69sroadster

Thanks for all of the good info and the tips about possible ways to work another manual speedo sensor into the 350z 6 speed. I was just going to live without a speedometer after building a reference of speeds by gear/rpm and a gps. I thought about getting one of those GPS driver units but they're not inexpensive. From what I've seen those 350z transmissions have been standing up to a lot of abuse in 500+hp v-6's on the track. I know they've done some revisions to them over the years so will have to see if the used on I'm getting is okay or needs some technical service bulletin action. It looks like I won the ebay bid on it and it came to about $700 shipped. I've got the driveshaft too for another $80 to get the front yoke. Add in $400 for the adapter plate and a few more for the shave on the bell housing. We'll see how much work fitment will be for the mount/shifter. On the S15 6 speed is the clutch a pull type instead of the push type?

There was some good info on there for the GT2871R and similar turbo. I'm going to replace my aging T25 with a top mount twin scroll EFR 6758. It seems like the solid 270 may be a better fit.

I've read about this in a few places and am pulling the trigger on trying it out. I have an SR20 in the ZX that has had previous abuse in Japan before delivery to my garage. I've also added some wear to it over the years and they don't have a good reputation for lasting very long in any car. A few places offer an adapter plate for putting a 350z 6 speed behind the SR motor which requires me to shave down the "new" transmission a bit to make up for the plate thickness. I get to keep the SR clutch. So I ordered a used 350 6 speed and driveshaft to get the output yoke swapped onto my existing hybrid shaft. I suspect I will have to rework the transmission mount and clutch line to get to the other side of the box. From research this transmission should be very stout and comes with a close ratio set of gears. I've always hated the SR 5 speed spread from 1-2. Maybe after I get this done it will cooperate and stay in the power band better at the local auto-x events with those tight turns. Either way I will be sharing how this adventure goes over the next few weeks. Total cost should still be below $1500 for the swap. -Sam

I may finally have some more cash again to work on the sr20det mods. Nobody seems to have any real tech data concerning the powerband shift when switching to the tomei 260 solid lifter cam assembly or the 270 cams. Anyone on here have some dyno backed data other than the standard conjectures? I'm tired of the bench racers personally in the SR crowd online. Sam

Thanks for the info on track temps. For daily driving, I rarely run the fan below 25 mph unless I have my a/c on. I also have a pusher fan I'm going to move over to in front of the oil cooler for when it starts to get really hot under sustained boost levels.

Awesome questions. I did flush them as best I could with the lines in the car but disconnected using an air compressor and hose nozzle. I did not have an R-134 expansion valve, but if I can get one to replace the stock R-12 one then I would. Any ideas on that part? That's inside the airbox next to the evaporator right? I did have that entire assembly out at one point to replace the heater core and flushed what little there was on the evaporator off at the same time. I did replace the dryer and charged it with R-134 oil not the R-12 stuff. I pulled a good 24-26 lb vacuum for about an hour (it's been a while since I did this so I forget the exact value it got). After pulling vacuum I let it do a leak down (or up depending on how you look at it) check and it didn't move at all on the gauge after sitting for another hour. My pressure manifold is currently in storage during my house move, but I may be able to get some readings if I borrow my brothers set. Maybe that will give some other good/bad indicators, but off the top of my head and memory I seem to recall low was around 30-40 something and the high was 250-ish. It'd be better if I just check it again.

That's good to know about the pillar trim. It's a ZX. I want to take it all off, but to be honest I think the rear hatch may be okay. The windshield area is where I'm starting to see small rust areas near the trim edges. I suspect the rear side window seal/trim is allowing water to leak down the inside of the rear fender area near the body seam. There are two half dollar sized holes starting there that I am planning on cutting out and rewelding new sheet metal on. Then I plan on covering that area up with some nice side skirts after cleaning up the cancer spots. I already cured a large portion of water intrusion into the rear hatch area from the old tail lens seal leaking. That has led to some rust in the spare wheel well on the right rear but not too bad. I still think that some minor water leaks around the rear hatch seal on the left bottom corner. It's hard to tell and isn't consistent at least.

