Leon

Hey James, so great to see this thread resurrected with you and your son enjoying the car! 60k miles, love it. I've maybe put 6k on mine in that time. Coincidentally, I've had to replace my diff this year (for upsetting reasons) and went with a 3.9 STI CLSD R180. The 3.54 is way easier to find but having had both ratios in my car, the 3.9 feels more appropriate with the close-ratio late-280ZX trans gearing. With that said, my transmission feels a bit worn and I've been thinking about rebuilding or retrofitting something newer. I'll be following your adventures with much interest!

Got mine a few days ago--looks great! Thanks very much for your efforts Ryan!

Sweet, looking forward to seeing how this goes! The powertrain is begging for a 3.9 or 4.10 rear but that's easy enough to change whenever.

Wow, quite the shakeup Nate! Is that an AP1 or an AP2 box? They've got different ratios and synchros. I think the S2k box is longer than the Nissan, curious where the engine will sit when the shifter is situated. While I'm not a proponent of 4-cylinders in Z's, the K20/S2k box is a sweet drivetrain combo. I've got a spare AP2 S2k motor/gearbox/ECU/wiring harness drop-in that I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it... my best idea so far is to drop it into a Merc 190E to make a faux 190E Evo. This idea is however is purely in my dreams, as I have no time for any of this . I commend your efforts! AP2 box is on the left, there's extra ribbing around the countershaft boss. Pic is from Billman250 of s2ki: https://www.s2ki.com/forums/s2000-under-hood-22/ap1-tranny-vs-ap2-tranny-931368/page2/

Amazing work! I definitely don't have the time and patience for this, at least not now, but maybe give it a decade or two when the kids are older and hopefully work is not so consuming. Reminds me of the absolutely entrancing my mechanics 240Z resto videos on YT. I salute the people who have taken the time to get this good at metalwork.

Threads like these are what makes HybridZ special. Bravo! How did you develop your welding and metalworking skills?

Agreed! I did this about a week ago, no more exhaust rattling on the diff. I've also filled the transmission with AC Delco GM friction-modified synchromesh gear oil, as recommended by the internet. I need to put some hard miles on the car to see if it helps smooth out the shifts a bit, namely, aggressive 4-3 downshifts had been a bit scratchy if not done patiently. I've also installed Keith Franck's W65 jets in place of the W60's. Tractability is now near-perfect, fantastic throttle response with surprisingly good fuel economy. I'm wondering whether this engine is better suited to yet another step up in size to W70 but I'd like to put some more miles on this setup. I'd love to finally fit those new OER's I bought a while back but there's a good chunk of work to do before that happens. Namely, port-matching and pinning the manifold as well as Rebello did with the TWM. With the Webers working quite well, I'm not feeling the most urgent motivation on this... Then there's the adjustable cam gear to install, ensure no valve-piston issues, and go have another tuning session. Step-by-step, I'm getting ever closer to where I've been wanting the car to be!

She's back on the road as of this past Saturday, as promised. I forgot how much of a pain it is to do a job like this on the driveway, but it ended with a driving car and a diff that feels better than ever! No more clunking and... a bit less whining. It seems the poly mustache bar bushes transmit a lot of whine, as the front diff mount is still OEM. Somehow though, the exhaust ended up a lot closer to the diff than I recall. The lack of clearance is audible. I'm planning to drop the exhaust and grind down the diff case. Other than that, she needs new tires, fresh engine and gearbox oil, and Keith's W65 jets need install and tuning. Oh, and I found that the rear ARB was clashing with the left RLCA. Since both RLCAs are the same part number, just flipped LH/RH, there is less clearance for the ARB on the left vs right sides due to the flange being on the topside of the arm. This will need some massaging. I'm afraid that by the time I'm "finished", the car will need another restoration. 😄

Checking the wipe patterns beforehand more than offset your mistake.

If this happens regardless of speed or RPM, as you say, then I'm highly suspicious of your throttle linkage. Can you post a pic of your setup? If it's mechanical linkage, check for binding. If it's a throttle cable, I wonder if your lever ratio (length of carb throttle rod / cable throttle rod) is too aggressive. In other words, you may need a longer cable throttle rod.

Finally had a chance to degrease the diff, reseal every joint, and pop in the Kameari stubs. I torqued the pinion nut to 135 ft-lb per this nifty blog article: https://inzane240.blogspot.com/2014/01/updated-info-on-subie-r180-install.html. Planned install is this Saturday! I've also ordered W65 idle jets from Keith Franck so hoping to have this car fairly dialed in for a mountain drive on the following Saturday.

You're right, it's more of a spacer than a crush tube. The shim is used to set pinion depth. There are a few active threads on this topic at classiczcars with a few folks there rebuilding their R180s.

The diff arrived this past Tuesday and I confirmed that the stub axles fit! I'm awaiting my pinion and side seals to arrive next week. In the meantime, I'll clean up and paint the diff and then it's install time. I've decided to install it as-is and only fit new clutches into the diff if I feel like it's needed. I bought bolts for the rear cover from ZCar Depot instead of fitting studs. I'm assuming this won't be the last time I pull this diff so I'm hoping that this makes the process easier.

Man I sure hope so... the research I've done seems to indicate that they match but I can't say I found anything 100% conclusive on this. We shall see.