CU Zcar

Does the 3.9 (?) R200 in a 1983 280ZX Turbo have 10mm or 12mm bolt holes in the ring gear? I ask cause I have a LSD 300ZXT differential with something wrong, and possibly a differential from a 280ZXT. I could just swap center sections if I can't fix the 300ZX diff, if the bolt holes are 12mm, couldn't I?

I got a 1988 300ZXT (auto.) R200 LSD quite a while ago and popped it in the car, only to find that the "little noise" encountered during deceleration according to the seller was actually a horrifying grinding noise in my car, a 1978 280 5-spd, perhaps amplified by my solid front mount. I recently dropped it back out and checked the backlash, my 78 manual states that R200s should have a backlash of about 0.003-0.007 in, but my gears are showing about 0.010 in of backlash. Is that alone enough to cause the bad sounds I'm hearing? I was unable to check the gear contact pattern yet with bluing compound, probably next weekend...hoping that will uncover the problem. My question is, what else could cause the sound? Unloaded, out of the car, the gears and bearings aren't making any really bad sounds. The ring gear doesn't look ground up or anything, though the sides of the teeth do look pretty shiny...good or bad? Could the problem have been caused by my axles not being popped in all the way or something similar? Thanks,

Duuuuuuuuuh, this goes in the turbo section. Sorry guys.

I've done a little searching of archives and can't seem to find some of the answers I'm looking for. I'm going to buy a 280ZX Turbo in the coming weeks for swapping the L28ET into my 1978 280Z and it's been a while since I've read up on the concerns. The ones that are in my head at the moment are: 1) Clearance issues - does the turbo hit anything, I remember the brake master cyl. heat shield has to be moved/modified/removed, I'm worried about really hard stuff to move like the steering or anything else that passes by the turbo 2) I just read a page suggesting that a Turbo oil pan won't fit in a 240Z when used on an L24. Is this an issue for all early Z's or just 240's? I can't remember hearing mention of that before. 3) a couple of the "buildup" pages that were suggested in earlier posts seem to be down, are there any more recent ones I can check out? I feel pretty confident in my ability to do this swap, it sounds relatively straightforward and I'm no newcomer to engine work...this will be more electrical work than I've done before, but it doesn't worry me greatly either. Fortunately I have a beater to drive around in the meantime Thanks guys,

I have a 300ZX clutch-pack LSD in need of new bearings, probably including the front drive pinion bearings/sleeves/washers. I also have a factory service manual for a 1978 280Z. The clutch packs seem to be fine, judging from the force required to turn the axles while it was out. Is it possible to make all the measurements to the drive pinion without the "dummy shaft" that the manual prescribes? If I do this myself, I'm going to buy a large press as well (so I can rebuild transmissions in my garage as well) so I should have all the tools necessary, and I'll order the shims as necessary, etc...I just don't have the $5-700 that the tranny shop says it'll probably cost to have them do it, while I can probably swing the $1-200 for bearings and such. Thanks for your input!

Hmm, that's what I gather, that the 71B I already have is better than the 71C in the 240SX. Guess I'll have to rebuid mine with quality OEM bearings this time (vs. cheap aftermarket kit) and stop driving like an idiot

I may have the chance to buy a Datsun 2000 Roadster 5-speed transmission with the special Zcar bellhousing, I was wondering if anyone knew how it compared to the FS5W71B gearbox in terms of strength. Also, I've been asking on 240SX.org about the FS5W71C transmission and using it in a Z, one guy who's done some mixing and matching with the cases has done it but said that the Z has a better shift mechanism and synchros. I can't say, I've never driven a 240SX, but I do know that I've worn out a few Z transmissions and wondered if the larger countershaft which I believe a 240SX tranny has makes it any stronger.

I have a friend with a Datsun 1600 Roadster that tightened down his pinion gears as well (it's obviously not an R200 rear but I'm just confirming that the trick exists). He was happy enough with the results to the handling (it's an SCCA autocross car) to shell out the money for a real LSD though.

Anyone have experience with the GC bolt-in 280Z camber plates? I could really use some camber to get away from my -0.2 degrees I have right now (stock-length struts w/Tokico springs&struts, stock upper mounts). I tried the $100 Motorsport camber kit, and felt they weren't worth the small amount of extra camber I got (not much at all!) So now I'm dealing again with wearing the outer shoulders of my autocross tires, and thinking that it may be time to step up to GC coilovers and at least front camber plates, but I'd rather not weld (I'm assuming that's necessary for their camber/caster plates) if the bolt-ins will give me 1.5 degrees negative or more. I'll talk with GC of course when I'm ready but wanted to know your impressions. Thanks!