I did a quick search in our forum but didn't notice any related data. Anyone do a R-134 conversion on their ZX and how does it perform on a hot day? I just did a quick test of mine and it was showing about 69 F on a 92 F day here in Arkansas. Mine is running the SR20 compressor with an unknown amount of life on it and the original condensor/evaporator. I did switch out to a new receiver/drier though. I am tempted to evacuate the system, purge the lines and compressor, change the filter again and swap in a new condensor but it may just all be wasted efforts if I only get a few more degrees cooler. I almost forgot I did upgrade the fan motor and cage to the 300zx one.

Maybe there is a way to do a dry sump set up instead...although that sounds expensive in the end too and negates part of the fun going SR. My car has been getting neglected lately due to a change in job/income combined with moving & repairing rental properties and the "newsed" house. I'm really hoping this rental property deal starts to return some of the cash that's been put into it. Sigh.

Any tips for removing the window trim pieces on a 280zx without destroying them? I'm overdue for a real paint job and need to address some minor leaks and small rust areas around the edges of the windows.

Wow, I never thought the hood weighed that much. Next time I have it off I will also weigh it to convince myself it isn't lighter.

I concur. I purchased tokico hp strut inserts and springs + rear shocks & springs for a 2 seater turbo zx and they dropped in no problem into my 79 2+2 n/a zx. Granted I did not use the 2 seater strut tube & hub too but kept my original 2+2 ones...but I'm willing to bet good money that they are exactly the same in the end too. The only thing that should be different for you in this are the spring rates like Hmonkey said.

I've seen the cv axle lenghts listed as 14 11/16" and 15 3/4" for the 280zxt and 300zx n/a cv axles respectively....how is this measurement being taken? I was wondering if anyone can report the whole length of each cv axle from the wheel face side (the one with 6 bolt holes) to the tip of the diff gear input spline when compressed and extended. For instance the right side '79 280zx 2+2 n/a (u joint) axle is 20" compressed and 21 7/8" extended. This is going to help me figure out which type to order from the parts suppliers as they all seem to have their listings also a bit swapped around.

I have the tokico hp blues too and love them so far. Those combined with the strut tower bars and some nice tires made a world of difference. Good hunting for the exahust job

I like that idea for mounting it farther back...and possibly lower too if it clears behind the cross member more.

Nigel that's interesting since mine was just a bit smaller in diameter it wasn't making contact with the SR drive gear inside the case. I wonder if mine was just worn down or if the transmission was different internally. It would have been a lot easier for me if I didn't have to get that ZX gear off.

I just used the bullet manual assembly from my S130 5 speed transmission. The gear didn't match the SR tranny, but all I had to do was remove the 280zx gear (molded on PITA), grind the shaft it was removed from the a half moon shape to permit the SR tranny gear to slide on. In the process of the grinding and heat the SR gear basically molded itself to the modded 280zx manual speedo sender unit. I've also been told you should be able to use any Z31 5 speed sender in the SR tranny as a direct swap. I have one of those too now but haven't tried it since my modded unit has been working since I installed it. I've also been told any of the RB 5 speed units will work. I was concerned that by taking out the electrical speed input from the ECU that it might trigger a limp mode but that has not been the case. Oddly though, on a chance to do a high speed run I did have the ECU cut out at around 145 mph (5500 or so rpm in 5th). I don't know how/why it did that but I'm not concerned since I never really need that much velocity up there.

I'm going to get into one of those ideas you mentioned about an offsite photo online storage location. The SR oil pan is a front sump. If I spent a lot of time I probably could have rigged up a rear sump. I guess another option would be to mod it into a dry sump system too but I'm sure that would be pretty expensive. I've thought about switching out the entire front suspension from a 240sx to inclue the cross member but haven't done the homework to know if it would size up close enough to massage it in. I'm sure they are very close but need the spec'd out measurements for both cars to have a more educated guess. In the end it was to place the SR20 mid oil pan sump directly over the zx crossmember, place the front sump in front of it but squeezed just behind the sway bar. It's tight but fits. I was worried how much this was going to affect the balance of the car and the handling...it didn't matter from what I've seen on the track and with a set of scales. I've read through a lot of posts about the weight differences and my guess is that the SR is overall a lot lighter than the L28. I'm sure that helped to make it not a factor in my car for the way the handling and balance is.

Payment enroute, thank you!

I started a gallery on pictures on here but it won't let me do more than 5 photos on my photo album/gallery. Is this some kind of daily limit that I haven't read about yet or is it another setting that I need to use properly? I swear I will eventually learn how to use this forum better for sharing media of the ZX build and projects.