T-Bone028

Hey there, hoping someone has a spare driveshaft that they are willing to sell. I am specifically looking for a 72 - 74 driveshaft with replaceable u-joints. I would be open to a 280Z driveshaft, but would rather like a driveshaft with replaceable u-joints. Thanks in advance

I dont understand, so you cant get the half-shaft out? It should be just 8 bolts holding it on (4 on the diff side, 4 on the wheel side)...or are you describing something different? Where in NoVA are you? I'm in Fairfax/Centreville.

I think that may be one of the worst fears of any member on this site. I absolutely hate people. Sorry bud.

www.rockauto.com They sell a stock rubber hose replacement for about $15.

Sweet! Nice work Xnke.

Finally was able to get my old u-joints pressed out, and new one's put in. Unfortunately, one of the yolks on the driveshaft got out of round when the u-joint snapped...the replacement u-joint fit, but there are some slight binding issues on one axis. Hopefully it wont have too much vibration on the highway or catastrophic failure wont occur and catapult my car into the air. I reinstalled the driveshaft and 2 half-shafts last night, and so far, no clunking or odd vibration. However, I havent taken it out anywhere other than my neighborhood, and it hasnt gone above 20 mph. Hope someone can learn something from my bonehead move...if one u-joint snaps, inspect or replace all of them.

Buy the movie, "Just SU's" from Ztherapy.

Maybe off topic, but where can you look on the transmission to identify whether or not it is a Datsun Comp box? Thanks in advance.

If one went bad, most likely the rest need attention as well. I posted part numbers in the drivetrain section for all 6 u-joints (half-shafts and driveshaft) under the thread, "snapped a u-joint last night".

Well, purchased the Neapco brute force u-joint for the half shaft yesterday, took it into the shop to have them press out the old one and put in the new one (I dont have a vice to hammer them out), and then reinstalled it back into my Z. Went for a test drive and felt some weird vibration and heard clunking...decided to just take it around my block at a slow speed. I thought maybe I didnt properly tighten down the flanges on the halfshaft I had just reinstalled. As I was driving at about 10 mph, I ended up having my front driveshaft u-joint snap about a 1/4 mile away from home. I assume it was already cracked/damaged from the earlier mishap. Totally sucks. I have now ordered all new replacement u-joints for both half-shafts and my driveshaft from Advance auto parts. Hopefully after all 6 of the u-joints are replaced, I will be able to drive her again without worry. Part numbers for anyone interested: Driveshaft (2 needed): Neapco Part No 1-0027 Halfshafts (4 needed): Neapco Part No 1-0029BF Total about $70.00

So last night, I went to the local 1/8th mile drag strip for fun. First run of the night, snapped the right rear u-joint next to the diff. I guess I should have been more cautious, I was hearing some muted "thunking" noises ever ytime I would shift gears when normally driving. I thought it was just a bad differential mount, but I suppose it was a loose or damaged u-joint. I'm picking up a neapco u-joint from carquest this afternoon, other than upgrading to CV's, are there any U-joints that are a little more beefy? I think I read somewhere that the Nissan u-joints have seemed to be the best, but I didnt see them on courtesy nissans website. What has been other members experiences with broken u-joints? Common with Z's or not really? I saw that Neapco makes a Premium "brute-force" u-joint that is supposed to be stronger than their standard. Anyone have some opinions?

As I recall, Zedd Findings and MSA floors are one in the same. MSA just resells the Zedd Findings.

Can someone give me a crash course in how this works? Still trying to wrap my head around it...I've never seen this before and there isnt much on the web regarding rocker arm rear suspension. Is it anything like the video in the link below, except in your application, inverted upwards? http://www.speeddirect.com/index.aspx?nodeID=132

Cold turkey isnt as delicious as it sounds... I've tried quitting about a million times and have yet to succeed. Good luck to you sir.

As far as building the JTR Kit yourself, the manual gives you the dimensions and information needed for that as well.

Absolutely, I agree its all relative. There are trade-off's. But sometimes, after exhausting a a majority of options with a relatively budget minded NA L6 build (which I assume is what fhptom is shooting for), gearing swaps can give that little seat of that pants kick some of us are looking for. For me, I do not feel that my car is fast, but instead "quick".

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but aside from increasing power, have you considered changing your differential to something like a 3.7 or 3.9 to help with that "feeling" of acceleration?

Do you have the FSM? You can download it at xexonS30 or something. Just use a google search and it should pop right up.

Rule number 1 of new car ownership: Trust no one and park as far away from everyone as possible. Always park on an end spot near a curb, and keep as much distance as possible from the line. Rule number 2: there will always be an idiot that will hit your car no matter where you park.

Cruceno. Try looking for a used head on craigslist or ebay or this site. You can sometimes find them for cheap. Send that head to your machinist, buy the book "How to rebuild your Datsun OHC engine", and then do the rebuild yourself. That way you will hopefully have minimal downtime and in the end, have a spare head. Or shoot, why not go for the whole sha-bang. Buy a compete longblock, and rebuild it. To me, the purpose of my Z is to not only enjoy the ride, but to learn as much as I can about automotive repair. Not sure if this is your daily driver, but if it isnt, why not take the time and invest your money into something you can be really proud of? Just a thought. Good luck with your car!

Cruceno. Try looking for a used head on craigslist or ebay or this site. You can sometimes find them for cheap. Send that head to your machinist, buy the book "How to rebuild your Datsun OHC engine", and then do the rebuild yourself. That way you will hopefully have minimal downtime and in the end, have a spare head. Or shoot, why not go for the whole sha-bang. Buy a compete longblock, and rebuild it. To me, the purpose of my Z is to not only enjoy the ride, but to learn as much as I can about automotive repair. Not sure if this is your daily driver, but if it isnt, why not take the time and invest your money into something you can be really proud of? Just a thought. Good luck with your car!

So, my 72 240Z had autometer gauges hooked up by the previous owner, Tach, Speedo, Oil pressure, water temp, and fuel level. Looks really good, except my speedo was non-functional. It lit up, but that was it. Investigation revealed a busted speedo cable. I ordered ATP part number Y860 from Rockauto (Rockauto part number #25050W5810, about $10.50). In case you guys are wondering, it has the correct .104" square male drive to connect into the Autometer mechanical speedometer, as well as the proper input on the datsun transmission end. The only thing you will need to do is find a 5/8" x 18 collar to slip onto the speedo cable, and then screw it into the autometer cable input thread. The only thing I've noticed now, is that its a little bouncy from 10-30 mph. After that it smooths out. I think the way I ran the cable caused too many bends, and it may be slightly dragging/binding. I will be re-routing it this week. Sorry if this has been covered before, but in all my searches (and I searched A LOT), the only thing I found was people suggesting to either send the cable off to a speedometer shop for a custom cable, or to convert to electronic speedo's using a 240SX sender.

All white. ZG flares in black, fiberglass 240 bumpers in black, rear spoiler in black. Fender mirrors in black if desired. You can always repaint your spoiler and flares in white if you feel the need to later down the road.

Looks REALLY good! So you're in about $150? Thats a pretty good $150 repair if you ask me!

Looks REALLY good! So you're in about $150? Thats a pretty good $150 repair if you ask me!