Well got mine on order, guess I'll find out for myself in a couple weeks how it works. Where's the best source for information on break-in? I gather that the instructions don't say and neither will PG themselves, but I've read others say that burnouts are necessary, some people talk about using LSD additive/friction modifier, etc. etc? Also, I have what I assume to be a well-worn 280Z R200 (3.54:1), should I have no problem with clearances? I read the past posts about new/rebuilt R200s needing some shaving done to the PG blocks.

I've heard that being rough with both a T5 and the Nissan transmission behind a L28ET can eat transmissions, so I was wondering if anything is really gained by going to the trouble to get the T5 in there. I am looking at an 83 ZXT as a donor car for my 78 Z, and it should have the T5, but if it's just going to wear out like the Nissan trannies (which I have three of ) I'm not sure I want to go to the trouble to have a driveshaft made. Plus, I have heard plenty about the T5 from my 5.0 Mustang friends hehe

I'm getting tired of not finding 300ZXT LSD's so I'm probably going with the PG. Just wondering if any of you had gotten around to an autocross and had anything more to say since the last round of good news. The impression I get is that you can overpower them with a V8, but the farthest I'm taking my car in the next couple years is turbo so I don't have that V8 low-end anyway. Also I'm mostly worried about traction at autocrosses. Comments? Thanks!

"This is the factory stuff!" -off the Calmini page, specifically http://www.purenissan.com/r200_front_lsd.htm also http://www.purenissan.com/d21_front_lsd.htm Both say "fit front R200" Correct me if I'm wrong, but that should mean we can get LSD's out of Frontiers and Xterras if we were to find one of them in a salvage yard, eh? [edit: hmm I suppose if Nissan is selling the diffs alone they probably don't come stock. ho-hum.] Guess there's not many of them in salvage yards yet, but it's another to look for... BTW just noticed that Courtesy Nissan lists that same Calmini differential on their website for Frontiers, at the same price. Another edit: TOCHIGI FUJI AMERICA MANUFACTURING, INC 2223 Woodbridge Blvd., Bowling Green,OH 43402 U.S.A. or TOCHIGI FUJI U.S.A., INC 3250 West Big Beaver Rd.,Suite 333,Troy,MI 48084 U.S.A. got from http://www.tfsk.co.jp/comp/company-p5.html It's not a website but perhaps one may be able to contact them via snail-mail at least. Also found the Michigan address on SAE.org's website. Apparently they're not concerned though with allowing the masses to contact them easily electronically, but I doubt they can do business on a scale small enough for us to buy into anyways. If I even have the right company! No, not another edit! Here's their Japanese homepage: http://www.tfsk.co.jp/first.html and phone/fax: Phone (248) 649-3933 Fax (248) 649-3955 from http://www.yy007.com/car/tuvwxyz.htm also found another confirmation of that phone# and the MI address together on yet another page. I'm bored, can anyone tell?

Reider does show an R200 (12mm bolts) under Differentials>PG Power Brute on their website, but no price (no prices for anything else either). $525 you say, that may be worth it for me if I don't find a junkyard with one soon. Course I'd have to still buy a late-model R200 then...more $$$...oh well that's what cars are all about.

Hm. Maybe everyone else is. I don't have enough room anywhere to get to "high speeds" so I can't say if a Z is good/bad for that. Basically, you can do the type of low-speed stuff I described in just about any RWD car, or FWD/AWD if you snatch the handbrake (that's almost never worth it for FWD'ers from what I can tell, in an autocross anyway). I'm not crazy enough to do it on a public road. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Case in point. Video: http://people.clemson.edu/~bshaun/pics/vid/zdrift.avi Nah, it ain't that extreme, and my video-taking skills need some brushing up, but it's pretty cool. I thought. (BTW that's my Miata-driving friend at the wheel, second time he's driven the car, first in about a month.)

My school's sports car club has drift days following out autocrosses, and I don't have much trouble going sideways (...or spinning out, depending on how far I push it ). I've just got a mild L28 and the suspension listed below. You would think a massively stiff rearend would ease driftability, but I guess that isn't the case with IRS 'cause I couldn't get it to go sideways at all with the back full-stiff (and neither could my friend who is a real crazy drifter in his Miata). With reduced rear tire pressure and the shocks set to 2 (almost full soft) the car is pretty easy to either clutch-kick or feint sideways. Now, holding it there is the challenge, a LSD would help greatly. Power steering wouldn't be too great an asset I don't think, I usually just initiate the drift and let the steering wheel snap to whatever it needs to hold the drift, then I grasp it and either try to aim the car or come out. It's pretty difficult to describe and I'm not all that good yet, all I can say is DON'T TRY IT ON THE STREET!! Try it out in an empty parking lot at least until you have some idea of how to aim the car and come out from being sideways. If you're anywhere near Clemson, SC come to our next AX/drift day events! You can watch and learn a lot in just a day.

