Dan_Austin

I hate to admit to being one of 'those guys', as I do try to fully diagnose issues with me Z before asking, but I have egg on my face for this one. I check all bolts when the initial vibration started and found nothing out of spec or loose. This morning I checked again, and found one missing driveshaft bolt, one with the nut backed off to the end of the bolt and two that were just more than finger tight. Replace the missing bolt and tightened the others, and now there is no vibration under load or coast. The upside of being a twit in this case is that I received approval to overhaul the diff, so I picked up a 200SX R200 and ordered an OBX. All bolts will get new lock washers and locktight when the new pumpkin goes in. Sorry for the noise...

I had the tire shop check for belt seperation and balance today. The tires are in fine shape. I had them rotate the tires at the same time. On the way home I made sure to get it up to the problem speed, and confirmed that the balance did not fix it, and that rotating did not relocate the problem. Next up will be to see if the driveshaft or halfshafts have thrown a weight. The halfshafts did have their wieghts when I replaced the u-joints back in November, after the initial vibration problem started. I don't particularly notice the vibration through the shifter, so I am doubtful the driveshaft is the culprit. I also would not expect an out of balance shaft to cause the asymmetric vibration.

I could have sworn I had the year in the post, but that's what I get for editing and re-editing to try and get it right. The car is a 1976. The originally felt like it was originating from the right rear. The decel vibration is so severe that it can be felt through the floor, seats and steering wheel. If a belt seperation does not convey the nature of the vibration, picture driving over cobble stones, or highway rumble strips (only more violent). I installed a Ron Taylor mount close to 5000 miles ago, so no straps or original mounts to let go. I also should mention that braking does not alter the intensity, which I would expect it to if the issue was in a wheel bearing.

This started as an annoying vibration between 50 and 65 miles an hour. I had about 800 miles on new tires so, I took it in for a rebalance, but the shop claimed they were not far out of balance. The vibration was completely absent below 50 and and above 65. I searched the forums and found reports that a bad u-joint was a common cause of this problem. Since I had no reason to believe I the u-joints had ever been replaced, I put a new set in. I don't usually like to diagnose by replacement, but 35 years seemed like a fair run. The new joints did not solve the vibration or the ever present clunk. I had already installed new springs, struts, poly bushing and an RT mount about 3,000 miles ealier. I checked that everything was still torqued to spec and that nothing was showing signs of unusual wear. On my evening commute home the behaviour changed. While under load the vibration remains annoying, but nothing more intense than a wheel that is slightly out of balance, but as soon as I lift off the throttle, the intensity feels like it doubles or more. It now feels like a belt seperation, but only while not under load between 50 and 70. I've looked for a definative test to check the wheel bearings, but come up short. Swapping the rear wheel bearings is one task I think I would rather avoid unless I absolutely knew it needed to be done. I plan to ask the tire shop to check for a belt seperation and to rotate the tires, but I do not have high hopes. Any hints on tests to confirm or eliminate the wheel bearings or diff as the problem would be appreciated.

I finally found details about the Camaro swap, eight pages in on a google search. Since this is my only transportation, and it is stranded at work, I am going to go with a stock replacement. It turns our Pep Boys can get the radiator overnight, and for about the same price as the Camaro unit. Oddly the lower radiator hose looked like it would be harder to get, with the initial delivery estimate of almost a week. I lucked out when the clerk we the extra mile and found one at a competitor and bought it so I could get everything tomorrow. I really appreciate the quick and specific answers. For others who may be looking for options, the Jags That Run site has an excellent write up on radiator choices and installation. http://www.jagsthatrun.com/V8-chapters/V8-DatsunZ-Cooling-System.pdf

I hate to revive a year old thread, but I'm also hoping to find a candidate for a swap. I have a bone stock 76 that split a seam in the stock radiator this morning. This is my daily driver, so I need to get it fixed quick. A stock replacement will take a couple days according to the local parts stores. I would much rather get a newer crossflow, but I would settle for anything that gets me moving sooner.

I have a set of chopped up front struts on their way, so I should be able to start the mock-up process. I have not decided on the rear yet. I see three options, each with its own set of drawbacks... 1. Redrill the stock and use a spacer to match up with the new front offset. I do not like the idea of using a spacer. 2. Try to adapt Z31 stub axles using info found in old posts by zcarnut. Finding someone to attempt to do the required machining of the strut housings is likely to be a challenge. 3. Custom stub axles. Just to expensive.

