part shows 4.08(shouldn't matter?) Also, I measured the pilot dia. to be 1.969 and this part shows 1.968 Its probably a dumb question but will a thousandth matter here? I actually can't tell re-measuring it if it is 1.968 or 1.969 It looks like spicer part number 2-2-1819 matches my measurements closer, but shows a joint angle of 30?? I guess I'll try to order the 1899 part and see how it matches up, unless you have any heads up here. Bryan

Myself, I would rather drive the log skidder to town and run over a few cars. Now that would be fun!!!

Has anyone found an adapter for the 300z type round input flange on the diff to chevy type u-joint? I am not interested at this point in swapping the input flange so I can use the neapco adapter. If I can't find anything I will just use a 300z driveshaft to build upon, but someone told me that the u-joint on the 300z driveshaft was welded in?? Anyone have more info on this? Thanks

I've seen mention on a website about installing braces from the tranny to the diff in order to reduce body twisting. Is anyone running braces like this? Could this kind of bracing be used instead of heavier framerails for "daily driving"? Just looking for ideas since this seems like more of a bolt on solution vs a welding adventure with the frame rails, sub frame connectors. I didn't dig up much searching for this and have not seen many other people mention it. Bryan

I had planned to fab my own mount for the front of the diff. I have the LSD diff and it has the 300z input flange which doesn't work with the front diff mount. I could just swap out that front flange, but if I am making new mounts whats the difference. Unless that limits my options on u-joint compatibility for the driveshaft??

Always the issue of room under there, well I was just curious what the thought was. I'll think it over when I'm staring under there at the minimal space. If I end up with side pipes, which I think looks nice on Z's (except for the clearence issues), then maybe it will free up a small amout of room near the tunnel. Bryan

I can tell you the best way NOT to do it!!! I picked one up from the machine shop and tossed in the back of my volkswagen rabbit. Then I was crankin thru town at about 50mph and the guy in front of me stopped at a yellow light. Not a problem most of the time, but when I stood on the brakes that engine came up front with me. Yep, it toppled the back seat right over. I didn't get hurt, but it was the last engine block I hauled in the rabbit. mobythevan

I figure I'll leave the engine and tranny in, then I can weld an extension from the drive shaft to the rotisserie. Then I can just fire up the car and have a cool carnival ride. Kids in the neighborhood would probably pay a couple bucks to go for a spin Just go fast over the top so the engine doesn't die mobythevan

Yeah, I'm gonna do the sub frame connectors and put an 8 point roll cage in. I plan to put the car on a rotisserie after I remove the rest of the drivetrain. Shouldn't be long before it goes on the rotisserie. Can't wait to get started, but my wife wants to move before summer:( , so we'll see how that affects the time I'll have. mobythevan

So I finally took a couple pics of the humble beginning of my V8 conversion. Got my mig welder in also. Got the JTR manual. So now its phase 1, rust repair and frame rebuild. I'll take pics as I go along for the webpage. Wish me luck.... http://www.geocities.com/moby_the_van/240z.html mobythevan

I didn't think about only being able to make ~30 degree bends with the harbor freight type. Good call. In 240z Turbo's pics of his roll cage, he doesn't show a pic of the overhead bar. The rest of the bars in his cage are straight or close to. Thats too bad because those benders are on sale for $70 right now. I think there may be other ways I can get a roll cage constructed with only 30 degree angles. Thats what I'll tell myself all the way to the hospital. mobythevan

I checked into it, $149 for the 8 point cage. But shipping to me is $89 plus $8 handling. I am thinking I will just buy the pipe bender from harbor freight for $100 and make my own. It says the tubing is notched on the jegs cage. Just curious if somebody bought one yet and could comment on the installation. mobythevan

This evening I pulled my r180 out the 240z. It is the type with the center bolts that hold the stub axles. While it was setting there I decided to weigh it for fun. Driveshaft, r180 with grease(and stubs) and the mustache bar weighed ~80 pounds. So I weighed my r200lsd(no grease) with stub axles... 80 pounds. The new mustache bar from 280z weighed about 8 pounds. Sorry if I am boring you, but I thought it was interesting. So I am looking at 8 pounds heavier plus the weight of my new driveshaft with is not built yet. Also, the lsd diff is wider than the r180. Measuring width at the stub flanges. So I guess my current half shafts will be too long, unless they compress enough to allow this. Looked to be about 3/4 inch wider. mobythevan

update, went and picked up the r200 LSD today, along with the mustache bar and r200-open output shafts. I saw mention in some older posts about someone selling a replacement rear brace that works with the finned diff cover. Anyone still doing this? If not I'll fab one up. I'm not going to swap an r200-open input flange to this diff because I have to get a drivshaft built anyway. So I'm just going to have the drive shaft built to bolt directly to the existing input flange on the r200 LSD. I'm in business, not I just have to get all of the welding done. mobythevan

Yeah, I can get the r200 LSD from the guy, and he has the 280z mustache bar for r200, and the 280z stubs for the r200. He only wants $25 for the stubs in addition, so I think I'll try those first. then i may upgrade to the cv halfshafts if breakage is an issue. Thanks for the pointers. mobythevan

Ok, before anyone beats me up too bad... I did search and read all of the posts on swapping r200 into the 240z (in place of r180). The only thing that wasn't crystal clear to me from the search is the half shaft stubs. I found an r200 LSD unit, but it is just the pumpkin. It does not have any half shafts or the stubs that mount to the half shafts. So, the simple question: will my r180 half shaft stubs swap into the r200 LSD pumpkin? BTW, it is a 72 240z and the r200 LSD is from an 88 turbo. Just want to make sure before i fork out the dough and get the r200 home. mobythevan

You bet I'm going with the small block chevy. I've got 2 four bolt blocks sitting in the garage and an old 327 small journal block. I had always dreamed of building the fast revving 302 trans am motor, but I think a 383 would be a lot more fun. So I am thinking a ~400hp build on a 383 will do it up nice. Probably go with a 700r4 tranny. I like the subtle z body kit. Not quite sure if thats what I want yet. mobythevan