I've got another LSD myth I'd like you guys to either confirm or dispel. I've heard that the front differential of some Nissan (or other imported?) 4x4 trucks is swappable into a Zcar (i.e. an R200 or other R-series diff flipped backwards). Fact or fiction? Also, I wondered if it was possible to swap just the carrier (LSD unit) out of any Nissan (or other) solid-axle LSD's into an R200 case. Thanks for putting up with my ignorance!

http://home.flash.net/~joeao/greg/zcar.html That's the guy's main site, the "R200 differential" link towards the bottom has various pictures: http://home.flash.net/~joeao/greg/lsdpics/ "lsdinside.jpg" vs. "viscousinside.jpg" and "viscousgears.jpg" are the ones you're interested in, and perhaps the shaft comparisons which I assume demonstrate why you can't use normal shafts in a viscous unit. But anyway, the clutch type pic looks nothing like mine and the viscous pic looks exactly like mine, at least from the angle I took my picture from. Hope this can help some others As for me, gotta get the $ back and get back to the search.

No, it was out of a burgundy car and no white rims like the special editions that had viscous diffs. A reply on zcar.com pointed me to another site with a pic of a clutch LSD vs. the viscous and you're right, mine looks like a damn viscous one. It didn't have a "viscous" tag on it either, I'm pissed! Nothing ever works out like you read it online I guess. I'm going to take it back probably, my whole reasoning was that this would be the near bolt-in with a clutch pack type, I don't want to spend any more on this part of the project. Apparently I've already spent more than I should have, but I was dumb not to barter. Maybe I'll go with a Phantom Grip. [sigh]

I got this from a junkyard 1988 300ZX Turbo, it has the finned aluminum cover on the back but I read once that some non-LSD's came with this cover as well (though I've also read that the cover is a positive ID for an LSD rearend). I couldn't test if both wheels turn in the same direction because the yard had already sold one of the axles. I'm probably worrying too much but wanted to know if anyone could positively say this was/was not LSD before I took my axles out to test. I can say that it does not look like this illustration out of my manual:

I found that the "non-replaceable" U-joints in the axle halfshafts of my '78 were actually removeable, just not as easily as a U-joint that was meant to be replaced (according to my dad). Advance Auto ordered me a replacement, had it in the next day (aftermarket though, and it had the aforementioned grease zerk). They also gave me the incorrect U-joint at first, its label said it was the one for the main driveshaft, so I am guessing that it is possible to replace them as well. I may have to do that in the near future too

Sorry to bring up such a common topic once again, but I'm a little confused and tired of searching. To put the '87-89 300ZXT R200 LSD into a '78 280Z already equipped with the earlier R200, is the following all that is required to mate the 280Z driveshaft to the LSD rearend's input? 1) remove the bolt on the front of both diff's 2) swap the "companion flanges" 3) replace bolts and torque to spec (I have specs in a factory service manual) Is that it, or are there issues with spline numbers, etc? I've read previous posts concerning the presence/absence of a crush washer, and that doesn't concern me either way. If I don't find one of these LSD's I may be back to get one of those Phantom Grips from the "scca" fellow thanks,

Hey all, I'm new here (though some may know me from zcar.com--Shaun B.) and wanted to know if any of you with first-gen Z's with turbos autocross. I love autocrossing my '78 with its mostly stock engine, and this summer I'm planning at least installing an aftermarket cam, Weber TB, headers, 2.5" exhaust, and maybe a very amateur porting job on one of my extra N47 heads My question is, it's also possible I'd have the money to go with a ZX turbo swap, V8, or further mods to the NA L28 (parts above were free with a parts car!!) and I want what's best for autocrossing. I'm planning on running SM2 in SCCA races, I'm not into winning a class, just beating my friends and from driving a friend's RX7 TurboII and listening to others with turbo cars, I gather that a turbo isn't always a help in tight races like this. So basically, I want anyone who has a lot of luck with a turbo to let me know, cause there's a lot I like about the turbo swap vs. the V8. Thanks,