Modern Motor Sports does have various collection of hubs in billet aluminum. With either no additional offset or 19mm additional offset. I suppose that the extra $200+ over the Wilwood hubs would justified by having someone tell you exactly what brake components can just be bolted on. The Starion hub is steel and not aluminum, so durability should not be a concern. A lot of this comes down to a mental experiment. This is my daily driver, so I cannot have it torn apart for testing. A post on these forums got me looking at the Starion hubs for the advantaged of- 5 lub steel hub Salvage yard available Reasonable additional offset Minimal machining for caliper mounting (hopefully) Searching this forum and other Z related forums has uncovered no specifics, so I guess I need to pickup the spindles on eBay and just get to the business of taking the measurements.

There was another member here that used the Conquest/Starion hubs, but they've gone silent. The Camaro swap does not do into great detail either (what rotor, caliper, brackets, etc). The wilwood Camaro hub is drilled in both 5x4.5 and 5x4.75, and looks like a great option, if measurements can be taken to identify possible caliper and rotor pairings. There is a trashed set of spindles available on eBay that I may just have to buy to get this party rolling...

Not really. I'm still looking for a trashed strut to take measurements and mock up possible combinations. I did to a another protracted round ouf reviewing factory rotors and I am disappointed with the options available for a rotor with a 95 mm hat height. If the next round of measurements confirm 95ish mm hat, then it might mean a 2 piece hat/rotor. Another option that may be possible is that while looking at Wilwood rotors, I noted that they also make a range of billet hubs using the same bearings as the Z, in a variety of bearing depths, drilled for both 4.5 and 4.75 five bolt patterns and setup. MSRP also has a pair at well under $300. I need to get off my duff and go find a strut to use for testing.

I am still looking for a trashed strut to use for mock-up and measurements. In the mean time I has spent close to 10 hours using a Brembo flash catalog to review rotors in .1mm hat height increments, and then looking up the any potential donor vehicles on r1concepts. The Brembo app is handy, but cannot search by ranges, and care must be taken to use the app back button and not the browser back button. That method eventually eliminated the 86 Lincoln rotor, since is has a built in hub (never seen one of those). A 1995 Crown Vic rotor might work IF the S12W install has close to 5mm of gap between the caliper and rotor edge (doubt it)(hub/lug centric spacers may be required). A 1994 Mazda MPV rotor has close to ideal hub and lug hole sizes, is nice and wide, close to perfect hat height but only 10.85" (also readily available and cheap) I have a set of S13WB that I grab for reference and may use them. I would prefer to find a mythical set of S13W which internet rumor lists as using the same 43.5 pistons as the the S12W, but has 9mm taller lugs, which would make the Crown Vic rotor work and might be enough to stretch to a 2002 Ford Ranger 12" (hub/lug centric spacers may be required) Keep in mind my goal(s) are- Easy access to replacement rotors/pads (otherwise Wilwood calipers and two piece rotors would be the solution) Easier maintenance. No pulling hubs to replace rotors. Better braking than what I have. Minimal to no machine work. Custom brackets to cope with rotor offset is not going to happen with what I have for tools. Hub or lug spacers may be doable. The Starion hubs appear to have been used by another hybrid'r and met most of my design goals. Sadly the member does not appear to have been here in months, so the easy answer is not happening either...

That is my plan. I believe the rotor I will end up using is from an 86 Lincoln Mark VII. It has a ~95mm total hat height. If my math and measurements are correct it will be centered in the S13W calipers when they are mounted in the stock location. Which means zero machining other than triming or removing the dust sheild. Next up is to buy the rotors, pads and source some decent 5 lug wheels. I also plan to put an 81 ZX master cylinder on at the same time.

Needed for a brake swap mock up. The strut does not need to be usable, and it would be better if it wasn't. I only need the brake mount and hub lug be intact.

I should have added that and the other features I think make it an attractive hub swap- Lub pattern: 5X114.3 (5X4.5") Approx 18~19mm additional outboard offset Slip-on/floating rotor

I've read every major and likely most of of the minor threads here concerning 5-lug swaps and brake upgrades. There are a handful from a few years back exploring alternate hubs, and they seemed to close out without success or a lot of effort. I found a single post that mentioned a car with Conquest/Starion hubs. The owner had purchased it that way and had no further info. An online parts store that has the decency to post full specs of their parts helped confirm that the 87-89 Conquest/Starion use the same inner and outer wheel bearings as our beloved Z. Interest peaked, I found that a near by Pick-N-Pull had- 1. A 87 Starion on the lot (less than 2 weeks) 2. A 73 240Z 3. Several Toyota pickup/4Runners All within a couple rows. The Starion had no front wheels, so the hubs were easy pickings. The 240z also had one wheel removed and the hub was on the ground in no time. The Starion hub fits quite nice, so off to the Toyotas I went to grab a couple calipers. The Starion rotor is also 278MM, but with a 26mm friction surface and a hat height of 66mm. A S13W caliper is 1~3mm too far outboard if it is mounted to the outside of the strut lugs. A S12W does not fit over the Starion rotor. Like a twit, I forgot to bring any form of measuing device, so I grabbed the hubs and the S13W calipers and went for the door. (I know the S13W are not ideal, but it gave me a starting point) Brembo has an oline Flash catalogue for rotors, and it can be searched by dimension. I found a small number of rotors that would work with no machining on the rotor and either no machining on the caliper, or only minor tweaks for clearance. I suspect there must be a gotchya somewhere in here, or this swap would be in more than one post among the tens of thousands on the board. Since this is for my daily driver, I won't be moving much further along until I can get my hands on a spare strut to mock up the final assembly.

I hit a pick-n-pull today to find some replacement arms. There was a single 1976 280Z, and it's arms were long gone. I started with basic measurements, 1.5" long mount to the fulcrum, with about 14.5" overall length. There is not a whole lot of choice in this length. Early 80s passanger cars were already stating to come with racked windshields, and 18" long wiper arms were the norm. One nice surprise was that while there was only 1 280Z, there were serveral 1980 Datsun pickups. Those used 15" long bayonet arms, with close to a 1.5" long mount arm. The spline was close if not identical, and the mount whole was the same as the 280. So there is an option, perhaps not a whole lote more common that the 280 arms, but a lot easier to get blades for. The Rain-X catalog called for 18" long blades, which when paired with the 1/2" longer arms ride up on the windsheild trim by about 1/4". I have seen other catalogs spec for a 17" blade and thosw would be perfect.

My '76 has the arms that use pins mounted on the blade. This is proving to be a huge pain when it comes time to find decent replacement blades. I'd like to swap in a set of arms that either have the pins on the arms, the J-hook or even bayonet style. There are a few old topics here looking for the same information, but all ended without any specifics. The best information so far, which may not be very accurate, is a Rain-X blade catalog that suggests that until '74 the arms were J-hook and '75 to '83 they used the blade side pin. Any advice would be appreciated.

I just did the same swap two weeks ago, and ran into a similar issue. Im my case it was not the pedal assembly, but the clevis pin. It had major wear on points it came into contact with the pedal and the clevis. A new pin and squeezing the clevis ears together to correct 32 plus years of spread helped alot. But that was not the end of it. The fluid was very low and very nasty. Prior to the swap I did not have any issues, but I attribute that to having a broken in friction disk (although it looked new wen I took it out, it still had readable printing on the friction material). So even with all the correct parts, a bit of wear on the pedal assembly, a fresh clutch disk and overdue maintenance, can be a bad combination.

One quick question prompted by Xnke's post. The photos in the other thread suggest that you alternator is in the stock position and the pickup mount does not interfere with it. Is that the case, or would the alternator need to be relocated?

I am no where near ready, but I was also wondering if you'd consider making kits. Interest based on price of course. I'd be looking for the sensor mount, wheel mount and coil mount. If the wheel mount included a 36-1 wheel, great, but not required. One thought on the wheel mount- If it had marks every 10 degrees, it might aid tuning out a few degrees of error when phasing the sensor/wheel

A week or so ago I called the seller to confirm that it was a lightened flywheel in the kit. Nope. They claim they just used a generic photo, so it is a stock 240mm replacement. I also asked about the weight, but the 'tech' had no idea.